This Much We Know – Gameweek 12

Big-name goal scorers dominate our thoughts, with Mohamed Salah unstoppable, Paul Pogba undroppable (when fit) and Eden Hazard’s low ownership levels increasingly unfathomable.

Meanwhile, down in the bargain basement, Bournemouth defenders make the news as their fit-again striker makes hay.

Here’s my latest thoughts on a season full of points and problems…

The red machine just rolls on…

It would be remiss not to start with one of this week’s, nay this season’s, star turns.

Mohamed Salah repeated last week’s brace and three bonus points to bring his weekly total up by a point to 16 thanks to clean sheet against the Saints.

That haul lifts the Egyptian to the summit of the FPL scorers, 15 points clear of everyone bar fellow midfielder Leroy Sane, and also nudges him ahead in the Golden Boot race, with nine goals in just 12 league matches.

While Romelu Lukaku remains the most popular player in the game, the Belgian continues to haemorrhage owners week after week, and many of his keepers will have one eye on a switch to Alvaro Morata in Gameweek 14 to coincide with a fixture swing.

This week, only Lukaku’s Old Trafford team-mate, Paul Pogba, has gained more owners in midfield than Salah, who has the form, fixtures and ownership to inflict a mortal blow on any teams who continue to go without.

Despite ticking all the boxes, Salah only attracted 9% of the captaincy votes this week – I even ignored him after touting him for the armband in the Scout Picks article. For many of us, there seems to be an ingrained hesitancy in skippering a sub-10.0 midfielder over the premium strikers.

Yet with Salah essentially playing as a striker in a free-scoring team, and with the statistics to back him up, a change of mindset for those of us still set in our ways seems well overdue.

…and the supporting act prompts double trouble

In a season where midfield double-ups have proven popular (think early season Manchester United and our ongoing love lottery for City’s middle men), Philippe Coutinho’s goal scoring return to action offers further food for thought.

Last season, Coutinho averaged nearly seven points every 90 minutes and, with his Spanish suitors at least temporarily repelled, his current average of eight points every 90 minutes bodes well for his 5% ownership. Indeed, at a cut-price 8.8, it is worth noting that the Brazilian has almost identical points per match this season as the illustrious Salah, both of whom trail only Pogba’s 8.6 average.

With four contenders from the Etihad also providing steady points returns, we find ourselves spoilt for choice in the middle of the park, particularly as a certain Belgian Blue looks back to his best.

United might be back in business…

Old Trafford is the second largest ground in the country after Wembley Stadium, but even that was barely enough space to contain the combined egos of Manchester’s returning stars, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba.

Of the two, however, it was undoubtedly the Frenchman’s roar which was heard loudest on Saturday, compared to Zlatan’s cub-like cameo.

Pogba, leading the way for points per match and seemingly guaranteed starts whenever fit, offers far cheaper “cover” from the Red Devils than Lukaku. However, the stark contrast between United’s potency with Pogba in their ranks (3.2 goals per game) compared to without (1.6 goals per game), may prompt the Belgian’s owners to hold on for just a little longer.

Then again, should we not also factor in both given the calibre of opposition United faced in Pogba’s absence and Mourinho’s mindset during this period?

United continued to rattle in the goals against the likes of Everton and Crystal Palace, but would one man have single-handedly created a glut of goals in the matches against Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea?

Arsenal and City in the next four Gameweeks may go some way to answering those questions, and if Lukaku falters, Zlatan is looming large.

Hazard screams for attention…

Gareth Barry and the Baggies boo-boys may just have helped Eden Hazard to rediscover his best form.

Still seething after being denied a free-kick by Jonathan Moss, and with the disdain of the home crowd ringing in his ears, Hazard (eventually) picked himself off The Hawthorns turf to provide an assist for Alvaro Morata by unleashing a sledgehammer of a strike which was too hot for Ben Foster to handle.

Hazard went on to net a brace of his own and has recorded more shots on target than any midfielder other than Salah over the last four Gameweeks.

After a trip to Anfield next week, Chelsea have an enviable run of opponents to end 2017, and the decision of whether to “cover” those fixtures with Hazard (5% owned), Morata (23% owned), or both will surely be key.

Personally, I see both players as integral to Chelsea’s attacking potential and, barring injury, would expect similarly high returns from the pair of them right through the festive spell.

The perceived dearth of reliable alternatives to Morata arguably makes him a must. In contrast, there are a plethora of in-form midfielders who can arguably fill Hazard’s role.

Chelsea pose a Spanish inquisition…

Since Gameweek 5, Marcos Alonso’s owners have deserted him more rapidly than Baggies’ fans fled The Hawthorns on Saturday, many finding comfort in the arms of his club-mate and fellow Spaniard, Cesar Azpilicueta.

We are very much fortune’s fool this season, however, and Alonso duly served up a goal, clean sheet and two bonus points to reward those who kept the faith and who clung to the fact that no defender had fired in more shots on target prior to the weekend.

Will we now see the masses ditch Azpilicueta and come home to Alonso, cap in one hand and bouquet of flowers in the other? Those who have fallen into that trap with City’s assets all season may hold fire from playing that particular game yet again.

As with the Hazard-Morata conundrum, the choice between the attacking threat of Alonso and the assists and secure starts of Azpilicueta is a test.

But I remember how Alonso’s brace against Leicester City turned happy nights to happy days last season, so he edges a tight decision for me.

Some shall be pardon’d…

Only in the world of Fantasy Football will heated debate rage in the build-up to the weekend about whether Scott Dann had more attacking potential than Charlie Daniels, whether Alberto Moreno or Joe Gomez is Jürgen Klopp’s favourite and whether downsizing to Simon Francis is the most efficient use of funds.

Ultimately, the heavens played a huge part in the outcome, but there was certainly a clear winner and loser in each debate.

Daniels could easily have been cautioned for his lunge on the Terrier’s Florent Hadergjonaj in the first half, although personally, I don’t subscribe to the view that he was lucky to stay on the pitch.

Instead, it was Hadergjonaj who was forced off (temporarily) at the Vitality Stadium as Bournemouth added insult to injury by taking the lead with the man advantage. Daniels duly earned his second consecutive clean sheet and two bonus points ahead of four very favourable looking fixtures.

Moreno retained his left-back berth for the seventh match in a row and helped Liverpool to yet another clean sheet. With (jointly) the best home defence, but having conceded more goals on the road than any other team, Liverpool’s dissociative identity disorder will be challenged by Chelsea’s visit Anfield.

There was also joy for those who doubled on Burnley’s backline, which has now kept four clean sheets in their six home matches.

Many of us had considered taking a points-hit to trade up Foster or Rob Elliot to Nick Pope, but those for whom timidity softened valour’s steel could only watch with regret as the Burnley stopper helped himself to eight points, including two bonus points from just one save.

…and some punished…

The fickle nature of the game was amply demonstrated by the less successful side of the defensive coin.

A ten-point swing separated Daniels from Simon Francis, who is now suspended for the trip to Swansea City. Never has a £0.4 million saving seemed so costly.

On a similar note, the debate prior to Liverpool’s fixture surrounded whether Gomez would start at full-back or in the middle. Few, except for those who trusted the leaked early team news, would have believed that the England international would miss out completely, having featured for every minute of the Reds’ previous six matches.

Dann did manage to complete the full match, but Eagles fans may have wished he hadn’t after the defender was harshly deemed to have caught Oumar Niasse for the penalty before losing the ball to Idrissa Gueye in the build-up to the Toffees’ second goal.

Two attempts of his own, neither on target, were scant consolation for Dann’s 3,600 new owners.

Wilson’s not done yet…

Niasse’s ten points mock me from the bench this week, with his ban for diving perhaps putting the brakes on the 5.4%-owned striker’s bandwagon before it soars off into the distance.

They stumble that run fast…

Instead, it could now be left to Callum Wilson to hoover up those managers who are looking for a budget striker re-fit.

They may be one week late to the party, with some casting their minds back to August 2015, when his hat-trick against West Ham provoked Black Friday-esque purchases, only for Wilson’s season to come to an end four matches and two goals later when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligaments against Stoke.

Many of us had Wilson on our watchlist but were waiting to see if he could regain his previous form and keep clear of injury.

Huddersfield can testify to the England man’s form and, from a neutral perspective, it was great to see such a fine return from injury. With favourable short-term fixtures, it’s difficult to build a case against investment, unless you believe that Eddie Howe is suddenly about to smile on Jermain Defoe.