Yesterday proved to be a goals bonanza, as Chelsea and Fulham both filled their boots with five and six goals respectively. As mentioned in last night’s Knee Jerk, the wins promoted a trio of low-priced forwards in our Fantasy thinking, with Daniel Sturridge, Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora all enjoying double-figure points hauls. Swansea’s cut-price defensive options notched up another clean sheet to defy visitors Stoke, while a north London derby saw Aaron Ramsey underline his flourishing Fantasy potential as the Gunners went down two-one. Here’s the Scout Notes on Sunday’s action:
Petrov Produces Again
While Bolton slipped to their sixth straight defeat with a home hammering from Chelsea, Fantasy owners of Martin Petrov can at least find solace in the Bulgarian’s consistent points delivery. The Bulgarian picked up his fourth assist of the season in the Reebok loss and has also bagged a goal so far this term, demonstrating an ability to pick up the points in spite of his side’s dire form. The 5.8 FPL priced midfielder has a favourable run of games on the horizon (wig, SUN, swa, STK, wba, EVE) and still looks decent value for money- with top scorer Ivan Klasnic set to return for the gameweek eight trip to Wigan, Owen Coyle will be reliant on the pair to fire the bottom-placed club back up the table.
The Lamps and Sturridge Show
Subbed before the second half in the gameweek five match at Old Trafford and dropped for last week’s home clash with Swansea, it’s clear Frank Lampard will be prone to rotation this season. The midfielder’s start and subsequent hat-trick at Bolton yesterday, while serving a reminder of his ability to still deliver, only adds to the Fantasy frustration- clearly Lampard still has enough in the engine to produce when given the chance by Andre Villas-Boas. With the maximum bonus inevitably to follow, it’ll be 20 FPL points from Lampard at the Reebok, more than doubling his tally for the season. Given his manager’s recent selection policy, though, there’s no guarantee he’ll even start next time round.
Daniel Sturridge-in only his third appearance of the season- is already Chelsea’s top-scoring forward. Unlike Lampard, Sturridge has started every game when available and his two goals and an assist, aided by some dodgy goalkeeping, will surely bring the 6.5 forward some considerable Fantasy attention over the fortnight’s break before the gameweek eight home clash with Everton.
Cottagers Home Comforts
It’s been quite a remarkable week for Fulham’s Andy Johnson. The forward grabbed both his side’s goals in a midweek Europa League win at Odense and, given his first league start since gameweek two by Martin Jol, bagged a hat-trick and assist as Fulham picked up their first league win of the season yesterday. With just four goals in the first six gameweeks, it took a visit from rivals QPR for the Cottagers to explode into form, with a 6-0 rout ending the visitors’ three match unbeaten run in sensational style. Clint Dempsey, Danny Murphy and Bobby Zamora all hit double FPL figures as Jol’s side also showed a defensive solidity, picking up their second clean sheet on the trot.
QPR Capitulate
QPR came into the derby at Fulham with just one goal conceded in the last three but had no answer to their hosts’ rampant performance. Three-nil down at half-time, Neil Warnock rang the changes; Fantasy owners of Adel Taarabt will be concerned to see the Moroccan replaced by DJ Campbell for the second forty-five but the alterations had no effect, with three more conceded before the game was out. One crumb of comfort for Warnock will be the fact that his side’s next game is at home to Blackburn, offering the chance of the perfect pick-me-up. Given the three games following on are (CHE, tot, MCY), Warnock will be desperate for those three points; owners of the likes of Taarabt and Shaun Wright-Phillips might give them one more gameweek to perform before considering their options..
Swans Keep Flying
Another home game, another clean sheet for Swansea as Brendan Rodgers’ side moved up to tenth after their 2-0 win over Stoke. The promoted club continue to defy all expectations with their consistent ability to nullify the threat of opponents at the Liberty Stadium- just as well for the Welsh team, given their 100% loss record on the road. Scott Sinclair’s spot-kick duties proved crucial to his Fantasy owners once again, as the winger netted a penalty for the second home game on the trot- he has yet to score from open play thus far. Record-signing Danny Graham finally got off the mark and despite their next two games being away from home, Rodgers will be optimistic; trips to Norwich and Wolves should hold little fear for his side, with both their opponents’ recent patchy form.
Potters Out of Steam
Stoke’s third game in nine days proved a step too far at Swansea. After drawing with Man United and defeating Besiktas, Tony Pulis’ side tasted defeat the third time round; Stoke can count themselves a little unlucky- they hit the woodwork twice and Asmir Begovic’s goal was rarely under threat from the home side, but a Ryan Shawcross error gifted Swansea a penalty and a chance to take the lead early on. The Stoke boss bemoaned his side’s misfortune as they slipped to a second straight league defeat on the road- similar to Swansea, their home and away fortunes are wildly contrasting. Luckily for Pulis, then, four of the next six are at the Britannia (FUL, NEW, QPR, BLA) and given Stoke’s home record thus far, you’d reckon they will be strong favourites for each of them.
Rafa’s Helping Hand?
Spurs justified their pre-match billing as favourites for the north London derby with a somewhat contentious win over Arsenal. Emmanuel Adebayor failed to score but grabbed an assist for Rafael Van der Vaart’s opener, though there was more than a suggestion that the Dutchman had controlled the ball with an arm before firing home. The win-Spurs’ fourth in a row- saw Harry Redknapp revert back to 4-4-2 despite last week’s successful dalliance with a 4-2-3-1; Sandro dropped back to the bench, with a reshuffle allowing Jermain Defoe to return alongside Adebayor. Spurs have just one game in their next four at home (new, bla, QPR, ful) though with the kind of attacking verve they are currently displaying, Newcastle’s unbeaten record will be tested to the full when domestic action resumes in a fortnight’s time.
Gunners Fall Again
It’s one point from four away games and just two wins in seven so far for Arsenal. Aaron Ramsey’s second half equaliser puts him on 30 FPL points, just one behind Robin Van Persie and with a price difference of 6.3 to 11.9, the Welshman is putting forward quite a case for Fantasy selection. The goal followed on the back of three assists in his previous two games and right now, Ramsey is a stand-out in terms of “Value” within the Gunners squad. Three home games in the next four (SUN, STK, che, WBA) should still see Arsene Wenger’s side primed for Fantasy investment, despite the fact that Arsenal sit just four points off the bottom of the table right now. Van Persie owners will be hoping for a big improvement from their pricey forward- he’s found the net in just two league games so far.
