Scout Notes – Salah and Hazard Dominate

Mohamed Salah and Eden Hazard were predictably the stand-out Fantasy performers as Liverpool and Chelsea played out a stalemate at Anfield.

Salah produced another smart finish from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s touch on to notch a tenth goal of the season, staying one ahead in the Golden Boot race.

He ended Saturday some 15 points ahead of Manchester City’s Leroy Sane at the top of the Fantasy Premier League standings, cementing his “near-essential” status.

Incredibly, the Egyptian has now produced six goals from his last five Gameweeks, with attacking returns in nine of 13 outings. It’s almost impossible to build a case to omit him from our squads, bar his now inflated price tag which stands at 9.6.

Jurgen Klopp’s team selection only compounded Salah’s appeal.

He took the decision to rotate both Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino to his bench, perhaps confirming Salah and Philippe Coutinho as the two key options among Liverpool’s attacking players.

Elsewhere, Dejan Lovren missed out with an unclassified injury, as Ragnar Klavan, along with Alberto Moreno, retained their starts in the back four and Joel Matip returned to fitness to figure. Joe Gomez also earned a recall to calm fears on his rotation with Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Hazard puts Morata in the shade

While Fantasy managers have elevated Alvaro Morata to the status as the must-have forward, Hazard is still classified as a luxury item among the fierce competition for places in Fantasy midfields.

But Saturday’s clash again demonstrated why Hazard can be so valuable.

A simple pass to Willian for the Brazilian’s cross/shot equaliser provided the Belgian with an assist. Significantly, that was enough to earn maximum bonus to outscore Salah eight to seven.

Hazard has always excelled in the Bonus Points System (BPS), his staggering 33 additional points from 2016/17 is testament to that. He also earned 42 – under a different bonus system – in 2014/15.

The playmaker produced four key passes against Liverpool, including setting up one big chance. Central to Chelsea’s attacking play, he also surpassed Salah for completed passes overall.

And while he was tackled on seven occasions to Salah’s six, Hazard completed a staggering nine dribbles from 11 attempts – comfortably more than any other player in the Gameweek.

Quite simply, Hazard remains a bonus point darling, perhaps requiring just an assist to sail to two or three additional points.

Morata, for all his potential as a more profitable scorer of goals, will struggle to compete with his team-mate in that respect.

The Spanish striker was relatively subdued at Anfield, but following Romelu Lukaku’s blank at Old Trafford, his stock continues to rise ahead of Chelsea’s superb schedule of fixtures (SWA NEW whu hud SOT eve).

That begins with Wednesday’s visit from struggling Swansea City, with Morata and Hazard surely earmarked as potential captains.

Both have price rises imminent – most likely overnight – as two of the top three current signings ahead of Tuesday’s FPL deadline.

Meanwhile, Cesc Fabregas’ appeal took a hit as he was rested to the bench by Antonio Conte. Post-match, he explained that decision…

“I think when you play every three days it’s very difficult, but every coach tries to make the best decision for his team. It’s important to have rotation otherwise you risk having players who are very tired, in this case Cesc.”

That quote again underlines Conte’s concerns around midweek matches, indicating that we should be braced for further rotation for Gameweek 14.

Conte keeps Christensen faith

In defence, Conte restored Andreas Christensen (£5.4m) to a back three, having rested the Dane for the midweek Champions League tie.

This is further evidence that Christensen has soared up the defensive pecking order: he has now started in each of the last three Gameweeks.

Rotation over the festive period looks assured, but if the 5.4 option is likely to start four in five matches, then arguably he builds a case for inclusion in our thinking. Wednesday’s fixture will be very significant in that respect. Should Christensen be selected again, then this would surely underline his status.

César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso are, of course, the attractive alternatives. Significantly, both are now identically priced at 6.9.

That just gives Alonso the edge for our money, with the left wing-back again demonstrating his stronger attacking potential at Anfield. However, Azpilicueta again picked a bonus point – despite conceding – and remains the top scoring defender in FPL.

The argument rages on then, with the decision between the pair based on your pursuit of a potential big haul (Alonso), versus the security of start and consistency of steady returns (Azpilicueta).