Scout Notes – Gameweek Thirty – Sunday

Papiss Cisse is amongst the goals once again as Newcastle pick up a win at the Hawthorns. Hatem Ben Arfa produces a masterclass to steer the Magpies to victory, while Demba Ba’s Fantasy owners have cause for concern after the forward suffers yet another blank.

Papiss Cisse
January’s signing from SC Freiburg continues to rack up the goals and leave former Fantasy favourite Demba Ba firmly in the shade. Yesterday’s brace at the Hawthorns took Cisse’s record to five goals in six games since joining Newcastle and, with an assist also thrown in against the Baggies, he has returned 41 points over those fixtures; an average of 6.8 per game.

Priced at just 6.7, Cisse has wasted little time in establishing himself as the Magpies main front line threat and with (LIV, swa, BOL) up next, his eye for goal looks set to be afforded plenty opportunity to maintain his role as the key attacking force for Alan Pardew’s side. Cisse was stretchered off towards the end of the game yesterday, but has since confirmed his problem was no more than cramp and has already declared himself fit and available for next week’s home clash with Liverpool.

Demba Ba
As the gameweeks go by, it’s becoming ever-apparent Cisse’s installation up front is having a detrimental effect on Ba. Granted, they have played just six games together but a comparison of Ba’s previous performances prior to Cisse’s arrival is alarming for his Fantasy owners. Since making his first-team start back in Gameweek 5, Ba had never gone more than a single gameweek without scoring or assisting, in a run that brought 15 goals and three assists in just 16 starts.

Returning from the African Cup of Nations, he hinted at a continuation of his previous level of consistency with a goal against Villa in Gameweek 24 but since then, he’s drawn blanks. In stark contrast to his above-mentioned displays, Ba has provided a mere nine points in the last six gameweeks and, having dropped 0.3 since Gameweek 27, he looks likely to lose further owners, as many more lose faith in his capabilities.

Hatem Ben Arfa
The Frenchman started for the third consecutive Gameweek at the Hawthorns yesterday – significantly, this was his highest number of consecutive first-team appearances this season. With Pardew recently praising his work-rate, Ben Arfa seems to have finally won his manager’s trust and a superb display on the flank against West Brom will surely have cemented a start against Liverpool next week, regardless of Ryan Taylor’s availability.

The chief architect in the 3-1 win, Ben Arfa grabbed a goal and provided a couple of assists for Cisse, picking up a 15 point return, with a couple of bonus points also throw in. Over those three starts, then, he’s averaged 8.6 points per game, with the opener in the recent loss at Arsenal also highlighting his attacking potential. Finally, he’s starting to look like the mid-price Fantasy asset his talent merits and, with an ownership of 1.6%, could prove a strong differential over the last two months of the campaign.

James Morrison
Subject of recent Fantasy interest on the back of two goals and four assists in his previous eight games, the midfielder was helped off with eight minutes left, forcing the hosts to play out the match with ten men. Morrison left the Hawthorns on crutches yesterday and early indications don’t look promising for his owners, with Roy Hodgson pessimistic post-match:

It’s obviously knee ligament damage but I couldn’t say what it is until he has had the scan. But the initial prognosis from the doctors – and they seem to be quite good at these things – is that, even though they need scans to justify their fears, it is not good. He won’t have the scan today because the knee will be too swollen so we’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s medial or cruciate ligaments that he’s damaged.

Any period of absence for the Scotsman could perhaps afford Chris Brunt a chance to re-establish himself in Hodgson’s first-team thinking. Brunt had previously filled in on the flanks since returning from an ankle problem and came on as a sub yesterday, after overcoming illness. If Morrison is ruled out, 5.6 priced Brunt may be afforded the vacated role in the hole behind Marc-Antoine Fortune, if the Baggies manager opts to keep the pace of Peter Odemwingie and Jerome Thomas out wide.