As news of early postponements broke, Fantasy Managers were left frantically juggling resources in order to capitalise on a fractured Gameweek, only to find that the freeze had ravaged all but two matches on the fixture list.
Sunderland’s win over Bolton and a 1-1 draw at Ewood were the only sources of returns on offer, and with City’s Eastlands encounter with Everton on Monday the only scheduled game remaining, Gameweek 18 has become a chaotic milestone in the Fantasy season and lady luck is set to play a considerable role in the outcome.
Here’s the notes on yesterday’s chilly encounters…
Danny Welbeck’s fifth goal in six games will win him all the plaudits but Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan also played their part in a three-pronged attack that always looked dangerous once the Black Cats had found their stride. Welbeck’s run over his last six matches has also brought him a total of 10 FPL Bonus Points. The young striker offers outstanding value over Sunderland’s forthcoming run of fixtures with an FPL price tag of just 5.1 will likely enjoy a bandwagon of Fantasy attention over Christmas. One word of caution – he will of course sit out the Boxing Day clash at Old Trafford as part of his loan from United – so those who invest immediately will need to wait before they can benefit from any returns.
The Sunderland defence earned their ninth clean sheet of the season – no other Premier League side can match that, including Chelsea and Man City. Steve Bruce’s side have kept 5 shut-outs in their last 8 league matches. Going forward, they have fixtures that could help them build on this fine defensive record, at least once the trip to Old Trafford on Boxing day is out of the way (mun BLP BLA avl NEW blp).
This fine defensive record has been built despite a string of injuries in the the back four. That continued yesterday with John Mensah limping from the pitch on 20 minutes to be replaced by Elmohammady. The Egyptian moved to right-back, with Nedum Onuoha shifting alongside Anton Ferdinand, who himself returned from injury to start this game. Elmohammady at 4.8 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, could now be set to enjoy at least a couple of starts at full-back, bringing him back on the radar in the short-term. Phil Bardsley, available at 4.5 looks a stronger option having cemented his role at left-back.
Craig Gordon’s super human save to somehow deny Zat Knight in the first-half will surely rank as the “save of the season” thus far. Gordon returned having missed out at Fulham to an injury but, if he remains fit, is clearly Steve Bruce’s number one and offers value at 4.5 in the Fantasy Premier League game.
Lee Cattermole will also miss the Old Trafford trip on Boxing Day. He picked his fifth yellow card of the season and was lucky to escape without seeing red for the third time this year. Young David Meyler will likely come into the side to replace him having dropped to the bench yesterday.
Owen Coyle made two changes to his Bolton lineup. Fabrice Muamba came in for the suspended Mark Davies as expected, although Chung-Yong Lee’s relegation to the bench, with Matt Taylor coming in on the right-flank, was a surprise. Lee leaves for the Asian Cup after the Boxing Day programme – clearly Coyle is preparing his side for his absence by making this move although the Bolton boss later stressed his desire to keep Lee at the Reebok after the Boxing day meeting with West Brom. Coyle is hoping to have Lee around for at least two more fixtures.
Johan Elmander and Kevin Davies again drew blanks – the Swede has now gone four consecutive Gameweeks without return, while Davies at least mustered a Bonus Point from yesterday’s showing, to go with the assist earned in Gameweek 17. The Reebok encounter with West Brom is crucial to the Fantasy prospects of the pair – fail to score in this one and Bolton next travel to Chelsea and Liverpool. Sales of the previously potent Bolton forward line would look very likely to continue should they reach that point without returns.
The 1-1 draw at Ewood was most notable for the injuries sustained by the home side. Chris Samba was forced from the field before the hour-mark. He has suffered an ankle injury, although Rovers caretaker boss Steve Kean was quick to dismiss this one as a minor setback…
“Chris felt a little tweak in his ankle, a little twist, so we don’t think that is a bad one.”
It remains to be seen whether Samba will be available for the Boxing day clash with Stoke at Ewood.
Phil Jones isn’t anywhere near as fortunate. His Fantasy owners suffered a roller-coaster afternoon after seeing him dropped to the bench by Kean. Jones replaced Samba from the bench but then suffered suspected knee ligament damage. The early prognosis isn’t good according to Kean…
“He felt the outside of his knee and he knew straight away, he’ll see a specialist in the morning and I think it will require an operation and quite a long term injury”
Rovers also lost Jason Roberts to a hamstirng injury and he will be sidelined until the New Year.
Morten Gamst-Pedersen’s influence on Blackburn’s play, particularly from set-pieces, was again in evidence and he duly earned another maximum Bonus Point haul. He has now gathered 14 Bonus Points in the last 8 league games – an incredible return. Only two midfielders – Charlie Adam and Charles N’Zogbia, have earned more Bonus this season.
West Ham will be pleased with their point but they also have major injury concerns of their own. Robert Green missed the game after failing to recover from minor surgery this week – he will be expected to return for the Boxing Day encounter at Fulham. The Hammers suffered two injuries in the warm-up for the match with Zavon Hines (knee) and Valon Behrami (hip) both having to drop out. In addition, Victor Obinna failed to make the trip having sustained a leg injury.
