In Gameweek 11, a breezy evening in North London was the icing on the cake for a lot of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
After Destiny Udogie (£4.8 million) and Cristian Romero (£5.0 million) were sent off, Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur, who had never lost, four goals to one. Tottenham Hotspur had to play more than forty minutes with nine men.
We go beyond VAR to identify the most important FPL talking points in this Scout Notes article, even though it was the primary topic of discussion in the mainstream media.
INDURRY NEWS: MADDISON + VAN DE VEN
In addition to the previously mentioned dismissals, Gameweek 11 proved to be costly for Spurs in a number of ways, as they suffered two injuries.
In first-half stoppage time, Micky van de Ven (£4.7m) and James Maddison (£8.1m) were both replaced; the latter appeared to have a serious hamstring injury.
It is highly likely that Van de Ven will miss Gameweek 12, and’s main worry will be the short turnaround time to get to Molineux for the Saturday lunchtime kickoff.
FOR WHAT LONG WILL UDOGIE AND ROMERO BE PROHIBITED?
Even before they received their marching orders, Romero and Udogie might have been dismissed.
Ten minutes into the second half, Udogie received his second booking of the match, and the Argentina international was eventually sent off for serious foul play following a lunge that awarded Chelsea a penalty in the 35th minute.
While Udogie will only be out for Gameweek 12 and will return following the November international break, Romero will miss the next three league games.
IMPACT ON THE DEFENSE OF SPURS
This season, Spurs’ center backs have performed admirably. They played every minute of Gameweeks 2–10 together (Romero was hurt very early on the first weekend), and they were a part of a defense that was unmatched in terms of goals allowed (seven in nine games).
This means that if van de Ven’s injury proves to be serious, that partnership may be severed for a longer period of time than just three games.
Ben Davies (£4.3m) was also sidelined with an injury at the end of Gameweek 11, leaving the Lilywhites with center-half Pierre-Emile Hojberg (£5.2m) and forgotten man Eric Dier (£4.2m) at the end of the season.
Chelsea’s final three goals came from Ange Postecoglou’s audacious insistence on maintaining his high defensive line despite the two players being substituted and two men down. The pair received well-deserved praise for their valiant performances when they came on.
“It’s simply who we are, my love; it’s who we
Davies might return for Gameweek 12 under Postecoglou, and Emerson Royal (£4.4 million) is another center-half option. However, with Udogie out this weekend against Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Brazilian might be required at left-back.
In either case, the defense will be patched up for the impending battle with Gary O’Neil’s troops. Furthermore, and this is perhaps even more intriguing from an FPL standpoint, Spurs may be without both of their first-choice center halves for Gameweeks 13 and 14 against Manchester City and Aston Villa. When Ollie Watkins (£8.4m) and Erling Haaland (£14.0m) take on Postecoglou’s team, they most assuredly won’t be lamenting the loss of Romero and possibly van der Ven.
Aimed, targeted, targeted
Postecoglou maintained his attacking mentality all the way down to nine, and his approach nearly paid off. The brilliant sweeping play of Gugliemo Vicario (£5.2 million) at the back enabled Spurs to keep up their offensive pressure thanks to the high line. Moreover, bodies were committed forward during set plays.
An offside call denied Dier a goal, and late on, Son Heung-min (£9.6m) and substitute Rodrigo Bentancur (£5.4m) both had excellent opportunities to score. If any of those strikes had been successful or counted, the score would have been tied at 2-2.
Therefore, you can be sure that Postecoglous’s defense, whatever it is, won’t compromise the attacking zeal that has come to define this team’s new look. The game is scheduled for this Saturday at Molineux.
Dejan Kulusevski (£7.0 million) had given the Lilywhites the lead with a deflected goal early on, and Son came just inches short of making it 2-0 on Monday night when VAR disallowed the first of four goals.
In the meantime, Cole Palmer (£5.0 million) solidified his place as the preferred low-cost FPL midfield player by netting his third penalty goal of the year and providing the assist for Jackson’s third through a stoppage-time through-ball.
After a recent absence from the Chelsea starting lineup, Reece James (£5.3 million) made his comeback to the starting lineup for this match.
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