Sergio Aguero provides the “perfect” hat-trick as Manchester City see off Newcastle United. Meanwhile, Nacho Monreal puts in a short but sensational shift as Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 4-1 and Stoke City begin life under Lambert with a much-needed win.
Four goals from nine Gameweek starts was hardly the sort of form to inspire an ownership boost, but back-to-back home fixtures helped spark increased investment in Sergio Aguero going into Gameweek 24.
Signed by 126,000 new Fantasy Premier League (FPL) owners before Saturday’s deadline, some 581,000 or 10.3% of managers handed him the armband; that included 18 of the top 100.
Aguero repaid that faith with a perfect hat-trick (head, right foot, left foot) as City dismissed Newcastle 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium, with the Argentine amassing a 17-point haul.
His recent output may have been modest, but history suggested that he would punish the Newcastle defence. He went into Saturday’s contest averaging a goal or assist every 31 minutes against the Magpies in home matches – including a legendary 20-minute five-goal haul in the 2015/16 campaign.
Seven shots on goal yesterday was impressive, even if his hat-trick was a little fortuitous given that his touch on Kevin De Bruyne’s cross for the opener involved, at best, the very furthest reaches of his fringe.
Aguero followed that up with more emphatic finishes from the penalty spot, when Raheem Sterling was fouled, and then from a Leroy Sane pass after a dazzling solo run from the German.
He is already installed as the most signed player ahead of a Gameweek 25 home clash with West Brom, with the striker likely to be backed by far more captaincies to increase the impact of any haul on ranks and mini-leagues.
Significantly, the move to Aguero from Harry Kane – who is yet to kick a ball in Gameweek 24 – is currently the most popular transfer in the last 24-hours with over 7000 making that swap. Kane will face the Manchester United defence at Wembley following today’s trip to Southampton, with Liverpool (a) and Arsenal (h) to come in Gameweeks 26 and 27.
Saturday’s victory saw all three of City’s top scoring midfielders provide assists, with De Bruyne moving to 12 for the season – the highest in FPL.
Sterling made it five goals and four assists from the last six Gameweeks, although his blank at Liverpool last time out had prompted 108,000 to sell him on, while he is also the fifth most sold asset so far ahead of Gameweek 25.
Sterling was unlucky not to score, denied by a close offside call and a superb save from Karl Darlow, but kept things ticking over by earning a fourth penalty of the season – more than any other player.
As for Sane, two assists and a goal in his last three Gameweeks suggests he’s over his mid-season slump: he now has 10 assists for the campaign.
A Newcastle breakaway goal from Jacob Murphy, with a Ciaran Clark assist, meant no clean sheet for Nicolas Otamendi, at 32.8% the most owned defender in the game.
The Argentine is now without a shut-out in his last three starts, having claimed four from the previous five. City have conceded in seven of their last eight home matches in all competitions.
Patience in Guardiola’s defence might well be on the wane as a result, although with the Baggies at home next, that should mean a stay of execution for Otamendi before the fixtures stiffen (bur LEI ars CHE) and decisions need to be made.
One punt that didn’t work out was tapping into the cut-price charms of Danilo (5.0), who was expected to replace the injured Fabian Delph at left-back. Pep Guardiola’s opted to use midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko in Delph’s absence.
Nacho dips in and out spectacularly
Nacho Monreal produced an extraordinary performance as Arsenal blew away Crystal Palace.
He took just 33 minutes to score and set up two further goals before being withdrawn as a precaution following a kick to the hamstring.
That was perhaps understandable given that he’d only just returned from a four-match injury lay-off. But his 16 points, boosted by maximum bonus, punished the 560,000+ managers who had sold him since his previous start in Gameweek 19.
During his absence, the four players who have filled in for him either at centre-half or on the left side of the defence – Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sead Kolasinac, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers – contrived to score just one more point between them than Monreal managed in a touch over half an hour of glorious madness yesterday.
The Spaniard lined up at left-back in a 4-3-2-1 as Maitland-Niles dropped to the bench and Kolasinac slipped even further down the pecking order, his ownership is now less than half its Gameweek 16 peak of 863,000+.
The absence of Alexis Sanchez didn’t seem to impact on the Gunners, although they were helped by the return of Mesut Ozil, who provided an assist, and some truly woeful Palace defending in the first half.
Alexandre Lacazette hit his first goal since Gameweek 15, recording just three assists over that period, while Jack Wilshere impressed on what was his eighth consecutive start.
The other goals came from the returning Laurent Koscielny and Alex Iwobi, with Granit Xhaka chipping in with an assist.
Arsenal, however, remain a Fantasy force in transition, with new blood expected but not yet confirmed. Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s arrival provides an intriguing new midfield option at just 7.6, while it remains to be seen if Aaron Ramsey can regain a starting role as a 6.9 option; he missed out through illness yesterday.
As for Palace, a dark day was only slightly illuminated by Luka Milivojevic’s consolation goal from a Christian Benteke assist. That took the Serbian to an impressive four strikes from his previous eight Gameweek starts – with two of those goals arriving from open play.
The drubbing might also promote the claims of Julian Speroni to snatch back the goalkeeping jersey from Wayne Hennessey; Speroni is still owned by 5.2% of FPL managers.
New boss stokes recovery
Paul Lambert stamped his mark on his first match in charge of Stoke City and was rewarded with a vital 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town.
He opted for Mame Diouf as his central striker over the benched Peter Crouch and shifted to a back four in which Ryan Shawcross returned to help steer the Potters to a first clean sheet since Gameweek 10 – and only their third of the season.
Midfielders Eric Choupo-Moting and Xherdan Shaqiri boosted their Fantasy CVs with assists for the goals, the opener coming from Joe Allen, who added maximum bonus in an 11-point display.
Diouf’s (5.4) goal, meanwhile, moved him to 71 points for the season and up to 13.1 points per million – second only to Swansea City’s Jordan Ayew for value among forwards.
Goalkeeper Jack Butland was the major beneficiary of Saturday’s shut-out, making three saves and 16 recoveries – tied with his opposite number Jonas Lossl as the most of any stopper in the Gameweek.
That ensured he brought in two bonus points, while it’s also worth noting that Butland has accumulated 11 save points from his last seven Gameweeks, more than any other keeper.
Bruno Martins Indi dropped out of a defence in which new signing Moritz Bauer (4.5) would be the cheapest option should Lambert stick with the same back four.
Stoke’s schedule (WAT bou BHA lei sot) offers plenty of scope for more defensive joy, and Bauer impressed with his attacking endeavour at both Man United and in the win over the Terriers, although he did pick up a first booking on Saturday.
