Kane and Wilson enter FPL differential conversation ahead of Gameweek 9

We continue our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweek 8 write-ups with analysis of Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur.

For a shorter summary of all of Saturday’s action, click here.

NEWCASTLE UNITED 2-3 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

• Goals: Callum Wilson (£7.3m) | Tanguy Ndombele (£5.8m), Harry Kane (£12.1m), Son Heung-min (£10.1m)
• Assists: Javier Manquillo (£4.0m), Jacob Murphy (£5.0m) | Sergio Reguilon (£5.1m), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (£4.9m), Kane
• Own goals: Eric Dier (£4.6m)
• Red cards: Jonjo Shelvey (£5.3m)
• Bonus: Kane x3, Son x2, Wilson x2

KANE ENDS PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL DROUGHT

Having failed to score in any of his opening six Premier League appearances in 2021/22, Harry Kane (£12.1m) finally ended his goal drought against Newcastle United in Gameweek 8.

The England captain looked much more like his old self at St James’ Park, and resumed his link up with Son Heung-min (£10.1m) with an assist for the third goal. As a result, he bagged maximum bonus and ended the match with an impressive 12-point haul for his small army of owners.

Given Spurs’ next three fixtures – West Ham United (a), Manchester United (h) and Everton (a) – we perhaps have a little while longer to scout Kane’s performances, before his fixtures ease considerably between Gameweeks 12 and 15.

Interestingly, that also coincides with trickier runs for premium forwards Romelu Lukaku (£11.7m) and Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.5m), which may be a switch worth considering closer to the time, depending on how each of them perform during the coming weeks that is.

Son Heung-min, meanwhile, was once again on the scoresheet, and has now produced six attacking returns in just seven Premier League appearances this season. 

NDOMBELE’S INFLUENCE

Tanguy Ndombele (£5.8m) fired in Spurs’ opener on Sunday, and impressed in his more advanced central role. 

During the match, he registered five goal attempts and four shots in the box, more than any other player on the pitch. His 36 final-third touches – including nine in the penalty box – were also match-leading totals, and highlight his growing influence in Nuno Espirito Santo’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

Tottenham Hotspur’s average touch map v Newcastle United in Gameweek 8, featuring no. 28 Tanguy Ndombele

It’s also worth noting that since Oliver Skipp’s (£4.5m) return to the starting XI in Gameweek 7, Spurs have looked a lot better defensively, something Nuno touched on in his post-match interview when discussing his new midfield set-up:

“It worked really well. We were able to be more solid in the middle of the park with Skipp and Hojbjerg being side by side, although we still allowed one of them to have freedom to support in attack. It was the same idea but a little bit different and it worked better.”

WILSON BACK ON THE FPL RADAR

Newcastle’s new era got off to a disappointing start at St James’ Park, but the return of talisman Callum Wilson (£7.3m) from injury was a real positive.

It took the 29-year-old just two minutes to find the back of the net, as he ended the match with a goal, two bonus and eight FPL points.

As for the Magpies, the reality is that the club remain without a win this season and now sit 19^th in the table. They also have the worst defensive record in the division, having conceded 19 goals so far, while the underlying numbers are equally as bad.

Encouragingly for their FPL owners, the likes of Conor Gallagher (£5.7m), Romelu Lukaku, Ivan Toney (£6.4m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£5.5m) all take on the Magpies’ in the coming weeks.

“We were certainly beaten by the better team. After a wonderful start, unfortunately the problems that we’ve had for a while now defensively was there for everyone to see. The goals we gave away, you could say it was a lot of good play from Tottenham, but our defending left a lot to be desired to say the least.

I think we’ve started a few games like that – we’ve got off to a good start, we’ve scored and got our noses in front, but unfortunately at the moment, we’re not able to defend well enough as a team. I’m not criticising the back four or the midfield players, football is a team game, but from front to back at the moment, we’re not defending well enough.

We have tried to change and be a little bit more on the front foot, but it’s difficult because you cannot keep having to score three goals to win a match.” – Steve Bruce

Newcastle XI: Darlow, Manquillo, Lascelles, Clark, Ritchie, Hayden, Longstaff (Shelvey 60), Willock (Murphy 77), Joelinton, Saint-Maximin, Wilson (Fraser 77)

Tottenham XI: Lloris, Royal, Romero, Dier, Reguilon, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Moura, Son, Kane