It’s time to look back on two more of Wednesday’s Gameweek 30 fixtures now.
This time it’s Bournemouth 1-2 Ipswich Town and Liverpool 1-0 Everton.
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- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 30 round-up: Wednesday’s goals, assists, bonus + stats
KLUIVERT INJURY LATEST
Declared a doubt for Wednesday’s match by his manager in the pre-match press conference, Justin Kluivert (£6.3m) was unsurprisingly absent for Bournemouth’s clash with Ipswich.
The Dutch midfielder may not even be back in Gameweek 31, judging by Iraola’s words at full-time.
“I don’t know. I think he has not an injury but probably an overload in his muscle. It’s true that we just have less than 60-something hours or something like this, so it’s going to be difficult I think.” – Andoni Iraola on whether Justin Kluivert will be fit for Gameweek 31
CHERRIES POPPED?
Kluivert’s absence didn’t help on Wednesday but Bournemouth’s slump in form long pre-dates the Dutchman’s muscle fatigue.
The Cherries are winless in five league games and haven’t won a match (outside of penalties) in any competition since Southampton away in mid-February.
Bournemouth have had more shots (24) than anyone else in Gameweek 30 so far but struggled for clear openings. Over half of their 1.87 xG came in the lead-up to their goal, when Evanilson (£5.7m) tapped in from a saved Lewis Cook (£5.0m) shot.
Bear in mind that this Ipswich Town side were the only club in England’s top four divisions without a win in 2025 before Wednesday.
Iraola summed it all up in 10 words after full-time.
“Our offensive players are not in the form they were.” – Andoni Iraola
Dango Ouattara (£5.0m), recalled here, and Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) certainly look like they’re short on confidence. Both wingers had six shots on Wednesday, only one of which was on target.
It is, perhaps, just a regression to the mean. The goals bonanza that peaked in Gameweek 23 with a 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest was, perhaps, just a happy blip for the Premier League’s second-biggest xG underachievers of 2024/25.
Above: Bournemouth’s xG v goals in 2024/25 (rolling four-game average). The ‘change in manager’ was merely Andoni Iraola’s touchline ban.
DAVIS + HUTCHINSON MISS OUT
Ipswich were without regulars Leif Davis (£4.3m) and Omari Hutchinson (£5.2m) for this one. The pair were affected by leg and hamstring issues respectively, with Kieran McKenna unsure how long they’ll be out for.
Elsewhere, Cameron Burgess‘s (£3.8m) fine display on his recall suggests semi-popular budget defender Jacob Greaves (£3.9m) may struggle to reclaim his place. Every single defender in Ipswich’s line-up at the Vitality Stadium cost less than £4.0m, not that Wednesday’s win will lead to a rush in purchases.
Liam Delap (£5.6m) took his goals total to a commendable 11 with a thumping finish for Ipswich’s second strike. Nathan Broadhead (£4.9m) had earlier broken the deadlock.
Survival is still unlikely but victory in a must-win game against Wolves in Gameweek 31 would keep things just about interesting, especially with a favourable four-match run to close the season out.
SALAH KEPT QUIET
Liverpool bounced back to winning ways after successive cup exits but this was a tense, tight affair.
Arne Slot’s approach has always been less heavy-metal than Jurgen Klopp but it was tough going on Wednesday, with Everton doing their best to frustrate their hosts and posing a threat on the counter-attack.
“Hard-fought, definitely, but that was no surprise. Everton were nine games in a row unbeaten, hardly ever concede a goal, hardly ever concede a chance, defend with 10 players apart from Beto in and around their 18-yard box. With players like [James] Tarkowski and [Jarrad] Branthwaite it is almost of no use to bring a cross in because they head every ball away. So, they are a team that is difficult to play against because they are also a threat on the counter-attack with Beto. Every throw-in they get and every free-kick they get against us, you have to defend that and that’s what makes it so difficult.” – Arne Slot
Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) epitomised the struggle, following up a non-performance at Wembley with a very quiet display here. The Egyptian mustered just one attempt all game, the only time this has happened in the league this season.
An expected goal involvement (xGI) figure of 0.17 was, indeed, his lowest of 2024/25. Perhaps we ought to give a reborn Everton credit, as they had limited his opportunities in the reverse fixture (albeit didn’t stop his scoring), too:
Above: Mohamed Salah’s lowest xGI figures of 2024/25
Diogo Jota (£7.2m), surprisingly getting the nod again after recent sub-par showings up top, repaid his manager’s faith with a well-worked winner. Luis Diaz (£7.5m) was arguably the brightest spark on the night, playing a part in nine of Liverpool’s 17 shots (three efforts, six chances created).
Cody Gakpo (£7.4m) was again limited to substitute duty: we haven’t seen him in a starting XI since Gameweek 24.
And poor Jarell Quansah (£3.9m) can’t catch a break. Despite the absence of three right-backs through injury, Arne Slot still preferred Curtis Jones (£5.3m) in that position over the budget FPL defender. With Conor Bradley (£4.7m) back in training, Quansah’s window of opportunity is closing once again.
“Jarell did quite OK in that position, to be fair, and he would have helped us with set-pieces. But I felt – we felt – that we had to play better with the ball than we did in the away game. It’s a risk to play a midfielder over there maybe. But I knew that [Jones] could help with his creativity in this position because that’s what you lack of course when Trent is not playing for you. He did very well defensively also so a strong performance from him.” – Arne Slot
BETO THREAT
Everton’s threat evaporated in the second half, with no shots after the 52nd minute.
But they had the better chances before the break, with Beto (£5.0m) having a breakaway goal denied by a tight offside and then striking the inside of the post with another huge opening.
Carlos Alcaraz (£4.9m) also wasted a clear headed opportunity, while there were numerous instances of a final pass letting the Toffees down on the counter.
Beto certainly gets his opportunities: this was the seventh match in eight in which he’s had at least one ‘big chance’. With all of them going begging in the last four Gameweeks, however, you wonder how long it’ll be before the fit-again Armando Broja (£5.3m) gets his shot at leading the line.
Iliman Ndiaye (£5.2m) should add more quality in the final third: he returned as a substitute at Anfield. With Dwight McNeil (£5.1m) also nearly back, the Toffees could soon be adding the end product that Jack Harrison (£5.2m) and Jesper Lindstrom (£5.0m) simply aren’t offering out wide at present.
