The Scout on the main lessons from Gameweek 4 of Fantasy Premier League.
Haaland hits the summit
Erling Haaland (£14.1m) climbed to the top of the player standings on Sunday following his two goals and 13 points in Manchester City's 3-0 home derby win over Manchester United.
The Norwegian has remained relatively overlooked so far this season, with his 33 per cent ownership only HALF the 66 per cent of Chelsea's Joao Pedro (£7.7m).
While a visit to Arsenal next weekend will temporarily curb any enthusiasm, Haaland's peerless goal threat suggests his ownership in Fantasy is bound to grow over the coming period.
His 19 shots and 12 shots in the box are both already seven more than any other player across the first four Gameweeks.
Salah backers bailed out by penalty
He may have been the most-captained player in the Gameweek, but it needed a late handball from Burnley’s Hannibal (£5.0m) to save the day for Mohamed Salah’s (£14.5m) backers.
While Salah’s converted penalty ultimately rewarded the 3.8million managers who handed him the armband, a look at the underlying numbers highlight his early-season struggles.
While Liverpool had 27 shots at Turf Moor, Salah’s spot-kick was his only attempt. He also created just a single chance for his team-mates.
Semenyo bandwagon keeps rolling
AFC Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo (£7.5m) continues to soar in popularity after he climbed to the top of the midfield standings on 36 points.
A converted penalty and an assist at home to Brighton & Hove Albion means the Ghana international is once again the most-bought player in the Gameweek ahead of Saturday's 11:00 BST deadline. He has been transferred in by 3.6million managers already this season, over 1.3million more than any other player.
The Cherries’ schedule suggests Semenyo will keep growing in ownership, too. They have three home matches and a visit to Leeds United over the next five Gameweeks.
Postecoglou will manage Wood’s minutes
Chris Wood’s (£7.6m) 59th-minute withdrawal against Arsenal in Ange Postecoglou’s first match in charge of Nottingham Forest could be ominous for his owners in Fantasy.
The New Zealand international started 35 matches under Nuno Espirito Santo last season and lasted at least 70 minutes in all but one of them, with 62 minutes away to Man City the anomaly.
Despite having back-to-back encounters with promoted pair Sunderland and Burnley next, some of Wood’s backers have clearly had enough – indeed, he’s the most-sold forward in the Gameweek, moved on by over 80,000.
European rotation is upon us
The omission of Declan Rice (£6.5m) from Arsenal’s line-up against Forest in Saturday’s early kick-off set the tone as club managers start to rotate with one eye on European matches.
With the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League group stages getting under way this week, both Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea also followed suit later in the day.
For Spurs, Brennan Johnson (£7.1m) and Richarlison’s (£6.7m) run of starts came to an end, while Marc Cucurella (£6.1m) was afforded just 45 minutes off the bench in Chelsea’s draw at Brentford.
Although Cole Palmer (£10.4m) emerged from the bench to grab his first goal of the campaign, the very fact that he was a substitute only serves to further frustrate managers in Fantasy, as Enzo Maresca looks to manage the minutes of his big-hitters.
Caicedo offering much more than defensive contributions
Another all-action display against Brentford helped Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo (£5.5m) became the first midfielder to total six points for defensive contributions this season, having now picked them up in three of his four outings.
As also evidenced by his late strike in the 2-2 draw, the Ecuadorian is boasting more of a goal threat than ever this season. He had never scored more than one goal in any of his four seasons in Fantasy, but Caicedo already netted TWICE over the first four Gameweeks.
Having played all 360 minutes for the Blues so far, Caicedo is making an increasingly strong claim as the standout budget midfielder in Fantasy.
Time to consider Newcastle rearguard?
It’s three clean sheets in four matches now for Newcastle United after their 1-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Crucially, the underlying numbers back up their early resilience - Eddie Howe’s side have allowed their opponents a league-low 17 shots in the box over that spell.
Despite that, the Magpies’ backline regulars have been overlooked, with Tino Livramento (£5.1m) their most-owned asset in defence, with an ownership of nine per cent. Goalkeeper Nick Pope (£5.0m) is another to consider ahead of a favourable run of fixtures.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each fixture is ranked from one to five, with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest, only ONE of their next seven matches score more than three.
Contrasting Gameweeks for Van de Ven and Porro
Spurs were another of the sides to collect their third clean sheet of the campaign, thanks to a 3-0 win at West Ham United.
Unlike Newcastle, however, Spurs boast two of the four most-owned defenders in Fantasy, with Micky Van de Ven (£4.6m) and Pedro Porro (£5.6m) found in 29 and 25 per cent of squads.
But while Van de Ven’s goal and 14-point haul justified that hefty popularity, highlighting his huge budget appeal, Porro managed just six points, with his potential for assists impacted by the arrival of Xavi Simons (£7.0m).
Porro had taken three of Spurs’ seven corners over the first three Gameweeks, but he took just one of their 13 on Saturday, with Mohammed Kudus (£6.6m) and Simons taking eight and four respectively.
Promoted clubs resilient again
This season’s promoted contingent continue to show they are made of sterner stuff than those from previous campaigns.
Sunderland’s goalless draw at Crystal Palace means they have lost just one of their first four matches, with their No 1 Robin Roefs (£4.5m) sitting just two points off the top of the goalkeeper standings on 27 points.
Similarly to Burnley, Leeds also fell to a late 1-0 defeat through their own undoing, with an own goal from left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson (£4.0m) away to Fulham.
Gudmundsson’s fellow ultra-budget team-mate Joe Rodon (£4.0m), however, continues to impress. The centre-back has yet to blank this season – he’s kept a clean sheet in both of his home outings and picked up defensive contribution points in each of Leeds’ two road trips.