Yesterday, it finally happened. In amongst the thunder and lightning at a rain-soaked Stamford Bridge, Fernando Torres splashed through the puddles to find the net for Chelsea, his first goal for the champions in a routine rout of West Ham. While Torres put his personal demons to bed, Chelsea were still left in the wake of Man United as Alex Ferguson’s side took a huge step towards claiming this year’s crown with a late winner over a determined Everton. Elsewhere, Liverpool served notice of their ever-increasing potency, Sunderland finally found some fighting spirit and Tottenham’s Champions League hopes were dented by a spirited Baggies at The Lane. Here’s the notes from yesterday’s games….
With Tuesday’s Champions League Semi Final in mind, the weekend’s early kick-off saw Sir Alex Ferguson make five alterations to his starting XI. There were changes aplenty in the Man United defence, in particular, as Nemanja Vidic and Chris Smalling dropped out to be replace by Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans at centre-half.
John O’Shea moved to left-back to accommodate Fabio on the right, with Fergie also deciding to rest Patrice Evra, but an injury to O’Shea forced the Frenchman into action just before the hour mark.
Despite starting the game with Nani and Antonio Valencia on the wings and Wayne Rooney partnered by Javier Hernandez up top, United were close to making it three consecutive games in all competitions without a goal, as a defiant Everton defence- marshalled superbly by Sylvan Distin and Phil Jagielka- repelled almost everything their hosts could throw at them.
With his nineteenth goal of a brilliant debut campaign, Javier Hernandez is looking like the buy of the season. Once again, Little Pea showed his killer touch, popping up in the 84th minute to grab the match-winning goal and consequently pick up the 3 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Bonus Points. The victory not only makes it thirteen straight home league wins for United, it also puts them nine points ahead of the pack with only four games left. Up next for the league leaders are two critical games (ars, CHE), with Fergie’s men now needing just seven points to take the title.
David Moyes’ side came to Old Trafford on a seven match unbeaten run that stretched back to February but they were under the cosh almost from the word go. United bossed the possession but just couldn’t find the creative spark to break down their stubborn resistance under Hernandez’s close-range header late on. Fantasy owners of Seamus Coleman will have been delighted, though; the youngster came off on 74 minutes, ensuring he got the six points for a clean sheet.
Once again, Rafael Van der Vaart started from the right wing for Spurs as Jermain Defoe began up front at the expense of Peter Crouch. Gareth Bale, somewhat surprisingly, recovered in time to take his place in the hosts’ starting XI, but a hamstring injury to Benoit Assou-Ekotto forced Bale to drop into left-back as Harry Redknapp shuffled his pack.
After the match, the Spurs boss revealed he is unsure as to the severity of the injury, but any time out for the Cameroonian would see Bale shift to defence, a situation certainly worth monitoring for his many Fantasy Owners.
Spurs seem to be suffering from the same symptoms as Arsenal right now; they may have extended their unbeaten run to six games with this draw but have recorded just one win over those matches. They are back scoring goals but their culpability at the back is, like The Gunners, costing them dearly in their battle for fourth with Man City.
A look at their remaining fixtures suggests they have a fight on their hands to gain that Champions League slot; (che, BLP & mcy, liv, BIR). The home games are very favourable, but Redknapp could hardly ask for three more difficult away matches.
At first, the award of three Bonus Points to Sandro in the Spurs midfield looks an oversight from the FPL. Rafael Van der Vaart will perhaps have been expected to fetch Bonus given another creative and threatening display. Sandro however, put in and won a large number of key tackles in the Tottenham midfield and our Members can see from his Defending statistics, he was a major influence for Harry Redknapp’s side on the day. With Luke Young earning maximum Bonus for Villa thanks to his “Tackles Won” ratio, the gameweek saw some often overshadowed defensive players earn recognition over their more forward-thinking counterparts.
Every week, there’s a reason to include him in the Scout Notes and yesterday proved no exception; Odemwingie’s opener at White Hart Lane means he is now West Brom’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League, with thirteen goals. That’s four goals and five assists in his last six games and, considering he’s faced Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs in that run, shows just what a player West Brom have on their hands. West Brom’s remaining four matches all look favourable (AVL wol EVE new) and provide the Nigerian with the perfect platform to boost his goal tally further – late Fantasy investment in Odemwingie looks assured.
Having lost for the first time under Roy Hodgson last week, the Baggies trip to White Hart Lane was something of a test of character and, once again, they passed with flying colours. They took the lead against a Spurs side buoyed by their comeback in the North London derby and, despite going 2-1 down, showed their determination by grabbing a superb equaliser with less than ten minutes left to notch up their 40th league point of the season.
Kenny Dalglish had no hesitation in fielding youngsters Jack Robinson and John Flanagan at full-back again after the pair’s recent impressive performances. Flanagan has played three consecutive games now, with the Reds conceding just one goal -a penalty- since his introduction to the back-four. Both his clean sheets have been recorded at home and it’s interesting to learn that the previous two home games before Flanagan’s introduction saw Liverpool concede on both occasions.
Andy Carroll’s knee injury gave Dirk Kuyt the chance to join Luis Suarez up front and the Dutchman kept up his recent exceptional scoring run, bagging his seventh goal in the last six league games as Liverpool dismissed Birmingham with ease. Kuyt also picked up an assist in the 5-0 rout, and his recent performances, regardless of position, have proved him to be an integral member of Kenny Dalglish’s side. With the Liverpool boss admitting post-match that he is unsure of Carroll’s availability for next week’s showdown with former club Newcastle, Kuyt’s stint as a forward could well continue.
Another knock-on effect of this re-jig was the midfield introduction of Maxi Rodriguez, Maxi’s performance reinforced the extra strength in depth Liverpool can call on since Carroll and Suarez arrived in January and, with a three goal, three Bonus Points haul of 21 FPL points, helped shoot Liverpool to just three points off fifth-placed Spurs. Granted, Dalglish’s side have played a game more but considering Spurs afore-mentioned fixtures and Liverpool’s (NEW, ful, TOT, avl) it may well be possible to take fifth, given both side’s respective form.
Birmingham kept a slightly more defensive shape at Anfield, with the 4-5-1 implemented at Stamford Bridge maintained. Barry Ferguson was rested, with Lee Bowyer brought back into the starting XI but that’s eight goals conceded in the last two games now for Birmingham and with the club not yet safe from the threat of relegation, the next three games (WOL, new, FUL) will be vital.
A collision with team mate Stephen Carr forced the Birmingham keeper to leave the proceedings on 40 minutes with a dead leg. Colin Doyle replaced Foster between the sticks and as Alex McLeish admitted after the match, Foster’s availability for next week’s crucial home game with Wolves is currently up in the air. The news will be a worry to his Fantasy Owners; Foster is in 25% of all squads, second only to Joe Hart for goalkeepers.
With manager Gerard Houllier confined to his hospital bed following chest pains last midweek, Aston Villa gave their boss a little cheer by extending their unbeaten run to four matches, with a 1-1 home draw against FA Cup finalists Stoke. Villa, once again, maintained the 4-4-2 that had seen them win the last two league games and after going a goal behind, had Darren Bent (who else?) to thank for grabbing the goal that denied Tony Pulis’ visitors a rare away win. With (wba, WIG) up next, Bent will have a great chance to extend a run that has produced four goals in his last four games.
No doubt buoyed by last weekend’s 5-0 thrashing of Bolton and forthcoming FA Cup Final next month, Stoke were quick out the blocks against Aston Villa, taking the lead midway through the first half thanks to Kenwyne Jones, one of Big Dunc’s picks in this week’s Spot the Differential.
Despite failing to hold on to their lead, Stoke survived a second half which saw the home side take the game to them and managed to escape with a 1-1 draw, ending an abysmal run of seven successive defeats on the road. Pulis’ side are still only five points above the drop zone but a win against Wolves this midweek -the second of their double gameweek 34- would give them 42 points and virtually wrap up their top-flight safety.
Ian Holloway’s side earned a 1-1 with Newcastle to put an end to a run of three straight defeats. Charlie Adam came out of the game with the assist for DJ Campbell’s header from his corner – that was the Scot’s first return in four matches. During that spell Adam has failed to fetch a single Bonus Point – his last return of that nature came in the 2-2 draw at Blackburn – a game which saw him score twice.
Sunderland lost two key players in the first half of their 4-2 win over Wigan at the Stadium of Light. Phil Bardsley suffered what appeared to be a serious injury in a collision with team-mate Nedum Onuoha after just 10 minutes, while Danny Welbeck sustained a recurrence of his hamstring injury that had made him a doubt all week and was forced off on 25 minutes. Asamoah Gyan then suffered a similar setback in the second-half. While Steve Bruce assured us that Bardsley will likely come through for gameweek 35’s home clash with Fulham, both Gyan and Welbeck will have scans later this week and could even be set to miss the rest of the season.
Sunderland are now woefully short of firepower, despite their four goals against the Latics. Stéphane Sessegnon shifted up front when Welbeck departed and he came out of the game with a goal and an assist. As a 5.8 midfielder, his situation is worthy of monitoring over Sunderland’s remaining matches.
Bobby Zamora came off the bench to provide the assist for fellow sub Andy Johnson to level matters in the 1-1- draw with Wolves. Zamora offered some reward for his Fantasy investors then who would have been disturbed to see him out of the starting XI at Molineux. Both Zamora and Johnson now look well placed for starts against Bolton in the second fixture of the gamweek for Mark Hughes’ men. That could even seen Clint Dempsey’s place under threat as Hughes looks to shuffle once again.
Carlo Ancelotti fought the urge to make wholesale changes to his lineup in the 3-0 win over West Ham. Branislav Ivanovic returned at right-back but elsewhere the starting XI against Birmingham was retained. Fernando Torres had to come off the bench to earn his goal then, but a delighted and relieved Ancelotti stated in his post-match comments that this is unlikely to be the case against Spurs, with a Torres/Didier Drogba pairing looking likely…
“Considering the performance of Didier today, and considering Fernando scored, we have to try and play both together now. We have one week to train and we will take a decision before the next game. I don’t want to guarantee this but we will try.”
Chelsea’s midfield pairing, with so much scoring potential between them, are now firmly back in gear. While Florent Malouda is replicating his early season form with four goals in his last four starts, Lampard is arguably in his best spell so far this term, having notched 5 goals in his last 8 games. It was Lampard who claimed the maximum Bonus, fully justifying his selection in the Scout Picks and his top ranking in our Watchlist. Even though Chelsea’s fixtures stiffen with Spurs and United up next, it looks risky to overlook the Chelsea pair for the remaining gameweeks.
West Ham were unfortunate to come out of the Stamford Bridge clash with a 3-0 scoreline and their battle for Premier League survival was not helped by yet another injury in midfield. Mark Noble was stretchered off with a knee problem in the second-half. Avram Grant stated that the injury is “not looking so good” and with Gary O’Neil already out for the season and Scott Parker again missing yesterday, resources in the engine room are stretched to say the least.
