{"id":370217,"date":"2026-01-14T23:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/370217\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T23:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:12:11","slug":"semenyo-goal-haaland-exhausted-blank-gameweek-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/370217\/","title":{"rendered":"Semenyo goal, Haaland &#8220;exhausted&#8221; + Blank Gameweek 31"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester City have one foot in the EFL Cup final after a 2-0 win at Newcastle United on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<p>From another Antoine Semenyo (\u00a37.6m) goal to Blank Gameweek 31 implications, it\u2019s time for our Scout Notes from the semi-final, first leg at St James\u2019 Park.<\/p>\n<p>RESULTHOMEAWAYRESULTGOALSASSISTSNewcastleManchester City0-2Semenyo, CherkiBernardo, Ait-NouriSELECTION \/ ROTATIONTEAMCHANGES FROM THE<br \/>FA CUP THIRD ROUNDPLAYERS WHO KEPT<br \/>THEIR PLACES (+ MINS)OTHER<br \/>PLAYERS (+ MINS)Newcastle7Thiaw (90), Botman (90), Ramsey (69), Wissa (69)Pope (90), Miley (90), Hall (90), Joelinton (90), Guimaraes (87), Gordon (69), Murphy (45), Barnes (45), Tonali (21), Elanga (21), Woltemade (21), Trippier (3)Manchester City6Khusanov (90), Alleyne (90), Semenyo (90), Haaland (90), Ake (88)Trafford (90), Bernardo (90), Doku (77), Nunes (62), Foden (62), O\u2019Reilly (62), Reijnders (28), Rodri (28), Lewis (28), Cherki (13), Ait-Nouri (2)BLANK GAMEWEEK 31 IMPLICATIONS<\/p>\n<p>First off, what Manchester City\u2019s likely progress means for the FPL landscape.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk\/2025\/06\/18\/when-are-the-fpl-blank-and-double-gameweeks-in-2025-26\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gameweek 31 clashes with the EFL Cup final<\/a>, so whoever makes it to Wembley will have their fixture postponed:<\/p>\n<p>GW31 Premier League fixtureStatusThe fixture will be postponed if the following occursBournemouth v Man UtdOnAston Villa v West HamOnBrighton v LiverpoolOnEverton v ChelseaPossible blankIf\u00a0Chelsea\u00a0reach the EFL Cup finalFulham v BurnleyOnLeeds v BrentfordOnMan City v Crystal PalacePossible blankIf\u00a0Man City\u00a0reach the EFL Cup finalNewcastle v SunderlandPossible blankIf\u00a0Newcastle\u00a0reach the EFL Cup finalSpurs v Nottm ForestOnWolves v ArsenalPossible blankIf\u00a0Arsenal\u00a0reach the EFL Cup final<\/p>\n<p>So, Manchester City v Crystal Palace looks likely to fall.<\/p>\n<p>There is a scenario where both clubs could still play in Gameweek 31, i.e. Man City are eliminated from the FA Cup before the quarter-finals (Palace are out already), or both clubs are out of Europe before the quarter-finals:<\/p>\n<p>WEEKENDMIDWEEKSat 21 MarchGW31 + EFL Cup final24 \u2013 26 MarchInternational breakSat 28 MarchInternational break31 March \u2013 2 AprilInternational breakSat 4 AprilFA Cup QF7 \u2013 9 AprilEuropean QFsSat 11 AprilGW3214 \u2013 16 AprilEuropean QFs<\/p>\n<p>For now, though, we\u2019ll assume City at least continue to make cup progress and that Gameweek 31 will be a blank for them and the Eagles.<\/p>\n<p>Man City v Crystal Palace would then likely slot into the midweek after Gameweek 33, creating a \u2018double\u2019 for both sides.<\/p>\n<p>SEMENYO STRIKES AGAIN<\/p>\n<p>Back onto the on-field action, and there was another start for Antoine Semenyo (\u00a37.6m). He\u2019d been parachuted straight into the starting XI<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk\/2026\/01\/12\/fpl-notes-semenyo-debut-goal-richards-starts-4-2m-forward-brace\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> against Exeter City on Saturday,<\/a> too.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting his versatility, Semenyo started on the right flank on Tyneside. He\u2019d operated on the opposite wing in the FA Cup.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"469\" height=\"366\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-185.png\" alt=\"Blank Gameweek 31\" class=\"wp-image-156864 webpexpress-processed\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Above: Antoine Semenyo\u2019s heatmap on Tuesday, via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whoscored.com\/matches\/1955747\/live\/england-league-cup-2025-2026-newcastle-manchester-city\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WhoScored<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And there was another goal, following on from his debut effort against the Grecians.<\/p>\n<p>This was the type of strike that probably underscores why the Cityzens have splashed the cash on Semenyo. As<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=562CLWfkob4\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> a reporter pointed out in Pep Guardiola\u2019s post-match presser<\/a>, it was the sort of back-post goal from a winger that\u2019s been missing since the days of Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, we know [we\u2019ve been lacking goals like this from out wide]. I think what Bournemouth have done with Iraola, is improve a lot these kind of scrappy goals or in the opposite side, arrive to the box. Leroy, especially Raheem, was extraordinary with that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJeremy [Doku], always we push: \u201cYou have to arrive to the box!\u201d. Of course, when Phil [Foden] or Bernardo [Silva] play in that position, it\u2019s another situation. Savinho\u2026 always we encourage them, the wingers, to arrive there.\u201d \u2013 Pep Guardiola<\/p>\n<p>Semenyo thought he had a second goal, improvising brilliantly to steer in a Tijjani Reijnders (\u00a35.2m) corner. A controversial VAR call chalked that one off.<\/p>\n<p>And the Ghanaian winger played a part in City\u2019s injury-time strike, combining well with substitutes Rayan Ait-Nouri (\u00a35.7m) and Rayan Cherki (\u00a36.8m) as the latter finished a well-worked move.<\/p>\n<p>A great start to life at City for Semenyo, then. The question now: does he start in Gameweek 22?<\/p>\n<p>HAALAND \u201cEXHAUSTED\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One compelling reason for Semenyo to start in the Manchester derby is to ease the goalscoring burden. In the last three stuttering Gameweeks, City have only scored one non-penalty goal.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Foden (\u00a38.7m) has tailed off lately. His performance against Newcastle was full of neat touches and link-up play but lacking in menace. He was hooked just after the hour-mark, with Cherki taking his place. Cherki, despite his strike here, tends to bring creativity to the table rather than goals. The same goes for Doku.<\/p>\n<p>As for Erling Haaland (\u00a315.1m), Guardiola described him as \u201cexhausted\u201d after full-time, which may account for a slightly sluggish display. He didn\u2019t register a single shot.<\/p>\n<p>The quote below is something to chew over when Omar Marmoush (\u00a38.3m) returns, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk\/2026\/01\/10\/afcon-2025-the-players-set-to-return-in-fpl-gameweek-22\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">likely in Gameweek 23. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully, Omar comes back soon to give rest to Erling because Erling is exhausted and we need this kind of stuff.\u201d \u2013 Pep Guardiola<\/p>\n<p>It may not impact too much on Haaland\u2019s Premier League minutes, however: the matches against Galatasaray in the Champions League, Newcastle in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg, and Salford\/Swindon in the FA Cup fourth round look like \u2018Marmoush up top\u2019 games:<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019REILLY IN MIDFIELD, ALLEYNE STARTS AGAIN + AIT-NOURI RETURNS<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere on City-watch, this was the third straight game in which Nico O\u2019Reilly (\u00a35.3m) didn\u2019t start at left-back. Nathan Ake (\u00a35.3m), and then Ait-Nouri, occupied the role on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Ait-Nouri was back for the first time since Algeria were eliminated in the Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Reilly was instead recalled in central midfield, although this looked to be an exercise purely to preserve Rodri (\u00a36.3m). Nico Gonzalez (\u00a35.9m), the usual deputy, remained absent, and Guardiola said he \u201cdidn\u2019t know\u201d whether he\u2019d be back for Gameweek 22.<\/p>\n<p>Recalled loanee Max Alleyne (\u00a34.5m) impressed again at centre-half alongside Abdukodir Khusanov (\u00a35.4m).<\/p>\n<p>BARNES LOOKING GOOD FOR GAMEWEEK 22 START<\/p>\n<p>As for Newcastle United, Eddie Howe carried out his own bit of minute management, despite a final being at stake.<\/p>\n<p>Howe made seven changes from Saturday\u2019s cup clash with Bournemouth. While this involved strengthening the team in some areas, such as bringing Lewis Hall (\u00a35.3m) and Bruno Guimaraes (\u00a37.2m) back in, it also saw the in-form Harvey Barnes (\u00a36.1m) drop to the bench.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, we just felt we had no choice but not to play Harvey, Sandro [Tonali] and Nick [Woltemade] because they\u2019d played 120 minutes two days ago.\u201d \u2013 Eddie Howe<\/p>\n<p>Barnes, who scored twice in Gameweek 21 before bagging another brace in the FA Cup, now looks good for a start against 20th-place Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 22.<\/p>\n<p>Even more so as the man who replaced him, Jacob Murphy (\u00a36.0m), came off with a hamstring injury on the stroke of half-time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t think Jacob\u2019s injury is serious but of course, we\u2019re waiting to see the full extent. He\u2019s had a hamstring problem for a couple of weeks. He\u2019s had two scans that come back clear, so we\u2019re not quite sure what\u2019s going on with him.\u201d \u2013 Eddie Howe<\/p>\n<p>Another right-winger, Anthony Elanga (\u00a36.5m), returned from injury as a substitute but was poor again.<\/p>\n<p>MILEY BACK AT RIGHT-BACK AS DEFENCE LOOKS STRETCHED<\/p>\n<p>One of Howe\u2019s seven changes saw budget midfielder Lewis Miley (\u00a34.5m) return at right-back. He had probably his toughest game since his redeployment in the back four, with Doku lively.<\/p>\n<p>The expected minutes of Miley and Hall \u2013 who was again superb \u2013 look better with Tino Livramento (\u00a34.9m) out but Kieran Trippier (\u00a34.9m) is now back available, to potentially cover on either side (mostly right-back), while Dan Burn (\u00a35.0m) is close to a return. He offers relief at both centre-half and left-back.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a possibility that Newcastle dip into the transfer market, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTino\u2019s information, we only got sort of confirmation this morning, so we need to digest that and then see what we do.\u201d \u2013 Eddie Howe<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefensively, we\u2019re really stretched. We\u2019re sort of pinning our hopes on Dan [Burn] being back pretty soon. That would give us a massive lift, and of course, the transfer market\u2019s still available to us.\u201d \u2013 Eddie Howe<\/p>\n<p>WISSA THE MISSER<\/p>\n<p>The scoreline probably suggested a comfortable win, particularly as there was a disallowed Semenyo goal in the middle.<\/p>\n<p>But it was anything but, with the game tight for long periods. Even Semenyo was quiet until his goal, with Guardiola admitting that \u201ctight margins\u201d separated the two sides.<\/p>\n<p>Yoane Wissa (\u00a37.3m) had a huge early chance that he blazed over, while he (via a James Trafford (\u00a34.5m) fingertip) and Bruno Guimaraes both hit the woodwork in the same move. Nick Woltemade (\u00a37.3m) was also inches away from nodding in an Anthony Gordon (\u00a37.5m) cross.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Howe mentioned the \u2018F\u2019 word after full-time \u2013 and it\u2019s something worth bearing in mind considering that Newcastle won\u2019t have any free midweeks until well into March.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think fatigue played a part. I think just generally for us today, I thought we looked a little bit fatigued, but that\u2019s understandable with the exertions and the efforts that we gave on Saturday. And it\u2019s such a quick turnaround against the worst team that you can play to expose any fatigue because they keep the ball so well.\u201d \u2013 Eddie Howe<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/FFScoutEditorial\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG-20250820-WA0000-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"price change predictions\" class=\"wp-image-144736 webpexpress-processed\" style=\"width:600px\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester City have one foot in the EFL Cup final after a 2-0 win at Newcastle United on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[36856,141340,218,8458,141341,101,56,54,55,141342],"class_list":{"0":"post-370217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-barnes","9":"tag-blank-gameweek-31","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-haaland","12":"tag-semenyo","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom","17":"tag-when-are-the-blank-gameweeks"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}