We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from the opening match of Gameweek 27 in our latest Scout Notes.
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IN-FORM SAINTS
After tonight’s comfortable 2-0 win, Southampton are now on a 10-match unbeaten league run at St Mary’s, with their only home defeat this season coming against Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 6.
In a one-sided encounter, which on expected goals (xG) ended 2.66/0.40, the Saints were in complete control from the off, as they racked up 27 goal attempts compared to the Canaries eight.
Above: Southampton produced 27 shots v Norwich City, which included nine on target (green) and three big chances
Meanwhile, it’s now back-to-back clean sheets for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s troops, ahead of an appealing run of fixtures, which includes a double-header against Aston Villa and Newcastle United in Gameweek 28, followed by matches against Watford, Burnley (providing Southampton lose to West Ham United in the FA Cup fifth round) and Leeds United.
ADAMS OUTSHINES BROJA
Having opened the scoring for Saints in Gameweek 27, Che Adams (£6.9m) has now been involved in a goal in each of his last four Premier League starts. The 25-year-old is averaging 6.75 points per match during that period, yet has largely been ignored by Fantasy managers.
In fact, Adams sits in just 2.54% of squads in the top 10k, compared to Armando Broja’s (£5.5m) ownership of 70.9% this week.
The Chelsea loanee looked a little rusty against Norwich and was withdrawn after 81 minutes, though he did rack up three shots in the box, just one short of Adams’ total. However, it’s now one goal in six appearances for Broja, a run which has seen him deliver just 16 points.
ADVANCED LIVRAMENTO/WALKER-PETERS
With the onus on the full-backs to supply the width, Tino Livramento (£4.3m) and Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.8m) thrived against Norwich, as they regularly pushed high up the pitch, consistently offering an outlet in the final-third.
Both players finished the night among the top three performers for final-third touches, passed received in the final-third and successful crosses, whilst also scooping up bonus points.
Their Gameweek 27 heat-maps are hugely encouraging, too, and bodes well for their owners ahead of their forthcoming double.
Above: Tino Livramento (left) and Kyle Walker-Peters’ (right) touch heatmaps v Norwich City
“Kyle Walker-Peters enjoys it on the left-side. It shows his intelligence, the qualities he has and he’s super hard to defend against with his low centre of gravity. This is the quality we have now.” – Ralph Hasenhuttl
GOAL-SHY CANARIES
After tonight’s defeat, Norwich have now lost nine of their 12 Premier League matches since the beginning of December, with Dean Smith failing to build on back-to-back wins against Everton and Watford at the turn of the year.
There are problems at both ends of the pitch, but with just 15 Premier League goals all season, it is no surprise they are struggling. Notably, their total of 20 big chances is the lowest of any Premier League side, while they also rank rock-bottom for shots in the box and efforts on target.
Tim Krul (£4.5m), meanwhile, recovered from a shoulder injury but was only named on the bench tonight, which Smith touched on before kick-off.
“Tim (Krul) has come back and trained the last couple of days but I just felt he had not had enough training time to get back in and Angus (Gunn) has done well.” – Dean Smith
Southampton XI: Forster, Livramento, Bednarek, Salisu, Walker-Peters, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, S Armstrong (Djenepo 90+2), Elyounoussi, Adams (Long 83), Broja (Stephens 81)
Norwich City XI: Gunn, Aarons, Hanley, Gibson, Williams, Normann (Rupp 72), McLean, Gilmour (Dowell 81), Sargent, Rashica (Lees-Melou 72), Pukki
