Crystal Palace make it seven matches unbeaten to derail a surge in interest in Leicester City assets.
It took Palace 18 Gameweeks to do it, but they finally scored away from home, and then promptly added two more in a convincing 3-0 win at Leicester City.
The opener went to Christian Benteke – his first goal of the season as well – as the Belgian went some way to repaying the debt for his costly penalty miss against Bournemouth in Gameweek 16.
He also provided an assist and was handed maximum bonus for an 11-point haul. But those points are unlikely to spark any real interest.
Because while he’s been struggling to score, he’s had no such problems picking up yellow cards, and his fifth caution of the season today means he’ll miss next Saturday’s trip to Swansea City.
Palace then have home matches with Arsenal and Man City before the end of the year, which doesn’t exactly encourage investment in either Benteke or, indeed, any other Eagles assets.
Andros Townsend set up the Belgian’s goal, but if there is one Palace player worth considering, it’s Wilfried Zaha.
The midfielder scored his fourth goal of the season and, together with two assists, now has returns from his last three Gameweeks.
He started the season in more than a million FPL squads, but is down to just over a quarter of that now, despite producing either a goal or an assist in seven of his last 11 Gameweeks.
Palace have been revitalised under Roy Hodgson and Zaha’s form and 6.9 price tag make him a viable option to threaten the status of Watford’s Richarlison as the template fourth midfielder.
Some 7.8% of managers have Ruben Loftus-Cheek (4.6) as their fifth midfield option and he set up Palace’s final goal for Bakary Sako, who came on to score late for the second consecutive Gameweek. Sako a – 4.9 midfielder – will likely lead the attack in Benteke’s absence at Swansea.
Unfortunately, close to 50% of Loftus-Cheek’s owners benched him for the Leicester match, while 81% of FPL managers with Julian Speroni in their squads demonstrated the same lack of faith as the goalkeeper delivered back-to-back away clean sheets.
Foxes fluff their lines
In a season dominated by midfield points-scorers, forcing a way into our squads alongside Mohamed Salah and what feels like half the Man City side is no easy task.
But that was exactly what Riyad Mahrez was threatening to do, his problematic 8.6 price tag increasingly offset by a rush of form that had produced three goals and an assist ahead of today’s clash with Palace.
His ownership topped the half a million mark for the first time this season going into the match, only for the Algerian to put in a muted display in which he managed just one shot and created a single chance.
After four straight victories, Mahrez was one of three Leicester players in the top six most bought for Gameweek 18 and he wasn’t alone in disappointing.
Shinji Okazaki’s 16-point display in midweek was good enough only for a spot on the bench today, his 13-minute cameo a major source of frustration to his 133,000+ new owners.
And Jamie Vardy was purchased by 122,000 despite a run of only one goal in seven Gameweeks. That barren spell has now been extended by another match and Leicester’s schedule (MUN wat liv HUD che WAT) is a decidedly mixed bag from which to turn things around. The striker is already the fourth most sold player ahead of Gameweek 19.
The Foxes’ defence is equally unproductive – just one clean sheet in eight matches now – as the 64,602 managers who made Harry Maguire the third most popular backline buy of Gameweek 18 were left disappointed.
The centre-back’s four assists so far this season have helped paper over Leicester’s defensive cracks, but a visit from Man United and trips to Liverpool and Chelsea don’t look like fixtures that suggest an upturn in defensive form is on its way.
Meanwhile, midfielder Wilfred Ndidi saw red for two bookable offences, but will serve his ban in the midweek EFL Cup quarter-final tie against Man City.
