Eden Hazard and Marcos Alonso grab a goal apiece, but Alvaro Morata endures a night to forget as Chelsea and Arsenal share the spoils at the Emirates.

Heading into Gameweek 22, Chelsea pair Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata were among the top five most sold players in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) after a poor run of form – Hazard had mustered one assist in five, while Morata had returned two goals in his last seven league appearances.

Antonio Conte’s decision to switch to a 3-5-1-1 away to the Gunners allowed both the chance to address their declines but only the Belgian succeeded.

Although he needed a converted penalty to find the net for the first time since Gameweek 15, Hazard fired all six of his efforts from inside the box – more than any player in the current round of fixtures.

Now down to just 8% ownership in FPL, Hazard’s return to a central role may again turn heads as the Blues prepare for a fine upcoming schedule that pits them against Leicester, Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and West Brom over the next five Gameweeks.

While Morata only managed half the number of attempts on goal as his team-mate, all three of the Spaniard’s efforts were regarded as big chances – more than any player in the Gameweek.

His inability to convert any of them, particularly a last-gasp effort deep into injury time, has already had an impact in the FPL market – despite that run of aforementioned fixtures, the summer signing been subject to more transfers out than any forward in the last 24 hours.

Indeed, Morata has now missed 15 of his 24 big chances in 2017/18 – the only other player as wasteful this season has been the near-essential Mohamed Salah, who has converted just 10 of his 25 big chances.

Post-match, Conte backed his misfiring frontman to get back among the goals:

”This is not a lucky period for him because at the last game versus Stoke I said it is very important for the striker to have the chance to score, and here today he had chances to score, but it is football.

‘The only things I can tell him are to stay calm and continue to work in this way for the team because then the chances will arrive for him and for the other players. This is the first season he is playing with regularity. He has to stay calm and to continue to play in this way, and the goal is coming.”

That would indicate that, despite an obvious lack of confidence, Conte seems unlikely to take the 25-year-old out of the firing line.

The switch from Morata to Harry Kane is currently the most popular among trades between strikers: that swap is somewhat obvious.

Elsewhere, the compelling alternatives are thin on the ground.

An upgrade to Sergio Aguero is available for those with the funds to stretch to the Argentinian, though he will travel to face Liverpool next – the strongest home defence in the league.

Equally, the move to Roberto Firmino is less appealing ahead of a meeting with the City rearguard, and while speculation surrounding Philippe Coutinho’s future continues to cause potential unrest at Liverpool.

Alonso proves his worth

With 16 Gameweeks of the season still remaining, Marcos Alonso has already mirrored his total of six goals from last term after converting David Zappacosta’s cross to net Chelsea’s second in the four-goal thriller.

Over the last six Gameweeks alone, the marauding wing-back has racked up three goals, an assist, four clean sheets and six bonus points to move nine points clear at the top of the FPL defender standings.

Indeed, a total of 123 points has taken him into sixth overall in FPL – only four midfielders and one forward have recorded more points, and all five of them are priced over £8.5m.

That ability to deliver points at both ends of the pitch continues to benefit the Spaniard, whose 7.2 price tag now looks a snip.

Post-match, Conte underlined the attacking qualities that Alonso can offer…

“I ask our wing-backs to fill the box and try to score and don’t forget, he also is good with his head also and with free-kicks. He is in a good period, and his confidence is up, and I am very happy for him.”

For value in terms of points per million, Alonso’s 17.1 is bettered by just one outfield player – Nicolas Otamendi (17.5) – and is level with the top value midfielder, Brighton’s Pascal Gross.

With the upcoming schedule strengthening his claim as a defensive must-have, Alonso is the third top transfer target in the last 24 hours – over 22,000 have snapped him up and another price rise is surely imminent.

Arsenal’s Big Guns Misfire

The return of Mesut Ozil from a knee injury failed to benefit Alexis Sanchez or Alexandre Lacazette – like Chelsea’s Morata, both fired three unsuccessful shots inside the box at the Emirates.

Instead, it was Jack Wilshere and Hector Bellerin who proved the hosts’ unlikely heroes by firing their first goals of the season, with the Spaniard’s late equaliser salvaging a point.

Wilshere has now played from start to finish in six successive league matches and, having also supplied an assist in Gameweek 20, looks to be rediscovering his match sharpness due to that increased pitch-time.

Yet with Aaron Ramsey expected back in mid-January, it remains to be seen whether Wilshere’s security of starts will remain intact ahead of a fine run of four matches (bou CRY swa EVE) for Arsene Wenger’s side.

In defence, Arsenal have now gone four matches without a clean sheet, with the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac missing out last night.

Yet Bellerin’s record of playing every minute of the season remains intact – he is one of only five defenders to achieve that feat.

The Spaniard now has a goal and assist over the last four but has struggled to justify a price tag of 6.0 to this point. Team-mate Shkodran Mustafi, at 5.4, has averaged 4.9 points per match to Bellerin’s 3.9. With two goals and eight clean sheets from 12 starts, Mustafi looks one to consider for those seeking defensive reinforcements ahead of Arsenal’s improving schedule.