Pogba’s FPL appeal hurt by move to deeper role as Greenwood eclipses Bruno

We continue our Scout Notes of the weekend’s Fantasy Premier League (FPL) matches with analysis of Burnley v Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur v Watford and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester United.

For a briefer summary of Sunday’s action, check out our Scoreboard summary here.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0-1 MANCHESTER UNITED

• Goals: Mason Greenwood (£7.6m)
• Assists: Raphael Varane (£5.5m)
• Bonus: Varane x3, Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.5m) x2, Harry Maguire (£5.5m) x1

THREE IN THREE FOR GREENWOOD

Mason Greenwood’s (£7.6m) late strike, his third in as many Premier League matches, earned Manchester United a narrow 1-0 win at Molinuex in Gameweek 3.

As a result, it’s now 28 away league matches without defeat for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, the longest such run in English football league history.

However, it was a day to forget for those who handed Bruno Fernandes (£12.1m) the armband, as the Portuguese put in another subdued display, and apart from a disallowed goal he struggled to make an impact. The imminent signing of Cristiano Ronaldo will also have implications for the playmaker, who is currently the most-sold midfielder ahead of the Gameweek 4 deadline.

United, who included Raphael Varane (£5.5m) and Jadon Sancho (£9.3m) in the starting XI for the first time, failed to create much during the 90 minutes and had David de Gea (£5.0m) to thank for the three points after he twice kept out Romain Saiss (£5.0m) from close range.

Varane especially impressed with an assured performance at the back. Positionally, he was faultless, though the lack of protection offered by United’s midfielders is a concern.

Fred (£5.0m) struggled, while Paul Pobga (£7.7m) was shifted back into a deeper role which saw him register just one penalty box touch and one goal attempt throughout the match.

Above: Paul Pogba’s touch heat map v Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 3 (from the Premium Members Area)

WOLVES FAIL TO SCORE AGAIN, BUT OFFER ENCOURAGING SIGNS 

Most of Wolves’ joy in the final-third arrived via Adama Traore (£6.0m), who caused Manchester United plenty of problems with his direct running.

However, Bruno Lage’s side ultimately paid the price for failing to take their chances and are still yet to score in the league this season. That’s despite registering a combined 57 shots against Leicester City, Spurs and Man Utd.

No player has had more goal attempts without scoring in the Premier League this term than Traore and Jimenez, with 12 each, while the latter is the only player to register double figures for both shots and chances created.

Profligacy is costing them, but with the fixtures (see below) now easing, their performances do suggest that they could offer Fantasy value in the coming weeks.

 “If someone told me that the best way is to defend and put 10 men behind the ball every time and we would win games, for sure I would go with that idea. But I think this idea is better. The way we play, the way we create chances, I am sure the goals will come.” – Bruno Lage

Wolves XI: Sa, Kilman, Coady (Gibbs-White 87), Saiss, Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Marcal, Trincao (Podence 70), Traore (Silva 87), Jimenez 

Man Utd XI: de Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, Shaw, Fred, Pogba, Sancho (Martial 72), Fernandes, James (Cavani 53), Greenwood (Dalot 90)

BURNLEY 1-1 LEEDS UNITED

• Goals: Chris Wood (£6.9m) | Patrick Bamford (£7.9m)
• Assists: Matthew Lowton (£4.5m) | Jamie Shackleton (£4.5m)
• Bonus: Wood x3, Bamford x2, Lowton x1, Dwight McNeil (£5.9m) x1

TURF MOOR WOES, BUT A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION?

Burnley remain without a win after three Premier League games, and it is now 13 without victory at Turf Moor in all competitions.

However, Sunday’s draw did feel like a step in the right direction as they dominated for large periods.

Chris Wood (£6.9m), who has been the Clarets’ outright or joint-leading scorer in each of the last four seasons, opened his 2021/22 account after turning home Matthew Lowton‘s (£4.5m) shot from close range, and will surely benefit from the addition of Lyon’s Maxwel Cornet for a reported £12.85m.

Burnley have scored just 16 goals in their past 21 home league matches at Turf Moor, so it is clearly an area they need to improve in.

Dwight McNeil (£5.9m) remains the Clarets’ key creative outlet, as he continued his excellent start to the season, but until he can start adding goals and assists to his game he remains a hard sell for FPL managers.

BAMFORD ON FPL RADAR AHEAD OF GAMEWEEK 5 FIXTURE SWING

As for Leeds United, it looked like the Whites would live to regret Raphinha’s (£6.5m) wasteful miss just before half-time, at least until Patrick Bamford (£7.9m) scored a late equaliser when he diverted home Jamie Shackleton’s (£4.5m) effort.

As a result, the England international has now scored 16 non-penalty goals in the Premier League since the start of last season – only Harry Kane (£12.3m), Son Heung-min (£10.1m), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£8.2m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) have more.

The point means Marcelo Bielsa’s side are still searching for their first win of the campaign with three games gone, but following their Gameweek 4 match-up with Liverpool at Elland Road, the fixtures should at least give them an opportunity to climb the table:

Diego Llorente (£4.5m) returned from injury at the back, but Junior Firpo (£4.9m) and Mateusz Klich (£5.5m) both missed out with Covid.

Tactically, Bielsa opted for a 3-3-1-3 formation, a shape he usually turns to when up against two-striker systems. That meant wing-back roles for Luke Ayling (£4.5m) and Stuart Dallas (£5.5m), though neither looked particularly comfortable and struggled to make much of an impact.

Above: Leeds United’s average position map v Burnley, with Luke Ayling (no. 2) and Stuart Dallas (no. 15) deployed as wing-backs (from the Premium Members Area)

“Apart from two segments in the middle of each half, we were able to manage the game. They had three resources that were important – the capacity to force errors and take advantage of them through their two centre-forwards, the management of the set-pieces and they have a very distinct style of play. The style of play, it doesn’t demand that their players shine, this is something of value when you’re describing a team.” – Marcelo Bielsa

Burnley XI: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Gudmundsson (Lennon 63), Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil, Barnes (Vydra 79), Wood

Leeds XI: Meslier, Llorente (Shackleton 65), Struijk, Cooper, Ayling, Phillips, Dallas, Rodrigo (Roberts 73), Raphinha, Harrison, Bamford

TOTTENHAM HOSTPUR 1-0 WATFORD

• Goals: Son Heung-min (£10.1m)
• Assists: Steven Bergwijn (£6.0m)
• Bonus: Sergio Reguilon (£5.1m) x3, Son x2, Eric Dier (£4.6m) x1

TABLE TOPPERS SPURS WIN AGAIN

Son’s first-half free-kick made it three wins from three for Tottenham Hotspur, as they went top of the table.

The South Korean international surprisingly lined up on the right of Spurs’ front three, with Steven Bergwijn (£6.0m) deployed on the left, perhaps in an attempt to hand Sergio Reguilon (£5.1m) a little more protection against the lively Ismaila Sarr (£6.0m).

As a result of his winner, Son has now scored 10 goals, supplied seven assists and picked up 20 FPL bonus points in his last 19 home matches.

Dele Alli (£6.5m) and Harry Kane (£12.3m) both went close, but a second goal eluded Spurs despite seeing plenty of the ball.

Defensively, it’s now three Premier League clean sheets on the bounce for the Davinson Sanchez (£4.5m) and Eric Dier (£4.6m) partnership, with the team clearly benefitting from defending higher up the pitch.

However, it is worth noting that their expected goals conceded (xGC) delta is -4.33, suggesting that they may have been a little fortunate so far.

WATFORD IMPRESS DESPITE DEFEAT

Though Spurs dominated possession for large periods, especially in the first-half, Watford were organised and looked a threat on the counter-attack with the pace of Sarr and Emmanuel Dennis (£5.2m) causing plenty of problems.

However, their best chance fell to Moussa Sissoko (£4.5m), who blazed over when well placed. The French international could well be the pick of the £4.5m midfielders following his move, and on this evidence, may be able to contribute the occasional attacking return too.

Above: Moussa Sissoko’s touch heatmap v Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 3 (from the Premium Members Area)

There was also a first league start for Joshua King (£5.5m) and a debut Premier League appearance for Francisco Sierralta (£4.4m), who both retained their places from the midweek cup match against Crystal Palace.

Daniel Bachmann (£4.5m) made seven saves in Gameweek 3, compared to just one across the opening two rounds. That saw him register four FPL points ahead of a kind run of fixtures which sees the Hornets take on Wolves (h), Norwich City (a) and Newcastle United (h) between Gameweeks 4 and 6.

Spurs XI: Lloris, Tanganga, Sanchez, Dier, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Alli, Son (Gil 88), Bergwijn (Moura 68), Kane

Watford XI: Bachmann, Cathcart (Ngakia 51), Troost-Ekong, Sierralta, Masina, Etebo, Sissoko (Cleverley 71), Kucka, Sarr, Dennis, King (Hernandez 65)