Scout Notes – Gameweek 17 – Sunday

Emmanuel Adebayor bags a brace in his first start of the season as Spurs pick up the points in their first match since the dismissal of Andre Villas-Boas. Adam Lallana grabs a goal and assist for the injury-hit Saints, while Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley both find the net as Everton climb to two points off the summit:

Adebayor Comes in from the Cold
Having scored in the midweek cup loss to West Ham, the Togo international was handed his first league start of the season for the trip to St Mary’s. With Tim Sherwood keeping faith with a 4-4-2, Adebayor partnered Roberto Soldado in attack and leapt firmly onto our Fantasy radars by bagging a brace in a 3-2 win which, incredibly, saw Spurs score more than twice for the first time this season. Clearly, the caretaker manager is looking to go on the attack to stake a claim for the permanent job and, with a trio of kind-looking home games in the upcoming four (WBA, STO, CPL), Adebayor, priced at 7.7 and with an ownership of just 0.7%, suddenly offers us a real differential worth considering over the festive period.

Lallana Back in the Points
Back in the starting line-up after a knock forced him onto the bench last week, the Saints skipper ended a run of five straight blanks by playing a part in both his side’s goals yesterday. Having opened the scoring for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, Lallana teed up Rickie Lambert for the hosts’ second and, with two bonus points also accrued, his 12-point haul was his fourth double-figure return of the season. Lallana is now up to fifth for midfielders in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game – only Yaya Toure, Aaron Ramsey, Eden Hazard and Mesut Ozil have managed to pick up more points so far – and, with Cardiff, West Brom and Sunderland in the next five, he could be set for further investment after dropping down to 6.9 last week.

Saints Defensive Concerns Abound
With Luke Shaw joining fellow full-back Nathaniel Clyne and keeper Artur Boruc on the sidelines, it’s fair to say Southampton are far from full-strength at the back right now. Pochettino’s decision to drop Jose Fonte and opt for Jos Hooiveld alongside Dejan Lovren at centre-half meant that yesterday’s line-up contained just one of the five players who had helped the club to a record of three goals against over the first nine Gameweeks. The drop in resilience has been stark – the St Mary’s side have conceded in each of the subsequent eight matches in a run which has seen them ship 15 goals and earn just a single victory. There’s no doubt the schedule has been firmly against them, though, and with the fixtures easing a little after the turn of the year, many will still be eyeing up the Saints’ assets for our winter wildcards, providing their injuries start to ease.

Coleman in the Goals Again
Everton may have conceded in each of their last three but their right-back continues to rack up the points thanks to his attacking potential. Coleman has now found the net in three of the last five Gameweeks and, with many of his backline rivals failing to keep pace, he has extended his lead at the top of the FPL defender standings. His fourth goal of the season has equalled his best ever tally back in 2010/11 and, with Roberto Martinez’ team still leading the way for clean sheets, with eight accrued, it’s little wonder the Republic of Ireland international is the most popular defender in the game, with over 39% ownership. With a hugely favourable run of games still on their agenda (SUN, SOU, sto, NOR), the Toffees look likely to earn plenty more Fantasy interest over the festive period.

Barkley the Toffees Hero
A stunning free-kick broke the Swans’ resistance and ensured Everton’s confidence remains sky high right now. Having peaked in price at 5.7 back in Gameweek 9, Barkley had steadily lost owners due to a lack of returns, while a single start in four between Gameweeks 10-13 hardly helped his cause, as Martinez looked to prevent him from burnout. A run of four appearances in the first XI indicates he’s back in the frame, though, and with his cost now sitting at 5.1, he looks likely to undergo a resurgence in ownership – whilst his class is undoubted, it’s worth noting he’s one of three Toffees players still balancing on the Suspension Tightrope; a caution in either of the next two will earn Barkley a single-match ban.

Elsewhere for the Toffees, Roberto Martinez is hopeful Steven Pienaar will be fit for the Boxing Day home game against Sunderland after the South African limped off late on at the Liberty yesterday. Earlier this morning, the Spaniard also confirmed Leighton Baines is available for the Black Cats clash, whilst Nikica Jelavic missed the Swansea match due to a hamstring problem.

Problems Building for Laudrup
With Michel Vorm sidelined due to knee surgery, Swansea were also devoid of Michu’s services after the Spaniard was ruled out with an ankle injury. The Welsh club have problems at both ends of the pitch right now – a deflected own goal from Bryan Oviedo doesn’t take away from the fact they are struggling to find the net and have scored more than a single goal in just one of the last five. With just one clean sheet in eight Gameweeks to their name, Michael Laudrup’s have been anything but resilient and now brace themselves for a schedule which is set to prove the catalyst for a Fantasy exodus – games against Chelsea, City, United and Spurs in the next five are set to see plenty part company with the likes of Ashley Williams (6% owned) and Jonjo Shelvey (9%) over the next few days and beyond.