With last night’s tepid affair at Anfield bringing the gameweek to a close, we can now turn our attentions to the regular round-up. We take a look at Arsenal’s newest wing sensation, Swansea’s increased attacking potential and the dilemma surrounding Newcastle’s Senegalese front men…
The Player
While Gervinho lends his weight to Ivory Coast’s bid for the African Cup of Nations, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has dazzled on the Arsenal left. A double from the 5.8 priced midfielder in last Saturday’s 7-1 drubbing of Blackburn confirmed his potential as a mid-price Fantasy asset and suggests he will have a part to play in the second half of the season, as Arsene Wenger leads his side in the chase for fourth spot.
Handed his first start of the campaign in gameweek 22, the youngster had hinted at his attacking threat by providing an assist in the 2-1 home defeat by Man United and backed this up further against Steve Kean’s strugglers. Given that Theo Walcott has scored 3 all season, with Gervinho notching 4, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s eye for goal looks an intriguing prospect for Fantasy managers. Many agree, with 60,000 already drafting him in since his Emirates performance.
Wenger admitted only yesterday, however, that he is wary of over-using the winger and, with Gervinho back in time for the gameweek 26 clash against Spurs, it may well be that the Arsenal boss decides to rotate his wide men in order to prevent burn-out on the youngster’s behalf. This could mean less starts for both Gervinho and Walcott, as Wenger looks to afford Oxlade-Chamberlain Premier League experience.
With Gervinho priced at 8.9 and classified as a forward, and Walcott an 8.8 midfielder, Oxlade-Chamberlain would certainly offer a far cheaper alternative for Fantasy managers; with rotation highly likely, though, Wenger’s tinkering could yet make him a frustrating acquisition over the upcoming months, in spite of his obvious potential.
The Team
In the first half of Swansea’s campaign, it was all about the defensive assets. With six clean sheets in their first eight games at the Liberty Stadium, the back-four and Michel Vorm proved exceptional value, with the Dutchman’s extra save points and penalty heroics seeing his price rocket. The Welsh club’s dire away form -just three points gained in their first seven- made their Fantasy options easy to bench whenever they took to the road.
The last few gameweeks have seen a turnaround in fortunes, however. Swansea have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last four at the Liberty Stadium, with Vorm and company becoming less of a home banker as the season unfolds. On the road, in comparison, two wins in the last three suggest Brendan Rodgers’ tactics are gradually beginning to bear fruit away from home, too.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, in particular, is showing a real consistency of performance that belies his 5.0 price tag. The on loan star has produced attacking returns in three of his four appearances, averaging 6.25 per game so far. With set-pieces also factored in, the Icelandic midfielder is flourishing under former boss Rodgers and also seems to be bringing the best out in Danny Graham.
Since stepping onto the pitch as a sub in the 3-2 win over Arsenal, Sigurdsson has provided 3 assists for the Swans- Graham has benefitted twice, netting winners against the Gunners and, last week, West Brom at the Hawthorns. Priced at 4.8, and playing in a side with just one defeat in their last seven, Graham is clearly capable at this level, having netted 8 times already this term and, while the back-line has seen a reduction in returns, he continues to offer Fantasy managers a strong consistency up front, home or away.
The Talking Point
An injury to Leon Best at the Sports Direct Arena on Sunday gave Fantasy managers plenty to consider. On came Papiss Demba Cisse for his Premier League debut and the former Freiburg man lived up to the hype, firing home a brilliant winner to seal the three points for Newcastle. With Demba Ba netting upon his return from international duty, it’s clear we have something of a Fantasy quandary on our hands.
With 16 goals to his name and a Fantasy haul of 137 points –just two less than Sergio Aguero- Ba has been a mid-price phenomenon this term. Priced at 7.7, he’s already risen by 0.4 since his return from the African Cup of Nations and nearly 90,000 Fantasy managers have drafted him in since the Villa match. His proven track record in the Premier League, in addition to spot-kick duties, is currently making Ba the overwhelming Fantasy managers’ favourite of the Newcastle front pair.
Priced at 7.0, and owned by just 0.5% of Fantasy managers, Cisse seems a real eye-catching differential, though. He will play more advanced than Ba in the front two, sitting on the shoulder of the last defender while his compatriot drops slightly deeper and gets more involved in the play. Cisse’s eye for goal and willingness to fire off attempts suggests he is likely to have more efforts than Ba and, while this could perhaps produce some explosive returns, it could also work against him in terms of bonus. A few wayward shots, as we saw on Sunday, when combined with Ba’s defensive work, saw Cisse fail to pick up any bonus, while Ba walked away with the maximum allocation.
There’s no reason to believe Cisse’s arrival will be detrimental to Ba. If anything, Cisse’s finishing could help boost Ba’s assist tally- he currently has just 4 but, playing alongside a goalscorer of such repute will surely increase his chances. Ba will still get his opportunities, as we witnessed on Sunday, and providing he remains as clinical, should continue to hit the net with regularity.
Best’s injury certainly lessens the competition for places up front at Newcastle and will allow the pair to strike up an understanding at club level over the next few matches. With Wolves, Sunderland and Norwich rolling up to Tyneside in the next five gameweeks, Ba and Cisse seem set for an intriguing shoot-out which, given their respective abilities, could prove equally beneficial to both.
