Olivier Giroud continues to deliver Arsenal’s “plan B”, while Charlie Daniels closes on the big-hitters in defence with further attacking returns. Meanwhile, at Selhurst Park, Wilfried Zaha departs and a crocked Christian Benteke blanks once again.
Here’s the Stock Check following Tuesday’s three Gameweek 20 encounters…
On the Rise
Olivier Giroud
The Frenchman’s extraordinary festive period concluded with another notable performance and Fantasy Premier League returns – a 15-point tally representing his biggest haul of the campaign.
Making a third successive start leading the Arsenal attack, Giroud assisted his side’s first two goals then grabbed a dramatic at-the-death equaliser to earn the Gunners an unlikely point.
Interest in Giroud had peaked heading into Gameweek 20, with more than 38,000 FPL managers recruiting him ahead of the Vitality Stadium visit.
At the time of writing, almost 30,000 have jumped aboard following Tuesday’s haul – only Jermain Defoe has attracted more interest among strikers.
Although he has racked up four goals and two assists in those three starts, Giroud’s pitch time remains uncertain.
Arsene Wenger has acknowledged that he will rotate his attacking resources according to opponent and, should Theo Walcott return for the Gameweek 21 visit to Swansea City, an approach based on pace on the break could arguably be seen as more effective in South Wales.
Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean has now notched 13 times this season, already matching his overall total from 2015/16 in 10 fewer starts.
But despite delivering for the 12.3% who trusted him with the Gameweek 20 armband, Sanchez’ level of involvement and goal threat in last night’s encounter raised concerns.
Stationed on the left flank with Aaron Ramsey occupying the right wing, the former Barcelona man scored with his only effort on target and mustered three attempts on the night.
With Giroud leading the line at the Emirates, Sanchez had amassed 17 attempts over the previous two matches against West Brom and Palace.
Given the reliance on goals away from home to this point (10 of his 13 strikes have arrived on the road), a drop off in the Sanchez goal threat when deployed on the flank would be an alarming trend.
Charlie Daniels
The Bournemouth left-back went into Tuesday’s encounter having created more chances and earned more assists than any other Cherries asset since the start of last season.
He more than lived up to that reputation by providing another assist, while claiming a third goal of the campaign.
The 11-point return gave Daniels back-to-back double-digit scores and ensured that he immediately flashed on the radar of FPL managers.
Only Everton’s Leighton Baines has enjoyed more transfer traffic ahead of Gameweek 21.
There are caveats when considering Daniels, however.
Bournemouth offer cheaper options – most notably Chelsea loanee Nathan Ake, who has three goals to his name in eight starts.
In addition, while Eddie Howe’s men had previously shown resilience on home turf, they have now shipped two or more goals in four of their last five at the Vitality Stadium.
Nonetheless, with a trip to struggling Hull City up next and both Crystal Palace and Watford due on the South Coast as the next visitors, Daniels presents a strong option for those willing to allocate 5.2 of their budget.
Junior Stanislas, Ryan Fraser
Overshadowed by the performance of Daniels on the night, Stanislas was still an impressive source of creativity and threat for Howe’s men.
Making a second successive start, his season has been interrupted by injury which sidelined the winger from Gameweeks 15-17.
However, if you track his output back to Gameweek 6, Stanislas is revealed as a hugely efficient value asset.
His assist for Daniels’ goal on Tuesday took him to six in his last nine starts, with three goals and six bonus points also arriving in that spell.
A key figure on set-pieces for Bournemouth, given their next three fixtures, the winger appears to be a canny alternative to West Brom’s Matt Phillips and a potential solution for those holding the now AFCON bound Wilfried Zaha.
Ryan Fraser is also worth a mention here.
A goal and assist took his tally to three strikes and as many assists in his last five appearances, though the Scot’s security of starts is perhaps more in question than Stanislas’.
Forced off with a knock last night, Fraser – at just 4.8 in FPL – could also be one to monitor, though with an average of 5.3 points per match, it’s Stanislas who remains our go-to Bournemouth attacking option for now.
Peter Crouch
Making a third consecutive start, the target man scored for successive matches for the first time since February 2015.
Priced at 4.7, Crouch has suddenly emerged as another option in attack for those considering a 3-5-2 approach.
Along with Burnley’s Ashley Barnes (4.5), he represents a replacement for the hamstrung Victor Anichebe at a time where the likes of Wilfried Bony and Mame Biram Diouf’s departure to the African Cup of Nations limits the Potters’ options up top.
Lee Grant, Eric Pieters
With a permanent deal from Derby County now imminent, Grant returned a sixth clean sheet of the season to further promote his stock in the light of Jordan Pickford’s recent injury.
Stoke City’s forthcoming fixtures could be kinder, though, and, now costing 4.4, there are arguably alternatives to the Potters’ stopper – Darren Randolph, Wayne Hennessey (or Steve Mandanda) and Vito Mannone are all identically priced or cheaper than Grant at this point.
Meanwhile, Pieters extended his lead as the choice option among Mark Hughes’ defensive options.
Deployed at left wing-back, the Dutchman picked up a single bonus point in Tuesday’s victory and, at 4.5, remains the cheapest route into the Potters’ rearguard.
Gylfi Sigurdsson
The Swansea City playmaker finally stopped the rot with his first attacking returns since Gameweek 15.
An assist for Alfie Mawson’s header also earned Sigurdsson two bonus points to help stave off the recent flow of sales.
Despite his recent drought, the key statistic remains: Siggy has scored or assisted 50% of Swansea City’s goals.
If the Swans are to be revived under new manager Paul Clement, there can be little doubt that Sigurdsson will be a major factor.
However, with Arsenal and Liverpool up next, the fixtures are hardly in favour of Clement or his playmaker.
Despite that, Sigurdsson’s dead-ball delivery will remain a key weapon against those opponents, to offer the patient among his 6.8% ownership the prospect of continued returns.
In Decline
Christian Benteke, Wilfried Zaha
It’s now five Gameweeks without attacking returns for the Belgian and with injury doubts now surrounding the striker, his stock is currently in free-fall.
Withdrawn at half-time, manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed that he will be sent for scans on a shoulder injury, having suffered suspected ligament damage.
Any term of absence would be hugely damaging, given that Benteke was about to enter a period of obliging fixtures.
Meanwhile, Wilfried Zaha’s stock is zeroed as a result of his departure for the Africa Cup of Nations.
He signed off with a spectacular goal – a reminder of his talents and worth to Fantasy managers.
However, with Ivory Coast the favourites for AFCON, he could be absent up until at least Gameweek 25, should his nation make the final.
With Zaha absent and Benteke potentially nursing an injury, the outlook for Palace suddenly looks far more bleak just three matches into Big Sam’s tenure.
Hector Bellerin, Gabriel
Arsenal arrived at the Vitality Stadium with back-to-back clean sheets accrued, indicating that their premium defenders may begin delivering.
But defensive frailties were exposed by Bournemouth, with Hector Bellerin – cited as a potential heavy-hitter option in our last Stock Check – culpable for at least one of the goals conceded.
As expected, Shkodran Mustafi’s return to fitness relegated Gabriel back to the bench, cutting out any budget route into Arsene Wenger’s defence.
Which leaves us considering Bellerin and Laurent Koscielny ahead of very strong fixtures with Swansea City (a), Burnley (h) and Watford (h).
Those two Emirates encounters appear to offer very strong clean sheet prospects, although Tuesday’s performance was evidence again of the uncertainty associated with the Gunners defence.
Fatigue could obviously have been a major factor, ensuring that Bellerin simmers as an option for now with his next three fixtures in mind.
