Scout Notes – Kane Toils Again

Another underwhelming week for Spurs and their talismanic striker sows further seeds of doubt in the minds of Fantasy managers.

Our confused relationship with Harry Kane continues.

Today’s two-point display in the 1-1 draw at Watford followed back-to-back goals, which sounds reasonable enough.

But three blanks in the past five Gameweeks doesn’t cut the mustard when, at 12.8, you’re the most expensive player in Fantasy Premier League.

Some 59,740 managers paid the premium price to bring the striker in for Gameweek 15, while 857,000+ (15.9%) made him the weekend’s most-captained player.

All that hope came to nought as Kane managed just two shots – both from range, one a free kick – and a meagre two touches in the box.

It was left to Son Heung-min, assisted by Christian Eriksen, to spare Spurs’ blushes after Christian Kabasele had opened the scoring for the hosts from Tom Cleverley’s corner.

Returns for Mohamed Salah (5), Alvaro Morata (8) and, in particular, Eden Hazard’s 15-point haul will again call into question the merits of the Kane captaincy – even with Stoke City at Wembley next.

Spurs’ form is the major concern. They’ve hit just four goals – only Huddersfield and Swansea City have managed fewer – and earned a mere five points in the last six Gameweeks now.

Kane does have two of those goals, but the confidence seems to be leeching from Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.

They’ve even lost the knack of making up for their deficiences at Wembley with results on the road – today’s draw was the first points they’ve earned away since Gameweek 7.

Kane is now experiencing sales, only Leroy Sane is suffering more, with owners either doing rage transfers or feeling that his 19 points from the last five Gameweeks is scant reward for that price tag.

The problem for some is that there remains no clear or in-form replacement, aside perhaps from Morata.

Romelu Lukaku now has just one goal from his last eight starts, while Man City’s stellar options are blighted by Pep Guardiola’s continued appetite for rotation.

The Kane to Morata move is the second most popular transfer taking place this evening. Interestingly, Roberto Firmino is the next most popular Kane replacement, as managers look to clear funds for midfield investment.

Spurs defence stretched

Spurs’ attack is stalling, their defence close to crisis.

Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier returned at full-back and, with the Champions League to come in midweek, they will likely feature at home to Stoke next Saturday.

But starts are simply not enough in a backline that’s kept one clean sheet in six matches.

And a red card for Davinson Sanchez – he’ll now miss the home fixtures with Stoke and Brighton and the massive trip to Man City – was the last thing a creaky defence needed while Toby Alderweireld remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Eric Dier will have to move back into the defence to cover for that, but it could get worse still – Jan Vertonghen picked up a yellow card at Vicarage Road and is now just one more caution away from suspension.

Richarlison stalls

Another player to see yellow was Watford’s Richarlison – his third of the season – which meant just a single point for the popular Brazilian.

He’s now delivered just an assist from the last three Gameweeks for his 20.4% ownership, although the underlying stats suggest no need to panic.

He’s actually had more penalty area touches than any other midfielder over that spell (25), as well as seven shots in the box.

Even so, there are cheaper in-form options in Pascal Gross (6.0) and Xherdan Shaqiri (6.1) than the 6.6-priced winger, who is suffering some sales, having steadily increased in ownership since Gameweek 7, as a result.

Elsewhere for Watford, centre-back Kabesele’s goal was his second in five Gameweeks, underlining his increased threat from set-pieces, despite delivering those goals from just four shots.