Sunday brought some familiar Fantasy names to our attention. Fernando Torres produced a devastating salvo to topple Chelsea at Anfield, Robin Van Persie returned but couldn’t prevent Arsenal faltering at the hands of Newcastle, while Carlos Tevez was back in the City lineup to be overshadowed by Mario Balotelli, as Mancini’s men got back on track at the Hawthorns.
Arsene Wenger’s lineup in the defeat to Newcastle included a couple of enforced changes with Denilson failing to recover from injury, which meant that Jack Wilshere started in in midfield. Theo Walcott also retrained his starting role which saw Samir Nasri take the left-flank berth, leaving flu victim Andrei Arshavin on the bench. That decision meant that no player has started all 11 matches for Arsenal this season – emphasising the competition for places throughout the side.
Robin Van Persie’s return to the bench only heightens that competition. He saw action in the second-half as Arsenal chased the game but Wenger admitted in his post-match comments that the Dutchman is still short…
“It is a plus but you can see he is not ready. We pushed him in too early because I had to do something.”
From that it seems unlikely that we will see Van Persie lead the attack at Wolves on Wednesday. Instead I’d expect Nicklas Bendtner, sub again yesterday, to be given the opportunity to start in midweek. Arshavin would also seem a likely starter particularly given the fact that Nasri is nursing a calf injury, as confirmed by Wenger post-match…
“Samir has a calf problem that will be assessed tomorrow. We think it is small.”
Cesc Fabregas again came out of the game with paltry returns, much to the frustration of his Fantasy owners, many of which will have captained him in the Fantasy Premier League game. The skipper was still behind much of Arsenal’s play but was afforded little space by the Newcastle midfield to affect the game in his usual style. While Arsene Wenger confirmed that Fabregas was feeling no pain as a result of his recent hamstring injury, he did stress that he felt that his playmaker was still being affected by the injury…
“Cesc I think still played a little bit restricted today. He has no real pain but is still a bit affected I feel.”
Fabregas will surely start at Wolves regardless, a game which again, will not be a walkover for the Gunners. Patience is surely the policy for Fabregas owners however – his class and ability to deliver big returns is undoubted.
From a Newcastle perspective this was only a third clean sheet of the season, but the steely defensive resolve that’s revealed in the Members’ Opta stats, was clearly in evidence. Chris Hughton kept an unchanged lineup, retaining Shola Ameobi in a 4-4-2 but that didn’t stop the Magpies strangling the midfield and competing for every ball as the visitors congested the middle of the park.
Andy Carroll’s goal and performance speak for themselves – he continues to be a prize Fantasy asset given his 5.7 FPL price tag and will surely go on to more than justify any investment over the next set of fixtures in which Newcastle have three home games in four. Ameobi also looks to have cemented a starting role and, at just 4.2, is surely worth a look with home games against Blackburn and Fulham up next. Doubling up on the Newcastle strike force may well be a gamble, but then plenty of Fantasy Managers will be considering going into those games with Carroll and Kevin Nolan as an option. Nolan enjoyed a price rise overnight as he proved to be the most popular signing in the last 24 hours.
The Newcastle back four, and in particular the bargain presented by Danny Simpson at 3.9, is also worth a look. Those aforementioned home games immediately offer opportunities for further returns for Simpson and budget keeper Tim Krul who seems set to retain his place at least until Steve Harper’s return in December.
Fernando Torres deservedly earned all the plaudits from the win over Chelsea and his two goals will have him blinking wildly on the Fantasy radar. Owners of Didier Drogba and Carlos Tevez will be weighing up their options, particularly given that Torres and Liverpool are now approaching a kind run of fixtures. Two away games next – at Wigan and Stoke, perhaps afford us further time to assess Torres. We know for a fact that his goal tally is far stronger in Anfield matches and there are certainly some obliging opposition heading his way for home matches between Gameweeks 14-21.
Dirk Kuyt was played off Torres in the second striker role against Chelsea and duly provided a smart assist for the opener. Classed as a midfielder and priced at 8.7 in the FPL, Kuyt’s potential will have grown by this tactical move from Hodgson and he may well be worthy of consideration over Liverpool’s strong fixtures for those unable to afford Torres or Steven Gerrard.
Roy Hodgson’s side earned a second consecutive clean sheet here and have now conceded just a single goal in three league games. The signs are good then as Liverpool go into a spell of fixtures against favourable opponents. While Sotirios Kyrgiakos missed out yesterday through tonsillitis, he looks to be an option once he’s back in the side, although Paul Konchesky suffered a price drop to 5.0 last night and looks to present outstanding value given that he looks assured of his start at left-back.
Little can be taken from the Chelsea performance other than the fact that away form remains a concern. Carlo Ancelotti’s side have lost two of their last four away trips, and have failed to score in three of them. The next two home fixtures – against Fulham on Wednesday and Sunderland next weekend, will be vital to them and Fantasy owners fidgeting on the likes of Florent Malouda, Ashley Cole and even Didier Drogba. Malouda returned from an ankle injury to start at Anfield; Salomon Kalou also started but was sacrificed for the second-half in order to introduce Drogba from the bench. It will be interesting to see if Anelcotti starts with Malouda over Kalou against Fulham on Wednesday. I suspect that he will following the Liverpool defeat.
The return of Carlos Tevez did the trick for City but the three points gathered at the Hawthorns had far more to do with Mario Balotelli. He notched a brace to introduce his goalscoring talents to the Premier League and then demonstrated his impetuous temperament with a wayward challenge on Youssouf Mulumbu that saw him collect a straight red, minutes after picking up a booking. City are still contemplating appealing against the dismissal which would see the Italian miss the next three games.
Balotelli is off the radar for a while then, with Emmanuel Adebayor in the frame for a return to face United in midweek. Roberto Mancini will likely revert to a 4-5-1 in that game however, recalling James Milner who was benched against the Baggies, to the starting lineup.
West Brom’s Peter Odemwingie made a return to action as a second-half sub and will now come back into our reckoning as a cheap option (5.1) up front. The defeat will come as a blow to the Baggies, but trips to West Ham on Wednesday and Wigan next weekend, continue to offer potential for returns from the likes of Chris Brunt and Odemwingie. Those two away games are followed by a home encounter with Stoke.
