It was a roller-coaster. Second-half Saturday saw some fantasy managers come away with a thrilling last minute haul, while others were left feeling rather nauseous at the scant returns on offer. Here’s the notes from an (extra)ordinary day of matches…
The Lineups
Starting at Ewood and Big Sam kept Dunn and Santa Cruz on the bench for the visit of Newcastle. The Santa Cruz situation is of interest because it threatens the fantasy potential of Roberts and McCarthy. Judging by the reaction of the fans to the arrival of the Paraguayan in the second-half, it would appear that he faces a tough challenge to win a starting role and the favour of the fans. A move to Man City would be best for all involved, including us fantasy managers.
Makukula made his debut for Bolton which was notable only for a booking for a ridiculous foul on Vidic. It will be interesting to see how Megson shifts his formation around once Elmander is fit. First impressions on Makukula however, weren’t encouraging.
Drogba’s omission from the Chelsea lineup fuelled more rumours of his departure. The situation is still not clear and therefore his fantasy potential, along with that of Anelka, remains in flux. Bosingwa was again subbed late on in this one as he struggles for fitness. He needs to be given a break for the Cup game next week. The Chelsea defence in general will be weakened by an injury to John Terry in the warm-up. His absence would offer Alex as a potential mid-price option but Terry is expected to return next week according to Scolari. Certainly he should be fit for league action if he’s rested for the FA Cup fixture.
Kalou offers greater potential now that Joe Cole is out of the frame for the rest of the season. He is classed as a midfielder in several fantasy games but will play an attacking role while Scolari keeps faith with 4-3-3. The return of Malouda in this one however, may well offer the option of a 4-4-2 should Drogba come back into favour.
Mendy remains on the right of Hull’s midfield and looks like he’s going to hold down that role. Doyle came in at right-back against Arsenal to allow Mendy to remain further forward. He continues to look a decent budget option then, despite Hull’s defensive form. He is just about the only Hull player worth consideration right now, unless you see a change in fortunes defensively which would increase Turner’s returns in the coming weeks.
City’s lineup against Wigan was interesting due to the move of Zabaleta to a holding midfield role alongside Kompany with Richards at right-back and Onuoha in defence . It did the trick with City earning a clean sheet and the Argentinian scoring the winner. He could come onto your radars if you see them maintaining a stronger defensive run over their kind short-term fixtures (NEW stk MID). Dunne’s suspension is likely to force Hughes to shift Zabelletta to full-back however. Sturridgeearned a starting role and he would be a decent budget prospect over those games if you back him to hold down a start.
Laursen’s absence from the Villa lineup will be a major concern. Those fantasy managers who kept faith with the big Dane will have been boosted by his return last week but clearly there are mid-term worries over this knee injury. The break for the FA Cup could help clear things up but it needs monitoring if you’ve held onto the Villa skipper. Ashley Young’s forthcoming suspension should guarantee Milner further starts and perhaps a more attacking role for the next two league games (por WIG).
The Form
A tenth consecutive clean sheet for United equals Chelsea’s record. Six 1-0 wins in those games tells you just how precious those shut-outs have been. United again struggled to break down their opponents at the Reebok, although Bolton defended stubbornly. Vidic demonstrated his quality again by earning further FPL bonus points, although Evans also brought in the maximum bonus for his owners.
United’s winner came from Berbatov, who was largely anonymous but scored his third goal in consecutive games – again from just few yards out. He’s developed a great goal-poaching habit of late then and you wouldn’t bet against him keeping that going for a fourth game running at West Brom next weekend.
Fixtures look very good for United (wba EVE whm FUL BLA POR new) with only the Everton game looking relatively tough, plus they have a double fixture in gameweek 25. Load up on United then, with Vidic/Ronaldo/Evra or Vidic/Ronaldo/Berbatov looking strong combinations.
Chelsea’s late winner could well prompt a resurgence in their form. Chelsea struggled in front of their own fans once again but Lampard’s winner was his fourth in 4 games. With 9 goals and 4 assists, he remains the top midfielder across the games and with Chelsea’s front line in flux, Lampard remains by far their best attacking option although, as mentioned earlier, Kalou is now in the equation.
Defensively Chelsea are begin to cause concern. Having lead the clean sheet count for several months, United have now well and truly superseded them. Chelsea have conceded 6 goals in the last 3 league games and with Terry aggravating a back injury (a known weakness) in the warm-up today, the omens aren’t great going forward. Terry should be fit to return for the home game with Boro but he will need to stay fit if Chelsea are to get back on the clean sheet trail.
Fixture wise, Scolari’s men don’t have things too easy on the road over the next month (MID liv HUL avl). The trips to Liverpool and Villa look unlikely clean sheets, although home games with Boro and Hull do offer potential. In my opinion, you don’t want to be caught with two Chelsea defenders right now, given current form and those fixtures.
Blackburn’s form under Allardyce continues to kick-on. They’ve gone 4 unbeaten since his arrival and have now scored 8 goals in their last 3 home games and 3 clean sheets in the last 4 overall. Looking at their forthcoming fixtures, they offer some short-term potential (BOL mid AVL). You’d certainly back them to continue their home form against Bolton and perhaps Boro.
Roberts’ brace yesterday put him firmly on the radar – he has 6 goals for the season now, not bad considering he has made just 12 starts. McCarthy meanwhile, also took his tally to 6 for the season and he has 4 goals in the last 4 games. The threat of rotation with Santa Cruz is a danger – it’s difficult to see who would drop out to make way so until that Santa situation is clearer, it could be worth holding fire on committing to a Rovers striker.
Elsewhere, as I’ve said before, Samba and Emerton are the pick of the back four, while Gamst-Pedersen justified his selection in my picks with two assists taking him to 6 for the season. He has clearly been lifted by Big Sam’s arrival and has even developed a Delap style long-throw to boost his assist potential. Well worth a look for the next three fixtures.
Van Persie again caught the eye in the win over Hull. His three assists and FPL bonus saw him bring in his biggest haul of the season. Surprisingly he has still struck just a single goal in the last 6 games and with Everton away next, perhaps this is not a week to board his bandwagon. His price is almost certain to rise in the FPL game however, and Arsenal do have a very strong run of fixtures following the trip to Goodison (WHM tot SUN FUL wba BLA new MCY). Like Lampard for Chelsea, he is the key attacking pick in Arsenal’s side.
One slight word of warning with Van Persie however; the Champions League does kick-off again in February by which time Eduardo will have likely returned to fitness and will be available to Wenger. Van Persie could therefore find himself subject to a rest for League games around that period.
Villa’s win at Sunderland came at a price with Ashley Young now suspended for two league games against Portsmouth and Wigan. Couple that with Laursen’s troublesome knee, which could see him miss further games, and suddenly Villa look less appealing in fantasy terms at both ends of the pitch. Milner will be on some fantasy managers radar as a result of his goal but I’m cooling on O’Neill’s side over the next few weeks (por WIG bla), while Young sits out and Laursen remains troubled.
Man City stumbled to a win over Wigan but there attacking players come back onto the radar from this point on. Quite simply, their fixtures are strong enough over the next three (NEW stk MID) to warrant investment in Ireland (who returns from a ban next week) or Robinho. Be warned however, things do get nasty fixture-wise between gameweek’s 26-31, so signings now may well be short-to-mid term prospects.
Wigan follow the defeat at City with games against Liverpool and Villa. I can’t see clean sheets in either of those, although Taylor could be worth persevering with as a threat from set-plays, although his withdrawal on 58 minutes- the fourth time in 5 games that he’s been subbed, will be a concern. De Ridder is pushing for starts on the left so Taylor’s starting role is under threat. As for Zaki – he recorded one of the misses of the season and has now gone 10 league starts without a goal from open play.
Jay Simpson enjoyed a lively home debut for West Brom against a bedraggled Boro side. He drew a blank but showed enough to warrant interest over the coming weeks. The Baggies do face United next, so this perhaps isn’t a week to bring him in unless you need to free up funds. After that he looks a decent short-term option (hul NEW) before West Brom enter a tough run of fixtures. As I mentioned in my watchlist article last week, it’s gamewee’s 29-36 that look the best window to consider him.
Middlesbrough remain firmly amongst the fantasy wastelands with poor current form and no real potential in fantasy terms. Stoke, Newcastle, Hull and Bolton are also on dreadful runs and their players are being sold on by fantasy managers.
Bolton do have some decent home fixtures approaching which could revive the fantasy fortunes of their defensive players. Stoke also have a run of four fixtures (tot MCY sun POR) which promise some attacking returns. Fuller is back from suspension and Beattie looked fairly comfortable yesterday and are now on the radar as budget options.
Injuries and Bans
John Terry aggravated a back injury in the warm-up for the Stoke game but is expected to return next weekend according to Scolari.
Christopher Samba suffered an eye injury in the first-half against Newcastle. He may well be a doubt for the FA Cup next weekend but should be available for Blackburn’s next league game against Bolton at Ewood.
Sunderland’s Collins and Nosworthy suffered injuries and were both replaced. Nosworthy’s appeared to ba a hamstring injury.
Stoke lost Higginbotham to a calf injury after 34 minutes while Amdy Faye was also subbed with a knock on 28 minutes.
West Brom lost Leon Barnett to injury in the first-half.
Boro lost Riggott on 36 minutes after he suffered a blow to his head.
Nicky Butt will serve a one-match ban following his red received for two yellows against Blackburn and he will miss the Premier League trip to Man City.
Richard Dunne will earn an immediate three-match ban for his kick-out at Zaki. This will be extended to four matches as this was his second dismissal of the season. With City out of the cup it will mean him missing three league games against Newcastle, Stoke, Boro and Liverpool.
Ashley Young will also serve a three-match ban and will miss the FA Cup game against Cheltenham or Doncaster next weekend, plus league matches against Portsmouth and Wigan.
Villa’s Luke Young picked up his fifth yellow and he will also miss the FA Cup tie next weekend but will return for league action.
Boro’s Digard gets a three-match ban for is red at West Brom. He will miss the FA Cup tie against Wolves, plus league games against Chelsea and Blackburn.
Titus Bramble picked up his fifth booking against City and he will now miss the home game with Liverpool.
Arsenal’s Clichy earned his fifth yellow and he will therefore miss the FA Cup tie with Cardiff.
Sunderland’s Tanio will also serve a one-match ban and will miss the FA Cup tie with Blackburn next weekend.
As for the suspension tightrope – Wigans (for now) Palacios moved on to bookings for the season and is therefore just one yellow away from a two-match ban. Villa’s Agbonlahor was the other notable move – he’s now popped up with 4 bookings and is one away from a ban.