With Cesc Fabregas’ hamstring injury sidelining the Arsenal talisman for two to three weeks, many a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) manager will be weighing up their alternatives for the upcoming gameweek. Cesc owners will be particularly ruing the fact that the Gunners are playing host to West Brom this Saturday, a game where the Spaniard would’ve been an absolute nailed-on captain choice.
Whilst Roberto di Matteo’s side have been impressive at home (with seven points out of nine so far), their opening fixtures on the road have been particularly cruel; so far they have travelled to Stamford Bridge and Anfield, shipping seven goals without reply and departing with no points in the process. A trip to the Emirates should see the pattern unlikely to change.
In the shape of Samir Nasri, Arsene Wenger’s side have a ready-made replacement. The Frenchman has a tendency of flattering to deceive, but in the two league games he has played this season, Nasri has picked up Bonus Points both times. Following the early departure of Fabregas last Saturday evening, Nasri proceeded to run the show for Arsenal and left with the maximum 3 Bonus Points in the 1-1 draw.
Our Members OPTA stats show Nasri has made 6 Key Passes leading to goal attempts so far, only 2 less than Fabregas’ eight, despite playing two games less than Cesc. Significantly, both Nasri’s appearances have been away from home, too. Nasri has made 87 Successful Passes in Opposition Half, compared to Andrei Arshavin’s 100, despite the Russian playing in all five of the Gunners’ games.
The chalkboard on the right shows the one game Nasri started in the Fabregas role -in Arsenal’s first game of the season at Anfield- making 70+ passes in a role he looks perfectly comfortable filling in Cesc’s absence.
Arsenal, having scored 16 goals in their three competitive home games so far this season, will no doubt go for the jugular as they look to get their title challenge back on track after last week’s disappointing result at Sunderland and with Nasri pulling the strings in the middle, the Gunners should still be far too strong for the Baggies. Nasri comes into the game following an excellent Carling Cup performance at White Hart Lane, scoring twice from the penalty spot (despite Andrei Arshavin and Marouanne Chamakh both being on the pitch) as Arsenal defeated Spurs 4-1.
As many managers look to higher-priced midfield alternatives for Gameweek 6, Nasri, coming in at just 7.2m in FPL and owned by just 1.9% of managers, could turn out to be a nice little differential this weekend.
A word of warning, though: Nasri has not long recovered from injury himself, and having played the full 120 mins in that game with Spurs coupled with the fact the Gunners have a Champions League game on the horizon next week, the Frenchman’s game time on Saturday could easily be curtailed by Arsene Wenger in order to ensure his fitness and availability in light of Fabregas’ absence.