Carlos Tevez fires an insipid City to victory at home to Swansea. Santi Cazorla stutters once again as Arsenal scrape a win over QPR, Dimitar Berbatov and Bryan Ruiz are amongst the goals as Reading and Fulham battle it out in a six-goal thriller at the Madejski, Stoke and Sunderland eke out a Britannia bore draw…

City Struggling for Goals
A winner for Carlos Tevez took the champions to just one point off the top but City’s attack is a pale imitation of the one that tore defences apart at the start of last season. By the end of Gameweek 9 in 2011/12, Roberto Mancini’s men had scored 33 times – 15 more than they have mustered this time round. Tevez’s goal was his first since Gameweek 3, with six assists helping his Fantasy points haul, while Sergio Aguero’s Fantasy owners will be worried after he was moved out to the left in a half-time reshuffle that saw Mario Balotelli climb off the bench to lead the line against Swansea. City’s upcoming schedule still looks enticing (whm, TOT, AVL, che, wig, EVE) but bearing in mind they have only won two games by more than a single goal, they may have to rely on their defence to pull them through. Luckily for Mancini, the backline is definitely improving – yesterday’s result means they have conceded just one goal in the last three Gameweeks.

City’s defence will likely face further disruption, however, with Micah Richards suffering a knee injury which saw him stretchered from the field. Mancini remained in the dark on the injury but when asked if the situation was serious in his post-match press conference, he answered “probably”. The absence of Richards would bite hard with both Pablo Zabaleta and Maicon currently on City’s list of casualties. That could force Mancini into a system with three at the back, unless Kolo Toure is called to take up the right-back role.

Vorm Setback Opens the way for Tremmel
The Swans lost Michel Vorm to a groin injury in the second-half of the defeat to City with Michael Laudrup stating that he expected the Dutchman to be absent for “around 4-6 weeks” as a result. Vorm will undergo scans but it seems that the Swans’ boss has already written off the keeper for the midweek Capital One cup tie and next weekend’s trip to Chelsea.

“It looks like he’ll be out for some weeks…But it is part of football and injuries can happen. But it means that Gerhard now has to come in, starting with the games against Liverpool and Chelsea this week.”

Gerhard Tremmel will step in between the sticks and at just 4.0 in the FPL, offers another genuine budget keeper option. Tremmel will face Liverpool in the Capital One Cup tie on Wednesday with the Swans also without right-back Angel Rangel who will serve a one-match ban after picking up his fifth booking of the season at City.

Cazorla’s Home Toils Continue
It was a subject discussed in this week’s ScoutCast. There’s no denying Santi Cazorla is a class act, capable of sensational displays at the hub of Arsenal’s attacking forays but he is struggling to convert his eye-catching performances into Fantasy points. Yesterday, once again, he failed to appease his 20% FPL owners with no more than a three point return in the 1-0 win over QPR – a glaring miss from 12 yards out will hardly have helped his cause as Fantasy managers start to question his 9.5 price tag. Arsene Wenger had this to say, post-match, on Cazorla’s howler…

“No player misses a chance like that on purpose. When you know Santi, he still cannot understand how he did it. But he did.”

While the Spanish playmaker has produced two goals and a pair of assists on the road, he has mustered just one assist in four home games (SUN, SOU, CHE, QPR). With mid-price options such as Kevin Nolan and Michu both scoring four times in five home matches by comparison, Cazorla needs to start producing soon to avoid a Fantasy exodus – with home clashes against Fulham and Spurs to follow next week’s trip to United, his owners will likely hand him a short-term stay of execution before reassessing the situation.

Sagna Returns for Gunners
Arsene Wenger gave Carl Jenkinson the day off as the Frenchman made his first start of the season after recovering from a second broken leg in 12 months. Yesterday’s 1-0 win saw the Gunners register their first clean sheet in six attempts and with Sagna coming in at just 5.4 to Jenkinson’s 5.2, many could be tempted by the Frenchman. Jenkinson’s FPL starting price of 4.5 proved hugely popular with Fantasy managers – he has been transferred in by over 517,000, more than any other defender in the game but with Sagna expected to oust him as Arsenal’s regular right-back once again, the sales look set to snowball for the former Charlton man.

4-4-2 Gives Reading More Bite
Brian McDermott’s side may be unable to register a clean sheet but it seems their only prospect of points is to go on the attack. The Royals boss had previously fielded a 4-4-2 formation in Gameweeks 6 and 7 and saw his side score twice in each match – they had previously notched four in the first four. McDermott moved to a 4-4-1-1 last week and saw his side fail to fire at Liverpool but a return to 4-4-2 yesterday, with Jason Roberts partnering Pavel Pogrebnyak, saw Reading score three at home to Fulham. Although the two forwards failed to find the net, Jobi McAnuff once again produced the goods – the winger picked up his fifth assist of the season, with only Eden Hazard (eight) and Carlos Tevez (six) managing more so far. Priced at 5.1 in FPL, McAnuff could pick up plenty more suitors ahead of a decent upcoming schedule (qpr, NOR, EVE, wig, avl, sot) in the next seven Gameweeks.

Post-match, McDermott explained the absence of Danny Guthrie from Reading’s 18-man squad…

“He wasn’t selected, but he’s fit. He’s part of the squad of 20-odd players and has got to get himself into the 18, I just felt it was the right thing to do.”

Fulham Full of Goals
Three goals for Martin Jol’s at the Madejski means they have now scored 19 times this term – only United have found the net more often. In particular, Fulham have been far more efficient on the road; they have notched nine in five games on their travels; incredibly, this is just three less than they mustered all last season away from home. Chris Baird joined Bryan Ruiz and Dimitar Berbatov in supplying the goals and looks an intriguing out of position prospect; coming in at 4.4 and classified as a defender, Baird continues to shine in central midfield for the Cottagers. Ruiz climbed off the bench on 57 minutes to provide a goal and assist and has now returned three assists and a goal in four away appearances; post-match, Jol revealed the Costa Rican is likely to return to the first-team for next week’s visit of Everton:

“Bryan was probably one of our best players this season but then he got injured. But he’s the one who can create chances with a killer pass as he has great vision. Maybe he should play from the start next week.”

The Fulham manager also sang the praises of Berbatov and admitted the Bulgarian sustained a rib problem in the first-half but shrugged it off to continue:

“He can play midfield, he can play in the hole or up front. He showed a lot of character in the second half. He hurt his rib in the first half but we asked him to play on.”

Jol continued to wax lyrical after the match, with the Dutchman showing a quite a flair for analogies when describing his team’s performance yesterday:

“It’s like a blonde girl – we looked good from far but far from good. So in the second half we put the make up on and started again and after the substitutions there was more purpose…If you score three goals away at Reading you should win the game.”

Stoke’s Home Resilience
Having shipped four goals at Old Trafford last weekend, the Potters produced another strong defensive display in front of their own fans yesterday. Stoke may have failed to find the net but their backline is clearly affording Fantasy managers plenty reason to take notice – they have now conceded just one goal in four matches at the Britannia, with Tony Pulis praising his charges post-match:

“The big thing for me is that we looked very solid at the back and I don’t think Asmir’s had a single save to make in the 90 minutes. So that’s been a bonus. If we can maintain that level of performance and get those breaks at the other end, then we’ll turn the draws into wins.”

The possible downside for Fantasy managers is an injury picked up by left-back Marc Wilson. Costing 4.5 in FPL, he had been earmarked by many as a cut-price route into the Potters defence but was stretchered off on 53 minutes, with Pulis admitting he faces an anxious wait for the prognosis:

“It’s too early to say what the problem is; we’re just waiting for the outcome of the hospital check. We’ve sent him for an X-ray as a precaution because Marc heard something when he went down, but a break is the worst case scenario.”

Reports on Twitter last night stated that Pulis had in fact stated to a BBC journalist that Wilson had suffered a broken ankle. We await confirmation.

Sunderland’s Attacking Woes
Stephane Sessegnon was the victim of a first-team reshuffle yesterday as Martin O’Neill looked to address his side’s lack of cutting edge in front of goal. The Benin international dropped to the bench, with Seb Larsson tucking in behind Steven Fletcher as Lee Cattermole returned from suspension to bolster the Black Cats’ central midfield but the tinkering made little difference at the Britannia. Sunderland have now scored just one goal away from home and just six in total – five from Fletcher and an own goal by Demba Ba in last week’s Tyne-Wear derby. Fletcher has now returned blanks in each of his last three but post-match, O’Neill called on others to lend the former Wolves man more support up top:

“I think that is absolutely vital now, it’s something that we’ve been talking about for the last few weeks. He’s exceptional at holding the ball up, he’s also our goalscorer and we need to score a few goals from other players.”

Benteke the Main Man for Villa
Having dropped to the bench for Villa’s game at Fulham last week after his exertions with Belgium during the international fortnight, Christian Benteke returned to the first-team fold for the visit of Norwich. The summer signing grabbed the opener for the midlanders in the 1-1 draw with Norwich and has now started four of the last five Gameweeks; Darren Bent was once again was the man to make way and has now featured in the first XI just once in the last four. Villa’s next four fixtures look dire (sun, MUN, mci, ARS) but the schedule begins to ease slightly from Gameweek 14 onwards and Benteke – priced at 6.5 in FPL – may well be one to watch; Lambert is clearly a fan of the towering hitman, with Bent continuing to look a peripheral figure under the new regime as the season unfolds.

Wigan’s Midfield Produce
The Latics registered their first home win of the season with a 2-1 triumph over West Ham. While many had expected Kevin Nolan to be the main midfielder in the DW clash, the Hammers skipper was overshadowed by Shaun Maloney, Jean Beausejour and James McArthur for the hosts. Maloney’s assist means he has now produced attacking returns in three of the last four in front of his own fans and at 5.0 in FPL, serving a reminder of his cut-price potential. Three of the Latics’ next four home games (WBA, RDG, MCI, QPR) look to offer Maloney further chance to maintain his decent home form – with trips to (tot, liv, new) also on the agenda over that period, though, he’s easy enough to bench, given his cost.