More FA Cup action to reflect on as we pick out the main talking points for Fantasy managers from the games involving the Premier League clubs.
Featuring in these mini-Scout Notes are Ipswich Town, Everton, Bournemouth and Fulham.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
| Goals | Assists | |
|---|---|---|
| Coventry 1-4 Ipswich Town | Hirst pen, J Clarke x2, Philogene | Szmodics, Hirst, Broadhead, J Clarke |
| Everton 0-2 Bournemouth | Semenyo pen, Jebbison | – |
| Wigan Athletic 1-2 Fulham | Muniz x2 | Sessegnon, Pereira |
TEAM SELECTION/ROTATION
| Starting XI changes from Gameweek 24 | Players who kept their place (mins) | Other mins for selected players | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ipswich Town | 11 | – | Palmer (90), Burgess (90), J Clarke (90), Hirst (79), Philogene (79), Szmodics (35), Delap (11) |
| Everton | 1 | Pickford (90), O’Brien (90), Tarkowski (90), Branthwaite (90), Ndiaye (90), Beto (90), Gueye (84), Garner (74), Doucoure (65), Lindstrom (65) | Young (90), Alcaraz (25) |
| Bournemouth | 3 | Arrizabalaga (90), Cook (90), Zabarnyi (90), Huijsen (90), Kerkez (90), Christie (90), Adams (90), Semenyo (90) | Tavernier (78), Jebbison (78), Winterburn (64), Kluivert (26), Brooks (12), Ouattara (12) |
| Fulham | 10 | Castagne (90) | Muniz (90), Andreas (75), Iwobi (15), Traore (15), Smith Rowe (4) |
MYKOLENKO ABSENCE
Everton still have one more Double Gameweek 24 fixture to go, against Liverpool in midweek. Owners of Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.4m) will be sitting nervously before then as their budget defender is an early concern for the Merseyside derby.
The Ukraine international sat out Saturday’s defeat to Bournemouth with a calf issue.
“Myko felt his calf this morning when I saw him. We had the chance we could change it and it was easy enough done. I’ve no idea yet about the outcome but he just felt it a wee bit tight.” – David Moyes
Nathan Patterson (£4.4m) was also absent with a hamstring injury that will likely rule him out of Wednesday, too.
IRAOLA RESTS THREE
Andoni Iraola’s squad is threadbare but he still found a way of resting three of his four-strong Premier League attack on Saturday.
Justin Kluivert (£5.9m), David Brooks (£4.9m) and Dango Ouattara (£5.1m) all had welcome breathers, limited to second-half substitute appearances. Rookie Ben Winterburn (£4.5m), fit-again Marcus Tavernier (£5.4m) and recalled loanee Daniel Jebbison (£4.5m) started instead.
“But especially in the cup, you have to consider, there is an option [for] extra time. It can be very important who finishes the game. So we decided to, as you said, leave on the bench players that have started recently, like Dango, Justin, Brooksy to have always the chance to finish strong.” – Andoni Iroala
Luis Sinisterra (£4.8m) might be the next attacking alternative to return. He has started only one league match all season (in Gameweek 1) but we might see a small reduction in the minutes of Kluivert and co when the Colombian is available, even if he’s only going to be mostly used as an impact substitute.
“It’s difficult to say for me now but I expect, according how they are going, I think Alex [Scott] can have a chance [in Gameweek 25], Sini can have a chance. I think they are the ones that are closest to a return.
“But we’ll talk in the preview because there’s still one week and I don’t want to say that they will be there because I really don’t know.” – Andoni Iraola
SEMENYO DEPUTISES ON PENS
Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m) was the last man standing in attack, not just starting but lasting the whole 90 minutes. He is, as he has been all season, the most reliable Bournemouth attacker for game-time.
Regular penalty taker Kluivert was off the field when Semenyo won a first-half penalty, so the Ghanaian winger dusted himself down and converted the spot-kick himself. That was, in fact, the first-ever penalty of his senior career.
“Antoine is in a lovely moment. He’s full of confidence. He’s finishing both legs, even today. At the end, I think he cleared [off] the line defensively. I think he’s associating very well with Milos [Kerkez] in that left side and I’m happy. We will try to keep him there and as long as he can continue doing the things that he’s doing, it’s going to be very, very valuable for us, yes.” – Andoni Iroala
Jebbison bundled in a scrappy second but it was when the regulars were introduced that the attacking swagger returned, with Kluivert clearly a man brimming with confidence: one jinking run ended with a saved shot and he attempted to chip Jordan Pickford (£5.1m) – probably ill advisedly – with another late effort. Semenyo, who yet again finished with the game’s most shots, and Dango were also denied in the same move.
There was encouragement for Everton, too, despite the defeat.
Rare errors from James Tarkowski (£4.8m) led to the two Bournemouth goals, rather than collective sloppiness.
At the other end, Iliman Ndiaye (£5.5m) had a shot saved at close range and a header cleared off the line. Everton hit the woodwork on three occasions, via a Charly Alcaraz (£4.9m) free-kick, a Jake O’Brien (£4.5m) header and a Jack Harrison (£5.2m) cross.
Alcaraz impressed in the ‘Doucoure’ role when introduced in the 65th minute.
“I just felt that there was a slightly different element, gives us more decisions, which would make us more unpredictable as well.
“But I was pleased with what he what he’s shown and he he had a great effort which hits the post from the free-kick, which he was a bit unlucky [with]. So, I thought he I thought he started really well.” – David Moyes on Charly Alcaraz
ALL CHANGE FOR FULHAM + IPSWICH
Of the 22 Fulham and Ipswich Town players who started in Gameweek 24, only Timothy Castagne (£4.2m) survived.
Marco Silva and Kieran McKenna rang the changes for their respective clubs. Antonee Robinson (£5.1m) was rested altogether, while Raul Jimenez (£5.6m) and Leif Davis (£4.4m) were unused substitutes and Liam Delap (£5.6m), Alex Iwobi (£5.8m) and Emile Smith Rowe (£5.2m) contributed late cameos.
Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m) certainly laid down a marker, scoring twice for Fulham – via a stooping header and a finish from a chipped through-ball – away to Wigan Athletic. Andreas Pereira (£5.0m) claimed the assist for the latter, one of six chances he created.
If and when the Cottagers get a Double Gameweek later in the season, the main deterrent to either Fulham forward is their positional rival.
“It’s great competition between him and Raul, definitely. It’s always good when you have two strikers scoring goals – and important goals – for us.
“The best example is in the last Premier League game, against Newcastle, when they both scored. When you have a chance to start, like Rodrigo, you have to step in – and he did it.” – Marco Silva on Rodrigo Muniz
At the other end, the second-string Fulham defence were mostly comfortable. Seven of Wigan’s 10 shots were from outside the box, including Jonny Smith’s superb leveller.
Ipswich had it mostly easy at Football League opponents, too. George Hirst (£5.4m) converted an early penalty with Delap off the field before Jack Clarke (£5.4m) took over, notching a first-half brace and teeing up Jaden Philogene (£5.3m) for the visitors’ fourth goal. Just to underscore how much we have to take FA Cup weekend with a pinch of salt, Clarke had pretty much fallen to fourth in the left-wing pecking order at Ipswich. Coventry might be many of these players’ levels, and indeed the type of opposition they’ll be facing in 2025/26.
There was some good and bad on the team news front.
Sammie Szmodics (£5.7m) suffered a recurrence of an ankle issue on his comeback and will now be assessed. New signing Alex Palmer (£4.5m) had a solid debut between the sticks, however, and may keep his place for Gameweek 25.
“I thought he did really well. He showed his qualities, some strong saves, some good presence in the box, lots of communication, he talks really well and he made good decisions when the ball came back to him and on his distribution.
“It was a perfect opportunity to get him a game, really. That’s him up and running and we trust him to play in any game.” – Kieran McKenna on Alex Palmer, via EADT
