Scout Notes – Gameweek 17 – Sunday

Martin Skrtel rescues a late point as Liverpool and Arsenal share the Anfield spoils. Olivier Giroud nets once again for the Gunners, whist Adam Johnson breaks Newcastle hearts by lashing home an injury-time winner in the Tyne-Wear derby at St James’ Park.

Giroud and Cazorla Form Continues

The duo rolled up to Anfield on the back of a brace apiece in last week’s 4-1 win over Newcastle and maintained their strong recent showings in a four-goal thriller. Giroud’s goal means he has now scored four times in six appearances since returning from injury, whilst an assist from Cazorla took his tally to three goals and a pair of assists in his last five. Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck were fielded on the flanks once again to accommodate the Frenchman up front and whilst the Chilean’s owners will have reservations in light of a single strike in six, next weekend’s home clash with QPR should afford him another chance to impress.

At the back, the Gunners continue to look porous in the absence of Laurent Koscielny. Mathieu Debuchy’s first goal of the season suggests that, at a price of 5.2, he could be one to consider if his compatriot returns quickly to help raise their resilience.

Liverpool Midfielders in the Points

For many Fantasy managers, yesterday was an opportunity for Raheem Sterling to stake a claim for a return to our 15-man squads. Handed the central role up front as Brendan Rodgers kept faith in a 3-4-3 formation, Sterling failed to replicate his midweek brace at Bournemouth and was instead overshadowed by Philippe Coutinho’s first-half strike, whilst Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana earned an assist apiece as the Reds salvaged a late point.

The fixtures are now very much in Liverpool’s favour – a trip to Burnley is followed by back-to-back home clashes with Swansea and Leicester before they make their way to Sunderland and Villa. Having fired 27 shots in yesterday’s 2-2 (and 19 in last week’s loss at United), Liverpool have certainly upped their attacking intentions since the new system was introduced and their main men may well force themselves into our plans if they can take advantage of such a schedule.

Skrtel to the Rescue for Reds

The big centre-half header home a late, late leveler to earn the home side a deserved share of the spoils. Liverpool went into yesterday’s match with three clean sheets in the previous four in front of their own fans and whilst they failed to keep the Gunners at bay, Skrtel’s equaliser continued his excellent recent record at Anfield – he’s racked up 34 points in the last five matches on Merseyside. Yesterday’s strike was his first of the season – a far cry from last term’s seven-goal heroics, though the Slovakian has upped his frequency of attempts considerably this term, averaging an effort every 130 minutes compared to 226 minutes in 2013/14.

Defiant Pantilimon Keeps Magpies at Bay

The Black Cats stopper took his tally to 44 points in just eight first-team outings yesterday – an average of 5.5 points per appearance. Aside from their 4-1 home mauling at the hands of City in Gameweek 14, Sunderland have conceded just three goals in their other seven matches with the big Romanian between the sticks. Pantilimon’s seven saves, allied with a couple of bonus points, earned him a second double-figure haul over that period and he remains a real bargain at just 4.5 ahead of back-to-back showdowns with Hull and Villa.

Johnson Leaves it Late

The Wearsiders’ wide man is slowly rediscovering his form after a barren first few months. Johnson managed just a single goal over the opening 15 rounds of fixtures but, after providing the assist for Jordi Gomez’ strike last week, he stepped up once again to fire a 90th-minute winner to seal the points. Whilst his last-gasp strike grabbed the headlines, it remains to be seen whether Johnson, or indeed any of Gus Poyet’s side, can stake a claim for our consideration – given that Sunderland have scored just four goals in the last seven Gameweeks, the safer bet would be on their backline.