On Saturday, Aston Villa came from behind to beat Fulham 3-1, with Morgan Rogers (£5.3m), Ollie Watkins (£9.1m) and an Issa Diop (£4.5m) own goal steering Unai Emery’s side to victory.
Our latest Scout Notes reflects on the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points at Craven Cottage.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 8: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Welbeck injury latest, Son given assist + Johnson praise
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Arteta on Saka +Saliba to miss Gameweek 9
ROGERS + WATKINS ON TARGET
Ollie Watkins netted his fifth goal of the season at Craven Cottage, powerfully heading in Youri Tielemans’ (£5.5m) pinpoint delivery.
The England international, who has quickly made up for his slow start, was a constant thorn in Fulham’s side, making countless superb off-the-ball runs, one of which caused Joachim Andersen’s (£4.3m) red card.
Before scoring, two shots were saved by Bernd Leno (£5.0m).
After Saturday’s goal, Watkins has now scored or assisted in five of his last six starts to total 45 points – only Cole Palmer (£10.8m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) have more over the same period.
The talented Morgan Rogers was also able to get in on the act, finding the net with the aid of a hefty deflection.
He may have spurned a golden opportunity later in the first half, but Rogers is now up to four attacking returns in his last four starts, a period which has seen him rack up seven goal attempts, six shots in the box, two big chances, 25 penalty box touches and five key passes.
“He is a talented player. The commitment he has with Aston Villa as he’s from Birmingham. We are trying to push him, tactically as well to get his best position. He has the talent and that’s the most important.” – Unai Emery on Morgan Rogers
VILLA’S LEFT-SIDED ATTACKS
The importance of Aston Villa’s left side in Unai Emery’s lopsided 4-2-3-1 formation was in full effect on Saturday.
Lucas Digne (£4.6m) in particular was superb, pushing on from left-back and providing the width down his flank. He claimed his third assist of the season, whipping it in for Issa Diop’s own goal.
As for Jacob Ramsey (£5.4m), he returned to the starting XI after missing Gameweek 7 and subsequently put in his best performance of the season, supplying the assist for the equaliser. He should have added a second, too, creating an even better chance for Rogers.
In Gameweek 8, 45% of Villa’s key passes stemmed from the left channel, compared to just 18% on the right.
“We were getting through the left side with Ramsey and Digne. We were speaking in the dressing room to try to improve the last passes into the box. Four times we had a good chance to score through them.” – Unai Emery
There were plenty of other Villa talking points at Craven Cottage, with Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) saving a penalty and Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) an unused substitute after his “small injury”.
Jaden Philogene (£5.3m) was also given his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card.
Villa are now unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions, with Bologna and Bournemouth up next, both at home.
It starts to get trickier for Emery’s men thereafter, however, with away trips to Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Chelsea.
RAUL’S IMPACT
Raul Jimenez (£5.7m) had given Fulham an early lead, latching onto Bernd Leno’s goal kick before slotting it past Martinez.
The Mexicans’ return to form has largely gone unnoticed in FPL, with his ownership still sitting under 8%.
However, he’s now scored four goals in his last five starts, a run which also included a spectacular assist at Manchester City. Had Andreas Pereira (£5.3m) converted his penalty on Saturday, he would have added another three points to his name too.
Given the nature of Pereira’s miss (which was awful!), you’d expect Raul to step up and take the next one, having tucked away his spot-kick against Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 6.
“I have to praise him for the hard work that he put in on the pitch. I was thinking of protecting him in the last minutes of the game. He played last Wednesday and almost had 90 minutes [for Mexico]. He arrived and we had to protect him a little bit so he performed at his level.” – Marco Silva on Raul Jimenez, who lasted the full 90 minutes on Saturday
Elsewhere, Emile Smith Rowe (£5.7m) returned to the starting XI but was largely anonymous, with no shots and no key passes.
As for Joachim Andersen, he’ll now sit out Gameweek 9 through suspension.
It’s a concern for Fulham, given how vulnerable they looked with Sander Berge (£5.0m), who isn’t really a holding midfielder, protecting the back four.
Next up for Marco Silva’s side is a trip to Everton.
