FPL notes: Palmer’s four-goal haul + Branthwaite injury latest

The Gameweek 33 analysis is wrapped up with Scout Notes on Monday’s clash between Chelsea and Everton.

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PALMER BAGS FOUR

Cole Palmer’s (£6.1m) incredible run of form not only continued on Monday but actually stepped up a gear, with the midfielder notching 26 FPL points, this season’s highest score in an individual match.

Four goals against Everton took him to 30 attacking returns in 24 appearances since making his first Chelsea start in Gameweek 7, a total that no other FPL player can top:

Above: FPL assets sorted by attacking returns (ARtn) since Gameweek 7 (Cole Palmer’s first start)

It was a superb display against one of the Premier League’s better defences, and his 26-point haul was no fluke either: he also failed to score into an empty net in the first half.

“I never judge the player when we signed [him]. It’s always you expect the best. It does not surprise us but of course he is a player that always had the capacity to score goals when he was playing at Manchester City.

“You were seeing he had the capacity to score easily, no? But in the way he adapts himself in the team and the club. The way he is performing, I think it’s fantastic. Of course, he is not a top scorer, but he is behaving like a top scorer. He is showing that the club made the right decision finding him.” – Mauricio Pochettino on Cole Palmer

This was a real statement from Palmer and Pochettino’s troops and following Monday’s display, the defences of an Aston Villa side who just shipped three to Brentford and a Tottenham Hotspur outfit with two clean sheets in 23 suddenly don’t look particularly daunting in Double Gameweek 35.

Chelsea are still in the hunt for a European place, too. Despite sitting ninth, they are only three points behind Newcastle United, who are currently in a European spot.

JACKSON STAKES A CLAIM

Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m) staked a claim for a place in our Double Gameweek 35 teams on Monday night, playing a part in three of Chelsea’s six goals in the demolition of Everton.

The 22-year-old has now delivered three goals and three assists since Gameweek 25, twice as many as any other Chelsea player except Palmer.

He isn’t, however, free from the threat of suspension from yellow card accumulation.

Chelsea still have to play their 32nd league fixture of the season in Gameweek 34, so if Jackson collects his 10th booking of the campaign v Arsenal, he’ll pick up a two-match ban as a consequence.

Elsewhere, Djordje Petrovic (£4.6m) and Malo Gusto (£4.3m) both claimed six points, finally rewarding their patient owners: before Monday, Chelsea were without a clean sheet since January, shipping 21 goals during a nine-match run.

However, they were mostly solid at Stamford Bridge, with Moises Caicedo (£4.5m) particularly dominant sitting in front of the back four.

EVERTON CAPITULATE/BRANTHWAITE INJURY LATEST

Everton have looked very decent defensively for the bulk of the season, but were ripped apart here, in a bitterly disappointing night for the Toffees.

Chelsea went on to carve out six big chances and 2.96 expected goals (xG), stats you don’t often see under a Dyche-led side.

Nottingham Forest and Liverpool are the next teams to try and take advantage of that defensive frailty in Double Gameweek 34.

“It’s unusual but we can’t defend like that. There’s no fight in the defending, there was no detail in the defending, no hard yards or tackling. It was bizarre, like shadow football for their goals. It was way off the mark, miles off the mark. 

“The last time we were miles off was Villa away. The good thing was that gave us a stark reminder. We need to use this as a stark reminder – it certainly has been for me. I am looking at the players I am picking and I am going, ‘Right, okay there’s a reminder for me’.  That’s nowhere near – absolutely nowhere near – good enough or acceptable – from me, either.” – Sean Dyche

Meanwhile, the defeat was worsened by injuries to Seamus Coleman (£4.4m), Nathan Patterson (£4.3m) and most significantly, both in FPL and actual football terms, Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.3m).

Losing one of their few star performers to injury at this stage of the season would be a bitter blow, yet Dyche sounded optimistic when discussing his situation post-match.

“Jarrad [Branthwaite], we hope, is minor, but we have to wait and see. Shay [Coleman] has pulled his groin, we don’t know yet and Patto’s [Patterson] looks a bit more serious. A hamstring injury, we are going to have to wait and see – let it settle tomorrow.” – Sean Dyche

Dyche also added he hopes to have Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m) and Idrissa Gueye (£4.8m) back on Sunday, with the duo missing Monday’s trip to Stamford Bridge.

“Dom’s [Calvert-Lewin] got a good chance. It was touch and go whether he trained and whether he could play. But obviously with the last couple of years we had to make a decision, and Gana woke up saying he had a tight calf so we had to make a decision on that as well.” – Sean Dyche