After Champions League disappointment for Premiership clubs this week, Liverpool and Fulham restored some pride by making passage to the final four of the Europa League tonight with wins against Benfica and Wolfsburg respectively. Both sides produced strong performances and from a fantasy perspective there were a number of pointers to consider – not least the form of Fernando Torres and Bobby Zamora…
Zamora’s winning goal in Germany was sublime. An exquisite turn followed by an ice-cool slotted finish; he continues to surprise then, revealing talents and composure that belies the player we saw for much of last season. Like it or not, he must surely be edging his way into Fabio Capello’s thinking. Zamora will certainly be consider by Fantasy Managers for Fulham’s remaining fixtures, particularly with them facing a double fixture in gameweek 37 – both Craven Cottage encounters against West Ham and Stoke. Zamora will also pose Liverpool’s defence a few issues at Anfield this coming weekend, although it’s questionable whether there will be any takers just yet with that fixture in mind.
Zoltan Gera was another of Fulham’s star performers on the night – he continues to cement a starting role in Hodgson’s lineup playing up with Zamora and will surely be a popular budget midfield target once Fulham have their Anfield trip out of the way.
As for Liverpool, they produced a vibrant Anfield display and took their tally to 16 goals in their last five home matches in all competitions. Fernando Torres started slowly, developed a worrying limp half way through the first half and generally faded in and out of the game. He did however steal the plaudits courtesy of another brace. Torres has now scored eight goals in his last four home matches in all competitions – that’s real food for thought going into the weekend meet with Fulham at Anfield, particularly when it comes to Fantasy Premier League captain considerations.
Steven Gerrard, like Torres, didn’t impose himself on the game but still earned a couple of assists; his domination of set-pieces will be of note for would-be investors as Liverpool embark on a decent run of three fixtures (FUL WHM bur). Dirk Kuyt was Liverpool’s outstanding attacking performer; it will be interesting to see if he remains out on the right with Gerrard up in support of Torres this weekend. Ryan Babel and Maxi Rodriguez will both be available to give Rafa options – they were suspended and ineligible respectively, for tonight’s game.
Lastly we need to consider the risk of rotation in the light of Liverpool and Fulham’s progress. The first leg of the semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday April 22. This immediately causes issues for Liverpool who are due to face West Ham in their gameweek 35 fixture on the Monday. Presumably this will be rescheduled although as this is an ESPN live game, it seems unlikely. Fulham meanwhile face Wolves at the Cottage on the Saturday before facing the trip to Hamburg.
Given that both will enjoy home fixtures prior to their semi-final matches, it would seem likely that we could see some rotation from Rafa Benitez and Roy Hodgson. Certainly Hodgson would seem set to follow his recent run of tinkering with the likes of Bobby Zamora, Brede Hangeland, Damien Duff and Zoltan Gera all vulnerable. Liverpool are less of a concern if they are still chasing fourth spot but it that’s considered out of reach, then both Gerrard and Torres start to look under threat.
The second legs take place on Thursday April 29. Liverpool travel to Burnley immediately before that game, while Fulham are at Everton. Again, we will have to consider the likelihood that Zamora, Torres and Gerrard will have their pitch time cut as a result.