Riyad Mahrez struck his twelfth goal on the road as Leicester held firm once again to earn another precious victory. Elsewhere, Danny Welbeck submitted his CV for Gameweek 34 attention, while Gylfi Sigurdsson and Ashley Williams stuck to the script to deliver returns against Villa. Here’s the notes from Saturday’s matches…
Foxes Grind Out Precious Palace Win
Leicester City recorded their third consecutive 1-0 victory to open up an eight-point lead at the summit of the Premier League.
Netting his third goal in four road encounters, Riyad Mahrez delivered a warning to those who plan to wildcard in the pursuit of 15 double Gameweek players. The 7.4-priced midfielder has now contributed to 27 goals (16 goals, 11 assists) and shows no sign of easing up as Leicester gear up for a favourable run through to Gameweek 35 (SOU, sun, WHU, SWA).
Frustrating the 22,000 managers that cut ties with him during the week, Jamie Vardy notched his third assist in five starts. Clearly being deployed in a wider role in recent matches, the league’s joint-top scorer is now without a goal in five outings yet has drawn blanks on just three occasions since Gameweek 22.
Claudio Ranieri’s side survived a late scare to register their fourth shut-out in five match-ups. Christian Fuchs again scooped three bonus points – he’s now collected 19 bonus points overall, ranking him second amongst defenders.
Considering that Southampton have tallied just three goals in their previous four road ties, Fuchs and his fellow defenders will fancy their chances of maintaining their fine recent resolve in Gameweek 32.
Welbeck Stars as Gunners Cruise
Posting just their second win in 10 road clashes, Arsenal rebounded from their Champions League exit with a convincing 2-0 victory at Everton.
Danny Welbeck opened the scoring with his third goal in five appearances, strengthening his case for a prolonged run at the lone-striker berth ahead of an out-of-form Olivier Giroud. Although the three upcoming home ties on the Gunners’ schedule (WAT, whu, CRY, WBA) look conducive to attacking returns, prospective investors in Welbeck will remain wary of rotation during their double Gameweek 34 (CRY, WBA).
Alex Iwobi marked his debut Premier League start by doubling the visitors’ advantage. Classified as a midfielder, the 19-year-old’s 4.5 FPL price tag catches the eye, although it remains to be seen if he can cement pitch time with Joel Campbell, Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey (once fit) are also jostling for the right flank role.
Building on recent promising performances, Alexis Sanchez delivered attacking returns (one goal, three assists) for the fourth time in five outings across all competitions. Nonetheless, the Chilean still lays claim to just one goal in 13 matches, ensuring that he remains behind Mesut Ozil in the pecking order when we begin loading on Arsenal assets for Gameweek 34.
Ozil drew a blank for the third successive outing and was withdrawn at the 74-minute mark due to an ankle complaint. Discussing the incident post-match, Arsene Wenger calmed fears over Ozil’s fitness by revealing that he believed that the German playmaker had received a kick rather than suffering any long-term ligament damage.
At the back, Hector Bellerin reaffirmed his status as the prime route into Arsenal’s rearguard by notching his third assist in two starts, leading to maximum bonus points in successive fixtures; Bellerin had previously recorded just two assists over 46 league starts. The raiding also Spaniard profited from Arsenal’s first clean sheet in five attempts and was the most popular FPL acquisition overnight, earning almost 10,000 new owners.
Everton Roll Over At Goodison Once Again
Displaying none of the vibrancy and determination that saw them dispatch of Chelsea in their FA Cup quarter-final, Everton succumbed to their eighth home defeat of the season.
The Toffees have conceded three more home goals (28) than any other side, limiting the appeal of their mid-priced rearguard assets prior to their double Gameweek 34 (SOU, liv). By virtue of his 4.3 valuation, Joel Robles – who has now established himself as Everton’s first-choice keeper – is arguably the most attractive route into the Merseysiders’ defence.
Much to the chagrin of his 108,000 new owners, Romelu Lukaku failed to exert his influence against Wenger’s troops, mustering just two attempts and one accurate shot throughout the encounter. Lukaku will travel to Manchester United next to face a defence that have conceded just seven goals on home turf. That’s likely to delay any major investment in the Everton striker until we approach his Gameweek 34 double.
Hammers Denied Bridge Victory
West Ham United were denied a golden opportunity to rise into the top four as they succumbed to a controversial late equaliser at Stamford Bridge.
Making his fourth start since returning from injury, Manuel Lanzini struck first in the local derby. Priced at 4.9, the impish Argentine – who’s bagged five goals in just 1270 minutes during his maiden top-flight season – could yet serve as budget West Ham coverage for their Gameweek 34 double (lei, WAT).
Undoubtedly, Dimitri Payet remains the first-choice option. The mercurial Frenchman again exerted his influence with a sumptuous assist for Andy Carroll’s goal: Payet has now produced attacking returns (two goals, four assists) in four of his previous five league starts.
Dead-ball Fabregas Rescues A Point
Chelsea twice came from behind as they extended their unbeaten to 12 matches with a hard-fought draw against West Ham.
Cesc Fabregas did the damage for the hosts, first restoring parity with an inch-perfect free-kick (Oscar assist) in the dying embers of the first period. Owing to Oscar’s substitution at the 84-minute mark, Fabregas then stepped up to secure his brace with a second-half penalty (Ruben Loftus-Cheek assist).
Now boasting four goals in three outings, Fabregas could be in line for further profit from the forthcoming trip to Aston Villa, although with no double fixture in Gameweek 34, Chelsea assets will likely be put on ice until their two fixtures in Gameweek 37. At that point, Fabregas could become a factor given that Willian has now registered just a goal and two assists in his last nine league appearances.
To the frustration of those who took a punt on 5.4 midfielder, Bertrand Traore, Guus Hiddink opted to start Loic Remy as the spearhead of Chelsea’s attack in the light of Diego Costa’s absence. It remains to be seen if Traore gets to enjoy a run at the Villa defence when we return to league action after the international break.
Defensively Chelsea continue to disappoint. They’ve now gone six league matches without a clean sheet and have shipped a goal in each of their last nine at the Bridge. While that will be alarming reading for owners of Cesar Azpilicueta (13.4%) and Branislav Ivanovic (9.2%), they will doubtless be encouraged by fixtures at goal-shy Villa and Swansea up next.
Hornets Limping Over the Line
The 2-1 home loss to Stoke City inflicted Watford’s third league defeat in a row as Quique Sánchez Flores’ side limp their way to mathematical safety.
Troy Deeney – who has scored all three of the Hornets’ goals since Gameweek 24 – netted four minutes from time (Ikechi Anya assist), keeping him on our radar for Watford’s double Gameweek 34 (wba, whu). On the flip side, Odion Ighalo stretched out his barren streak to seven league matches, as his stock continued to slide.
Things have become just as alarming at the back with just two clean sheets earned in the last 13 outings. Given the number of defensive errors on show against the Potters, Flores’ will be concerned ahead of the Gameweek 32 trip to the Emirates, despite their recent cup triumph against Arsene Wenger’s side.
Resolute Canaries Shut-Out Again
Courtesy of their first win in 11 attempts and their first clean sheet on the road, Norwich City pulled three points clear of the relegation berths with victory at West Brom.
Robbie Brady came up trumps for the Canaries with his second goal (Matt Jarvis assist) in five appearances, only to be subbed off at the 77-minute mark with a knock.
Alex Neil’s rearguard has been breached on just three occasions across the last four Gameweeks, sparking interest in their cut-price defenders ahead of a trio of agreeable fixtures (NEW, cry, SUN) and back-to-back home clashes in Gameweek 37 (MUN, WAT).
Timm Klose has emerged as the prime candidate for our attention. The giant Swiss defender, priced at 4.2 in the FPL, earned maximum bonus to follow on from the two he gained in the 0-0 with Manchester City.
Baggies Progress Stalled
Once again the Baggies backline demonstrated fragility on home turf as Tony Pulis’ men slipped to defeat.
The recent attacking verve, which had brought seven goals in the previous four heading in to the defeat to Norwich, also failed to materialise as West Brom failed to muster a single shot on target.
Although the Baggies face four road trips in their next five fixtures, investors in their defence will be heartened in the knowledge that half of their clean sheets (5/10) have arrived away from home.
Nonetheless, the unforgiving nature of their forthcoming away match-ups (sun, mci, ars, tot) raises serious question marks regarding their clean sheet prospects in the final quarter of the campaign.
Swansea Edge to Safety
Swansea City sneaked past a doomed Aston Villa at the Liberty Stadium to send them four points shy of the fabled 40-point mark and the expectation of survival.
Federico Fernandez emerged as the unlikely match-winner, scoring his first goal of the campaign. Fantasy managers were more concerned by the fortunes of his central defensive partner, Ashley Williams, who duly boosted his bonus points tally to 23 (top among all defenders) with another two from the 1-0 win.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was the other focus for our attention as the Icelander earned the assist for Fernandez’ winning goal. Sigurdsson has now posted attacking returns (seven goals, two assists) in nine of his last 12 outings. Despite this, Sigurdsson is likely to be a casualty of the cull lined up by those dealing their Wildcard and Bench Boost ahead of Gameweek 34’s matches.
While Francesco Guidolin’s side have shown defensive form of late, they’ve kept just a single clean sheet on their travels this term, which doesn’t bode well when you consider that they’re on the road for three of the next four Gameweeks (sto, CHE, new, lei).
