The Big Friendly Catch Up – Monday
Filed under: Results - Posted by: Mark
The exhaustive round-up of pre-season friendlies ends with a less than manic Monday. Just a couple of games, which saw both Arsenal and Portsmouth cut loose on the goal front. The Gunners slaying Hungarian outfit Szombathely Haladas, while Portsmouth hit six past the might of non-league Eastleigh. Nothing to get carried away about then but here’s the notes regardless…
I covered Portsmouth’s 6-1 win at Eastleigh in Saturday’s round-up. Little to report here besides perhaps the hat-trick for David Nugent that may briefly assure Portsmouth fans in the light of today’s transfer of Peter Crouch, although it’s very very unlikely that Nugent will find himself at the sharp end of Paul Hart’s attack come the season kick-off against Fulham. Portsmouth must surely look to a new recruit up front and Nugent, who enjoyed a mini-revival under Hart, seems unlikely to nudge his way onto our radars too often throughout the season even at a budget price.
In contrast, Arsenal’s Eduardo, could well be blinking madly. The Croatian was undoubtedly the protagonist in Arsenal’s 5-0 win over the unpronounceable Szombathely Haladas. He scored a first-half brace, just days after rumours surfaced that he may well miss the start of the season with further injury concerns. Eduardo was clearly fit and displayed a characteristic eye for goal that will serve as a reminder to Wenger that post-Adebayor, he has a proven goalscorer in his ranks. Nicklas Bendtner also did himself a favour by helping himself to two goals.
While that gives us a couple of short-to-mid term options to consider over the season, we also have to ponder the fact that Eduardo and Bendtner offer clear threats to the output of Arshavin and Van Persie. The diminutive Russian is likely to be less affected, particularly in fantasy games where he is classified as a midfielder. It seems likely that Wenger will again employ Arshavin out wide this season and, while that may hamper is overall returns, he should still provide the points to fully justify his fantasy value.
Van Persie is another matter though. Rotation could well play a part in his season, regardless of whether he can stay fit and suspension free – both of which seem very unlikely. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Eduardo and Bendtner end the season with 15+ Premier League starts under their belts and there will be occasions when they are paired – particularly prior and following Champions League games. That will surely dent Van Persie’s potential returns which puts a big fat question mark over his big fat fantasy price.
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