Everton draw a line under the title race in the early kick-off, whilst at the other end of the table, a dramatic relegation scrap at Villa Park finds Christian Benteke on the scoresheet once again. Meanwhile, the Saints humble Liverpool at St Mary’s as a frustrated Luis Suarez hops onto the suspension tightrope. With United about to take on Reading, here’s the Stock Check on Saturday’s events so far…
On the Up
Christian Benteke
The Belgian delivers again. In a match the provided five goals and buckets of drama, Benteke struck his thirteenth league goal of his debut campaign to break Rangers’ hearts. Benteke has now scored eight goals in his last ten league outings and will surely continue to earn Fantasy investment over the international break.
Andreas Weimann
The Austrian marksman continues to prosper, despite being largely overshadowed by the prolific Benteke. Weimann struck a sixth goal of the season and earned an assist to take him to two goals and two assist in his last four. At 5.0, he could yet be a consideration for those without the funds for Benteke and backing Villa for a late flourish as they pull away from the trapdoor.
Andros Townsend
Proving that last week’s goal and assist returns were not a flash in the pan, the Tottenham loanee responded to QPR’s plight once again with an equalising goal at Villa Park that ultimately proved futile. While Junior Hoilett was sacrificed to make way for Jermain Jenas, Townsend kept his start under Harry Redknapp and, at just 4.4 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, looks to be presenting strong value as a fifth midfield option for those favouring three up front.
Rickie Lambert
The lifelong Liverpool fan punished Brendan Rodgers side for a sluggish performance. Today’s goal was his thirteenth of the season and his first in front of the St Mary’s crowd since Gameweek 14. It arrived in a Gameweek that saw Lambert suffer a loss of ownership with almost 83,000 FPL managers choosing to trade the Saints striker out.
Jay Rodriguez
A vital fourth goal of the season sealed the points for the Saints and continued Rodriguez’s recent run of form. The former Burnley man has returned five assists in his last six league starts. While Mauricio Pochettino’s rotation policy is a concern, Rodriguez looks to have cemented his start to present strong value for his 5.1 price tag.
The Stoke Defence
A first clean sheet in eleven league matches for the Potters provided some reward for those who have persevered with Stoke defensive assets who have been inflated by early season form. Today’s returns offers encouragement, however, and it should be noted that Tony Pulis’ side have only conceded more than once in one of their last six.
Going Down
Marouane Fellaini
The late assist for Nikica Jelavic’s strike provided some compensation but Fellaini will now face a two-match ban following his early booking against City. The Belgian will miss encounters with Stoke and Spurs but will at least be a consideration once again for Everton’s double Gameweek 33.
Steven Pienaar
The South African picked up two bookings to join Fellaini on the sidelines for the Gameweek 31 clash with Stoke at Goodison – a major blow to Everton and his FPL ownership which stands at almost 10%. Having already received a red card earlier in the season, Pienaar will have his ban extended and will also miss the Gameweek 32 clash with Spurs. Like Fellaini, he will return for the Gameweek 33 double.
Luis Suarez
Having returned double figure point hauls in his last three Gameweeks, Suarez typified the Liverpool performance at Southampton by drawing a blank and earning a yellow card. That booking could prove hugely significant: it moved the Uruguayan on to nine for the season. Suarez must now avoid a booking over the next three league matches to avoid a two-match ban.
Thomas Vermaelen
He found himself on the bench in Munich in midweek and Arsene Wenger’s rotation policy failed to see Vermaelen recalled for the trip to Swansea as Laurent Koscielny kept his start in the back four. Vermaelen has now missed three of the last five Gameweeks in a season in which he’s failed to score and assist and returned just six clean sheets.
Jason Puncheon
Benched once again having missed out at Norwich last time out. Puncheon has now played just 101 minutes over the last four Gameweeks and now looks to be off the radar in terms of a budget midfield option.
Jose Fonte
Another victim of Mauricio Pochettino’s rotation policy, having been restored to the starting lineup in Gameweek 28 following injury, today he was dropped to the bench as Nathaniel Clyne returned to the teamsheet, with Jos Hoovield retained at centre-back. Fonte did, however, replace an injured Hoovield on the half-hour mark.
Wojciech Szczęsny
“Rested” for the midweek Champions League tie with Bayern Munich, the impressive performance of Lukas Fabianski on Wednesday proved enough to see Szczęsny kept on the bench for today’s trip to Swansea. The goalkeeping situation at the Emirates now looks in doubt ahead of the Gameweek 33 double, although at 4.3 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Fabianski could now emerge as an unlikely late Fantasy prospect.
Theo Walcott
While the Gunners earned a hard-fought victory, Walcott went another Gameweek without a goal and has now started the last five without a strike. Three assists in that spell have kept his tally ticking over but, with competition for places in our midfields still intense, Walcott’s form is a concern. The two home fixtures in Gameweek 33 are likely to hand him a stay of execution, however.
Michu
Another midfielder woefully out of form, Michu’s failure to take opportunities against Arsenal means that he’s now scored in just one of his last ten league starts – back in Gameweek 26 against QPR. Over 30,000 FPL managers decided to cash in on Michu this week, that figure could well increase over the international break with a Gameweek 33 blank looming. Swansea have scored just twice in their last four league matches.
Junior Hoilett
Having sparkled in recent weeks following his recall to the starting lineup, it was a surprise to see the former Blackburn man relegated to the bench at Villa Park. Hoilett made way for Jermaine Jenas who duly delivered QPR’s opening goal. Clearly, Hoilett is still some way from cementing a role at Loftus Road.
Charles N’Zogbia
Another flair player who looks to have been sacrificed for the vital relegation scraps, the Frenchman had impressed in the role playing up in support of Christian Benteke but today found himself on the bench for the second consecutive match having been dropped for the visit to Reading.
The Bap Chap Bonus Predictions
Re-produced with kind permission from the man himself…
Villa 3 QPR 2 – Weimann 3, Agbonlahor 2, Jenas 1 (in the mix Benteke, Lowton)
Southampton 3 Liverpool 1 – Lambert 3, Rodriguez 2, Schneiderlin 1
Stoke 0 West Brom 0 – Odemwingie 3, N’Zonzi 2, Ridgewell 1 (in the mix Shawcross)
Swansea 0 Arsenal 2 – Monreal 3, Gervinho 2, Jenkinson 1 (in the mix Cazorla)
Everton 2 Man City 0 Osman 3, Fellaini 2, Mucha 1 (in the mix Baines, Coleman)
