It was a day of monumental comebacks. Sunday saw Spurs battle back from a two-goal deficit at White Hart Lane to prise three points from Southampton and prolong their challenge for the fourth Champions League spot, while Stoke staged a remarkable 4-1 upset at Villa Park, having fallen behind inside the first five minutes. The win propelled the Potters above their hosts into the top half of the table and boosts their chances of a highest-ever Premier League finish.
Lallana and Rodriguez maintain World Cup credentials
Two of Southampton’s England hopefuls furthered their case for a spot on the plane to Rio this summer by registering on the scoresheet and collecting a share of the bonus points at White Hart Lane. Both Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez continue to make light of their pre-season price tags and scorned the managers who’d shipped them in favour of double Gameweek candidates. In fact, Lallana was the Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) most transferred-out player for Gameweek 31 (160,000+ sales), while Rodriguez made a swift exit from over 60,000 sides – ironically making way in the most part for the disappointing Steven Gerrard, Kevin Nolan and Edin Dzeko.
With another fruitful Gameweek under their belts, Lallana now sits third for midfielders in FPL, with eight goals and eight assists to his name, while Rodriguez ranks in the top five FPL strikers, boasting a goal tally to match Wayne Rooney for almost 5.0 less. The Saints now welcome Newcastle and Cardiff to St Mary’s and travel to Villa in the next four, suggesting further returns could well be on the cards.
Eriksen Back on the Radar
While Lallana has been flying the flag for the mid-priced midfielders all season long, Christian Eriksen has merely flirted with the top performers in patches, without ever making the commitment. A monster 18-point haul from the Dane – by virtue of a brace, an assist and maximum bonus points – will no doubt propel him back onto the Fantasy radar ahead of Spurs’ showdown with title-challengers Liverpool at Anfield.
Yesterday’s appearance was his second successive start after Tim Sherwood dropped the summer signing for four straight league games, but with his form flourishing and Emmanuel Adebayor struggling with hamstring and ankle problems, the momentum may have swung back in Eriksen’s favour. Now down to a mere 6.5 in FPL, Eriksen’s schedule from Gameweek 33 onwards (SUN, wba, FUL, sto, whm, AVL) suggests he may be poised to end a frustrating debut season in style and hand Fantasy managers a key differential for the run-in.
Benteke and Delph Deliver but Villa Stumble Again
Following back-to-back home wins against Norwich and title contenders Chelsea in the last two Gameweeks, Villa were strong favourites to dispose of a visiting Stoke side that had failed to win on the road since August. Christian Benteke’s early strike took his recent tally to six goals and a pair of assists in his last 10, but the hosts fell apart thereafter as their inconsistent season continues.
Villa had conceded just twice in the previous four and, given they had kept out the league leaders last weekend, Ron Vlaar and co. would have been expected to deliver the defensive returns yet again, only to ship four to their travel-sick opponents. Once next week’s trip to Old Trafford has passed, the schedule still smiles favourably on the Midlands outfit but their patchy form may deter Fantasy managers from snapping up their budget assets as Lambert look to secure a mid-table finish to the season.
Fabian Delph’s assist against Stoke continues his recent rise to prominence, however. Sitting fourth for value amongst midfielders, the 4.3-priced former Leeds man has now scored or assisted in each of the last three Gameweeks and is coming into consideration as budget option for the remainder of the campaign.
Crouch and Odemwingie Steer Stoke to Victory
With 37 FPL points between them in just two matches, the two Peters are forging a Potters partnership to be reckoned with. Available at just £5.4m and £5.6m respectively, Odemwingie and Crouch drew all the plaudits from the trip to Villa Park with the latter reaping full bonus points in a man-of-the-match display. It is certainly something of a return to past glories for both men, who may now be in their footballing twilight years, but with their final four home games coming against Hull, Newcastle, Tottenham and Fulham, there could be a few more goals in the tank yet.
Arnautovic Stakes a Budget Claim
With a couple of promising performances harvesting eight FPL points in each of his last two games, the enigmatic Marko Arnautovic may be building a case for consideration of his own. The Austrian provides managers with a flair differential option with just 0.2% ownership and, at just £5.1m, could take up a low-risk fifth midfielder spot in order to capitalise on Stoke’s impressive form at the Britannia. That said, Arnautovic’s points have come in the absence of Charlie Adam, Stoke’s main source in midfield for attacking returns, and the Scot is due to return to action in Gameweek 32, having completed a three-match ban. Arnautovic’s stream of points could dry up just as quickly.
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