Our Scout Notes from Tuesday night continue, as we focus on the West Ham United v Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester United v Wolverhampton Wanderers draws.

• READ MORE: FPL notes – Rice injury latest + why Gabriel came off
• READ MORE: FPL notes – Moyes coy on Keane, Esteve + Newcastle injury updates
• READ MORE: FPL notes – Caicedo ban + not Semenyo’s last Bournemouth game?

MIXED FORTUNES FOR WELBECK ON PENALTIES

It was a tale of three penalties at London Stadium, two of them for the visitors.

Danny Welbeck (£6.3m) marked his first start in four Gameweeks with a well-taken spot-kick for Brighton’s equaliser after Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m) was fouled. Yet it was followed by an ill-judged ‘Panenka’, which came back off the bar.

Welbeck will rue that miss, which was probably caused by overthinking the task in hand, having just beaten Alphonse Areola (£4.3m) from 12 yards. But we can reliably expect him to take the next one.

“Danny [Welbeck] made his decision. If he executes it well everyone says it’s a great penalty in a pressure situation. Therefore, he has our support. There is no criticism.” – Fabian Hurzeler

The veteran’s return from injury coincides with a favourable run of fixtures for the Seagulls. They next take on struggling Burnley at the American Express Stadium, where Fabian Hurzeler’s side have lost only once all season.

With eight league goals to his name, Welbeck might seem appealing for this run.

However, he’s been managing a back issue over the last month or so, which has either ruled him out of the squad or limited him to substitute minutes. Can we even be sure he starts this weekend?

At least once the trip to Man City is out of the way, he’ll be back to a more manageable once-a-week frequency of appearances.

TIME TO BUY BOWEN?

Lucas Paqueta (£5.9m) was another to combine the sublime with the ridiculous, slotting home his penalty and producing a delightful assist for the opener, only to inexplicably rugby tackle Lewis Dunk (£4.5m) for the visitors’ second spot kick.

This 13-point return matched the number he’d cobbled together in the previous eight Gameweeks combined, so we should take this performance as an outlier. Still, wherever there’s a spot-kick taker, there’s the potential for points in any given week.

On the other hand, Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) has been knocking on the door of FPL managers for some time. Here, it took him only six minutes to break the deadlock.

From Gameweek 14 onwards, he has produced three goals and an assist. Only four forwards have taken more shots (16), while none have taken as many penalty area touches (44). It’s a shame that Bowen is not on penalties, but he should still be in the transfer conversation because West Ham have their own run of attractive fixtures.

A trip to last-placed Wolves, then the visit of a relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest that has lost three on the spin. The Hammers then visit Spurs, who can’t buy a win at home.

Nuno Espirito Santo opted to play Callum Wilson (£5.8m) up front, and the forward earned a fortuitous assist after his shot struck Dunk’s arm for the penalty.

Although he’s bagged a second assist in five Gameweeks, this was his first start in that time span. And, as Niclas Füllkrug (£5.6m) edges nearer to AC Milan, one suspects the Hammers are preparing for their annual January striker swoop.

“First half was better, we contained, dominated, created a lot of chances. Second half we started well, controlling well with good combinations, but after conceding we went through some troubles, especially when Brighton brought on Mitoma and Rutter, fresh players with such quality.

“After that, we were trying to hold on with the young boys. I’m really pleased with what they gave to the team and squad, but we didn’t have many situations from which we could counter-attack from. Overall, it was an intense game, both teams went to their limits.” – Nuno Espirito Santo

MINTEH INJURY

Meanwhile, Minteh lifted himself to the top of the assist charts with his eighth so far. Although it was the Brighton winger’s first attacking return since Gameweek 12, he was denied last time out by the superhuman powers of David Raya (£6.0m) in one of the saves of the season.

However, it turned out to be a bittersweet night, as Minteh hobbled off with an injury.

“It’s been one of them seasons with players coming in and out and it looks like Minteh has maybe picked something up as well” – James Milner

“No, I didn’t see it yet. We’ll have to wait for the scan and then we know more.” – Fabian Hurzeler

Brighton probably consider themselves the unluckier of the night’s two sides, accumulating 2.90 expected goals (xG) compared to West Ham’s 2.06, also winning the shot count (16-10).

Regardless, the Seagulls are now without a league victory since Gameweek 13, while West Ham are winless in eight. But FPL managers can look beyond this and pinpoint some shrewd acquisitions like Bowen during their kind upcoming schedules.

We just need an injury update on Minteh before we can include him among this number.

AMORIM ON HIS INJURED PLAYERS

Another home match, another disappointing night’s work for Man United, who failed to beat a Wolves side that had mustered only two points from 18 matches and lost 11 in a row.

Injuries and illness offer some mitigation for a team with eight players unavailable. A muscle complaint meant Mason Mount (£5.9m) joined the cast of walking wounded, including Bruno Fernandes (£9.1m) and Kobbie Mainoo (£4.5m), while Amad Diallo (£6.3m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m) remain away on Africa Cup of Nations duty.

Can we expect any of them back for Gameweek 20? It’s not a given, according to their manager…

“I don’t know. I have to check. I’m not going to risk anyone, to lose them for one month or two months. So, we’ll try to arrange solutions. Again, let’s see, and then we will try to win the next one with no risks for the players.” – Ruben Amorim

In from the cold came Joshua Zirkzee (£5.8m) for only his fourth league start of the campaign, and he gave his side the lead with a deflected shot.

However, he also contributed to the equaliser by flicking on Wolves’ first corner straight to Ladislav Krejcí (£4.5m), who headed in for what proved to be a precious point. The Dutchman, who has had a miserable time at Old Trafford, did not re-emerge after half-time, and that, frankly, might be the last we see of him.

“No, no, no, it was just tactical. Tactical.” – Ruben Amorim, on whether Joshua Zirkzee had picked up a knock

BACK TO SQUARE ONE

The win against Newcastle United and the exciting new back-four formation led to some over-optimism that a new era was upon us.

Guess what? It didn’t. Benjamin Sesko (£7.2m) did accumulate six goal attempts and fluffed two big chances, but Amorim admitted there was a dearth of creativity from his lot.

“We had lack of fluidity, and then lack of quality, and then lack of creation of chances. And then we suffer a goal with set-pieces with the team that, and [yet] we are tall in this moment. So, these details are important to win these games in difficult moments.” – Ruben Amorim

United were even outdone on xG by winless Wolves…

DORGU A THREAT AGAIN

Patrick Dorgu (£4.2m) was a small ray of light in the darkness. The defender, who scored his first Man United goal in Gameweek 18, was again advanced. Amorim bafflingly moved him back to left wing-back after his Boxing Day heroics on the right wing but he was ‘out of position’ again, further up the left flank,, in the second half.

He whistled an attempt narrowly wide and then scored what he thought was the winner, only for it to be ruled offside.

His two shots on goal were matched by Matheus Cunha (£8.2m) – normally a shot monster but, on this occasion, largely ineffectual.

The worrying aspect from United’s perspective, and more pertinently for Cunha owners, is that Amorim hinted afterwards that he was unlikely to get any missing players back.

KREJCI DELIVERS

There will be very few managers on the hunt for Wolves assets but, to give him his due, Krejcí gave a strong display. Only Sesko delivered more shots on goal than the budget defender, who rose to the occasion for a side missing the suspended Andre (£5.3m) and injured Santiago Bueno (£4.4m).

Wolves are slowly improving under Rob Edwards. They were unlucky to recently lose at Arsenal, courtesy of a last-gasp own goal, and they made Liverpool sweat for Saturday’s 2-1 win.

At Old Trafford, Yerson Mosquera (£4.3m) could have put the cat among the pigeons when he missed a big chance. But, in truth, it will take an outrageous swing of fortune and an inspired transfer window for any of their players to gain some FPL interest.