Chatter in the Fantasy Football Scout halls this week has been constant and along the lines of;

“I’m thinking of bringing Fabregas in, I need to take a hit, who should I get rid of?”

Given the fact that second placed Arsenal are at home to struggling West Ham, this comes as no surprise. The incredibly influential Spaniard would be an obvious pick for captain given his ability to unlock defences with his passing and goal scoring prowess.

However, todays game against Manchester City would have given a number of managers food for thought about whether tinkering with their side and taking hits to get Fabregas in is really essential after the performance of fellow Arsenal Midfielder Samir Nasri.

The Frenchman has scored 7 goals in 11 games this season in all competitions with 3 assists. 4 of those 7 goals have come in the league with his solitary league assist in todays game, setting up Nicholas Bendter for Arsenals third goal. In the FPL game, he has also picked up 9 bonus points this season which perhaps understates his contribution.

Whilst there is no doubting that long term Fabregas offers a greater potential return, at £7.4m Nasri is 4.4 million pounds cheaper than Cesc, and for those without a limitless pot of money or not wanting to take out other potential big hitters such as Malouda or Nani he could provide an alternative source of points.

One factor in the thought process may well be the penalty miss by Fabregas. Whilst there is little to suggest that this miss will see the Spaniard removed from penalty taking duty, given the fact that a number of Nasri’s goals this season have come from the spot in Fabregas’s absence, a number of people will keep a keen eye on the Arsenal penalty taker should the recent flurry of Arsenal penalty’s continue.

Away from the Arsenal game, Manchester United notched up a 2-1 win against Stoke at the Britannia. Both of United’s goals were scored by Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. These were goals 4 and 5 for the young Mexican in a United shirt and will only have added to a blossoming reputation. Two goals, one of which which was marvellously improvised back header (i’ve never said that before), will have proved to many that  he all the attributes required to be a big star at Manchester United.

In Wayne Rooney’s absence, this was Hernandez’s second consecutive start in the Premier League and with Rooney’s injury looking to keep him out for a further 2 to 3 weeks there is a good chance that the little pea will continue to get starts. Certainly if he continues in a similar form, as a short term solution at £6.9m, he appears to be something of a bargain. Naturally it’s nearly impossible to determine whether or not he will start but what does seem likely is that if he is given starts he’s a huge goalscoring threat.