Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from three of Saturday’s matches get the Gameweek 16 Scout Notes underway.
The focus is on Crystal Palace v Liverpool, Sheffield United v Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest here.
BUDGET GOALKEEPERS: TWO IN, TWO OUT
So far this season, we’ve seen eight goalkeepers with a starting price of £4.0m get Premier League minutes.
Two of them saw action on Saturday, with another two dropping out of their sides’ starting XI.
Crystal Palace’s Remi Matthews (£3.9m) joined this select group at Selhurst Park, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute to replace the injured Sam Johnstone (£4.7m).
There’s more on that in the next section.
Returning to the Nottingham Forest XI after five matches on the bench, meanwhile, was Matt Turner (£4.0m).
Ditched by around 450,000 of his FPL owners since his last appearance in Gameweek 10, Turner was one of seven changes that Steve Cooper made to his line-up from the 5-0 defeat to Fulham.
Looking assured on his recall without being overly extended by Wolverhampton Wanderers, it’s Turner’s spot to lose once again between the sticks.
Wolves’ Dan Bentley (£3.9m) and Liverpool’s Caiomhin Kelleher (£4.0m) were back among the substitutes, however, following the returns to fitness of Jose Sa (£5.0m) and Alisson (£5.5m) respectively.
PALACE DECIMATED FOR CLASH WITH MAN CITY
Johnstone was one of three Palace players who limped off with an injury on Saturday, with Jefferson Lerma (£4.7m) and Odsonne Edouard (£5.5m) forced out of the game earlier.
Jordan Ayew (£5.4m) was also dismissed for two bookable offences.
We still await timelines on Messrs Edouard, Lerma and Johnstone but in a worst-case scenario, the Eagles will be without 10 senior players next weekend.
“Edouard – we don’t know, it’s a knee injury. A calf injury to Johnstone. A hamstring injury to Lerma. A suspension for Jordan Ayew.
“I doubt whether Eze will be fit, I doubt whether Tyrick Mitchell will be fit. We’ll put a team out with the players that are left.” – Roy Hodgson
With Palace potentially having to field a third-choice goalkeeper, a stand-in left-back, a completely second-string central midfield and a reserve striker at the Etihad, owners of Manchester City players in FPL will be licking their lips.
LIVERPOOL LUCK OUT
Not that a weakened Palace were pushovers against Liverpool, with Ayew’s red card – the Eagles were leading 1-0 at that point – the catalyst for the visitors’ comeback.
Even by Jurgen Klopp’s admission, Liverpool were awful.
“For 76 minutes, it was a really bad performance. We did have rhythm changes; we didn’t have any kind of acceleration. We had no timing. I don’t know how often we were offside, it was horrendous, so that’s always a bit of a sign that we are a bit too passive and stuff like this, when one passes the ball and the other is already there [in an offside position] – it makes no sense.” – Jurgen Klopp
Perhaps the swift turnaround between games this week took its toll, although Palace were in the same boat.
Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) certainly had Lady Luck on his side, rescuing a double-digit haul from the jaws of a blank. His goal was heavily deflected (although he would have had a penalty had it not gone in), while his ‘assist’ was a pass near the touchline for a goal all of Harvey Elliott‘s (£4.8m) own making.
Darwin Nunez (£7.7m) was the embodiment of the poor display, being caught offside on a number of occasions and fluffing his lines in front of goal. The underlying numbers remain strong over the last six Gameweeks – no forward has had more shots – but he has failed to score on a single occasion in that time.
Despite failing to deliver a return, Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.1m) still left south London with two bonus points thanks in no small part to another six chances created.
OLD MANAGER BOUNCE
Sheffield United followed up their encouraging midweek display against Liverpool with a very first clean sheet of 2023/24.
Lining up with the same 11 players, in the same 4-3-3 set-up, the Blades were compact at the back and dangerous on the break. Chelsea may well have more problems in their Gameweek 17 fixture than we envisaged this time last week.
There are budget assets on show throughout the team, from the joint-cheapest defender in the game, Auston Trusty (£3.9m), to two of the lowest-price forwards in the shape of Will Osula (£4.3m) and Cameron Archer (£4.6m).
Oli McBurnie (£5.4m) is now free from suspension, so will potentially come in for Osula next week.
“I thought Will [Osula] was a little bit off it, it was tough today for him because you know of his efforts in midweek.” – Chris Wilder
But Archer is thriving in a new left-wing role, following up his four shots in midweek with two efforts and four chances created here. He should have scored with one of his breakaway opportunities, while substitute Anis Ben Slimane (£4.7m) ought to have done likewise with the ‘big chance’ that Archer teed up.
James McAtee (£4.4m), a scorer on nine occasions in the Championship last season, scored a stunner of a goal to win Saturday’s match. He’s playing a tad further forward now, too, on the right wing of the three-man attack.
George Baldock (£3.9m) didn’t make it back from injury for this one, however.
BLADES BLUNT BRYAN-LESS BEES
Brentford can shrug off their goal concession as a bit of a freak occurrence, given that it’s a Goal of the Month contender.
Of more concern would be the lack of creativity without the influential Bryan Mbeumo (£7.0m).
This was the first time this season that Sheffield United allowed less than 1.0 expected goals conceded (xGC) in a match.
Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.7m), Neal Maupay (£4.9m) and Yoane Wissa (£5.9m) were the front three at Bramall Lane, failing to muster much threat and earning only lukewarm praise from their manager.
“I see Wissa, Maupay and Lewis-Potter do everything they can to try and be decisive. Unfortunately today, they didn’t succeed at a top level.
“It’s clear we lost our best offensive player this season [in Mbeumo]. I think it’s seven goals and four assists, that says everything. To take any top producer out of any of the top sides, they will also feel it.
“It is up to me to find solutions for it.” – Thomas Frank
To be fair to the attackers, a lengthy injury list is affecting the supply line from midfield. Mathias Jensen (£5.4m) should be back in Gameweek 17 to help with that, while Mikkel Damsgaard (£4.8m) turned in a decent showing off the bench after he himself recently returned from a long lay-off.
FIVE IN FIVE FOR CUNHA
Goliath-conquerors Wolves continued their curious habit of slightly underwhelming against the teams around or below them in the table.
Having failed to beat Luton Town, Fulham, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace, and having squeaked undeserved wins over Burnley and Everton, they could only manage a draw against a Nottingham Forest side that were battered 5-0 by the Cottagers in midweek.
“No doubt we have been better against teams that come onto us.” – Gary O’Neil
The absence of Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.5m) and Pedro Neto (£5.4m), arguably Wolves’ two most creative players, is keenly felt when the onus is on them to break teams down. An away match at West Ham United next week may actually be a better fit.
Matheus Cunha (£5.6m) continued his fine recent form, delivering an attacking return for the fifth straight league match. He had five goal attempts against the Blades, taking him to 24 in the last eight Gamweeks – that’s more than Ollie Watkins (£8.4m) has had.
