The Stock Check – Sunday

Juan Mata carries his form over from the double Gameweek to help Chelsea hold out for the points, despite Theo Walcott inspiring a second-half comeback. Down at the Lane, Clint Dempsey snatch three points from United as Robin Van Persie notches once again. Here’s the Stock Check on Sunday’s action…

On the Up

Juan Mata
His outstanding form continues. A sublime piece of control and a calm finish gave the Spaniard his eighth goal of the campaign. Mata’s consistency of returns is frightening and presents a compelling argument to sit tight, despite concerns on the occasional rest: he has now returned a goal or assist in seven of his last eight league starts.

Cesar Azpilicueta
We’ve been anticipating that the Spaniard would surrender his start at right-back but the signs are he’s now made the role his own. While Branislav Ivanovic returned today, he slotted into central defence, leaving Azpilicueta to earn a seventh consecutive league start and earn a fourth assist of the season. John Terry’s return to the starting lineup could still shake things up, however.

Frank Lampard
Like Steven Gerrard, the Chelsea stalwart is another of the former “holy trinity” enjoying a renaissance. Lampard has started the last five for Rafa’s side, scoring four goals in the process. As always, his prowess from the spot remains a key weapon in his armoury and, at 8.4 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, he’s presenting a differential for those who can’t quite stretch to acquire Mata.

Theo Walcott
Favoured by many as their Fantasy captain with two fixtures in the Gameweek, Walcott duly delivered at the first attempt with a smartly taken goal. With nine strikes for the season, it’s indicative of Walcott’s new level of consistency that he’s yet to go more than two league starts without a goal this term. While Santi Cazorla delivered a superb pass to earn the assist, his eighth of the season, Walcott remains the key asset on show amongst the Arsenal midfielders.

Robin Van Persie
What’s left to be said about the Dutchman? His consistency is incredible and his value as a Fantasy asset was again underlined by eighteenth league goal. Van Persie has now scored in his last five league outings; in fact, he’s only failed to score in one of his last ten.

Clint Dempsey
A fifth goal of the season, his second in three league outings, Dempsey filled the void left by Emmanuel Adebayor’s absence to demonstrate his goal-getting ability once again. With a variety of riches available in midfield, it seems unlikely that many Fantasy managers will look to Dempsey but, like Gerrard and Lampard, the American has proved to be a worthy differential when he starts matches.

Going Down

Demba Ba
We wondered whether form would be enough to keep Rafa from exercising his rotation policy and today provided the answer. Seemingly, even though Ba may emerge as first choice to lead the Chelsea attack, he’ll remain prone to rotation with Torres looming as an option. While the Spaniard again failed to make an impact, it’s doubtful whether that will count against his chances of earning future opportunities. With two Cup ties between now and the next league outing at Reading, Ba owners look set to face continued uncertainty.

Gareth Bale
With the likes of Walcott, Mata, David Silva, Steven Gerrard and Michu all fetching returns, Bale was one of the only midfield heavy-hitters to deliver a blank. It’s a harsh reality that his owners will now be fidgeting having seen their man now return in only one of his last five league appearances – albeit a hat-trick in the demolition of Villa back in Gameweek 19.

Jermain Defoe
The slide down the Fantasy pecking order continues. Incredibly, Defoe has now scored just once in his last eight league matches – a run that surely finds his 16% ownership questioning the merits of keeping faith with a player who offers little outside of his ability to get goals. Defoe has not fetched an assist since Gameweek 12.

Jan Vertonghen
Only fit enough for the bench after illness, the Belgian has now started two of the last four and could face a battle to reinstate himself in a rotating Spurs back four. Andre Villas-Boas has now started Michael Dawson in five of the last six, with Kyle Naughton also occupying the left-back role in the last five. With Benoit Assou-Ekotto coming off the bench to help provide the late goal, the left-back position could now be closed off to Vertonghen and it may be questionable whether he can offer the security of starts to warrant his 6.4 FPL price tag with Dawson a possible option at 4.5.