The race for fourth place stumbles as both City and Spurs drop points ahead of their now crucial Eastlands clash on Tuesday night. Yaya Toure provides some double gameweek delight with his strike at Goodison, but Rafael Van der Vaart draws a blank against Blackpool to leave us pondering the prospect of a midweek haul.
Elsewhere, Thomas Hitzlsperger’s recent form is transformed into Fantasy returns as the Hammers earn a battling point against Rovers. Ben Foster prevents Birmingham being skittled at Newcastle, while Bolton’s relaxed state has them fall to a rare home defeat to a patched-up Sunderland. Here’s the notes form Saturday’s offerings…
Ben Foster
The Birmingham keeper showed just why he’s been the budget keeper of choice this season, with an incredible 9 saves preventing a rout at St James‘ Park. Despite the 2-1 defeat, Foster still picked up 5 Fantasy Premier League points but his heroics were unable to stop Newcastle clocking up a victory which leaves his side precariously close to the drop zone.
Alex McLeish’s side face Fulham at home next week but must do so without the services of Liam Ridgewell; the centre half was sent off for deliberate handball in the defeat to Aln Pardew’s side and will now serve a one match ban.
Charles N’Zogbia
The French winger has found his form as Wigan battle desperately to avoid the drop, grabbing the opener in yesterday’s 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. N’Zogbia now has 3 goals and 2 assists in his last four league games, returning a total of 33 FPL points. It’s a pity for the Latics that it’s taken him so long to start finding the net- N’Zogbia had only scored 4 goals previous to this run all season, his minimal early season contribution one of the reasons why Wigan are staring relegation in the face.
Thomas Hitzlsperger
The German justified his inclusion in this week’s Scout Picks, grabbing the equaliser to provide the Hammers some sorely-missed inspiration in the absence of Scott Parker. Hitzlsperger returned a 9 point FPL haul and has scored a total of 33 pts in his five Upton Park appearances. With (wig, SUN) still to play, his contribution will be vital if the Hammers are to stay up.
Phil Jones
The Rovers defender missed out at Upton Park following back spasms prior to the game. Blackburn boss Steve Kean shifted Gael Givet alongside Chris Samba, with Martin Olsson moving from a midfield role to left-back. The disruption did not prevent Blackburn from putting up a resolute defensive display with Samba earning 3 FPL Bonus Points for his another colossal performance at the heart of the rearguard. Robbie Keane however, will not want to look back on his horrendous miss from six yards that could have scuppered Blackburn’s efforts and won a precious victory for West Ham.
Bolton Slip Again
The luxury of a secured mid-table position has well and truly derailed Bolton’s form as they slipped to a third straight defeat at home to an injury ravaged Sunderland. Daniel Strurridge recovered from an ankle injury to start up front for the Trotters but he and his Fantasy owners were left frustrated on the day as the visitors ran out 2-1 winners. Owen Coyle will surely be looking for his side to stop the rot over their remaining fixtures (blp MCY).
Patched-Up Sunderland Prevail
Steve Bruce was forced to shuffle his resources to put out another makeshift starting XI at the Reebok. There was a suggestion that Elmohamady would start up front for the Black Cats but Bruce once again went with Stephane Sessegnon in the central striker role with the Egyptian pushed forward on the right-flank for much of the game.
City Stumble in Race for Fourth
If they’d won at Everton, Man City would be nine points clear of Spurs with just three games left to play. Despite taking the lead through Yaya Toure, Roberto Mancini’s side were felled by two second-half strikes from the home side and the City boss now finds himself with a selection dilemma. With the crucial midweek league clash against Spurs at Eastlands followed by the weekend FA Cup Final, does he rest certain players for fear of injury ahead of the Wembley showdown or does he go for his strongest line-up against Harry Redknapp’s side, looking to sew up fourth place on the night?
Mancini admitted in his post-match comments that Tuesday’s game was now a more difficult proposition…
“I don’t think we will have a problem with qualifying for the Champions League but Tuesday will now be a 100 per cent hard matchâ€
Certainly, the importance of the league clash should slightly lessen the likelihood of major rotation; Mancini will surely need the likes of David Silva and Toure on the field next Tuesday evening if City are to clinch that Champions League spot. Mario Balotelli may well get a start against Spurs; surprisingly left out the City first XI against Everton, he managed 10 minutes as a sub, but another limp game from Edin Dzeko could see the Bosnian drop back to the bench. Carlos Tevez is another factor of course – Mancini has remarked that a place on the bench is the best that his skipper can aim for given his battle for fitness for the Cup Final.
“He will need to train with the team and in the next days we will see if it is possible…If he can play 20 minutes somehow we can see if he can play or not. At the moment I think 50% for the final.”
Spurs Fail to Capitalise
Tuesday’s opponents are six points behind City with three games left, Spurs’ chances of returning to the Champions League next season are drifting away but with one win in their last nine games, they’ve been the masters of their own downfall. ‘Arry’s side really have it all to do now, as their next two games are (mcy, liv).
Heurelho Gomes
With the howls of derision still ringing in his ears following last week’s clanger at Chelsea, Gomes redeemed himself with a fantastic penalty save from Charlie Adam with the scoreline blank at White Hart Lane. Fast forward a few seconds, however, and Gomes had brought Gary Taylor-Fletcher down inside the box, presenting Adam with another penalty opportunity. This time it was the Scot who earned redemption, smashing the ball past the hapless keeper to dent Tottenham’s Champions League chances.
Gareth Bale
The Welshman was stretchered from the field after a robust Charlie Adam challenge left him writhing on the turf in agony in the second half. Bale departed White Hart Lane with a protective boot over his left ankle and the club have since announced he is due for scans on Monday.
Post-match, Redknapp seemed sceptical of the winger’s chances of a quick recovery…
“He has done his ankle, it looks quite bad. They are checking up on him but it is quite swollen.It looked a bad challenge, to be fair. But that is how it goes…They will scan him for sure and see how it is. It might not be so bad. He might have done his ligament, it may just be a twist. I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see.”
