Scout Notes – Gameweek 36 – Monday

Mesut Ozil serves up his second-highest Fantasy haul of the season, with a goal, assist and maximum bonus points as Arsenal sweep aside sorry Newcastle. Olivier Giroud also finds the net and provides an assist, whilst Laurent Koscielny delivers a double-figure return by firing the opener as the Gunners pick up their fifteenth shut-out of the campaign:

Ozil Turns on the Style
We’d highlighted the German as one to keep an eye on in last week’s Mission and he turned in his most impressive Fantasy showing since Gameweek 8 with a goal, assist and maximum bonus points in last night’s easy win. Whilst Aaron Ramsey’s bandwagon persuaded over 334,000 Fantasy managers to draft in the Welshman prior to the weekend deadline, Ozil was picked up by just 9,000 and vindicated his new owners’ decision with a 14-point haul against the hapless Magpies.

Arsene Wenger’s team are now four points clear of Everton with just a home game against West Brom and Norwich remaining, and despite the lack of a double, their chief assets could be set to deliver the points over that final pair of fixtures, with the Gunners scoring three times in each of their previous trio of matches. Looking ahead to next term, Ramsey’s presence in the first XI is clearly beneficial to the German – he has delivered 112 points in 17 appearances alongside the Welshman (an average of 6.6 points per game) compared to 19 points in seven matches (2.7 ppg) without Ramsey.

Koscielny a Key Differential
Owned by only 7% of Fantasy managers after a recent stint on the sidelines with a calf complaint, the French racked up the points with another commanding display. The 3-0 win saw Arsenal serve up a fifteenth clean sheet of the campaign, and with a goal and couple of bonus points also accrued, the 5.5-priced Koscielny produced a double-figure haul for only the second time this term. Koscielny has now equalled the 25%-owned Per Mertesacker’s two goals and has outscored his fellow centre-half by 23 bonus points to 21 – an average of 4.7 ppg against the German’s 4.4 ppg highlights his worth as a differential route into the Gunners defence.

Giroud Still Ticking Over
The much-maligned frontman was back in the points with a goal and assist as Arsenal condemned Alan Pardew’s side to a sixth straight loss. In a similar situation to the Ozil-Ramsey transfers in last week, Giroud was mainly overlooked as many Fantasy managers loaded up on Lukas Podolski but the Frenchman found the net for the third time in his last four home appearances to move into fourth spot in the Fantasy Premier League forwards standings – for all his frustrating flaws, only Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge have earned more points. With City and United set for doubles, it’s fair to say that few will be looking to draft in Giroud in spite of his kind remaining fixtures, though some of his 21% owners may well decide to hold after last night’s haul.