Wigan grab a crucial win by the seaside as Blackpool, Blackburn, the Black Cats and Avram Grant’s West Ham show no sign of improvement with the threat of relegation looming large. Roy’s Baggies are finally beaten as Chelsea change shape to move within a point of second place. Elsewhere, Roberto Mancini ends Man United’s treble dream as City upset the odds and reach the FA Cup Final. Here’s the notes on all yesterday’s action….
The forward’s twelfth league goal of the season saw him become West Brom’s joint-top scorer in the top-flight and keeps up his brilliant recent form; Odemwingie has averaged just shy of nine Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points per game in his last five league appearances.
At just £5.2m, he is now the fourth highest-scoring forward in FPL this term and -given that the three forwards placed higher all star for top four clubs- the Nigerian has proved to be been the best cut-price fixture-proof forward there is around, in an eye-catching debut season.
Last week’s win at Sunderland saw Simon Cox partner Odemwingie up front but the forward dropped out for James Morrison as Roy Hodgson opted for a more cautious approach against Chelsea. The 3-1 defeat marks Hodgson’s first defeat as boss of the Baggies and with five games remaining (tot, AVL, wol, EVE, new) they sit six points above the drop zone. Considering that they’ve chalked up just one clean sheet all season, it’s pretty much a given they’ll be looking to the firepower provided by Odemwingie to ensure their Premier League survival over the next few gameweeks.
As mentioned in last evening’s Knee Jerk article, Chelsea changed formation for the third time in as many games for the trip to the Hawthorns. Back came the 4-3-3, and despite falling behind early on, the Blues fought back to win with ease, as Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda turned on the style as if it were the first five gameweeks of this season all over again, grabbing 2 goals, 2 assists and all 6 Bonus Points between them.
With second place still to fight for, it’s essential Chelsea keep the pressure on Arsenal and their win over West Brom narrowed the gap for the runners-up spot down to a single point. Yesterday’s more familiar, risk-free formation came with a consistency of selection up front, as Didier Drogba started for the third league game on the trot. Drogba has scored three in his last four in all competitions and with a goal, assist and 3 Bonus Points, returned 12 points for his Fantasy Owners. In comparison, Fernando Torres has picked up a total of 13 points over the last eight gameweeks. Torres has mustered 71 minutes over the last three gameweeks -yesterday’s eight minute cameo included- which may well suggest he’s destined to play second-fiddle to Drogba from now till the end of the season, particularly with the Ivorian in such barnstorming form.
A head knock last week saw Roger Johnson depart the proceedings at half-time in the draw at Blackburn but the centre half returned to Birmingham’s starting XI yesterday. His presence in the 2-0 home win over Sunderland proved crucial, as Alex McLeish’s side chalked up their first clean sheet in the last seven matches to leapfrog the Black Cats and boost their chances for survival.
Johnson appeared to be limping towards the end of yesterday’s match but his post-match comments will be reassuring to Birmingham fans and Fantasy Owners alike, with a midweek match at Stamford Bridge up next as game two in this week’s double.
Having picked up seven points from their last three games, Birmingham are showing the spirit that saw them clinch the Carling Cup at Arsenal’s expense and with their remaining gameweeks reading (liv, WOL, new, FUL, tot) “Big Eck†will surely target those two home games, in particular, as the key to their safety, given that Birmingham have taken 25 of their 38 points at St Andrews.
Last season, it seemed as if setting foot on the pitch was enough to earn Barry Ferguson some FPL Bonus Points, particularly in a Birmingham victory. Although he’s picked up 21 this time round, Ferguson drew a blank in yesterday’s match, and a look at the FPL stats shows he has now picked up just 3 Bonus Points in his last eleven games.
Ferguson was put firmly in the shade by midfield team mates Craig Gardner and Sebastian Larsson, who bagged a goal apiece and four Bonus Points between them. With a midweek game at Stamford Bridge still to come this gameweek, Gardner vindicated his selection in this week’s Scout Picks with an 11 point return and has scored twice in Birmingham’s last three games.
Sunderland’s appalling run of form shows no sign of letting up, as the St Andrews defeat leaves them with one point from nine games. The Black Cats slide towards the trap door continues and there’s definitely a worrying edginess to their play right now, illustrated by the mix-up between Simon Mignolet and Phil Bardsley that allowed Sebastan Larsson to open the scoring for Birmingham.
Steve Bruce, whose side have now failed to score in five of their last six matches, faced up to the slump post-match, admitting:
“There have been a few times recently when I have said the performance has not been good enough. But I could not ask any more from a young, makeshift side today. We have to try and take the positives out of today and if we play like that, we can still turn the season around and finish with a flourish. We are in a relegation battle, no question about it. There are 10 teams in it and we are one of them. The lads know we have not got enough points. We’ve got to try and arrest that slump”.
With five games to go, Sunderland have still to face three of the bottom four (WIG, FUL, bol, WOL, whm) and should just about edge over the finishing line.
Last week saw Aston Villa revert to a 4-4-2 and the change in formation brought about a vital win at home to Newcastle. Gerard Houllier continued with this shape at Upton Park, choosing to start Emile Heskey up front with Darren Bent and dropping Gabby Agbonlahor to the bench. Nigel Reo-Coker also grabbed a start, at the expense of Jean Makoun in central midfield.
Despite only joining in January, Bent’s equaliser, the sixth of his Villa career, makes him the club’s joint-top scorer this season and pretty much sums up the lack of bite in Houllier’s side. For the second game in a row, he also had a goal harshly ruled out, as his presence up front proves pivotal in keeping Villa in the top-flight and, perhaps, Houllier in the Villa hot seat. Sitting on 40 points, Villa are almost safe and with (STK, wba, WIG) up next, a win or two would surely be enough to keep them up.
Ashley Young may have been found himself back out on the wing for Villa since the formation change, but it hasn’t stopped him influencing proceedings any less. Young provided the cross for Agbonlahor’s late winner and the assist -his third in successive games- helped him pick up the 3 Bonus Points.
West Ham had to make do without talisman Scott Parker for the home showdown with Aston Villa and his absence proved crucial as the Hammers lost for the third game on the trot to find themselves firmly entrenched in the drop zone. After the match, Avram Grant admitted he was unsure whether Parker will play again for the Hammers this season, a fact that will depress the club’s fans further-still, as they sit second bottom only on goal difference, having played a game more than 20th place Wolves.
Grant made the surprising decision to start the match without Demba Ba, choosing to start Robbie Keane and Carlton Cole instead. Keane seems to have come out of the cold in recent weeks and, having not managed a 90 minute appearance for West Ham until last week, played for the entire match again. The on loan Spurs man grabbed the opener at Upton Park but the home side’s vulnerability at the back proved their undoing.
It’s almost as if West Ham have too many forwards to choose from and there is little consistency of selection right now. Ba eventually saw some game time, coming on just after the hour mark, though the Hammers boss’ decision to first throw on Zavon Hines, a forward he’s given no game time at all since gameweek 24, baffled many an onlooker.
Everton’s left-back has been experiencing a bit of an Indian summer these last few weeks and the profit isn’t one he would normally even be expecting. Leighton Baines has been in bloom this season and is well on course to being top scoring defender in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game with the second highest assist tally in the league and a growing Bonus Points haul.
Yesterday luck fell the way of the Kirkby born player as he converted a penalty for Everton’s second goal – a duty that would normally be undertaken by the currently injured Mikel Arteta. His scoring here only seems more fortuitous considering Everton had not had a spot-kick in the first 30 gameweeks and now Baines has had two in three. Right place, right time.
As highlighted in Big Dunc’s “Spot The Differential” prior to the gameweek starting, Osman had earned 3 assists and 2 goals in the six gameweeks prior to the win over Blackburn – yesterday he opened the scoring and picked up 3 Bonus Points to deliver an 11 points total. Another handy differential for those who took the gamble.
With only one point taken from the last 21 on offer, Steve Kean’s side are falling ever closer to the relegation mire. With a lack of cutting edge up front Rovers are finding it hard to get the goals required to steer them to safety and the away form in particular, continues to falter.
Wigan were somewhat gifted all three goals in their victory over Blackpool thanks to poor defending and fortuitous deflections, but our recent Watchlist subject – Charles N’Zogbia still stood out. The French midfielder terrorised the Blackpool defence for the full 76 minutes he was on the field and was handed opportunities to punish the seasiders when he first capitalised on a wayward Craig Cathcart stumble to provide Hugo Rodallega for the opener, and then got on the scoresheet himself after Wigan made the most of some slack work by Charlie Adam. Unsurprisingly, Bonus Points followed to tie with Leighton Baines on 13 as the day’s high scorer. Both N’Zogbia and striker Hugo Rodallega will likely climb in our Watchlist rankings as form and fixtures look to coincide nicely (sun EVE avl WHM stk).
Having lost 12 of their 16 fixtures in 2011, Ian Holloway’s men are really suffering and their defeat at the hands of Wigan has seen them slip into the relegation zone. With a couple of tough away days (tot mun) to come, their next two home games are going to be key – captain Charlie Adam and 10 goal FPL bargain (4.4) DJ Campbell will need to rise to the occasion but Blackpool’s form, showing four defeats and no wins in the last five home matches, is worrying to say the least.
After a rather poor season, the Man United central midfielder has showed good form this past month but he had a poor game by all accounts yesterday evening. A gaffe on the edge of the United box gift-wrapped Yaya Toure a free run at goal and proved the most costly mistake of them all as City wound out 1-0 victors, thanks to Carrick’s sloppy error.
With Manchester City scrambling following news that Carlos Tevez looks set to face around a month on the sidelines, the club had to lend lead striking duties to Mario Balotelli. The Italian forward didn’t have a bad game but it was clear that, for all his talents, Tevez’s work ethic on the pitch and the crucial goals he has scored to date will be missed. Most telling of all, and perhaps unsurprisingly, is the biggest talking point for Balotelli was an after-game fracas involving himself, Anderson and Rio Ferdinand.
Dimitar Berbatov made just his second start in eight games for Manchester United in the defeat to Manchester City. It’s a clear sign that, at least for now, the Bulgarian has seemingly slipped down the pecking order at United. With Wayne Rooney serving the second of his two-game suspension and Javier Hernandez rested to the bench, we expect to see that strike pairing taking to the field on Tuesday evening as United pay visit to Newcastle for their gameweek fixture.
By virtue of the qualification for the FA Cup final City also have the honour of being the likely penultimate -Stoke or Bolton should be the last- side to have a fixture rescheduled. However this movement of games is wholly unexciting as their game with Stoke will now take place on Tuesday 17th May to allow City to take part in the final the weekend before.
