Another struggle for Chelsea at the Bridge means more woe for us fantasy managers, as Bellamy taints the Chelsea clean sheet and Lampard returns a measly assist. At Fratton Park meanwhile, Crouch and particularly Defoe, are wasteful as Kinnear’s Newcastle hold firm to inflict a heavy home defeat on Adams. Here’s the notes on the Sunday encounters…
The Lineups
Adams was forced into a change in his back four with the in-form Johnson, a popular fantasy target in recent weeks, missing out with a knee injury. He should be fit to return next weekend according to early reports but, having offered reassurance of an almost fully fit squad going into this one, low and behold, another key Portsmouth injury crops up on the day. Another black mark for Adams then.
The shuffled rearguard saw Pamarot moved to right back, with Belhadj shifted to left back. Mvuemba came in on the right of midfield, while Hughes recovered from injury to replace the suspended Diop in midfield.
Kinnear made just one change, bringing back Butt after he recovered from a hamstring injury. Geremi dropped out while Guthrie was passed fit to play alongside Butt. Duff and Ameobi also shook off injuries to take places on the bench along with Steven Taylor.
At the Bridge Scolari chose to keep Drogba on the bench and made just one change to his lineup from the Champions League game in midweek. Lampard returned to the midfield with Kalou dropping to the bench.
Zola – given a deserved rapturous reception by the Bridge faithful, made a couple of changes, recalling Davenport to his defence with Collins dropping out with a calf injury, while Collison returned in midfield with Faubert dropping to the bench.
The Form
Newcastle inflicted Portsmouth’s heaviest Premiership defeat at Fratton Park with goals from Owen, Martins and Guthrie. Assists came from Gutierrez, Enrique and Ameobi. Adam’s side had a string of chances – with Defoe in particular, wasting a clutch of goal opportunities. They also had a couple of decent penalty shouts go against them but while they were denied at one end, they were once again charitable at the other. Portsmouth have now conceded 10 goals in the 7 games that Adams has been charge.
Defoe has now scored just 2 goals in his last 8 Premiership starts. Today, he had a hat ful of opportunities to overshadow Owen at the other end but it was it was the birthday boy in Newcastle colours who began the rout with his third goal in his last 4 starts. A superb finish too. With three 3 home games in the next 4, Owen provides an obvious replacement for fidgety Defoe owners. Adams wasn’t interested in the swap when quizzed after the game and I’m also prepared to keep the faith with Defoe. He has decent enough fixtures over Christmas and if the chances keep coming, he will surely add to his goal tally over the next few weeks.
A word on Martins here – he has contributed a goal or an assists in 5 of his last 7 games. Even with Viduka waiting in the wings, he is worth consideration in the mid-price bracket given the fact that Newcastle are home 3 times over the Christmas period. He did pick up an injury today though so we’ll need news on that in the next few days.
Defensively Newcastle continue to offer potential value. Bassong and Collocini were again prominent at the back. It’s 3 clean sheets over the last 4 games (all of those have come away from home) since that centre back pairing came together. Both present decent value, particularly budget-buy Bassong. The opponents aren’t great over Christmas but Kinnear’s side keep improving and surprising us, so the likes of Spurs and Liverpool won’t be relishing their festive trips to St James’ Park.
Chelsea again huffed and puffed at Stamford Bridge but again came up short. It’s just 2 goals in their last 3 home games now and they were booed off at half-time in this one. Scolari reacted by introducing Drogba for Ballack, changing the shape and attacking impetus of the side and it had the desired effect. Chelsea were far more threatening in the second period and drew level via another Anelka strike after just five minutes of the second-half.
That was Anelka’s fourteenth goal of the season, his second in the last 4 games. With Drogba now surely on the verge of starts, it’s vital that Anelka keeps contributing goals if he is to keep Scolari from reverting to his favoured formation and start rotating the two strikers.
Lampard provided the assist for that equalising goal – his first fantasy contribution in 5 games. With Gerrard exploding in yesterday’s win over Hull, it’s doubtful whether today’s assist and FPL bonus will be enough to keep some from making the swap or even looking at Villa’s Ashley Young as an alternative. However, it’s worth pointing out that Lampard was at forefront of Chelsea’s attacking play once again today and had a total of 9 efforts on goal. Like Defoe, a return to form over Christmas should be on the cards if he can maintain that level of involvement.
Craig Bellamy’s goal shocked the home crowd at the Bridge, although in truth, his first Premiership goal of the season had been coming in recent weeks. I backed him against Spurs but he came good against the Chelsea defence. He cleary has the talent but again, his questionable temperment was on show at times. He moved on to the suspension tightrope with his fourth booking of the season in this one. Let’s not get carried away with West Ham’s attacking potential either – Bellamy’s goal was only the fourth strike in ten games for the Hammers, although they may well have snatched it with a second with Cole’s opportunity late on.