We begin Sunday’s Scout Notes by summarising the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from three matches: Leicester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United v Bournemouth and Fulham v Southampton.
PEREIRA OFF TO WINNING START
Goncalo Guedes (£5.3m), Rodrigo Gomes (£5.2m) and Matheus Cunha (£7.1m) were all on the scoresheet for Wolves on Sunday, as Vitor Pereira got off to a flying start.
The visitors, who lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Matt Doherty (£4.3m) as one of the three centre-backs, scored all three goals in the first half.
The most notable of those strikes was, of course, Cunha’s.
The Brazilian, who was charged with misconduct by the Football Association (FA) on Tuesday, netted his ninth Premier League goal of the season in style, combing well with Guedes to expose Leicester’s defensive vulnerabilities.
Cunha has now served up 18 points in the last two Gameweeks, and with the FA yet to confirm a ban, he remains available for selection for now.
The wing-backs in Pereira’s 3-4-2-1 are also worth touching on.
Gomes filled in for Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m) at left wing-back and scored, while on the right, Nelson Semedo (£4.5m) supplied an assist.
It suggests both wing-back positions will be key for Pereira going forward.
Equally important as the attacking play was surely the clean sheet, however, just Wolves’ second of the season.
“Usually, my teams don’t concede a lot of goals. I want a team with balance, with quality in the possession, with intention, because my game has intentions. But I want a team that are able to play in possession, to play in the counter attack, to defend higher, and in moments that we need to defend, do it higher, but they need to understand the moments to go and the moments to wait in a block; median or low block. It means that there is tactical intelligence.” – Vitor Pereira
LIVERPOOL UP NEXT FOR LEICESTER
Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy rued individual mistakes in his post-match press conference, with backup goalkeeper Danny Ward (£4.0m) jeered by some sections of the home support for his blunders.
“It’s obviously very disappointing. You look at how the goals were given away, probably more, because of the individual mistakes, and it happened too much today.” – Ruud van Nistelrooy
The Foxes’ next match is a daunting away trip to Liverpool on Boxing Day.
Van Nistelrooy might have number one Mads Hermansen (£4.5m) back for that clash, but the defensive stats under the Dutchman remain a major concern.
Indeed, Leicester have conceded 82 shots in his first four matches in charge, a league-high.
Teams sorted by shots conceded – last four matches
CHERRIES EXPOSE FRAILTIES/FERNANDES THREAT
Manchester United’s inconsistent performances under Ruben Amorim continued on Sunday, as they slumped to a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.
United had more shots (23 to 10) and more possession (59.3%) than the Cherries, but set-pieces once again proved their undoing, with Dean Huijsen (£4.3m) this time able to capitalise.
The Red Devils have now shipped nine goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season, only Wolves are worse with 14.
“The responsibility is on me, not Carlos [United’s set-piece coach]. We are working on that and we are going to improve on that. But we didn’t lose because of set-pieces. We lost because we create more chances and didn’t score.” – Ruben Amorim
Further forward, Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) carried the most threat. Most of his efforts were from distance but he went close a couple of times, ending Gameweek 17 with seven shots and four key passes.
He did shift back into a central midfield role alongside Kobbie Mainoo (£5.2m) after Alejandro Garnacho’s (£6.1m) introduction just before the hour mark, however.
Bruno Fernandes’ shot map (shots on target in green) v Bournemouth
As for Amad Diallo (£5.3m), he played as an attacking midfielder in behind Joshua Zirkzee (£6.6m) and probably should have scored from a cut-back in the second half. He also took a few corners, his first since Gameweek 5.
Elsewhere, Marcus Rashford (£6.8m) was omitted for the third successive match.
The headlines will naturally be about United’s display, but Bournemouth deserve real credit for their performance.
The Cherries’ backline dealt with everything thrown at them and they looked a real threat at the other end.
In addition to Huijsen’s strike, his second in four matches, Justin Kluivert (£5.5m) and Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m) were both on the scoresheet.
Kluivert is now Bournemouth’s leading goalscorer this season, with five of his six goals from the penalty spot.
SMITH ROWE INJURY/SAINTS IMPROVEMENT
Emile Smith Rowe (£5.4m) missed out for Fulham on Sunday, with reports suggesting he picked up a knock in training.
Without him and fellow playmaker Andreas Pereira (£5.0m), who was banned, the Cottagers lacked any real creativity, registering just 0.86 expected goals (xG).
Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m) failed to get much service as a result, with his replacement Raul Jimenez (£5.6m) suffering the same fate.
In fact, the pair combined for just two shots at Craven Cottage.
Most of Fulham’s threat as usual came down the left, with the rampaging Antonee Robinson (£4.9m) and Alex Iwobi (£5.8m) involved in most of their best moments.
Robinson supplied nine crosses and created three chances, while Iwobi fired off six shots in total, a match-high.
Elsewhere, Joachim Andersen (£4.2m) was back on the bench, having missed the previous four Gameweeks through injury.
“Our attacking line was never really a threat for them. We had two or three clear chances, but we should have created more. We have to be more incisive, more clinical. It’s a missed opportunity for us definitely, that was a game we win if we take better decisions.” – Marco Silva
As for Southampton, new boss Ivan Juric watched in the stands and will have been pleased at his new side’s defensive stability.
With Aaron Ramsdale (£4.4m) back in goal, the Saints played with more composure, taking far fewer risks playing out from the back.
“We met him and from what we came across he wants to be high pressing, a little more aggressive, hard to beat and crushing spaces, playing in the right areas. We probably kicked more today than he would like, so it’s about finding the balance between kicking when we can and letting our boys in attack enjoy themselves.” – Aaron Ramsdale on Ivan Juric