The Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Tuesday’s two top-flight fixtures are covered in our Scout Notes.
Luton Town v Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Burnley are the matches in question.
JESUS HAULS
Arsenal edged a seven-goal thriller at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday, with Declan Rice (£5.4m) scoring the winning goal in the final seconds.
The Gunners have been much more pragmatic this season but racked up 23 shots and scored four times against Luton, with Gabriel Martinelli (£7.8m), Kai Havertz (£7.1m) and Gabriel Jesus (£7.9m) also on the scoresheet.
Jesus added an assist and scooped the maximum bonus, resulting in his first double-digit haul of the season. The Brazilian recently said he’s not the best goalscorer in the world but he certainly creates a lot for his team, with four key passes registered in Gameweek 15.
“He looked really lively today, really active and caused them a lot of problems. He was really mobile, a constant threat and scored a good goal. He was involved in many positive actions for the team as well, so I think we’re getting the best out of him and he’s in a good place.” – Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Jesus
Bukayo Saka (£8.9m) was able to return, too, with his eighth assist of the season. It means the England winger has blanked in just two of his 14 starts in 2023/24.
Defensively, however, there were issues, with David Raya (£4.9m) never looking comfortable and at fault for two of Luton’s goals. As a result, it’s now just one clean sheet in Arsenal’s last five top-flight matches.
TOMIYASU INJURY UPDATE
Takehiro Tomiyasu (£4.5m) missed the trip to Kenilworth Road and looks set to be “out for a while”, despite Mikel Arteta previously saying he was hopeful he’d be involved on Tuesday.
The Japan international is owned by just 0.8% of Fantasy managers, but his injury has implications for Ben White (£5.7m), who should now be a more secure starter over the festive period, especially with Thomas Partey (£4.8m) out too.
“We had a scan and it’s not good news. He’s got an injury in his calf and he’s going to be out for a while.” – Mikel Arteta on Takehiro Tomiyasu
POSITIVES FOR LUTON
Despite defeat, there were plenty of positives for Rob Edwards to take into Sunday’s clash with Manchester City.
Luton have now conceded in all seven of their Premier League matches at Kenilworth Road, but they are more difficult to beat, with decent showings against Spurs, Liverpool and now Arsenal.
“It gets tougher. These are the games we wanted. We’ve probably given a good few memories to some of our supporters here to see Arsenal come here. When I see them clapping at the end, I know we’ve done our job.” – Rob Edwards on facing Man City next
Here, they scored three goals in a Premier League match for the first time this season, which coincided with Rob Edwards freshening up his frontline. Elijah Adebayo (£4.8m) came in to start up front with Jacob Brown (£4.9m) and Andros Townsend (£5.0m) flanking him.
The other change saw Alfie Doughty (£4.4m) return from a hip injury to start, with the wing-back supplying a couple of assists with two great set-piece deliveries.
“We work really hard on both sides of the game. We always have a plan. Arsenal don’t give you a lot. We’ve got really good delivery and we’ve got people who want to attack it. We do a lot of work on it and more so in the last few months. The players are really enjoying it.
We wanted to make it uncomfortable for them. We will probably have to be different away from home when we play them again, but we’ve got to use this place as a bit of a leveller and make it difficult.” – Rob Edwards
IN-FORM HWANG
Hwang Hee-chan’s (£5.6m) fine start to the season continued on Tuesday, as the South Korean moved onto eight goals for the season, with only Erling Haaland (£14.0m), Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) and Son Heung-min (£9.6m) having scored more.
Six of those strikes have been at home, with Hwang’s only Molineux blank in the 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 12.
He’ll get an opportunity to extend that run on Saturday, too, when Wolves host a Nottingham Forest side who have lost their last three matches in a row.
Overall, it was a deserved win for Wolves, but Burnley were the architects of their own downfall. Having got caught trying to play out from the back, Matheus Cunha (£5.6m) was able to feed Hwang, who showed real composure with his finish.
Wolves’ first six home fixtures this season had all been against clubs that finished in the top eight last season. However, they’d performed admirably, taking points off Manchester City, Newcastle United, Spurs and Aston Villa, which always suggested they’d overcome Burnley.
BENTLEY STEPS UP
They didn’t have it all their own way, mind, with Daniel Bentley (£3.9m) forced into a fine double save, first denying Jay Rodriguez (£5.3m) before pushing behind Josh Brownhill’s (£4.7m) effort on the follow up.
The reserve shot-stopper, who is standing in for the injured Jose Sa (£5.0m), has now racked up a remarkable 15 points in the last two Gameweeks.
As for Sa, he was not “100% comfortable” and left out, but Gary O’Neil hopes he will be fit for the weekend.
Elsewhere, budget defenders Toti Gomes (£4.4m) and Craig Dawson (£4.5m) were both among the bonus, while Pablo Sarabia (£4.7m) was handed a rare start and bossed the underlying stats, racking up three shots and three key passes.
Burnley suffered a blow in the first half when Luca Koleosho (£5.0m) was taken off injured, meanwhile. As he limped off, he pointed to his knee, although we are yet to receive an update from Vincent Kompany.
“It’s a massive win for us. I’ve watched a lot of Burnley, they’re very well organised and every team I’ve watched against them has struggled to progress up the pitch with the ball. So, trying to convince the lads that we might not be able to play through this team the way we have done recently, and it might be a case of threatening the ball in behind, getting runners and even if you’re not successful, can you press the next one? We managed to get some success from that, but Burnley are a good side. It’s maybe disrespectful to say ‘job done’, because they won the Championship by some way and were big spenders in the summer. They have every right to be competitive at this level and no Premier League game is easy, so I’m really pleased. It’s a big win.” – Gary O’Neil
