Scout Notes – Gameweek 26 – Saturday

A virtuoso display from Gareth Bale earns Spurs the points against Newcastle. Eden Hazard returns from suspension to help Chelsea see off Wigan, Michu is at the double in Swansea’s win over QPR, Stoke’s defence keep on conceding, Lukas Podolski is dropped again for Arsenal, while Rickie Lambert continues his ascent up the Fantasy standings with a pair of assists against City:

Bale’s Flourishing Form
The Welshman’s brace continued the scoring streak which has now earned goals in each of the last three Gameweeks as Spurs put the brakes on Newcastle’s recent revival. In spite of his return to form, Bale received little interest heading into this week due to the double Gameweek but with maximum bonus surely set to follow, his expected 15 point return was his seventh set of double figures in 22 appearances. Now up to fourth in the overall Fantasy Premier League (FPL) standings, his 18% ownership will surely be set to rise on the back of yesterday’s display, with West Ham, Fulham and Swansea – in addition to a north London derby – to follow in the next five.

Fitting Bale into our squads is, of course, far from easy with so many midfield assets flourishing. The fact that, of 21 goals scored on Saturday, only four were scored by strikers, underlines the fact that midfielders are currently dominant in Fantasy terms with the lure of the 3-5-2, with a midfield five that includes Bale, Theo Walcott and Juan Mata, looking almost irresistible right now.

Sissoko’s Consistency
Once again, the new boy produced the Fantasy points to justify the 96,000+ transfers in last week. Sissoko’s assist for Yoan Gouffran’s first-half leveller maintained the run of form which has seen him rack up attacking returns in all three of his appearances for the Magpies and, priced at 6.0, looks primed for plenty more investment as midfields are restructured. With Cheick Tiote edging his way back to fitness following the recent African Cup of Nations, Alan Pardew look likely to pair the Ivorian with Yohan Cabaye in the double-pivot, allowing Sissoko to continue as the more advanced central midfielder, tucking in behind Papiss Cisse for a run of fixtures that looks hugely enticing. Pardew’s men have seven eye-catching fixtures (SOU, swa, STO, wig, FUL, SUN) in the next eight to reignite their charge up the table. Hatem Ben Arfa’s return, scheduled for the end of this month, could yet shake things up, however.

Chelsea Find Goals From Midfield Again
Pre-match reports indicated Juan Mata was forced onto the bench due to a virus, affording Eden Hazard the chance to take centre stage upon his return from suspension. While Mata’s owners were awarded with no more than a single point courtesy of a late sub appearance, the Belgian grabbed a goal and assist to carry on the strong form he displayed prior to his three-match ban. Hazard has now notched in three of his last four league starts and with three sets of double figures in the last six, is starting to offer a cheaper, consistent alternative to Mata. Similarly, Frank Lampard continued his outstanding recent run of points – his goal was the fourth consecutive match the midfielder has notched and takes his tally to eight in the last nine starts. Priced at 8.5 in FPL, Lampard has now started nine of the last 10 and is starting to look immune even from his manager’s penchant for rotation.

From Rafa Benitez’s post-match comments, it’s clear that his shuffling, particularly in midfield areas, will only continue…

“I was also able to use Yossi [Benayoun] and Marko Marin, so it’s much better now as we are able to manage the game in a different way. With [Victor] Moses and [John] Mikel Obi, we will have two more options. It’s important for us to have more bodies because you can change players for others with fresh legs and with the quality we have it will be easier.”

Having rested Mata on Saturday, however, his owners will now have some confidence that the Spaniard will be allowed another prolonged run of consecutive starts. Mata appears to have been rested on every sixth lead game – he has now started from the bench in Gameweeks 14, 21 and 26. The home clash with Sunderland in Gameweek 32 is, perhaps, the next potential pitfall, then.

Hail Cesar
While the Chelsea rearguard has struggled to keep clean sheets, with just one in their last eight, Cesar Azpilicueta has continued to offer value from right-back, a fact he underlined with a brace of assists in yesterday’s 4-1 win. The Spaniard returned to Rafa’s lineup having been rested to the bench for the 3-2 defeat at Newcastle – his ninth start in the last ten league fixtures. The stats and his performances would suggest that the Spaniard has made the right-back his own and, with a price tag of 5.7, offer the cheapest route to the Chelsea back four. Former favourite Branislav Ivanovic may now be forced to contest the centre-back roles along with Gary Cahill, John Terry and David Luiz.

Maloney a Cut-Price Contender
The Scotsman maintained his recent run of form, with a role on the left of Wigan’s front three once again helping him to further attacking returns. Maloney’s impressive goal at the Bridge proved ultimately no more than scant consolation for the Latics but, following on from his strike last time out against Southampton, means Maloney has now scored or assisted in four of the last five for Roberto Martinez’s side. He’s now up to 81 points in FPL and, in terms of midfielders priced 5.0 or under, he sits in third, with only Jason Puncheon and Mark Noble scoring more – with Liverpool, City and Newcastle in the next four, though, Maloney could struggle to maintain such form.

Michu Back In The Goals
Without a goal in six league appearances and facing a QPR backline that had conceded just once in their previous five, few had expected the Spaniard to have quite such an impact yesterday. Continuing in the lone forward role, Michu returned to form in sensational style to replicate his Gameweek 1 haul with two goals and an assist making light of the visitors’ recent upturn in defensive displays – while his double Gameweek got off to the perfect start, the Spaniard’s owners will be somewhat concerned after he was forced off with nine minutes left. Michu seemed to pick up a foot knock and signaled to the bench to be withdrawn – with another week until the trip to Liverpool, though, he certainly has plenty time to rest and recuperate. Swansea’s official site state that Michu was withdrawn simply as a precaution, while Laudrup took time to offer praise for his Summer acquisition who had come under recent criticism following his barren spell…

“He isn’t even really a centre forward. He is an offensive midfielder who can also play as a striker and is someone who can score goals. If he goes four or five games without a goal it doesn’t really matter. Even when he isn’t getting the chances he still does plenty of other work for the team.”

Elsewhere in the Swans line-up, Chico’s owners face an anxious wait after the centre-half was subbed off with an ankle problem – post-match reports indicate he left the stadium wearing a protective boot and is set for scans, with possible ligament damage a concern.

Stoke’s Back Five Blanks Again
The Potters arrested a recent run of poor form by registering a first win since Gameweek 19 but Tony Pulis’ side yet again conceded, with Reading’s Adrian Mariappa the latest to spoil Asmir Begovic’s clean sheet. Robert Huth and Ryan Shawcross both picked up attacking points to lessen the blow – the German bagged his first goal of the season, while Shawcross provided an assist to keep ahead of his central defensive partner in the FPL standings. Although the fixture list remains in their favour, their lack of resolve suggests the Potters’ main defensive assets may have to keep producing attacking returns to justify their prices right now. Geoff Cameron’s owners will be particularly worried over the recent turn of events – the US international was shifted to midfield last week but was edged onto the bench yesterday as Pulis looks to restructure his backline in order to deal with the recent downturn in display. With Marc Wilson close to fitness and dropping to just 3.9 last week, it would seem likely that, once in contention, he will find his way into many squads with the likes of Begovic, Huth, Shawcross and Cameron all suffering sales.

Canaries Resilience on the Up
A goalless home draw against Fulham harvested a third clean sheet in five for Norwich, suggesting they are returning to the form that produced defensive points aplenty earlier this season. Chris Hughton’s side have also kept out Newcastle and QPR in recent matches and shipped just one against Spurs – the only real blip was against Liverpool in Gameweek 23, when the Reds took advantage of Seb Bassong’s brief absence to grab five at Anfield. While a home clash against Everton may not appeal, Hughton’s side then have a superb run of home fixtures right until the end of the season (SOU, SWA, REA, AVL, WBA) suggesting Bassong, and cheaper alternatives such as Russell Martin or Michael Turner, could well be set to prosper at Carrow Road over the remainder of matches. Grant Holt missed Saturday’s encounter with a back injury – allowing Luciano Becchio his debut.

Wenger Continues to Shuffle
While Theo Walcott’s assist in the 1-0 win over Sunderland continued an outstanding run of form which has produced attacking returns in 12 of his last 14 starts, rest and rotation came into the equation once again in the Gunners lineup. Having climbed off the bench to notch last weekend, Lukas Podolski looked odds-on to return to the Arsenal first XI but the German international was omitted from the side again – the first time this has happened in consecutive Gameweeks. Granted, the upcoming Champions League matches are likely to play a part in Arsene Wenger’s thinking, but yesterday’s teamsheet was clearly a real concern for Podolski’s 10% owners. Santi Cazorla may have grabbed the headlines by bagging the winner but the Spaniard – who was also left out last week – was handed Podolski’s usual role on the left, with Jack Wilshere again preferred in “the hole”. Wilshere was withdrawn on 50 minutes after a clash with Sunderland’s Alfred N’Diaye and with Wenger likely to be careful with the youngster, Podolski and Cazorla owners will be confident of the pair returning to their usual role for next weekend’s home game with Villa.

Fixture-Proof Lambert
A pair of assists against City helped Mauricio Pochettino to his first win in charge of Southampton and continued Rickie Lambert’s outstanding debut season in the Premier League. Last night’s display saw him edge past Carlos Tevez and Demba Ba and move up to third in the forward standings on 128 points – only Robin Van Persie and Luis Suarez have delivered more. Given that he started at 6.0 in FPL, it’s nevertheless surprising that Lambert has risen just 0.5 this term; he’s produced attacking points against City twice now and with goals against both United and Chelsea, his ability to produce the goods, regardless of opponent, cannot be questioned. With Newcastle, QPR and Norwich up next, his rise up the rankings is bound to earn him further new investment and with spot-kicks also in the bag, Lambert looks to have plenty opportunity to further his tally of 11 goals and six assist in for Pochettino’s flourishing outfit over the final few months of the campaign.

Another Start for Dzeko
With Carlos Tevez ruled out due to “personal reasons” Edin Dzeko was afforded another chance to partner Sergio Aguero at St Mary’s and the Bosnian – in his sixth start in the last seven Gameweeks – delivered yet again. Last night’s consolation took his recent tally to six goals and a couple of assists and, with attacking returns delivered in each of those last six starts, his consistency has been superior to any other City forward over the last few months. Tevez, by comparison, has scored once in his last seven starts going all the way back to November, while Aguero has found the net in three of his last seven first-team appearances. Roberto Mancini has little to no reason to be optimistic after last night’s limp display but Dzeko’s consistent returns certainly bode well for his game time and suggest he could well be set for a prolonged role at Tevez’s expense as Mancini vainly tries to pick his side up after their most lacklustre display in recent memory.