Tottenham and QPR clashed horns in Gameweek 28’s swansong, as Harry Kane propelled the North London club to within three points of a top four berth. Elsewhere, in the FA Cup, Scott Sinclair bagged his third goal under the stewardship of Tim Sherwood as Villa completed back-to-back wins over West Brom.
Captain Kane leads by example
After drawing a blank in Tottenham’s midweek clash with Swansea, Harry Kane – the overwhelming favourite for captaincy – delivered two goals and maximum bonus at Loftus Road as Spurs secured their second win in four days.
The England U21 international now sits atop the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) forward standings, with his 16 goals bettered only by Sergio Aguero’s and Diego Costa’s 17. Incredibly, Kane’s fourth brace in nine outings means he’s netted more goals in all competitions (26) than Red Devils trio Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao combined (25). Although the Lilywhites face a tough trip to Old Trafford next time out, a run of four favourable fixtures (LEI, bur, AVL, new) after the United tie – which includes three of the current bottom four – looks set to give Kane the platform to go on delivering and remain firmly in our thinking when it comes to the FPL armband.
Spurs Boss Mauricio Pochettino made just one change from the side that lined up against Swans on Wednesday, handing Ben Davies a start over Danny Rose at left-back – that halted a run of eight consecutive league starts for Rose. Christian Eriksen’s owners were left disappointed after the Dane was withdrawn on 87 minutes without any returns to his name – Eriksen has just one assist to his name in his last five league outings. Fellow midfielders Andros Townsend and Ryan Mason complemented their goals at White Hart Lane with an assist apiece against the R’s, earning 15 and 13 points respectively over the double Gameweek.
Few home comforts for the R’s
In light of the fact that QPR have lost all but one of their road matches (a 2-0 victory over Sunderland) this term, it’s clear that their hopes of survival rely upon accruing a decent points tally at home. However, Loftus Road has been far from a fortress in recent Gameweeks, with the 2-1 defeat to Spurs on Saturday marking their fourth home defeat in succession and sixth encounter in Shepherd’s Bush without a win. With four tricky home match-ups left on QPR’s schedule (EVE, CHE, WHU, NEW), manager Chris Ramsey has his work cut out trying to beat the drop.
With regards to the 52-year-old’s team selection, Mauricio Isla and Rio Ferdinand started ahead of Junior Hoilett and the injured Darnell Furlong, with Nedum Onouha shifting over to the vacant right-back berth. Charlie Austin came close on occasion – clattering Hugo Lloris’ crossbar from 10 yards out in the first half – but couldn’t match Kane’s goal scoring exploits on the day and ultimately scored with just one of his 15 attempts over the two fixtures.
Sparkling Sinclair back on the radar
Scott Sinclair recorded his third goal in four appearances for Aston Villa in all competitions as Tim Sherwood’s men progressed into the FA Cup semi-finals. The former Manchester City winger executed a composed finish during a late counter-attack, curling the ball into the corner of Boaz Myhill’s goal. Sinclair was benched for the Villains’ last league match against West Brom but seized the chance to impress in a repeat of the midweek West Midlands derby. Should Sinclair be rewarded with a run of starts in the league off the back of this performance, then the 25-year-old’s modest 5.2 price tag might attract a few managers looking for a budget midfielder to bolster their squad.
Sherwood retained nine of the XI that triumphed over the Baggies on Tuesday, calling up Leandro Bacuna and Sinclair for the suspended Alan Hutton and injured Christian Benteke – the Belgian striker was ruled out with a hip injury. The extent of the setback is not yet clear, with Sherwood remaining vague in his post-match comments…
“With Christian we’re not sure. He will continue to get assessed. We keep picking up these little niggles here and there.”
Benteke will remain a doubt for the Gameweek 29 trip to Sunderland and Sherwood will also be without the option of Jack Grealish on the flank: he was sent off a second bookable offence just 15 minutes into his cameo against the Baggies.
Over in the West Brom camp, Tony Pulis recalled Jonas Olsson to central defence, with Joleon Lescott sliding over to left-back, freeing up Chris Brunt to operate on the left flank. Midfielder Claudio Yacob received a second yellow card for a seemingly innocuous challenge on Bacuna and will miss West Brom’s next home clash against Stoke City and the away trip to Man City – Yacob’s ban is extended as yesterday’s red was the second of the season.
Gameweek 33 Changes To Come
Fantasy managers should be aware that Villa’s progress to the last four of the cup means that their Gameweek 33 home encounter with QPR – initially pencilled in for Monday April 20 – will now need to be rescheduled, as the semi-finals are due to take place over Saturday 18 and Sunday 19.
Depending on the new date, this could possibly lead to a double Gameweek and given that Chelsea and Leicester have a pair of fixtures in Gameweek 34, many will be hoping for a similar scenario for Villa and QPR.
The Premier League could attempt to keep the fixture within Gameweek 33, although this looks set to be hampered by UEFA demands. Villa (away to City) and QPR (at home to West Ham) both play on Saturday 25 in Gameweek 34, their re-arranged clash could be shifted to either the Tuesday 21 or Wednesday 22 beforehand – depending on the date of Villa’s semi-final tie – thus still giving them both at least three days before their next league match. However, with Champions League and Europa League Quarter-Finals set for April 21-23, it seems likely that the Premier League will be pressured to move re-scheduled fixtures to Gameweek 34: UEFA have objections to domestic matches being played out on the evening of European ties. Further double Gameweek fixtures look likely, then, adding to the midweek Gameweek 34 tie involving Leicester and Chelsea.
There will be further changes to the Gameweek 33 schedule as a result of today and Monday’s Quarter-Final ties with one of Man United and Arsenal and, potentially, Liverpool, all having their fixtures re-arranged as a result of progress to the Wembley semi-finals.
