Manchester City have one foot in the EFL Cup final after a 2-0 win at Newcastle United on Tuesday night.
From another Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m) goal to Blank Gameweek 31 implications, it’s time for our Scout Notes from the semi-final, first leg at St James’ Park.
RESULT
| HOME | AWAY | RESULT | GOALS | ASSISTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | Manchester City | 0-2 | Semenyo, Cherki | Bernardo, Ait-Nouri |
SELECTION / ROTATION
| TEAM | CHANGES FROM THE FA CUP THIRD ROUND | PLAYERS WHO KEPT THEIR PLACES (+ MINS) | OTHER PLAYERS (+ MINS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 7 | Thiaw (90), Botman (90), Ramsey (69), Wissa (69) | Pope (90), Miley (90), Hall (90), Joelinton (90), Guimaraes (87), Gordon (69), Murphy (45), Barnes (45), Tonali (21), Elanga (21), Woltemade (21), Trippier (3) |
| Manchester City | 6 | Khusanov (90), Alleyne (90), Semenyo (90), Haaland (90), Ake (88) | Trafford (90), Bernardo (90), Doku (77), Nunes (62), Foden (62), O’Reilly (62), Reijnders (28), Rodri (28), Lewis (28), Cherki (13), Ait-Nouri (2) |
BLANK GAMEWEEK 31 IMPLICATIONS
First off, what Manchester City’s likely progress means for the FPL landscape.
Gameweek 31 clashes with the EFL Cup final, so whoever makes it to Wembley will have their fixture postponed:
| GW31 Premier League fixture | Status | The fixture will be postponed if the following occurs |
| Bournemouth v Man Utd | On | |
| Aston Villa v West Ham | On | |
| Brighton v Liverpool | On | |
| Everton v Chelsea | Possible blank | If Chelsea reach the EFL Cup final |
| Fulham v Burnley | On | |
| Leeds v Brentford | On | |
| Man City v Crystal Palace | Possible blank | If Man City reach the EFL Cup final |
| Newcastle v Sunderland | Possible blank | If Newcastle reach the EFL Cup final |
| Spurs v Nottm Forest | On | |
| Wolves v Arsenal | Possible blank | If Arsenal reach the EFL Cup final |
So, Manchester City v Crystal Palace looks likely to fall.
There is a scenario where both clubs could still play in Gameweek 31, i.e. Man City are eliminated from the FA Cup before the quarter-finals (Palace are out already), or both clubs are out of Europe before the quarter-finals:
| WEEKEND | MIDWEEK | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 21 March | GW31 + EFL Cup final | 24 – 26 March | International break |
| Sat 28 March | International break | 31 March – 2 April | International break |
| Sat 4 April | FA Cup QF | 7 – 9 April | European QFs |
| Sat 11 April | GW32 | 14 – 16 April | European QFs |
For now, though, we’ll assume City at least continue to make cup progress and that Gameweek 31 will be a blank for them and the Eagles.
Man City v Crystal Palace would then likely slot into the midweek after Gameweek 33, creating a ‘double’ for both sides.
SEMENYO STRIKES AGAIN
Back onto the on-field action, and there was another start for Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m). He’d been parachuted straight into the starting XI against Exeter City on Saturday, too.
Highlighting his versatility, Semenyo started on the right flank on Tyneside. He’d operated on the opposite wing in the FA Cup.
Above: Antoine Semenyo’s heatmap on Tuesday, via WhoScored
And there was another goal, following on from his debut effort against the Grecians.
This was the type of strike that probably underscores why the Cityzens have splashed the cash on Semenyo. As a reporter pointed out in Pep Guardiola’s post-match presser, it was the sort of back-post goal from a winger that’s been missing since the days of Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane.
“Yeah, we know [we’ve been lacking goals like this from out wide]. I think what Bournemouth have done with Iraola, is improve a lot these kind of scrappy goals or in the opposite side, arrive to the box. Leroy, especially Raheem, was extraordinary with that.
“Jeremy [Doku], always we push: “You have to arrive to the box!”. Of course, when Phil [Foden] or Bernardo [Silva] play in that position, it’s another situation. Savinho… always we encourage them, the wingers, to arrive there.” – Pep Guardiola
Semenyo thought he had a second goal, improvising brilliantly to steer in a Tijjani Reijnders (£5.2m) corner. A controversial VAR call chalked that one off.
And the Ghanaian winger played a part in City’s injury-time strike, combining well with substitutes Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) and Rayan Cherki (£6.8m) as the latter finished a well-worked move.
A great start to life at City for Semenyo, then. The question now: does he start in Gameweek 22?
HAALAND “EXHAUSTED”
One compelling reason for Semenyo to start in the Manchester derby is to ease the goalscoring burden. In the last three stuttering Gameweeks, City have only scored one non-penalty goal.
Phil Foden (£8.7m) has tailed off lately. His performance against Newcastle was full of neat touches and link-up play but lacking in menace. He was hooked just after the hour-mark, with Cherki taking his place. Cherki, despite his strike here, tends to bring creativity to the table rather than goals. The same goes for Doku.
As for Erling Haaland (£15.1m), Guardiola described him as “exhausted” after full-time, which may account for a slightly sluggish display. He didn’t register a single shot.
The quote below is something to chew over when Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) returns, likely in Gameweek 23.
“Hopefully, Omar comes back soon to give rest to Erling because Erling is exhausted and we need this kind of stuff.” – Pep Guardiola
It may not impact too much on Haaland’s Premier League minutes, however: the matches against Galatasaray in the Champions League, Newcastle in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg, and Salford/Swindon in the FA Cup fourth round look like ‘Marmoush up top’ games:
O’REILLY IN MIDFIELD, ALLEYNE STARTS AGAIN + AIT-NOURI RETURNS
Elsewhere on City-watch, this was the third straight game in which Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m) didn’t start at left-back. Nathan Ake (£5.3m), and then Ait-Nouri, occupied the role on Tuesday.
Ait-Nouri was back for the first time since Algeria were eliminated in the Africa Cup of Nations.
O’Reilly was instead recalled in central midfield, although this looked to be an exercise purely to preserve Rodri (£6.3m). Nico Gonzalez (£5.9m), the usual deputy, remained absent, and Guardiola said he “didn’t know” whether he’d be back for Gameweek 22.
Recalled loanee Max Alleyne (£4.5m) impressed again at centre-half alongside Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.4m).
BARNES LOOKING GOOD FOR GAMEWEEK 22 START
As for Newcastle United, Eddie Howe carried out his own bit of minute management, despite a final being at stake.
Howe made seven changes from Saturday’s cup clash with Bournemouth. While this involved strengthening the team in some areas, such as bringing Lewis Hall (£5.3m) and Bruno Guimaraes (£7.2m) back in, it also saw the in-form Harvey Barnes (£6.1m) drop to the bench.
“Today, we just felt we had no choice but not to play Harvey, Sandro [Tonali] and Nick [Woltemade] because they’d played 120 minutes two days ago.” – Eddie Howe
Barnes, who scored twice in Gameweek 21 before bagging another brace in the FA Cup, now looks good for a start against 20th-place Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 22.
Even more so as the man who replaced him, Jacob Murphy (£6.0m), came off with a hamstring injury on the stroke of half-time.
“We don’t think Jacob’s injury is serious but of course, we’re waiting to see the full extent. He’s had a hamstring problem for a couple of weeks. He’s had two scans that come back clear, so we’re not quite sure what’s going on with him.” – Eddie Howe
Another right-winger, Anthony Elanga (£6.5m), returned from injury as a substitute but was poor again.
MILEY BACK AT RIGHT-BACK AS DEFENCE LOOKS STRETCHED
One of Howe’s seven changes saw budget midfielder Lewis Miley (£4.5m) return at right-back. He had probably his toughest game since his redeployment in the back four, with Doku lively.
The expected minutes of Miley and Hall – who was again superb – look better with Tino Livramento (£4.9m) out but Kieran Trippier (£4.9m) is now back available, to potentially cover on either side (mostly right-back), while Dan Burn (£5.0m) is close to a return. He offers relief at both centre-half and left-back.
There’s a possibility that Newcastle dip into the transfer market, too.
“Tino’s information, we only got sort of confirmation this morning, so we need to digest that and then see what we do.” – Eddie Howe
“Defensively, we’re really stretched. We’re sort of pinning our hopes on Dan [Burn] being back pretty soon. That would give us a massive lift, and of course, the transfer market’s still available to us.” – Eddie Howe
WISSA THE MISSER
The scoreline probably suggested a comfortable win, particularly as there was a disallowed Semenyo goal in the middle.
But it was anything but, with the game tight for long periods. Even Semenyo was quiet until his goal, with Guardiola admitting that “tight margins” separated the two sides.
Yoane Wissa (£7.3m) had a huge early chance that he blazed over, while he (via a James Trafford (£4.5m) fingertip) and Bruno Guimaraes both hit the woodwork in the same move. Nick Woltemade (£7.3m) was also inches away from nodding in an Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) cross.
Still, Howe mentioned the ‘F’ word after full-time – and it’s something worth bearing in mind considering that Newcastle won’t have any free midweeks until well into March.
“I think fatigue played a part. I think just generally for us today, I thought we looked a little bit fatigued, but that’s understandable with the exertions and the efforts that we gave on Saturday. And it’s such a quick turnaround against the worst team that you can play to expose any fatigue because they keep the ball so well.” – Eddie Howe
