Arsenal 0-1 Manchester Metropolis
- Targets: Raheem Sterling (£11.6m)
- Assists: Riyad Mahrez (£8.1m)
- Bonus: Fernandinho (£5.4m), Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.5m) x2, Mahrez, Ruben Dias (£6.1m) x1
A fixture between two of the division’s meanest defences resulted in a predictably low-scoring recreation.
Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) settled the competition after little greater than a minute, nodding house Riyad Mahrez‘s (£8.1m) teasing cross from shut vary.
Pep Guardiola’s facet secured their fifteenth clear sheet of the season, and their eleventh shut-out in 13 matches that featured each Ruben Dias (£6.1m) and John Stones (£5.2m) at centre-back.
TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Ilkay Gundogan (£6.1m) made a swift return from a groin damage in Sunday’s match in north London, whereas Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m) was handed his first begin in a month after his personal latest lay-off.
Neither participant might ship an attacking return, though the pair nearly mixed for a Metropolis second when Gundogan made a hash of his teammate’s pinpoint through-ball.
A part of a fluid three in Pep Guardiola’s strikerless set-up, the pair took their turns together with Bernardo Silva (£7.4m) in working because the spearhead of the Metropolis assault.
Many people will already personal Gundogan: his possession stands at over 85% within the prime 10k (a greater gauge of energetic managers than the general determine) and will improve additional heading into Double Gameweek 26.
However De Bruyne sits in lower than 1% of those squads and is one thing of a differential amongst energetic managers.
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He regarded the half at occasions on Sunday, supplying two very good key passes to Sterling and Gundogan earlier than nearly discovering the again of the online with an audacious chip within the second half.
Each Gundogan and De Bruyne have discovered themselves in additional superior positions than ordinary this season and the previous has tailored higher: the German has transformed 28.9% of his pictures in 2020/21, with De Bruyne’s fee down at a poor 4.8%.
The Belgian can’t even start to compete with regards to worth for cash and it’s extra of a query over whether or not he can type a double-up with Gundogan in FPL squads going into the Double Gameweeks.
Nonetheless a tad rusty and rested by his supervisor after an hour on the Emirates, his remaining audition will come on Wednesday towards Borussia Mönchengladbach.
He’ll have that recreation not solely to show his match-sharpness however to recommend he’s a preferable premium choice to the quietly constant Sterling, who now has 13 attacking returns in his final 14 Premier League begins.
CANCELO CULTURE
“He’s due a haul” sums up Joao Cancelo‘s (£6.1m) season as a Fantasy asset.
One duly arrived in Gameweek 20 towards West Bromwich Albion however the reality stays that this was considered one of simply two Premier League matches this season through which the defender-turned-midfielder has delivered attacking returns.
The likes of Joel Matip (£5.4m) and Darnell Furlong (£4.5m) have precisely the identical file as Cancelo when it comes to targets (one) and assists (two), though the 12 clear sheets that the Portuguese full-back has banked are a little bit of a sweetener.
There was yet one more “practically” second on the Emirates, with the premium Metropolis defender tiptoeing his method into the Arsenal penalty field and ruining an excellent feint on Pablo Mari (£4.4m) by prodding vast from 10 yards.
One other haul does appear inevitable sooner or later – however then so does the odd benching given Metropolis’s upcoming schedule, and that’s the trade-off house owners should swallow.
SUB-PAR
It was a 3rd successive Premier League recreation as a non-playing substitute for Sergio Aguero (£10.3m), whose marketing campaign has been hampered by a knee downside, a hamstring damage and even a constructive coronavirus check.
The Argentine has little greater than two hours of game-time to his title within the prime flight this season; the truth that we’re approaching successive Double Gameweeks for Metropolis with out even contemplating him as a viable FPL possibility exhibits how a lot of a non-event his 2020/21 has been.
His taking part in return might be imminent, nonetheless, not less than in accordance with his supervisor:
I am trying ahead to placing him in. We can’t overlook he was a very long time injured and also you get rhythm if you play minutes.
However he deserves to play and I need it. I need to say preserve working exhausting and your time is coming.
It’s about his bodily situation – he was one yr injured; he solely performed a couple of minutes. I need to be certain for him – for us as effectively – however for him.
ART LIES ELSEWHERE
European membership competitors returned final week and far of what we wrote about Tottenham Hotspur in one other Gameweek 25 Scout Notes can also apply to their north London neighbours.
The Gunners are 11 factors away from a top-four spot and their greatest guess for securing qualification to subsequent yr’s Champions League could also be to win this yr’s Europa League.
The deeper the Gunners go into that competitors, and the longer they continue to be mid-table fodder, then the dangers of rotation round Thursday nights on the continent will improve.
We noticed the primary glimpses of that on the weekend, with Mikel Arteta making 5 adjustments to the staff that lined up each in Gameweek 25 and in midweek towards Benfica – semi-popular finances midfielder Emile Smith Rowe (£4.3m) lastly dropping his spot after 10 successive league begins.
Kieran Tierney (£5.2m) was a welcome returnee on his comeback from damage and could be among the many names to think about for the Gunners’ fixture swing in Gameweek 31, with he and left-sided partner-in-crime Bukayo Saka (£5.3m) once more catching the attention going ahead on Sunday.
However ought to Arteta’s troops nonetheless be concerned within the Europa League when the match reaches the quarter-final stage, then the Gunners’ Premier League line-ups might be difficult to second-guess.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Leno; Bellerin, Holding (Luiz 82), Mari, Tierney; Elneny (Ceballos 86), Xhaka; Pepe (Smith-Rowe 73), Odegaard (Lacazette 73), Saka; Aubameyang.
Man Metropolis (4-3-3): Ederson; Cancelo, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko; Fernandinho, Silva, Gundogan; Mahrez, De Bruyne (Jesus 63′), Sterling.
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