Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m) netted his fifth goal in as many Gameweeks as Aston Villa and Fulham played out a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.

Here are our Scout Notes from Villa Park.

FIVE IN FIVE FOR JACKSON

Jackson, who was bought by over 2.3m Fantasy managers in the lead-up to Gameweek 9’s deadline, was fit to start, then.

And to his 24.2% ownership’s joy, he netted his fifth goal in as many league matches, when he squirmed his way through the Fulham defence to slide the ball past Bernd Leno (£4.5m) in the first half.

Jackson was found by Johan Manzambi (£6.1m), who, once more playing off the left, supplied his third assist of the season.

Since Manzambi’s full debut in Gameweek 5, both he and Jackson have been two of the most in-form players in Fantasy Premier League (FPL)…

Above: Players sorted by FPL points in Gameweeks 5-9

That said, Emery hooked Manzambi after 65 minutes against Fulham – likely with Tuesday’s trip to Barcelona in mind – meaning the midfielder is averaging only 71.4 minutes per start in that period.

Still, he is certainly delivering when on the pitch, with Manchester United, who are still without a clean sheet this season, up next in Gameweek 10.

EMERY ON MCGINN’S PEN MISS

Prior to Jackson’s opener, John McGinn (£5.4m) missed a penalty for the Villans.  

Playing in a No 10 role, the Scottish international hit the bar from 12 yards, notably with neither Emiliano Buendia (£5.9m) or Ross Barkley (5.0m) on the pitch.

Asked why the in-form Jackson didn’t step up to take the spot kick, Emery said…

“We have our analysis about penalty shooters, and it was McGinn who was the taker today. We are clear about which players are selected to take penalties.” – Unai Emery, via the Birmingham Mail

McGinn, who created a match-high four chances, took the penalty after Sander Berge (£4.9m) handled Leon Goretzka’s (£5.9m) header.

However, even after Jackson put Villa ahead, the hosts were poor, particularly in the second half, when Fulham were the superior team.

CASH BAN

Matty Cash (£4.3m) will be suspended for the trip to Man Utd in Gameweek 10, having picked up his fifth booking of the season on Saturday.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) could return from injury and fill in.

“Maybe Wan-Bissaka is coming back next week. I am not thinking about it. First, we have a match on Tuesday against Barcelona. Then, we have five days until Sunday to prepare and identify how we can replace Wan-Bissaka if he is not available.” – Unai Emery, via the Birmingham Mail

FULHAM IMPRESS, ROBINSON SUPERB

Fulham were very good for large parts of this encounter, and probably deserved more.

Indeed, the visitors produced 2.33 expected goals (xG) to Aston Villa’s 1.83, with Zion Suzuki (£5.0m) denying Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m), the lively Oscar Bobb (£5.5m) and Alex Iwobi (£5.4m).

Iwobi did however claim the assist for Fulham’s equaliser when Suzuki fumbled his corner over the line.

Much the better team in the second half, Antonee Robinson (£4.4m) was arguably Fulham’s best player, with his runs in behind Cash causing real problems.

“When you believe in your players, you have to give them the chance to play and to show how good they are. Jedi’ was fantastic tonight. He did really, really well. He has the experience, he has the quality, and it’s very important for us, and I’m so happy for his performance tonight.” – Alvaro Arbeloa on Antonee Robinson, via West London Sport

After Saturday’s display, Fulham do appear to be finding their feet under Arbeloa, with only one defeat in six matches.

In that period, they’ve conceded just four goals and rank sixth for expected goals conceded (xGC).

“I think we are deciding when to press better and when we want to be aggressive. We are controlling the transition, and we are much better organised when we have the ball. It’s important for us because we are a team that want to play in the opposite half with the ball creating chances, but you know in the Premier League how quick the other attacking players are and you need to control the transitions, second balls. I think we are growing, and improving as a team every week and this is the way.” – Alvaro Arbeloa

Meanwhile, David Affengruber (£4.5m), as well as Robinson, banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points for the fourth time in six matches.

Affengruber also racked up three shots at Villa Park, all headers from set plays.