Form and fixtures aligning for Wilson as clean sheets dry up for Everton

Having scrutinised Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Watford, our next Scout Notes article focuses on the other Premier League match to take place on Sunday.

We assess what the match at the Vitality Stadium meant for owners of Bournemouth and Everton assets.

Bournemouth 3-1 Everton

• Goals: Callum Wilson (£7.8m) x2, Ryan Fraser (£7.3m) | Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m)
• Assists: Joshua King (£6.3m) x2, Diego Rico (£4.0m) | Richarlison (£7.9m)
• Bonus: Wilson x3, King x2, Fraser x1

The list of bonus point awardees at Bournemouth yesterday had a distinctly 2018/19 feel about it, with Callum Wilson (£7.8m), Joshua King (£6.3m) and Ryan Fraser (£7.3m) all being rewarded for their attacking returns against Everton.

It was the first time this calendar year that all three of Bournemouth’s key mid-price assets had delivered FPL returns in the same match and the points were a nice reward for Fantasy managers who had kept faith amid the mass exodus of the last month.

The afternoon had started in a less-than-positive manner for owners of Fraser and King, however, with the former dropped to the bench and the latter shunted out to the left flank to accommodate Dominic Solanke‘s (£5.4m) promotion to the starting XI alongside Wilson.

The Norway international duly responded with perhaps his best performance of the season, with his pace and powerful runs down the wing causing problems for Seamus Coleman (£5.5m).

It was from one of King’s surges forward that Bournemouth ultimately retook the lead on 66 minutes: the free-kick that arose from Richarlison‘s (£7.9m) foul on the Norwegian being converted – via a deflection – by Fraser.

King had provided the assist for Wilson’s first goal, too, heading a corner back across to his erstwhile strike partner.

As superbly as King played (he registered more key passes and take-ons than anyone on show), we Fantasy managers ultimately don’t want our forwards to be playing out on the left flank.

King’s only attempt on goal was a fairly innocuous header in the first half and the concern from an owners’ perspective would be that he performed so well out wide, Howe may consider him in that position more often.

Whether the Cherries’ boss saw enough to deem Solanke a first-team regular up front is another question, with the former Liverpool striker causing Everton plenty of problems and showing signs of a decent understanding with Wilson but again failing to break his goal drought – Solanke has yet to score a goal for the south coast club since joining in January, although admittedly hasn’t been given much of a run in the starting XI.

With King performing admirably on the left, Fraser’s remaining owners might be a little concerned about his security of starts.

The Scot is capable of playing on either flank, though, and it was the anonymous Harry Wilson (£6.0m) he replaced, rather than Solanke or King, in the second half.

Explaining his team selection and Fraser’s impact, Howe said:

I was really pleased. It was 1-1 and we hadn’t started the second half particularly well. I felt we needed his enthusiasm, energy and quality. When he came on, I thought he made a huge difference to the team.

I wanted to play Dominic Solanke after his impressive cameo against Leicester. He deserved to start so someone had to miss out and, unfortunately for Ryan, it was him. But I think you saw by his reaction what an impressive professional he is and he made the difference.

As for the more popular Wilson, Bournemouth’s upper-mid-price forward is now one of only three Fantasy assets who is yet to blank so far this season.

Five FPL strikers have still scored more points than the England international and three are proving better value for money (based on points per million spent) but Wilson is quietly continuing to deliver and faces some excellent fixtures from Gameweeks 7-10: Bournemouth take on West Ham, Arsenal, Norwich and Watford over this period, four of the least convincing defences in the division and who have kept only two clean sheets between them.

This game saw the return of Lewis Cook (£5.0m) in central midfield after a nine-month absence and, while he is not much of a Fantasy asset in his own right, his composure on the ball may well be beneficial to the players ahead of him, who have had to contend with more limited options in the middle of the park so far in 2019.

Howe said of Cook’s return:

It was hugely impressive. He’s missed a lot of football and he has done everything right in his recovery. He really had put the yards in.

I never have seen a player run as much as he has in his recovery. We have really taken our time with him, we haven’t rushed him.

He has had two behind-closed-doors games and looked really good in those games. That’s why I selected him off the back of those performances in those matches.

He handles the ball in any situation and you saw early in the match how he manipulated himself out of some really difficult holes.

That’s full credit to him and the type of player he is. He is very much the modern-day centre midfield player and we are just pleased to get him back now.

We hope he stays fit and available for us and gets back to the levels he was consistently before, because he was a huge part of our team.

With Adam Smith (£4.4m) carrying a hamstring injury, Jack Stacey (£4.4m) was given his first start at right-back and coped well with the threat of Alex Iwobi (£5.9m).

Fantasy managers would have been more interested in who lined up on the opposite flank, with Diego Rico (£4.0m) getting his first start since Gameweek 1 and going on to record the assist for Wilson’s second goal.

It looks unlikely that the budget FPL defender will become a first-team regular at left-back, though, with summer signing Lloyd Kelly (£4.4m) now back in training and Smith’s injury (the right-back deputised on the opposite side of the pitch for several games last season) not a long-term one.

Rico indeed perhaps only played on Sunday because Nathan Ake (£4.9m) – who played at left-back in Gameweek 4 – was needed at centre-half, with Chris Mepham (£4.5m) not quite fit enough to start after returning from international duty with an injury.

As for Everton, this was another away match without a victory (their third of the season) and the concern for owners of Lucas Digne (£6.2m) and co. is that the clean sheets have started to dry up – although they are not alone in that regard in the top flight this season.

The Toffees have now conceded as many goals in their last three league games as they had in the previous 13, with two of Bournemouth’s strikes on Sunday coming from set plays.

Marco Silva said after the game:

It’s a disappointing result, of course. We didn’t deserve more after the mistakes. We conceded the three goals so easy. I don’t want to take away the credit from Bournemouth but it was our fault. We had good offensive moments in the game but the way we conceded the goals made a big impact.

We reacted well to their first goal. We started the second half doing what we planned, creating dangerous chances around their box but then they scored from one mistake from a set piece and were clinical.

We have to become again that solid team that we were towards the end of last season and at the start of the season when we had 10 clean sheets in 13 games. We created chances and should have scored more but when you defend like that you are not going to win the game.

It was a lack of focus. We addressed these type of moments last season. We were solid at the start of this season and we need to be more solid again. It’s something we must address as fast as we can. We’ve been a solid team before and I don’t see any reasons why we can’t be again.

The positive news is that the Toffees next host Sheffield United, who have had fewer shots on target than any other club in the division.

Digne’s attacking returns can often compensate for a loss of clean sheets, of course, and he was prominent in the attacking third at the Vitality Stadium, even if his crossing wasn’t at its usual high standard.

The Frenchman, who briefly looked like he was struggling with an injury midway through the second half, still carved out presentable chances for Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.8m) and there needn’t be any reason to panic just yet despite this first duck egg of the season.

Sigurdsson and Iwobi were unable to follow up their impressive displays against Wolves with anything of note on Sunday but the in-form Richarlison certainly looked threatening before fatigue caught up with him in the second half.

The Brazil international, who had played for his country in the early hours of Wednesday morning, had cracked the bar with a dipping 18th-minute effort and probably should have done better when nodding Digne’s cross wide later in the first half.

Richarlison turned provider for Everton’s only goal of the match, producing a teasing cross that Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m) headed in via the underside of the bar.

Calvert-Lewin’s recall up front would have been a blow to those Fantasy managers who took a punt on Moise Kean (£6.7m) and the centre-forward spot looks to be unsettled at present, particularly as Calvert-Lewin responded to his Gameweek 4 benching with a much-improved display here.

The England under-21’s international’s work rate almost led to further goals, with the hosts’ impressive Aaron Ramsdale (£4.5m) having to twice thwart Calvert-Lewin following errors from his teammates upfield.

Andre Gomes (£5.4m) missed this match with a rib injury, with Silva saying:

He felt something after the Wolves match. He tried to work during the week but in the last days, he felt it again.

It’s the ribs. It’s something we will have to see day by day how he recovers from that situation. What we want to do is get him ready as fast as we can.

Members’ Analysis

Bournemouth XI (4-4-2): Ramsdale; Stacey, S Cook, Ake, Rico (Mepham 90′); King, L Cook (Lerma 77′), Billing, H Wilson (Fraser 57′); Solanke, C Wilson.

Everton XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne; Schneiderlin, Delph; Richarlison (Walcott 81′), Sigurdsson (Kean 71′), Iwobi; Calvert-Lewin (Bernard 71′).