This Much We Know – Gameweek 5

A Stamford Bridge firesale, a lack of belief in Zlatan and Nacer Chadli reaching hero status. Gameweek 5 has delivered some unexpected lessons…

Hazard owners are unforgiving…
The sudden evacuation of Eden Hazard from FPL squads is somewhat shocking.

The Belgian has been evicted by almost 140,000 managers at the time of writing, already leading to a pair of price drops in the space of 48 hours.

A number of factors have conspired against him.

Etienne Capoue’s seemingly relentless campaign to break Fantasy Football has ensured that Hazard can be earmarked as a makeweight to allow for the return of Sergio Aguero.

The form of Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling have also offered obvious straight swap options.

To be fair, Hazard has brought this on himself; with just three points and two shots on goal in his last pair of Premier League outings, there are clearly warning signs of a slump. After last season’s malaise, there’s every right to be concerned.

Chelsea’s fixtures offer little respite. Hazard must emerge from this dry spell and prove his fixture proof status if he is to stem the tide of transfer traffic from looking elsewhere.

We’re none the wiser on Arsenal’s penalties….
Arsene Wenger seems as non-plussed as us on just why Alexis Sanchez took and missed Arsenal’s first-half penalty at Hull City.

Santi Cazorla’s owners were left forlorn and empty-handed following Saturday’s contest – although rely on a constant stream of penalties to keep up with Sanchez and Mesut Ozil’s scoring is somewhat optimistic.

As it is, Sanchez didn’t need the penalty. He was awarded a fortunate opener but blasted a convincing second to underline that he is undoubtedly the crown jewel ahead of Arsenal’s obliging run of opponents.

Some Hazard sales have doubtless been sparked by Sanchez’ form, although with City’s assets demanding attention, the Chilean looks destined to remain a powerful differential over the coming Gameweeks.

Slimani can be a factor…
Just not quite yet.

At 8.5 and with an enviable strike record, playing in a team served by Riyad Mahrez, you would have thought that we’d be able to find room for Islam Slimani.

But with Aguero’s return and Romelu Lukaku and Diego Costa firing, his rank in the pecking order is diminished. The Foxes punishing fixtures are also a factor.

Nonetheless, Saturday’s pair of headers made their mark and Slimani’s relationship with Mahrez and Jamie Vardy sparked enough to give us hope that he could eventually present an effective alternative.

We can’t get enough City cover…
Aguero seems a given, but there’s clearly a strong case to go well beyond that.

Pep Guardiola’s side appear to be at a different level in terms of fluidity and goal threat and, in Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, have two obvious assets that demand consideration.

Sterling is obviously the easiest to accommodate given his price point – the 8.4 seems ridiculously kind in the light of his underlying numbers.

Yes, we have some concerns about his consistency and pitch time but, here and now, it’s difficult to question his form and points output.

Nolito’s ban can only appears to increase his potential minutes over the next two and with Pep handed the League Cup to appease Leroy Sane, we can surely expect the Sterling starts to roll on.

…but Pep’s back four remains a minefield…
With Vincent Kompany back on the bench and John Stones rested, it’s now clear that Guardiola’s entire back four is in question.

Stones could still warrant the outlay given his price tag, although week to week worries over his start will be tough to bear given City’s current inconsistency at the back – Saturday was their first clean sheet of the campaign.

Chadli is an unlikely hero…
But a hero he shall be if he can single-handedly inject a goal threat into West Brom’s attack.

Saturday’s events indicated the Belgian is capable of achieving just that, not only by providing goals and assists himself but also by reviving the fortunes of Salomon Rondon as a budget option.

Fantasy managers will not be complaining.

We need the likes of Chadli and Rondon to help us fund big name signings and if the Baggies defence have goals to protect and rumble forward for more corners won, that’s all gravy.

Alarm bells are ringing at the London Stadium…
Michail Antonio is serving us just fine but, around him, there appears to be chaos in the West Ham ranks.

Slaven Bilic is suddenly clinging to his job.

Bereft of ideas, solutions and options to stop the flow of goals going in their net, the fear is that the Croatian will react by shutting down the Hammers attack and dragging Antonio back to defensive duties.

They’re also imminent at Old Trafford…
That Manchester derby setback appears to have rattled Jose Mourinho.

Two matches and two defeats later, United suddenly seem to be well over the initial honeymoon and are squabbling and searching for inspiration.

Sunday’s reverse at Watford revealed a worrying lack of organisation and flair, reminiscent of the dark days under Louis van Gaal.

Such a scenario arrives just as we put Zlatan Ibrahimovic under the microscope.

Even goalscoring legends are at risk in the current Fantasy landscape and an edgy and moody Zlatan may just fail to keep pace with the rich array of talents currently pulling up trees elsewhere.

Only Hazard and Alvaro Negredo have been sold more than Ibrahimovic so far heading into Gameweek 6.

It’s all falling for Lukaku…
He may have applied a touch, but Lukaku’s “strike” in the 3-1 win over Middlesbrough will still go down as a phantom goal according to those without him in their squads.

Typically perhaps, fortune favoured Lukaku, and he kept his tally ticking.

A total of 29 points over Aguero’s two-Gameweek absence is a compelling argument to retain the Belgian.

Everton’s fixtures and the momentum under Ronald Koeman another.

With Luakaku claiming Saturday’s “goal”, you have to wonder if he’ll also bully penalties from Leighton Baines. In Koeman’s words post-match, Everton need their goalscorer scoring.

If that’s the case, it could be the factor that unlocks a legitimate Golden Boot chase and convinces more to trade from Ibrahimovic.

Dann’s threat has us questioning our principles…
We’re never likely to back the Crystal Palace defence for clean sheets but, in Scott Dann, they appear to offer a freakish Fantasy option.

Over the season, the 5.5 centre back has averaged two goal attempts per match – all from inside the box.

That’s currently surpassing the efforts of new signing Christian Benteke, who somehow emerged from a 4-1 win over Stoke City without points to his name.

Such is the emphasis on set-pieces from Palace, Dann seems almost guaranteed to get regular goalscoring opportunities.

With this season’s law change making it more difficult to shackle attackers at set-plays, you have to wonder if Dann will go on delivering and force us to shelve the basic principles of selecting defensive assets as we go in search of an unlikely source of goals.

Kane blow could see us go Dutch…
Just as Harry Kane was hinting that he might have thrown off his sluggish form, an ankle injury threatens to banish him to the sidelines.

The full prognosis is not yet known but if ligament damage is confirmed and a term of absence with it, our radars would suddenly blink with the Vincent Janssen option.

The Dutchman has a lot to prove and is yet to fire but playing in a Spurs side that creates 31 efforts on goal yesterday might just present him as a new value proposition.

Pickford is going nowhere fast….
At first, we were unsure on Jordan Pickford’s start. Now we couldn’t be more certain.

The 22-year-old’s display at White Hart Lane kept the scoreline at a more than respectable level and underlined the 4.0 stoppers’ potential as a…ahem…season keeper.

Vito Manonne may well recover in three months but will surely face an uphill struggle to displace Pickford should he maintain his current level of performance.

With two save points returned in every match so far, there’s an argument building for Pickford to come off our benches.