Sunday brought contrasting fortunes for the North East contingent as Sunderland climbed to seventh in the table courtesy of a narrow win over struggling West Ham. Rivals Newcastle, meanwhile, continued their miserable decline as they were brushed aside by an impressive West Brom at the Hawthorns. Here’s the notes on Sunday’s events…
Steve Bruce opted for a bold Sunderland formation, fielding what appeared to be a fluid front three with Asamoah Gyan, Danny Welbeck and Darren Bent all given starts. Welbeck spent a lot of the early stages on the flank but when Bruce switched his role with Gyan after the half-hour mark, it immediately transformed Sunderland’s fortunes. Gyan provided the cross for Jordan Henderson’s winner on 34 minutes and then proceeded to clip the bar minutes later. All three look set to hold their starting roles for the trip to Fulham next time out.
That strike from Henderson was his first of what has been a strong season for him individually and, incredibly, the only goal from a Sunderland midfield player this season. It earned Henderson his first maximum Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game Bonus Point haul, taking him onto 8 for the season. The goal and performance were the perfect response to recent claims from Steve Bruce that Henderson required a rest period having started all of Sunderland’s league matches. Bruce was quick to play up the possible effect of his previous comments in his post-match analysis…
“I just put it out there that it might be time for a rest and the way he trained all week it was impossible for me not to play him…He must have read it and been influenced. He was desperate to play and trained for the last few days as if to say please don’t leave me out”
The clean sheet was Sunderland’s seventh of the season – only Chelsea and City have notched more. Nedum Onuoha remains a popular pick within the Black Cats’ defence and he rewarded investment with an additional 2 Bonus Points to complement his clean sheet as provided an overlapping threat on the right flank. This week’s “Spot The Differential” candidate Phil Bardsley, arguably provides stronger value at left-back however – covering Sunderland’s defensive returns for just 4.4 in the FPL.
The defeat leaves West Ham without an away victory since the opening day of last season. Frederic Piquionne, West Ham’s form player in the win over Wigan last time out in the league, was surprisingly dropped to the bench to make way for a Carlton Cole/Victor Obinna pairing, with Kieron Dyer also returning from injury to claim a start. Jonathan Spector held a midfield role following his two-goal exploits in midweek as Valon Behrami missed out with a hip injury.
Earlier in the day, Newcastle’s 3-1 loss to West Brom left them with just 2 points from a possible 15 since the 1-0 win at the Emirates in Gameweek 11. You can read more on Newcastle’s current plight further in yesterday’s Knee Jerk. Much has been made of Chris Hughton’s inquest into the defeat and the Magpies boss has succinctly summed up his side’s current problems as twofold. Unfortunately for him, they are conceding goals and scoring goals…
“There are two areas we need to improve. One is being defensively good enough to not give them the opportunities to score goals, and the other is creating ourselves.”
Peter Odemwingie demonstrated his worth at just 5.1 in the FPL with his fifth and sixth goals of the campaign. The Nigerian was a climber in last week’s Watchlist rankings and is set for a further push when we refresh these tomorrow. Chris Brunt also justified his inclusion in the Scout Picks this week with his ninth assist of the season for Somen Tchoyi’s curling opener. The Cameroonian looked impressive having been handed a starting berth by Roberto Di Matteo; he may start attracting interest if he can cement a starting role but at 5.0 in the FPL, it’s hard to opt for him over the influential Brunt who is available for 5.6.
The late strike from Peter Lovenkrands, assisted by the 50% owned Andy Carroll, wiped away West Brom’s clean sheet late on. The Baggies have not kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 2 when they edged out Sunderland at the Hawthorns.
