The Digest – Gameweek 7

Our last look back at Gameweek 7 casts an eye over Newcastle’s resurgent striker, Big Sam’s in-form outfit and the contenders to Diego Costa as legitimate armband options.

The Player

After his side had failed to score in each of their first three away fixtures, Alan Pardew turned to Papiss Cisse in order to address Newcastle’s worrying lack of bite. Finally fit to start after a long-term stint on the sidelines with a broken kneecap, the Senegal striker scored twice to salvage a much-needed draw for his under-fire manager on Saturday afternoon.

In his first appearance of the campaign in Gameweek 5, Cisse climbed off the bench to also net twice in a 2-2 draw and, despite playing a mere 151 minutes, has netted all four of The Magpies’ goals in the last four rounds of fixtures. Providing he steers clear of injury, starts looks assured once again for the 5.9-priced frontman but the question is, will Cisse be able to carry on and replicate the heroics of 2011/12, when he fired 13 goals in 14 appearances, averaging 7.5 points per appearances, or will he return to the frustrating figure that mustered just 10 strikes in the subsequent two seasons?

Certainly, with Emmanuel Riviere failing to settle in at St James’ Park, Cisse looks poised to lead the line in Pardew’s 4-2-3-1 formation right now and with five decent fixtures (LEI, wba, QPR, whm, bur) in the next seven, he has the platform to continue as Pardew desperately tries to steer his troops away from the drop zone.

The Team

A convincing 2-0 win over QPR took West Ham up to seventh in the table as their new-look side continue to impress. After his team scored a mere 40 times last term, Sam Allardyce’s decision to opt for a more offensive approach and bring in Teddy Sheringham as an attacking coach is so far paying off – The Hammers have now scored 12 goals in the first seven Gameweeks, a tally bettered by only four other teams.

Fundamental to the recent turnaround has been the stunning form of Diafra Sakho. Player of the Year in the French Second Division last season after scoring 20 times for Metz, the Senegal striker has stepped up seamlessly and has now netted in each of his last five in all competitions for the Hammers. Allardyce’s switch to a midfield diamond has afforded Stewart Downing the chance to create and despite moving to a more withdrawn role against the R’s, the midfielder still served up an assist and two bonus points – climbing to seventh in the FPL midfield standings on 37 points.

The attacking approach had, until the weekend, come at a cost, though. West Ham racked up 14 shut-outs last season but had conceded in every match until keeping out the R’s on Sunday – with the aerial threat of James Tomkins earning the centre-half a second assist of the campaign, Allardyce’s side are offering us legitimate options right across the outfield classifications right now.

The Talking Point

A goal against Arsenal took Diego Costa’s tally to nine strikes in seven appearances for Chelsea last weekend. In a stunning start to life in the Premier League, the summer signing has drawn a blank just once this season – away to City – and has served up a series of consistent performances that makes him, for many, the automatic armband option in any given Gameweek.

A closer look at the bonus points distribution in those matches, however, shows that Costa – in spite of his superb record – is having his work cut out in order to benefit. Costa has found the net in clashes with Burnley, Leicester, Villa and The Gunners yet has earned a single bonus point over those four matches combined – it seems that playing in a Chelsea team where many players are favoured by the BPS is somewhat curtailing his ability to make that step up as this season’s Luis Suarez.

Whilst the Uruguayan was the standout candidate last year, the last few weeks suggest that this time around, it’s not quite so cut and dried. Sergio Aguero’s strike against Villa means he has now notched in five of his seven appearances and, crucially, despite failing to score more than once, he’s still managed to earn bonus points on every occasion he has found the net – a potentially vital factor when assessing the pair’s captaincy credentials.

There’s also Angel di Maria to consider. United’s £60m has now delivered a goal and assist in three of his last four, earning 38 points over those fixtures, with a series of Fantasy displays that harks back to Gareth Bale’s final season in the English top-flight.

Given that he now resides in over 66% of FPL sides, it’s clear that Costa will typically be the most popular armband option from one Gameweek to the next. In spite of his near-impeccable scoring record, though, the likes of Aguero or Di Maria are starting to suggest they could be worthy rivals to the Chelsea star, lending a little more weight to the armband conundrum than we perhaps previously anticipated.