After a tough last few gameweeks that have seen them collect just one point from five Premier League matches, Sunderland’s fixtures are starting to look appealing again. There’s no doubt Steve Bruce’s side rode their luck a little in the recent goalless draw at the Emirates, but the Black Cats boss will take heart in the spirited performance ahead of the upcoming home match against Liverpool, which is then followed by a trip to Eastlands to face Man City.
Sunderland then have one of the most favourable run-ins of any team in the Premier League, with just one of their last seven fixtures (WBA, bir, WIG, FUL, bol, WOL, whm) against a team in the top half of the table. Beaten just three times at the Stadium of Light this season, Bruce will be looking for his side to push on from their current league position of eighth and the contribution of Asamoah Gyan will be vital.
In his debut season, Gyan is the club’s top scorer with nine league goals and- with Darren Bent’s departure coupled with injuries to both Danny Welbeck and Frazier Campbell- has cemented his role as Sunderland’s key forward since moving to Wearside at the tail end of last August.
With four goals, two assists and four Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Bonus Points since the turn of the year, Gyan has continued to bang in the goals despite his side’s indifferent form. Bearing in mind the afore-mentioned set of fixtures, the Ghanaian could well be finding the net a few more times before the season is out, particularly now as Sunderland have key players such as Lee Cattermole returning from injury to strengthen their starting XI.
Although last week saw Welbeck make a brief substitute appearance since succumbing to a knee injury in early January, Gyan looks the more reliable of Sunderland‘s forwards to plump for, in terms of both performance and availability. Priced at just £7.0m and with 4.2% Fantasy Ownership, he’s still relatively cheap enough to free up FPL budgets for those Fantasy Managers looking to juggle personnel in light of the upcoming blank and/or double gameweeks.
Ahead of this week‘s home encounter with Liverpool, the stats certainly seem to be favourable for those mulling over an imminent punt on the Sunderland forward; Gyan has found the net in three of his last four home games and, with Liverpool conceding at least two goals in six of their last eight away games, the signs are looking good.
