Suarez, Sturridge and Keane get amongst the goals to help mark their debuts with victories. Liverpool keep the wins and clean sheets racking up. Kolarov comes good, Newcastle face a striker crisis and Charlie Adam in “No Bonus Points†shocker!
Mark Schwarzer made an immediate return to the Fulham first-team after coming back from Asian Cup duties, taking his place in goal as David Stockdale dropped to the bench. Chris Baird recovered from illness and took his place at left-back, with Carlos Salcido- his replacement in the recent FA Cup game with Spurs- joining Stockdale as a sub. Damien Duff grabbed the game’s only goal, as Fulham made it four clean sheets and five wins in their last five home games. Duff got the 3 Bonus Points and Moussa Dembele again stood out, picking up 2 Bonus Points for his trickery.
Alan Pardew’s first post-Carroll line-up featured Leon Best and Shola Ameobi up front together, in a 4-4-2 formation. A collision with Steve Sidwell, however, meant Ameobi had to leave the proceedings with just 15 minutes on the clock, and the injury has been confirmed as a fractured cheekbone, that should see the player out of action for in the region of four to six weeks. Newcastle’s terrible week just got worse, with a limp display at Craven Cottage ending in 1-0 defeat and, following the departure of Andy Carroll, are really struggling for any sort of real quality up front right now.
New signing Obafemi Martins missed out altogether for Birmingham, with Curtis Davies starting on the bench for Alex McLeish’s side. Liam Ridgewell returned to his usual left-back berth as Martin Jiranek took his place at centre-half. David Bentley picked up the 3 FPL Bonus Points for an impressive all-round display; he also bagged an assist as Nikola Zigic got on the end of one of his free-kicks to make it 1-1. Top-scorer Craig Gardner denied City a win late in the game with a penalty and after the game, was confirmed as the club’s number one spot-kick taker by McLeish. With Birmingham’s upcoming double game week 27 (STK, NEW) the midfield pair could be worth a look, priced at £5.7m and £4.9m respectively.
Roberto Mancini was without flu-stricken Yaya Toure for the trip to St Andrews, with brother Kolo on the bench. Jerome Boateng started at right-back and Micah Richards showed his versatility by moving into the centre of defence – Mancini’s again demonstrating just why there’s little security for Fantasy Managers amongst City’s back four. Richards was stretchered off after half an hour after colliding with team mate Nigel De Jong and went to hospital with concussion. De Jong himself suffered an ankle problem and was also replaced.
Carlos Tevez recovered from a back strain to take his place up front and wasted little time in getting amongst the goals, scoring after just 4 minutes. FFScout favourite Aleksander Kolarov finally delivered the points following weeks of promising attacking play, scoring a cracking free-kick to vindicate those Fantasy Managers who have kept the faith.
Post-match, Roberto Mancini blamed himself for the disappointing result, going on to say:
“If we don’t play well I blame myself..we can’t concede two goals every game, we must do something and we must play better. We played well for the first 50 minutes and then we forgot to play. I should change something. We must think about improving – we should try to play football again, because in the last few weeks we’ve forgotten this.”
Whether this results in personnel or tactical changes remains to be seen, but with City facing three exceptional home fixtures in their next four (WBA, mun, FUL, WIG) Fantasy Managers will still be expecting more-than-decent returns from these games.
Kenny Dalglish named six recognised defenders in the Liverpool starting line-up for the visit of Stoke. Dirk Kuyt took his place as the lone striker, with new signing Luis Suarez beginning the night as a sub. A change of formation to 3-5-1-1 saw young right-back Martin Kelly start as a right wing-back, adding more attacking potential to his prospective points. Suarez needed just 16 minutes to get involved in the goals, being (kindly) credited with scoring which could easily be chalked up as an Andy Wilkinson own goal.
Raul Meireles seems to be boosted more than any other Liverpool player since the arrival of Kenny Dalglish; playing just behind the striker, he’s now scored 3 goals in 5 games under King Kenny, having failed to score in any of his league 16 games under Roy Hodgson. Liverpool’s 2-0 win is their third clean sheet on the trot.
Matt Etherington was surprisingly benched by Tony Pulis for the trip to Anfield. The Stoke boss made five changes from the FA Cup win at Wolves, with Asomir Begovic replacing Tomas Sorenson in goal, despite the Dane’s penalty save against Mick McCarthy’s side. Begovic grabbed the 3 Bonus Points for a great display between the sticks and, priced at £4.3m, is another potential bargain for double game week 27, with Stoke’s two fixtures being (bir, ars).
Harry Redknapp used a 4-4-2 formation for Spurs’ visit to Blackburn, with injuries meaning Jermain Jenas was partnered by Wilson Palacios in central midfield. At the back, Alan Hutton was replaced by Vedran Corluka at right-back and William Gallas stepped in for the suspended Michael Dawson. Rafael Van der Vaart played on the right of midfield and grabbed his first assist in four games, crossing for Peter Crouch to nod home what turned out to be the winner after just 3 minutes. Heurelho Gomes made 9 saves to repel Blackburn time and again but received no Bonus Points; instead it was Aaron Lennon who grabbed the maximum 3 Bonus Points, with Jenas just behind on 2.
Jason Roberts took his place in the Blackburn starting XI, taking the place of injured Roque Santa Cruz up front. Ryan Nelson returned to partner Chris Samba at the heart of defence following his Asian Cup exertions. Morten Gamst Pederson was benched for the hosts, and although the Norwegian came on just after the hour mark, his efforts failed to make a difference.
Despite the transfer deadline day disappointment, Charlie Adam retained his place in midfield for Blackpool and grabbed a goal directly from a corner, following a failed West Ham clearance. Andy Reid made his debut for Ian Holloway’s side but Blackpool looked out of sorts and, with one win and six defeats in their last seven games, are being dragged deep into a relegation battle. Holloway looks likely to rotate his squad in the upcoming games, going on his post-match comments.
Robbie Keane made his bow as a West Ham player and the on-loan Spurs man needed less than 45 minutes to open his account for Avram Grant’s team. Victor Obinna continued his recent goalscoring form; after netting a hat-trick in the FA Cup, the on-loan Inter man grabbed two goals and an assist, a performance that saw him pick up the 3 Bonus Points, for a fantastic 16 point haul. Wayne Bridge chalked up his second assist in just three games and is starting to make a big impact for the Hammers, who are now off the bottom of the table
Bolton manager Owen Coyle brought Gary Cahill back into the first XI, dropping new signing David Wheater to accomodate the centre half. Chung-Yong Lee returned from the Asian Cup and was instantly re-installed in the Trotters team. The front pairing of Johan Elmander and Kevin Davies once again failed to find their early-season form and it took the intervention of on-loan debut boy Daniel Sturridge to fire Coyle’s side to victory right at the death. This was their first win in six games and Sturridge grabbed the maximum 3 Bonus Points for his match-winning contribution.
Mick McCarthy’s side offered little offensively at the Reebok and now sit bottom of the table following their last-ditch defeat. New loan signing Jamie O’Hara came off the bench with quarter of an hour left but was unable to influence events. Kevin Doyle battled hard up front for the visitors and was awarded 2 Bonus Points for his performance.
