Two more Sunday games that we can now look back on Brentford 1-1 Leeds United And Nottingham Forest 3-0 Tottenham Hotspurincluding another goal for Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6 million).
FOUR ON FOUR FOR CALVERT-LEWIN
Dominic Calvert-Lewin saved a point for Leeds on Sunday and scored his fourth goal in as many game weeks.
In a match largely devoid of any real quality, the budget forward made a crucial contribution by powering home a trademark header from the substitute. Wilfried Gnonto‘s (£5.2m) delivery.
Calvert-Lewin has now scored 31 points in the last four Gameweeks, the most of any forward.
During that period he also found the net with all four of his ‘big chances’ defined by Opta.
“I feel good, the performance speaks for itself at the moment. I feel good, I feel healthy, this is the strongest I have been in a long time. I have worked very hard to get to this position.”
“When you get a certain narrative around you and put a brush on it, it’s hard to shake it off. It was always about being mentally strong, persevering and putting together performances step by step.
“Suddenly the tide starts to turn and you start scoring goals. That’s the life of a centre-forward.” – Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Calvert-Lewin has admittedly looked much better since Daniel Farke switched to a 3-5-2 formation earlier this month.
The German again used the same tactical setup against Brentford, before switching to a 4-3-3 in search of an equalizer. Leeds defended very well for the most part, limiting Keith Andrews’ side to just 0.72 expected goals (xG).
Indeed, with three for the most part at the back and impressive Ethan Ampadu (£4.9 million) provides further protection to the front, Igor Thiago (£7.0m) failed to register a single goal attempt.
Instead of, Anton Stach (£4.8m) scored six shots, the second most of any player in Gameweek 16 so far.
HENDERSON MOVED FORWARD
Jordan Henderson (£5.0m) was the best player on the pitch for Brentford.
Of Mikel Damsgaard (£5.8m) on the bench, the experienced midfielder played further forward than usual and thrived in his new role, firing the hosts ahead with a deflected effort.
“Big for Jordan in a slightly different role. More advanced. He can hang on at times. He handled it well, with a little bit of help from a deflection. Jordan’s experience and knowledge of the game are second to none. He has been a big impact player for us. He has settled into life here very well and has played a big role. Long may it continue.” – Keith Andrews on Jordan Henderson
Defensively, Brentford may have lost a clean sheet late on, but at least four of their starting defenders returned.
Michael Kayode (£4.5 million), Nathan Collins (£4.9 million) and Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) collected points for defensive contributions (DefCon) (see image below), with Kayode also claiming a share of the bonus.
Keane Lewis Potter (£4.8m) meanwhile was substituted before Brentford conceded.
SPURS SHAMBLES
Tottenham Hotspur were deservedly defeated 3-0, which is perhaps their worst performance of the season so far.
Second all-time, they generated just 0.37 xG at the City Ground.
There were also more mistakes at the back Willem Vicaris (£4.9m) owed on both Callum Hudson Odoi‘s (£5.7m) goals.
Having previously shown signs of improvement under Thomas Frank, going unbeaten in three games in all competitions, the Lilywhites are now back in top spot as they prepare to host Liverpool in Gameweek 17.
“It was extremely disappointing. It burns, annoying. That was a bad performance. Especially in the first half we looked disjointed overall. We didn’t win enough duels. And then we couldn’t touch each other, it seems like we gave the ball away every time we won it back. Of course the first two goals are two mistakes, that happens.”
“We have to work on being more consistent. Today it’s two steps forward and one step back. That’s up to the individual. We do it together, we win together and lose together. It’s very annoying that we are performing like that today. Simple passing, I think we lose the ball 20 times, simple passing.” –Thomas Frank
As for Pedro Porro (£5.3m), he is now nearing a ban after receiving his fourth warning of the season.
DYCHE ON SELS
Matz Sels (£4.7m) missed again for Forest on Sunday after failing to recover from a groin injury, making him unavailable in midweek.
Sean Dyche said he didn’t want to take any chances with his number one, or Nicholas Dominguez (£5.0 million), after the match.
“Unfortunately he has a knee problem [Dominguez]. It’s nothing serious. We had it scanned. His knee exploded with fluid in it. I think it was a cyst on his knee. Because we have these eight days [without a game]we didn’t take the risk.
“It was the same with Matz [Sels] – if things get worse, it will be a longer period. Stupid is the same. We looked at it and said, ‘What do we gain versus what do we lose if it flares up again?’ We just had to be careful. That has been a very big challenge for me as a manager.” – Sean Dyche
Sels’ replacement, John Victor (£4.0m), has now kept a clean sheet and conceded just one goal in his last two games as a substitute.
As mentioned above, Forest now have a short break before they return to action against Fulham in Gameweek 17.
Discussing Sels’ prospects of starting in that match, Dyche said:
“We’ll wait and see how it turns out. He certainly has a better chance than if he had played today.”
“John [Victor] did it brilliantly though. Fair play to him, get the clean sheet.” – Sean Dyche
Elsewhere, Hudson-Odoi built on his good performances in Europe with a tally of 19 points, thanks to two goals and an assist.
Ibrahima Sangare (£4.9m) wasn’t far off his mark either (18 points), with a couple of assists and a screamer late in the game, and now heads to AFCON.
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