Robin Van Persie chooses as Upton Park as his stage to remind of his talents, while over at Eastlands, Carlos Tevez exploded into life once again to put City top for 24 hours at least. Here’s the notes on yesterday’s events…
Carlos Tevez fired his fifth brace of the season in the 4-3 win over Wolves at Eastlands. That took Tevez to 14 goals for the season – making him the Premier League’s joint leading scorer and the top points scorer in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game. He continues to score in bursts – Tevez has grabbed two goals in 3 of his last 8 league starts. FPL Bonus Points followed for the Argentinian – he has notched the maximum 3 Bonus Points in 6 of the last 8 games in which he has scored.
Yaya Toure recorded his fourth goal of the season in yesterday’s game as he continued to demonstrate that he poses the biggest goal threat from Roberto Manicini’s midfield. Kolo Toure also got his name on the scoresheet but his day was soured as he suffered an injury and had to be replaced by Joleon Lescott early in the second-half. He will need monitoring ahead of the Gameweek 25 trip to Villa.
Edin Dzeko made an effective if unspectacular debut, providing the assist for Yaya Toure’s goal and demonstrating some nice touches throughout. Mancini expressed his delight at Dzeko’s debut and seemed to indicate that he could use the Bosnian centre-forward in a three-man attack with Tevez and Mario Balotelli…
“He played very well for his first game, especially as he has only been with us a week and only recently returned from a winter break…He will get better as he gets used to his new team-mates and I think he will do well alongside Carlos and Mario Balotelli.”
That would either hint at a change of formation from Mancini with three strikers employed in the starting XI, or it would suggest that the City boss will look to rotate his strikers over the coming weeks. It will be interesting to watch for this once Balotelli is fully fit.
Wolves were without Kevin Foley – the “out of position” defender, deployed in central midfield over recent weeks, missed out with an ankle injury. Elsewhere Mick McCarthy was able to name club skipper Karl Henry on the bench as he made his return from an eight-week absence with a knee ligament injury. Henry replaced Steven Fletcher on 69 minutes and looks set to start next time out against Liverpool.
Last night’s Knee Jerk dealt in depth with the impact of Robin Van Persie in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over West Ham. Arsene Wenger had this to say on the Dutchman’s two-goal salvo…
“We have many offensive players and he gets them in well because he keeps the ball and of course you can see now that because he has a few games he’s much sharper physically, and that is very interesting.”
Van Persie’s showing was indeed “interesting”, but owners of both Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas will have been concerned over Van Persie’s dominance at set-pieces and the sheer number of opportunities that came his way, possibly at the expense of the midfield pairing. Van Persie’s spot-kick for the third goal clearly demonstrated that the Dutchman will take on those duties over Fabregas – surely denting the return potential of the Arsenal skipper.
Theo Walcott tormented a rusty Wayne Bridge on his debut for the Hammers and notched his sixth goal of the season, his second in 4 league starts since his return from injury. His 2 assists and 2 Bonus Points game him 16 FPL points in all, his second biggest tally of a profitable season having earned 21 points with a hat-trick in Gameweek 2.
Walcott has started 4 of the last 5 league games for the Gunners, indicating that he offers some potential for those looking to expand their cover of Arsenal’s substantial attacking threat. At 6.8 – his lowest price of the season, Walcott offers decent value as a fifth midfielder option and could be a popular investment for Arsenal’s double fixture in Gameweek 27.
Peter Odemwingie ended a run of 4 league games without a goal with a brace in West Brom’s 3-2 win over Blackpool. The Nigerian earned double figure FPL returns for the second time this season and moves on to 8 goals for the season – a strong return from a striker valued at 5.1. Only Andy Carroll has provided better value over the season amongst the Forwards.
Graham Dorrans and Youssouf Mulumbu are both early doubts for the Gameweek 25 visit to Blackburn after picking up calf injuries in the Blackpool victory.
Branislav Ivanovic collected his biggest points haul of the season in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Blackburn. The Serbian claimed Chelsea’s opener from a corner and then climbed highest to set up Nicolas Anelka’s goal for the second, again from a Chelsea corner. The maximum 3 Bonus Points followed to hand Ivanovic a 17 point return. At 7.0 in the FPL, Ivanovic looks an unlikely investment, although interest may well increase ahead of Chelsea’s double fixture in Gameweek 28 with United and Birmingham. Jose Bosingwa remains a more attractive option right now – he looks to have secured the right-back role and will likely only come under threat once Alex returns to present Carlo Ancelotti the option to switch Ivanovic to right-back.
Matt Etherington’s spot-kick in Stoke’s 2-0 win over Bolton saw the former Spurs winger move on to 4 goals for the season with a 7 assists also to his name. At 6.0, Etherington is now bettered only by Blackpool’s Charlie Adam when it comes to value over the season in the FPL. He will likely be the top target for Fantasy Managers considering Stoke assets for their double fixture in Gamweek 27 against Arsenal and Birmingham. Both fixtures are away from home but Etherington has earned 2 goals and 3 assists on his travels this season.
Bolton are now sliding down the table and the potential of both Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander as Fantasy prospects has become a distant memory. Owen Coyle’s side slipped to their fifth successive away defeat with the Stoke result. They have scored just 4 goals in the last 6 league outings and clean sheets remain hard to come by as the defence continues to struggle. Three home games in the next 4 at least gives them opportunity for a recovery but Chelsea will fancy their chances of another morale boosting three points when they visit the Reebok in Gameweek 25.
The Wigan attack continues to revolve around two names – Charles N’Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega. Rodallega took his goal with composure, and might have had more with two shots striking the woodwork. N’Zogbia was equally active, with multiple dribbling runs and crosses. The winger looked particularly dangerous in the second half as the game opened up and he was given freedom to push up as he pleased – at times N’Zogbia almost looked to be playing a central attacking role.
At the other end, Ali Al-Habsi made a number of good saves for Wigan and picked up an assist with a long punt to Rodallega. It was an impressive outing, and he was only beaten for the equalizer in the 85th minute when Andy Johnson’s shot took a deflection. Antolin Alcaraz had another strong performance in the centre of the defence and would have likely been considered for Bonus Points had Wigan held on for the win. Although he was subbed after 71 minutes, Ronnie Stam played in an “out of position” role on the right midfield once again, and was responsible for the first cross that Rodallega headed off the post.
On the subject of goalkeepers, David Stockdale couldn’t be pleased with his performance. He bobbled a ball in the first half and was caught in no man’s land on Rodallega’s goal. His confidence looked shaky at times and it should be a reminder for those who have brought him in or who are bringing him in as they wildcard, that his position as a starter is temporary and an exit strategy will likely be required.
Clint Dempsey played most of the game pushed up as a forward and was deserving of his Bonus Points as Fulham’s most dangerous attacking player. Moussa Dembele finally returned for 32 minutes of action. He showed some nice footwork and seemed more involved during his first 10+ minutes in the game, but then disappeared to a large extent during the final spell, when Andy Johnson entered the scene. Fulham is in desperate need of more firepower, and it would seem likely that Demebele will get his chance as soon as he is fully match fit; that’s likely to shift Dempsey to a wide midfield role more permanently.
