Christian Benteke returns from suspension to fire Villa to victory. Juan Mata notches United’s winner at home to Stoke, Steven Gerrard inspires Liverpool’s triumph at Leicester, Swansea’s defence serve up the points once again, whilst George Boyd proves a handy budget midfielder as Burnley share the spoils with Newcastle.

UNITED MAKE DO WITHOUT STAR DUO

It’s four wins in a row now for United, who refused to be hindered by the absences of Wayne Rooney and Angel Di Maria in their narrow victory over Stoke. The midfield shared the points, with Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini on the scoresheet, and Antonio Valencia and Ander Herrera contributing the assists – the latter has now provided an assist in each of his last two outings. Rooney’s absence allowed James Wilson (4.4) a start, and whilst the youngster failed to get amongst the points, his lively performances poses the question of whether he can keep his starting berth ahead of Radamel Falcao if Rooney is ruled out of United’s trip to Southampton this weekend.

After the match, Van Gaal rolled out the following update:

“Wayne will have a scan. It is the knee and I don’t think it is so heavy (serious). But with a knee you never know, so we will have the scan and then we will know more. “Di Maria is also not so heavy. I don’t think he will play at Southampton (next Monday), but you never know.”

BENTEKE BAGS THE WINNER FOR VILLA

Back in the starting XI after serving a three-match suspension, the big Belgian opened his account for the season with the only goal of the match at Palace.The 7.9-priced Benteke now presents us with a ready-made differential for our frontlines in a team with one of the most promising Christmas schedules in the league – with Leicester, West Brom, Sunderland and Palace in their next six, he has the chance to fire Villa up the table and bring himself back into contention as a genuine option for our three-man frontlines once again.

STEADFAST SWANS SEE OFF HOOPS

A 2-0 win over QPR earned Swansea their sixth clean sheet of the season – only Southampton have managed more so far. However, despite the result, Neil Taylor’s 7.9% ownership were left disappointed yesterday after the left-back earned his fifth caution of the campaign against QPR, ruling him out of Sunday’s clash with West Ham. Meanwhile, the 2-0 victory brought with it a rare home blank for Gylfi Sigurdsson, and whilst Wilfried Bony kept his run of form going with an assist, his owners will still have come away from the game disappointed after the Ivorian fired in eight efforts, including one that struck the woodwork, but was unable to beat Robert Green in the R’s goal.

NO JOY FOR AUSTIN

The Swans’ solidity in defence meant that QPR’s Charlie Austin failed to justify his recent heavy investment and blanked for just the second time in his last seven outings. Nevertheless, the 6.0-rated striker now has four great home fixtures in his next six (BUR, WBA, CPL, SWA), and with four goals and two assists in his last four appearances at Loftus Road, his owners will still be optimistic that he can deliver the goods between now and New Year.

BOYD STEPS UP IN A TIMELY MANNER

On a night when Diego Costa and Wayne Rooney’s owners called upon his services in their droves, Burnley’s George Boyd came to the rescue as a reliable cheap fifth midfielder for Fantasy managers. The 4.5-priced winger notched the opener in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle and supplemented his strike with two bonus points – earning a nine-point haul for those who were forced to field him in their starting XIs. Danny Ings was also amongst the points again for the Clarets with the assist for Boyd’s goal, and whilst the latter’s owners will be happy to hold and continue to call upon him for emergencies, the schedule from Gameweek 16 onwards (SOU, tot, LIV, mci) suggests that Ings may struggle to keep up his current form.

CISSE NETS MAGPIES A POINT

Whilst Ayoze Perez blanked for a third successive appearance and was hauled off at half-time, Papiss Cisse was back amongst the goals in his first start since Gameweek 10. With his knee injury problems now looking behind him, the Newcastle striker may well be set for an increase in minutes from here on in but with some tough fixtures to follow (CHE, ars, SUN, mun, EVE), points at either end of the pitch now look slim for Alan Pardew’s side. Fabricio Coloccini could be back in time for the weekend clash against Chelsea and his potential return may persuade Daryl Janmaat owners to hold – the right-back grabbed his third assist in four last night and now sits fourth amongst defenders in the FPL game.

REDS RELY ON MIDFIELD TRIO

Liverpool have now recorded back-to-back wins as they look to take advantage of their kind fixture list. Captain Steven Gerrard marked his return to the starting XI with a goal, whilst fellow midfielders Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson also grabbed one apiece; the importance of Brendan Rodgers’ midfield was highlighted by the fact that striker Rickie Lambert failed to register a single attempt on Leicester’s goal. Raheem Sterling only managed an assist, however, as his barren spell since Gameweek 5 continues. With clashes against in-form Sunderland, Man United and Arsenal next up, though, investment in the Reds’ assets may remain tempered.

DAWSON ENDS BAGGIES’ GOAL DROUGHT

Craig Dawson grabbed his second goal of the season as the Baggies slipped to defeat against West Ham. The centre-back is now up to twelfth for defenders in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, and has Hull, Villa, QPR and Stoke in his next five, though the Midlanders have managed just one clean sheet in their last eight and investment in any of their rearguard still looks a gamble. Further forward, Saido Berahino’s owners will be mulling over their options after the striker recorded his fifth straight blank – with his autumn form now looking far behind him, many may decide it’s time to part company.

HAMMERS HOLD THEIR OWN AT THE HAWTHORNS

West Ham’s strength in depth prevailed once again yesterday as they made it back-to-back wins without the likes of Diafra Sakho, Alex Song, Enner Valencia or Mark Noble in their starting line-up. The result certainly suggests that Sam Allardyce will be happy to continue his rotation policy across the busy winter period, with owners of the Londoners’ attacking assets likely to have to brace themselves for some nervous waits for the teamsheet. That said, Stewart Downing is now up to five assists for the season and ranked seventh in the FPL midfield standings, and at 6.1 and with a decent next three on the horizon (SWA, lei, SUN), seems immune to Big Sam’s rotational whims.