Goals, goals, goals – after several weeks of frustration and strong defensive showings, the Premiership suddenly cuts loose and delivers eighteen goals over seven games. Then Spurs play United and spoil it all. Here’s the notes…
The Lineups
Starting with the early kick-off at the Riverside and the home side were forced into an array of changes at the back with both Hoyte and Taylor sidelined. Pogatetz moved to left back, McMahon returned from his loan deal at Sheffield Wednesday to start at right back and Huth and Riggott made comebacks from injury in the centre. Southgate changed his formation, bringing Johnson in on the right of midfield and pushing Aliadiere up front on his own. Alves dropped to the bench.
Wenger brought back his first string players as expected with Sagna, Gallas, Clichy, Fabregas, Van Persie and Adebayor all returning to the starting lineup. Eboue was left on the bench with Diaby starting on the left of midfield.
There were no changes to either side at Villa Park with both O’Neill and Hodgson keeping faith with the same elevens that took the field last weekend. At the Britannia, Pulis handed a start to Whelan in midfield. Delap started but was again subbed on the hour mark, presumably because he was still feeling the shoulder injury. His fantasy potential now looks limited. Hodgson went with just one up front. Gera came back into the starting lineup with Zamora dropping out with a hip injury. Is it me or are hip injuries in season? Hip even.
Steve Bruce started with Zaki up front as expected – Camara dropped to the bench. Scharner recovered from a knock to replace Boyce at the back. Brown came in for the suspended Palacios. Ince fielded the same side that started the Liverpool game last weekend, so Derbyshire started up front with Santa Cruz. Dunn was on the bench and started the second half for Pedersen.
Rafa made an array of changes once again. Most significantly Agger was dropped bench once more which must surely be the last straw for many of his fantasy owners. Hyypia started at the back again then, while Dossena kept his place at left back. Alonso, Benayoun, Gerrard and Kuyt all came back into the starting lineup, with Keane on the bench and unused.
Phil Brown made just one change to his side but it was a fairly significant one – Mendy came in for fantasy favourite Marney on the right of midfield. Mendy is classed as a defender across the various fantasy games. That situation changed early on however, with McShane picking up an injury that saw him replaced by Marney on 27 minutes. That saw Mendy shift to right back.
Ricky Sbragia made a number of changes to the Sunderland lineup that took the field at Old Trafford. He shifted the formation to 4-4-2 as expected and brought Jones back in up front with Cisse. Richardson returned from suspension and Tainio started alongside him. Mowbray opted to start with Moore over Bedanr in attack in the absence of long-term injury victim Ishmael Miller.
At Eastlands, Hughes was able to welcome back Richards and Robinho after they recovered from ankle injuries. Elano also shook off a knock and started in midfield. Hamann, Vassell and Ben-Haim all dropped to the bench. Benjani started up front but was replaced on 45 minutes by Jo. As for Everton, they were without a recognised striker after both Saha and Anichebe failed to make it. That saw Castillo come into midfield which pushed Cahill up as a striker.
The late kick-off saw Redknapp forced to bring in Dawson for King at the back. The Spurs skipper unable to start another match six days after completing 90 minutes at Upton Park. Elsewhere, Spurs were unchanged which once again saw Pavlyuchenko preferred to Bent in the starting lineup. Bent eventually replaced the Russian ten minutes into the second half as he did on Monday.
United started with O’Shea at left back as expected, while Ferdinand, Berbatov, Ronaldo and Carrick all recovered from knocks to start. Fletcher and Park started once again in midfield. Tevez came in for the suspended Rooney.
The Form
For once, we’ve a host of attacking performers to focus on. Gerrard was perhaps the headline act – rewarding those who drafted him in and made him their FPL captain with his biggest haul of points of the season. The Liverpool skipper scored his second and third goals in the last two games to move onto six goals this term. He has taken his time to catch fire but the advanced role just behind the striker has done the trick and brought in the points.
Gerrard’s potential long-term then will depend on keeping that role. If he’s played just behind Torres then both should reap massive points for the rest of the season. However, if Rafa chooses to hand Keane the opportunities to develop his partnership with Torres, then Gerrard will be forced to drop to a deeper role. In the short-term this isn’t a concern. Gerard is in that advanced role and bringing in the points. Those getting fidgety over Ronaldo and Lampard will certainly be examining the possibility of trading in for Gerrard after today’s haul.
I’m happy to admit that Villa’s four goal haul against Bolton took me by surprise. They’ve previously struggled at Villa Park having failed to score in half their home games, while Bolton’s away form was second only to Chelsea coming into this fixture. The form books were ripped up though, as Villa’s attacking players hoovered up the points. Having gone two games without scoring, Villa have now scored seven goals in their last two Premiership outings.
Agbonlahor’s brace took him onto nine goals for the season – he tends to score in streaks every three or four games and so it proved again. He had gone three games without a goal before the clash with Bolton. He also earned the assists for Young’s fourth goal to reward those fantasy managers who had remained patient with the Villa man.
Talking of Young, he scored his third goal in two games and also earned an assist. That moved the Villa man onto five goals and six assists for the season. He and Gerrard closed the gap on Lampard on Ronaldo then, as the table of top scoring fantasy midfielders begins to take on a predictable look.
Villa’s fixtures remain strong over the Christmas period and Lausen, Ashley Young and Agbonlahor will go on attracting big interest from fantasy managers then.
As for Bolton, Elmander struck his fifth goal of the season, his fourth in four games at Villa Park. Fixtures over the coming weeks are pretty evil though, which certainly reduces his appeal as a mid-price signing up front. The same can be said for Steinsson who provided his owners with a fourth assist of the season to balance up the four goals he conceded.
Sunderland’s players presented the best value returns on the day with Jones firing a brace of goals, while Reid chipped in with a goal and and two assists in the win over hapless West Brom. Cisse also struck his seventh goal of the season from the spot. All three have the fixtures in the coming weeks to kick-on further and should be considered as decent options as a result – particularly if Sbragia remains in charge.
City’s struggle to break down Everton at home will be a real worry for owners of Robinho, Wright-Phillips and to some extent, Ireland. While losing games at home is nothing new, failing to score certainly is. The output of City players will fall through the floor should they begin to struggle for goals at home. Hughes’ side have good fixtures to come but three of the next four are away from home. Ireland is perhaps cheap enough to hold but owners of Robinho will certainly be looking at trading in given his scoring record away from Eastlands so far this season.
Cahill’s late winner For Everton and his role up front will raise his profile further on the fantasy radar. Playing up on his own or off a lone striker, Cahill will be the main attacking threat for Everton when fit. His fixtures are strong enough over the next few weeks to offer the potential for continued returns.
Valencia is the other mid-price midfielder who shone brightly on the day. His struck his third goal of the season and contributed a pair of assists as Wigan routed lowly Blackburn. Fair play to any fantasy manager who had kept patience with the Wigan man or spotted his potential in this game. Valencia had earned just a single assist in eight starts before today. The missing fixture next time out will limit interest in him until gameweek 19 – his opponents over Christmas look favourable enough, although they take a nasty turn in January with United, Villa and Liverpool to come that month.
While I may have been off-beam with the Villa vs Bolton game, the Spurs vs United clash in the evening turned out as I expected. A pretty dour affair with Harry’s 4-5-1 containing United without offering too much threat at the other end. Ferguson’s side again struggled to carve out chances away from home. Spurs have now scored just five goals in their last six home games while United have the same number of goals in their last six Premiership games on their travels. In fact, since putting five past Stoke, United have scored just two goals in their last four Premiership matches.
Ronaldo drew a blank again and has now gone four games without significant fantasy returns. With a blank gameweek to come and more than a few thousand managers already selling on the United man, I wonder how many more will lose patience with the most expensive player that fantasy money can buy. Games against Stoke and Boro follow the blank gameweek and Ronaldo has traditionally enjoyed very profitable Christmas periods. However, he again should signs of frustration with a kick-out at Dawson – another example of petulant behaviour that so far, he’s got away with. That will be a concern that Ronaldo owners could well do without.
As for Spurs, Lennon looked bright again and he remains the only real attacking player of interest judging by this game. Modric struggled to make an impact and Bent and Pavlyuchenko shared the minutes on the pitch. Defensively however, and I never thought I’d say this, Spurs are an emerging force. They’ve now conceded just one goal in their last four Premiership matches. While King’s knee and Woodgate’s back injury tonight may put fantasy managers off investment, the likes of Corluka certainly appears to have a secure starting role, while Assou-Ekotto may come under threat from Bale but looks a good budget option given the current Tottenham defensive form.
Aside from the blank at White Hart Lane, there were clean sheets available but you had to hunt around unfamiliar territory. Hull’s knack of scoring away goals continued and punctured a Liverpool defence that had not conceded in their last three home games in the Premiership. That cost a lot of fantasy managers, as did Bolton’s goals at Villa Park.
The clean sheets came in the mid-to-low price bracket with Stoke and Fulham providing a predictable 0-0 at the Britannia. Sunderland kept out goal-shy West Brom out at the Stadium of Light while Wigan did the same to poor old Blackburn at the JJB. Three of those clean sheets were reflected in my picks this week, although I never saw Everton earning a shut-out at Eastlands.
Injuries and Bans
Just a few of significant injuries reported so far. Sidebe was stretchered off with a knee injury after just five minutes in Stoke’s draw with Fulham. Hull’s McShane suffered an injury at Anfield and was replaced on 27 minutes. In the late kick-off, Woodgate hobbled off after just 10 minutes of the game with United with a back injury. Jenas also appeared to pick up a knock and was replaced on the hour mark.
Just one addition to the suspension tightrope after today’s games – West Brom’s Robinson who joined team-mate Olsson on four bookings. Everton’s Fellaini was booked again and he is now just two bookings away from a second suspension and a two match ban.