Scout Notes – Gameweek 6 – Sunday

Saido Berahino bags a brace as West Brom thrash Burnley 4-0 at The Hawthorns. Graham Dorrans serves up a goal and two assists as Sean Dyche’s side concede for the first time in four league matches, while The Clarets’ woes in front of goal show little sign of improvement.

Berahino the Budget Option
Yesterday’s brace brought Saido Berahino’s tally for the season to four goals, and rocketed the England Under-21 striker up to fourth in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) forwards standings. Despite this, and his meagre 5.5 price tag, Berahino still has under 5% ownership, making him a standout differential and a budget alternative to the likes of Leonardo Ulloa and Diafra Sakho. The injury struggles of team-mate Brown Ideye only increase Berahino’s potential, with the former now facing a tough task to reclaim the lone striker role for the Baggies, though upcoming fixtures against Liverpool and Man United should ensure that yesterday’s two-goal hero will have his work cut out in replicating his display in the next couple of Gameweeks at least.

Irvine’s Midfielders Finding Form
Whilst Chris Brunt earned an assist for the second match running in yesterday’s 4-0 drubbing, it was Graham Dorrans who stole the show by providing assists for both Berahino’s strikes before notching late on himself. Though these were the Scot’s first attacking points of the season, they have come at a time when the Baggies’ form is blossoming – it’s three straight wins in all competitions now for Alan Irvine’s men, and should they be able to maintain that form, the likes of Brunt, Dorrans and James Morrison could offer Fantasy managers plenty more returns over the upcoming weeks.

Baggies Backline Delivers Again
The presence of Joleon Lescott is clearly making the difference in the Baggies’ backline, with back-to-back clean sheets now accrued since the former Man City man made his debut. Owners of the 4.1-priced Andre Wisdom will also be happy with more returns from yesterday’s match, though they should be aware that the Liverpool loanee is ineligible to feature against his parent club next weekend. This will, however, hand Cristian Gamboa the chance to impress again after the Costa Rican earned an assist off the bench against Burnley. Four of West Brom’s next six home matches (CPL, NEW, WHM, AVL) look good shouts for further clean sheets, meaning that investment in one of FPL’s least popular rearguards now appears to be a canny move, with Wisdom, Lescott and Craig Dawson all offering their services for sub-5.0 price tags.

Burnley Continue to Toil
The Clarets’ run of three clean sheets came to an end yesterday, but Sean Dyche’s men still failed to offer a response at the opposite end of the pitch. Burnley have failed to score in five matches now and have netted just once this season as forward Lukas Jutkiewicz continues to toil in the absence of Danny Ings and Sam Vokes. Burnley now face Leicester, West Ham and Hull in next their five – fixtures which could still bring defensive returns, though, as we saw evidenced yesterday, their potential will continue to be diminished if they can’t break down opposition defences and end up leaving themselves open when chasing matches.