Southampton’s confident attacking riches bamboozle a hapless Newcastle at St Mary’s, while Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale provide the day’s other goals as Chelsea and Man City and Swansea and Liverpool cancel each other out. Here’s the notes on Sunday’s Gameweek 13 events…
The Saints Go Marching On
Nigel Adkins’ side built on the fine win at Loftus Road in Gameweek 12 by overpowering an injury-ravaged Newcastle at St Mary’s. As we highlighted in last week’s Technical Area article, it was Southampton’s attacking quartet of Rickie Lambert, Gaston Ramirez, Adam Lallana and Jason Puncheon who combined to orchestrate the victory and each one appears to warrant some degree of attention from Fantasy managers while the Saints are displaying such form. It was Ramirez’s turn to come to the fore on Sunday, with his goal and assist contribution picked out by skipper Adam Lallana, post-match…
“Gastón Ramírez is a class act. He had a bad injury that kept him out for three-or-four weeks, so maybe he was a little bit rusty when he came back. But we all know what ability the lad has got, and it’s a pleasure to play and train with him. Hopefully we can all learn off him as we start to gel with him…And we all know what Rickie [Lambert] brings to the team, and Jason Puncheon has been brilliant for us this season as well. We’re starting to find our feet so we’re learning off each-other and playing well. We’re creating chances, which is exactly what we want to achieve.”
Both Ramirez and Lallana are priced at 6.0 in the Fantasy Premier League game, with the pair offering very strong options in that bracket. The Uruguayan has returned impressively after his recent injury and will perhaps be favoured playing in the role up in support of Rickie Lambert. Puncheon meanwhile, offers a superb budget option at 4.5 and now appears to have cemented a starting role as Adkins settles on a quartet that are flowing with confidence. Lambert missed out on returns from Sunday’s game, denied by the woodwork on one occasion, but at 6.0, can be considered a very worthy third striker option while the Saints are showing such attacking verve. Adkins’ side have scored in 10 of their last 11 matches and have Norwich and Reading at home before the Gameweek 17 blank.
Magpies in Descent
In contrast to the buoyant Saints, Newcastle are plummeting like a stone after falling to their third successive defeat. Alan Pardew’s side were without key players for the trip to the South Coast and never managed to contain the lively home performance. The Magpies have now gone eight games without a clean sheet and have scored just twice in their last four league outings. A trip to Stoke on Wednesday night could well extend that run given the home form of Tony Pulis’ side and, with a visit to Fulham in Gameweek 16 and a home clash with City to follow that, the St James’ Park clash with Wigan in Gameweek 15 is now looking crucial. Fail to fetch three points in that one and Newcastle may slide firmly into the relegation reckoning.
Fabricio Coloccini will return from his suspension for the Britannia visit but Steven Taylor is a new doubt, having suffered a hamstring injury in yesterday’s game. Fantasy managers are shedding their Newcastle assets at pace, with the injured Hatem Ben Arfa seeing more transfers out this week than any other midfielder thus far. Demba Ba is also struggling; only Fulham’s Dimitar Berbatov has lost more owners than the Senegalese striker in the Gameweek.
City Resolute but Toothless
Having spent weeks lamenting his defence and their inability to keep out opponents, Roberto Mancini now has concerns about his strikers, having watched his side have the better of the 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge without reward. City kept their fourth clean sheet in five games to indicate that Mancini has plugged the gaps in the rearguard but, with Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero starting up front, they were unable to convert the chances that came their way…
“We had a lot of chances. We arrived easily at their box, but we are missing the last pass. When we are near the box, we should be very strong. If you are soft you can’t score and today we played very well until we got to the edge of the box when we were poor. We are only missing the last pass and from the striker this is not possible, a striker should be strong.”
Dzeko hasn’t scored in any of his last three league starts for City, while Aguero looked in strong form going into the game but failed to convert. Carlos Tevez started life on the bench, then, seeing action in the second-half. It’s the first time that Tevez has failed to start a league match since Gameweek 5, although his owners will have been pleased to see Dzeko struggle again, surely cementing Tevez’s start for Wednesday’s trip to Wigan.
At the back, Matija Nastasic is now presenting an intriguing option. He has started each of City’s last five league matches as Joleon Lescott struggles with form and an ongoing back problem. At 5.5 in the FPL, the Serb looks to be a viable route for those looking to cover City’s new resolve. Lescott’s threat still presents some concern of rotation, however, with Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany seemingly the only secure long-term options on offer.
Chelsea Muzzled
Most of the attacking intent from Chelsea in Sunday’s game came from the crowd as the Blues’ faithful made their feelings on the dismissal of Robeto Di Matteo, and the appointment of Rafa Benitez, abundantly clear. On the pitch, Chelsea struggled to make an impression on City’s back four, with the likes of Juan Mata and Eden Hazard failing to offer a convincing threat, along with Fernando Torres.
Benitez’s tactics appeared to be very similar to the 4-2-3-1 offered up by Di Matteo, with Torres currently the figurehead leading the attack. Rafa offered this tidbit, post-match…
“I am not trying to build a team around Fernando, I am trying to build a team around a striker, a second striker and the wingers, and Fernando is the striker at the moment so we create for him. If it is Daniel Sturridge or Victor Moses, we will do it for them.”
The role of the “second striker” is key here. From Sunday’s showing, it appears that Eden Hazard may well be firmly in the frame to take up that role. From his average position chart, we can see that the Belgian occupied central areas: it’s also noticeable that he turned in his deepest average position of the season; his owners will be worried to see the Belgian subbed off with 20 minutes remaining after a rather lethargic display, with Benitez choosing to keep fellow attacking midfielders Juan Mata and Oscar on for the full 90 minutes instead.
Indeed, it appears that Chelsea played far deeper and conservatively in this match than in any other home league encounter – it’s particularly noticeable just how the full-backs were shackled, failing to add their width to the attack. Ashley Cole’s Gameweek 13 average position clearly highlights this. This could suggest that, having earned their first clean sheet in seven league matches, Chelsea could be a more resolute force under Benitez.
It’s worth noting that right-back César Azpilicueta has now turned out in Chelsea’s last four matches and, like Nastasic at City, could now be presenting a viable route for Fantasy managers. The Spaniard is available for 5.6 in the FPL, although we should show caution when considering the former Marseille full-back. Branislav Ivanovic was selected alongside David Luiz yesterday, with Rafa Benitez explaining that Gary Cahill was left on the bench due to illness. It remains to be seen if Ivanovic is considered for the centre-back role long-term; if not, then Azpilicueta will surely struggle for continued starts at right-back.
Jermain Man Still Playing Second Fiddle
Jermain Defoe benefitted from Emmanuel Adebayor’s suspension to start against his former club and deliver a brace to take him to seven goals for the season. Despite those returns, he perhaps remains on the periphery of our thinking, with other options occupying the forward slots in our squads and Gareth Bale providing Spurs coverage from midfield. The Welshman struck his first goal at home in the league in the win over West Ham, converting Clint Dempsey’s pass. Despite what has appeared to be an indifferent campaign so far, Bale’s five goals and three assists have him ranking behind Eden Hazard in second in the FPL midfielder charts. Despite this, he is ranked only eighth in terms of ownership. If Spurs can develop some consistency, Bale will surely start to acquire more owners, particularly with fixtures improving from Gameweek 17 onwards (SWA, STK, avl, sun, RDG).
While the focus was on the Spurs attack in the White Hart Lane victory, it was perhaps significant to see Michael Dawson return to the lineup and skipper the side, relegating William Gallas to the bench. It remains to be seen how Andre Villas-Boas juggles his resources for the visit of Liverpool on Wednesday.
