Arsenal rely on a wonder goal from Olivier Giroud as Jack Wilshere shines, while Everton’s toils continue – this time on the European stage – as pressure mounts on Ronald Koeman.
Here’s the notes from Thursday’s two contests.
Giroud and Wilshere stake their claim
Arsenal earned a late 1-0 victory in Serbia to top Group H in the Europa League with three wins from three.
The Gunners stood up to the intimidating atmosphere of Red Star Belgrade’s Marakana stadium, stunning the home crowd with an outstanding late winning goal.
Theo Walcott’s nodded pass was flicked acrobatically into the corner by Giroud, after incisive play from Wilshere opened up the home defence.
Wenger had set his side up with a three-man backline that included Mathieu Debuchy and Mohamed Elneny, while youngsters Reiss Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock were given opportunities to impress.
But it was Wilshere who stood out, as the driving force behind Arsenal’s attacks time and again.
The performance led to the inevitable clamour for Wilshere to get a first Premier League start of the season, with Wenger indicating post-match that this was now close.
“He will get a chance in the Premier League, don’t worry about that. I think at the moment it’s going like that. He got a big kick in the first half on his ankle but he managed to get through the 90 minutes and games of that intensity will, of course, help him a lot.”
But the Fantasy implications appear minor.
Wilshere is a 5.4 asset in Fantasy Premier League who has rarely threatened to supply goals and assists. However, Wilshere’s rise could impact on Mesut Ozil, who continues to remain on the periphery and currently is just not a factor in our season.
As for Giroud, his performance in Thursday’s contest was eye-catching only for his goal. He failed to convince throughout.
Nonetheless, he made the vital and spectacular intervention, and he will go on eating into Alexandre Lacazette’s minutes, reducing his compatriot’s Fantasy stock in the process.
Everton’s struggles continue
Everton’s chances of making Europa League progress suffered a further blow after the home defeat to Lyon.
The Toffees have now made the worst start to a Europa League group stage by an English club.
Ashley Williams had given the Merseysider’s hope on the night, having clawed them back into the contest, heading home a pinpoint free-kick from Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Koeman shuffled his pack with Arsenal’s visit to Goodison Park looming on Sunday.
Kevin Mirallas was a notable inclusion on the left flank – he gained his first start in more than two months. Elsewhere, both Phil Jagielka and Wayne Rooney were omitted from the squad, perhaps hinting at starting roles on Sunday.
But Morgan Schneiderlin may be an early doubt for the Gunners visit; he was forced off on 57 minutes with a knock.
Sigurdsson’s omission from the starting line-up, with the pace of Mirallas and Nikola Vlasic preferred, was perhaps interesting and demonstrated that Ronald Koeman is desperately attempting to stumble upon a solution in attacking areas.
But that makes the task of trying to identify some Fantasy potential in this Everton squad all the more difficult.
Koeman’s line-up seems unpredictable from back to front and, while the fixtures remain in their favour following Sunday’s clash, there appears little incentive for us to take a risk on an Everton asset given the current levels of form and confidence.
