Chelsea labour to a victory thanks to a goal from one of last season’s undoubted stars, while Arsenal are equally lacklustre, though Mesut Ozil ensures they scrape past struggling Newcastle.
After a quiet start to the season – by his own standards, at least – Marcos Alonso is at last delivering in the final third.
The wing-back produced attacking returns in just two of the first 16 Gameweeks, but has supplied an assist and now a goal from his last two outings. Impressively, he fired six shots at Stamford Bridge against Southampton.
Add in a clean sheet and maximum bonus in the 1-0 win over the Saints and his 15.5% ownership have seen their man overtake Cesar Azpilicueta at the top of Chelsea’s defender standings.
He is also the only Blues player to have started every league match this season and seems to have little competition at left wing-back to break that run.
Alonso’s ownership increased by just over 14,000 for Gameweek 18, while Eden Hazard also enjoyed a modest profit, gaining another 26,000 managers.
But the Belgian was captained by nearly 350,000 (6.3%), only to underwhelm from the false nine role that he has had to take on in the absence of Alvaro Morata.
Hazard earned an assist from the foul which led to Alonso’s free-kick winner, but he lacked a goal threat himself – mustering just one attempt.
Morata, meanwhile, was sold by 253,000+ ahead of Saturday’s deadline, and the 1.2 million who stuck by him were treated to just a 17-minute appearance from the bench.
That at least confirmed his recovery from a back injury, and Chelsea’s lack of a cutting edge – they had 24 shots but not a single big chance – would seem to make his recall at Everton in Gameweek 19 more than likely.
Antonio Conte’s selection decisions for the midweek EFL Cup quarter-final tie with Bournemouth will offer us further clues. Morata is one booking shy of a ban so will likely sit that one out, leaving him fresh for the Goodison Park trip.
The same situation applied to Alonso until his convenient yellow card for time wasting late on meant that he now misses the midweek tie, leaving him free to continue his ever-present Gameweek record.
Christensen favoured again
Chelsea ended a run of three without a clean sheet, although Andreas Christenseen earned back to back shut-out points following his timely withdrawal before Huddersfield’s late goal on Tuesday.
Priced at 5.6, the Dane also picked up two bonus points, surpassing Bonus Point System (BPS) darling Azpilicueta to underline his potential once again.
The Spaniard, Gary Cahill and Victor Moses all gained a single bonus point, while Hazard missed out having been tackled three times.
Previously a classic ‘fire and forget’ option, Azpilicueta has now suffered sales, albeit minor ones, for three consecutive Gameweeks. His 6.9 price tag appears to be struggling to compete with Alonso’s added attacking threat and Christensen as a budget-friendly alternative.
Kolasinac remains on the bench
Arsenal scraped past a spirited Newcastle United, but there was no clean sheet joy for Sead Kolasinac’s 15.4% ownership.
The Bosnian was benched for the second match in a row as FPL midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles (4.5) was again preferred on the left of a flat back four by Arsene Wenger.
Kolasinac has produced an impressive 7.25 points per match at the Emirates but missed out on Arsenal’s ninth clean sheet of the campaign – a tally that’s ranked second only to Man United.
FPL managers have reacted promptly, already making him the most sold player ahead of Gameweek 19 when the Gunners entertain Liverpool.
Slim pickings in Gunners attack
Mesut Ozil hit the winner against the Magpies as the other members of Arsenal’s ‘big three’ failed to deliver.
What looked to be a favourable home fixture had persuaded more than 174,000 of Alexandre Lacazette’s 11.0% ownership to hand him the armband.
He promptly blanked and now has just two goals from his last seven appearances, although one of those was an eight-minute run-out on Wednesday.
Alexis Sanchez, meanwhile, has managed only one assist from his last four starts. That, and his 11.8 price tag, continue to deter managers from boosting his 2.9% ownership.
Ozil is similarly sparsely-owned and it seems we must await the return of Aaron Ramsey – a relative snip at 7.1 – before we can consider the Gunners’ inconsistent attacking options.
Elliot back for the Magpies
Rafa Benitez brought the 23.6%-owned Rob Elliot in from the cold of a four-Gameweek exile as Karl Darlow dropped back to the bench at the Emirates.
Elliot has remained the second most popular goalkeeper in FPL during his enforced rest, his 4.1 price tag too convenient for all but 138,000+ managers who felt compelled to replace him since his Gameweek 14 demotion.
For those who have remained loyal, Elliot offers a mixed schedule (whu MCI BHA stk SWA mci).
He also produces minimal save points – he’s not made more than four stops in a single match this season – and Newcastle’s defence have kept just three clean sheets, and none since Gameweek 9.
But at that price, his 1.3 million managers will just be relieved to have another active member of their squad again, and one who managed a solid three points from a daunting trip to Arsenal.
