Scout Notes – Bony Strikes Again

A second goal in a week puts a Swansea City striker back on the radar, while Burnley defenders keep on giving and a Gameweek 1 wonder reminds us of his early season bandwagon.

Wilfried Bony found the net for the second consecutive match to earn Swansea City a vital win over West Brom.

For the Swans, that amounts to a goal rush – they’re the only two strikes the team has managed in six Gameweeks.

And for Fantasy Premier League managers, it could well accelerate sales in the Ivorian’s fellow striker, Tammy Abraham.

The Chelsea loanee dropped to the bench yesterday, coming off it to earn an assist as his header was blocked on the line before falling to Bony.

He even had time for a one-on-one with Ben Foster, only to miss a sitter when he dinked the ball wide.

Abraham is still part of 610,360 (11.1%) squads, but he’s lost 372,292 owners over the last four Gameweeks as managers have grown tired of the meagre rations on offer for his 5.9 price.

He was perhaps rested with Wednesday’s visit of Man City in mind, as Bony is unlikely to cope with the schedule. But he will surely suffer sales regardless, with the Ivorian now arguably the more reliable starter at 5.7.

At the back, the one strong Swan performer continues to be Lukasz Fabianski.

The 4.6-priced Pole moved to second in the keeper standings with a sixth clean sheet and is now top for points per million, on 15.0.

While Swansea have been toothless in attack, managing a mere nine goals in 16 matches, they’ve conceded just 18 – only five teams have allowed fewer.

That should promote the appeal of a backline that will be strengthened further by the return of Federico Fernandez.

The Argentine was on the bench against the Baggies, having missed two matches following the death of his father.

He’ll likely be in the starting line-up versus City, although the Swans’ schedule (MCI eve CRY liv wat TOT) doesn’t exactly scream short-term investment.

Wing-back woe for Watford

Two emerging Watford targets, Kiko Femenia and Marvin Zeegelaar, had a day to forget at Burnley.

The former didn’t even make it onto the pitch with a minor muscle injury, much to the disappointment of his 6.1% ownership, while the latter left it rather prematurely, treating his 1.5% base to -2 points when he was sent off for a first-half lunge on Clarets midfielder Steven Defour.

Zeegelaar will now miss the next three matches just as interest in him had pushed his price up to 4.5, while Femenia remains a doubt for Tuesday’s trip to Crystal Palace, according to Watford boss Marco Silva.

“It’s a small problem. There is some fatigue because he’s played plenty of games in a row. I hope he’s OK for Tuesday, but I don’t know.”

Watford’s defensive appeal has been sporadic – they’ve managed five clean sheets, albeit in mini-bursts – but they’ve been a consistent threat going forward and yesterday’s 1-0 defeat was the first time they’ve failed to score on the road all season.

The Hornets’ most popular player in FPL, midfielder Richarlison (20.5%), now has just one assist from the last four Gameweeks and is on a run of three consecutive blanks.

The Brazilian still has the fixtures (cpl HUD bha LEI SWA). He now needs to show some form to continue justifying his 6.6 price tag.

Another Turf Moor shut-out

Clean sheets have never been a problem for Burnley, particularly at home.

Yesterday’s shut-out was their seventh of the season, five of which have arrived at Turf Moor.

But not every FPL manager enjoyed the points on offer as the 13.6%-owned Ben Mee was unavailable with a gashed leg.

Matthew Lowton (3.4%) also missed out, which handed Kevin Long a first start of the season. The defender is in 2.6% of FPL squads for his 3.9 price tag alone, but his seven-point return (he was awarded one bonus point) remained on over 105,000 benches with 75% of his owners set to miss out.

Keeper Nick Pope (4.5%) picked up a sixth clean sheet, but made only two saves.

He’s now failed to earn a save point since Gameweek 11, having previously picked them up at a faster rate than any other stopper, as he continues to be a victim of his back four’s success.

Mounie stakes his claim

FPL’s first budget bandwagon of the season, striker Steve Mounie, came roaring back into our consciousness with both goals in Huddersfield’s 2-0 win over Brighton.

The Benin international found his way into nearly a quarter of a million squads following a Gameweek 1 double at Crystal Palace, but was down to just 43,000+ loyal or forgetful owners before yesterday’s brace.

He’s been in and out of the side all season, with Laurent Depoitre the preferred option up front.

And the Belgian could well earn a recall for Tuesday’s visit by Chelsea.

At the back, the Terriers have been providing slim pickings – yesterday’s clean sheet was their first since Gameweek 6.

But Christopher Schindler has now chipped in with assists to offset the lack of defensive returns, providing his second in the last four Gameweeks in Saturday’s defeat.

Once the Chelsea match is out of the way, Huddersfield’s schedule improves markedly (wat sot STK BUR lei WHU stk), promoting the appeal of budget options Jonas Lossl and Schindler himself (both 4.6) once again.