We continue our Gameweek 33 Scout Notes by summarising the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from three more Saturday’s matches.
Bournemouth v Manchester United, Brentford v Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest v Wolverhampton Wanderers are under analysis.
- READ MORE: Scout Notes – Isak + Gordon run riot, Haaland joy, unused Foden
- READ MORE: Scout Notes – Bradley injury latest, Olise returns + tired West Ham
The numbers and graphics you see in this article come from our Premium Members Area. Here, you can access Opta player and team data from every single Premier League fixture.
FPL NOTES
GET CUNHA FOR HIS DOUBLE?
Rather than purchasing Darwin Nunez (£7.7m) or Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) for Double Gameweek 34, FPL managers may instead be tempted by the fixtures, form and cheaper price of Matheus Cunha (£5.6m).
Heading into this weekend, the Wolves forward’s previous full match brought a hat-trick at Chelsea that took him to seven goals and four assists from 11 outings. On Saturday, he netted twice in his first start for two months.
The first was an insanely good solo effort that began on the halfway line, allowing team-mate Jose Sa (£5.0m) to become this season’s second goalkeeper to grab an assist.
Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.7m) scored against his former club and Danilo (£5.3m) later gave Forest the lead before Cunha quickly scrambled home a corner to equalise.
Wolves’ next two Gameweeks see them host Arsenal, Bournemouth and Luton Town, presenting managers with a logical differential pick that could yield big returns.
On the other hand, Chris Wood (£4.9m) failed to reach five consecutive matches with a goal. Zero shots and expected goals (xG), as a late Divock Origi (£5.0m) cross was overhit.
LATEST ON AIT-NOURI
Despite head coach Gary O’Neil saying on Friday that he believed Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m) would be “part of the matchday squad”, the highly-selected FPL defender had a slight setback with his calf and missed out completely.
“It was a late call because he was doing well this week and up until yesterday [Friday] we thought he would be available to start. But then he had a small issue with his fitness test with the medical team, so Doc [Doherty] came in for him.” – Gary O’Neil on Ait-Nouri
Over 670,000 bought the Algerian international during these last four Gameweeks and he’s owned by 35% of the top 100k. Recently used as part of Wolves’ front line, Ait-Nouri’s latest four matches have produced two goals, one assist, seven shots and four big chances.
So there’ll be nervousness about his status for Double Gameweek 34. Even if deemed match-fit, Hwang Hee-chan‘s (£5.4m) 30-minute comeback cameo could lead to a front three of himself, Cunha and Pablo Sarabia (£4.8m). Perhaps the latter sees his minutes restricted, as O’Neil said afterwards that he “looked tired.”
Meanwhile, another absentee from Forest v Wolves was cheap midfielder Anthony Elanga (£5.1m).
“I don’t know. I’m not sure. We have to wait and see. Individually they [Elanga and Awoniyi] are progressing but for today they were not available. Let’s wait for the next one.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Elanga and Taiwo Awoniyi, via the Nottingham Post
The Tricky Trees will do everything possible to get him fit for Sunday’s huge relegation clash at Everton.
POSSIBLE GARNACHO FALLING OUT
Elsewhere, a popular autosub to step in once Phil Foden (£8.2m) didn’t appear was Man United’s Alejandro Garnacho (£5.0m). Fortunately awarded the assist for their first goal at Bournemouth, he didn’t come out for the second half.
“I think we had to repair the right side. We didn’t play well, the spaces were there in possession and we had to bring a sub there. Garnacho was, during the week, also not training. Only yesterday.” – Erik ten Hag on Garnacho’s half-time removal
What’s gotten the 19-year-old in trouble is his social media reaction to the substitution. He liked several X posts that criticised manager Erik ten Hag and Monday reports say that the matter has been dealt with internally by the club. Whether this ends his 22-match streak of league starts isn’t yet known.
More than 1.27 million Garnacho owners will see this as a bad time to fall out of favour. He’s been bought with Man United’s hosting of Sheffield United in mind, which is followed by Burnley (h), Crystal Palace (a) and Double Gameweek 37.
BRUNO BRACE + SENESI ASSISTS
If money is no object, Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) may actually be their best asset for such an attractive fixture run. His brace and bonuses at the Vitality Stadium put him up to five goals and 45 points over the last five matches.
No player has created more chances over the whole season (90), whilst his rate of attempts and big chances have recently escalated. As of now, just eight players have had more shots on target (34).
Above: All players, sorted by the most shots on target
The Portuguese playmaker twice cancelled out assists from Cherries centre-back Marcos Senesi (£4.4m), a player who made his first start since picking up a hamstring injury in Gameweek 27. He simply loves facing Man United – the team that’s conceded the second-most shots (574) overall – having secured a 15-point haul in December’s reverse encounter.
Although his pair of Gameweek 34 matches have a low clean sheet likelihood, team-mate Solanke netted past Aston Villa and Wolves earlier on. The forward put Bournemouth ahead before Tom’s differential pick Justin Kluivert (£4.6m) put them back in front after 36 minutes.
TONEY UNUSED IN REGUILON REDEMPTION
Final observations come from a relieved Brentford. A win versus Sheffield United was their first in ten and puts the Bees seven points clear of the relegation zone.
A hip injury restricted forward Ivan Toney (£8.1m) to a brief Gameweek 32 cameo and Thomas Frank felt there was no need to risk him at all this time. This, combined with Brentford’s lack of Double Gameweek, probably eliminates Toney as a buyable FPL player during these final rounds.
Whereas full-back Sergio Regilon (£4.4m) will feel like he’s beginning to redeem himself after the disaster of Blank Gameweek 29.
Above: Defenders sorted by expected goal involvement (xGI) since Gameweek 24
665,000 had to watch in horror as he was sent off in the eighth minute at Burnley. The Spaniard ended on minus three points, served a suspension and has followed up last week’s two assists with a clean sheet here. A couple of bonus points too.
It means that Reguilon’s latest eight starts have delivered five assists, two clean sheets and two negative scores. Up next are Luton (a) and Everton (a).
