Daniel Sturridge nets yet again as Chelsea stumble at Wigan. Royston Drenthe marks his return to the Everton fold with an assist, Ryan Shotton continues his run in the Stoke first XI and Steve Morison is once more amongst the Fantasy points for Paul Lambert’s Norwich…
Clint Dempsey
Martin Jol’s side picked themselves up from their midweek Europa League exit with a comfortable win over basement dwellers Bolton. Despite starting on the left of midfield, Dempsey once again proved the key attacking influence for the Cottagers, netting for the second home game in succession. The American also bagged an assist to somewhat atone for his penalty miss at Swansea last weekend but, in spite of his strong form, Fantasy investment right now looks tricky- he faces Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal over Fulham’s next four fixtures.
Brian Ruiz
The Costa Rican is beginning to find his feet in the Premier League after a shaky start. Yesterday’s game was Ruiz’s third ninety-minute appearance in a row and he mirrored the output of Dempsey with a goal and assist- a score of 9 points is his best of the season, with Fantasy Premier (FPL) bonus surely set to follow.
Royston Drenthe
Having missed the previous three matches with a foot problem, the Dutchman was only afforded a 20-minute substitute appearance by David Moyes, but his creativity helped save the game for Everton. Drenthe’s assist for Leon Osman’s equaliser, just nine minutes after his introduction, was his fifth of the season for the Toffees- Leighton Baines has a single assist in comparison. With game time now under his belt again, Drenthe could well be ready for a return to the first XI for Wednesday’s home clash with Swansea.
Grant Holt & Steve Morison
Paul Lambert continued with a 4-4-2 formation for the trip to Everton, with Holt once again selected alongside Steve Morison up top. His opener at Goodison vindicated his manager’s decision and was Holt’s sixth goal in the Canaries last 8 games; with a couple of assists also thrown in over that run of games his value as a cut-price striker has been eye-catching since gameweek nine.
Despite Holt’s impressive returns, he still plays second fiddle to Morison. Since gameweek five, the Welshman has either scored or assisted in all but three of Norwich’s games- an outstanding level of consistency that seems to have somehow flown completely under the radar- he is owned by a mere 2.3% of Fantasy managers. Morison, priced at just 5.0, is clearly Lambert’s number one forward, starting regardless of whether the Canaries field a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 and has netted against the likes of Arsenal and Man City in the last few weeks. With Lambert’s side proving to be a reliable source of goals as the season unfolds, Morison is turning out to be a great differential on an almost weekly basis.
Daniel Sturridge
While Juan Mata struggled to make an impact and Didier Drogba continued a poor run of form that has produced two goals in 8 games, Sturridge again found his way among the points at Wigan. His fourth goal in five games opened the scoring for Chelsea but a below-par performance allowed the Latics to steal a well-deserved point late on. Sturridge has seen plenty Fantasy interest of late and with (FUL, AVL, wlv, SUN) to follow the midweek game at Spurs, he looks likely to remain a popular target.
Jordi Gomez
The Spaniard was amongst the names in a recent Members article focussing on cut-price midfielders and continued to demonstrate his worth to Roberto Martinez’s side with the leveller against Andre Villas-Boas’ side, courtesy of a Petr Cech fumble. Factor in his spot-kick duties and Gomez, at just 4.9, could be worth a look, though with Liverpool, Man United and Man City to come in his next five fixtures, Fantasy suitors may be reluctant to take a punt.
Chris Samba
The Blackburn skipper justified his Scout Pick selection with an assist in his side’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of West Brom. Samba, despite his side’s inability to keep a clean sheet, continues to rack up the attacking points for his Fantasy owners- his last six full appearances have produced 2 goals and 4 assists.
Peter Odemwingie
The Nigerian is slowly returning to some semblance of consistency after a poor start to the season. A Fantasy gem last term with 15 goals and 9 assists, Odemwingie’s below-par displays provoked the ire of Roy Hodgson a few weeks back and, while he’s yet to explode into form, his late winner at Ewood Park means he has now grabbed a couple of goals and an assist in the last three outings.
Matt Jarvis
The winger found himself the subject of plenty investment at the start of the season, with a goal and couple of assists in his first two games. Jarvis then endured a ten game drought without any sort of attacking returns, but yesterday’s assist for Stephen Hunt’s penalty was his third in as many games. Mick McCarthy is giving him the game time to produce, too- this was his fourth ninety minute appearance for Wolves in a row, his best run of minutes this term.
Ryan Shotton
The 4.0-priced FPL defender once again started on the right of midfield at the expense of Jermaine Pennant. The performance of Jonathan Woodgate, however, saw Shotton shifted to right-back with less than 20 minutes on the clock. Tormented by Jarvis on the Wolves left flank, Woodgate was clearly uncomfortable and was lucky not to receive a red for the challenge that resultantly handed the hosts a spot-kick opener. Tony Pulis made the decision to sub Woodgate before he could further fall foul of the ref, with Pennant coming on in midfield and Shotton slipping into the back-four. Shotton’s place in the first XI still looks fairly assured right now, given that the Molineux victory was a record-breaking fourth successive league triumph for the Potters.
Ryan Taylor
Having played every minute of the first 15 gameweeks, the full-back has been an integral part of an impressive Newcastle defensive unit but picked up a knock in training on Friday and missed out against Swansea. With Fabricio Coloccini and Cheik Tiote recovered from injuries, Alan Pardew’s side chalked up only their second clean sheet in the last 12 games and with Davide Santon impressing on the left in place of Taylor, the latter’s Fantasy owners will be hoping his omission was nothing more than a temporary measure.
