FPL Gameweek 12 round-up: Saturday review, injury news and the things we learned

There were goals aplenty on Saturday – 30 in all – but still Fantasy Premier League (FPL) hauls banked by the usual heavy hitters in defence.

Our more detailed Scout Notes will go on to dissect all of Saturday’s games but in the meantime, our resurrected Scoreboard series rounds up the key goings-on from the day’s Gameweek 12 fixtures.

The graphics below are taken from LiveFPL, Ragabolly’s excellent and ever-expanding website, and our own Premium Members Area.

GOALS, ASSISTS, PROJECTED BONUS

INJURIES AND BANS

Diogo Jota (£7.5m) found the net in Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Arsenal but took a blow to his knee in a collision with Aaron Ramsdale (£4.8m), carrying on playing for a while before being replaced and heading down the tunnel at Anfield.

“Diogo went off and he got a proper knock on his knee – they went knee to knee, I think. Now we have to see how quickly that develops in the right direction and hopefully, it is nothing serious, that would be very important.” – Jurgen Klopp

Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) failed to recover for that thrashing of the Gunners while Divock Origi (£4.9m) missed out through illness.

Ismaila Sarr (£6.0m) had an eventful afternoon at Vicarage Road, twice missing from the penalty spot – the referee ordering a retake of his original saved effort – before scoring Watford’s second goal and then limping off with a knee problem.

Claudio Ranieri didn’t seem too concerned after full-time.

“I think [he’s OK], I didn’t want to risk him. He runs a lot. I don’t know if maybe the knee… I don’t know. In the next days, the doctors will see everything.” – Claudio Ranieri on Ismaila Sarr’s substitution

Nicolas Nkoulou (£4.5m) also walked gingerly from the field of play but there has been no word on his condition.

Mason Greenwood (£7.4m) was absent for Manchester United after testing positive for Covid-19, while Luke Shaw (£5.2m), in his first game back following concussion, took another blow to the head and was replaced towards the end of that loss to the Hornets.

Ricardo Pereira (£5.3m) missed Leicester’s defeat to Chelsea with a hamstring problem but Jorginho‘s (£5.8m) enforced substitution in that match was attributed to cramp.

“I absolutely don’t think [he’s a doubt for Tuesday]. He said he feels like cramps. At the moment I would say absolutely no muscle injuries and for that, no doubt for Tuesday.” – Thomas Tuchel on Jorginho

“He was a bit tight yesterday, so we’ll see what the scan says on that, but it’s disappointing. He’s just never quite got going since he’s been back. He’s had little niggles. We just need to wait and see.” – Brendan Rodgers on Ricardo Pereira

A trio of what Ralph Hasenhuttl would dub his ‘number 10s’ missed out on their loss to Norwich City but Stuart Armstrong (£5.8m) was the only one of the three who was injured.

“Stuart [Armstrong] has a calf injury, Moussa [Djenepo] has some private problems and Redmond is missing, of course, because he became a father.” – Ralph Hasenhuttl

On the suspension front, Ashley Westwood (£5.3m) and James Tarkowski (£4.9m) will both miss Burnley’s match against Spurs next week after picking up their fifth bookings of the season. Harry Maguire (£5.4m) will also sit out Gameweek 13 after being sent off for two bookable offences.

GAMEWEEK 12 TAKEAWAYS

THE RISE AND RISE OF THE PREMIUM DEFENDERS

Another week and another set of double-digit returns for the in-demand full-backs/wing-backs at Liverpool and Chelsea – and we’ve still got Joao Cancelo (£6.5m) to come on Sunday.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.7m), Reece James (£6.0m) and Ben Chilwell (£6.0m) plundered 15, 12 and nine points respectively in their Gameweek 12 matches and there could very easily have been other attacking returns from all three.

Alexander-Arnold, who banked two assists, was only denied a goal of his own by a Ramsdale tip over, while Chilwell struck the woodwork, saw Kasper Schmeichel produce a wondersave to deflect wide his low driven effort and witnessed N’Golo Kante (£4.9m) and Kai Havertz (£8.1m) combine to collectively cock up a pinpoint cross from the left.

James produced a cool finish in the closing stages of the win over Leicester, meanwhile, only for a belated offside flag to go up against a teammate earlier in the move.

It’s not just their deliveries from out wide and prominence at dead-ball situations that excites but their involvement in central areas in or around the opposition area during open play; Chilwell’s rate of shots in the box is better than that of Bryan Mbeumo (£5.6m), for instance.

It’s easy to forget about Antonio Rudiger (£5.7m), too: the German is now joint-fifth among all FPL assets – not just defenders – for points in 2021/22. He scored and kept a clean sheet against Leicester for his second 14-point haul of the campaign.

Over 40% of the Blues’ attacking returns have come from their defenders this season.

NEW MANAGER BOUNCE

All three clubs who had new managers in charge this weekend avoided defeat.

Newcastle United salvaged a point in a six-goal thriller with Brentford, while Aston Villa and Norwich City ruined clean sheets for Shane Duffy (£4.4m) and Tino Livramento (£4.6m) with wins over Brighton and Southampton.

Gerrard and Smith both sent their sides out in a 4-3-3 but Howe sprung a surprise by keeping faith with his predecessor’s wing-back system – and the same defensive deficiencies were in evidence, which will be of encouragement to owners of Arsenal attackers ahead of Gameweek 13.

Teemu Pukki (£5.8m), Allan Saint-Maximin (£6.8m), Joelinton (£5.8m) and Ollie Watkins (£7.3m) were all on the scoresheet and were among 12 FPL forwards who found the target on Saturday, all of whom were under £8.0m.

OLE ON THE BRINK

Widespread reports emerging on Saturday night suggest that the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is imminent.

The expected dismissal follows a 4-1 thrashing at Watford, a match in which the Hornets – who were third bottom for goal attempts heading into Gameweek 12 – managed to rack up 20 shots and 2.51 expected goals.

The ‘ten-man United’ headline shouldn’t mask the fact that they were second best long before Maguire’s dismissal, either.

Only Norwich and Newcastle have conceded more goals than the Red Devils this season and the red blob on the Season Ticker for Chelsea in Gameweek 13 looks a bit of a misnomer on current evidence – although a new man may be at the helm by the time the two clubs meet next Sunday.

CORNET SCORES AGAIN

Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) and Sadio Mane (£11.9m), who both found the net on Saturday, are the only two midfielders who have scored more goals than Maxwel Cornet (£6.1m) in 2021/22.

Much talk and FPL interest surrounded Conor Gallagher (£5.9m) heading into Crystal Palace’s meeting with Burnley this weekend and the Chelsea loanee ticked over with another assist.

But Cornet delivered the goods yet again with a spectacular volley in the 3-3 draw with the Eagles and is now averaging the same number of points per match (5.7) as Phil Foden (£8.3m).

Christian Benteke‘s (£6.3m) brace in that six-goal thriller in Lancashire took him to four goals in as many starts, meanwhile.

STAT WATCH

Saint-Maximin and Joelinton took away goals from Howe’s first match in charge but there was at least some encouragement for Callum Wilson (£7.4m), who couldn’t be bettered for shots in the box in the Premier League on Saturday.

He also trailed only two players for penalty box touches and just Saint-Maximin for overall goal attempts.

There was a morsel of a consolation for Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.4m) owners, too, with the veteran Portuguese still getting a number of sights of goal even in an otherwise awful team display – something that potentially bodes well if/when United are on the up again under a new boss.

Alexander-Arnold and Chilwell unsurprisingly feature among the notable chance creators in Gameweek 12 above, while Gallagher carved out two ‘big chances’.

Rayan Ait Nouri (£4.3m) was also towards the top of the list. He banked a clean sheet and maximum bonus points in Wolves’ win over West Ham, taking him to 20 points over the last four Gameweeks. On a share of set plays, too, he’s a name to consider alongside Livramento in the budget defender pool.