FPL notes: Haaland blank, while Aston Villa are on the rise

On Sunday, Manchester City suffered their first defeat since August, when Aston Villa won 1-0.

Here are our Scout Notes from Villa Park.

HAALAND BLANKS

While for many, Aston Villa’s win may have been the biggest shock Erling Haaland (£14.7 million) came away empty-handed.

Since the start of the season, the Norwegian has scored an impressive 11 goals and one assist for a total of 85 points – making him the FPL’s highest scoring player.

Before Villa, Haaland had punished every opponent but one and had started the match in fantastic form.

While he wasn’t completely anonymous during the match, registering three shots on target, including a big chance, it was far from one of his most explosive displays this campaign.

As shown in the screenshot of our members area abovethis was Haaland’s lowest non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI) number of the campaign.

Next up is a home game against a Bournemouth side who are unbeaten in the league since August. Can the Cherries limit Haaland again, or will things return to normal if he punishes a defense again?

ASTON VILLA ON THE UP

Although it was Man City’s first defeat since the 2-1 loss in Gameweek 3, it also extended Villa’s unbeaten league run to six games.

The only goal came from Matty Cash (£4.6m), who fired a left-footed strike from outside the penalty area. It was the Poland international’s fourth goal of the campaign for club and country. Emiliano Buendia (£5.3m) claimed the assist but had to drop out in the 29th minute due to injury.

There is no clear indication yet of the severity of the problem, but multiple reports suggest he left the stadium on crutches. That’s a worrying sign for Villa given Buendía’s importance to their recent success, with three goals and two assists in his last six appearances.

Despite Villa’s strong results moving forward Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) continues to struggle to find his best form.

The England international has made just one attacking return all season. Last year he had already registered five goals and two assists at this stage.

In terms of Villa’s assets in general, FPL managers will need to see significant improvements from key figures such as Watkins and Morgan Rogers (£6.8m) before any investment is considered, even with a promising run of fixtures ahead.