Scout Notes – Ward the Latest Clarets Casualty

Burnley grind out a victory over Stoke City to climb to the heady heights of fourth in the table, but the night is tainted for over 1.4 million Fantasy managers as Stephen Ward departs with an injury and just a single point.

Ward is the most owned defender in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) as part of over 24.5% squads. However, he was forced off after 40 minutes of the 1-0 win over the Potters having suffered a knock to his knee.

Burnley manager Sean Dyche offered no prognosis on the setback, with Ward having to wait for the swelling to reduce before there is any clarity on the damage sustained.

It meant that the left-back joined both Ben Mee and Matt Lowton in missing out on another Burnley clean sheet.

Mee – himself owned by 681,000 FPL managers – just missed out on Tuesday night, with Dyche showing caution on the centre-back’s gashed knee. It seems very likely that he will make a return for the Gameweek 18 trip to Brighton.

Lowton, who boasts a more modest ownership of 158,000, is back training and could also be in line to return at the Amex Stadium.

But, for on Tuesday, it was left to James Tarkowski and Nick Pope to profit from another determined display.

The former is currently the top transfer target following a fifth clean sheet in eight Gameweeks. However, Tarkowski lost out to both the goal scorer Ashley Barnes and fellow centre-back Kevin Long, when it came to bonus points.

Long – who has deputised in Mee’s absence – managed to edge out Tarkowski in the Bonus Points System (BPS) by virtue of completing 73% of his passes, compared with his team-mate’s 67%. That ultimately decided the bonus split.

Pope Back Among The Bonus

But it was goalkeeper Nick Pope who again stood out.

He pulled off seven saves on the night, having made that many stops in his previous five Gameweeks.

Together with 13 recoveries, and the fact that Long was the only member of the back four to gain BPS from pass completion, Pope cruised to the maximum three bonus points.

That took him to 12 in total, more than any other keeper and also more than top ranked defender Cesar Azpilicueta, who has 11.

Incredibly, Pope has delivered those 12 bonus points from just 13 starts, a spell which also includes seven clean sheets and ten points from saves.

Burnley’s fixtures following the Brighton trip turn against them rather viciously.

The Clarets will face Spurs at Turf Moor and Manchester United at Old Trafford immediately after the Seagulls visit. Matches with Liverpool – and United again – follow over the subsequent four Gameweeks.

Relying on a Burnley defender over that spell carries obvious risk, with a rotation option advised.

However, Pope could well remain profitable in tougher fixtures, given his propensity for saves points.

Choupo-Moting on the timber

Stoke City changed their shape following the 5-1 hammering at Spurs, with manager Mark Hughes deploying a back four.

Mame Biram Diouf lined up with Peter Crouch in a front two and, more significantly perhaps, it meant no place for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Part of 254,000+ squads, the Cameroon international had failed to produce a goal or an assist in his last four Gameweeks and, having been withdrawn early in two of the previous three outings, the writing was perhaps on the wall.

He saw just six minutes of action at Turf Moor and his owners must now hope that he can claim a recall for the Gameweek 18 visit of West Ham.

Hughes brought in Ramadan Sobhi to play on the left flank, with Xherdan Shaqiri on the right and the fit-again Geoff Cameron playing behind him at full-back.

After an improved performance and with the Hammers clash arguably a must-win for Stoke, it remains to be seen if Hughes alters his line-up.

He looks likely to be forced to make one change, with Kurt Zouma departing with a hamstring injury on the hour-mark at Turf Moor.