Autumn is now upon us; the season of interminable international breaks, cold winds and the chance to go to and from work without ever seeing the light of day.
Thankfully, plenty of managers and players are on hand to fill the Fantasy void with blasts of hot air and illuminating comments, which this week stretch from the new dawn at Arsenal to Sunderland’s flexibility, taking in a rise in Sterling, Palace performances and a bullish Burnley boss along the way.
Striking Stuff At Arsenal
It’s a great time to be Alexis Sanchez (11.3) – the midfielder is joint-top Fantasy Premier League scorer, with four goals, three assists and six bonus points to his name.
And Arsene Wenger’s decision to use him as a striker has been music to the ears of the 21.9% of FPL managers in Alexis’ corner.
The Frenchman had his doubts about the move.
“I must say the few times I tried him before, he was not convincing in that position. You start to think is that a wrong decision or do I have to give him more time? In the first two games I was not completely convinced but know, game after game, he’s growing into this position and getting better and better. Where he’s strong is that he can dribble, finish and also give a final ball.”
Sanchez recently likened himself to Messi, among others, and Wenger is happy to throw in another arguable comparison.
“He has similarities with Luis Suarez.”
Well they are both from South America and have all their own teeth…
Another Sanchez supporter is Theo Walcott (7.7).
“Myself and Alexis are linking up very well and that seems to be clicking as well.”
That’s almost an understatement – the duo have seven goals and six assists between them – and it’s no surprise that they, together with Laurent Koscielny (6.2), make it into the top eight for players transferred in this Gameweek.
“Everyone is on a high at the moment and we have to make sure it stays that way.
Swansea and Middlesbrough at home and then Sunderland away is a good set of fixtures for the Gunners to do just that.
Pardew Praise For Born-Again Christian
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has been doing a bit of comparison work himself, likening striker Christian Benteke (7.6) to Teddy Sheringham and Andy Carroll.
Cynics might think that suggests the Belgian’s got no pace and is injury-prone, but Pardew knows what he means.
“Christian is a handful when anything comes into the box and if he pulls onto the full back I don’t think there’s anyone in the league that can cope with him.”
Three goals from his last four starts is proof of that, with Pardew claiming Palace are now performing at ‘another level’.
“You can’t play with two strikers. If you do, your two midfielders have to be outstanding and not many teams can do that. But if you are going to have three midfielders you need to have two wide men and a number nine, they all have to contribute. The number nine wasn’t getting enough goals, nor were the wide men, so we changed it, which is why we have had the uplift that we have had.”
The wide boys in question are Wilfried Zaha (5.4) and Andros Townsend (6.3) and they both have a goal and an assist to their name thus far, with the latter convinced he, and the club, are hitting form.
“Like the club, it probably took me a few games to get going. My performances are slowly getting better and better and the Stoke game (goal, assist, three bonus points) was the level I want to be at on a consistent basis.”
Unbeaten in five, with three wins and two draws, lends weight to Townsend’s claims.
And it’s a befuddled West Ham for the Eagles next.
Moyes’ Back To Front Thinking
Jermain Defoe (7.2) aside, investing in Sunderland players this season has been as joyful as sharing a dressing room with Joey Barton.
But manager David Moyes could be about to put a smile on all our faces – by converting two defenders into attacking goal machines.
Okay, so this is Sunderland we’re talking about, so the machines might not come with much of a warranty, but the thought of Patrick van Aanholt (5.0) and Paddy McNair (4.4) doing damage to a defence that isn’t their own has pleasing Fantasy potential.
On Van Aanholt, Moyes said this.
“I’m pleased with the goals he’s come up with but I’m not pleased with some of the positions he’s been taking up defensive-wise. We did a bit of training last week with three at the back and four at the back with Pat playing further on, just to plant the seed in my mind as well.”
The Dutch defender has always got goals. He has two this season and banged in six (to go with four assists) last year.
With two away trips, to Stoke and West Ham, up next, he could be worth a punt – if he’s used further forward.
The same goes for McNair, who started for the first time this season in the 1-1 draw at West Brom.
“He’s an attacking midfielder. He was a No10 as a boy but as he grew he dropped back. He strikes the ball cleanly, is a good finisher and connects well. We’ll find exactly the right spot for him.”
Sunderland have managed just six goals in seven matches so far, so they need all the help they can get – and from wherever they can get it.
Antonio Anywhere
Another man showing his versatility is West Ham midfielder Michail Antonio (7.3).
Having performed out wide as both a full-back and a winger this season, coach Slaven Bilic gave new hope to the 17.1% of FPL managers still holding onto Antonio (7.3) by using him as a striker in the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough.
“We were not totally happy with the way our strikers had done in the last few games and we were missing that presence and quality up front, so that’s why we opted for Antonio to play there. He has played as a striker and with his pace and energy we expected him to cause them problems, which is what he did really well in the first half.”
Antonio did end up drawing a second straight blank, however. But as the 11,757 brave souls still clinging on to Simone Zaza (6.6) will confirm, that’s par for the course for Hammers strikers this season.
And a decent (ish) run of fixtures – Palace and Everton away and home to Sunderland and Stoke – should give Antonio a solid shot at adding to the five goals he’s managed so far.
Sterling On The Up
Everyone, we’re told, hates Raheem Sterling (8.6) – except when it comes to the FPL.
His 26.7% ownership figure makes him the third most popular midfielder in the game, and four goals and three assists have helped him to an impressive 45-point haul.
His finishing, in particular, has marked out the new Sterling from the old, and he’s quick to credit new coach Pep Guardiola for that.
“The new manager has just been drilling into my head that I need to be more decisive. When I got into the box against Swansea (where Sterling scored his fourth of the season) I just said to myself ‘I am going to slow it down here and take it to my tempo’. The movement was sharper once I got past the defender, I assessed my options rather than just kicking the ball and hoping for the best and really just found a placement for the shot.”
It’s reassuring that £49million doesn’t just get you someone into ‘kicking the ball and hoping for the best’. It really is.
Burnley Set Fair
Someone with a rather more analytical approach is Burnley boss Sean Dyche, who knows the value of a decent set piece when he sees one.
“Roughly 30 percent of goals are scored from set plays, so we’ve got to defend them well and deliver with them, and we’ve done well over the last year. It’s important again, an important detail within a game, and has to be addressed. It’s another part of your armoury.”
Set pieces accounted for precisely 100 percent of Burnley’s goals in the 2-0 win over Watford, with Jeff Hendrick (5.4) and Michael Keane (4.9) scoring from corners and the latter adding a clean sheet and two bonus points for a chunky 14-point performance.
But Steven Defour (6.0) is arguably the best Fantasy option of them all – he’s the man providing all that dead ball goodness and already has three assists (and a goal) to his name from just six starts.
Upcoming matches at Southampton and home to Everton are likely to be tight affairs. Defour’s deliveries could be the difference.
Foxes Never Quit, But They Could Do With A Rest
Claudio Ranieri has hinted that he might well start rotating his Leicester City charges after they struggled to a point against Southampton following their latest midweek heroics in the Champions League.
“Maybe it was harder to think about, when we play every three days. Maybe at the end of the 22 days, it was much better to give some rest to some players. Because it’s true Southampton played one day after us. They changed seven players I changed just one. It’s not enough, but for this reason I am very, very happy.”
Juggling the demands of European and domestic football is one of the toughest tests for a manager and how Ranieri rises to that challenge looks likely to have a big impact on FPL teams with Leicester players to the fore.
The Foxes’ next three matches following on from CL action come at home and are all very tempting – Palace, West Brom and Middlesbrough.
FPL managers will have to keep a very close eye on who Ranieri decides to rest, with Riyad Mahrez (9.2/14.3% ownership) and Jamie Vardy (9.8/13.4%) of particular concern.
On the bright side, if Leicester continue their cracking Euro form, they’ll be through to the knockout stages nice and early, allowing Ranieri to rest his key men for domestic duties only.
Tottenham Holding On
After a successful switch from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1 continued with a 2-0 home win over Man City, Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that one holding midfielder is enough for Spurs.
“You talk a lot about the battle in the middle of the pitch and to keep possession — that was one of the keys and our mentality was to be aggressive, to play in the opposite half and not only to run in behind them but if not when we have the play, to play in the way we played yesterday. It is the commitment of the team that helps us play in a different way and [still] believe. The design to play like this was not only yesterday, we played it in CSKA and in different games only with one holding midfielder and I think the future and the present of the team is to play one with one.”
Such forward thinking has harvested back-to-back victories, which should mean maximum pitch-time for the side’s attack-minded assets Heung-Min Son (7.6), Christian Eriksen (8.2) and a revitalised Dele Alli (8.2).
The FPL rush to Tottenham players has gathered some serious pace this week, with 125,130 transfers in making Son the most popular buy in the game, while Kyle Walker (5.9) and Jan Vertonghen (5.6) are in the top three for defenders attracting new owners.
Pochettino has so far tended to rest key assets in the Champions League – Walker was on the bench in Moscow – which is further good news for FPL bosses hoping to make hay from Tottenham’s next two fixtures, away at West Brom and then Bournemouth.
