There was more away-day misery for Newcastle United as a patched-up Manchester United side secured only their second clean sheet of the season.
‘OUT OF POSITION’ £4.1M DORGU + PRAISE FOR £3.8M HEAVEN
There’s not been much joy for Man Utd defenders this season but Friday was a red-letter day.
Diogo Dalot (£4.4m) and Patrick Dorgu (£4.1m) emerged with double-digit hauls, Senne Lammens (£5.0m) bagged bonus points, and Ayden Heaven (£3.8m) secured defensive contribution (DefCon) points for the third successive Gameweek.
Above: Ayden Heaven’s Gameweek-by-Gameweek breakdown. He might have secured DefCon points in Gameweeks 14 and 15, too, had he not been subbed off early.
There’s only one defender cheaper than Heaven in the FPL, and none who start for their clubs. His run in the side only started because of injuries sustained by Matthijs de Ligt (£5.0m) and Harry Maguire (£4.3m) but, after a Man of the Match performance at Old Trafford, Ruben Amorim says he’ll now be hard to budge.
“I’m really pleased with Ayden. You can feel that he’s improving every game. He’s young, but you don’t feel that he has a good game and then he slows the game or the thinking during the game. No, you feel that he’s improving during the game. I think he was not playing, but he trained really well. You just need to train really well to be ready when the opportunity comes. So, in this moment, if you continue to play like that, it’s going to be really hard to take his place.” – Ruben Amorim
Elsewhere on defender-watch, Amorim sprung a surprise by starting Dorgu on the right wing. Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) was on the opposite flank, with Benjamin Sesko (£7.2m) up top. The United boss’s flirtation with a back four continued.
In the second half, we saw two United defenders playing as wingers! Dalot was on the right (and missed a huge chance of his own), with Dorgu on the left. Substitute Leny Yoro (£4.3m) and Luke Shaw (£4.5m) were the full-backs.
Dorgu had more final-third touches (19) than anyone on show, indeed.
“Maybe the game today with a lot of transitions is good for his pace, for his ability to drive the ball. He played one position that he can take more risk, that can help also a player like him to not feel that responsibility all the time. So, I think he did well.” – Ruben Amorim on Patrick Dorgu
In the end, the goal that Dalot and Dorgu combined for had little to do with advanced open-play positioning. A long Dalot throw into the box, half-cleared by Newcastle, and Dorgu superbly volleys in. That was Dalot’s fourth attacking return in five Gameweeks.
The question is: can the Red Devils follow this up with more clean sheets? A trio of superb fixtures now follows, while there are more favourable tests from Gameweek 24:
The problem? United have conceded to each and every one of these teams already this season (with the exception of Leeds, who they have yet to face)!
So, while Heaven’s cheap DefCon potential and Dorgu’s ‘out of position’ tag are worthy of note, the jury’s out on whether we’ll get many more clean sheets. This was a unique game in which the Red Devils finished up with a back six and were more willing to cede possession and soak up pressure; that’s not going to fly against the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Above: Dorgu was joint-top for shots at Old Trafford, with Cunha – the fourth-most-bought player of Gameweek 18 – also among the names. The Brazilian was a livewire (if profligate) in the first half before the great second-half retreat.
MOUNT + ELANGA INJURY UPDATES
Mason Mount (£5.9m) came off at half-time of this match, replaced by youngster Jack Fletcher (£4.3m).
“He felt something at half-time. He wanted to go [on] and that is also a good thing. He wanted to go to the second half but we cannot lose more players, if you are not 100 per cent.” – Ruben Amorim on Mason Mount
Meanwhile, Newcastle were without Anthony Elanga (£6.5m).
“He just took a knock against Chelsea. We don’t think it’s too serious. We hope to have him back pretty quickly.” – Eddie Howe on Anthony Elanga
Any potential absence for Elanga would potentially benefit Anthony Gordon (£7.3m). Jacob Murphy (£6.0m) can rarely sustain 90 minutes, and, at Old Trafford, Harvey Barnes (£6.1m) was brought on for him instead, with Gordon staying on for the full game. That’s the first time that’s happened since Gameweek 1.
HOWE HAILS GORDON, HALL + MILEY
Speaking of Gordon, he was one of Newcastle’s better players on Boxing Day, not that it was saying much. He and Lewis Hall (£5.2m) caused plenty of problems down Man Utd’s right, even if the final ball was sometimes lacking. Hall was unlucky to hit the underside of the bar, while Gordon skewed the Magpies’ only ‘big chance’ wide.
Eddie Howe hailed the left-sided pair, as well as Louis Miley (£4.4m), the dirt-cheap FPL midfielder who again did very well at right-back.
“Really good to see Lewis [Hall] return to the form that he had pre-injury.He was very, very good technically today. I thought him and Anthony [Gordon] down the left-hand side played really well today and together with Louis Miley on the opposite side, who again I thought was outstanding, probably our three strongest players.” – Eddie Howe
Other than that, though, very little to shout about from a Newcastle perspective. Plenty of possession, very little incisiveness. And another away game without a win.
“I feel genuinely our performances have been better since the last international break bar one big blip [against Sunderland]. I thought today was another step forward in terms of performance but no one really wants to hear that.” – Eddie Howe
POPE V RAMSDALE
Nick Pope (£5.1m) finally returned to the Newcastle squad after his recent injury.
While Aaron Ramsdale (£4.8m) kept his place, it may have only been a stay of execution. Howe said, indeed, that it’s a position that he will look at.
“I think that’ll be a position obviously that will be discussed. Nick was actually ill before the game as he was warming up. So I don’t think there’s any way he could have played today, but we’ll make an assessment for the next game.” – Eddie Howe
