We still have two Saturday games left in our Gameweek 23 Scout Notes: Burnley 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur And Fulham 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion.
MIDDLE BACKS PAPER OVER CRACKS
As has so often been the case in the 2025/2026 season, one positive result – mostly in Europe – has not been enough to kick-start Spurs’ season.
This time a fine 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund was almost followed by the Lilywhites handing Burnley their first league win in fourteen games.
Frankly, a Clarets win would have been harsh. An inspired Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) made nine saves including a double stop from a set piece, a reflex save to stay out Dominic Solanke‘s (£7.2m) close-range effort and a fine claw away to relinquish Mathijs Tel‘s (£6.2m) attempt.
Xavi Simons (£6.5 million) also hit the bar Wilson Odobert (£5.3m) should have done better from 12 yards.
Not for the first time, the two central defenders had to take out Thomas Frank. Micky van de Ven (£4.6 million) and Christian Romero (£5.0m) netted, the latter doing so for the third Spurs game in a row. The pair have now scored more Premier League goals (GS, below) than any other FPL defender in 2025/26:
Elsewhere on Spurs watch, Frank once again deployed the 3-4-3 formation that worked so well in midweek. Van de Ven took the place Lot Udogie (£4.3m) as the left-sided centre-back, with DJ Spence (£4.3m) once again prominently moved up to full-back:
Pedro Porro (£5.2m) and Romero were removed but there are no injury concerns.
“Romero got a cramp at the end. Pedro was physical, played a lot of minutes. So we had more running power: Djed to the right and then Destiny [subbed] in.” – Thomas Frank
As hungry as the two centre-backs are, does anyone come close to Spurs players in the FPL? At least not before Gameweek 31, with another brutal run sending the Lilywhites to rock bottom Fixture sticker:
Considering that Spurs came from a favorable ranking over the last eight games among the bottom six clubs in terms of goals scored (eight) and conceded (13), you wouldn’t mind if the FPL players Doing now face Frank’s beleaguered forces. Next up is Manchester City.
DUB STANDS UP
Dubravka’s heroics gave him a second consecutive five-point return. Unsurprisingly, he is well clear of any other FPL goalkeeper in save points this season (24).
Maxime Esteve (£3.9 million) and Bashir Humphreys (£3.9m) meanwhile maintained their good defensive contribution record (DefCon) and collected those points again. Esteve’s figure below has increased to 64.7% if we exclude the three starts in which he has been eliminated:
Above: Defenders sorted by percentage of games in which they earned DefCon points
But ultimately, a shortage of clean sheets (just three for Burnley all season) sets this pack apart from others Nordi Mukiele (£4.5 million).
Two other Burnley defenders, Kyle Walker (£4.4 million) and Axel Tuanzebe (£3.9m), combined for the hosts’ first goal on Saturday before the substitution Lyle Foster (£4.9 million) took what he thought was the winner.
Those two goals, plus a breakaway Armando Broja (£5.2m) chance, accounting for a large chunk of Burnley’s overall xG total:
WILSON DOES THE BART MAN
Harry Wilson‘s (£6.0m) stellar season continued on Saturday when he scored his 14th attacking return of 2025/26 with a late free-kick.
It was his eleventh return in as many Gameweeks – although he did, quite literally, get a big helping hand from an unconvincing Bart Verbruggen (£4.5 million).
Marco Silva 🤍Harry Wilson@FulhamFC pic.twitter.com/mJrB5nqy7I
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 25, 2026
The latest in a long line of long-range goals (he hasn’t scored from closer than thirteen yards this season!) means he is now the Premier League’s most ‘overachieving’ player, in terms of xG, of the current season.
But better players tend to exceed Opta’s expectations, especially those with a dead eye from distance. A look at Wilson’s history in the Premier League shows that this season is no strange occurrence:
| Season | Goals | xG | xG Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 8 | 3.89 | +4.11 |
| 2024/25 | 6 | 4.21 | +1.79 |
| 2023/24 | 4 | 3.38 | +0.62 |
| 2022/23 | 2 | 1.98 | +0.02 |
| 2019/20 | 7 | 4:00 am | +3.00 |
Samuel Chukwueze (£5.3m) is doing its best to keep up with Wilson. The Nigerian, back from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and coming on as a substitute, scored Fulham’s first goal of the afternoon. That has taken him to three goals and as many assists in his last six run-outs. Expect him to trouble the starting XI again soon at his expense Kevin (£5.8m) – although it sounds like it Oscar Bob (£5.1 million) is also on its way.
Joachim Andersen (£4.6 million) provided the assist for Chukwueze’s equalizer with an excellent long pass. Surprisingly for a centre-back so adept at distributing the ball, this was his first attacking return since 2023/24.
THE BEST MARGINS
There wasn’t much to this match, with Brighton arguably deserving to win if either side did.
Not even Marco Silva could argue for Fulham’s supremacy. After a good start and an early one Raul Jimenez (£6.2m) big chance, the Seagulls were top.
“I have to say that probably the fairest result will be the draw, and not our victory.” –Marco Silva
“Football is sometimes cruel. Sometimes the better team loses.”
“Overall, I think it was one of the best we’ve played so far.” – Fabian Hurzeler
We often talk about “fine margins” in football, but they don’t get much finer than 1 cm, which is apparently the case was the difference between Danny Welbeck‘s (£6.2 million) disallowed goal stood and not. On other occasions, Welbeck twice came close, knelt wide and saw a header saved Kauro Mitoma (£6.1 million) and Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4 million) were denied by a save and a goal-line clearance in the same move.
Age setting‘s (£4.8m) goal, a stunner from distance, was actually one of Brighton’s lowest xG efforts of the match.
Among other tactical adjustments, Fabian Hurzeler moved Pascal Gross (£5.5m) in the ’10’ role.
There was no again Yankuba Minteh (£5.8m) in the starting XI, something Hurzeler had indicated on Friday Joel Veltman (£4.3 million) was banked.
There were tactical reasons behind this – Olivier Boscagli (£4.2m) dealing with Wilson and Kadioglu switching flanks to provide width beyond an unnatural winger Diego Gomes (£4.9m) – but there was also a minor injury involved.
“It was more of a tactical decision, but he (Veltman) had a little problem with his knee during the week.” – Fabian Hurzeler about the change at right back
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