A breathless day. City’s late salvo may have saved face but the 3-3 Etihad draw with Sunderland loosens their grip further, priming United to take advantage in Monday night’s Ewood encounter.
Fantasy managers will have a keen interest. For the second Gameweek running, Wayne Rooney will take to the field sporting the captaincy for some, needing just a single goal to outscore Robin Van Persie. Just like City’s faltering title aspirations, the Fantasy manager’s unshakable faith in the Arsenal skipper is beginning to waver.
Van Persie came away from a bitterly disappointing 2-1 defeat to relegation threatened QPR with just an assist. The Dutchman has now gone three league matches without a goal for the first time this season. By his standards, that’s a drought.
Clint Dempsey’s goal and assist return, with the woodwork denying him a further haul, acts as an immediate comparison from today’s action. Should Rooney fetch significant returns on Monday night, we could see a significant shift in favour away from Van Persie for the Gameweek 32 captaincy.
The scene was already set for such a move. Arsenal take on City at the Emirates – Rooney will face QPR at Old Trafford. On paper, that strongly favours the United man, although given today’s results, it’s clear that the formbook can almost be shredded at this stage of the season.
The Rooney vs Van Persie battle rumbles on against a backdrop of unpredictable results; it will likely run until Gameweek 38, breaking only for the double fixtures in Gameweek 36.
A ready-made differential with some potential for those chasing a mini-league deficit, we’ve yet to see Rooney capitalise on Van Persie’s recent slips. In his last four starts, Rooney has outscored Van Persie by a total of just four points – Gameweek 28 saw Rooney fetch 13 points to the Arsenal man’s 8 – the biggest swing since the captaincy battle kicked in. Monday night is a great opportunity for a bigger gap to open; for those who transferred their allegiances early to reap the rewards for such a risk.
After Monday’s modest showing against Fulham, another tepid display from Rooney will make things interesting going into next weekend. While Rooney will likely be favoured based on fixtures, it’s hard to imagine that Van Persie’s blip will be extended to four matches. Our confidence may have slipped further after today, but the call to take the armband from the imperious Dutchman is still one that demands nerves of steel.
Those protecting a lead would seem more likely to cling to the comfort that Van Persie brings – those chasing will surely look to Rooney to help them take advantage. It’s a delicious little scenario that keeps the Fantasy game interesting, even if City seem intent on making the Premier League title race a formality.
