Scout Notes – Niasse To The Fore

Everton assets make strong cases for investment, while Swansea City’s revival continues and a pair of midfielders do their own prospects no harm for Stoke City and West Ham respectively.

The Toffees responded to their 5-1 mauling at Arsenal last week with a convincing win over Crystal Palace at Goodison Park.

An awful first half was soon forgotten when midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson opened the scoring just after the interval.

The Icelandic international added an assist and was awarded two bonus to take him to 12 points on the day – his first double-digit haul of the season.

His modest returns of four goals and as many assists in the mid-price bracket have deterred serious investment in the perennial Fantasy favourite this campaign.

Sigurdsson is currently owned by just 2.0%, but his price is now down at 8.0 (from a starting point of 8.5) and Everton have the fixtures to spark a rise in his ownership.

A nasty home double against Man City and Liverpool in Gameweeks 32 and 33 is the only blot on the fixture horizon for The Toffees, with Sam Allardyce’s men also one of the four teams currently guaranteed a Gameweek 31 fixture, when they’ll travel to Stoke City.

It is forward Oumar Niasse who is arguably the biggest draw among Everton players, however.

His goal in yesterday’s 3-1 win was his seventh from just eight starts this season and he’s now started the last three matches to emerge as the budget third striker of choice.

The 4.8-priced Niasse also set up Sigurdsson’s opener and maximum bonus brought him a season-high 12 points.

As a result, almost 23,000 managers have reacted by making him the fourth most signed player ahead of Gameweek 28.

Two goals and an assist from his previous two home matches had prompted strong interest in Theo Walcott, with 128,000+ managers bringing him in for the Palace clash.

The former Arsenal man promptly blanked as fellow midfielder Tom Davies scored Everton’s other goal, with defender Cuco Martina chipping in with an assist.

The full-back was part of a defence that again failed to keep a clean sheet – that’s seven straight matches without a shut-out now – and injuries are further clouding the issue at the back.

Eliaquim Mangala went off with a knock just before the break and Seamus Coleman (muscle) followed soon after.

Allardyce brought us this on the setbacks in his post-match comments…

“Seamus will have a scan tomorrow, as will Managala. I would have thought Mangala will be the less serious of the two injuries. Manga’s is his knee and Seamus is a muscle as opposed to his leg. He will go for a scan tomorrow.”

That could mean a stay of execution for Jonjoe Kenny (4.3), who had been written off as a budget defensive option following the return of the Irish international.

Kenny has lost 176,000+ in ownership since Gameweek 22 – and dropped in price overnight – but sales could now slow unless Coleman makes a speedy recovery.

As for Palace, Luka Milivojevic’s penalty was his seventh goal of the season and his fourth in a six-Gameweek burst of returns.

Christian Benteke earned the spot-kick to continue a consistent run in which he’s produced a goal and five assists across his last six starts, while his five shots – all in the box – yesterday was second only to Sergio Aguero.

Anyone tempted by Palace assets need to look at the Eagles’ schedule, however.

With Spurs, Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool to face over the next five Gameweeks, interest in Roy Hodgson’s players should stay on the chilly side of lukewarm for now.

Swansea rise goes on

Swansea City have been steadily dragging themselves out of – and more recently away from – the relegation zone since Carlos Carvalhal took charge in December.

And Fantasy managers are starting to take note.

Yesterday’s 1-0 win over Burnley was their third straight victory at home, Ki Sung-yeung scoring the decisive goal from a Kyle Naughton assist.

The side’s most popular player, the 13.7%-owned Jordan Ayew, was bought by 139,000+ managers going into Gameweek 27, although his decision to leave Naughton’s cross for the South Korean midfielder meant only a two-point return for his new owners.

Swans defenders have also been attracting interest, with Federico Fernandez (108,000+), Alfie Mawson (79,000+) and Naughton (38,000+) all delivering clean sheet points for the second time in four Gameweeks.

The side had gone seven matches without a shut-out prior to that, although those with full-back Martin Olsson in their squads were cruelly denied any spoils as their man went off after 58 minutes.

Behind the backline, keeper Lukasz Fabianski (8.7%) continues to produce solid returns for his 4.6 price tag.

Burnley’s toothlessness yesterday – they forced the Pole into action just once all match – meant he failed to bring in any save points for the first time since Gameweek 16.

But his stock should continue to rise with a schedule (bha WHU hud SOT mun wba EVE) now favourable until Gameweek 35.

The Clarets’ slump goes on – they’ve now gone 10 matches without a win and have kept just one clean sheet in nine.

That worrying run could be coming to a close, however.

They have back-to-back home matches next, against Southampton and then Everton, and will face only two of the top six in the remaining 11 fixtures of the season.

Shaqiri keeps on giving

Xherdan Shaqiri has picked up 177,434 new owners over the last three Gameweeks and the Stoke City midfielder has been busy keeping them happy.

He scored in the 1-1 draw with Brighton yesterday and has now produced two goals and an assist for his growing fan base.

Maximum bonus yesterday also took him to 14 bonus points for the season and, in truth, it could have been even better for Shaqiri against the Seagulls.

Stoke were handed a late penalty, which substitute Charlie Adam ended up taking and missing. It would be something of a surprise if the Swiss international isn’t handed spot-kick duties from now on.

New manager Paul Lambert had overseen two straight clean sheets at home before yesterday, which was a blow for the 23,000+ FPL bosses who had brought in budget defender Moritz Bauer (4.5).

The blemish was down to a fine strike from Jose Izquierdo – his second consecutive goal for a Brighton side that had netted just once in seven previous away matches.

The midfielder had four shots on the day, three of which came in the area, although the Seagulls’ schedule (SWA ARS eve mci) offers only limited potential for Izquierdo to continue his fine form.

Arnautovic back with a bang

Four Gameweeks ago, West Ham midfielder Marko Arnautovic was in three quarters of a million FPL squads.

By the time he returned from a two-match injury lay-off yesterday, that figure had slumped to just under 200,000.

The 3.8% who held on to him were rewarded with a goal as the Hammers saw off Watford 2-0.

His strike was his seventh in nine Gameweek starts; a consistency that will be sorely tested over the run-in.

David Moyes’ side still have to face Liverpool, Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City before the end of the season, with three of those fixtures away from home.

That hasn’t dissuaded managers from returning to the Arnautovic fold – he’s currently the third most popular purchase of Gameweek 28.

Some 39,000 had tapped into Chicharito’s potential ahead of the Watford match and he responded with a third goal in four Gameweeks.

The Mexican striker is still found in 429,000+ squads, although that’s way down on his peak of 1.4 million in Gameweek 4.

Assists on the day came from Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio, the latter making his first start since Gameweek 19.

The Hammers hadn’t kept a clean sheet since the match before that, so a rare shut-out was decidedly welcome for the relatively well-owned Angelo Ogbonna (5.3%).

His fellow centre-half James Collins profited the most, however, as maximum bonus earned him a season-high haul of nine points.

Only Arsenal pair Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were bought by more managers than the 192,000+ who went for Watford midfielder Gerard Deulofeu going into the Gameweek.

The Barcelona loanee had caught many an eye with a goal, an assist, maximum bonus and 13 points in the win over Chelsea.

But he was considerably more subdued yesterday, reduced to one goal attempt and a single chance created during a 74-minute blank.

Promising home matches against Everton and West Brom come next, while Watford also guarantee a Gameweek 31 fixture, albeit at Liverpool.