Kevin de Bruyne grabs a late winner as City come from behind to see of Sevilla. Anthony Martial’s header earns United a point in Moscow, whilst the injuries start to ease for both Liverpool and Palace ahead of the weekend.
De Bruyne Wins it for City
Manchester City ran out 2-1 victors over Sevilla courtesy of an own goal and a 91st-minute strike from Kevin De Bruyne, who received a pass just outside the area from Yaya Toure. Aleksandar Kolarov returned to the bench and was subbed on for Pablo Zabaleta at the hour mark, prompting Bacary Sagna to return to his favoured right-back berth. Vincent Kompany entered the fray in the dying embers for a two-minute cameo.
The Scout Says: With five strikes in his previous seven outings for the Sky Blues, De Bruyne is well on course to surpass the 16 goals he accrued in his final campaign at Wolfsburg. Priced at 10.5, the Belgian midfielder sits at a relatively modest 18% ownership, despite chalking up three goals and as many assists in his previous four starts, though that figure looks set to balloon as Man City gear up for an excellent pair of match-ups (NOR, avl) after they’ve negotiated the Manchester derby. By all accounts, Zabaleta was run ragged by Sevilla’s star man, Yevhen Konoplyanka, and looked short of fitness. There’s a real possibility, then, that Sagna is favoured over the Argentine at Old Trafford – assuming Kolarov is afforded a starting role.
Martial Earns United a Point
Anthony Martial headed his fifth goal for the Red Devils to secure a 1-1 draw against CSKA Moscow, having conceded the penalty (handball) that lead to the hosts’ opener. Louis van Gaal opted to bench Matteo Darmian and Juan Mata, handing starts to Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard down the right flank. Wayne Rooney continued at the lone-striker berth, with Martial fielded on the left flank and Ander Herrera playing at the number ten.
After slamming the youngster’s “stupid reaction” for their hosts’ goal, Van Gaal was quick to ring his praises after the final whistle:
“Yes of course! [he is forgiven] He was playing again with a lot of threat to the opponent and he always plays at a certain level, he’s very consistent. For a 19-year-old boy I like that.”
The Scout Says: Although Martial’s recent switch to the wing has raised questions marks over his capacity to deliver returns from a deep-lying role, the France international’s superb header will afford his 29% ownership a degree of confidence ahead of the Sky Blues’ visit. In saying that, Rooney lack of impact as the spearhead of Man United’s attack may boost Martial’s chances of returning to the lone striker role. The obvious solution is to drop him back into the number-ten berth and allow Martial to lead the line, yet Van Gaal insisted after the CSKA Moscow clash that he wasn’t tempted to make that change during the match. At the back, Darmian’s near-20% ownership will be hoping he can oust Valencia from the right-back berth once again, though the latter’s assist for Martial’s header certainly helps his chances of retaining a starting berth ahead of the Italian.
Mixed News for Palace
Crystal Palace’s assistant manager, Keith Millen, revealed that Connor Wickham is once again expected to remain on the sidelines this weekend as he builds up his fitness:
“Connor is over the injury – I believe the actual calf is healed but we’ve been told we need to really build his training up. We need to get some proper work into him really. He hasn’t returned to full training yet (and is unlikely to play at Leicester). We have Fraizer Campbell and Patrick Bamford fit, so there are two options there and we’re not too bad off.”
Elsewhere in the Eagles camp, Joel Ward trained on Tuesday and could be passed fit for the Foxes clash:
“Wardy did some training with us on Tuesday and is full training on Thursday. I think, medically, he would be OK (to play on Saturday), it’s whether we feel he’s done enough training work really. The main thing is we want to get as many people fit, because we have three games in a week coming up.”
The Scout Says: Beyond Yohan Cabaye (four goals – including three penalties – and one assist), Crystal Palace’s attack has proved hard to penetrate from a Fantasy perspective, with Jason Puncheon delivering just two assists from “the hole” and Yannick Bolasie notching a solitary strike. Bakary Sako looked like a great prospect earlier in the campaign – bagging two goals and one assist across his first two starts – but he’s since dropped behind a resurgent Wilfried Zaha in the pecking order. Although Wickham is unlikely to attract much investment upon his return – given that he tallied just five goals in 36 outings for Sunderland last term – Palace’s wing contingent could certainly profit from his hold-up play. As for Ward, he still ranks top among the London club’s defenders for shots on target (three), having carded two goals in his only four starts of the campaign. At just 4.5, the right-back serves as the prime route into an Eagles rearguard that’s claimed two clean sheets in three matches but faces a tough upcoming trio of fixtures (lei, MUN, liv).
Liverpool Treatment Room Emptying
Ahead of Liverpool’s Europa League tie against Rubin Kazan on Thursday, Jurgen Klopp said that Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and Dejan Lovren are all on the comeback trail, having returned to training in midweek. However, the German head coach conceded that none of the trio are fit enough to be named in the starting XI:
“We have three players back in training – Benteke, Firmino and Lovren. That’s good, more options, not really starting options but for the squad. Yesterday they joined team training and it was OK. Now we will see what we need for this game, who we’ll take with us and who will stay here for more training. But, of course, it’s very good for us that these players are back.”
Meanwhile, Daniel Sturridge came through a training session unscathed, so Klopp is hoping the injury-prone marksman will be in contention for a start against Southampton on Sunday:
“Sturridge is getting better and better. Yesterday he was outside for the first time since Saturday. It was OK and the target for him is Sunday, for sure. That’s what we’ll try to do. There were no difficulties or complications. He’s a young player, a big talent and it would be cool for him if he was now with us, but he can’t.”
The Scout Says: If both Benteke and Sturridge overcome their niggles, it will be fascinating to observe how Klopp sets out his team – essentially, this weekend will be the first time that both strikers will be fit for the same league match since Benteke joined from Villa. In terms of tactics, the new Reds boss went against expectation in his first match in charge and rolled out a 4-3-2-1 instead of the 4-2-3-1 he preferred at Dortmund, with Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana tucked in behind Divock Origi. As the injuries start to ease, though, we might start to get a better indication of his intentions, with the likes of Firmino looking to finally establish himself after struggling to make an impact under Brendan Rodgers. Ultimately, the uncertainty surrounding the Reds’ attack – coupled with their challenging schedule (SOU, che, CRY, mci, SWA) – is likely to encourage Fantasy managers to adopt a wait-and-see policy for the time being.
