Scout Notes – Boxing Day

Theo Walcott bags a brace as Aaron Ramsey is ruled out of Arsenal’s remaining festive fixtures with a thigh injury. Wayne Rooney grabs a goal and assist in United’s win at Hull. Loic Remy scores twice as Newcastle hammer Stoke at St James’ Park. Jay Rodriguez is also at the double for Southampton, Eden Hazard steers Chelsea to victory, whilst Alvaro Negredo nets City’s winner over Liverpool as Luis Suarez fails to produce at the Etihad:

Walcott at the Double as Ramsey Limps off for Gunners
The Gunners wide-man bagged a brace for the second successive away game after failing to notch at the Emirates against Chelsea on Monday evening. In just three starts since returning from injury, Walcott has now matched Mesut Ozil’s goal tally for the season – all the more impressive given that the German has started 15 times for the north London outfit. While Lukas Podolski gave Arsene Wenger food for thought for the lone forward role by grabbing a goal and assist upon his return, the Gunners boss will be more concerned by the withdrawal of Aaron Ramsey on 64 minutes at Upton Park. After the match, Wenger confirmed the Welshman will be sidelined for the Christmas period “for sure”, signalling mass sales of the most popular player in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, before going on to admit he may also rotate his team for the next two fixtures.

Rooney Tames Tigers
A trip to Hull is never easy. Prior to yesterday’s match, the Tigers had conceded just three goals in seven home fixtures and had even kept Luis Suarez quiet but Wayne Rooney showed just why he edged out the Uruguayan in Gameweek 18’s Captain Poll by inspiring United to a vital victory. An assist for Chris Smalling’s opener, followed by a stunning long-range volley, was supplemented by the maximum bonus and helped Rooney to a fourth set of double figures in the last five road trips – all despite being fielded in a withdrawn role once again by David Moyes.

Remy Back in the Goals
Newcastle’s on-loan forward finally ended his five-game drought as Stoke’s indiscipline proved costly at St James’ Park. Despite missing a spot-kick, Remy still found time to bag a brace in the Magpies’ emphatic 5-1 home win over the nine-man Potters – taking his tally to 10 goals in just 15 starts since arriving from QPR. Yohan Cabaye’s impressive form continued yesterday. The midfielder was again fielded in “the hole” behind a lone frontman and rewarded the 96,000 FPL managers who drafted him in prior to the deadline by notching his fifth of the season – he has now scored or assisted in nine of 13 appearances. Yoan Gouffran was in the points yet again, too – the 6.4-priced forward has now scored in each of the last five games at St James’ Park and continues to look a key part of Alan Pardew’s XI.

Mark Hughes will be without suspended pair Marc Wilson and Glenn Whelan for the weekend trip to Spurs and will also be missing Asmir Begovic – the stopper is sidelined for five to six weeks with a badly broken finger sustained in training.

Rodriguez the Saints Hero
The Saints in-form frontman racked up the points in a superb showing at Cardiff. Rodriguez arrived in Wales having found the net in six of the previous 11 league matches and, while the home crowd turned against owner Vincent Tan, the former Burnley man racked up his highest Fantasy haul of the season as the visitors won for the first time since Gameweek 11. Rodriguez played a part in all three of his side’s goals, scoring twice and teeing up Rickie Lambert for the third to suggest that he could be a real contender for our winter wildcards for those eyeing up a cut-price forward to supplement Luis Suarez and Wayne Rooney.

Another Clean Sheet for Palace
Tony Pulis’ side recovered from a weekend home thrashing by Newcastle to grab a late victory at Villa. The 1-0 win means Palace have now racked up five clean sheets in the last eight Gameweeks and highlights their defensive resilience ahead of the winter wildcard – with Adrian Mariappa and Jonathan Parr handed the full-back roles, Joel Ward continues to look an out-of-position prospect in the double-pivot.

Hazard Proves the Difference
The Belgian ended a run of three games without a goal in Chelsea’s home win over Swansea. Having frustrated Arsenal with a 4-3-3 last Monday, Jose Mourinho reverted to a 4-2-3-1, drafted in Oscar and Juan Mata, but it was down to Hazard once again to save the day for the Blues. Now up to seven strikes for the season, he’s scored just two fewer than his tally for the entire 2011/13 campaign and, with two bonus points also in the bag, is starting to edge towards the summit of the FPL midfield standings. John Terry owners will be hoping yesterday’s clean sheet was a sign of an upturn in resilience – following on from the Arsenal game, this was the first time this season Mourinho’s side have managed back-to-back clean sheets.

Blues Suffer First Home Loss After Howard Red
Everton’s first-choice stopper will sit in the stands for the home clash against Southampton after being dismissed against Sunderland yesterday. Howard was already on four yellows for the season but was handed a straight red for denying a goalscoring opportunity – allowing Ki Sung-Yeung to slot home the Black Cats’ first away goal since August from the spot. Gareth Barry will also miss out against the Saints after receiving his fifth caution of the campaign. The Toffees had 25 shots to their opponents’ nine but were denied time and again by Vito Mannone as the visitors registered a third successive clean sheet. Ross Barkley started on the bench but came on after the break and had eight attempts on goal, whilst Romelu Lukaku had five unsuccessful attempts as his goal drought was extended to five matches.

Hooper Strike not Enough as Cottagers Steal the Points
Norwich suffered defeat in front of their own fans for the first time since Gameweek 7 as Fulham rallied to steal a late win. Gary Hooper was once again in the goals for the Canaries. Yesterday’s opener was his fifth in eight appearances and means that he has now scored 50% of his side’s 10 goals from Gameweek 9 onwards – with United, Everton and Newcastle in the next five, though, he may struggle to retain such a consistency. For the visitors, Pajtim Kasami vindicated his manager’s decision to hand him a first start in four matches. The Swiss international was fielded in the role in “the hole” behind Adel Taarabt (up front for the second match in a row) and grabbed his third goal of the season, highlighting his cut-price appeal at just 4.4 in FPL. Scott Parker notched a goal and assist and earned his highest haul of the season, though can be expected to remain in the double-pivot role, thus lessening his appeal.

Eriksen Stakes a Differential Claim
The Dane notched his first Premier League goal of the season as Spurs stuttered to a 1-1 home draw with West Brom. Tim Sherwood retained his 4-4-2 formation and, whilst fellow new boy Erik Lamela dropped to the bench, Eriksen was handed a role in central midfield once again – his set-piece abilities came to the fore with an outstanding free-kick giving the hosts the lead. Eriksen, at just 7.1, has played 90 minutes in each of Sherwood’s two games in charge now – previously, he’d managed the full game just once under Andre Villas-Boas.

Negredo Continues Etihad Record as Suarez Draws a Rare Blank
City maintained their 100% home record in a closely-fought encounter with Liverpool. Manuel Pellegrini’s side may have failed to register a clean sheet in the five games since Vincent Kompany’s return but the Belgian’s eye for goal is keeping him firmly on our radars – yesterday’s leveller was the second game in succession he has scored, with many now eyeing up his acquisition for a home game against Palace. Alvaro Negredo’s winner means he has now netted in seven of City’s last eight home games – the one game he failed to score in during that run still harvested pair of assists. David Silva’s outstanding form also continued last night. Handed the role in “the hole” as City lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, he picked up an assist and couple of bonus points – he’s now picked up points in all but two of his 10 appearances this term.

For the Reds, Philippe Coutinho finally grabbed the goal his attacking statistics have long-hinted at. Raheem Sterling’s assist for the Brazilian’s opener means he has now registered three goals and two assists in the last five Gameweeks – at 5.0, he’ll be on many a winter wildcard radar as Liverpool have three home fixtures in four from Gameweek 21 onwards. Luis Suarez could serve up no more than a yellow card at the Etihad – all three of his blanks this season have arrived on the road, handing his owners food for thought ahead of Sunday’s visit to Stamford Bridge.