Sergio Aguero is handed the night off as Leroy Sane scores twice in Man City’s win at the Hawthorns, while a star turn from Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has us purring.
Marcus Rashford continues his fine from with a double for Man United and Everton finally get some joy, but Arsenal struggle to a win and West Brom bow out on a night of mixed fortunes in the Carabao Cup.
Here are the notes from Wednesday’s ties.
Guardiola rotates most, but not Jesus
Pep Guardiola is in danger of becoming someone that Fantasy managers can actually trust.
The Man City boss rested all but three of the players who started the 6-0 rout at Watford, with two of the Gameweek’s three most popular purchases, Sergio Aguero and David Silva, given the night off.
Acquired by over 506,000 FPL managers since last weekend, Aguero’s growing band of owners will now be very confident of his place on City’s teamsheet against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
But the 12.4% who own Gabriel Jesus would have been disappointed to see that their man wasn’t afforded the same luxury.
The striker has not played a full 90 minutes in the league all season, but that’s precisely what he did in last night’s 2-1 win at West Brom.
He’s been drafted in by 109,000+ ahead of the plum home fixture with Roy Hodgson’s side but there will now be some uncertainty over his minutes on Saturday.
Leroy Sane has had to live off scraps of pitch-time this season, scoring twice in a memorable 33-minute appearance against Liverpool in Gameweek 4. He doubled his tally for the season at The Hawthorns, with goals at either end of a match in which Ilkay Gundogan made his first start of the campaign after eight months out with injury.
The midfielder looked in fine form until a particularly industrial challenge from Claudio Yacob ended his evening.
Guardiola played down the extent of the problem post-match.
“It’s not eight months, but a little injury. Unfortunately, the action is tough. He will be back soon hopefully. Tomorrow we will make a test. The physio and doctor told me it’s not a big issue.”
Assists came from Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, while Yaya Toure also made his first start of the season.
City will now face a visit from Wolves in the next round, the tie coming between a home match with Burnley and another trip to West Brom.
First start, same old result
Michy Batshuayi scored a hat-trick as Chelsea brushed aside Nottingham Forest 5-1, but it was Eden Hazard who was the headline act.
Coach Antonio Conte handed Hazard his first start of the season and the Belgian didn’t disappoint, setting up two goals and unlucky not to score himself when a shot hit the post.
With the matches coming thick and fast either side of the October international break, Conte retained only Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas from the team held 0-0 by Arsenal on Sunday.
That meant a rare outing for Kenedy, who scored and provided the assist for Batshuayi’s hat-trick, while the next generation of Blues’ players either started or came off the bench, with Charly Musonda capping a memorable first start with the third goal.
Fabregas and Antonio Rudiger were also among the assists, while goalkeeper Willy Caballero made his competitive debut.
Hazard played the full 90 minutes, upping his match fitness ahead of crucial road trips to Stoke City and Atletico Madrid over the next week.
Fabregas was withdrawn after 56 minutes, however, suggesting that Conte could be calling on the Spaniard from the get-go at the weekend.
Hazard’s ownership is edging higher, but he still sits in just 2.9% of Fantasy Premier League squads.
The Blues’ domestic schedule is generally attractive, with a Gameweek 7 visit from Man City the only major test until the beginning of November.
The temptation to bring in an increasingly impressive Hazard grows stronger by the match.
Chelsea will host Everton in the fourth round, which takes place either side of a home match with Watford and a trip to Bournemouth.
McAuley back for beaten Baggies
FPL’s most owned defender, West Brom’s Ahmed Hegazi (28.1%), stayed on the bench for the defeat to Man City.
In the short-term, that would imply his starting place in the league remains secure.
But the return of Gareth McAuley from injury – he played just over an hour last night – could have an impact on the Egyptian’s spot further down the line.
Interestingly, McAuley played in a back three, with new signing Kieran Gibbs starting at left wing-back and providing the assist for Claudio Yacob’s goal.
Jonny Evans and Craig Dawson partnered McAuley at the back as coach Tony Pulis made just the five changes on the night, with a slight calf strain keeping Chris Brunt sidelined.
West Brom play three of their next four league matches away from home, and their schedule stiffens even more after that.
That combination of tough fixtures and increased competition for places has led to just over 40,000 managers ditching Hegazi this week – an exodus that could well gather momentum from now on.
Rashford at the double
Marcus Rashford was the star of the show as Man United made short work of Burton 4-1.
The striker was handed the central role he clearly craves and took full advantage, scoring twice and setting up Anthony Martial’s strike for good measure.
Rashford has, understandably, had to play second fiddle to Romelu Lukaku this season, deployed in a support role on the left flank.
But he has featured for at least 60 minutes in all but one league match so far, producing two goals and an assist along the way.
Yet in spite of Rashford’s star turn, Lukaku owners will – like Aguero’s – be delighted to see that he was not involved last night, instead warming the Red Devils’ bench ahead of the weekend trip to St Mary’s.
The other goal on the night came from Jesse Lingard, with Daley Blind and Martial providing assists.
United will travel to Swansea City in round four, the tie bookended by a trip to Huddersfield and that Spurs encounter.
Relief at last for Everton
Ronald Koeman’s struggling Everton side enjoyed a morale-boosting 3-0 win over Sunderland just when they needed it most.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored twice and forgotten man Oumar Niasse grabbed the other as the Toffees finally found the net again after three consecutive blanks in the league and a wretched 3-0 loss at Atalanta in the Europa League.
The performance of Calvert-Lewin was particularly welcome. The young striker costs just 5.0 and is owned by a mere 1.8%, despite setting up both of Everton’s league goals this season.
Part of that lowly ownership is down to the fact that hasn’t started domestically since Gameweek 2, the rest a combination of the side’s brutal opening schedule and the resultant loss of confidence and attacking bite.
But with happier times ahead – only a Gameweek 9 visit from Arsenal disrupts an otherwise fine run of fixtures all the way into December – a good win and solid performance couldn’t have come at a better time.
Assists came from Sandro, Davy Klaassen and Tom Davies.
Niasse, who spent last season on loan at Hull City, is yet to be listed in this season’s FPL game.
Everton will now face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the next round, a tie sandwiched between that Arsenal match-up and a trip to Leicester City.
Gunners sneak through
Alexis Sanchez started and played the full 90 minutes as Arsenal stumbled to a 1-0 win over Doncaster.
The Chilean set up Theo Walcott’s winner as a much-changed Gunners fired in 27 shots on the night but were the width of a crossbar away from being taken to extra time by their League One opponents.
Olivier Giroud and Jack Wilshere were among the other starters, while Calum Chambers lasted only 45 minutes before succumbing to what looked like a serious hip injury that has since ruled him out until after the international break.
Sanchez (11.9) remains a high-cost, high-risk investment that few – 2.4% – are currently willing to make.
But Wenger’s post-match comments suggested that more consistent league involvement may now be on the cards.
“For me he needs competition and that’s why I left him on the pitch as well. Yes, he should be ready now (for Monday v West Brom).”
Finding the requisite amount of money to acquire last season’s top scorer in FPL looks beyond nearly all of us at the moment, however.
It will take a return to last year’s explosive ways for Sanchez to become anything but a bit-part player for now. That looks some way off based on Wednesday’s below-par performance.
Arsenal will entertain Norwich City in round four, with Everton away and a home match with Swansea City either side of the cup tie.
