It’s the turn of two markedly different Gameweek 27 matches to get the Scout Notes treatment.
Below, we’ll run through all the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Manchester United v Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest v Arsenal.
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Isak injury latest, Szoboszlai threat + Palmer (c) relief
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Why Spurs rested key players, Wissa + Haaland joy
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Mateta again, Rogers goal + Robinson benching
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Palmer’s misses, ‘OOP’ Neto + Evanilson’s first minutes
- READ MORE: Round-up of Wednesday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
- READ MORE: Round-up of Tuesday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
The numbers and graphics you see in this article come from our Premium Members Area. Here, you can access Opta player and team data from every single Premier League fixture.
CREATIVE BRUNO
Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) turned in another promising audition ahead of Blank Gameweek 29. A pair of assists against Ipswich made it two double-digit scores in as many matches.
With Amad Diallo (£5.4m) off the table as an option against Leicester in a few weeks’ time, the Red Devils captain could receive more backing for a match in which the reverse fixture brought a season-high 17-point haul.
After Wednesday’s matches, Fernandes’s four chances created were the second-most of any FPL player in Gameweek 27. The Portuguese had no shots of his own but did whip in a total of eight crosses.
One deep free-kick forced the own goal for his side’s first of the match. His corner delivery two minutes into the second half brought what proved to be the winner in this five-goal thriller.
WHO NEEDS A CENTRE-FORWARD?
Harry Maguire (£4.9m) netted that winner with a thumping header. He was an aerial threat all evening long, firing off three of the team’s 10 total attempts. All were headers and all hit the target.
The other big chance of the evening from Ruben Amorim’s crew belonged to another centre-back. Matthijs de Ligt (£4.9m) netted United’s second, following up a Diogo Dalot (£5.0m) rebound.
It was Maguire’s third goal of the season (albeit his first in the league), all of them headers. It was de Ligt’s second of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. United’s two main forward options, Joshua Zirkzee (£6.5m) and Rasmus Højlund (£6.9m) have scored a combined five league goals, none of them since Gameweek 15.
With Lisandro Martínez (£4.4m) out for the foreseeable future, both men will hope to continue in Amorim’s back three. However, we’ll see at least one (enforced) change to United’s backline starting in Gameweek 28…
DORGU’S NIGHT TO FORGET, PHILOGENE’S TO REMEMBER
A horrific mix-up between left wing-back Patrick Dorgu (£4.5m) and goalkeeper André Onana (£5.0m) led to Ipswich’s opener.
The result? A first-ever Premier League goal gifted to Jaden Philogene (£5.3m), who would have struggled to miss such a high xG chance in front of a wide open net.
Wednesday evening promptly worsened for Dorgu. His caution for an awfully mistimed tackle on the cusp of half-time was upgraded to a straight red card by VAR. Save for the unlikely event that his dismissal is overturned, it means the young Dane will miss Gameweek 28 – Arsenal (H) – as well as Blank Gameweek 29’s visit to Leicester. With Luke Shaw (£4.9m) also unavailable, chances are the versatile Dalot will shift over to the left to allow Noussair Mazraoui (£4.3m) back in on the right flank.
Shortly after Dorgu’s night ended in dismay, Philogene’s became doubly delightful. With his side trailing in first-half stoppage time, the Ipswich man curled a cross that went all the way in.
Two somewhat fortunate goals are unlikely to shift the dial toward Philogene as being his side’s chief attacking threat, even if top scorer Liam Delap‘s (£5.6m) own returns have been patchy lately. Still, the right-winger has now started and completed two matches in a row for the first time this season.
He led his team and United’s for attempts on the night, with four of Ipswich’s 12. The former Villa man was responsible for each of their three shots on target.
AMORIM TO SPEAK TO GARNACHO
An indirect casualty of Dorgu’s dismissal, meanwhile, was Alejandro Garnacho (£5.9m).
Mazraoui replaced Garnacho after United went down to 10 men but the winger headed back to the dressing room rather than the bench.
Amorim said post-match that he was “going to talk with Garnacho about that”.
It comes after the 20-year-old was previously dropped for the Manchester derby in December, in part due to his attitude and poor training performances. He has since returned to the fold at Old Trafford – unlike Marcus Rashford (£6.7m) – but has only started five of United’s 11 league outings after that point. He hasted 90 minutes just twice and failed to register any goals or assists.
Amorim did acknowledge the fact that it was “cold and wet” in Manchester on Wednesday evening, with Garnacho seemingly having indicated that he wished to take off his raIn-soaked shirt after his withdrawal.
CLEAN SHEETS FOR ALL
Defensive assets from both Arsenal and Forest are popular in FPL, and two of the league’s most defensively sound sides duly played out a goalless stalemate at the City Ground on Wednesday.
That meant clean sheets all around for those who started the likes of David Raya (£5.5m), Gabriel Magalhães (£6.3m) or William Saliba (£6.2m), as well as Matz Sels (£5.0m), Ola Aina (£5.4m) or Nikola Milenković (£4.8m).
But in the end, it was the cheapest defender on the pitch who turned in the highest score, with Neco Williams (£4.4m) grabbing all three bonus points.
The young Welshman beat out the more popular Gabriel and Saliba to that honour in large part thanks to winning four fouls, completing six tackles and registering four clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI)
If it tells you anything about how the evening unfolded between the two sides nearest points-wise to league leaders Liverpool, by the end Arsenal had five defenders – Gabriel, Saliba, Kieran Tierney (£4.3m) Ben White (£6.1m) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (£4.8m) – and two defensive midfielders – Declan Rice (£6.2m) and Thomas Partey (£4.9m) – on the pitch.
MERINO A STRIKER AGAIN
Such was the nature of this match that in 95 minutes of action, neither side managed to record a total xG greater than 1.0 (Forest 0.40, Arsenal 0.99).
The Gunners had 13 attempts but only one on target (something their manager lamented after full-time). Nine of their shots were blocked, while Forest were on target with two of their six attempts.
Mikel Arteta opted once again to deploy Mikel Merino (£6.0m) as a makeshift striker on Wednesday, despite the move lacking the surprise element it brought when first used to great effect in Gameweek 25.
The Spaniard was marginally barely prominent against Forest, having two attempts in the box – both headers – and one big chance. He registered his side’s only shot on target to force a save from Sels, who had earlier done well to catch a Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) effort that found him via the woodwork.
Leandro Trossard (£6.9m), stationed on the left of Arsenal’s front three for the second match in a row, also managed two attempts, as did Rice. Merino also created two chances, a tally which could only be bettered among his colleagues by Rice’s three (with one big chance created, BCC) and Trossard’s four.
The latter duo are among the Premier League’s top creators over the last six Gameweeks as well.
However, none of that changes the fact that it’s now consecutive matches without a goal for the Gunners for the first time this season, as Liverpool pull ever-further ahead in the title race.
WHY NWANERI + CALAFIORI CAME OFF
Elsewhere, young star Ethan Nwaneri (£4.6m) managed a match-high three attempts before being replaced by Raheem Sterling (£6.7m) with a quarter of an hour to go.
Arteta confirmed after the match that Nwaneri’s withdrawal was due to cramp. Calafiori’s half-time substitution was a result of him being on a yellow card from the third minute of the match.
“He was cramping from minute 45, so we stretched him as much as we possibly could but we cannot lose the player and he was really fatigued.” – Mikel Arteta on Ethan Nwaneri’s substitution.
SAKA AND MARTINELLI LATEST
The Gunners boss will no doubt be counting down the days until Bukayo Saka (£10.2m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£6.6m) return from their respective hamstring injuries.
Speaking post-match, Arteta said he “thinks” the duo could return after the next international break, in time for Fulham’s visit in Gameweek 30.
“I think so but again let’s see how they evolve in the next few weeks to make the right steps and then after that, they’ve been out for a long, long time, so we’re going to have to integrate them as well gradually. They are evolving well but they’re still a bit far.” – Arteta on Saka and Martinelli possibly being ready to face Fulham in Gameweek 30.
Arteta added that Martinelli is currently the likelier of the two to return to his line-up first, but an exact timeline is as yet unknown:
“We have a meeting tomorrow to discuss where they are, especially Gabi, who probably has a chance before Bukayo to come in, but how soon that is, we’ll have to see how it evolves in the next week or 10 days.” – Arteta on not rushing Saka and Martinelli back too soon
WOOD BLANK
Chris Wood (£7.2m) failed to find a way past Arsenal’s backline, having been starved of service for large stretches of the match and restricted to just two shots, one of which was on target.
Ryan Yates (£4.8m) did well to create two chances in his half-hour outing, the same number as Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.5m) managed all evening long.
Forest’s captain was introduced to the fray just after the hour mark, with Anthony Elanga (£5.3m) the man to make way after failing to create any chances or register any shots.
Nuno Espírito Santo, who was happy with his side’s resolute display after some leaky recent defence performances, offered no explanation for that substitution, with it likely being down simply to Forest needing an extra body in the middle of the park rather than out wide.
