Two keen exponents of long throws and set plays met at Selhurst Park on Saturday, with Crystal Palace deservedly coming out on top.
True to form, both the Eagles’ goals came from dead-ball situations.
Here are our Scout Notes from ‘El Chuckico’.
SARR SHOULD SCORE AS PALACE BOSS THE BEES
Opta had the xG at a fairly close 0.70-0.54 on Saturday but that was pretty misleading as a gauge of how (im)balanced the match was, with the Eagles better in every department – not just set plays!
What the expected goals won’t show, for example, is the passage of play in which Ismaila Sarr (£6.6m) raced clear of the Bees’ defence and played a poor square pass. A shot from himself, or a tap-in for a teammate, would have taken the Eagles clear in the xG stakes.
Sarr owners should have had at least one attacking return in the bag, even aside from that incident.
The Senegalese winger broke the Brentford backline again in the second half but hit the post with his gilt-edged opportunity.
Sarr had earlier chested and volleyed narrowly wide from, you guessed it, another set piece.
Above: Ismaila Sarr leads all other FPL midfielders for non-penalty xG this season
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m), bought by over one million FPL managers ahead of Gameweek 10, rewarded his new owners with a goal.
The unlikely figure of Jefferson Lerma (£4.9m), who will probably bow out of the starting XI next weekend, was at the heart of both Palace strikes. His flick-on was nodded in by Mateta for the Eagles’ opener, while Lerma’s long throw was turned into his own net by Nathan Collins (£4.9m) to seal the win.
Half of the game’s 16 shots came from set-piece situations!
DEFCON MAGNETS DELIVER AGAIN
Of the dozen defenders to bank 10 or more defensive contribution (DefCon) points this season, five of them were on show at Selhurst Park.
Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m), Marc Guehi (£5.0m), Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) and Collins all delivered again, with Chris Richards (£4.5m) – fit enough to start after a midweek injury scare – the odd man out. Even the American defender was only two contributions away.
Lacroix really should be joint-top with Marcos Senesi (£5.0m) and James Tarkowski (£5.5m) in the table below, as his DefCon total in Gameweek 3 was rounded up to 10 after the FPL scores had been finalised for the week.
Above: The leading defenders for DefCon (DC) points in 2025/26
BRENTFORD’S AWAY-DAY BLUES
Keith Andrews’ side have been a match for most on their own soil but they’ve toiled away from home, with their only success being a 2-0 win over a shoddy West Ham United.
They barely lay a glove on Palace on Saturday, with a tame Kristoffer Ajer (£4.4m) header their first shot on target after 57 minutes.
The visitors only had one more effort in the box in the entire game.
With three of their next five league matches on the road, and one of their home fixtures against a solid Newcastle United side, they’re not exactly high on the FPL radar at present.
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