This article is part of Football FanCast's In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets...

Manuel Pellegrini would have been looking for his first-team players to bounce back following a dreadful display by a largely second-string XI against Oxford United during the week.

There were changes aplenty at the Vitality Stadium, but one man who did keep his place in the side was summer addition Pablo Fornals.

The £24m man hadn't impressed at the Kassam Stadium in a humiliating 4-0 defeat, and was handed a 3/10 rating by Football London for his performance – it was certainly concerning that he wasn't able to make an impact against League One opposition.

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Part of the reason the Spaniard got the nod again against the Cherries may well have been the fact that Manuel Lanzini wasn't fit enough start on his return from injury, with the Argentine only named among the substitutes.

The former Villarreal man is taking time to acclimatise to English football, with no goals or assists to show for his seven Premier League outings to date.

He actually came under criticism from some Irons supporters on Twitter for his showing against Eddie Howe's men, but the statistics suggest he did a much better job than they think he might have done.

For example, the 23-year-old completed all 26 of the passes he attempted, according to SofaScore, while he also made an impressive three key passes on the south coast.

Fornals also saw four shots blocked by the opposition, and showed that he is willing to put the work in from a defensive viewpoint as well by winning one tackle.

His positive display has certainly made Pellegrini's life difficult ahead of the visit of Crystal Palace to the London Stadium this weekend, with the decision on who to pick in his midfield surely one of his hardest right now.

Felipe Anderson is clearly a quality player who can make a difference, Andriy Yarmolenko is in form, Declan Rice and Mark Noble are almost un-droppable, and Manuel Lanzini has been one of the Irons' most talented individuals in recent times.

With Fornals showing signs he can be a Premier League success it may give his Chilean manager a headache, although it has to be seen as a positive one because after all he'd rather have more quality available than not.

Choosing between Lanzini and Fornals is tough, and one is sure to be left disappointed when the team-sheet is announced on Saturday.