Liverpool show no sign of a hangover in their first match of the post-Philippe Coutinho era, serving up a seven-goal thriller at Anfield that finally ends Manchester City’s unbeaten domestic run.
Heading into Gameweek 23, the Brazilian’s move to Barcelona played a significant part in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfer market – Roberto Firmino (206,000+) and Mohamed Salah (179,000+) were second and third only to Coutinho for sales prior to Saturday’s 2pm deadline.
Those managers were made to regret their decision after both supplied a goal and assist in the 4-3 win over Pep Guardiola’s side.
Salah, the third top captain choice (8.6%) for the Gameweek, produced a tenth double-figure haul of the campaign to move 32 points clear at the summit in FPL.
With five very favourable looking fixtures in the next six (swa hud sot WHU NEW) it’s no real surprise that the Egyptian is the most bought (51,000+) player over the last 24 hours as Jurgen Klopp’s side quashed any early doubts that they will struggle without their former playmaker.
In a day where his nearest midfield challenger, City’s Raheem Sterling, was hauled off on 70 minutes with a single point to his name, Salah again reminded us of his peerless points production – he’s now delivered a goal or assist in 13 of his last 14 league appearances.
Firmino, meanwhile, has now played a part in two goals in four of his last five Gameweek starts in a superb run of festive form.
The Brazilian is now up to second spot in the FPL forward standings behind Harry Kane on 117 points. His current tally of 10 goals in just one shy of last season’s 11, while his total of six assists is joint-top among forwards and just five less than 2016/17.
That upcoming schedule, allied with his relatively kind price point of 9.1, means he is the third most bought player over the last 24 hours, having turned the heads of 38,000 new owners.
Mane and Oxlade-Chamberlain stake a claim
With Coutinho now gone, both Sadio Mane and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made their presence felt in the Reds’ attack.
Handed a role on the left of the Reds’ front three, the Senegal international earned a third successive league start for the first time since Gameweek 4.
Mane matched Firmino’s three efforts on goal – only Salah (six) managed more – and scored at Anfield for the first time since Gameweek 3.
With two goals and an assist in the Reds’ last three league outings, his Fantasy appeal is on the rise as a result of increased pitch-time.
Yet at a price of 5.6 to Mane’s 9.3, it’s Oxlade-Chamberlain’s display that could shake up midfields.
After firing an early opener, he also chipped in with an assist to deliver a 12-point haul – his first double-digit return of the season.
The summer signing seems to be growing into his central midfield role, with his driving runs from the centre of the park posing City plenty of problems.
He’s now started four of the last six Gameweeks, producing returns on three of those occasions.
Since arriving at Anfield, though, his pitch-time still remains an issue – only eight of his 20 appearances for Liverpool have been as a starter.
That’s in stark comparison to Mane, who has made 14 of his 15 outings in the starting line-up.
If he can kick on from yesterday’s showing and nail down a spot on Klopp’s teamsheet, Oxlade-Chamberlain could offer an outstanding cut-price route into Klopp’s impressive attack.
Karius the new number one
Despite conceding three times, it’s worth remembering that Liverpool went into Sunday’s match with the most resilient home defensive record in the league.
Klopp handed Loris Karius only his fourth league start of the season and, according to his manager’s post-match comments, the German has now usurped Simon Mignolet as the Reds’ first-choice keeper ahead of those favourable upcoming fixtures:
“He’s the number one, he might make mistakes but this is life. We will not make any changes. When it comes to goalkeepers you have to make a decision and stick with it. He will stay in goal”.
Liverpool were without big-money defender Virgil van Dijk, who missed out with a minor hamstring problem. However, the Dutchman – who has already been acquired by 15,000+ managers for Gameweek 24 – took to Twitter post-match to say “see you in Swansea”, indicating he could be back in contention for their trip to the Liberty Stadium a week today.
While the likes of Joe Gomez failed to impress on the right, Andrew Robertson’s display on the opposite flank suggests that Alberto Moreno will struggle to reclaim a regular role once fit again. Priced at just 4.7 in FPL, the Scot’s total of seven successful tackles is joint-top for the Gameweek.
City’s big-hitters fail on Merseyside
Yesterday’s tea-time encounter boasted five of the top 10 captains for Gameweek 23, though it was the visitors who arrived with three of them.
Drafted in by 191,000+ FPL managers last week, Sergio Aguero sported 6.6% of armbands after scoring six times in as many matches across all competitions.
Yet the Argentine had to make do with just a single assist as his scoring drought at Anfield continued – he has failed to find the net in six away appearances against the Merseysiders since joining Man City.
Nonetheless, with back-to-back home encounters against Newcastle and West Brom up next for the league leaders, Aguero remains one of the leading captaincy contenders in the short-term, particularly with Gabriel Jesus thought to be ruled out until next month.
Kevin De Bruyne (3%) and the aforementioned Raheem Sterling (2.5%) were also among the main armband candidates, but both suffered rare off-days, managing just one shot and one key pass between them.
Meanwhile, David Silva’s Fantasy stock continues to dip – he warmed the bench from start to finish and has now failed to play a part in four of City’s last six league outings.
Gundogan impresses again
The main beneficiary from Silva’s recent teamsheet omission, Ilkay Gundogan emerged as the top-scoring player from yesterday’s encounter.
The German delivered a goal, assist and maximum bonus for 13 points – the second time he’s achieved that total in the last six Gameweeks.
Demanding a fee of just 5.3 in FPL, Gundogan has now started four of the last six as the Silva replacement, recording two goals and as many assists. Yet Guardiola’s rotation ensures he remains a risky acquisition.
Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva were also among the goals for the visitors, with the German (thanks to Kyle Walker’s assist) ending a scoring drought that went all the way back to Gameweek 10.
Having peaked in price at 9.0 in Gameweek 13, that lack of output has triggered a drop to 8.4, with his ownership plummeting to just 11%.
Nonetheless, Sane’s recent pitch-time suggests he remains pivotal to Guardiola’s plans – this was only the second time this season that he’s been handed three successive 90-minute league outings.
However, Guardiola will be forced to make changes to that flank with Fabian Delph suffering a knee injury at Anfield. He departed on 31 minutes with the City boss remarking post-match that he expects Delph to face a spell on the sidelines.
“He will be out, I think, for a while. I don’t know if it will be a lot of time but he will be out for a while. It is his knee, he turned his knee.”
Delph’s absence could force Guardiola into the market, with first choice left-back Benjamin Mendy expected to be sidelined least until April.
In the meantime, Danilo could be used in that role and – at just 5.0 – would offer a cut-price route into the City defence.
The other option would be to drop Sane back to a wing-back role in home matches, deploying Bernardo in the front three. That’s a potential situation to monitor when considering Sane’s stock.
But with the Champions League a factor in February, Guardiola will surely move to find extra cover at left-back.
