Scout Notes – Gameweek 26 – Sunday

Christian Benteke and Charles N’Zogbia come to Villa’s rescue as the midlanders climb out the drop zone. Later in the day, United go 12 points clear of City as Robin Van Persie returns to form with a goal and assist against David Moyes’ Everton.

Benteke’s Scoring Streak
Once again, the Belgian was key to Villa’s attacking endeavours as Paul Lambert’s side climbed out the drop zone with a crucial win. Benteke fired home the opener via the penalty spot to vindicate the 91,000+ Fantasy managers who snapped him up prior to last Saturday’s deadline and maintained a run which has now seen him score in five of the last six Gameweeks. While a trip to Arsenal and home clash with City are perhaps likely to deter new owners in the short-term, Benteke’s outstanding form is hard to overlook right now and at 6.8 in FPL, he continues to offer exceptional value – he’s now up to 110 points and with 11 goals and four assists, has played a part in 15 of the midlanders’ 23 goals since making his debut in Gameweek 4.

N’Zogbia on the Radar
A role in “the hole” behind Benteke has reignited the former Wigan man’s season. N’Zogbia’s goal and assist contribution continued a run of form which has harvested returns in three of the last four Gameweeks and suggests he is likely to prove crucial to his side’s chances of survival. The Frenchman had seemed peripheral to Lambert’s plans – after starting the opening two fixtures, he was afforded just six brief second-half sub appearances but has now been named in the first XI in each of the last five. A total of one goal and four assists over that quartet of Gameweeks is indicative of N’Zogbia’s form and at 5.8 in FPL, he’s starting to finally rediscover the form that made him such a Fantasy favourite during his time at the DW. Paul Lambert had this to say on his contribution…

“The free-kick from Charles was world-class, an absolute world-class goal. He’s [N’Zogbia] got that. He’s a really talented footballer. To be fair, over the last couple of months he has been excellent. He was unlucky because he had a bad injury with his knee. That kept him out for six weeks or so. Since he’s come back into the fold he’s been excellent. He has been very good.”

Hammers Defensive Woes
Sam Allardyce will be sweating over the availability of Joey O’Brien after the versatile full-back was subbed off with just over 20 minutes on the clock yesterday. Details on the injury remain sketchy, with Sky Sports reporting that O’Brien will remain in the UK whilst the rest of the Hammers squad depart for a warm weather trip to Dubai. The former Bolton man’s withdrawal continues adds to Allardyce’s worries – with James Collins, George McCartney and Dan Potts all still sidelined through injury, the Hammers have managed just a single clean sheet in nine now. With games against Spurs, United and Chelsea in the following four, in addition to a trip to Stoke, Jussi Jaaskelainen may have to rely on save points over the next few, with defensive returns continuing to look unlikely.

Van Persie Back in the Points
Back-to-back blanks in the previous couple of Gameweeks, allied with fears over potential rotation due to the upcoming Champions League matches with Real Madrid, persuaded almost 50,000 to sell the Dutchman prior to Saturday’s deadline. Van Persie’s return to form saw him play a part in both United’s goals, though – an assist for Ryan Giggs opener was followed by his side’s second and with Wayne Rooney struggling to make an impact from a wide role, he served a reminder of just how vital his contribution will be for the run-in.

Post-match, however, Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that City’s loss at Southampton played a part in his selection yesterday, with the United boss going on to reveal he may rotate his squad later in the season, depending on the league situation:

“We have got to win our games anyway, so it didn’t matter what happened to City on Saturday. That’s the way we should look at it and I’ve been saying that for week. If we concentrate on our own game then we’ll be okay. I was going to make about seven changes but when I got the result, I felt this was a more important game for us because it could give us a comfortable lead. We can make changes later on in the season. It is realistic; we knew that if we got a good result today then we’d be in a positive position.”

United’s Defensive Resolve
With Jonny Evans fully fit, Ferguson now seems to be implementing the centre-half rotation policy he had previously hinted at. This time round, it was Nemanja Vidic’s turn to partner Evans as Rio Ferdinand dropped out and yesterday’s result means United have now registered a clean sheet in each of Evans’ last four starts – a sure sign of his growing importance to the first XI. Coming in at 5.6 in FPL, the Northern Ireland international seems nailed-on when available and, while Rafael’s fifth assist of the season will have propelled the right-back onto Fantasy radars again, Evans has been far more consistent this term. With three goals and a pair of assists, his average of 4.7 points per game is only just behind Patrice Evra (4.8) but is some way ahead of Rafael’s 3.9 – with a strong run of fixtures on the horizon (qpr, NOR, whu, REA, sun) Evans looks a real differential prospect, with an ownership of less than 1%. Subbed off with 10 minutes left on the clock, Evans’ withdrawal was purely down to cramp, according to his manager after the game. As we discussed in the Stock Check, David De Gea is also presenting an option having started 11 consecutive league matches. The absence of Anders Lindegaard from the bench could be significant here – the stopper was fit enough to sit in reserve for Denmark in the week so it’s not known just why Ferguson was not able to name him in yesterday’s squad.