Sunday morning is not for cleaning the car or mowing the lawn. It’s for mulling over yesterday’s Fantasy points gained and lost and soaking up the fact and fiction from around another day in the Premier League. We’ve even done a lot of the hard work for you…
Dimitar Berbatov was surprisingly rested from a United lineup that already lacked the spark of Nani’s influence but Alex Ferguson got away with the gamble – just. The two strikes form Park Ji-Sung papered over the cracks at Old Trafford, but it was pretty clear that United struggled for fluidity and a creative spark against a dogged Wolves side who were very unlucky to leave with nothing. Gabriel Obertan started the game, playing just off Javier Hernandez with Owen Hargreaves starting and completing just five minutes before he departed with a muscle injury.
Wes Brown’s selection at right-back with John O’Shea moving to midfield, underlined the rotation options that Ferguson has in this area. Rafael missed out against Wolves and it’s very hard to predict whether he will be recalled for the Manchester derby in midweek. Fantasy Managers could really do with some clarity in this area but Ferguson seems unlikely to hand us any just yet. Start on Wednesday and Rafael would appear to be in the box seat however.
Park is picking up Fantasy interest off the back of his brace and with his 4.9 price tag (from an initial 5.5 valuation) in the Fantasy Premier League. He will surely be open to aggressive rotation once Nani and Ryan Giggs are both fit – that could well be the case in midweek.
Kevin Davies has already come in for praise in Saturday’s knee jerk article. Davies came away from the game with a brace and has now scored 8 goals in his last 8 appearances against Spurs. It’s incredible how a run of goals can often continue against specific opposition.
Elsewhere in the Bolton lineup there were other names that caught the eye. Chung-Yong Lee saw a lot of the ball on the right and earned the assist for the Davies spot-kick, while Matt Taylor, who held down the left-wing role despite Martin Petrov’s return to fitness, had a string of efforts on goal and was unlucky not to return. Gary Cahill was another standout performer – Bolton’s lack of clean sheets – just one in 10 so far – continues to limit his Fantasy potential, but he shows promise of strong returns with a first goal of the season surely imminent.
Gareth Bale once again drew a blank in the Premier League following a European glory night. Bale owners will feel the frustration but can take some solace from the fact that Bale and Spurs will face three home games in four against Sunderland, Blackburn and City next. Tottenham took a much changed side to the Reebok as Harry Redknapp brought in Palacios, Sandro and Kranjcar to replace the injured Lennon and Van der Vaart, whilst Tom Huddlestone was rested to the bench. The latter could well face a retrospective red card following his apparent stamp on Johan Elmander.
Matt Upson returned to the Hammers lineup to replace ankle injury victim Manuel Da Costa in the draw at Birmingham. West Ham’s trio of strikers – Victor Obinna, Carlton Cole and Frederique Piquionne caught the eye and were all major threats on the Birmingham goal, firing in effort after effort as Avram Grant’s again showed attacking ambition away from home. It was Piquionne who blinked on the Fantasy radar once more, with his third goal of the season. At 5.1 and with strong West Ham fixtures to come, the former Portsmouth striker will earn some attention.
Victor Obinna at 5.5, looks less attractive but it’s puzzling just how he has failed to contribute a major Fantasy return to this point given his performances. Carlton Cole was also outstanding in yesterday’s game and appears to be back in favour; his FPL price tag of 5.8 may well be a bit steep for some though with Piquionne the viable alternative.
Birmingham’s Liam Ridgewell claimed his third goal of the season – a stat which has helps him rank second overall amongst FPL defenders to this point. At 5.3 he is far from a budget consideration and he will likely need to keep the goals coming to repay any interest at this stage; Birmingham’s forthcoming fixtures are far from kind (stk mcy CHE ful TOT).
Barry Ferguson was once again amongst the FPL Bonus Points – he has now registered 12 points overall with only Charlie Adam and Kevin Davies bettering that tally. Ferguson may not contribute goal and assists, but at 4.4 he still represents a consideration; in a Birmingham side devoid of any real individual talent, his influence will likely go on gathering Bonus. That Birmingham fixture list will make things a lot harder in the coming weeks however.
Alex McLeish shifted his tactics for the visit of the Hammers – opting to recall fit-again striker Cameron Jerome, dropping Scout Pick selection Craig Gardner to the bench. The Birmingham boss wasn’t impressed with the changes and duly tweaked things again on 60 minutes, introducing both Gardner and Jean Beausejour from the bench, with Alexander Hleb and Keith Fahey making way.
“I changed the tactics totally in the second half, we had to go direct and that worked for us.”
That would now cast doubt over Hleb’s role from this point – clearly McLeish is somehow struggling to utilise his craft and creativity. Certainly I’d expect Gardner to figure as Birmingham travel to Stoke next.
Darren Bent missed Sunderland’s win over Stoke but there are conflicting reports on the reasons behind his absence. The club’s official site reported a hamstring injury in training, whilst other reports indicate that Bent simply has flu. We can only wait to see what news comes from the Black Cats’ camp ahead of their trip to Spurs.
Asamoah Gyan filled Bent’s boots admirably and could have come out of the game with two goals and an assist if it wasn’t for Steed Malbranque’s penalty miss. At 7.1 in the FPL, Gyan is already attracting interest although Sunderland’s fixtures remain a concern here. Trips to Spurs and Chelsea next won’t help Gyan’s cause, whilst the next home fixture with Everton is also far from an easy prospect.
Former Sunderland striker, Kenwyne Jones may well have left the Stadium of Light with a blank but he was desperately unlucky not to at least have registered an assist for Stoke’s penalty that “never was but should have been”. Jones looked a menace against his former club and, as our recent Watchlist article discussed, he has the fixtures in the coming weeks to add significantly to his Fantasy points tally.
Stoke’s lack of clean sheets remain a concern – they’ve now notched just one in ten games. The dismissal of Ryan Shawcross won’t help them; he will now miss the home clash with Birmingham on Tuesday. Following that game Stoke and Shawcross still have the fixtures that offer the potential for belated defensive returns and perhaps Asmir Begovic at 4.3, is worth a look as a keeper option having kept Thomas Sorensen on the bench in yesterday’s game. His spot-kick save will surely see him keep his starting role on Tuesday.
Tim Cahill notched his fifth goal of the season at Bloomfield Road, overshadowing the contribution of Mikel Arteta who, once again, appeared to be restricted by a deep lying role in the Everton midfield. Incredibly, Arteta is yet to return a single assist this season and is relying heavily on Bonus returns to maintain his Fantasy output. Elsewhere in the Everton midfield, Steven Pienaar appeared to pick up an injury late on and could be a doubt for Wednesday’s home clash with Bolton – the first of three home games in four for Moyes’ men.
Louis Saha returned to the fray at Blackpool. He replaced Yakubu on 61 minutes, underlining the fact that neither Everton striker is secure for pitch time while Moyes continues with his favoured 4-5-1.
Neil Eardley’s free-kick strike and the second-half effort from David Vaughan stole the limelight and Fantasy points from Charlie Adam. Eardley’s free-kick contribution will now hand him further opportunities from deadball situations which won’t help Adam’s cause. The Blackpool playmaker has scored all his three goals from the spot so far this season. As a sidenote, Ian Holloway suggested that he may have to rotate his squad with two more games in seven days to come, so we can expect the likes of Marlon Harewood to be in with a shout of starting at Villa in midweek.
Marc Albrighton’s goal at Fulham will have him blinking on the radar once again – at 4.6 and a home fixture with Blackpool to come next, it seems likely that the winger will find some new suitors in the next couple of days. Villa’s fixtures are not the kindest however (BLP MUN bla ARS liv) so caution is most definitely required, particularly as Villa are currently without a striker with Premier League experience to convert Albrighton’s wing play. Gerard Houllier’s tactics have also come under scrutiny, with the suggestion that Villa are far more cautious under the former Liverpool boss. Albrighton’s goal at the Cottage was Villa’s first in four league games.
Barry Bannan’s performance also caught the eye for Villa. The young midfielder was thrown in for a first league start with injuries beginning to pinch and he duly turned in an impressive showing, laying on the assist for Albrighton’s goal. Houllier was certainly impressed…
“I think he has got the attributes of a modern footballer – skill, pass, movement, the eye for a pass.”
Priced at 4.5 in the FPL, he will doubtless be overshadowed by Albrighton’s potential, but is worth monitoring all the same. Bannan could well get further opportunities in the weeks to come with Houllier revealing that Nigel Reo-Coker will face up to three weeks out with a knee ligament injury sustained in yesterday’s game.
Charles N’Zogbia was once again the bright spark in another Wigan defeat at Ewood. The winger came away with a couple more Bonus Points despite the defeat, along with his third league goal of the season with a stunning free-kick. He could, and should, have had a second goal on the day. Wigan have some fairly favourable fixtures to come (LIV WBA mun whm STK) which should see N’Zogbia add further to his goals and Bonus Point tallies as he perhaps looks to play for a contract elsewhere. He can still be bought for 5.5 – that’s 0.5 less than his initial FPL price tag.
Even Sam Allardyce had to acknowledge that Blackburn were poor in yesterday’s game, but Rovers got the win regardless thanks to two smart finishes from Morten Gamst-Pedersen and Jason Roberts. Significantly this was only the second time this season that Blackburn had scored two goals in a league match. They visit Newcastle in midweek and Chris Hughton’s side will fancy that for a much-needed home clean sheet. Blackburn will likely be without Benjani at Newcastle – he was subbed on 32 minutes of yesterday’s game, presumably with further hamstring problems. That could see a start for goalscorer Roberts, although David Dunn is also pushing for inclusion having replaced Mame Diouf at half-time. He needs monitoring as a Fantasy prospect once Blackburn’s form and fixtures improve.
