FPL notes: Arsenal’s mean defence + Mbeumo in demand

We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Brentford v Arsenal in our latest Scout Notes review.

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.

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HAVERTZ EARNS WIN

Arsenal went top of the league on Saturday evening after substitute Kai Havertz (£7.1m) scored a late winner at Brentford.

Just 10 minutes after replacing Gabriel Martinelli (£7.8m), the German got on the end of a teasing Bukayo Saka (£8.7m) cross, picking the perfect moment to head home his first open play goal of the season.

“Yes, absolutely yes. Against this block, and against teams that defend the box like this, you need this type of profile, and he’s exceptional at that. Today he won the game in that action for us.” – Mikel Arteta on Kai Havertz

Up until that point, Mikel Arteta’s men had struggled to break down Brentford’s stubborn backline, with the return of Martin Odegaard (£8.3m) and Gabriel Jesus (£7.8m) from injury failing to inspire.

Leandro Trossard (£6.5m), a surprise starter in midfield, thought he’d opened the scoring in the first half but VAR ruled out his header for offside, with clear-cut chances few and far between.

“I hope I am. I hope we can be better and better and adapt because the reality is we lost a lot of attacking players in this first period in the league and the team continued to find ways to win. Today we had to put in another attacking player because I suspected what they would do and what we might need and what we got was really good I thought.” – Mikel Arteta on trying to find the right attacking blend

As for Saka, he found it difficult against a deep Bees’ defence and was quiet for much of the contest, but did set up the winner, subsequently claiming two bonus points.

It means the winger has supplied assists in four of his last five outings, a period which has seen him average 5.2 points per match, but it’d be nice to see a bit more goal threat.

From Gameweek 9 onwards, he’s attempted only four shots which carried a combined expected goals (xG) value of just 0.15.

Above: Bukayo Saka’s goal threat stats by Gameweek in 2023/24

ARSENAL’S MEAN DEFENCE

Arsenal might be struggling for fluidity in attack, but defensively they are sound, with the partnership of William Saliba (£5.4m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£4.8m), with Declan Rice (£5.4m) just ahead, thriving.

Three of Arsenal’s four away victories in the Premier League this season have been 1-0 and the Gunners can’t be beaten for clean sheets, goals conceded or expected goals conceded (xGC) in 2023/24 so far.

At the Vitality, Aaron Ramsdale (£4.7m) got a rare chance between the posts with loanee David Raya (£4.9m) ineligible for this fixture.

However, he looked low on confidence at times, with errors playing out from the back, presumably cementing Raya’s position as number one.

That’s despite Arteta saying Ramsdale “… has big courage and big personality and that’s why we love him” in his post-match interview.

Elsewhere, Ben White (£5.7m) has been carrying a knock recently and was named on the bench on Saturday. The defender did replace Saka in the latter stages, however, and is now in contention to feature against RC Lens in the UEFA Champions League.

MBEUMO IN-DEMAND

Brentford were only denied goals on Saturday by excellent clearances off the line from Rice and Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.0m), with the former denying Bryan Mbeumo (£6.9m) his seventh league goal of the season.

It surely won’t be long before he hits that target, however, given that he sits among the top three midfielders for shots in the box, big chances and expected goal involvement (xGI).

He also has some excellent fixtures on the horizon:

Owners will, of course, need to turn to their benches in Gameweek 18, when Brentford blank due to Manchester City’s participation at the FIFA Club World Cup, but that won’t be a problem for those who plan correctly, so it’s no surprise Mbeumo is the second-most bought FPL player since Saturday’s deadline.

Elsewhere, Mathias Jensen (£5.4m) missed his first Premier League match of the season against Arsenal with a “minor abductor strain”, but Thomas Frank is hopeful he’ll have his playmaker back for Luton Town’s visit in Gameweek 14.

“The players are ready to step in and fill the role, and they do that because they know the structure and the principles. We have a fantastic culture and togetherness. With the injuries we have, against a full-strength Arsenal side who are top of the Premier League, [the performance] was just incredible.

There were two chances for both teams; they took one of theirs and we didn’t. It’s tough to take when they score in the last minute of the game, but we made it very difficult for Arsenal. It was almost the perfect defensive performance in so many ways against a very, very good offensive team.

There are a lot of positives to take from the game. In the moment it is frustrating to take, but we need to focus on the performances. This is game 13 and we have had 12 good or very good performances. We just need to keep doing that, keep moving forward and keep believing.” – Thomas Frank

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