Lampard lights up an evening and the faces of thousands of fantasy managers with a dream return of four goals. Elsewhere Pompey do enough to get past a plucky Birmingham while Villa concede again as Boro grab a point at Villa Park. Here’s my notes from last night’s Premiership meetings…

Chelsea 6 Derby 1

Team Lineups
Grant brought Lampard back into his midfield with Wright-Phillips dropping out. Makelele also returned to central midfield for Essien while Kalou came in for Malouda on the left. As expected the full-backs were rotated once more with Ferreira and Ashely Cole coming in for Belletti and Bridge. Anelka kept his place up front, although Drogba was back on the bench and eventually appeared just after the hour mark. Cudicini was again deputising for Cech in goal who is now officially sidelined for another fortnight according to the club.

Jewell went with a 4-5-1 and opted to bring back Savage and Ghaly as expected, with Jones dropping to the bench. Leacock recovered from a hip injury to take his place on the bench. He appeared early for Stubbs who picked up an injury on 16-minutes.

Notes and Form
The night was all about Lampard who rewarded his fantasy owners with a massive haul of points. Only Berbatov has mirrored such an achievement then after hitting four against Reading earlier in the season. Lampard picked up the FPL bonus too, maximising returns for those who had him selected as skipper, handing them a 50 point haul in the FPL. Aside from Lampard it was Joe Cole who caught the eye with another sparkling display, a goal and an assist. He looks a better option over Ballack right now and I’ll address that in my 5-game rankings in due course.

Chelsea have two fixtures in the next week – away at both Sunderland and Spurs. That offers further opportunities to cash in on their players. Lampard will be an obvious target now, Joe Cole is another major consideration. The situation with Anelka and Drogba is still not clear enough to allow risk-free investment there. At the back its Terry and Carvalho who provide the best option with the full-backs still rotating. Cudicini is the other option and an excellent one in the short-term with at least the next two double fixtures assured while Cech is sidelined. Cudicini and the back four are decent options, although the United dfefence, also with two games this week, appears to offer better value with Bolton and Derby their opponents.

Injures and Suspensions
Stubbs picked up a knock and was replaced on 16-minutes.

Portsmouth 4 Birmingham 2

Team Lineups
Harry made an array of changes after the FA Cup victory at Old Trafford. Defoe came in up front after being cup-tied in that one, he was partnered by Baros with Kanu dropping to the bench. Mendes returned from injury and started for Diarra in midfield.

McCleish made one change – surprisingly resting McFadden to the bench and opting for Zarate as the partner for Forssell up front.

Notes and Form
Pompey came into this game with four clean sheets in the last five but couldn’t keep a spirited Birmingham side at bay. Up front meanwhile, Defoe five goals in five games will attract more attention from fantasy managers – he continues to offer good, consistent returns as a mid-to-high price option.

Portsmouth face Villa at the weekend, again at home, before visiting Spurs and hosting Wigan. That’s a pretty decent run of fixtures although their fixture against West Ham on April 5 has no dropped due to their FA Cup semi against West Brom. There’s a good chance that this will be rearranged for the same gameweek but right now it reduces the value of their players in the medium term.

For Birmingham, the appearance of Zarate over McFadden was a shock but perhaps understandable with Birmingham facing a Monday night game with Newcastle. Zarate showed nice touches but didn’t look strong enough to bother Distin and Campbell. McFadden replaced him on the hour-mark and I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t start on Monday. He remains a decent proposition then over the next five, given Birmingham’s fixtures which look pretty kind. The same can be said of Larsson who cemented his position as “bargain midfielder of the season” with another goal here – a superb free-kick that had James grasping thin air.

Aston Villa 1 Middlesbrough 1

Team Lineups
O’Neill resisted the temptation to tweak his side despite the availability of Mellberg. Gardner kept his place at right-back then while Maloney remained in midfield. Both were replaced at half-time however so both seem doubtful to start the game at the weekend.

Southgate made a good few changes following the defeat to Cardiff. Arca and Rochemback dropped out of the side with Boateng and Shawky coming in. Mido started with Tuncay up front with Alves rested from the sixteen.

Notes and Form
Downing’s goal here meant that yet again Villa failed to keep a clean sheet for the fourteenth Premiership game running. Owners of Laursen are now rightly beginning to twitch – the big defender has not returned a goal in 7 games to make for Villa’s clean sheet failings. Meanwhile, Agbonlahor has now gone 9 Premiership starts without a goal although he has contributed three assists in that time. Young contributed another assist here – that’s 15 for the season now. Barry converted the spot-kick then for a timely goal that keeps in fantasy manager’s minds and justified his placing in my picks for the week. That was his first goal in nine Premiership starts.

Villa have a trip to Portsmouth next, followed by home game with Sunderland, which looks as good an opportunity as any for Villa to end their clean sheet drought. After that that though, they visit Old Trafford.

Boro’s form remains horribly inconsistent and their players still offer little to fantasy managers. Downing remains the exception perhaps, his goal here was his sixth of the season, his third in two games. Boro’s fixtures over the next five are so evil however, it’s unlikely that Downing or any of his teammates will attract interest.