Chelsea are chastened by a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth, a perennial Fantasy favourite is the star turn for Everton and two sets of relegation rivals can deliver only draws.
Callum Wilson produced a second double-digit haul in just three Gameweeks as the Cherries romped to a shock victory at Stamford Bridge.
The striker opened the scoring from Jordon Ibe’s pass and set up Junior Stanislas for the second, with the latter then providing the assist for Nathan Ake to make it three.
Wilson now has four goals and two assists from his last six Gameweeks – a rich run of form enjoyed by a mere 5.8% of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
Purchased by 48,000 for Gameweek 25, he is the fourth most bought player for Gameweek 26, with 47,000+ new managers jumping on board to take advantage of a schedule (STK hud NEW lei TOT WBA wat CRY) that offers ample opportunity for further attacking returns.
Indeed, that combination of form and fixtures may persuade Fantasy managers to return to a 3-4-3 formation for the run-in.
Stanislas matched Wilson’s 12 points on the night and is hinting at a revival of his own after providing an assist at West Ham last week.
Last night was the midfielder’s first start since Gameweek 18 and those fixtures suggest that – if he can now stay fit – Stanislas could offer a Cherries alternative in midfield.
Owned by less than 1% and almost identical to Wilson in price (5.9 to 5.8), he’s been involved in 50% of his side’s goals when on the pitch.
One Bournemouth player unlikely to take advantage of that schedule is defender Adam Smith, who missed the Chelsea match with a thigh issue and is unlikely to make the Stoke fixture either.
That’s now six matches unbeaten for the Cherries, with wins over both Arsenal and Chelsea in recent weeks, while the Blues’ tasted defeat for the first time in eight league encounters.
Eden Hazard was easily Chelsea’s best player on the night, firing in four shots, half of which came inside the penalty area, but he endured a frustrating blank having been signed by 128,000 ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
The rest of the Chelsea side were lacklustre, though, and, with Alvaro Morata still sidelined with a back complaint, Olivier Giroud’s deadline day arrival could prove vital to their top four ambitions.
The Blues’ next two fixtures (wat WBA) are strong enough, but things take a turn for the worse after that, with both Manchester sides and Spurs to face during a tough five-match run.
As a result, the ever-popular (and productive) Marcos Alonso (26.9%) might be the only player to survive what is likely to be a mass transfer exodus.
Not that Chelsea are in bad form. They had kept four successive home clean sheets, and six in their previous seven Gameweeks, prior to last night’s mauling, but there is a consistent sense that all is not well with coach Antonio Conte and his troops at present.
It certainly couldn’t get much worse for centre-half Andreas Christensen and his 3.6% ownership.
The Dane picked up a hamstring injury against the Cherries and was taken off after 27 minutes – the third straight match in which failed to make it to the hour-mark.
The fact that, unlike on the previous two occasions, Christensen didn’t miss out on clean sheet points was the smallest of mercies for his FPL managers.
The wonder of Walcott
Much of the pre-match talk around Everton’s home clash with Leicester City involved the deadline day desire of Riyad Mahrez to join Man City.
The Algerian winger was left out of the Foxes squad as a result, which was a severe blow to the 150,000+ new managers who had made him Gameweek 25’s second most popular purchase.
In the end, it was another January transfer – and one that actually took place – that made all the difference at Goodison Park.
Theo Walcott marked his second league appearance for the Toffees with his first goals, assists from Michael Keane and Gylfi Sigurdsson helping him to a brace and maximum bonus in a 15-point haul.
That tally was the joint highest of the Gameweek and came on the back of a busy performance involving five shots, two of which came in the box.
The 7.2-priced midfielder is now Gameweek 26’s most sought after asset, with 87,000+ early adopters hoping he’ll punish former club Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday.
After that, Everton’s fixtures (CRY wat bur BHA stk) are set fair until the middle of March and should offer Sam Allardyce’s side the chance to address their one major issue at present – a lack of clean sheets.
Last night’s 2-1 win extended the Toffees’ run without a shut-out to five matches, although the return of Seamus Coleman from a long injury lay-off added some much-needed experience to their right flank.
The full-back, priced at an eye-watering 6.4, relegated Jonjoe Kenny (4.5) to the bench and the youngster’s 303,000+ owners will now surely be looking elsewhere for a defensive bargain.
Leicester, meanwhile, soldiered in without Mahrez to provide guile, although his absence was a definite factor in the ending of their three-match unbeaten run.
Jamie Vardy scored a second successive penalty, awarded for a foul on Wilfred Ndidi, and the striker now has four goals from his last six starts.
But both he and his team-mates will be hoping Mahrez returns to the fold without any emotional baggage from his deadline day disappointment.
FPL managers aren’t so sure – only two players, the injured duo Marko Arnautovic and Leroy Sane, have currently been sold by more managers than the 46,000+ jettisoning the Leicester man.
Elsewhere…
Clean sheets have been rare beasts for both Stoke City (four) and Watford (six) as well, so the 0-0 draw between the pair last night was something of a surprise.
It was Watford’s first shut-out since Gameweek 13, earning stand-in keeper Orestis Karnezis 10 points, courtesy of four saves and maximum bonus.
The stalemate also underlined Stoke’s new-found solidity under Paul Lambert – it’s now back-to-back clean sheets since he took charge.
But the big losers on the night were the 124,000+ managers who had bought into the attacking threat of Xherdan Shaqiri, the midfielder following up his assist in the win over Huddersfield with a blank.
The Potters’ schedule (bou BHA lei sot) does at least offer some hope of better returns to come, however.
Southampton and Brighton played out a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s, with a penalty from visiting striker Glenn Murray opening the scoring.
Murray converted the spot-kick after Solly March was fouled and now has two goals from his last three league starts.
Any hopes Brighton had of keeping their second clean sheet in six Gameweeks then dissolved when James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick set up Jack Stephens’ equaliser.
The Saints defence is in an even worse state – they’ve managed just one shut-out since Gameweek 9 – but they at least have a strong set of fixtures (wba LIV bur STK new swa whu) to try and stop that particular rot.
A punishing run of four straight away matches from Gameweek 30 is not ideal, however. In fact, Southampton will play only five of their remaining 13 fixtures at home this season.
