Scout Notes – Hazard Hits Back

Eden Hazard bursts back into life just as Fantasy managers’ lose faith, while a Chelsea centre-back misses out on clean sheet points by only three minutes for a second Gamewweek running.

More than 100,000 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers – close to a quarter of his total ownership – sold Hazard before today’s trip to Brighton.

Not that this was a one-off exodus, with the Belgian losing over half a million managers since Gameweek 19 on the back of an eight-match run in which he’d managed just one goal and an assist.

Almost inevitably, he bit back with a 16-point display involving two goals and maximum bonus as the Blues were left slightly flattered by their 4-0 win at the Amex Stadium.

However well Brighton played for scant reward, there was no disputing the masterclass put on by Hazard.

He thrived in a 3-4-2-1 system forced on coach Antonio Conte by suspensions for Alvaro Morata and Pedro and a hamstring issue that continues to keep Cesc Fabregas on the sidelines.

Hazard and Willian supported lone striker Michy Batshuayi, and it was the midfielders who provided much of the attacking threat.

The Brazilian matched the forward’s four attempts on goal (Hazard had three), while Willian (8) and Hazard (7) both had more penalty area touches than Batshuayi’s four.

Conte has been doing a convincing impression recently of a manager unsure as to his best side and how to set them up.

It looks like he might have stumbled on both the formation and most of the personnel today, with Morata likely to replace Batshuayi, but with Hazard and Willian retained as his attacking partners, particularly as the latter scored one goal and set up another at Brighton.

That could finally usher in the Brazilian as a consistent starter this season, making the 6.7-priced midfielder a real option with Chelsea’s schedule (BOU wat WBA) still attractive until a Manchester double header of both United and City across Gameweeks 28 and 29.

Willian has recorded three double-digit returns in the last eight Gameweeks, having started only five matches in that spell.

He is owned by 7.6% at present, which is a mark of how far Hazard’s star has fallen as the Belgian’s ownership is now down to 6.4%. Their contrasting price tags – with Hazard at 10.6 – has been the major factor. Sure enough, it is Willian who is currently the most bought asset following today’s action, picking up over 10,000 new owners while Hazard has tempted just a third of that so far.

Mixed fortunes at the back

Chelsea have now kept six clean sheets in seven matches as their popular defenders Marcos Alonso (26.3%) and Cesar Azpilicueta (23.0%) continue to set the pace in the overall standings.

But it hasn’t been so sweet for all.

Spare a thought for the 4.2% who overlooked Alonso in favour of the more budget-friendly Andreas Christensen (5.6).

The young Dane was taken off after 57 minutes with a head injury at this afternoon – the second week running he’s missed out on clean sheet points by just three minutes. During Chelsea’s superb recent run of shut-outs, Christensen has profited from just one of them.

Mercifully, the injury was dismissed by Antonio Conte post-match, who indicated that Christensen would return for the midweek Carabao Cup semi-final with Arsenal on Wednesday…

“Andreas had a contusion. We made a substitution, but the player didn’t want to come off. At the same time, when you have the possibility to have on the bench players like David Luiz, it was simple for me. The referee tried to force this substitution. It was a simple contusion. The player is okay. From tomorrow’s training session, he’s ready.”

Nonetheless, Christensen is already the most sold defender, with over 6000 of his owners reacting to their misfortune by trading him out, regardless of those kind fixtures to come.

There was also a bitter blow for the 13.3% of managers with Thibaut Courtois in goal.

The club confirmed that a minor ankle issue, sustained in training, was to blame for the Belgian’s non-appearance today, which meant a first league start for Willy Caballero.

The Argentine looked shaky at times but pulled off one fine point-blank save from a Tomer Hemed header to earn his corn.

Victor Moses was another to enjoy his day out on the south coast, the wing-back adding a goal, an assist and two bonus points to his clean sheet for a season-high 17 points.

However, such is the pull of Alonso in Chelsea’s backline – the Spaniard has 60 points more than Moses – that the Nigerian’s insignificant 69,280 ownership is unlikely to increase by anything more than a nominal amount.

Dark clouds over Brighton

The consensus was that Brighton performed admirably against Chelsea.

But they lost 4-0 anyway.

Chris Hughton’s side have now kept just one clean sheet in five matches, conceding nine goals along the way.

And their attacking form is desperate – the Seagulls have scored only four goals in 12 matches, with half of those coming in the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth in Gameweek 22.

Brighton have broken their transfer record to sign striker Jürgen Locadia from PSV Eindhoven to try and stop the rot, although he is currently recovering from a hamstring problem and played no part today.

But the major casualty of the goal drought has been Pascal Gross.

The midfielder’s ownership peaked at over 1,176,000 in Gameweek 14. It’s now down to 872,000, with more than 112,000 getting rid for Gameweek 24 as the midfielder’s barren spell stretched to one goal and no assists from his last 12 starts.

Brighton’s short-term fixtures (sot WHU stk SWA) are sound enough for Gross to recover, although his, and the side’s, form suggests otherwise.

At the back, Hughton’s move to a three-man defence brought Connor Goldson (3.9) into the line-up.

Such a bargain basement price creates a situation that needs monitoring.

But given Brighton’s early capitulation – they were 2-0 down after six minutes today – it will likely be an experiment abandoned almost as soon as it began.