This Much We Know – Gameweek 3

As always, our Monday lunchtime regular casts an eye over the lessons learned from the previous round of matches. Chelsea and Arsenal’s contrasting fortunes up front, United and QPR’s tactics and the form of cut-price Fantasy forwards all arrive on the menu…

Monk is proving the doubters wrong…
It’s three wins from three now for the Swans, as the club’s strong start to the season shows no signs of abating. Gylfi Sigurdsson may have earned the majority of our Fantasy attentions, but in Nathan Dyer, the Welsh club possess another of the league’s in-form players who sits second only to his Icelandic team-mate in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) midfield standings. With two clean sheets in their opening three, Swansea have been quick to offer us plenty of options, and aside from the upcoming trip to Chelsea, have the fixtures to keep on delivering.

Costa is a force of nature…
On Friday afternoon, Jose Mourinho reckoned his new forward would be be given a bench role at best for the trip to Everton after sustaining a hamstring problem in training. By Saturday evening, Costa had bagged a brace and played the full 90 minutes in the 6-3 rout at Goodison and caused many to reverse their decision to dispense of his services. In a week where United, City and Liverpool’s premium-priced forwards all failed to deliver, Costa is already looking head and shoulders above any other premium frontline option in terms of consistency, with four goals from his trio of appearances.

Arsenal badly need a striker…
Costa’s immediate impact at Chelsea merely underlines the difference a top quality frontman can make. The Blues have now scored 11 goals from 50 attempts – a conversion rate of 22% is more than double last year’s 10.3%, with the clinical Spain international boosting the assist potential of his team-mates. Arsene Wenger handed Yaya Sanogo the lead role at Leicester but watched on as the youngster failed to score for the 17th appearance in succession. Arsenal are the only side to fire more attempts (51) than Chelsea but have scored just three times – a conversion rate of 9.8% shows just why a replacement, or an upgrade, for the stricken Olivier Giroud is so desperately needed.

Van Gaal won’t give up on 3-4-1-2 just yet…
The arrival of Angel di Maria was expected to spark a change in tactical approach as United made their way to Burnley on Saturday. Instead, the Argentine was handed a central midfield roving role alongside Darren Fletcher, with Louis van Gaal keeping faith in Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie in the advanced berths. With Radamel Falcao on the verge of a loan move amid suggestions that Robin van Persie may require knee surgery, Van Gaal’s attempts to rapidly overhaul his underperforming squad has posed more questions than answers for Fantasy managers so far.

Harry’s not afraid to tinker, though…
Having seen his side battered at the Lane in the previous Gameweek, Harry Redknapp’s decision to make immediate amendments paid off. Out went the previous 3-5-2, with Rio Ferdinand partnering Steven Caulker in the heart of a back-four and Leroy Fer handed the role in “the hole” behind Charlie Austin at home to Sunderland. With the R’s serving up their first shut-out and win of the season under the new system, Redknapp could well be set to continue with a four-man backline once again.

Spurs are still a work in progress….
A pair of wins in the first two Gameweeks, coupled with back-to-back clean sheets, suggested Mauricio Pochettino’s impact at the Lane had been an instant one. Their home dismantling by Liverpool, however, shows Spurs still have plenty to do at both ends of the pitch, with Christian Eriksen owners particularly concerned – without returns in his first three appearances, the Dane was hauled off before the hour mark and is yet to convince his new manager, it seems.

Palace could be a different proposition under Warnock…
Renowned for their defensive solidity under Tony Pulis, the Eagles have looked anything but resilient since the departure of their previous manager. In Neil Warnock’s first match in charge, Palace rolled up to St James’ Park to face a Newcastle side that had failed to score in their opening two fixtures but subsequently shared the spoils in a six-goal thriller with Alan Pardew’s outfit. Our Fantasy attentions may well be set to switch from Julian Speroni and Joel Ward to Jason Puncheon and Wilfried Zaha if the new man in charge can retain his side’s attacking momentum ahead of home clashes with Burnley and Leicester in the next three.

The budget forwards are on form…
Steven Naismith’s strike against Chelsea made it three goals in as many appearances for the Scot, who sits level with Costa on 24 points in the FPL standings. In a weekend that saw the likes of Leonardo Ulloa, Nikica Jelavic and Andreas Weimann notch their second of the season, the number of budget options up front has arguably never been greater, allowing us the chance to free up cash to strengthen elsewhere. With Liverpool set for a superb upcoming schedule and the likely arrival of Falcao bringing him into contention ahead of some tempting fixtures for United, though, the premium forwards could be poised to return to prominence once again.