Papiss Demba Cisse has a debut to remember for Newcastle, joining Demba Ba on the scoresheet to see off Aston Villa. Juan Mata’s return to form is not quite enough to earn Chelsea victory over United, as a Wayne Rooney brace from the penalty spot caps a remarkable Stamford Bridge comeback for the champions:
Demba Ba
Handed a start alongside Leon Best on his return to domestic action, the former West Ham man wasted little time in returning to goalscoring form against Villa. Ba grabbed the opener on the half hour mark to take his goals tally to 16 for the season- he has now netted in each of his last three home games and with Wolves, Sunderland and Norwich visiting Tyneside in the next five gameweeks, looks set to further boost his returns. Ba has already been drafted in by over 160,000 Fantasy managers since last week, with his price already increasing by 0.3.
Papiss Demba Cisse
With Best subbed off injured inside 15 minutes, the new boy was afforded a role alongside his compatriot in the Newcastle attack. Playing as the furthest forward of the front pair, Cisse produced a lively debut, firing off plenty efforts and capped a memorable first showing by bagging a brilliant winner for Alan Pardew’s side. Cisse offers a cheaper alternative to his team mate for Newcastle attacking options; coming in at 7.0 to Ba’s 7.6, and with those aforementioned fixtures looks a strong differential, given his ownership still stands at less than 1%, though Ba’s spot-kick duties may sway things his way.
Ryan Taylor
The out-of-position Fantasy prospect was afforded another start in midfield and provided an assist for the Magpies opener, but a leg injury forced him off on 32 minutes. Taylor’s 38% Fantasy owners (more than Robin Van Persie) will be sweating on the prognosis, though Alan Pardew was positive post-match, suggesting there is no break or fracture, and reckons Taylor will be ok. The Newcastle boss received some bad news on Leon Best, though, with the forward likely to be ruled out for six weeks with medial ligament damage.
Robbie Keane
The 5.1 priced Irishman continues to shine in his brief loan spell at Villa. Keane grabbed the midlanders’ equaliser yesterday and has now netted 3 goals in three starts since arriving from LA Galaxy in gameweek 21. Although he still has until the end of February before departing these shores, it’s clear his loss will already be a considerable one for Alex McLeish. Put into perspective, Gabby Agbonlahor has scored twice since the end of gameweek 5 and Darren Bent has bagged 4 since the end of gameweek 11.
Juan Mata
A 13 point haul took the Spaniard to 106 points for the season, making him the top-scoring Fantasy player in the Chelsea side. Mata had been desperately off-form as a Fantasy performer of late, having returned just a single goal in his previous nine appearances, but a goal and assist in yesterday’s 3-3 thriller brought him back under the radar. This was his third double-figure display at the Bridge and with Bolton, Stoke and Wigan three of Chelsea’s next four visitors, he’s looking promising once again but, with just 2 assists on the road all season, unless he can improve his away form, Mata –for 9.6 – still seems an unreliable acquisition.
Fernando Torres
Granted, he has yet to find the net since gameweek 6, but yesterday saw the £50m man continue an improved consistency, in terms of Fantasy returns. Torres still seems wildly off-form, though, and almost reluctant to shoot at times, but has now provided assists against Fulham, Sunderland and United in his last three first-team appearances at the Bridge. Daniel Sturridge’s assist was his first attacking return since gameweek 17 and, after a strong first half to the season, his Fantasy owners are beginning to get itchy feet- he has been sold off by more than 100,000 in the past couple of matches.
Wayne Rooney
With no goals and only “those” assists since gameweek 17, Rooney’s dire form had seen many Fantasy managers turn to up-front alternatives. Yesterday, he had his penalty duties to fall back on, bagging a couple from the spot to salvage a draw for the champions. No doubt, his brace will bring him back under the radar and with United’s fixtures from gameweek 28 onwards particularly outstanding, many will be looking to acquire his services once again. His inconsistency is still a huge worry, though. Rooney has scored in only four of his ten appearances at Old Trafford this season and, as far as home bankers go, hasn’t been in the same league as the likes of Robin Van Persie or Sergio Aguero so far.
Danny Welbeck
The 6.7 priced forward grabbed an assist yesterday to maintain his impressive run of recent form. Welbeck has produced attacking returns in four of his last five starts for United and, having started alongside Rooney once again, continues to offer a cut-price route into the champions’ front line. Similar to Rooney, Welbeck has also scored in four of his United home appearances this term, though all have come without the aid of spot-kicks.
Ryan Giggs
He may have started just twice at Old Trafford this term but the Welshman seems to be a preferred away option for Sir Alex Ferguson. Giggs has played the full 90 minutes in each of United’s last four games on the road and yesterday’s assist for Javier Hernandez’s last equaliser continued his influential displays; he has now returned 1 goal, 4 assists and 5 bonus points in those afore-mentioned fixtures.
