The clash with the FA Cup semi-finals was the reason why Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest blanked in Gameweek 34.
We saw all four clubs in action at Wembley at the weekend, with Palace and City progressing to the final.
The potential implications for Gameweeks 36 and 37 we’ve already discussed in articles here and here.
But for the rest of the Fantasy talking points to emerge from these ties, here are our latest Scout Notes.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Barnes boost as Gordon not “100% match-fit”, Howe on Isak
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Why Robinson missed out + “committed” Cunha
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Bradley injury latest, Liverpool win title + Evanilson ban
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Bowen’s Gameweek 35 appeal + Cucurella’s tweaked role
WATKINS BOOST AFTER RASHFORD INJURY
It’s all eyes on the Premier League for Aston Villa, then, after their second cup elimination in 12 days.
With the focus only on a top-five tilt, week-to-week rotation may not be the worry it has been recently, not that it affected Morgan Rogers (£5.7m) and Youri Tielemans (£5.5m) anyway.
Someone who had been at the mercy of Unai Emery’s tinkering is Ollie Watkins (£8.9m).
Now, though, an injury to positional rival Marcus Rashford (£6.7m), as well as the one-game-a-week schedule, should provide Watkins with a game-time boost.
Rashford was a shock absentee from the Villa matchday squad on Saturday and it soon transpired that injury was to blame.
“He is injured. He got injured this week and yesterday we did a test. It is his hamstring. We are going to test him each match to see how he is progressing. Probably some weeks that he can be not available.” – Unai Emery on Marcus Rashford, via Birmingham Mail
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported on Monday that Rashford is likely out for the season.
🚨 Marcus Rashford expected to miss rest of season with hamstring injury. No surgery + rehab at #AVFC as tests ongoing. #THFC game not totally ruled out but highly likely campaign over & 27yo to focus on getting fit for England games in June @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/RTzF1M9o0u
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) April 28, 2025
Villa may yet have a Double Gameweek to come (even though they don’t want one!) but even if not, the Tottenham Hotspur clash in Gameweek 37 looks very enticing if Spurs are in the UEFA Europa League final a few days later. Manchester United may have a hangover in Gameweek 38, too.
GLASNER PLEDGES TO FOCUS ON LEAGUE
Villa had their chances on Saturday, with Dean Henderson (£4.6m) forced into some smart stops.
But even Emery admitted after full-time that Palace “deserved” their victory, an opinion that pretty much everyone watching the game would have shared.
Superb long-range efforts from Eberechi Eze (£6.9m) and Ismaila Sarr (£5.8m) put the Eagles in a commanding position, with Sarr capping off the win with a breakaway, stoppage-time goal. Sarr’s three attacking returns (he assisted Eze’s opener) would have given him a 19-point haul had he saved it for the Premier League…
Palace had other big chances to score, too, with Sarr missing a close-range header and Tyrick Mitchell (£4.8m) producing a complete miskick when similarly well placed.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m), harshly penalised for a foul for an earlier disallowed goal, could even afford to miss a penalty. There was not much talk of Mateta’s slip-up from Oliver Glasner after the game but that was his first ever spot-kick failure, so you’d be surprised if the Palace boss reacts to that miss by shaking up the penalty-taking pecking order.
We wait to hear whether the Eagles will get a Double Gameweek 36 as a result of Saturday’s win. Glasner talked in terms of only having two pre-final games in his post-match interviews but that’s probably a classic case of us reading too much into throwaway comments.
The Austrian has, at least, pledged that Palace will give it their all ahead of the final, much as they did before Saturday’s semi.
“Yes, the players can party tonight, and they will, and they fully deserve it. They have a few days off, but also that is regardless of the result today. We will meet on Thursday and then we will prepare Nottingham and Tottenham because I think the best approach for the final is to show two great performances because then we have belief, we have confidence.” – Oliver Glasner in his post-match presser
“It was the fifth game in two weeks but we entered every single game with the approach to win it. We couldn’t win [some] of these but I think the performances got better and better during these two weeks and this helped us to play the semi-final with belief, with confidence, and this is what we need. We want to enter the final in the best possible shape individually and as a team and therefore we need good performances against Nottingham and Tottenham.” – Oliver Glasner to Palace TV
LEWIS STARS IN MIDFIELD AS PEP EXPLAINS BENCHINGS OF DE BRUYNE AND FODEN
Pep Guardiola likes to keep us guessing with his teamsheets.
Even he said as much after Sunday’s win, when asked about his current penchant for playing his full-backs high and wide and his attackers more narrow.
“Do you know going to happen if I use it a lot, a lot, a lot? The opponent is going to take a tricky, is going to find a [solution]. And after, we have to do it again, we have to do something differently to see where the space is. More clever, more clear.” – Pep Guardiola on his current tactics
Rico Lewis (£4.3m) as a midfielder was his latest curveball, with the budget FPL defender, an inspired Mateo Kovacic (£5.4m), Jack Grealish (£6.4m) and Bernardo Silva (£6.1m) offering plenty of ‘control’ as a midfield box. Savinho (£6.2m) and Omar Marmoush (£7.6m), once again, played as narrow wingers.
It meant no room for Kevin De Bruyne (£9.4m) after his recent run in the side. Phil Foden (£9.1m) was omitted again, too.
“No, no [not injured]. I tried to make the selection, rotate a little bit, but for the way we want to play, I decided for those players. Step by step, step by step, Phil will be back, like he was an amazing player.” – Pep Guardiola when asked about the benching of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden
Lewis popped up in the pockets as planned to give City an early lead, while Josko Gvardiol (£6.3m) reminded us that, even though a centre-half stationing really limits his open-play threat, he’s still a menace at set pieces. He nodded in a Marmoush corner to double the Cityzens’ lead.
Marmoush himself had a game-high four shots, forcing Matz Sels (£5.1m) into one excellent stop.
WHY WILLIAMS MISSED OUT FOR LUCKLESS FOREST
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but Guardiola outdid Nuno Espirito Santo in the tactics stakes.
While the City manager’s selection worked well, Nuno’s initial 4-4-2, which included a surprise start for teenage defender Zach Abbott (£4.0m) and a benching for Anthony Elanga (£5.4m), flopped badly.
“It was not easy to put the team together but I was not sure if Anthony could play right-back!” – Nuno Espirito Santo
Only after Elanga’s half-time introduction did things improve, with the Sweden international missing an early sitter, Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.4m) twice hitting the woodwork and Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.5m) striking the post on a luckless afternoon for Forest.
The second half was at least encouragement for Thursday, when Forest round off Gameweek 34.
Abbott’s start owed to the absences of Neco Williams (£4.5m) and the injured Ola Aina (£5.2m) and Eric da Silva Moreira (£4.3m). Williams isn’t a fitness concern, at least: he was merely suspended for the clash at Wembley.
HAALAND AND RODRI REPORTEDLY TRAIN
Finally, one thing to note from the rumour mill.
While nothing is official from City yet, the usually very reliable @FPLMaineRoad has reported that Erling Haaland (£14.8m) and Rodri (£6.2m) are back in training as of Saturday.
We’ll see how long it is before they’re back up to speed; Haaland was not involved with the squad as of Friday.
Gameweek 36 was the original estimated return for the Norwegian, and that could well be about right.
