Bobby Z’s Back Amongst the Goals

Fulham’s form got firmly back on track at Craven Cottage last night at the expense of away-day whipping boys Burnley, with an emphatic 3-0 thumping which heralded the return to form of Bobby Zamora.

Since dislocating his collarbone at Stoke last month, Zamora has, understandably, been feeling his way back to full match sharpness, and his general rustiness was just one of the reasons why Roy Hodgson’s side recently hit the skids with a five match losing streak.

Defensively, Fulham are finding their feet again, and picked up their third clean sheet on the trot, whilst Zamora showed that there’s nothing like a visit from Brian Laws’ boys to help get you back amongst the Premiership goals. Hodgson’s team, having scored just once in their previous five league games, will be relieved their top scorer is finding the net again, his first in the league since the 3-0 demolition of Man Utd on 19th December.

Not only did Bobby help himself to a goal, he laid on an assist for strike partner David Elm in a performance that also earned him an FPL Bonus Point, and a total points haul of 10. Now on twelve goals in all competitions for the season, Zamora’s problems with the Fulham crowd seem to be a thing of the past, as he was given a standing ovation upon departing the proceedings in the 72nd minute.

With some FPL managers looking for cheap alternatives to the likes of Carlos Tevez as Man City’s run of easy fixtures finally take a turn for the worse, and with Arsenal’s good fixtures from GW27 onwards meaning some are looking to fit Andrei Arshavin in alongside Cesc in midfield, Bobby Zamora is turning into a fairly reliable performer, and a definite upfront budget-friendly option.

At just 5.6m in FPL, he is the ninth top-scoring forward in the game, sitting on 96 pts. With Fulham almost guaranteed to produce the goods at home as opposed to away, it’s worth noting they have just one awkward fixture out of six left at Craven Cottage this season, (BIR, STK, MCY, WIG, WLV, WHM), though if they replicate the form that saw the champions thrashed pre-Christmas, Hodgson’s men are pretty much a match for anyone.

Alternatively, for anyone really wanting a real punt, David Elm, Zamora’s strike partner, could be something of a dark horse. With long term injuries to both Andy Johnson and Clint Dempsey, and with the likes of Diomansy Kamara off on loan, the big Swede has resultantly started the last two games, and has picked up 14 FPL Points (including 1 goal, 1 assist and 3 Bonus Points), putting in performances that his manager has termed a revelation. At just 4.5m in FPL, Elm – with a mere 107 FPL owners- could be the ultimate “bargain bin” striker for the remainder of the season.