Storm Eleanor lashes last night’s matches, but it is the lack of a Harry Kane that puts the wind up most Fantasy Premier League managers.
Double Gameweek 22 was, to many managers, all about getting Harry Kane in their line-ups, captaining him – or triple captaining him – to a points-drenched start to the New Year.
Even the news that he had been ill over Christmas didn’t matter.
More than 467,000+ made him the second most purchased player of the Gameweek, 1,320,000+ (24.2%) the most captained and 121,000+ the triple captain of choice.
And all we got for the effort was a 22-minute, one-point cameo in Spurs’ 2-0 win at storm-lashed Swansea City.
It could have been (slightly) better when the striker sent over a superb ball for Dele Alli’s decisive goal at the Liberty Stadium, only for his England team-mate to take the chance at the second time of asking, thus blowing Kane’s assist out of the water.
All is not lost, of course.
With Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min all playing the full 90 minutes last night, the one thing we can say with near-certainty is that Kane will start tomorrow’s match against West Ham.
A reckoning of the whole Double Gameweek 22 can only be made after that, although it’s safe to say it’s not started that well for those who betted big on Kane – 77.1% of those using the Triple Captain chip played it on the striker.
Post-match, his manager had this to say:
“We saw it was difficult for him to run, but I think it was a good training session for him to prepare for the next game. We hope he will be well in the next 24 hours and he can be ready to play against West Ham.”
The 498,000+ who made Son the biggest transfer-in had to make do with only three points, while the 366,000 who went for Eriksen (the fourth most bought) were rewarded with an assist – his sixth return over the last seven Gameweeks.
Alli, meanwhile, was only the fifth most popular player ahead of Gameweek 22, but emerged as the most productive of the Spurs’ attackers thanks to his goal.
He now has two goals and four assists from his last three starts and was played behind Fernando Llorente, who opened the scoring, last night as Eriksen dropped deeper to accommodate Erik Lamela’s inclusion on the right of an attacking midfield three.
Alli thrived in that more advanced role, firing in five shots, three of which came inside the area, and will hope for more of the same against the Hammers.
But it seems highly unlikely all four midfielders will play again tomorrow, with Lamela perhaps the most likely to drop out as coach Mauricio Pochettino has assiduously managed the Argentine’s minutes – he was given 76 against Swansea – since he returned from a long-term hip injury.
Son’s start could also be under threat if Pochettino considers deploying a 3-4-2-1 system, drafting two of Victor Wanyama, Moussa Sissoko or Harry Winks into midfield to allow Eric Dier to drop back into a three-man defence. Having started Tottenham’s last nine at Wembley, though, the South Korean’s 12% ownership will be optimistic of him retaining a spot on Pochettino’s teamsheet tomorrow.
Defence back on track
Spurs have now kept three of their eight clean sheets for the season over the last five Gameweeks.
And even the vexed question of wing-back rotation might be in for a solution, albeit a temporary one, on the left flank.
One of the early-season bandwagons, Ben Davies, started last night and will almost certainly do so again tomorrow as his rotation partner, Danny Rose, is struggling with a knee injury.
Speaking post-match, Pochettino said Rose’s issue would be assessed prior to the West Ham match, before adding:
“I think I cannot say anything, but my feeling, my perception is it would be difficult to play in 48 hours.”
Kieran Trippier excelled on the other flank, picking up maximum bonus from three net tackles and three key passes to go with his clean sheet, although Serge Aurier will most likely step back in against the Hammers as Pochettino continues to swap the pair around.
Centre-back Davinson Sanchez made his third straight start after returning from a three-match ban for his Gameweek 15 dismissal at Watford.
But the Colombian’s minimal (0.5%) ownership were denied shutout points when he was subbed off after 58 minutes.
That seemed like Fantasy cruelty, but Pochettino had little option as the defender was decidedly lucky not to have been sent off for a second bookable offence by then.
The result was zero points for Sanchez’s owners. In truth, it could have been even worse than that.
Carroll back with a bang
West Ham players generally had to play second fiddle to their Spurs counterparts when it came to buying up double Gameweek assets.
The one exception was the in-form midfielder Marko Arnautovic, 368,000+ managers making him the third most bought player ahead of a home match with West Brom and the trip to Wembley.
The Austrian international duly obliged with an assist in last night’s 2-1 win over the Baggies – his fourth straight return and fifth in six Gameweeks.
But the star of the show was Andy Carroll.
It seems almost unnecessary to mention that his season, to date, has been an injury-hit one.
Instead, let’s just say that his latest mini-run in the side has been his best of 2017/18.
He followed up an assist in a Gameweek 19 substitute appearance with two goals last night – that’s his entire season’s output right there.
The striker’s notorious frailty makes a second match in 48 hours a risky proposition for manager David Moyes, but he might be tempted to ride the Carroll rollercoaster while it’s still fully operational.
Moyes has rather less options when it comes to his defence.
Aaron Cresswell set up Carroll’s equaliser with a superb cross – his second consecutive assist – to cheer the 101,000+ managers who brought him in for the double Gameweek.
But their man then went off with a back injury after 75 minutes and is now a doubt for the Spurs match.
His obvious replacement in a back three, James Collins, missed the West Brom match through injury.
Should he fail to shake that off quickly, the Hammers will be down to the bare bones in a defence that has not kept a clean sheet in three matches now.
There was at least one stroke of luck for Moyes from his defenders as Arthur Masuaku, who was brought in by 29,000 for Gameweek 22, could well have seen red against West Brom.
The wing-back had already been booked when he went down all too easily under Baggies goalscorer James McClean’s challenge in the box.
Replaced after 72 minutes, the Frenchman’s 2.1% ownership will be hoping to see him back in action tomorrow night, although the prospects of defensive returns against Spurs’ in-form attack look patchy.
As for West Brom, as if going winless for 21 matches in all competitions wasn’t bad enough, they also lost midfielder Matt Phillips to a hamstring problem in the warm-up.
However, the fit-again Salomon Rondon returned to the XI last night and provided the assist for McClean’s opener – the Venezuelan has now bagged a goal and assist in his last three starts and entertains Brighton next time out.
6 years, 3 months agodo one billy.