Charlie Adam’s double edges Stoke past United. Kevin Nolan bags a brace as West Ham grab a vital win over Swansea. Adam Johnson nets again as Sunderland hammer rivals Newcastle. Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez help Southampton beat Fulham, Kenwyne Jones scores on debut for Cardiff, whilst a move up top helps Kevin Mirallas net for the third time in four Gameweeks.
Adam Double Downs United
Bearing in mind that Stoke had hit three past both Chelsea and Liverpool in their previous four home matches, yesterday’s 2-1 win over the champions was perhaps not as surprising as many make out. The Potters took advantage of their visitors’ patched-up backline after Moyes saw both his starting centre-halves, Jonny Evans and Phil Jones, withdrawn by the time the second-half got underway. Charlie Adam’s double took his tally to seven for the season – three more than Stoke’s second-highest scorer, Peter Crouch. With Southampton, City and Arsenal in the following four, however, any would-be suitors are likely to hold fire under the schedule improves from Gameweek 29 onwards.
Van Persie Notches Again As Mata Shifts Wide
With Wayne Rooney drafted into the starting XI alongside Robin van Persie and Juan Mata, Fantasy managers’ expectations were high as United rolled up to the Britannia. Almost 80,000 turned to Rooney as a result of Sergio Aguero’s injury, whilst van Persie received 52,000+ transfers after notching on his return from injury against Cardiff on Tuesday evening. The Dutchman’s solitary strike rewarded his 16% of Fantasy owners and means he has now scored in six of his last seven league appearances – whilst United’s faltering form continues to heap pressure on David Moyes, van Persie looks set to persuade more to snap him up ahead of games against Fulham and Palace in the next three.
Rooney’s return earned his owners no more than a single point after he received his eighth booking of the season, leaving him just two yellows short of a two-matc ban. Mata was shuffled over to the right flank to accommodate the England international but still managed to supply the assist for his side’s only goal – two assists in two appearances equals his tally for Chelsea over the first 22 Gameweeks prior to his Old Trafford move. Adnan Januzaj owners will be twitching after the youngster remained on the bench for the entire match yesterday – he’s played just six minutes since Mata made his debut last Tuesday, with Ashley Young selected on the left in each of the last two. After tasting defeat to the Potters, however, there’s every chance that Moyes will make changes for the visit of Fulham.
Nolan and Carroll Double-Act Brings in the Points
Andy Carroll’s first home start of the season helped the Hammers to their first win at Upton Park since Gameweek 13. As we’d suggested in yesterday’s Spot the Differential article, the big target man’s presence was a key factor in promoting Kevin Nolan’s Fantasy potential: Carroll provided the assist for both the midfielder’s goals in the 2-0 triumph over Swansea. Frustratingly for Sam Allardyce, however, Carroll lasted just 59 minutes before being handed a straight red for a challenge on Chico Flores – at present, then, he’s set to miss potentially profitable games against Villa, Norwich and Southampton, though after the match Allardyce confirmed the Hammers are set to appeal the decision.
Johnson Delivers Again as Black Cats Maul Magpies
The winger took his tally to six goals in four games yesterday as Sunderland cruised to a 3-0 win at St James’ Park to register their second Tyne-Wear derby win of the season. With a couple of assists and six bonus points also accrued over that period, Johnson has delivered 51 points since being re-installed to the starting line-up in Gameweek 21 and now has a home clash with Hull on his agenda next weekend to maintain his stunning form. Gus Poyet’s side have dropped just two points over those matches as they go from strength to strength but our faith in their Fantasy assets may well be diminished once the Hull clash has passed – trips to City, Arsenal and Liverpool, with a blank Gameweek sandwiched in between the latter two road trips, is likely to see the returns diminish across the board.
New Boys’ Instant Impact for Bluebirds
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a couple of his new signings to thank as Cardiff edged Norwich 2-1 to climb off the foot of the table. Immediately handed the lone striker role after arriving from Stoke, Kenwyne Jones fired the winner to suggest he is likely to be integral to the Welsh outfit’s bid to beat the drop – at a mere 4.6, the Trinidadian (who also earned a couple of bonus points) has a trip to Swansea followed by home games against Villa, Hull and Fulham in the next five and may well be worth considering in order to free up budget. Wilfried Zaha also edged his way onto Fantasy radars yesterday after climbing off the bench to supply an assist against the Canaries – at 5.4, he looks another budget option worth considering if he can play his way into Solskjaer’s first XI next time around. Given his impact, he would seem almost certain to start against a troubled Swansea.
Mirallas Benefits from Shift Up Front
With Romelu Lukaku sidelined due to an ankle injury and Lacina Traore still to recover from a hamstring problem, Mirallas was handed the lone striker role for yesterday’s home clash against Villa. Over 55,000 Fantasy Premier League managers drafted the Belgian in for the visit of Paul Lambert’s side and he vindicated their decision by firing a late winner to take his tally to three strikes in four league appearances. With a couple of bonus points also accrued, he’s up to 95 points this term, just three fewer than Chelsea’s Oscar, for example, and just a single point fewer than he managed over the entire 2012/13 campaign. With Lukaku and Traore still struggling, Mirallas looks in pole position to retain the central forward berth and, at 7.3, has home games against Palace and West Ham in the next four to somewhat offset the upcoming trips to Tottenham and Chelsea.
Lallana and Rodriguez In Bloom Once More
The duo continued their outstanding Fantasy seasons as Southampton hammered Fulham at the Cottage to send their hosts to the foot of the table. Lallana’s strike and couple of bonus points helped him to a third set of double figures in the last four Gameweeks, with his seventh double-digit haul of the campaign taking him to 124 points, only 14 behind Eden Hazard.
After drawing blanks in his first four appearances, the Saints skipper has produced points in 11 of the subsequent 20 Gameweeks, whilst Rodriguez’ tenth goal of the season means he has harvested attacking returns in 10 of the last 18 league matches. Priced at 7.7 from an initial cost of 6.0, Lallana continues to punish those Fantasy managers who feel they have “missed the boat” in acquiring his services but, with Stoke, Hull, West Ham and Palace in the next five, both he and Rodriguez look poised to plunder the points again over the next few matches.
Rickie Lambert remains very much under the radar for the Saints. Certainly, having returned points in just three of the 12 matches prior to yesterday, he’s less consistent than Rodriguez up top – yet Lambert (priced at 7.0, with an ownership of 7%) sits just three points behind Rodriguez overall and has now scored the same number of points as Loic Remy and Romelu Lukaku, for example.
The win brought Southampton only their second clean sheet in the last six and budget purchase, Calum Chambers (3.9), was denied those points after being replaced on 57 minutes with reports of an injury. There are very few details as yet although the player has confirmed an injury. With replacement Nathaniel Clyne grabbing the assist for Lambert’s goal, it seems that the right-back spot could well be up for grabs once again when Stoke pay visit on Saturday.
Paulinho Notches on Tottenham Return
Tim Sherwood welcomed back Jan Vertonghen and Paulinho for yesterday’s trip to Hull. The Spurs boss returned to a 4-4-2 formation and kept faith in young Nabil Bentaleb alongside the Brazilian in central midfield, with Christian Eriksen taking up the role on the left once again. Whilst the Dane drew a blank as Hull’s home resilience restricted his side to a single goal, Paulinho made an immediate impact upon his recovery from an ankle problem by firing an equaliser just after the hour mark to take his tally to 70 points for the season and climb ahead of Eriksen in the overall standings. Adebayor owners will be awaiting updates after unconfirmed reports suggest he was subbed off with a knock late on yesterday – the Togo international has picked up over 200,000 new owners over the last four Gameweeks after registerring five goals and a trio of assists under Sherwood thus far.
