Ronaldo sees Red and Van Persie makes things interesting. An eventful Sunday then, but another day of diminished returns for most of us fantasy managers. Here’s the notes…
The Lineups
Starting with the early kick-off and Robinho returned from an ankle injury to take his place in the City lineup. Sturridge dropped to the bench. Ferguson made a number of changes from the side that took the field in the Champions League this week. Berbatov’s return for Tevez was the most significant, while Fletcher came in for Anderson, Park replaced Nani out wide. Vidic and Van der Sar were rested in midweek – they returned, while Rafael came in for O’Shea at right back.
Adams started with fit-again Defoe up front with Crouch. He replaced Kanu then, while Traore kept his place on the left of midfield. Belhadj remained at left back, although Pamarot came in to replace Kaboul in central defence. He is suffering from an ankle injury, presumably picked up against Milan on Thursday. Little kept a starting role on the right of midfield with Kranjcar left on the bench. As for Rovers, Ince brought Tugay into his midfield to replaced the benched Mokoena. Warnock returned from suspension to replace the banned Olsson at left back.
At the Lane, Redknapp made just a single change to the side that beat Blackburn last time out. Zokora came into the midfield to replace Jenas who missed out with a toe injury. Moyes switched to a 4-5-1 in this one, pushing Cahill up with Yakubu, with Pienaar drafted into the midfield. Saha and Anichebe were fit enough for places on the bench.
Scolari was without Joe Cole for the visit of the Gunners, so Deco came back in after his Champions League suspension. Ballack kept his place. Kalou came in to the side so Malouda dropped to the bench – a very distressing turn of events for his fantasy owners. Ivanovic kept his place alongside Terry, with Alex left on the bench. An interesting one that, considering that the Sky commentators were mentioning that Carvalho could be 6 weeks from a return to action.
As for Arsenal, Wenger welcomed Adebayor back to his attack, while Nasri and Sagna also returned from injury. Djourou kept his place in defence, leaving Silvestre to drop to the bench. Song partnered Fabregas in central midfield with Denilson deployed wide on the right.
The Form
The derby clash at Eastlands proved even more frustrating that I anticipated. Ronaldo’s bizarre double booking capped a match of bitty football, punctured by some cynical fouls. City were outplayed by United in the first half and never really pressed home their advantage in the second. Robinho, Wright-Phillips and Ireland all disappointed, while United’s big guns – Rooney aside, came up with blanks. It was United’s third consecutive clean sheet however – reinforcing them as the third defensive force behind Chelsea and Liverpool.
City’s fixtures are kind enough to help them back on their feet – they have no top four opposition for 10 consecutive gameweeks now. Time to consider a second City signing or certainly look at Ireland if you don’t have him already. City players will be playing for their places up until January – that should promote some strong performances from some individuals – Benjani, Garrido and Ireland in particular.
As for United, they still have that annoying blank gameweek 18 to worry about with the Wigan game postponed. Sunderland at home should really be a points-fest for their attacking players and another clean sheet. After that they travel to Spurs and again, you’d fancy more defensive points there, given Tottenham’s impotency at home in the Premiership. Talking of which…
There was more frustration for owners of Spurs’ attacking players. Bent was subbed just after hour mark and there were blanks for Pavlyuchenko and Bentley. Having started a bandwagon rolling with decent away wins, the wheels have well and truly come off thanks to stuttering home form. Harry’s side just can’t find the net with consistency at White Hart Lane. It’s just 5 goals in the last 6 Premiership home games now. They visit Upton Park next time around, a fixture which will hopefully bring some stronger attacking points potential. Bent owners must be getting fidgety though – perhaps the return of Modric will spark a revival of their attacking form.
A great win for Everton this then – although the result has been overshadowed by an injury to Yakubu. He has ruptured his Achilles and has been ruled out for the rest of the season. With Vaughan out until the New Year, Saha and Anichebe are Moyes’ only options. Saha has the rigidity of my 10-year-old Christmas tree, so this will be a major worry to Moyes.
Pienaar’s goal will have put him back on the radar for those managers looking for a more budget midfield option. The injuries up front will leave Moyes playing a 4-5-1 for the weeks to come, which could push Cahill’s output. Defensively it was a Everton’s third clean sheet of the season today – Jagielka was again, the rock at the back. Expect further FPL bonus for him then.
Portsmouth’s defensive frailties at Fratton Park continued, as they let Blackburn come back from 2-0 down to level things before Davis finally won it for Adams’ men. That leaky defence is giving us plenty of attacking returns however and with Defoe fit and back on the scoresheet, he is looking tempting once more. We can’t be sure that he won’t be troubled again by his calf problems during the hectic Christmas freeze but, given Pompey’s forthcoming fixtures (wba, NEW, bol, WHM), he looks a decent bet. Crouch also promoted himself in our thoughts, while Johnson showed his potential and justified his picks selection by contributing an assist for the Crouch opener. Kranjcar also registered an assist, his second since his return from injury to put himself on the low-to-mid price radar.
Over at the Bridge it was a case of Chelsea again failing to find top gear in attacking terms – they’ve only won 3 of 8 home games this season and if you take the 5-0 drubbing of Sunderland out of the picture, it’s just 9 goals in the 7 remaining games. That pales in comparison next to their 19 goals in 7 away games. Today, they had just one shot on target – that’s very surprising considering that Lampard previously average 4-5 shots alone.
Anelka and Lampard drew blanks again then – so Lampard failed to capitalise on a Ronaldo blank week – much to the frustration of those FPL managers who opted for him as the alternative to the United man. It’s no goal or assists in the last 3 matches for Lampard now.
Robin Van Persie soared onto our Christmas lists with his performance at Stamford Bridge. His brace took him on to 7 goals for the season. Considering he has completed 90 minutes on just 7 occasions this season, that tells you what you need to know about his potential. The problem with the Dutchman of course, is his propensity to pick up injuries and the chances that Wenger will rotate him over Christmas as a result. He’s a gamble that could pay off and if as doubts grow over Anelka’s potential returns given Drogba’s return after the Bolton game next week, Van Persie could well present a ready-made solution.
Injuries and Bans
Yakubu suffered a ruptured Achilles and was replaced after just 11 minutes of the game at Spurs. He will miss the rest of the season according to the club. Saha was later stretchered off with a recurrence of his hamstring injury according to early reports.
I’ve covered Ronaldo’s red card and forthcoming suspension in detail here. In a nutshell though, he misses the Carling Cup tie with Blackburn on Wednesday, not the Sunderland game next weekend.
Evra picked up his fifth booking of the season against City. He too will be okay for the Sunderland game but will miss the trip to White Hart Lane the week after.
Blackburn’s Ooijer moved onto the suspension tightrope with his fourth booking of the season at Portsmouth today.