Written for Gameweek 7. Its deadline has passed. Read the newest: Gabriel scores 17 as João Pedro misses out and Fernandes stays on the bench
FPL Tilt · Team talk · Review · Gameweek 7
Haaland scores twice and limps off as Cherki watches from the bench
Be the first to comment ↓Haaland scored twice against Ipswich and left limping, Cherki never got on, Neto scored twice from wing-back while Chelsea's three most-owned attackers blanked, and Szoboszlai went off injured again.
Erling Haaland scored twice against Ipswich on Saturday, had a third ruled out and left the Etihad limping, a day after Enzo Maresca said he would need a rest at some point.
Rayan Cherki, the most-bought player before the deadline, sat on the bench all afternoon while Phil Foden, back from his ban, scored.
Cherki was not the only popular pick with little to show for Saturday. At Everton two hours earlier, Chelsea's three most-owned attackers had got 2 points each, while Pedro Neto scored twice from right wing-back.
Haaland, then the limp
City were never comfortable. Foden put them ahead, Daizen Maeda equalised almost straight away, and it took Haaland's two goals, from Mateo Kovačić's cross and Iliman Ndiaye's pass, to settle it. His third, a late volley, went because Enzo Fernández was offside in the build-up. Ipswich's late penalty, given on review against Marc Guéhi, made the last minutes tense.
Haaland finished with 13 points. He was hurt in a heavy challenge with Jack Clarke in stoppage time, left before the final whistle and went straight down the tunnel. "Erling said he was OK. I don't have any news at the moment," Maresca said.
The one Maresca was most worried about was Antoine Semenyo, who came on late: he called Semenyo's problem the most serious of the day, with no news yet. Nico O'Reilly, taken off in the second half, has the back problem he had against Coventry, and Matheus Nunes also went off hurt.
Six changes, and no Cherki
Maresca made six changes after the defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, with AEK Athens coming on Tuesday. Cherki was one of the six who dropped to the bench, and the only one who never came on. He had been taken off at half-time against PSG and was not reported injured.
FPL Tilt's column on Friday had pointed managers chasing a lead towards Cherki, who had started City's previous five league games.
City's defence did not get through it either. Guéhi gave away the penalty and finished with a point.
Chelsea's goals came from the wing-back
Xabi Alonso played Neto at right wing-back. His first came seconds after half-time from Jorrel Hato's cutback, the second right at the end off a free kick that came back from the wall. João Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers all played the whole match.
It was Everton's first league defeat of the season and Chelsea's first league clean sheet in 22 matches. Alonso said his front three had played a great game without scoring.
Rogers was lucky to finish it. Already booked, he caught James Garner's knee with his studs before half-time and the review let it go.
Emiliano Martínez was stretchered off after a clash of heads with Jarrad Branthwaite and taken to hospital for tests. Alonso said he left the stadium conscious.
Isak back, Szoboszlai off again
Andoni Iraola started Dominik Szoboszlai at Brentford. He was hurt again and replaced by Trey Nyoni after half an hour, and how bad it is was not known by the evening.
Isak, a doubt all week, won it. Brentford had led through Keane Lewis-Potter's header from Igor Thiago's cross, but lost Yehor Yarmoliuk to a red card for violent conduct before half-time, a three-match ban. Víctor Muñoz equalised and Isak scored the winner after Bradley Barcola headed Alexis Mac Allister's cross down to him. Cody Gakpo stayed on the bench.
Fulham finally win
Iwobi's goal, after a poor moment from the Hull goalkeeper, Konstantinos Tzolakis, gave Álvaro Arbeloa his first Premier League win and took Fulham out of the bottom three. Gonzalo García hit the bar from close range and got 2 points. Ryan Sessegnon came off the bench and was sent off in stoppage time.
Manzambi wins it at St James' Park
Aston Villa won 1-0 at Newcastle through Manzambi, who scored after 36 minutes from João Gomes's pass. In July Villa had beaten Newcastle to his signing from Freiburg, for a club record.
Villa kept a clean sheet, and Victor Lindelöf and Zion Suzuki took bonus with it. Newcastle collected six yellow cards and little else: Yoane Wissa was booked and got a point, and Lewis Hall's 4 came from defensive contributions.
Underneath the points
Defensive contributions paid defenders on the losing side too: Virgil van Dijk and Jeremy Jacquet at Brentford, Kristoffer Ajer for Brentford, Issa Diop for Ipswich and John Egan for Hull. Rogers fell one action short of them.
Iwobi, Haaland, Foden and Ndiaye had the best chances of the day by expected goal involvements, and Ndiaye was the only one of them who did not score.
| Club | In this share of teams | Points on Saturday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haaland | Manchester City | 76% | 13 |
| João Pedro | Chelsea | 72% | 2 |
| Rogers | Chelsea | 47% | 2 |
| Cherki | Manchester City | 37% | 0 |
| Palmer | Chelsea | 26% | 2 |
| Szoboszlai | Liverpool | 22% | 1 |
| Hall | Newcastle | 20% | 4 |
| Isak | Liverpool | 12% | 9 |
| Manzambi | Aston Villa | 2% | 11 |
| Neto | Chelsea | 2% | 15 |
| Iwobi | Fulham | 1% | 11 |
Ownership and points, Saturday 17 October, most-owned first. Source: Fantasy Premier League.
What Saturday settled
The armband, and not much else. Haaland paid the managers who captained him. Cherki and Chelsea's front three gave next to nothing, and the goals came from Neto, Iwobi, Isak and Manzambi instead. Whether Haaland, Semenyo, Szoboszlai and Martínez are all right is the part nobody knows yet.
Match events are from Sky Sports, Brentford FC, NBC Sports, the East Anglian Daily Times, Goal, Yahoo Sports and the Press Association via the Dereham Times, read on 17 October 2026; Cherki's half-time substitution against Paris Saint-Germain is from ZDF's match report. Yarmoliuk's ban follows the FA's rules for violent conduct. Haaland's injury and Maresca's comments on him, Semenyo, O'Reilly and Nunes were reported by ESPN; the one quotation is Maresca's. Xabi Alonso's comments were reported by Sky Sports. Points, ownership and the most-bought player are Fantasy Premier League's, read on 17 October 2026. Newcastle against Aston Villa is from Sky Sports' match page and Fantasy Premier League's match data; full reports had not been published when this was written.
Figures read on 17 October 2026. Live shows today's figures.