Chelsea grab a late win to keep hot on United’s heels at the top, while Blackburn pick up a priceless three points as relegation rivals Wigan and Blackpool are both held to home draws. Striker-less Sunderland are hammered by Fulham and Peter Odemwingie scores yet again as ten-man West Brom end Aston Villa’s four-match unbeaten run. Here’s the notes on yesterday’s games:
Having scored and conceded in every home game this season, the last scoreline anyone expected yesterday as Blackpool hosted Stoke was a goalless draw. The one point gained may have kept Ian Holloway’s side just above the drop zone but a look at their remaining fixtures (tot, BOL, mun) offers little optimism.
The Seasiders only two victories this calendar year have been at home to Liverpool and Spurs, but that form in front of their own fans is long-gone, with the last four league fixtures harvesting two points, despite all of them taking place at Bloomfield Road.
The playmaker’s hold over the Bonus Points judges seems to be lessening with every passing game now. The Stoke game makes it five games in a row without a Bonus Point for Adam and with the above-mentioned fixtures his only games remaining, many Fantasy Managers will surely be considering his place in their squads.
With the upcoming double gameweek for Man City and Spurs increasing the allure of players such as David Silva, Yaya Toure, Adam Johnson, Rafael Van der Vaart, Gareth Bale and Luka Modric, is it time to wave goodbye to Charlie?
This was just the second time this season Stoke have managed to record two back-to-back clean sheets, but they’ll find their work cut out over the next couple of gameweeks. Next up is (ARS, mcy) before a final day home encounter with Wigan. For as much as Tony Pulis’ side are finding an extra-resilience of late, investment in their defenders must come with a note of caution.
His goal against Spurs may have been dubious, but, nevertheless, Lampard is starting to replicate that well-known Fantasy consistency as the battle at the top heats up; it’s three goals in the last four now, with all coming from open play. With six Bonus Points factored in, he’s averaged 7.5 ppg over the last four gameweeks. Having been at the top of our Watchlist rankings for just under a month, Lampard has fully justified his ranking with some consistent scoring.
The big Ivorian was moved from his favoured central role as Carlo Ancelotti gave Fernando Torres the chance to lead the line for Chelsea; Drogba, playing to the Spaniard’s right, wasn’t quite the player he’s been in recent matches, though he did regain his place in the middle when Torres was subbed just after the hour mark.
As the chalkboard below shows, all his shots before Torres’ removal came from way out, with two of the three direct free-kicks. Moved back into the middle, his attempts were far closer to goal, with his typical persistence assisting Salomon Kalou’s late winner.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s hamstring injury last week meant a reshuffle of the back-four for Tottenham yesterday. In the Cameroonian’s absence, Vedran Corluka moved to left-back, with Younnes Kaboul taking the right-back berth. Corluka then departed the proceedings with a suspected hamstring injury, forcing Gareth Bale to drop back into defence. As the injuries rack up, there’s a possibility Bale may find himself as the Spurs left-back going into the upcoming double gameweek (BLP, mcy).
For those eyeing up a Spurs striker ahead of the double gameweek, it’s worth noting that the Stamford Bridge game was Pavlyuchenko’s fifth start in a row. At present, Harry Redknapp seems to favour the Russian up front- regardless of formation- and it looks likely he’ll get the most game time of any Tottenham forward. Bear in mind, though, he’s scored just once in those games, assisting twice.
Such is the form of Peter Odemwingie, the word “goal” seems synonymous with the Nigerian’s name of late. A Midlands derby against Aston Villa saw him find the net for the fourth game on the trot, making the Baggies striker the fifth-top scorer in the top-flight this season with fourteen goals. An away trip to neighbours Wolves next week should offer a chance to extend that record.
Having not won a game in their previous ten attempts, Blackburn bucked the trend yesterday afternoon, as a 1-0 victory over Bolton arrested their slump towards the bottom of the table. Rovers are not home and dry by any means -still just 3 points away from the relegation- but Martin Olsson’s first half strike has provided some optimism ahead of the final three games (whm, MUN, wol), particularly with those two away games pitting them against fellow-relegation contenders.
Owen Coyle sprung a surprise with his decision to draft some second-string players into the Bolton starting XI. Perennial substitutes such as Adam Bogdan, Ricardo Gardner, Tamir Cohen and Rodrigo Moreno were all given their chance in the spotlight. With Bolton’s Premier League status secure, potential investors should be wary if this selection pattern continues.
David Moyes recalled fit-again Mikel Arteta to the Everton starting line-up, a move which relegated Seamus Coleman to the bench. It was two spot-kicks which told Everton’s story at the DW Stadium; Arteta fluffed the chance to mark his return with a goal but Leighton Baines converted the visitor’s second spot-kick, with Arteta already subbed off. Baines also grabbed all 3 Bonus Points to cement his place as top-scoring defender in the FPL game, as the Scout Pick came good.
The French winger once again proved his worth to the Latics, opening the scoring in this crucial home fixture. N’Zogbia has two goals and two assists in the last three games, averaging 8 ppg. He was in the thick of the action at both ends, however, handing Everton their first penalty for a foul on Leon Osman. N’Zogbia’s game was cut short in the 56th minute after he picked up a dead leg and, given his form, Roberto Martinez will be desperate for a quick return ahead of the games against (avl, WHM, stk).
Prior to yesterday Sunderland had kept just one clean sheet -surprisingly, away at Arsenal- since the transfer window closed at the end of January and conceded 25 goals in 10 games in the process. It was perhaps no surprise, then, that Steve Bruce’s side kept up appearances in the worst possible way, hammered at home by three goals to nil by Mark Hughes’ Fulham.
Sunderland’s inability to score in their defeat was unsurprising, considering their three recognised strikers are all sidelined by injury. Midfielder Stephane Sessegnon was called upon in their absence -with Steed Malbranque in support- but his efforts were to no avail. Steve Bruce even thrust defender Nedum Onuoha up front at one point in yesterday’s defeat. The Wearsiders will be hoping that one of Asamoah Gyan or Danny Welbeck can make a miracle recovery before the season’s end.
Injury and illness meant last week’s double gameweek heroes Clint Dempsey and Brede Hangeland were nowhere to be seen as The Cottagers travelled north but Mark Hughes’ men certainly didn’t rest on their laurels, scoring 3 goals for the fourth time in their last six fixtures. The aforementioned American grabbed a brace in midweek and yesterday saw fellow midfielder Simon Davies step up in his absence to net twice against the Black Cats to fetch an impressive 16 point FPL tally. On loan Chelsea midfielder Gael Kakuta stabbed home the other goal, the first of the game to provide an end product to his impressive performance statistics of late.
