Scout Notes – Gameweek 19 – Sunday

Sunday afternoon sees many misfiring forwards finally deliver. Olivier Giroud heads Arsenal to victory at Newcastle, Romelu Lukaku notches Everton’s winner over Southampton, whilst Roberto Soldado grabs a goal and assist as Spurs dismantle Stoke at the Lane. Elsewhere, Eden Hazard moves to the top of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) midfield standings after helping Chelsea to victory over Liverpool at the Bridge:

Giroud Proves the Difference as Gunners go Top
With a single goal from open play in the previous nine Gameweeks, the Frenchman was perhaps a little fortunate to keep his starting role as Arsenal headed to Tyneside. Given that Lukas Podolski grabbed a goal and assist off the bench at West Ham, many felt Giroud’s time was up as the lone frontman – instead, he was retained up top for the Newcastle clash and vindicated his manager’s decision with the only goal of a closely-contested encounter.

Podolski warmed the bench for the entire match but, while some feel he could now get the chance to lead the line against Cardiff on Wednesday, his manager explained why he is reluctant to rotate Giroud:

“Every time I think I give him a rest but we have a team that is a bit short, lightweight and more focused on mobility and technical movement so he is the one guy who has that strength and structure for us. That fighting up front is very important for us.”

In midfield, Fantasy managers were dealt another blow yesterday after Mesut Ozil missed the St James’ Park match with a shoulder injury. Prior to the kick-off, Arsene Wenger admitted:

“I would have loved him [Ozil] here but he has a shoulder problem, after falling on his shoulder. He will be out for two to three games. We have a good squad and now’s the time to show it.”

After the game, Wenger went on to say:

“It is an inflamed shoulder, it should be one more week, maybe less, I don’t know, but not a long time.”

This suggests Ozil (currently owned by 25% of FPL managers) is set to miss the New Year’s Day home game against Cardiff in addition to next weekend’s FA Cup clash against Spurs, though will likely be available for the Gameweek 21 trip to Villa. With Arsenal’s next five fixtures looking superb (CAR, avl, FUL, sou, CPL), the Theo Walcott bandwagon looks set to motor along after the winger picked up an assist yesterday – he’s now produced four goals and three assists in the last seven and, with Aaron Ramsey owners still shipping out the Welshman, Walcott looks a prime target for many as the winter wildcard approaches.

Gunners Resilience Snuffs out Magpies
Wenger’s defence once again stood firm and helped keep out a Newcastle side that had scored in each of the last eight in front of their own fans. The 1-0 win means Arsenal have now produced eight clean sheets this term – joint-top with Everton – with seven of those shut-outs arriving in the last eleven Gameweeks alone. Wojciech Szczesny is now top of the FPL keeper standings, whilst Per Mertesacker is doing his best to chase down Seamus Coleman at the top of the defender listings but, for those looking to save cash with their wildcards, fit-again Laurent Koscielny will set you back just 5.3 – given that his central defensive partner has now risen to 6.2, the Frenchman could definitely be one to consider.

Coleman Delivers Yet Again as Jagielka Picks Up Hamstring Injury
While Phil Jagielka owners were dealt a blow after the centre-half was ruled out with a hamstring injury, his Toffees team-mate continued to rack up the points in yesterday’s narrow win over Southampton. Coleman’s superb opener took his goal haul to five for the season, with four of those strikes arriving in the last seven Gameweeks – atoning for the fact that Everton have now gone five matches without a clean sheet. Encouragingly for Bryan Oviedo owners, the Costa Rican retained his starting berth despite the return of Leighton Baines at left-back – Oviedo was moved to the left of midfield at the expense of Steven Pienaar against the Saints to suggest he may still be retained in Roberto Martinez’ first-team plans.

After the game, Martinez indicated his skipper could be out for up to a month with the hamstring injury:

“It is a soft tissue problem. Normally it is up to four weeks but knowing Phil Jagielka it could be sooner.””

Lukaku Ends Drought to Steer Toffees to Victory
Like Giroud, the Everton forward rewarded his patient band of Fantasy owners after a recent goal drought severely tested our patience. Having failed to score in each of the previous five, the big Belgian was shipped out by over 99,000 FPL managers heading into yesterday’s encounter but finally rediscovered his goal touch to net the winner. His strike means Lukaku has now scored or assisted in 10 of his 15 appearances for the Toffees and, with games against Stoke and Norwich up next, he could be poised to punish those who chose to look elsewhere.

Lallana’s Points Haul Ticking Over
The Saints skipper continued his superb Fantasy season with an assist in yesterday’s loss at Goodison. Lallana is now up to fifth for midfielders on 90 points – after a frustrating run of five blanks, he has now racked up a goal and three assists in the past three matches and looks set to be a prime target for our midfields when the wildcard kicks in. From Gameweek 21 onwards, Mauricio Pochettino’s side face West Brom, Sunderland, Fulham, Stoke and Hull in five of the following six to suggest Lallana may be set to climb up the rankings once again.

Tottenham Attack on the Radar
Having toiled for goals under Andre Villas-Boas, Spurs’ offensive prospects have clearly taken a turn for the better since Tim Sherwood’s installation as first-team coach. The north London club had never scored more than twice during the Portuguese’s tenure – they have now notched three times on two of Sherwood’s three matches in charge, with a 4-4-2 formation clearly proving crucial to their prospects. Roberto Soldado’s goal and assist and a pair of assists from Emmanuel Adebayor undoubtedly caught the headlines and will earn them most of the Fantasy interest but Christian Eriksen also impressed, despite failing to pick up the points. The return of Paulinho from suspension allowed the Dane to start on the left but he was clearly given license to drift centrally and had more attempts on goal than any Spurs player in the 3-0 win – at 7.1 and owned by less than 2% of FPL managers, he’s another one worth monitoring with the winter wildcard in mind.

Hazard Steers Blues to Victory
Having grabbed the winner against Swansea on Boxing Day, the Belgian scored in back-to-back matches for only the second time this term as Chelsea edged out Liverpool at the Bridge. Hazard started the season slowly – with just one assist in the first five – but has since delivered six sets of double figures in the subsequent 14 Gameweeks and has now scored eight goals, just one fewer than his tally for 2012/13. With maximum bonus also accrued, he’s now reached the summit of the midfield rankings with a total of 119 points – second only to Luis Suarez overall.

After the game, Jose Mourinho gave an update on Frank Lampard and Branislav Ivanovic, who were both subbed off with injuries during the match:

“Lampard’s is a muscular injury, so forget him for a bit of time, it’s too early to say how long. Ivanovic was his lateral ligament, we don’t think it’s a big thing but it’s a painful thing. Normally he will be out too but that’s the consequence of such a hard period. It was difficult because in the second half I wanted to bring Schurrle into the game but I couldn’t because I’d made two changes before the second half.”

Suarez Suffers Away Day Frustration
The Uruguayan kept his tally ticking over with an assist for Martin Skrtel’s early opener but his overall lack of goals on the road continued yesterday. Granted, there was the 22 point haul at the Lane which led to the departure of Villas-Boas as recently as Gameweek 16, but his failure to find the net at Stamford Bridge means Suarez has now managed to score in just two of his last six away games – given that he’s scored in all of his six matches at Anfield since returning from suspension, the difference is marked. Luckily for the Uruguayan, he now has three home games in four to make amends – Hull, Villa and Everton pay visit next and, with a trip to Stoke also on his agenda, the points look set to be served up once again.