The Digest – Gameweek 5

We take our final bite from Gameweek 5 to chew over a Saints striker running amok, the relentless march of the blue side of Merseyside and the team sheet fallout from a week of Champions League action…

The Player

Rickie Lambert has adjusted to top-flight football with ease – his quality in and around the box apparent from the moment he took the field from the bench at City in Gameweek 1. The strike at the Etihad hinted he could more than deliver on his budget Fantasy price tag and further returns against United and a brace in the win over Villa have confirmed this.

Lambert’s confidence is now flowing, just in time for the Saints’ fixture list to ease and hand the marksman every opportunity to add to his tally. There’s even ambitious talk of rivalling Robin Van Persie’s strike rate from Lambert himself…

“I want to be in the race for the Golden Boot. It is a massive achievement to win it. I will give it a good go and try my best. There are so many good strikers out there now but who knows? It could be my year…If you can say I am up there with Robin van Persie at the end of the season in terms of goals I will be very happy.”

If the Saints forward can even get close to chasing Van Persie’s goal tally as the season progresses then he will be on course to deliver spectacular value on his price tag. Currently we’ve seen just a small increase to 6.1 in Fantasy Premier League, while a value of 6.8 in the Sky Sports game is pushing us towards a 4-3-3 formation.

Strangely, perhaps, the pace of Lambert’s bandwagon trails others out there. Currently, both Steven Fletcher and Demba Ba are attracting more interest and with Dimitar Berbatov also a major consideration, it appears that we’re spoilt for choice for options to freshen our forward lines. Clearly, Southampton’s indifferent form and a tough trip to Goodison this weekend are still deterring many from jumping on board .

However, Lambert has shown he has the quality to aspire to become a “fixture proof” asset and with assured starts, spot-kicks and a blossoming fixture list, there appears to be little standing in the way of him becoming a key figure in our Fantasy squads in the weeks to come.

The Team

Everton are looking irresistible right now, so much so that overloading on three of their players for the weekend clash with a porous Southampton defence looks alluring. And this is without Nikica Jelavic in the mix – he is set to return to the squad for the midweek Capital One cup tie to add an extra ingredient.

David Moyes’ side have demonstrated they can compete with the very best at Goodison in earning three points against United in Gameweek 1, and have since shown both goalscoring threat and a resolute defence, with the defeat at West Brom their only real blip so far.

Saturday’s demolition of Swansea at the Liberty was ruthless. Forget the red card for Nathan Dyer, Everton were dominant before this and should have put the game to bed in an opening half-hour period which saw both Marouane Fellaini and a rejuvenated Victor Anichebe terrorise a weakened Swans backline.

Fellaini has succeeded in edging above team-mate Steven Pienaar in our thinking again – having lost the mantle following the South African’s stunning creative show against Newcastle, Felliani’s goal threat just can’t be denied. Both appear assured picks for the Saints clash and one of the pair looks almost essential for a run of Gameweeks that should cement the Merseysiders’ place in the top six.

As for Leighton Baines, we surely cannot sing his praises further. While big outlay on our defences is jarring, Baines should be considered as a winger with clean sheets thrown into the bargain. He continues to offer a relentless supply of chances from the left flank and Everton appear to have the confidence and quality to gain from them.

The Talking Point

The decision to bench Carlos Tevez for Sunday’s meeting with Arsenal confirmed that Roberto Mancini will, along with the man in charge on the other side of Manchester, provide Fantasy managers with plenty of concern as the season unfolds. Tevez was given just 23 minutes to maintain his record of returns in every Gameweek so far and duly drew a blank for his owners.

That failure came in a week that again saw both Michu and Eden Hazard fail to deliver – the latter subbed on hour-mark as Champions League rotation took a bite out of our Fantasy squads.

City next face European action against Dortmund a week on Wednesday, three days before taking on Sunderland at the Etihad. While we can likely look to Tevez to earn a start at Fulham next weekend, there has to be concerns that Mancini will call on him and Aguero against the Germans, perhaps limiting their pitch time in the fixtures around the European clash.

Chelsea have the Danes, FCNordsjaelland, up next following their trip to the Emirates: an easier task, perhaps but the depth of Roberto Di Matteo’s options, boosted by the form of Oscar and the gradual return of Juan Mata to full sharpness, is a concern. Victor Moses is also doing his best to earn starts with two appearances from the bench that have drawn the plaudits. It seems his days of frustrating Fantasy managers have taken on a new twist.

A fortnight ago the Van Persie – Tevez – Hazard holy trinity looked impenetrable and the foundation that offered Fantasy success. Now we find ourselves doubting the integrity of all three as mid-price assets push for inclusion to break up the heavy-hitters’ monopoly.