Two matches at the end of the Match of the Day running order, which we can now discuss in our Gameweek 17 Scout Notes.
Are Bournemouth 1-1 Burnley And Brighton and Hove Albion 0-0 Sunderland.
ESTEVE, WELBECK + VAN HECKE UPDATES
Three of Brighton and Burnley’s most popular players missed their respective matches on Saturday.
Starting with the 11% ownership Maxime Esteve (£3.9m), the hitherto ever-present centre-back was unexpectedly absent from the Clarets’ trip to Bournemouth.
An injury on the training ground hurt him, and while it doesn’t sound serious, managers hoping to use him in Gameweek 18 – on a Bench Boost or otherwise – will be sweating.
“I don’t think it’s too serious, I hope maybe in a week or so. We pulled him out of training at the last minute yesterday.” – Scott Parker on Maxime Esteve, via the Burnley Express
As for Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.6m), he also lost his ever-present starter status. We didn’t get much news about him other than Fabian Hurzeler confirming it was an illness. Argus reports this that he’ll be back next weekend.
Danny Welbeck‘s absence (£6.4m) was less of a surprise. He was already flagged as doubtful due to a nagging back and ultimately did not recover in time.
“We have daily consultations with the medical team. The situation has not gotten worse, not much better in the last week. We have to see how we deal with it. I think it is very important that Danny is fully fit; not 80% or 90%, we need him fully fit because Danny is a game-changer for us.”
“I don’t think he’s far away, but let’s see in the next few days.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Danny Welbeck
SUNDERLAND LIGHTS UP AFCON EXITS
Sunderland have been the worst hit of the Premier League clubs when it comes to their exit from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Six players have now left for Morocco, four of whom were in the starting line-up for the Tyne-Wear derby. Habib Diarra (£5.3m), who was benched yesterday when his AFCON exit was postponed, would probably have been another had he been fit.
But the expected drop-off didn’t happen at the Amex. We shouldn’t be surprised: this is a well-coached, well-drilled team that has been more than the sum of its parts all season. The exits undoubtedly weaken them, especially in midfield. But the defense continues to look strong, as it has since Gameweek 1.
The above image shows how the Black Cats lined up in Brighton Chris Rigg (£4.7 million) and Simon Adingra (£4.9 million) brought in on the flanks, Trai Hume (£4.5m) returns at full-back and Lutsharel Geetruida (£4.5m) playing ‘out of position’ in midfield. Hume and Geertruida were permanent fixtures in this team in 2025/2026 anyway, so they hardly come in from the cold.
Although there was some late pressure from the hosts, all four of Brighton’s shots on target came from outside the penalty area. Albion also created zero Opta-defined ‘big chances’.
The Mackems indeed had the better chances. Then Ballard (£4.6 million) and Bryan Brobbey (£5.5m), so almost pushed further Bart Verbruggen (£4.4 million), while Omar Alderete (£4.0m) scored an excellent save with a header.
Ballard and Hume also collected DefCon points.
ALBION struggles upstairs
With van Hecke out and Lewis Dunk (£4.5m) suspended, Brighton played Olivier Boscagli (£4.2 million) and Diego Coppola (£4.2m) as a centre-back. Hurzeler said he was “pleased with their performance”, so let’s see what he does when Dunk and van Hecke return in Gameweek 18.
Moving on, as discussed above, Brighton has noted little of note. There are two main contributing factors: George Rutte (£5.6m) is clearly not a nine as he played when Welbeck was already out Yankuba Minteh‘s (£6.1m) displays have declined.
It could be a matter of moving to January to strengthen the top of the transfer market, but whatever Kaoru Mitoma (£6.1 million) is back. A second consecutive half hour without the bench means that a start is likely to come soon, and that obviously means bad news for the team Maxim De Cuyper’s (£4.3m) ‘out of position’ run-outs.
SEMENYO BACK ON THE TOP + SENESI CREATES
The xG race graph above tells a story, with Bournemouth unable to convert pressure into more than one goal and Burnley ‘doing an Indiana Jones’, i.e. waiting for the beautiful sword play to end before blowing through the killer. Armando Broja‘s (£5.2m) header. The Clarets hadn’t attempted a single try until the 86th minute!
Antoine Semenyo (£7.7m) is, at least briefly, back at the top of the midfielder’s points table, scoring for the second game in a row. That’s a dozen returns in 16 starts for the winger, who again made it through 90 minutes. That’s certainly part of its appeal at this time of year, when minutes management is widespread elsewhere.
Semenyo had had a few lookers from the left edge of the area before finding the net in the 67th minute; that was the Cherries’ first shot on target of the match.
David Brooks (£5.0 million) was the main culprit when it came to Saturday’s debauchery. He had a game-high six shots, including one excellent shot from close range that he skied.
Looking at the fixtures, this isn’t the best upcoming run for the out-of-form Cherries, who are without a win in eight league games. In fact, Iraq’s forces are at the bottom Fixture ticker:
Not too many clean sheets for that Mark Senesi (£4.9m) so it’s coming, but does that matter? FPL’s leader for DefCon points, he delivered them for the 13th time in 16 matches on Saturday. He should also have scored a late header, while something less heralded is his excellent distribution from the back: he is the leading defender for chances created (CC, below) in the last six gameweeks:
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