Sunday saw the record breaking Premier League goalscoring continue as, for the first time, every team notched at least one goal over a weekend. While a few goals are always welcome to Fantasy Managers, Sunday was dominated by injuries and further frustration caused by the faltering form of Carlo Ancelotti’s heavyweights…
A woeful mix up in the Chelsea defence meant that Andy Carroll prolonged his goalscoring form and that Carlo Ancelotti’s side again failed to keep a clean sheet. They’ve now kept just a single shutout in their last 6 league matches.
In attacking terms Chelsea also continue to frustrate. The misfiring Didier Drogba has now gone 7 league appearances without a goal, notching just a single assist in that time. His price in the Fantasy Premier League game dropped to 12.7 last night – it has now dropped 0.4 in the space of three Gameweeks.
Florent Malouda at least contributed the assist for Salomon Kalou’s goal – the Frenchman looked the best player on the pitch in fairness, but left without FPL Bonus. That honour went to Jose Enrique who collected the maximum haul; our Members Opta stats do at least back up Enrique’s case however – more on that in a Numbers Game article later.
Newcastle were without the inspiration of Kevin Nolan in midfield due to an ankle injury that has apparently been worsening over recent weeks. Chris Hughton has already counted Nolan out of the trip to West Brom next weekend. Newcastle will at least have Joey Barton to reinforce the midfield as he returns from injury.
Andy Carroll has now scored 4 goals in his last 5 games. In fact, he has scored all of Newcastle’s goals in that run – an incredible stat and one that emphasises his importance to Chris Hughton’s side.
Rafael Van der Vaart overcame an ankle injury to start in a 4-5-1 formation, pushed up in a support role for loan striker Peter Crouch once again. He lasted just 12 minutes, stricken by a hamstring injury, the Dutchman was replaced by Jermain Defoe as the home side shifted to a traditional 4-4-2. The Van der Vaart situation is now a problem for Redknapp and Fantasy Managers. Spurs face a tough trip to Birmingham next and, following that, they have a Champions League tie in Holland that will decided if Spurs top their group. Regardless of a prognosis for Van der Vaart, it already seems most unlikely that he will play at part at St Andrews in Gameweek 16.
Long-term Fantasy Managers will now have to ponder whether to bench their asset. Aaron Lennon’s performance and goal will surely have cemented his place on the right-flank for the foreseeable future, forcing Redknapp to utilise Van der Vaart in the role behind the striker. That has often been Crouch and it’s a system and partnership that has worked superbly this season. The Defoe option for Redknapp really casts some doubt on how the Spurs boss will use the Dutch playmaker when fit. Those Fantasy Managers who can shift out Van der Vaart without a heavy cash loss will likely be weighing up their options in the days to come.
Younes Kaboul also picked up an injury in this game – he suffered a hip problem and was replaced by Sebastian Bassong on 36 minutes. He too will go into the weekend a doubt for the trip to Birmingham.
The late defeat for Liverpool was compounded by a shoulder injury to stalwart Jamie Carragher which looks set to sideline him for a considerable period. Liverpool reported a suspected dislocation. Roy Hodgson seemed suitably devastated by yet another injury blow to a key player.
“I don’t know at this stage how long Jamie will be out for but I would think it will be quite long because it’s a serious injury…We are now without Steven Gerrard and Jamie for a period of time – both of whom are the lifeblood of this club.”
Gerrard is expected to be out for at least another fortnight which leaves Liverpool woefully short of leaders on the pitch. Sotirios Kyrgiakos will surely benefit from the prolonged absence of Carragher with a run of starts in the side. The big Greek defender is a significant target at set-plays and carries a goal threat as a result – he has 2 goals to his name already this season in just 5 starts. At 5.1 in the FPL, he is certainly a strong option in Defence and arguably a stronger alternative to Paul Konchesky and Glen Johnson for Liverpool’s run of kind opponents. More on that in “Frisking the Fixtures” later.
Fernando Torres failed to find the net for the third successive game – he has returned just a single assist in that spell. Interestingly Hodgson was quizzed on the striker’s confidence following the game and gave us this reaction…
“I think he’s getting much better and crisis in confidence is too strong a phrase. His confidence is good…Because Fernando sets such very high standards he will be disappointed he didn’t take one of the chances that came his way, but I was pleased with Fernando today. He and Ngog were very good up front and we created a lot of chances and some good opportunities.”
While Hodgson states that Torres had opportunities, the statistics show that he did in fact get just a single shot on goal in the entire game, with 3 more efforts blocked.
One of the new powerful features that our Members will soon have available to them is the ability to view Opta data over a range of Gameweeks. Examing the form of Torres, we’re shown that he’s managed just 5 shots on goal from Gameweeks 13-15. We will pick apart those stats further in a Numbers Game later but, in a nutshell, Torres is certainly underperforming statistically based on his last three starts.
A couple more notes from Saturday’s matches – first up it should be noted that Kevin Foley of Wovles not only scored his second goal of the season against Sunderland in the 3-2 win but the fact that he also did this from a midfield role. Foley is a traditionally a midfielder but has filled in at right-back for the majority of the season. He is also classed as a Defender in the FPL and priced at just 3.9. With Ronald Zubar returning at full-back, Foley was given the right-midfield slot with Matt Jarvis reverting to the left and Stephen Hunt benched. Foley could well retain that role when Wolves take the trip to Blackburn next weekend and could hold it for favourable home games with Birmingham and Wigan to come.
Finally, the three-match ban handed out to Mikel Arteta will rob David Moyes’ side of their chief set-piece expert and penalty taker. Those duties, certainly when it comes to direct free-kicks, will now fall to Leighton Baines. The left-back returned his sixth assist of the season in the 4-1 defeat to West Brom but will now enjoy an increased goal threat over the next three matches. Baines has already converted from a direct free-kick in Arteta’s absence at White Hart Lane earlier in Gameweek 9. The only downside to Baines’ increased potential is the fact that Everton face trips to Chelsea and City in the next three Gameweeks; his owners may well have to rely on continued attacking returns then.
