Arsene Wenger has confirmed what we already knew – that Arsenal’s new 4-3-3 formation has released Cesc Fabregas to play a more prominent attacking role this season. What we didn’t know is that the Gunners boss see’s that role as similar to that of Frank Lampard’s for Chelsea.

With Song and Denilson providing defensive cover alongside him, Fabregas started the season spectacularly, with 2 goals and 2 assists in the drubbing of Everton at Goodison. His returns have since slowed, thanks mainly to a change in tactics against Portsmouth which saw Diaby steal the profits, plus a hamstring injury that sidelined Fabregas for the trip to Old Trafford.

Fabregas should be in line to return to the Arsenal side for the trip to City in gameweek 5 however, with Wenger lauding his new attacking freedom in today’s reports. The Arsenal boss even draws a comparison with to precious fantasy asset, Frank Lampard…

“He [Fabregas] likes to play deep when you have the ball first, and then join in later…He’s a bit like Lampard in that. He wants to structure the game. Cesc likes to be at the start of things and then get on the end of things. And he can push forward more this season because he has two players around him who can defend.”

Many fantasy managers have lost faith in Fabregas in the short-term. The hamstring injury led to a glut of sales (50,000+) in the Fantasy Premier League game and a price drop as a result, having seen an early 0.2 gain after gameweek 1. It will be interesting to see if that trend turns around once the Spaniard is back fit and amongst the points. Certainly Arsenal’s fixtures over the next few gameweeks (mcy WIG ful BLA BIR whm) appear to provide him with the platform for decent returns. Ironically, with Lampard’s role and output in Chelsea’s diamond formation under the microscope, some fantasy managers may even be looking at Fabregas as a cheaper alternative to our Frank.