FPL notes: “Unbelievable” Foden + Iraola on Senesi’s injury

Wins for Manchester City and Bournemouth are the focus of our latest Scout Notes article of Gameweek 27.

For analysis of Saturday’s action, check out the links below.

• READ MORE: FPL notes: Trippier’s injury a “concern”, Hwang + Richarlison latest
• READ MORE: FPL notes: “Fantastic” Watkins, Morris + Doughty’s role
• READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 27: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats

PEP ON FODEN

Phil Foden (£8.1m) stepped up with a superb second-half double on Sunday, as Man City came from behind to win the derby 3-1.

In a one-sided match, the Stockport native attempted nine of City’s 27 shots, underlining his growing importance to Pep Guardiola’s side.

A perfect finish across the ‘keeper was later followed by a driven shot into the far corner, having been picked out by substitute Julian Alvarez (£6.6m).

Crucially, the latter came after Foden had switched flanks with Bernardo Silva (£6.3m), highlighting his versatility.

“It is the amount of games he is playing. He was always a talented player but now he is more mature and understands more the game, especially defensively.

“He can play middle, right, make moments and cut inside, play in the left, scoring from the left. What can I say? He is the best player in the Premier League right now for the amount of things he does. Unbelievable.” – Pep Guardiola on Phil Foden

“When I arrived, he was 17 and he had it. He lives to play football. He loves it. He understands defensively what he has to do – before he was not really good, so he understands the games better now. 

“The most important thing, when he got the ball close to the box, everyone got the feeling that something is going to happen. The feeling he is aggressive to score, that’s why he is becoming a really important player for us and the national team.” – Pep Guardiola

Elsewhere, the most-captained player of the round, Erling Haaland (£14.5m), missed a gilt-edged chance from a Foden assist just before the break (see below), but later atoned, rounding off the scoring in stoppage time.

According to Opta, the expected goals (xG) on Haaland’s miss was 0.89:

Above: Man City’s xG shot map v Man Utd in Gameweek 27

As for Kevin De Bruyne (£10.7m), he started and finished the match but wasn’t at his best, despite some positive underlying data (five shots, six key passes).

Fellow playmaker Bernardo fared better, although both players were outshone by Rodri (£5.6m), who served up two assists and remarkably now has six double-figure hauls for the season – only Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) has more with eight.

Despite today’s result, sales on City assets is starting to pick up, with next week’s fixture at Anfield followed by a blank and Arsenal/Aston Villa.

BRUNO’S FREE ROLE

Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) started in a false nine role at the Etihad, flanked by Marcus Rashford (£8.4m) on the left Alejandro Garnacho (£5.0m) on the right.

And it was from this position that Fernandes created Rashford’s opener, timing his run perfectly before laying-off for his team-mate to score.

Discussing the role, Erik ten Hag said:

“It was a free role for Bruno, to pull players out and to get runs in behind. But there were also moments that Bruno is a very smart player, and also to find his moments to get in behind. And from there on we created the chances like the [goal for] 1-0.

“I think he played very good in defending but also offensive wise, very smart. Dropping in the right moments but also running in behind like he did for the first goal. It can be an option.” – Erik ten Hag on Bruno Fernandes

No player has created more chances this season than Fernandes, having supplied four assists in his last six matches.

The wait goes on for a goal, however: his last strike was at Craven Cottage in Gameweek 11.

IRAOLA ON SENESI’S INJURY

In a cruel blow to early adopters, Marcos Senesi (£4.6m) was withdrawn after 12 minutes on Sunday, having pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury.

Andoni Iraola told local paper the Daily Echo:

“I think it’s a clear strain in the hamstring. I hope it’s not very big. It’s a very bad moment for us, collectively because we don’t have too many defenders right now. But also for him personally, because he has been called again with the national team, with Argentina.

“And I hope it’s not big. And I hope he can go there and play with his national team. That is, I know, something very important for him.

“It’s a very good thing that Meps [Mepham] came and he played a good game.” – Andoni Iraola on Marcos Senesi

Despite Senesi’s injury, Bournemouth kept their defensive shape well and went on to claim their sixth clean sheet of the season, with replacement Chris Mepham (£4.3m) looking assured next to Illia Zabarnyi (£4.4m).

BOURNEMOUTH’S DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 28 AUDITION

An early strike from Justin Kluivert (£4.6m) and a late goal from Antoine Semenyo (£4.5m) proved the difference at Turf Moor, as Bournemouth claimed their first Premier League win of 2024.

Semenyo in particular impressed cutting in from the right wing, racking up three shots in the box.

Both goals were assisted by central midfielder Lewis Cook (£5.0m), meanwhile.

As for Dominic Solanke (£7.1m), he passed a late fitness test to start and got a chance to add to his tally of 14 Premier League goals, but his effort was stopped by Burnley ‘keeper James Trafford (£4.5m).

Having left Turf Moor with three points, it sets Bournemouth up well for four successive home games against Sheffield United, Luton Town, Everton and Crystal Palace (see below).

It is worth noting, however, Bournemouth have collected fewer points at home than they have on the road this season, with just 12 goals scored in front of their own fans.

MORE PAIN FOR BURNLEY

With 20 shots on goal and one from Josh Cullen (£5.0m) that was disallowed, this was a positive Burnley performance.

For large periods, they were much the better team, but they were once again far too open at the back, a familiar theme from a thoroughly miserable season.

It’ll be particularly disappointing for Vincent Kompany, who watched on as Vitinho (£4.4m) – playing out-of-position on the right wing – and David Datro Fofana (£5.0m) both fluffed ‘big chances’.

Wilson Odobert (£5.0m), deployed in a more central number ten role, also came close with six shots in total.

However, playing out from the back seems to keep putting Burnley in trouble, with Sunday’s defeat leaving them second from bottom, 11 points from safety.

They’ve also conceded 60 times in 27 matches, keeping just two clean sheets, which could be good news for Jarrod Bowen (£7.8m) and Ivan Toney (£8.2m) owners in Gameweeks 28 and 29 respectively.

“After the result and performance against Crystal Palace last week, I did think we put in the energy that we need to put into this game. I could be wrong, but I think we put in more shots and more chances than any other game we’ve played in the Premier League so far this season, so the energy was there and that was good to see. Even after conceding such an unfortunate goal, we carried on. But the frustration has to substitute into the next game, what we can’t do now is drop the energy levels we had today.” – Vincent Kompany

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