Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion failed to break the deadlock in a goalless draw on Sunday, with an injury to Marc Guehi (£5.1m) among the main Fantasy talking points.
Here are our Scout Notes from Selhurst Park.
GUEHI INJURY LATEST
Marc Guehi missed out for Palace on Sunday due to an injury sustained in Thursday’s win over AZ Alkmaar.
In his post-match presser, Oliver Glasner did at least express optimism that the 25-year-old will be fit for Gameweek 12.
“Overnight he couldn’t sleep, it was so painful and the next day we assessed him and it was a heavy bone bruise. He was walking on crutches the last two days and couldn’t even step on his foot. Fortunately, nothing is broken, but at the moment he can’t even walk.
“It looks like he will miss the England games, but after, maybe in 10-14 days hopefully he can return to training and be available again.” – Oliver Glasner on Marc Guehi
Guehi has since withdrawn from Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.
ANOTHER PALACE CLEAN SHEET
With Guehi absent, Jaydee Canvot (£4.5m) started on the left side of the back three and impressed, instantly forming a solid partnership with Chris Richards (£4.5m) and Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m).
The highly-rated youngster went on to bank defensive contribution (DefCon) points, topping the Palace team for clearances (eight). He also claimed a share of the bonus.
“Jaydee replaced Marc one to one in this position and I think he had a very good game.
“The whole team really defended well today. It was a very intense game, many duels. Brighton have a lot of pace in their attack and we did so well defensively.” – Oliver Glasner
Elsewhere, Tyrick Mitchell (£5.0m) enjoyed a fine afternoon, successfully nullifying Yankuba Minteh’s (£6.0m) threat.
He, together with Canvot and Richards, also claimed DefCon.
Above: The players who gained DefCon points at Selhurst Park on Sunday
Palace have now kept a clean sheet in five of their 11 Premier League matches, which is tied for the third-most of any team.
Additionally, Brighton have recorded back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since February.
SARR + MATETA BLANK
It was a tight affair in the end, with Brighton having more of the ball (57.6%) but Palace creating the better chances.
During a frantic start, Palace’s ruthless counter-attacks led to opportunities for Ismaila Sarr (£6.7m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£8.0m), who was the most transferred-in player of the Gameweek.
Sarr looked particularly dangerous, forcing Brighton’s ‘keeper Bart Verbruggen (£4.4m) into a fine early save.
As for Mateta, he recorded only a single shot, an angled attempt that soared over the crossbar.
Daichi Kamada (£5.0m), who started over Yeremy Pino (£5.8m), also struck the side-netting from a tight angle.
WELBECK QUIET
Brighton, meanwhile, found it tough against the Palace defence.
Fabian Hurzeler stuck with the same XI that started Brighton’s 3-0 win over Leeds last weekend, so there was no Kaoru Mitoma (£6.2m) in the matchday squad.
Instead, Diego Gomez (£4.9m) continued on the left and was undoubtedly Brighton’s brightest spark, forcing Dean Henderson (£5.0m) into a fine save. He also created four chances for his teammates, double that of any other player at Selhurst Park.
Elsewhere, Georginio Rutter (£5.7m) did well between the lines and won a second-half penalty, which was later overturned for a dive, while Danny Welbeck’s (£6.5m) scoring run ended abruptly, in a match in which he failed to muster a single shot.
A final word on Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m); he’s now started seven matches in a row for Brighton and popped up in some lovely positions on Sunday, often inverting into midfield.
He also took three of the Seagulls’ eight corners and could be an interesting pick given Brighton’s fixture list:
