{"id":814317,"date":"2026-10-26T10:30:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/814317\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T10:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:30:25","slug":"fpl-notes-jackson-wanted-enzo-on-cherki-ndiaye-guehi-subs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/814317\/","title":{"rendered":"FPL notes: Jackson wanted, Enzo on Cherki, Ndiaye + Guehi subs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa have now beaten Manchester City at home four seasons in a row after Saturday\u2019s 2-1 success.<\/p>\n

In doing so, the resurgent Villans ended City\u2019s 100% Premier League record in 2026\/27.<\/p>\n

Here are our Scout Notes from Villa Park.<\/p>\n

\"Cherki<\/p>\n

ALL-ACTION JACKSON<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d have suggested at the start of the campaign that Nicolas Jackson (\u00a36.7m) would be the most sought-after transfer target of any Gameweek this season, then the nurses would probably have upped the dosage.<\/p>\n

But here he is, at the top of the \u2018transfers in\u2019 column ahead of Gameweek 9:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A brace against Man City has taken him to four goals in as many Gameweeks, and eight goals in his last eight starts in all competitions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the form on his side but also the fixtures (below), as well as being a handy (albeit slightly more expensive) replacement for the misfiring Yoane Wissa (\u00a36.1m) and Gonzalo Garcia (\u00a36.0m). If Joao Pedro (\u00a37.9m) is ruled out for any length of time,<\/a> the demand will only increase further.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that Unai Emery seems to know how to get the best out of the striker. The two worked previously at Villarreal, and Emery indeed handed Jackson his senior debut with the La Liga outfit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow he was working, how he was defending, how he was getting duels\u2026 wow. And then he has the power to attack with the spaces, to attack with duels. And his challenge is, when he can have chances to score, always in the corner of the goals, because he was shooting so much at the beginning the season like in rugby! So, he\u2019s progressing well.\u201d \u2013 Unai Emery on Nicolas Jackson\u2019s Gameweek 8 display<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s little doubt about Jackson\u2019s excellent ability as a link-up man, with his first touch and hold-up play superb. That was never in question even during the dark days at Chelsea.<\/p>\n

What was up for debate was his finishing ability. In two seasons with the Blues, he underachieved on the xG front. Has age and a different, less pressure-cooker environment really helped him become a more accomplished finisher? Even Emery alluded to his rugby-style finishing in the quote above.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d have to say he\u2019s had a little bit of luck. Gianluigi Donnarumma (\u00a35.5m) should have saved one, maybe both of his goals on Saturday. If we\u2019re looking at the quality of his shots, TopMarx\u2019s table<\/a> suggests he has been the luckiest forward of 2026\/27. Opta would expect around two goals, not four, based on his attempts:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll leave the final word on Jackson to our resident Villan, Tom Freeman, who will be doing a deep-dive on Villa assets this week.<\/p>\n

FIT-AGAIN MANZAMBI ON THE LEFT<\/p>\n

And our deputy editor may also have plenty to say about Johan Manzambi (\u00a36.0m). The talented Swiss youngster himself looks set for a rise in ownership and price this week.<\/p>\n

Manzambi swiftly returned from a minor injury to start on Saturday, although this was not a game to really judge his attacking output. Firstly, he was on the left, not in the \u201910\u2019 where he has done damage in recent weeks. Emery often opts for a more conservative selection in fixtures such as this, and he did so again at the weekend, pairing two central midfielders with the workmanlike John McGinn (\u00a35.4m) in \u2018the hole\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

With City boasting 63.4% possession, a lot of Manzambi\u2019s duties were off the ball. One free-kick from range was his only shot or key pass, although he could well have earned a penalty.<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, he was nevertheless very good on Saturday, and he\u2019s going to get a lot more chances to showcase his attacking qualities in the coming seven Gameweeks than he did against City.<\/p>\n

Rotation might be an issue with Villa assets, of course, as we approach a busy November and December:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

CITY A TAD UNLUCKY?<\/p>\n

\"Cherki<\/p>\n

Villa were superb on Saturday, both on and off the ball. A cut-price Matty Cash (\u00a34.3m) had a stormer at right-back, while Zion Suzuki (\u00a35.0m) is looking like a hell of a capture between the sticks. Cash, incidentally, is now just one booking away from a ban following Saturday\u2019s latest caution.<\/p>\n

But did City perhaps merit a draw? You could make a case for it, certainly considering they hit the woodwork twice, saw an Erling Haaland (\u00a315.7m) header cleared off the line, dominated the xG, and forced Suzuki into six saves. The Japanese international\u2019s low stop from Rayan Cherki (\u00a38.0m) and tip onto the bar from Josko Gvardiol (\u00a35.8m) were particularly good.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had many [chances]. I think we play most of the game on their side, in their box, but you have to be clinical in that moment. And for sure, you have to avoid mistakes like the two goals that we concede.\u201d \u2013 Enzo Maresca<\/p>\n

No real concern in the attack, then (Haaland scored, as usual), but more question marks at the back.<\/p>\n

Marc Guehi\u2018s (\u00a36.0m) form continues to be a concern, and it was he who gave the ball away for Jackson\u2019s opener. Really, though, as much of the problem lies in midfield. The Enzo Fernandez (\u00a36.9m) and Elliot Anderson (\u00a36.3m) pairing leaves question marks off the ball, especially when there\u2019s someone like Cherki ahead of them. Probably the most balanced that City\u2019s midfield has looked in 2026\/27 was in the second half against PSG, when Enzo was in the \u201910\u2019 and Anderson was joined by Ayyoub Bouaddi (\u00a35.5m) deeper.<\/p>\n

Maresca acknowledged the need to find \u201cbalance\u201d \u2013 while at the same time praising the Enzo-Anderson partnership\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cYeah, for sure. We need to find\u00a0that balance.\u201d \u2013 Enzo Maresca<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we were quite good. Again, they were the\u00a0ones in charge to control the game and to build up with R\u00faben [Dias] and Marc Gu\u00e9hi, first half, and then Khusa [Abdukodir Khusanov] second half. I think they did well.\u201d \u2013 Enzo Maresca on Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson<\/p>\n

MARESCA EXPLAINS GUEHI, CHERKI + NDIAYE SUBS\u2026<\/p>\n

Guehi and Cherki were both hooked at half-time on Saturday. That\u2019s happened a few times with Cherki this season, but Maresca denied that he had any problem with the Frenchman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last game I changed him half-time, I changed him, R\u00faben Dias and one\u00a0more player. I don\u2019t remember now, against PSG. So, it\u2019s not just Rayan. Today, I changed Rayan,\u00a0but I changed also Marc Gu\u00e9hi. So it\u2019s just,\u00a0in that moment, what I can see, where we can improve things, where we can change.\u00a0 But the main reason today for Marc and for Rayan\u00a0was also because both they were on a yellow card.\u201d \u2013 Enzo Maresca on Rayan Cherki\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s okay. Just a technical decision, like\u00a0happening in all the games that the manager decides\u00a0to make a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not worried about Marc at all.\u00a0I know that he is playing every minute since the\u00a0season starts with us, with the international team,\u00a0so it\u2019s not easy. But again, the change was also\u00a0because he was on a yellow card, and in the way we want to be aggressive, sometimes\u00a0to have one yellow card can be dangerous. But I\u2019m not worried at all.\u201d \u2013 Enzo Maresca on Marc Guehi<\/p>\n

Iliman Ndiaye (\u00a35.8m) also came off relatively early, midway through the second half. That was more of a surprise, as he had arguably been City\u2019s brightest spark. Digging out a cross for Haaland\u2019s equaliser, he also hit the post with a curling first-half effort.<\/p>\n

His withdrawal, however, was fitness-related.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s okay. He\u00a0was asking [to come off]. He had cramp, so he was tired. That\u2019s\u00a0why we decided to change, but he was very good\u00a0between first half and second half.\u201d \u2013 Enzo Maresca on Iliman Ndiaye<\/p>\n

\u2026AND NOT STARTING FODEN<\/p>\n

Ahead of kick-off, Maresca also explained why he didn\u2019t start Tuesday\u2019s hat-trick hero, Phil Foden (\u00a36.8m).<\/p>\n

\u201cNot easy. Phil, Ayyoub. The good thing is that, because we play so many games, it\u2019s good to have so many players available. For sure, they are going to help the team during the game.\u201d \u2013 Enzo Maresca<\/p>\n

Saturday summed up the dilemma that FPL managers have with the likes of Foden and Cherki. Both of them are capable of huge returns, as seen in recent weeks, but the two of them are (predominantly) competing for one spot, as evidenced by 45 minutes apiece at Villa Park.<\/p>\n

GVARDIOL THREAT<\/p>\n

Ndiaye and Doku saw plenty of the ball on Saturday, registering a whopping 29 penalty box touches between them.<\/p>\n

Doku, locked in a tremendous tussle with Cash, led the way for expected goal involvement (xGI):<\/p>\n

\"Cherki<\/p>\n

But it was Gvardiol who was arguably City\u2019s biggest goal threat. Popping up with nine touches in the box himself (and, unlike the two wingers, those touches were in the middle of the area, rather than wide), he registered a joint-game-best three shots.<\/p>\n

Two were really good chances, the first tipped onto the bar by Suzuki, and the second smothered from close range by the alert Villa \u2018keeper.<\/p>\n

\"Cherki<\/p>\n

Much like Cherki, however, there\u2019s less a question of his attacking potential, and more about his minutes. Benched in the previous two league games, you wonder if he\u2019d even have started had Nico O\u2019Reilly (\u00a36.3m) not had fitness issues during the week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aston Villa have now beaten Manchester City at home four seasons in a row after Saturday\u2019s 2-1 success.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-814317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-gb","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814317","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=814317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}