Manchester City and Chelsea began their Gameweek 37 doubleheaders with wins on Saturday.
We pick the bones out of their matches in our latest Scout Notes.
GUARDIOLA ON GVARDIOL
Pep Guardiola loves a counternarrative.
When Manchester City drop points, he’ll frequently say that his side were “so, so good”. Last week, after the thumping win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, he disagreed with journalists who said that City played well.
So when Josko Gvardiol (£5.1m) bagged two goals in another all-action display down the left flank, it was almost inevitable that his manager would find fault.
“No, when we signed him, [I didn’t expect goals]. Some headers and set pieces, yes.
“Second half he didn’t play good, he lost a lot of balls. For defenders, the most important thing is to play safe. Play so simple, that’s the most difficult thing.
“After he scores goals, it’s more than welcome, but it’s not his job.” – Pep Guardiola on Josko Gvardiol
Guardiola was at least more generous with his praise for Gvardiol in an interview with TNT Sports and in embargoed quotes released on Sunday evening.
The left-back is already on 21 points for Gameweek 37 – and he might have even had more.
The defender was on a hat-trick when City were awarded a late penalty with Erling Haaland (£14.2m) off the field, but Gvardiol’s Gary Gillespie moment wasn’t to be: substitute Julian Alvarez (£6.4m) instead stepped up to convert.
“Another two goals, happy. Of course a clean sheet, happy as well.
“We were discussing about me taking the penalty and of course, I would like to take it. But we know who the taker is and he takes. So in the end it was Julian and I am happy for him to score a goal.” – Josko Gvardiol
Gvardiol’s second goal arrived from a set piece but his first was yet another example of his open-play threat, a one-two with Kevin De Bruyne (£10.6m) ending with a superbly taken strike.
That was one of seven chances created by De Bruyne, who was unfortunate to emerge with just one assist. Haaland wasted the best of the rest: after the four-goal salvo of last weekend, it was Double Gameweek 25 Haaland who made an appearance in west London.
Phil Foden (£8.5m) trundled in City’s second goal, his sixth strike in four starts.
AKE INJURY LATEST + WHY WALKER WAS BENCHED
Jack Grealish (£7.2m) missed this match through illness, while Nathan Ake (£5.0m) is a new injury concern. He limped out of the Fulham game in the first half, having taken a knock to his foot.
“Jack is recovered from his illness. Nathan wasn’t much better yesterday. Now we are going to train and we will see if he can train or not.
“No, I don’t think it is serious, but I don’t know. We’ll have just three days since the last game tomorrow.” – Pep Guardiola in his pre-match press conference on Monday
The Dutchman’s exit was good news for Kyle Walker (£5.5m) owners. The long-serving defender, benched at Craven Cottage, came on early enough to bank clean sheet points.
In case you missed the quote in our Dugout Discussion, here’s what Guardiola said ahead of kick-off on Walker’s benching:
“Nothing specific. Kyle didn’t train the last two days. Two days ago was partial [training]. We have a game on Tuesday and Ruben is so reliable in these type of games. That is why I have decided for this right now.” – Pep Guardiola on why Ruben Dias returned to his starting XI
John Stones (£5.3m) was only a substitute yet again, meanwhile. This one wasn’t fitness-related.
“[He’s] really OK. Sometimes players make a step up; Manu [Akanji] is playing unbelievable, Nathan [Ake] was unbelievable as well. That’s why [he isn’t starting].
“Jack [Grealish] last season played a lot, this season less. In this team, you have to perform consistently well, well, well for many times.” – Pep Guardiola on why John Stones isn’t starting
PALMER EXCELLENT, JAMES RETURNS
Cole Palmer (£6.3m) captainers have stolen an early march on those backing Haaland but more points were left on the table at the City Ground.
Palmer had already bagged a superb assist for Mykhailo Mudryk‘s (£6.3m) opener when Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m) wasted another one of the England international’s pinpoint through-balls. Thiago Silva (£5.0m) later hit the woodwork from a Palmer free-kick, with the midfielder himself skewing wide from close range.
With Forest on top for periods, this was another one of those games where you’re left wondering where Chelsea would be without their talismanic number 20.
Mauricio Pochettino will surely be more tempted to change things around against Brighton on Wednesday, having named an unchanged side here. Raheem Sterling (£6.8m) had come off the bench to score, while Christopher Nkunku (£7.2m) replaced the ineffective Noni Madueke (£5.3m).
The inverted full-back role for Marc Cucurella (£4.9m) was also abandoned in the second half. Chelsea going back to orthodox full-backs would boost Malo Gusto‘s (£4.3m) chances of a midweek recall. He came on as a substitute here, almost scoring in injury time.
However, he’s not the only one competing for the right-back role. Reece James (£5.3m) was thrown on late in the game, looking sharp and providing the assist for Jackson’s winner.
Both James and Gusto were on the field at the same time against Forest, with Gusto further up the right flank but drifting infield to open up the space for James’ overlaps. However, in midweek, you could envisage more of a job share. James won’t be ready for 90 minutes (his manager said half an hour tops for Forest, and it was less than that), so you could imagine maybe Gusto starting and James coming on earlier to replace him.
“Massive. Unlucky there are only two games ahead and it’s one week but it is important for him to recover his feelings. He is such an important player for us. He is our captain, we all love him. Yes, important, and to see if he can be fit to have the chance to play the Euros.
“We have one more week to work. He is doing well in the training sessions. After four or five months, it’s not the same to train and compete but if he has the possibility to compete in the next two games and be involved, if his coach in the national team believes he can cope with the competition, he will be ready.” – Mauricio Pochettino on the importance of Reece James’ recovery
GOOD MORGAN
Forest could feel hard done by. They were a big part of this five-goal thriller, maybe even deserving of the win let alone a point.
The woodwork was struck on three occasions, while the low-on-confidence Chris Wood (£4.7m) wasted another two close-range sitters. He also saw a lob saved by Djordje Petrovic (£4.7m) when through on goal.
The wing-back system that looked good against Manchester City also worked well against Chelsea. Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.7m) and Callum Hudson–Odoi (£4.7m) shone again, the latter delivering that trademark cut-in and finish from the left for his third goal in two matches. A total of eight strikes in 19 starts is pretty good going.
Gibbs-White meanwhile rose to joint-second in the midfielder assist standings, setting up both of Forest’s goals.
Forest are all but safe – but not mathematically so.
Nuno Espirito Santo won’t be taking any chances in Gameweek 38, so expect a strong team against relegated Burnley.
Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi could come into the thinking as final-day Fantasy gambles, then.
“It is not over. It is virtually. But maybe I am the only person who has seen too many things in football to allow our players to relax. We are going to prepare properly for the next one to finish the season on a high.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
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