{"id":478766,"date":"2025-10-06T19:34:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T19:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/478766\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T19:34:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T19:34:19","slug":"cherki-returns-rutter-benched-rodri-injury-haaland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/478766\/","title":{"rendered":"Cherki returns, Rutter benched, Rodri injury… + Haaland"},"content":{"rendered":"

A late Brighton and Hove Albion equaliser stopped Wolverhampton Wanderers from securing their first win, before Erling Haaland<\/strong> (\u00a314.5m) settled the clash between Brentford and Manchester City.<\/p>\n

Here are our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Scout Notes from these two Sunday afternoon encounters.<\/p>\n

Happy father Haaland won\u2019t stop scoring\"Are<\/p>\n

Pep Guardiola\u2019s 250th Premier League victory came from the Norwegian forward, extending his freakish early-season form to 18 goals in 11 for club and country.<\/p>\n

Haaland loves the opening Gameweeks. The first six Premier League matches from all four seasons (24 overall) have seen him score an astonishing 36 times. Yet Sunday brought his first-ever Gameweek 7 success.<\/p>\n

On 70 points, Haaland has now overtaken Mohamed Salah<\/strong> (\u00a314.4m) in terms of price and ownership. Rather sweetly, he attributes this to the happiness of being a father since December.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYou can say so, I\u2019ve never felt better than I do now. So yeah you can say so. I think it\u2019s about preparation first of all, getting ready for the games. You can be physically ready but you need to be mentally ready as well. And to be honest I think with a kid, it makes me even better because I actually disconnect more than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think of football at all which sometimes when you\u2019re younger you think of this and that and maybe worry a little bit about things. But when I go home I relax even more so I think I need to give a shoutout to my son!\u201d \u2013 Erling Haaland, when asked if this is the best form of his career<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The ninth-minute goal was actually Haaland\u2019s sole shot of the afternoon. Assisted by Josko Gvardiol<\/strong>\u2018s (\u00a35.8m) long ball over the top, he showed great strength to create himself a powerful shot, bringing joy to seven million FPL managers and 5.5 million captaincies.<\/p>\n

As for Gvardiol, the centre-back seems to be attempting this pass quite often these days, something to look out for. Alongside a successful clean sheet, last season\u2019s leading FPL defender bagged 12 points in west London.<\/p>\n

Blanks for Foden + Reijnders<\/p>\n

Remarkably, Haaland became the first non-Phil Foden<\/strong> (\u00a38.1m) player to net for Man City at the Gtech Community Stadium.<\/p>\n

All six goals from their previous four visits belonged to the attacking midfielder, and he tried his best to grab another by taking five shots. A cutback led to Foden\u2019s biggest chance but, finding some space inside the penalty area, his effort ended way wide.<\/p>\n

\"FPL<\/p>\n

Above: StatsBomb<\/a> showing one of Phil Foden\u2019s best opportunities<\/p>\n

Highly-owned colleague Tijani Reijnders<\/strong> (\u00a35.8m) had an arguably better opportunity when meeting Nico O\u2019Reilly<\/strong>\u2018s (\u00a34.9m) floated cross with a stinging close-range volley. He was denied by Brentford stopper Caoimhin Kelleher<\/strong> (\u00a34.5m).<\/p>\n

The Bees tried to thwart Man City by playing a back five and taking lots of long throws. They nearly equalised mere seconds after Oscar Bobb<\/strong> (\u00a35.5m) was touched inside the box, breaking free to put Igor Thiago<\/strong> (\u00a36.1m) clean through on goal.<\/p>\n

But the Brazilian was unable to score his fifth league goal and was replaced soon after.<\/p>\n

Hamstring injury for Rodri<\/p>\n

However, Man City fans had another brief worry when key player Rodri<\/strong> (\u00a36.4m) had to come off early. He missed most of 2024\/25 with a knee injury, and this time it\u2019s his hamstring.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s enough to keep him out of Spain\u2019s upcoming internationals, early words suggest he mightn\u2019t even miss Gameweek 8.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt is muscular (hamstring), so two weeks or three weeks. Of course, I don\u2019t want to lose him even a little bit, but it is a pity because he is such an important player. We tried to take care of him, but it is what it is.\u201d \u2013 Pep Guardiola on Rodri\u2019s hamstring problem<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Other good news saw summer signing Rayan Cherki<\/strong> (\u00a36.3m) return to the matchday squad following a thigh issue. He was an unused substitute.<\/p>\n

With Omar Marmoush<\/strong> (\u00a38.3m), Rayan Ait-Nouri<\/strong> (\u00a35.8m) and Abdudokir Khusanov<\/strong> (\u00a35.4m) to follow from Gameweek 8, the rotation might ratchet up a notch.<\/p>\n

Even without Marmoush and Cherki in the starting XI, the hitherto in-form Jeremy Doku<\/strong> (\u00a36.6m) found himself benched here.<\/p>\n

Agbadou + Rutter benched, Mitoma out<\/p>\n

At Molineux, Emmanuel Agbadou<\/strong>\u2018s (\u00a34.5m) owners were disappointed to see the defender benched for the second time in a row. Head coach Vitor Pereira responded to five defeats by reverting to a back four in the last fortnight, and both league matches since have ended with late 1-1 heartbreak.<\/p>\n

Looking better since this change, don\u2019t expect Agbadou back in the XI for Sunderland (a) and Burnley (h).<\/p>\n

\"FPL<\/p>\n

Opponents Brighton moved Georginio Rutter<\/strong> (\u00a35.7m) out of the line-up. He came on for Carlos Baleba<\/strong> (\u00a34.8m) at the break and found time for three shots, while Maxim De Cuyper<\/strong> (\u00a34.4m) played the final 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

Winger Kaoru Mitoma<\/strong> (\u00a36.4m) missed out altogether because of a knock suffered against Chelsea.<\/p>\n

Strand Larsen remains goalless\"FPL<\/p>\n

Wolves\u2019 boss Pereira received a 20th-minute red card for angrily kicking the ball away in frustration, but his players responded by immediately breaking the deadlock.<\/p>\n

Marshall Munetsi<\/strong>\u2018s (\u00a35.4m) volley was saved well by Bart Verbruggen<\/strong> (\u00a34.4m), but the ball unluckily went in off the latter on its way down from the crossbar.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, Jhon Arias<\/strong> (\u00a35.2m) skied an eight-yard sitter early in the second half, then Jorgen Strand Larsen<\/strong> (\u00a36.4m) placed a right-footed shot against the post. The forward ended last season with seven goals and two assists in his final nine outings, but doesn\u2019t yet have anything in the league.<\/p>\n

Predictably, such misses proved costly when Jan Paul van Hecke<\/strong> (\u00a34.4m) headed home a corner, meaning Wolves are still without a 2025\/26 win.<\/p>\n

Yankuba Minteh<\/strong> (\u00a36.0m) wasn\u2019t part of the goal, ending his three-match streak of attacking returns. He\u2019d recently risen in price, but none of the four chances created were labelled as \u2018big\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

VOTE FOR FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT IN \u2018BEST IN FANTASY FOOTBALL \u2013 ORGANISATION\u2019 <\/strong>HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A late Brighton and Hove Albion equaliser stopped Wolverhampton Wanderers from securing their first win, before Erling Haaland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[9310,1169,158981,9416,79,16,15,5774],"class_list":{"0":"post-478766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-brentford","9":"tag-brighton","10":"tag-erling-haaland-baby","11":"tag-man-city","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115328901123867440","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}