Hazard sparkles from the bench in Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final, as the failings of the Middlesbrough defence and Negredo and Lukaku in our attacks provide an inauspicious start to Gameweek 34. Here’s the Stock Check following Saturday’s events…
On the Rise
Eden Hazard
Surprisingly preserved on the bench for Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final, Hazard emerged in the second period to turn the tide with a goal and an assist in a 29-minute appearance.
Hazard’s form was already exceptional heading into Saturday’s tie: the defeat at Manchester United aside, the Belgian had returned in five successive Gameweeks which included three double-figure returns.
Now rested for Tuesday’s Stamford Bridge meeting with Southampton, Hazard is a certain starter and will surely be backed for yet another return. Owned by 30.9% of FPL managers, he is surely a key target for those still wielding end of season Wildcards with two fixtures to come in Gameweek 37.
Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli
On the losing side at Wembley, Spurs’ elite trio nonetheless made notable contributions in the 4-2 defeat.
Kane and Alli typically provided goals, while Eriksen supplied two more assists to demonstrate their promise ahead of Wednesday’s visit to Crystal Palace.
Spurs were beaten but are unlikely to be dispirited given that they more than matched Chelsea in the Wembley clash. We can surely expect Kane, Alli and Eriksen to start at Selhurst Park and, with the title race still to be settled, a victory with goals and returns for their three key assets looks the likely outcome.
Josh King
Benched by 104,000 of his 711,000 (16%) FPL ownership, King once again delivered a return in Bournemouth’s 4-0 rout of Middlesbrough.
Now priced at 6.0, King opened the scoring for Eddie Howe’s men, firing a fourteenth goal of the campaign, meaning he has now provided goals in three of his last four.
Since established – either as the central striker or as a No 10 – King has supplied 12 goals, two more than any other FPL midfielder and just two less than Everton’s Romelu Lukaku over the same spell.
With Sunderland, Stoke, Burnley and Leicester City left to play, King will surely be a key figure in our line-ups and Wildcard thinking, despite the fact that he lacks the appeal of a double Gameweek.
Harry Maguire
Having scored in successive matches, Maguire benefitted from a first Hull City clean sheet since Gameweek 24. That also brought about his first maximum FPL bonus points of the campaign.
The Tigers are without a double Gameweek over their remaining fixtures, although Maguire could still hold some appeal ahead of a trip to Southampton and a Gameweek 36 KCOM Stadium meeting with Sunderland.
In Decline
Alvaro Negredo
As detailed in last night’s Knee Jerk, Middlesbrough’s striker was heavily backed by 201,000+ new owners going into his first of two Gameweek fixtures at Bournemouth.
Hampered by the fact that Boro were reduced to ten men early on, Negredo was restricted to just two attempts on goal and was eventually replaced on 79 minutes.
Captained by 155,000 (3.5%), that figure included 27 of the top 100 FPL managers prior to Gameweek 34. They will now be hoping that Negredo will start and convert opportunities in Wednesday’s meeting with Sunderland – a high-pressure fixture following the victories for both Hull City and Swansea City on Saturday.
With a testing match-up with Manchester City to follow, Negredo’s ownership are already considering exit plans: the striker lost 4,035 owners overnight and is second only to the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic for transfers out.
Ben Gibson, Antonio Barragán
Boro’s defence also failed to impress on the south coast, shipping four goals for the second time in four Gameweeks.
Like Negredo, Gibson was a hugely popular target heading into Gameweek 34, attracting more than 118,000 new FPL owners.
However, despite an overnight price rise, he will surely be victim of sales and a Wildcard exodus ahead of City’s Gameweek 35 visit, regardless of his midweek tally against Sunderland.
Meanwhile, Barragán’s starting role for that encounter is now in question. Deployed as a wing-back in an initial 5-4-1 set-up by manager Steve Agnew at Bournemouth, he was sacrificed following the dismissal of Gaston Ramirez on 22 minutes.
With Calum Chambers now set to challenge for the right-back role, and Agnew surely driven to deploy a back four with two strikers, Barragán could find himself on the bench on Wednesday. The Spanish full-back was brought in by 32,000+ ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
Romelu Lukaku, Joel Robles
With a goal in each of his nine appearances against West Ham in Everton colours, Romelu Lukaku was backed as the top captain pick for Gameweek 34 ahead of his trip to the London Stadium.
But the 24-goal striker produced just one effort on goal – from outside the box – as Ronald Koeman’s men put in a hugely disappointing shift.
Lukaku has now scored just once from his last eight away trips and will likely suffer further sales ahead of a Gameweek 35 encounter with Chelsea.
That does at least take place at Goodison Park, and with Lukaku scoring in his last nine on home turf, he may receive a stay of execution as FPL managers ship out their Middlesbrough assets as a top priority.
However, with a Wildcard shake-up expected, Lukaku is set to be a popular casualty ahead of remaining fixtures with Swansea City (away), Watford (home) and Arsenal (away).
As for Robles, he lost his Everton start in goal to Maarten Stekelenburg who was restored following a run of four without a shut-out, with seven goals conceded. Robles had found his way into 59,000+ squads prior to the deadline.
Lee Grant, Marko Arnautovic
Another goalkeeper to suffer a Gameweek 34 setback, the Stoke City custodian was relegated to the bench to allow for Jack Butland’s return at Swansea City.
Grant had been a hugely popular budget signing over the season and was part of 415,000+ squads ahead of Saturday’s trip to South Wales.
His participation over Stoke’s remaining fixtures now looks to be very limited, causing a major issue to those who are without a suitable back-up option.
Elsewhere, Potters team-mate Marko Arnautovic also suffered a blow as a result of Saturday’s action.
The Austrian had been lined up as a possible Gameweek 35 differential ahead of a home fixture with West Ham but, having returned double-figures in Gameweek 33, he conspired to miss a spot-kick in the 2-0 Swans defeat.
Arnautovic may now surrender duties against the Hammers, which could put off those who were considering a gamble on the midfield acquisition prior to a Gameweek 36 Wildcard.
Ben Davies, Son Heung-min
Spurs moved to a 3-4-2-1 setup as expected against Chelsea, mirroring Antonio Conte’s preferred formation. However, few would have anticipated Son Heung-min’s role as the left wing-back, with Ben Davies ousted to the bench.
There are now some some doubts surrounding both players heading into Wednesday’s meeting with Crystal Palace.
Mauricio Pochettino could easily restore a four-man backline for that encounter, with Davies returning at left-back. However, equally, to help counter Benteke’s threat in the air, he could retain Dier as one of three centre-backs.
That would then raise concerns on Son Heung-min’s role. The South Korean was replaced on 68 minutes in Saturday’s defeat.
As a sidenote, Kyle Walker would seem assured of his start at Palace: he lost his place to Kieran Trippier at Wembley but would seem likely to earn a midweek recall.
Darren Randolph
It was a bad day for mid-price keepers, with West Ham’s stopper also finding himself relegated to the bench as Slaven Bilic restored Adrian between the posts against Everton.
Randoplph was owned by 75,000+ FPL managers having started every outing since Gameweek 12. However, he had kept just a single clean sheet in his last 12 Gameweek appearances, shipping 24 goals
