Scout Scribbles – City Held as Blues March On

Eden Hazard is instrumental in helping Chelsea put six past Maribor. Sergio Aguero grabs a goal and assist as Man City are pegged back by CSKA in Moscow, Hull pair Michael Dawson and Nikica Jelavic are out for up to six weeks, while Newcastle’s Siem de Jong may not return to action until the New Year.

Hazard Shines As Slovenians Are Hit for Six

Chelsea made it six wins on the spin by routing Slovenian champions Maribor at the Bridge. First-half strikes from Loic Remy, Didier Drogba and John Terry set the Blues on their way before they killed the match with three further goals after the break, as Eden Hazard went about dismantling their opponents. The Belgian capped another hugely influential performance by first forcing an own goal before converting Chelsea’s second penalty and then scoring a superb sixth in the dying minutes.

Jose Mourinho’s line-up saw Petr Cech restored in goal, while his defence saw two changes, with Kurt Zouma and Filipe Luis in for Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta.

Loic Remy’s first-half goal came at a cost with the striker forced off on 30 minutes having tweaked his groin, leading to the introduction of Didier Drogba. Jose Mourinho confirmed the injury post-match, whilst suggesting that Drogba will have a part to play at Old Trafford on Sunday with both Remy and Costa now injury doubts.

“Loic Remy has a problem in his groin, I don’t know. Normally a muscular problem is a muscular problem so a couple of weeks. I was not expecting Didier to play for 75 minutes but he had to come on….Now he has to improve his condition, we know the player he is and we know he can still give us a lot.”

The Scout Says: Another sparkling Hazard display has to resonate with the Fantasy Football community. Overshadowed by the consistent output of Cesc Fabregas to this point, the Belgian has offered plenty of evidence in recent matches to suggest that he is now capable of delivering and surpassing his Spanish team-mate. With Mourinho once again stating that Diego Costa will likely be ruled out of Sunday’s clash with Manchester United, Hazard has emerged as a potential replacement as Chelsea attacking cover for those willing to sell on the nine-goal striker in advance of Saturday’s deadline. Hazard has dropped to 9.9 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) having suffered a loss in ownership every week up until Gameweek 8. He’s currently owned by 14% of FPL managers, while Fabregas is found in over 52% of squads – last night, he could have claimed a hat-trick but offered the first Chelsea penalty to Didier Drogba. The Ivorian converted to notch ahead of Sunday’s Old Trafford trip which could now see him lead the line; Drogba is available for 6.2 and may tempt some as a short-term differential, should we get confirmed news on Remy and Costa’s prognosis.

City Face Exit After Moscow Stalemate

Manuel Pellegrini’s bid for Champions League glory looks to have deviated off course with City letting a two-goal lead slip in the behind-closed-doors clash in Moscow.

City made five changes to the side that blitzed Spurs on Saturday – Pablo Zabaleta, Eliaquim Mangala and Kolarov came into the defence, while Yaya Toure returned to the engine room and Edin Dzeko partnered Aguero in attack.

It had all started so brightly for City who took a first-half advantage through goals from Sergio Aguero and James Milner. However, two strikes in the second period, including an 88th-minute penalty conceded by Aleks Kolarov, saw City drop further points in their quest to qualify form Group E.

City now need results over their final three group matches, starting with the home clash with CSKA on November 5, three days after the Manchester derby. The next tie on November 25 – the home fixture with Bayern – looks vital and daunting after the German side’s 7-1 win over Roma.

The Scout Says: Sergio Aguero’s goal and assist in Moscow provided further evidence of his confidence and form but that will provide little compensation for another bitterly disappointing result in Europe. Once again it was Pellegrini’s defence that let him down – City have now kept just two clean sheets in their last 11 outings. Fantasy managers are unlikely to change their attitude on City’s rearguard, then, with Aguero continuing to be the leading attraction on show within their ranks – the Argentine has now completed three consecutive 90-minute matches, offering reassurance on his current level of fitness. Elsewhere, Milner’s goal provided some reward for a series of performances which have seen him develop as an unlikely attacking threat, while Dzeko’s assist served a reminder that he can offer a “plan B” for Pellegrini, should he decide to revert from the recent decision to field Aguero as the lone striker.

Tigers Suffer Double Blow

Hull City have confirmed that both Nikica Jelavic and Michael Dawson face prolonged spells on the sidelines following injuries sustained in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal. Jelavic dropped from the teamsheet having tweaked his knee in the warm-up for the Emirates clash – scans reveal he’s torn his medial meniscus and he’s now booked in for surgery on Wednesday. Dawson has sustained a ruptured lateral ankle ligament, having been forced off in Saturday’s clash and, like Jelavic, he’ll face four to six weeks on the sidelines. Steve Harper’s torn bicep, which saw him withdrawn in the first half at Arsenal, will be assessed again later this week.

The Scout Says: These setbacks will come as bitter blows for Steve Bruce ahead of a testing run of fixtures, although the Tigers boss can at least console himself with the fact that he has an “Abel” replacement up front in the form of the Uruguayan, Hernandez. He was initially dropped to the bench for Saturday’s Emirates trip but he would now seem assured of a starting role over the next month. Robbed of the four-goal Jelavic, Bruce could now retain the 3-5-1-1 approach which saw Hatem Ben Arfa earn his first league start at Arsenal. He and Gaston Ramirez may now earn further starts in support of Hernandez, with Tom Ince, Sone Aluko and Robbie Brady offering other options. At the back, Dawson’s absence could prove a bigger issue. Having recently restored his three-centre-back system, Bruce could now turn to his son Alex to slot into his defence. A popular pre-season pick, Bruce has since dropped to just 3.9 and would represent a rock-bottom-priced short-term option, although Hull’s forthcoming run of fixtures look tough (liv SOT bur TOT mun).

Magpies Denied De Jong Tonic

Newcastle will be without Dutch playmaker, Siem de Jong, for another two months after he took to Facebook to offer the latest on his knee injury…

“Just saw the surgeon in London and all looks good. Still a couple of months to go but I’m sure I will get back stronger”

De Jong has played in the league just twice for Newcastle in a bitterly frustrating start to his stint on Tyneside. He had impressed for the Magpies upon his arrival in the summer and was tipped to be deployed in the “number 10” role, having scored 47 times and provided 27 assists in 118 league games over his last four seasons for Ajax in the Eredivisie.

The Scout Says: While Alan Pardew seems to have established a foothold at St James Park, the news from De Jong’s camp will be a major disappointment, given the promise shown by the Dutchman in pre-season. He looked every inch a Fantasy prospect and was keenly priced at 7.0 in the FPL. It now seems likely to be the New Year before we get to assess his potential as a differential, though having suffered a string of injuries in his final season in Holland, it’s clear that De Jong is a player that is prone to setbacks and spells on the sidelines.