Usually on the receiving end of late winners this season, Newcastle United finally got one of their own in a late 2-1 victory over Fulham.
For the injury-hit Cottagers, it was a fourth straight defeat.
Here are our Scout Notes from St James’ Park.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Maresca on Pedro, Enzo + Caicedo “injury problems”
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 9: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
WOLTEMADE + GORDON CLOSE
Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) and, especially, Nick Woltemade (£7.5m) have attracted a fair bit of Fantasy interest in recent weeks.
Both blanked on Saturday but were very close to returns. Woltemade cracked the upright with a gilt-edged opening from a set piece, while Gordon created two huge opportunities: Jacob Murphy (£6.1m) spurning a one-on-one chance and Bruno Guimaraes (£6.5m) nodding over from close range.
One thing worth mentioning is that Gordon has been playing with Dan Burn (£5.1m) behind him in recent weeks. Whereas before he’d have the sprightly Lewis Hall (£5.2m) or Tino Livramento (£5.0m) rampaging beyond him, he’s now got the game but lumbering Burn offering support. It means savvy Premier League defences can double-mark Gordon or pin him wider (European sides clearly haven’t cottoned on…), limiting his ability to drift infield. Since returning from suspension in Gameweek 6, he’s had just one shot in the box.
The good news: both Hall and Livramento are back on the grass and should return fairly soon.
BRUNO’S BOX THREAT
Woltemade might have had one of his quieter games in front of goal but he was full of his usual little flicks and lay-offs.
He’s not, as many observers (including Eddie Howe) have remarked, a conventional number nine – despite his healthy goal tally.
Getting players up around the German striker is key, while his magic feet and link-up play help bring others into play.
So it’s been interesting to see Bruno’s output in recent weeks.
He’s racked up 10 shots over the last three Gameweeks, five from inside the area and five from just outside. Two have resulted in goals. Is he being instructed to get forward more by Howe to play off/offer support to Woltemade?
It certainly seems that way:
As well as his missed sitter from Gordon’s cross, he twice fired narrowly wide from the edge of the area before grabbing a 90th-minute winner when Bernd Leno (£5.0m) couldn’t hold substitute Will Osula‘s (£5.5m) shot.
“How he’s ended up in the box in that moment, I’d love to see back, because there must have been a moment where he’s had to put the burners on and sort of foresee what’s going to happen, but that’s down to his motivation.” – Eddie Howe on Bruno Guimaraes’ goal
Murphy pounced on a Calvin Bassey (£4.5m) error to open the scoring and went one better than Guimaraes, racking up five shots. The week-to-week rotation with Anthony Elanga (£6.8m) remains off-putting, however.
BOTMAN INJURY
Newcastle lost Sven Botman (£4.9m) to a head injury in the second half but it sounds like the Dutchman won’t be a doubt for Gameweek 10.
“I think he’s okay. Yeah, there’s no concussion there. It was a cut but a very good decision from the on-field physio to recommend I take him off.” – Eddie Howe on Sven Botman
Malick Thiaw (£4.9m) was again arguably Newcastle’s stand-out performer at the back, albeit some way short of DefCon points.
FULHAM LOSE AGAIN – BUT EASIER TESTS AHEAD
Another loss for the Cottagers but they’ve had a fairly tricky four-match run, and the schedule gets better now, with favourable matches on either side of Gameweeks 13-15:
They’ve not been too far away in recent weeks, either, losing to late goals at Newcastle and Bournemouth and going down 1-0 to Arsenal. Injuries haven’t helped (especially with the thin squad), nor did two individual errors from Bassey on Saturday.
They were certainly well in the match on Tyneside, ahead on xG and shots until the late Newcastle onslaught:
Raul Jimenez (£6.2m) was a handful, racking up six shots, one of which hit the bar before Sasa Lukic (£5.0m) nodded the rebound in.
Kevin (£6.0m) also looked lively off the bench – although we said that after his debut against Leeds and he’s yet to convince Silva to trust him from the start.
What we would have loved from the Fulham boss was post-match comments on Joachim Andersen‘s (£4.5m) current fitness status and the logic behind Josh King‘s (£4.5m) first benching of 2025/26 – physicality, perhaps, against this brawny Newcastle outfit?
Alas, not the Match of the Day interview, the in-house chat with club media or quotes from the press conference shed any light on either of those topics. The good news for King is that his replacement, Emile Smith Rowe (£5.7m), was hooked at half-time, although the £4.5m midfielder had to wait till the 75th minute for his introduction.
