There was only one Premier League club in action in the UEFA Champions League this week.
And what a victory it was for Newcastle United, who set up Qarabag for six goals in Azerbaijan.
These are the key lessons for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
RESULT
| Team | Opposition | Result | Goals | To help |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle United | Qarabag (a) | 6-1 victory | Gordon x4 (2 pens), Thiaw, Murphy | Burn, Trippier, Barnes x2, Woltemade |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| TEAM | CHANGES FROM THE 4TH ROUND OF THE FA CUP | PLAYERS WHO RETAIN THEIR PLACES (+ MINUTES) | OTHER PLAYERS (+ MINUTES) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle United | 4 | Thiaw (90), Burn (90), Hall (90), Tonali (90), Woltemade (90), Barnes (87), Trippier (77) | Pope (90), Willock (68), Elanga (68), Gordon (68), Osula (22), J Murphy (22), Ramsey (22), Joelinton (13), Neave (3) |
GORDON WITH FOUR OBJECTIVES RUNS riot
On a day when many FPL managers’ captains achieved mediocre returns at Molineux, Anthony Gordon (£7.2 million) caused a stir in the Champions League.
Gordon plundered four goals and a 27-point win in UCL Fantasy, which would have translated to 25 points in FPL.
The England international once again deployed ‘out of position’ (OOP) as a striker in Eddie Howe’s 4-3-3, taking advantage of the huge gaps behind a naively high Qarabag defensive line.
“I think he’s been very good in that position. Looking back at the Liverpool game, I thought he was excellent and he’s scoring. He’s really shown that he wants to play there, which is hugely important, and then he’s got the quality to play. I thought his pressure today was incredible for us. I think that’s given us the platform, in addition to his work and a lot of high urgency, to build a lot of counter-attacking opportunities for us. Of course he’s got the four goals and he’ll do that.” obviously made headlines, but I thought his all-round game was very strong. – Eddie Howe on Anthony Gordon as a striker
Two of his goals came from his runs past the last man, first scoring a Then Burns (£5.0m) pass and then took advantage of a defender’s miscontrol Nick Woltemade‘s (£6.9m) hopeful step forward.
Gordon also scored twice from the spot, despite Woltemade and the German’s cheerleader Kieran Trippier (£4.9 million) in an attempt to strengthen the second penalty.
“I think Anthony obviously wanted to take the second penalty and I understand why there is a discussion about it. Sometimes it’s not clear when there are two in one game, but he took both penalties excellently. I’m happy with that. And I think Kieran is just trying to help the team. So I think, as you say, it’s a positive rather than a negative situation.” – Eddie Howe on the row between Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier over Newcastle’s second penalty
Gordon turned down two other big chances on his way to a remarkable expected goals (xG) rating of 3.53 (Statsbomb, below):
Harvey Barnes (£6.1m), who won the first penalty through his handball, also squandered some golden chances, while Burn should have scored twice from set plays and substitutes Will Osula (£5.4m) should have buried a late chance.
All that saw Newcastle beat their hosts 5.4-0.4 on Statsbomb xG, showing the margin of victory was no fluke:
Saturday’s opponents, Manchester City, obviously won’t be as gullible as Newcastle’s midweek hosts.
WOOL MAKES DEEPER AGAIN
If you watched last weekend’s cup tie at Villa Park, or read our Scout Notes, you will have seen/learned that Woltemade is operating in a deeper role.
And Howe used that tactic again on Wednesday, with Woltemade again in the midfield three:
“Today we were 4-3-3 and Woltemade just plays in midfield.
“The system we play is the system we’ve played here very consistently for four years, but the personnel is a little different. So we’ve played Woltemade a little lower and Anthony higher. I think you obviously see different strengths in the players. Anthony’s running ability and his pace, and Nick’s technical quality are so high that it’s been an interesting change for us.” –Eddie Howe
It’s still early days, but we may see Woltemade ‘Joelintoned’ by his manager, i.e. unconvincing run-outs as a nine (which neither player ever really was), followed by a reinvention in a deeper role.
The Brazilian midfielder briefly returned from injury as a substitute Jacob Ramsey (£5.3m) – another positional rival – was on the bench. So it probably won’t be a tactic we see every week.
REST COMES IN THE SECOND LEG?
It originally looked like Manchester City would meet Newcastle at an opportune time in Gameweek 27.
The Magpies’ trip to the Etihad is sandwiched by the double-header against Qarabag, which includes an 8,000km round trip to Azerbaijan.
But this procession in Baku meant that Howe could not only bring along the likes of Gordon, Anthony Elanga (£6.5 million), Joe Willock (£5.9m) and Trippier off relatively early on Wednesday, it also means he can probably rest some of his regulars next Tuesday.
For example, Osula, who might otherwise have been in the lead at the Etihad, certainly gets the nod in the second leg.
Malick Thiaw (£5.0m), who scored from a corner, will also miss the rematch with Qarabag due to suspension.
So while there may be a few changes at the Etihad (e.g. Ramsey, Joelinton and/or Jacob Murphy (£5.9m incoming), it should still be a strong (and not particularly overworked) line-up in the North West.
Yoane warned (£7.3 million), Sven Botman (£4.9 million) and Lewis Miley (£4.5m) they all missed out again, so we’ll wait to see what Howe says in his pre-match presser on Friday. None of them have serious injuries, so they could return in the coming week – perhaps to find their way back against Qarabag.
Newcastle take on Everton at home in Gameweek 28, which follows that glorified dead rubber.
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