The key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United are covered in this article. This includes the latest injury updates on Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) and Alexander Isak (£8.4m).
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SAKA INJURY LATEST
Bukayo Saka went off injured in the 86th minute of Sunday’s north London derby.
Speaking post-match, Mikel Arteta revealed the England international “could not continue” and that the extent of the potential leg/thigh injury was still unclear.
“I don’t know. I made two changes with the front players and suddenly he’s down. I looked at the bench and the options that we had and we had to adapt. I don’t know exactly what it is but he could not continue.” – Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka
Arsenal have a UEFA Champions League tie on Thursday, so Arteta will hopefully give us a fresh update before that match.
Regarding Martin Odegaard’s (£8.3m) injury, Arteta added that “we have to wait and see”.
Prior to limping off, Saka had assisted Gabriel Magalhaes’ (£6.0m) second-half winner. He’s now scored or assisted in every match he’s played for Arsenal this season.
The goal arrived from a corner, taking Arsenal’s tally to 24 goals from set-pieces since the start of last season, the most of any side.
BLUNT SPURS
It has been a poor start to the season for Tottenham, with two losses, a draw and a win from their first four games.
On Sunday, they played well for large periods but even with James Maddison (£7.5m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£6.3m) pushing on from central midfield, they were unable to create high probability chances, despite dominating possession and territory.
The fact it was Arsenal should of course be factored in, but this has been a familiar story for Spurs all season.
Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) did at least return to the starting XI on Sunday, looping a header just wide.
| Total | PL rank | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 68% | 1st |
| Shots | 63 | 4th |
| Big chances | 10 | =9th |
| Expected goals (xG) | 5.58 | 10th |
“The story of our season so far. For the most part we controlled it and created chances but we lacked a bit of belief and conviction in the final third. That’s up to me to fix. It was always going to be a tight game decided by moments. They got the moment, we didn’t. It’s my directive, so it’s me who has to try to give the side the feedback. I don’t think it’s for a lack of trying from the lads. But we’re going through an early part of the season where we’re controlling games, dominating but not getting our reward for it.” – Ange Postecoglou
As for Arsenal, despite missing key players in Odegaard and Declan Rice (£6.3m), they delivered another dogged defensive display.
Led by the excellent Gabriel and William Saliba (£6.0m), they were extremely well drilled, with their collective strength limiting Tottenham’s attacking threat.
David Raya (£5.5m) made some decent saves, with a clean sheet, save point and share of the bonus taking him to the top of the goalkeeper standings.
ISAK SUB EXPLAINED
Alexander Isak was forced off at half-time on Sunday, having suffered an eye injury in the 2-1 win over Wolves.
At the end of the first-half, a clearance from Craig Dawson (£4.5m) caught him flush in the face, seemingly blurring his vision in the process.
When quizzed on an update, Eddie Howe said:
“It was his eye, but I’m not 100% sure what the issue was. I just knew he had to come off. We’ll find out more afterwards. I don’t know whether it’s serious or not, but we absolutely hope not. He’s such an important player for us.” – Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak
Anthony Gordon (£7.4m), who started on his favoured left side, subsequently moved into the centre-forward position, having previously grazed the upright in the first half.
It was substitute Harvey Barnes (£6.4m), however, who proved to be the matchwinner, cutting inside and firing into the far corner from just outside the box.
He’s now produced either a goal or assist in three straight matches, despite limited minutes.
“He’s an outstanding finisher, he really is. He’s lethal coming in on that right foot. He scores all types of goals, that was a long-range strike which was second to none at a big moment for us so I’m delighted with him.” – Eddie Howe on Harvey Barnes
Elsewhere, Nick Pope (£5.0m) made some decent saves (four in total), showing remarkable reflexes to deny Matheus Cunha (£6.5m) late on, while Fabian Schar (£5.4m) returned from suspension with a bang, hauling Newcastle level with a deflected effort.
Lewis Hall (£4.4m) got the nod at left-back over Lloyd Kelly (£4.5m), meanwhile, but struggled defensively.
WOLVES’ POOR RUN
No team has lost more games in the Premier League this calendar year than Wolves (13), yet there were encouraging signs against Newcastle.
They certainly created enough chances to take at least a point and took the lead with a superb counter-attacking goal, with Jorgen Strand Larsen’s (£5.5m) low cross swept home by Mario Lemina (£5.0m).
Strand Larsen also hit the post, and with two attacking returns already in the bag this season, he could start to pick up a bit of interest when Wolves’ fixtures improve in Gameweek 9.
Elsewhere, there was a first start for Brazil midfielder Andre (£5.0m) but Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.5m) had to come off with an ankle problem.
“Rayan [Ait-Nouri] rolled his ankle a little bit, the same one he rolled before, hopefully it’s not too bad but it’s too early to say.” – Gary O’Neil on Rayan Ait-Nouri
