Sunday’s games handed us very few surprises, as Portsmouth and Fulham again drew blanks and Adebayor reinforced his form with another winner. Fairly predictable stuff then, although there were still some pointers to consider…

Baines is back as a fantasy prospect…
The assists for Saha’s goal was followed by a late penalty to win the game for Everton. While Arteta remains sidelined, we can expect Baines to continue to figure from set-plays and even spot-kicks. The length of Arteta’s continued absence is of course the deciding factor here – a return at some point next month could be on the cards. Even so, Baines has the potential to repay investment. Everton now have an exceptionally strong run of fixtures that promise points at both ends. Baines has that oh-so valuable “Johnson factor” that offers attacking points to supplement his returns should Everton let us down at the back.

So is Scharner…
Martinez employed the Austrian in midfield for the first time this season, electing to leave Koumas benched. Scharner duly popped up with a goal to put himself back on our radars. Wigan’s unambitious performance – in stark contrast to their day one victory at Villa – won’t help to sell Scharner as an option, despite his classification as a defender across many of the fantasy games. Games against Arsenal and Chelsea in the next three also count against him and his team-mates. It’s still a situation worth monitoring though.

O’Neill looks settled on a five man midfield…
Two league games with a 4-5-1 have brought six points. With a derby day trip to Birmingham coming next, it’s hard to imagine that Villa will abandon that shape in the short-term. Heskey and Carew look frozen out then, with Agbonlahor leading the line and scoring spectacularly yesterday. Midfield investment with Ashley Young and, possibly Sidwell, looks the way to go if you insist on glancing in Villa’s direction. In truth, medium term fixtures look fairly favourable for O’Neill’s men, so they could provide decent differentials between gamweeks 5 and 15, should they maintain some form.

We shouldn’t be fooled by City’s shut-outs…
Yes its three clean sheets in three league games but again yesterday, they gave Portsmouth opportunities to score which weren’t seized. City have so far had kind fixtures that have allowed such charity. It’s Arsenal and United next though. If City demonstrate defensive resolve against those opponents, we can start taking their defenders seriously as long-term prospects. Until then, selling your United, Liverpool or Chelsea defenders and looking City’s way to save some cash, is a gamble.