Kicking off the Gameweek 35 Scout Notes is a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) round-up of Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers.
- READ MORE: Predicted lineups + match previews for FPL Gameweek 35
- READ MORE: No more Double Gameweeks – so when should we use our chips?
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.
HAALAND UNUSED
A first-half strike from Kevin De Bruyne (£9.4m) enabled Man City to temporarily leapfrog Newcastle into third place, delighting his new owners and thrilling the 152,000 mavericks who went one step further by captaining him.
The 33-year-old has started five league games in a row, while Savinho (£6.2m) and Phil Foden (£9.1m) had to make do with once again being substitutes. Joining them on the sidelines this time was FPL behemoth Erling Haaland (£14.8m), back in the matchday squad after recovering from a March ankle injury.
“Yeah, I thought about that, but I decided for energy in the last moments when Nico [Gonzalez], Phil [Foden], Macca [McAtee] and Rico Lewis come up, we were in another rhythm in terms of pressing.
“[Haaland had] just two training sessions with us and in that moment I decided for the other type of players.” – Pep Guardiola
He wasn’t needed here at all, during the Citizens’ first Friday home league game since Boxing Day 2008. Therefore its unlikely that online momentum will build for the Norwegian this week, in case some had a niggling temptation to punt on him away to Southampton.
DE BRUYNE BETTERS MARMOUSH
But his presence serves as a warning to fellow forward Omar Marmoush (£7.6m) that these invisible blanks will soon be punished. We looked into this a few days ago, concluding that inserting Haaland as a centrepoint could either play to the Egyptian’s strengths or put him in competition with De Bruyne for minutes.
Based on recent form, it’s De Bruyne’s place to lose. Although this wasn’t quite a repeat of May 2022’s four-goal masterclass against Wolves, the veteran whipped in seven crosses, converted Jeremy Doku’s (£6.2m) pullback and racked up the night’s best expected goal involvement (xGI, 0.45).
Above: Kevin De Bruyne’s recent goal threat and creativity stats
The previous home match saw him create six chances against Aston Villa. Before that, he troubled Crystal Palace by shooting six times. Potential FPL buyers will be excited to guess what he’ll do to Bournemouth in Gameweek 37 – his final ever Etihad Stadium encounter.
It’s the same place where all seven of Marmoush’s attacking returns have happened but, after failing to register a shot on target versus Villa, he didn’t come particularly close to an eighth on this occasion.
Instructed to play down the right wing, two attempts totalled a measly 0.08 expected goals (xG), with zero chance creation.
Above: Omar Marmoush’s touch heatmap
Surely, patience is running thin for Marmoush’s owners. 1.5 million captained him during Double Gameweek 33’s two blanks and another 761,000 have done here.
There’s plenty of logic to giving Man City’s striker the armband next week when facing last-placed, already-relegated Southampton. But the trust may have disappeared and Haaland needs to gain match fitness before the FA Cup final.
GVARDIOL DENIES AIT-NOURI
Entering this clash on six successive league wins, Wolves played a confident game until De Bruyne’s goal. Several huge chances came between the 22nd and 27th minutes, starting when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (£4.9m) broke free and played a ball across goal that was ultimately too heavy for Marshall Munetsi’s (£5.0m) tap-in.
Soon after, Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.0m) had owners dreaming of another double-digit haul when the wing-back’s close-range shot hit the post and his immediate rebound was scrambled off the line by Josko Gvardiol (£6.3m).
Above: Rayan Ait-Nouri’s consecutive shots
Fellow Gameweek 34 hero Matheus Cunha (£7.0m) whacked his own effort off the post near the hour mark, meaning both Gvardiol and Ederson (£5.3m) – back in goal after recovering from injury – somehow emerged with another clean sheet. That’s four in six matches, where the Croatian defender worked hard for his two bonus points.
Experienced at putting together some relentless late-season runs, Man City are professionally embarking on their target of Champions League qualification. Third on our Season Ticker for Gameweeks 36 to 38, expect more shut-outs to come.
NO STRAND LARSEN
Meanwhile, another Scandinavian striker has picked up an injury. Wolves sole starting lineup change saw Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.4m) make way because of a slight groin strain picked up in training.
“It was a small injury, not serious, but he tried yesterday. He didn’t feel well, and we decided not to risk him. He didn’t feel well, and we had a conversation with the medical department, and we decided to not take the risk.” – Vitor Pereira on Jorgen Strand Larsen
It denied him the chance to extend a run of six goals in six and could push Cunha higher up the pitch for their final meetings with Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Brentford. All middle-of-the-pack fixtures.
