Scout Notes – Hazard Builds Momentum

Chelsea breeze past Newcastle United 3-1 as former Fantasy royalty continues his return to the top table.

Eden Hazard delivered an attacking masterclass – and 15 Fantasy Premier League points – as Chelsea came from behind to beat Newcastle 3-1.

That in itself was not a huge surprise, though the relatively small number of FPL managers who invested prior to Saturday’s deadline perhaps was. His ownership before kick-off was still the wrong side of 10%, while only 35.2% of his 541,000 managers trusted him with the armband.

Hazard’s brace, boosted by maximum bonus, means that he’s now scored five goals and provided three assists from his last six starts. He also produced some stunning statistics against Newcastle United, firing no less than nine shots on goal, seven of which were from inside the box, with six on target.

Hazard is already the most bought asset ahead of a Gameweek 16 trip to West Ham as his role playing up in support of Alvaro Morata accentuates the playmaker’s attacking potential. Indeed, Hazard’s recent change of position was highlighted by manager Antonio Conte post-match.

“Eden for us is an important player because with him we can change our system, he can play as a second striker or a number 10 when we play 3-4-3. Eden and Alvaro showed a great link today, I saw a lot of good combination play.”

As for Morata, he was bought by 160,000+ for today’s encounter – his ownership has now increased by almost a million (965,842) since Gameweek 9 – and he scored his ninth goal of the campaign which, together with two bonus points, brought in a respectable haul for the 9.05% who captained him.

But Hazard was the headline act and, with more than 15% skippering Mohamed Salah for Gameweek 15, there seems to be a shift of trust for the armband away from the forwards to proven attacking midfield options.

The Belgian, who also confirmed his role as penalty taker with a cheeky spot-kick finish today – has to be part of that trend now.

Chelsea pair offer defensive value

Andreas Christensen made a fifth successive start for Chelsea as the 5.5-priced centre-half was brought in by 75,000 this week.

The 21-year-old Dane was denied a clean sheet by Dwight Gayle’s early strike, but any doubts as to his own goal threat were extinguished somewhat by a first-half header which struck a post.

Antonio Conte’s consistent backing of Christensen provides us with a cheap way into a side flexing its defensive muscles, with four clean sheets from their last six matches.

And Victor Moses, making his first start since Gameweek 6, opens up further potential for points from the Blues’ backline.

The Nigerian international returned at right wing-back and provided two assists in a fine attacking display. His counterpart on the left, Marcos Alonso, has three goals but no assists from a season in which he’s started every match.

Moses, at 6.4, is 0.5 cheaper than the Spaniard, but that saving pales when compared to the value offered by Christensen, particularly if the Dane can build on his possible threat from set-pieces.

Elliot owners set to move on

Rafa Benitez’s decision to hand Karl Darlow a second consecutive start suggests that there has been a changing of the guard in the Newcastle goal.

If true, more of the 25.9% of managers who have enjoyed the cut-price starts of Rob Elliot will now be driven to act.

A mere 33,887 of them sold him on prior to Gameweek 15, but transfers will now continue: he is already the most sold stopper ahead of Gameweek 16.

Some of that traffic appears to be heading the way of Julian Speroni.

Priced at 4.0, he produced an impressive 11-point return following seven saves in the 0-0 draw at West Brom, although the veteran only earned his start after Wayne Hennessey broke down with a back problem in the warm-up.