Our Gameweek 35 Scout Notes continue with two more of Saturday’s matches.
Here, we look at the key Fantasy talking points from West Ham United v Liverpool and Fulham v Crystal Palace.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 35: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Schar + Ait-Nouri injury latest, Isak + Wilson united
SALAH V KLOPP
We got a pre-deadline heads-up on a benching for Mohamed Salah (£13.5m) on Saturday, thanks to Liverpool being involved in the early kick-off.
There’s scant chance of that in Gameweek 36: not only is there a Friday deadline but the Reds aren’t in action until Sunday afternoon.
Will Salah be benched again, for the third time in four league matches? He’s not done much to warrant a start based on recent on-field displays, but then again we could say the same about several of his teammates.
Aside from the performances, there is now a player-manager spat that has to be resolved.
The Egyptian and Jurgen Klopp were involved in a set-to just before Salah was thrown on in east London, the winger reacting angrily to something his boss had said as he prepared to enter the field of play.
A heated exchange between Mohamed Salah and Jürgen Klopp on the sidelines just before West Ham’s equaliser 😳
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Klopp tried to downplay the beef after full-time; Salah did the opposite.
“We spoke about that in the dressing room and it’s done for me, that’s all.” – Jurgen Klopp
“There is going to be fire today if I speak.” – Mohamed Salah
The smart betting money would be on a training ground reconciliation and more defusing in this Friday’s press conference.
Whether that extends to a start in Gameweek 36 is another question. You could have a fired-up Salah venting his fury against a Tottenham Hotspur side that has conceded on seven occasions in their last two matches. Or you could have a £13.5m substitute reduced to another late cameo.
Not far off 200,000 of Salah’s owners aren’t waiting around to find out more:
DIAZ THE SHINING LIGHT
Darwin Nunez (£7.7m) was also among the substitutes for this one. That’s his third benching in four games in all competitions, with any lingering interest in him from a Fantasy perspective evaporating.
Even without him miscueing and air-kicking in attack, Liverpool were wasteful on Saturday.
The Reds haven’t been great over this four-match spell in which they’ve lost out on eight points; far from it.
But the lacklustre displays have also coincided with a period of real profligacy. Liverpool are actually top in the division for expected goals (xG) over the last four Gameweeks, so they’ve still been carving out chances even when labouring.
Above: No team has ‘underachieved’ more in xG terms than Liverpool over the last four Gameweeks
Luis Diaz (£7.7m) has wasted his fair share of chances in the last month but he is arguably the one attacker who emerges from this period with much credit. Bright again at West Ham, it was from his pass that Andrew Robertson (£6.5m) notched the visitors’ first goal.
Looking at the few positives from this ruinous week, both Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m) got through three starts in seven days. While some of those starts ended with early withdrawals, their fitness levels are evidently good enough going forward.
BOWEN’S 20-GOAL TARGET
With no ‘double’ and Manchester City on the final day, there’ll be few takers in West Ham United players.
But Jarrod Bowen (£8.4m) at least has the carrot of a 20-goal target, which suggests he’ll continue to be a nailed starter in the remaining Gameweeks when rotation threatens to rage elsewhere in the division.
“Jarrod has got 20 in all competitions. I was hoping he would have 20 out-and-out Premier League goals. He has got 16 at the moment, so I am sort of pushing him.
“If he can get four in the last three games it would be a great record to try and get 20 Premier League goals.” – David Moyes
It might be a hard sell but for anyone willing to overlook the doublers in Gameweek 37, West Ham do have a leaky Luton Town at home.
Bowen had nodded in a Mohammed Kudus (£6.7m) cross to put West Ham in front, later teeing up Michail Antonio (£5.7m) for the game’s final goal.
That’s four goals in seven for Antonio now.
Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) returned to the starting XI for this game, scoring a comical own-goal after some penalty box pinball.
EZE FITNESS LATEST
Eberechi Eze (£6.1m) sat out Crystal Palace’s draw with Fulham on Saturday.
He had been listed as a doubt ahead of the game, with Oliver Glasner not taking any risks come matchday.
“We were close to starting him. We discussed this morning whether it made sense. But we didn’t want to take a risk – we have nine days until the next game.” – Oliver Glasner on Eberechi Eze, via London News Online
This was the Eagles’ third game in a week, with the efforts of Double Gameweek 34 taking their toll. Jean–Philippe Mateta (£5.1m) was, in his manager’s words, taken off because he was “a little bit tired”, for instance.
But while there was a bit of wilting late on, Glasner’s in-form side showed what they are capable of in a frenetic opening salvo. Mateta, Chris Richards (£3.9m) and especially Michael Olise (£5.6m) wasted good chances, with Fulham on the ropes.
With nine days of rest until Gameweek 36, and with Eze and Olise likely to be reunited in the starting XI alongside Mateta, you could imagine them terrorising a very suspect Manchester United backline.
MUNIZ BACK ON THE SCORESHEET
With Mateta blanking, it was Rodrigo Muniz (£4.5m) who came out on top in the battle of the budget forwards.
Having tested Dean Henderson (£4.4m) from close range, he then nodded Fulham in front from four yards out just after the interval.
That was his 11th attacking return in 13 matches but it was also his first goal in five, with Marco Silva’s perseverance with him an indication of just how pleased he is with the striker’s all-round contribution.
“Sometimes they do so well and play amazing games and they don’t score. Probably this afternoon wasn’t his best game and he scored.
“For example, away against West Ham he didn’t score but he put in a top performance in my opinion. Last week against Liverpool, he was top level too and he didn’t score.” – Marco Silva on Rodrigo Muniz
Muniz has had six more shots, and seven more shots in the box, than any other forward since the March international break.
