Burnley v Everton brought Double Gameweek 31 to a close, with the six-pointer at Turf Moor serving up an unexpected five-goal thriller.
We recap the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Lancashire.
GOALS, ASSISTS AND BONUS
FPL TALKING POINTS
WEGHORST’S WOES
“Fool me once, shame on you. Keep putting Wout Weghorst in the Scout Picks despite his dismal underlying statistics and just because he plays twice, shame on me.”
Einstein’s quote about repetition and insanity might also be applicable in this instance, and we certainly didn’t get different results from the towering Dutchman in Gameweek 31.
Wout Weghorst (£6.4m) ended his ‘double’ with just three points, his seventh blank in succession. Was it a hard-luck story? Nope – his expected goals (xG) tally was 0.02 across his two matches against Manchester City and Everton, which was bettered by seven of his teammates and 134 other Premier League players in Gameweek 31.
This isn’t a one-off, either, as Weghorst’s minutes-per-xG since his top-flight debut is 501.1, the worst average of any first-choice orthodox striker.
Above: Forwards sorted by minutes per xG in 2021/22. The players with a worse figure than Weghorst either play on the wing/in central midfield or have barely any game-time to their name.
It’s not for him to shoulder all of the criticism, of course. He’s only as good as the service he is provided with, and despite his 6’6″ frame, does not really seem suited to ‘hoofball’: he’s won only 36.8% of his headers this season (predecessor Chris Wood (£6.7m) is up at over 50% in 2021/22, along with the likes of Ivan Toney (£6.7m)). On a number of occasions on Wednesday evening, he had moved into some good positions around the six-yard box but simply wasn’t given the delivery he was begging for.
The remaining fixtures are favourable, at least, and you’d think his underlying numbers and perhaps his goal count would improve simply as a result of the quality of opposition declining. Six of Burnley’s nine remaining matches, indeed, are against bottom-half sides.
But then Everton at home was meant to be one of the easier tests, given that the Toffees have the division’s worst away record. With Jay Rodriguez (£5.2m), Maxwel Cornet (£5.9m) and substitute Matej Vydra (£5.2m) all among the goals at Turf Moor, might his game-time even be at risk soon?
The easing of fixture difficulty should also aid Burnley’s defence, who are on the division’s second-longest run without a clean sheet (six matches), although a more attacking set-up from Sean Dyche, the continued absence of Ben Mee (£4.7m) and a lack of protection from central midfield are ongoing concerns.
RICHARLISON ON PENS – AND ON THE LEFT
Another forward who had a torrid Gameweek 31 was Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.7m), whose blank was made all the more galling as Everton were awarded two penalties at Turf Moor – and he didn’t take either of them.
Calvert-Lewin had stepped up for all three of the previous spot-kicks that he had been on the field for this season although perhaps tellingly had missed his last effort in Gameweek 21.
On Wednesday evening, it was Richarlison (£7.5m) who was given the responsibility and he duly delivered with two coolly converted efforts from 12 yards.
Calvert-Lewin without penalties isn’t an attractive proposition at present, such has been his toiling up top since his comeback from injury, but things have really fallen Richarlison’s way over this Gameweek.
It’s not just the penalty-taking but the move to a left-wing role after months of playing through the middle. Remember the ‘is Richarlison better on the left or up top’ discussion of 2018/19? Well, here we are again, three and a half years on, reflecting on two promising if profligate displays from the Brazilian in a wider position.
He registered 26 penalty area touches, 11 shots in the box (he also hit the woodwork and almost scored with a bicycle kick against Burnley) and four chances created across two matches in Gameweek 31, eye-catching tallies after a period of unremarkable number-posting under Lampard, while all that extra work on and off the ball that playing on the flank requires (recoveries, tackling, dribbling etc) also can help boost bonus points potential.
| Richarlison… | GW24-30 | GW31 |
| Appearances | 7 | 2 |
| Penalty area touches | 18 | 26 |
| Shots in the box | 6 | 11 |
| Chances created | 4 | 4 |
The immediate fixtures aren’t great, as we’ll discuss, and let’s not forget that he went nine games without a goal before midweek, but Richarlison’s improving stats are worth keeping tabs on for Double Gameweeks 36 and 37.
EVERTON IN TROUBLE
Everton are now one point off the drop and in deep trouble.
With some tricky matches to come (only two of their last nine are against sides in the bottom half), their 68-year stay in the top flight looks in some danger.
Away from home is where it has really been going wrong, with even Norwich getting more points on the road than the Toffees in 2021/22. That puts the favourable-looking ‘double’ in Gameweek 36 in some perspective and should whet the appetites of owners of Liverpool assets ahead of Gameweek 34’s Merseyside derby at Anfield.
At home, things have at least been better: the Toffees have conceded on just three occasions at Goodison Park in the six home league and cup matches that Frank Lampard has overseen, with four goals scored against Brentford alone – and they meet the Bees again in Gameweek 37.
