FPL review: Why Wilson was subbed, Villa under Emery, Dalot banned

Our write-ups of the Gameweek 15 action continue with the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Sunday’s fixtures.

The numbers you see in this article are from our Premium Members area, where you can access Opta player and team data for every single Premier League fixture.

• READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 15: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus and statistics
• READ MORE: FPL review: Why Cancelo isn’t banned for Gameweek 16 + Mitrovic injury latest
• READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 15: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus and statistics

WILSON “DIDN’T FEEL HE HAD THE ENERGY NEEDED”

Miguel Almiron (£5.7m) and Newcastle United’s excellent form continued on Sunday, as they moved up to third in the table with their fourth win in a row.

However, Callum Wilson (£7.5m), who was struggling with illness ahead of the game, was taken off at the break as a precaution having felt unwell in the first-half.

“Callum wasn’t that well in the week and felt light-headed and dizzy so that’s why he came off. It was a joint decision, he didn’t feel he had the energy needed and it was an easy decision to replace him with Chris [Wood], who came on and got the job done.” – Eddie Howe on Callum Wilson

As for Almiron, he netted his seventh goal in as many matches, which means only Erling Haaland (£12.1m), Harry Kane (£11.6m) and Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m) have scored more goals than the Paraguayan (8) in the Premier League this season.

“It’s always been more than the goals for Miggy. Even when he was not scoring he was still pivotal to the team, he brings energy and a relentless pursuit of pressing. It dovetails perfectly with our philosophy.” – Eddie Howe on Miguel Almiron

Kieran Trippier (£5.9m) recorded his second double-figure haul in a row, courtesy of an excellent assist, a rather fortunate clean sheet (he was subbed off on 80 minutes prior to Southampton scoring) and maximum bonus.

The England international is now on 13 returns for the season (be it a goal, assist or clean sheet), level with Kevin De Bruyne (£12.5m) and Kane and only behind Haaland on 21.

Trippier looked to have picked up a hamstring injury in the first-half but appeared after the break to ease any concerns.

“I felt it tighten up as I stretched but I came out in the second half to carry on. I’m OK.” – Kieran Trippier

EMERY’S 4-4-2

Unai Emery got underway as Aston Villa boss on Sunday, securing a deserved 3-1 win over Manchester United.

In their new-look 4-4-2 formation, the excellent Leon Bailey (£4.5m) partnered Ollie Watkins (£7.1m) in attack, with Emiliano Buendia (£5.7m) and Jacob Ramsey (£5.2m) playing off the front two pairing.

For the latter, it was a rollercoaster of an afternoon as he netted his side’s third goal, assisted twice and scored an own goal, while Bailey at just £4.5m could become a popular target for the restart if he can nail down a place up front under Emery.

“We were speaking about the game plan and I think the players did it perfectly. I tried to keep possession, tried to break their high pressing and to get our midfielders, Buendia and Ramsey, and then attack with Bailey and Watkins on their last defence. The players played in their positions and I wanted everybody to feel good playing with their characteristics. The shape, for me, is not so important. We tried to use the spaces where Manchester United maybe let us do our job. We know the players have pace, rhythm, energy and skill.” – Unai Emery

Above: Aston Villa’s average position map v Man Utd in Gameweek 15

Philippe Coutinho (£6.6m), meanwhile, is injured and won’t play again till after the World Cup.

 “Coutinho is injured. I don’t know how long it will be but, today, he couldn’t play and he’s not going to play until after the break. It’s a muscular injury.” – Unai Emery on Philippe Coutinho

DALOT TO MISS GW16

Diogo Dalot (£4.8m) is the latest Man Utd player to pick up a suspension for accumulating five yellow cards, following Scott McTominay (£4.9m) and Bruno Fernandes (£9.8m).

The Portuguese full-back, owned by 15.6 per cent of FPL managers, was the most-bought defender last week with 472,752 new owners.

However, he will now miss Gameweek 16, when United take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.

CHELSEA’S BLUNT ATTACK

Chelsea are four games without a win in the Premier League after losing to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. In that time, they have scored just two goals, with their tally of 17 overall beaten by Erling Haaland on his own.

On Sunday, they struggled to fashion any clear-cut opportunities and recorded just five shots, their lowest total in a Premier League match this season.

Starting out in a 4-3-1-2 diamond formation with Kai Havertz (£7.7m) in the hole and Raheem Sterling (£9.7m) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£8.8m) as wide forwards, they failed to test Aaron Ramsdale (£4.9m), who had to make just one save all afternoon.

Aubameyang, meanwhile, had just eight touches, at least 24 fewer than any other starting outfield player.

“Arsenal defend well, they press well and make it difficult for you to create chances. We need to do better in terms of how we create our chances. We had some three v three’s or four v fours in the final third but lacked that last pass, and then if I’m looking at how we build our attacks generally we’re not as fluid as I’d like us to be. There’s lots of reasons for that but clearly that’s where we have to improve as well.” – Graham Potter

Arsenal, who were back at full strength with Oleksandr Zinchenko’s (£5.0m) return, were much the better side, as Gabriel Magalhaes’ (£5.1m) point-blank finish from a Bukayo Saka (£8.0m) assist settled it.

The Brazilian has scored more Premier League goals (7) than any other defender since the start of last season, with his winning effort – plus a clean sheet and maximum bonus – securing a 15-point haul.

The Gunners have now kept five clean sheets in their seven away league matches this season, at least two more than any other top-flight side.

Further forward, Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) was presented with a good opportunity to score in the first-half but failed to find the net as his barren spell in front of goal continues. Indeed, the former Manchester City forward has failed to score in each of his last eight games in all competitions.

SALAH AT THE DOUBLE

Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) struck twice as Liverpool secured their first away win in the Premier League this season with victory at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Reds started in a 4-3-3 formation with Darwin Nunez (£8.9m) stationed on the left of the front three, with Salah sweeping home from the Uruguayan’s pass after just 11 minutes.

The Egyptian then added a second, as he ended the day on 15-points, his biggest return of the season so far.

As for Darwin, he continues to rack up the shots, with another four registered in north London on Sunday. Indeed, he is averaging 6.10 shots per 90 minutes so far this season, the best rate for any player in the Premier League.

Above: Darwin Nunez’s 6.10 shots per 90 minutes is the best rate for any player in 2022/23

Spurs, meanwhile, went with a 3-5-2 formation with Ivan Perisic (£5.5m) up front alongside Kane.

And it was the latter who pulled the hosts back into the tie, with his 11th league goal of the season and his sixth in a row at home, while Perisic caused plenty of problems for Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) and hit the post either side of half-time.

Elsewhere, Dejan Kulusevski (£8.0m) made an instant impact upon his return, assisting Kane, and could be an interesting Gameweek 16 punt against Leeds United, with his ownership down to just 3.7 per cent in FPL.

ZAHA PUNISHES SELLERS

The third-most sold player ahead of Gameweek 15 – Wilfried Zaha (£7.5m) – punished his sellers with a goal, assist and two bonus points on Sunday.

The Ivory Coast international, deployed through the middle in the absence of Odsonne Edouard (£5.4m), pounced on a mistake by the West Ham United defence to equalise, before he set up Michael Olise (£5.4m) in the dying seconds.

Palace had 15 shots compared to the hosts’ five and scored away from home in the Premier League for the first time since August. In fact, they hadn’t won any of their last seven Premier League away games prior to Gameweek 15.

“It’s been coming. I think away from home we had some difficult games but overall our performances were quite good. I think today again it was a really good performance from the team. This is the way we want to play the game. From the start we were really positive. We had a really good approach, managed to control the game, had possession, dominated the game and this is one of the parts of the game we need to improve: trying to score those goals when we’re on top.” – Patrick Vieira

As for West Ham, David Moyes conceded that his side had not performed well enough, despite the return of the influential Lucas Paqueta (£5.9m).

In an attempt to get more from his troops, Gianluca Scamacca (£6.7m) was withdrawn at half-time, although it wasn’t injury-related.

“I don’t think he offered us enough at the time and I needed to try and do something different” – David Moyes on why Gianluca Scamacca was taken off at half-time