Manchester City make short work of Watford as Raheem Sterling scores again, while Crystal Palace come from behind to win at Southampton.
Whisper it maybe, but there’s a sense of continuity beginning to settle over Pep Guardiola’s selections.
An injury to Gabriel Jesus means Sergio Aguero should be in for a long run of matches up front, Kevin De Bruyne was passed fit and started as usual and Raheem Sterling is now almost indispensible.
The England midfielder opened the scoring before a minute had been played last night as the predicted drubbing of Watford looked very much on.
The Hornets, to their credit, kept the final score down to just 3-1, but nobody can stop Sterling at the moment.
It was his fifth goal in as many Gameweeks – from only four starts – and his ninth strike (of 14 for the season) at the Etihad Stadium.
While most of us handed Harry Kane the armband expecting double delights from the Spurs striker, 3.6% of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers went for Sterling as their captain and were rewarded with nine points, including two bonus, as the England international consolidated second place in the midfielders’ scoring chart.
Just behind him comes De Bruyne, who shook off the effects of Jason Puncheon’s industrial tackle on New Year’s Eve to continue his 100% league attendance record this season.
The Belgian was at his usual influential best, providing two assists and collecting maximum bonus for his third double-digit haul in six Gameweeks. He now tops the assists’ table with 11 – one ahead of Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez.
City’s other scorer was Aguero, who had endured two straight blanks prior to Gameweek 22 but was still brought in by 214,000+ managers on the back of the injury to Jesus that will sideline the Brazilian for at least a month.
Watford defender Christian Kabasele turned a De Bruyne cross into his own net to complete the home side’s tally.
Aguero’s goal capped a busy night for the forward, whose five shots in the box is currently the Gameweek-high, while Leroy Sane’s assist for Sterling’s opener was the German’s first return in four matches.
David Silva returned to the starting line-up after missing two matches for personal reasons, but Guardiola admitted post-match that the Spanish midfielder’s appearances remain a fluid issue.
“He’s free to stay or leave, it depends. He wants to stay because he enjoys it, but family is the most important thing in life. Some days he will be here some he will be out, it depends how his family is.”
With Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva available as cover for the Spaniard, Guardiola has few worries in midfield, but it is Sterling and De Bruyne who continue to be our go-to men in FPL.
Back strain eases for Guardiola
A late Andre Gray goal, from an Andre Carillo assist, disappointed the 1.8 million managers hoping for a fourth straight clean sheet from Nicolas Otamendi.
But that short-term pain came with the promise of future gain as John Stones returned to partner the Argentine in the centre of defence following a nine-match injury lay-off.
The pair combined for six of City’s ten shut-outs this season prior to the England international’s hamstring issue, with Stones’ 3.3% ownership given an extra boost last night when Guardiola took him off after 66 minutes, thus securing him clean sheet points before the Gray goal.
He is a full 1.0 cheaper than Otamendi (6.4) and will be a major temptation for those who have missed out on the Argentine’s points, particularly with City’s schedule (NEW WBA bur LEI) looking strong in the short-term once a Gameweek 23 trip to Liverpool is out of the way.
While City’s central options received a boost, Guardiola was handed a headache on the flanks when the 13.9%-owned Kyle Walker picked up a groin problem.
The coach declared post-match, in decidedly dramatic fashion, that the full-back would need to be assessed.
“He might have a little problem – what everyone saw in the last weeks is how many injuries the players have. We are going to kill them. It’s not normal to play 31st and two days later.”
The big problem for Guardiola is that his side’s schedule remains relentless.
City entertain Burnley in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, follow that up with an EFL Cup semi-final first leg against Bristol City on Tuesday and then move on to a Sunday trip to Anfield.
Better luck for Luka
Crystal Palace came from behind to win 2-1 at Southampton, with Luka Milivojevic tucking into a large slice of redemption.
He hit the winner at St Mary’s just two days after missing an injury-time penalty against Man City that would have secured a vital three points for Roy Hodgson’s side.
It was the Serbian international’s first Palace goal from open play, earning him maximum bonus to boot, and he now has three strikes from the past six Gameweeks thanks to his otherwise exemplary penalty-taking form.
The midfielder remains good value at 4.6, while team-mate Andros Townsend continues to provide fine returns for his 5.6 outlay.
The winger is owned by a mere 1.2% of managers, but is outscoring the more popular (5.5%) and expensive (6.9) Wilfried Zaha by 72 points to 63 this season.
Townsend’s recent form is also superior as he’s now scored one goal and set up three over the last five Gameweeks. During the same period, Zaha has managed just one goal and an assist.
Palace’s fixtures (BUR ars whu NEW eve) offer relatively decent prospects of more of the same from the cut-price winger.
James McArthur hit the Eagles’ equaliser last night, from a Christian Benteke assist, as Hodgson’s decision to introduce Bakary Sako as a partner for the Belgian striker in a second-half 4-4-2 turned the match.
Southampton opened the scoring when Shane Long found the net for the first time in 1,320 long and barren league minutes.
Right-back Jeremy Pied produced the assist, but it’s now just two clean sheets in 12 home matches for the Saints as Saturday’s battling 0-0 draw at Old Trafford proved to be a false dawn for Mauricio Pellegrino’s struggling side.
Their schedule is excellent all the way through to Gameweek 33, with home matches against Spurs and Liverpool the only major tests. But their form is anything but encouraging.
Hodgson, meanwhile, confirmed that both Scott Dann and Puncheon sustained cruciate ligament injuries against Man City.
“They’ll both see a specialist and likely undergo surgery once the swelling goes. We won’t see them play again this season and may not be ready for the start of next. They’re very serious injuries.”
