This Much We Know – Gameweek 34

Cherries assets spruce up their end of season CVs. Middlesbrough’s defence appears chaotic under Steve Agnew. Jose Mourinho’s teamsheet frustrates once again, while a rested Eden Hazard builds his stock for the Wildcard shake-up. This and more occupy our thoughts following the weekend’s action.

Agnew’s appointment may have doomed our Double Gameweek aspirations…
We woke up this morning and checked again but, sadly, our worse fears were confirmed. Somehow we did decide to invest in Middlesbrough for their double Gameweek 34.

It didn’t take long for the wheels to come off.

Just two minutes into their trip to Bournemouth, we were already regretting our faith in the seemingly doomed Teesside outfit after Josh King opened the scoring in a comprehensive 4-0 rout of Steve Agnew’s beleaguered side.

Granted, Boro still have a midweek home encounter against Sunderland – a side with a single away clean sheet on their travels all season – to atone for their Vitality hammering.

Yet the signs are far from encouraging. Middlesbrough have now conceded at least three times in three of six matches under Agnew and found the net on just four occasions.

Put into perspective, Boro only conceded three or more in three of Aitor Karanka’s 27 matches in charge prior to his dismissal.

With Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool to come in the final four Gameweeks, it looks only a matter of time before their slip back into the Championship.

Ben Gibson is already number one for transfers-out in defence, while Alvaro Negredo is second only to the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the exodus picks up pace.

Further disappointment on Wednesday and those sales will surely only accelerate, and we will be resigned to put it down as a lesson learned.

The Cherries can be more than pre-Wildcard punts…
As evidenced by Bournemouth’s demolition of sorry Boro, overlooking those sides without upcoming double Gameweeks isn’t always the wisest of tactics.

Charlie Daniels racked up 14 points in the south coast stroll, while Josh King – benched by over 104,000 FPL managers – netted for the eighth time in nine Gameweeks to maintain his relentless stream of goals.

Such form suggests that, even for those with second Wildcards still to play, Eddie Howe’s key men yet be worthy targets.

Indeed, with Sunderland, Stoke and Burnley up next, the schedule could barely be kinder for a Cherries side nestled in the safety of mid-table and free to express their attacking instincts.

The relegation dog-fight still has a part to play…

While Middlesbrough look to have meekly accepted the inevitable, Swansea City and Hull City’s battle for survival is set to go to the wire.

Subject to more transfers-out (97,000) than any player in the centre of the park last week, Gylfi Sigurdsson was back in the points as an assist in the Swans’ 2-0 win over Stoke City elevated him to sixth in the midfield standings.

Meanwhile, goals from Fernando Llorente and Tom Carroll, and an assist from Jordan Ayew, suggested that Paul Clement’s differentials still have the stomach for a fight.

It was a similar story over at the KCOM Stadium, where goals from Lazar Markovic and Sam Clucas – with 0.2% and 0.1% ownerships respectively – helped extend the Tigers’ superb home record under Marco Silva.

The 2-0 win over Watford served as a timely reminder to the 756,000+ who opted to bench Eldin Jakupovic that this time of the season has the potential to make heroes of the unfashionable.

On that note, Harry Maguire – owned by less than 1% of FPL managers – now has two goals and a clean sheet in three ahead of encounters with Sunderland and Palace in the next three. He’s had more shots, and more shots on target, than any other Tigers’ asset since earning regular starts in Gameweek 15.

Travel sick Lukaku can’t be a passenger…
Romelu Lukaku may have exceeded our expectations this season, gifting us some fond memories along the way, but, typically, he’s still finding ways to frustrate.

While 11 goals in six at Goodison Park underlines his devastating form on Merseyside, Lukaku’s blank at West Ham means he now has just a single goal from his last eight road trips.

Still sitting in over 46% of sides, Lukaku now offers a home encounter against Chelsea prior to a pair of road trips (at Swansea and Arsenal) in the final three Gameweeks.

Without a double Gameweek, he now arguably has just one very favourable-looking fixture remaining – at home to Watford in Gameweek 37.

But with ten teams set to play twice that week, the Belgian will surely need to convince against the league leaders this weekend if he is to avoid a major cull once our second Wildcards go active.

Zlatan’s absence has made Mourinho all the more slippery…
Say what you like about Zlatan Ibrahimovic, at least his availability handed us a certainty on Jose Mourinho’s teamsheet.

Devoid of his injured top scorer, the United manager’s decision to bench the in-form Marcus Rashford, and instead call upon Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial, was vindicated after both grabbed a goal apiece in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Burnley. That didn’t make it more palatable for the 457,000+ FPL managers who moved for Rashford ahead of Saturday’s deadline.

Utilised as a 21-minute bit part player, Rashford will be expected to return to centre stage for Thursday’s derby clash with Man City.

Whether he can justify the show of faith that persuaded over 279,000 to hand him the armband is another matter altogether.

At the back, Mourinho gave Antonio Valencia’s 99,000+ new owners another reason to gripe after handing the right-back yet another day off to start Ashley Young.

The Ecuadorian has now graced the teamsheet in just one of his side’s last four league matches, missing out on two of their previous three clean sheets.

With United challenging for a Champions League berth on two fronts, Mourinho’s line-ups will likely continue to frustrate over the run-in. Investment for double Gameweek 37 already looks to be riddled with uncertainty.

We’re reserving a slot for Benteke under Big Sam…
Okay, they aren’t mathematically safe quite yet but, with victories over Chelsea, Arsenal and now Liverpool in the last five Gameweeks, it seems only a matter of time before Crystal Palace secure their survival.

Sam Allardyce’s record of having never suffered the ignominy of relegation looks near certain to remain intact, with Christian Benteke the chief protagonist in their bid to beat the drop.

Allardyce’s penchant for…ahem…”direct passing”, allied with the Belgian’s aerial ability, appeared to be a marriage made in Fantasy heaven from the get-go, yet it took Benteke – and the Eagles – time to adjust.

After netting once in his first 11 league outings under the new manager, Benteke now has five goals and an assist in five ahead of a midweek home clash with Spurs.

Further home matches, against Burnley and Hull, in the following three afford the Belgian a further platform to deliver, with Benteke surely pencilled in on our Watchlists for next season. A full pre-season with Allardyce and mid-price valuation with the FPL could see Benteke become a darling around these parts.

Avoiding Hazard with the Wildcard just invites heartache…
Eden Hazard required little time to make an impact once unleashed from the bench, along with Diego Costa, in Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final win over Spurs.

Surprisingly named among the subs on Saturday, the Belgian’s introduction proved the turning point as he supplied a goal and assist to steer his side to a Wembley showdown against Arsenal next month.

While Costa once again huffed, puffed and scowled his way through his brief Wembley appearance, Conte’s decision to afford Hazard a slight rest seemed to reinvigorate the schemer and he again demonstrated his potential to deal heavy end of season damage.

Hazard has produced points in five of his last six league outings, serving up three sets of double-figures over that period, with the only blank being the 2-0 loss at Old Trafford in Gameweek 33.

Ironically, that defeat may now favour FPL managers. With their lead whittled down to four points at the summit, Conte can ill-afford to take chances in his bid see off Spurs.

Providing the chase continues, Chelsea’s outstanding schedule from Gameweek 36 onwards – (MID, wba & WAT, SUN) – hands Hazard the chance to play his way into our Wildcard plans as he tracks Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku at the top of the FPL overall standings.

Pochettino’s tinkering has us doubting Son again…
After running riot with a 4-2-3-1 formation in recent weeks, Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to revert to a 3-4-2-1 set-up against Chelsea at Wembley has once again placed question marks over Son Heung-min.

Utilised as a wing-back with Ben Davies dropping to the bench, the South Korean failed to register a single attempt on goal before being replaced midway through the second period.

Five goals and an assist in the last four Gameweeks demonstrate that Son – on his day – is more than capable of delivering major hauls and rivalling pricier team-mates.

But Pochettino’s weekend XI served a timely reminder that the midfielder’s position and pitch-time will keep us fidgeting.

With Christian Eriksen providing the assists for goals from Harry Kane and Dele Alli in the 4-2 defeat, Son’s star has slipped, and only a return to 4-2-3-1 is likely to keep him in consideration as a viable route into Spurs’ relentless attack.

Keeper swaps are an untimely issue…
Nobody likes spending precious transfers on goalkeepers – not now, not ever.

Yet on Saturday alone, we witnessed Lee Grant, Joel Robles and Darren Randolph all drop to the bench after extended runs between the posts for their respective clubs.

Owned by 9% of FPL managers, Grant is now the number one for transfers-out between the sticks in light of Mark Hughes’ decision to hand the fit-again Jack Butland a first start of the season for Stoke.

While Fantasy managers still holding their second Wildcards have carte blanche to freshen up their options for the double Gameweeks, those without are now left fretting over the one position that we so often like to sort and then ignore.