On a day which struggled for goals and headline makers, City’s stuttered victory against a confident Hull saw the Fantasy landscape shift and generate a series of selection headaches. Elsewhere, two largely ignored midfield assets earned precious points to boost their stock.
The Game Changer
Alvaro Negredo second goal in as many games has announced his arrival in the Premier League and accelerated doubts surrounding Edin Dzeko’s status. Introduced from the bench at half-time to replace the Bosnian, Negredo latched onto a fine delivery from Pablo Zabaleta to head City into a lead which they scarcely deserved.
With a 25-goal tally in La Liga last term, Negredo’s pedigree a proven marksman was unlikely to be kept shackled for long. He’s taken opportunities in his last two outings as a substitute and will now surely push for a start for the Gameweek 4 trip to the Britannia. While that’s good news for Manuel Pellegrini’s attacking options, for Dzeko owners, today’s events were far from welcome.
The Underused
Robert Snodgrass monopolised our attention in the Norwich midfield over the pre-season, resulting in new signing, Nathan Redmond, being largely overlooked. The former Birmingham winger has, however, shone far brighter than his team-mate thus far, adding an end product to several sparkling performances to seal the points against Southampton.
Priced at just 5.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, Redmond has earned just over 1% ownership to this point. That’s surely set to change over the international break with Snodgrass owners doubtless considering the trade that would free up a precious 1.5 in funds. With Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs in the next five, however, both Redmond and Snodgrass come with a hefty caveat attached.
While Redmond was picked out in this week’s ScoutCast by Granville’s Fantasy Island Risk pick, Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa was also singled out and was our headline act in the Differentials. Like Redmond, he duly delivered. A constant source of creativity and threat throughout, Ben Arfa’s superb strike settled the clash with Fulham at St James’ Park. Unlike Redmond, the Frenchman has a string of favourable fixtures which lend themselves to further investment and a marked increase in his modest 4.5% FPL ownership.
The Selection Poser
As mentioned, Negredo’s emergence could well sound the death knell for Edin Dzeko’s security of start. The Bosnian is currently owned by over 19% of FPL managers following his impressive opening to the campaign and kind 7.5 valuation. Those managers will now be highly concerned going into the break with Negredo surely in line to get the nod for the trip to Stoke.
Gael Clichy owners also have plenty to ponder. Whilst Zabaleta benefited from clean sheet and assist returns, the former Gunner was consigned to the bench with Aleks Kolarov given the nod on the left of the City defence. Presumably, Clichy paid the price for the defeat to Cardiff. Unless Kolarov’s start was part of a regular plan in home matches against teams likely to “park the bus”, Clichy may be another name scrapping to earn a start at the Britannia as Pellegrini puts his stamp on the City squad.
