Part two of the bumper Boxing Day Scout notes finds Ireland and Robinho waking from their fantasy slumber and Robbie Keane breathing life in fantasy terms, for the very first time. Bizarrely, that might not all be good news…

The Lineups

Starting at Eastlands and Robinho returned to the City lineup with devastating effect. Elano also started, as did Caicedo up front. Those three replaced Vassell, Fernandes and Benjani in the starting lineup.

As for Hull, McShane returned to the Hull lineup as expected. He started at left-back with Mendy remaining at right-back. Marney came back in on the right of midfield for Garcia and Windass replaced Barmby up front in a 4-3-1-2. Fagan was back in the squad and on the bench. He came on up front to score Hull’s late consolation in the second half, as Brown switched to a 4-4-2 with Mendy shifting to the right of midfield.

Down at Anfield Rafa brought in Hyypia to replace the injured Arbeloa – Carragher shifted to right back. Benayoun came into the starting lineup for Lucas, with Mascherano still nursing a cold apparently. Megson made one change to his starting lineup, dropping Davies to the bench and opting for greater strength in midfield as Muamba came in.

At the Riverside, Southgate brought Mido into his starting lineup, dropping Johnson to the bench and shifting Aliadiere back to the right of midfield. O’Neil also returned to the starting lineup for Shawky and Taylor returned at left back with Huth dropping out and Pogatetz shifting to a central defensive role. Moyes made a couple of changes with Baines replacing the injured Yobo at the back. Gosling came into the midfield with Osman sidelined with an ankle knock.

Over that the Stadium of Light, both Ricky Sbragia’s Sunderland and Big Sam’s Blackburn kept unchanged lineups after wins last time out. Grella and Santa Cruz both missed out for Rovers

At the JJB Bruce brought Palacios back into his midfield for Brown. Kinnear meanwhile also made just one change, Duff drafted in for the injured Ameobi to play up front with Owen.

The evening kick-off at Villa Park saw O’Neill without both Laursen and Cuellar in his defence. Knight stepped up to replace Lausren, while Reo-Coker came in at right-back.

Wenger was also forced into changes with Fabregas sidelined and Adebayor suspended. Clichy was also left on the bench for some reason – presumably he was still carrying a slight knock from the Liverpool game, although he appeared from the bench late on so this may have just been Wenger handing him a rest. Finally, Djourou picked up an injury in the warm-up so Toure came in, along with Silvestre. Eboue and Diaby earned starts in a five man midfield. Van Persie started up front on his own with Diaby the furthest forward in support.

The Form

Ireland and Robinho repaid their owners for their patience in spectacular style. Ireland chipped in with 3 assists, a goal and the maximum FPL bonus – his first points in 5 games. Robinho meanwhile, took his goal tally to 10 for the season, 9 of which have come at Eastlands.

City’s fixtures are strong enough to warrant investment in these two – although the next two games are away from home, where City have struggled of late. After trips to a resurgent Blackburn and a desperate Portsmouth, City have 3 home games in 4 with Wigan, Newcastle and Boro coming to Eastlands. That would be the prime time to consider the Robinho option it would seem.

Poor Hull continue to slide into trouble. Geovanni and King can’t work any kind of magic in attacking terms to compensate for the leaky rearguard. Brown’s side have now conceded 11 goals in the last 3 Premier League games. Turner owners must surely be considering options by now – despite his goal threat from set-plays. Geovanni meanwhile, has just a single assist in the last 6 starts – a real worry, despite his price. His owners will be looking for something from him against Villa on Tuesday or he will be starting to look very vulnerable.

Keane’s brace signalled his arrival in fantasy terms. He was electric throughout against Bolton and must now be a consideration. I’m in two minds on this. It’s great that Keane is now a viable option but I still can’t see how he can hold down a regular starting role with Torres around and the current Liverpool system in place.

Potentially, Keane’s form could spell trouble for Gerrard owners, as with Torres returning shortly, Rafa could well be forced to take another look at the Keane/Torres pairing. This will mean that Gerrard is set to return to a deeper role and either Alonso or Mascherano is likely to be rotated. This would be a major blow to Gerrard’s fantasy potential which has really flourished since being pushed behind the lone striker. Today’s pair of assists took him onto 37 FPL points over the last 4 starts.

Cahill’s goal for Everton at the Riverside was his second in 3 games – proving his worth as a mid-price midfield option. He could well continue in the striking role against Sunderland on Sunday. Long term though, things really stiffen for Cahill and Everton towards February, with an evil run that sees them take on Liverpool, Arsenal and United in consecutive games.

Ryan Taylor rewarded his selection in the picks with the opener against Newcastle. A trademark free-kick to remind us of his potential from set-plays. With fairly good fixtures and a double gameweek – he looks an excellent option for a budget defender while he continues to play left midfield for Wigan. Zaki’s penalty is also worth noting – that could signal an increase in confidence for the striker who was so prolific early in the season. His last goal from open play however, was way back in October against Liverpool.

Those who got on the back of Diaby or Denilson as a result of the Fabregas injury, earned instant rewards. Denilson struck in the first-half, while Diaby scored stunning second and also brought home the FPL bonus. With Song picking up an injury, it would seem that both look likely to be in the starting lineup against a defensively frail Portsmouth side. Diaby, in particular looks an attacking threat and a potential bargain.

Looking at defensive points, and Liverpool moved on to 11 clean sheets for the season to pull level with United. Reina and Carragher appear to be the only safe options for fantasy managers however, that is until Arbeloa returns from injury. You would expect Rafa to go with an unchanged back four to Newcastle, although you just never know with our Rafa.

Everton, along with Fulham and Villa, are the other mid-price defence to start making moves in the clean sheet market. They recorded a fourth cleanie in the last 5 games at Boro today. Sunderland at home next looks another chance to keep that run going but, as I’ve already mentioned, Everton’s forthcoming fixtures are looking pretty nasty.

It was a second clean sheet in 2 games for Big Sam’s Rovers. Their backline remain decent options then as the fixtures still fall fairly kindly over the next few weeks. Sunderland’s defence have also improved under the new management – it’s 2 clean sheets in the last 3 after today and Ferdinand picked up another set of bonus points. He now has FPL bonus in the last 7 games. Sunderland face away games at Everton and Boro next.