Birmingham’s miserable home defeat with scant Fantasy returns got the gameweek off to an inauspicious start – a theme that was to continue as Arsenal and City failed to turn “comfortable†home fixtures into the anticipated Fantasy points.
Here’s the notes from Saturday’s action…
In the early kick-off, Birmingham were without both Barry Ferguson and Craig Gardner in midfield as they missed out with rib and thigh injuries respectively. Nikola Zigic was on the bench but sidelined by a groin injury – Alex McLeish confirmed in his post-match interview that the Serb just couldn’t be risked.
“It was schoolboy defending in the second half. I’m angry with the defending but there were a lot of changes…I couldn’t even put Nikola Zigic on. He’s got a groin problem and the doctors said it would be a massive risk.”
Roy Hodgson again left Peter Odemwingie and Carlos Vela on the bench as he continued to look to stiffen the Baggies defensively. The West Brom boss went with a 4-5-1 then, bringing in James Morrison to replace the injured Graham Dorrans. Odemwingie’s introduction at half-time sparked the Baggies into life as he provided the assist for Youssouf Mulumbu to fire home the opener. Morrison was the real hero however, he blasted a smart second goal before providing the assist for the Scharner header that sealed the win. No surprise, then, to see the midfielder awarded the maximum 3 Bonus Points, for a 13 point haul.
Samir Nasri ran the show for Arsenal against Sunderland and although his efforts were not enough to win the match for the Gunners, he picked up the 3 Bonus Points for a dominant display. Nasri had opportunities himself, but looked on while team-mates were also denied by a series of saves from Black Cats keeper Simon Mignolet. That showing earned him a 2 Bonus Point reward.
Sunderland’s clean sheet came from nowhere – it was their first in seven games having conceded 13 goals in that spell. Sunderland’s fixtures are about to run far more favourably and investment in their cheap defensive options may well make sense if they can maintain the kind of determined display they showed at the Emirates.
Danny Welbeck made a return to action for Steve Bruce’s side and almost snatched the three points were it not for a stunning save from Wojciech Szczesny in the Gunners goal. Welbeck offered exceptional Fantasy value before his injury and will now warrant monitoring over Sunderland’s run-in.
Everton’s much-needed victory at St James’ Park saw David Moyes make a couple of notable changes to his lineup. Crucially, Seamus Coleman rested to the bench, a major frustration for his Fantasy owners. With Diniyar Bilyaletdinov also left out of the starting XI, Tony Hibbert and Jermaine Beckford came in, with Phil Neville taking up a midfield role. He succumbed to a hamstring injury however and was forced off on 52 minutes.
Mikel Arteta and Leighton Baines provided the assists for Leon Osman and Phil Jagielka respectively, as David Moyes’ men recorded a slightly unexpected victory. Arteta also picked up 2 Bonus Points in the Toffees morale-boosting win as the Spaniard showed form of bygone days, prompting from midfield and providing a number of key-passes to create goalscoring opportunities for team-mates. Further returns against Birmingham in midweek – Everton’s second fixture of the gameweek – look likely.
It will be interesting to see if Moyes now keeps a largely unchanged side for the visit of Birmingham to Goodison. We will be hoping for a recall for Coleman in midfield, although this certainly looks unlikely having gained the three points this weekend.
Alan Pardew’s Newcastle side continue to show erratic form – having conceded just a single goal in their last three matches, the home defeat came as a surprise. The Magpies were again with Joey Barton’s influence in midfield and they also lost Jose Enrique to a hamstring injury after just 43 minutes. Pardew started Danny Simpson in a right midfield role, bringing Steven Taylor in at full-back behind him. Enrique’s withdrawal then saw Simpson shift to left-back, as Newcastle’s resources continued to be stretched. Jonas Gutierrez was seen limping from the field on the whistle as Newcastle’s injuries continue to mount.
Aston Villa’s defence was carrying a string of injuries and forced manager Gerard Houllier to improvise with his resources. Luke Young returned from a lengthy lay-off to take up a central defensive role alongside the inexperienced Ciaran Clark, as Nathan Baker started at left-back.
Kyle Walker provided some stability on the right-flank and again impressed with his raiding runs from full-back. It was his cross converted by Darren Bent for Villa’s opener. Villa are now without a clean sheet in their last six matches, but Walker remains a big attraction for Fantasy Managers given his attacking prowess and Villa’s forthcoming fixtures.
Darren Bent’s goal was only his second in six league matches but had been coming. Only the woodwork prevented him from adding to his tally at the Reebok, and he surely warrants some attention as a striker option in Fantasy terms. Ashley Young’s crucial penalty miss could be significant here – Bent could well gain spot-kick duties from this point as a result as Villa’s troubles from the spot return.
Stewart Downing continues to go from strength to strength under Houllier. He’s now grabbed four assists in his last five games for Villa and presents a worthy alternative to the more expensive Young. Marc Albrighton also notched his fifth goal of the campaign and offers even stronger value for the run-in for those wiling to gamble on his starting role. Albrighton has started the last two league games and, on Saturdays’ showing, will surely retain his start for the home clash with Wolves next.
Bolton’s Gary Cahill has taken a long time to find the net this season, but the past two games at the Reebok have seen him come good at last. Having scored in Bolton’s last home game, Cahill hit a brace against Aston Villa, taking his tally to 3 for the season. The big centre-half returned 16 points for his Fantasy owners, including the maximum 3 Bonus Points. The introduction of January signing David Wheater alongside Cahill seems to have made a difference to Bolton of late. Owen Coyle’s side had chalked up clean sheets in their previous two home games and although they conceded two against Villa, Wheater put in an impressive performance, picking up 2 Bonus Points for his contribution.
Damien Duff continued his run of recent form with a brace and 3 Bonus Points in Fulham’s 3-2 win over Blackburn. The winger has scored 4 goals in his last 5 games now and will surely fancy his chances of grabbing more in Fulham’s next home game, when Blackpool come to town in gameweek 31. Bobby Zamora is being slowly eased back into first-team action by Mark Hughes following his broken leg; the forward was kept on the bench until the 70th minute but still got amongst the goals, netting a last-minute winner from the penalty spot to earn the Cottagers a critical home win. Danny Murphy, the regular spot-kick taker, was off the field at the time.
West Ham climbed out of the relegation zone with an impressive thrashing of Stoke at Upton Park. The 3-0 win means Avram Grant’s side have now scored three goals in four of their last five league games, and are in great form as they approach a difficult set of fixtures that reads (tot, MUN, bol, AVL, che, mcy). Demba Ba’s opener for West Ham made it four in three games for the forward, who also earned 2 Bonus Points, meaning he has been awarded a total of 5 Bonus in those matches.
The Hammers midfield is looking critical to their survival chances. With Thomas Hitzlsperger alongside Mark Noble and Scott Parker, they look a different side altogether. The German bagged a goal and an assist as Grant’s side coasted against a hugely disappointing Stoke display, and was a surprising omission when it came to naming the Bonus recipients.
Stoke have now lost their last six matches on the road and have slipped back down the table as a result. Incredibly the Potters have failed to score a single goal in their last five away trips – a statistic to bear in mind ahead of their forthcoming visits to Tottenham, Villa and Blackpool. Stoke do however, have three home matches in the next four to revive their fortunes.
Matt Etherington had not fully recovered from back, hamstring and jaw problems to claim a starting role in Tony Pulis’ side. He was named amongst the subs once again but saw action on 51 minutes. His introduction quickly revitalised the visitors however and, from Pulis’ comments post-match, we can assume that the winger will be back as a factor when Stoke host the Hammers in the FA Cup next Sunday.
“Matty added a different dimension to our play…He gave us some vital impetus and his pace helped us to push them back following his introduction. He looked a little tentative when he came on against West Brom, but he looked more like his old self on this occasion and that was a real bonus for us today.”
Aleksandar Kolarov was left out of Man City’s starting lineup for the Eastlands match with Wigan and duly missed out on the points for a clean sheet, coming on with just over 20 minutes remaining. This was just City’s second clean sheet in seven league games and with his starting position now unstable, Kolarov owners were left with a single point for their troubles.
Carlos Tevez, the overwhelming FFScout captaincy favourite this week, hit a blank against the bottom club and has now failed to score in his past three league games. City have scored just one goal in each of those three matches and the goals are clearly drying up at the moment for Roberto Mancini’s men. With visits to Chelsea and Liverpool in the next three games, Kolarov and Tevez may see a dip in ownership, with the likes of Man United and Spurs having relatively easy home games over the same period, in comparison
In a disappointing home display, City were lucky to grab all three points, with David Silva picking up all 3 Bonus Points for his somewhat fortuitous winner. After a slow start to his season, Silva is becoming more of a pivotal figure for City as the campaign progresses, and has now grabbed 2 goals, 2 assists and 4 Bonus Points in his last 4 league matches.
Charles N’Zogbia was deemed not fit enough to start by Roberto Martinez but came off the subs bench with half an hour to go. The winger put in a lively performance, suggesting he’ll be ready to start in Wigan’s next league match, a proverbial six-pointer against Birmingham at the DW Stadium.
