Cole Palmer (£10.7m) and Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) are among the key talking points as we look back on two of Sunday’s Gameweek 31 fixtures: Brentford 0-0 Chelsea and Fulham 3-2 Liverpool.
WHY PALMER WAS BENCHED
Enzo Maresca took everyone by surprise with the line-up he picked on Sunday, as he opted to leave Palmer, Nicolas Jackson (£7.7m), Pedro Neto (£6.2m), Marc Cucurella (5.3m) and Levi Colwill (£4.4m) on the bench.
Explaining his decision, the Italian said the quick turnaround between matches influenced his changes, with Palmer and Jackson only recently returning from injury.
“We played Thursday night. Not all of them [our players] were 100%. The idea was to start in one way and finish in the other way. The plan nearly worked because in the last half-an-hour we created a little bit more. If we decided to start the first half the way we finished, probably after 45 minutes the team would not be physically good enough to finish the game.
“We tried to find a solution. After 45 minutes, one hour, our team was getting better and better. We tried to keep the ball so they ran, and after one hour they could be tired. We expected to improve in the second half.” – Enzo Maresca
Chelsea certainly did improve after Maresca had brought on Jackson and Palmer on 45 and 58 minutes respectively, with the former giving them a much-needed focal point up top. Indeed, the Blues went from having just four shots in the first half to 17 after the interval.
Neither side managed to find a breakthrough, however.
Palmer went close to a last-gasp winner with the final kick of the match, curling a shot inches over the crossbar, but it’s safe to say Maresca’s decision to rotate backfired ahead of Thursday’s Conference League quarter-final against Legia Warsaw.
The Blues have now gone eight league matches without a win on the road, drawing three and losing five since the 4-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur in early December.
JAMES AT LEFT-BACK
Reece James (£4.8m) was in the thick of the action at the Gtech Community Stadium and showed his versatility by starting at left-back.
He delivered a couple of superb free-kicks which easily could have been turned in, almost scored himself when his header from a corner was parried, and scooped up the maximum bonus, thanks in part to some solid underlying distribution stats, including two ‘big chances’ created.
Above: Chelsea’s average position map v Brentford in Gameweek 31, including Reece James (No 24) and Malo Gusto (No 27)
James’ running battle with Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m) was an intriguing one, with the Brentford midfielder almost breaking the deadlock with a fine shot.
On the opposite flank, Kevin Schade (£5.1m) also carried a threat, with Thomas Frank looking to use the German’s pace in behind Malo Gusto (£4.9m), who inverted into midfield in possession. If only his final ball was better.
A first home clean sheet of the season for Brentford was at least secured.
Elsewhere, Rico Henry (£4.3m) returned to the bench, having not played since the 2-2 draw with Manchester City in Gameweek 21.
FULHAM SHACKLE SALAH
Mohamed Salah struggled on a difficult afternoon for Liverpool at Craven Cottage.
Captained by 5.2m managers, the Egyptian has now failed to score in each of his last four matches in all competitions, but Arne Slot is confident he will get over his mini-slump and “show up again”.
“Maybe he should see it as a compliment [that people are talking about it] because his numbers were not normal [when he was scoring]. The good thing about Mo is he knows what kind of player he is. Mo will show up again, I don’t worry about that.” – Arne Slot
Fulham certainly negated the significant threat posed by Salah on Sunday, restricting him to just one chance, albeit a ‘big’ one, and three penalty box touches.
Instead, Alexis Mac Allister (£6.2m) scored the opener with a fine finish, before Luis Diaz (£7.5m) managed to claw one back for the Reds.
Conor Bradley (£4.7m), who was back on the bench following a hamstring injury, supplied the assist for fellow substitute Diaz, who has now produced attacking returns in each of the last four Gameweeks.
SLOT: “… OUR ERRORS COST US” / ALISSON LATEST
Slot blamed Liverpool’s first half errors for the defeat, with mistakes from out-of-position right-back Curtis Jones (£5.3m) and Andrew Robertson (£5.8m) proving costly.
The impressive Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m) bullied Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) for Fulham’s third, too.
Deservedly beaten, Liverpool were stunned by three goals in 14 minutes, as their 26-match unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end.
“Apart from [Fulham’s] quality and finishing, it was mostly to do with our errors. In general, we are not making many of these errors – let alone three in one game. It wasn’t 45 minutes of disaster, but the errors we made were something we’re not used to.” – Arne Slot
Ryan Sessegnon (£4.1m), Alex Iwobi (£5.5m) and Muniz were the goalscorers for Fulham, while those who backed Marco Silva as Assistant Manager in Gameweek 31 would have picked up 19 points.
Muniz has now struck four times in his last five matches.
“He’s a proper quality striker. He is still very young but he is growing so quick. There are still many things to improve. But he is very high quality for a number nine.” – Marco Silva on Rodrigo Muniz
In better news for Liverpool, Alisson Becker (£5.6m) should be back in Gameweek 32.
“It’s concussion and as we all know you have to tick all the boxes. Next week hopefully he can play but the protocol means not yet.” – Arne Slot on Alisson Becker
As for Fulham, the result gives Marco Silva’s side a real European chance. After this win, and coupled with Chelsea’s draw at Brentford, Fulham are now four points off fifth, which looks certain to be enough for a Champions League place next season.
Kenny Tete (£4.4m), meanwhile, was named among the substitutes after nearly four months out with a knee injury.
