Mohamed Salah is the star turn, but a number of other players put in best supporting roles to help make reduced Gameweek 31 a titanic one for many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
Before the spotlight fell on the Liverpool midfielder, another Merseyside man was continuing his fine form in Everton’s 2-1 win at ten-man Stoke City.
Cenk Tosun scored a brace to make it four goals in three Gameweeks for the Toffees, who recorded only their second away win of the season and ended a run of five straight losses on the road.
The 2.3%-owned striker was signed by 108,000 ahead of yesterday’s deadline and brought in 13 points, including maximum bonus, from a performance in which he had four shots, all in the box – the most of any forward in Gameweek 31.
Assists came from Theo Walcott – his first return since Gameweek 25 – and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the young striker coming off the bench to replace Tom Davies, who bore the brunt of a heavy collision with Jack Butland.
Idrissa Gueye came in for Gylfi Sigurdsson, who was sidelined with a knee injury, while Morgan Schneiderlin returned to the bench and came on for a late three-minute cameo.
Before going off, Davies was played in an advanced role, with Wayne Rooney handed deeper midfield duties.
The former England man had been brought in by 61,000+ managers, as had Leighton Baines, only for the latter to be denied a clean sheet when substitute Eric Choupo-Moting marked a bizarre seven-minute outing in which he came on, scored from a Joe Allen assist and then went off with a knock.
The dropped midfielder was one of five changes made by Paul Lambert, with Peter Crouch, Charlie Adam, Ryan Shawcross, Glen Johnson and Ramadan Sobhi all drafted in. Jese, Bruno Martins-Indi and Moritz Bauer were benched, while Geoff Cameron missed out all together with a hamstring issue.
A Friday panic surrounding Xherdan Shaqiri missing training with a calf injury proved premature as the 13.1%-owned midfielder was fit to start.
He had more than 101,000 new owners for the Gameweek, only to blank and be replaced by Saido Berahino as the Potters chased a match that got away from them as soon as Adam was sent off for a lunge on Rooney.
Everton have home matches with Man City & Liverpool next – fixtures that hardly promise clean sheets but could offer more attacking profit for Tosun in particular.
But in truth, assets from both the Toffees and Stoke will surely now make way for players with double Gameweeks to come, even if Sam Allardyce’s men have a decent enough schedule (swa NEW hud SOT whu) from Gameweek 34.
Bournemouth bite back
If Salah is a man for all seasons, then Bournemouth’s Junior Stanislas is at least enjoying a winter revival.
The midfielder made it back-to-back goals in the league with a sublime late free-kick that gave the Cherries a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over luckless West Brom.
Stanislas had four shots on the day and collected the maximum bonus for a third double-figure haul of the campaign. He has now produced four goals and an assist in his last seven Gameweek starts.
His decisive effort, following a foul on Josh King, was a welcome return for the 99,000+ managers who signed him ahead of Gameweek 31. King was brought in by a mere 22,000+.
The most popular Bournemouth buy was Callum Wilson, with more than 194,000 managers making him the second most bought player of the Gameweek, only for his 10.3% ownership to see him blank for a sixth successive match.
It looked even bleaker for the 437,000+ who owned Charlie Daniels as the defender started the day on the bench, only to replace Simon Francis after 15 minutes when the skipper departed with a hamstring problem.
Daniels then supplied the pass for Jordan Ibe’s long-range effort that levelled matters for Bournemouth. He also fired in three shots on goal in his 75-minute appearance, but was denied a clean sheet thanks to Jay Rodriguez’s opener from a Salomon Rondon knock-down.
There are no double Gameweeks for Eddie Howe’s men, which should spark sales in their assets.
Immediate fixtures involving Watford away and Crystal Palace at home might persuade some to retain the in-form Stanislas before things turn rocky when they travel to Liverpool and host Man United in Gameweeks 34 and 35.
Palace prevail
James Tomkins’ second goal of the season helped Crystal Palace on their way to a vital 2-0 win over fellow relegation candidates Huddersfield.
The centre-half converted his own saved effort to give the Eagles the lead from a Luka Milivojevic corner.
A clean sheet and maximum bonus brought him 15 points in all – the best return of Gameweek 31 behind Salah.
Huddersfield laboured to find an equaliser before the sting in the tail came from Milivojevic when he converted his sixth penalty of the season following a foul on Andros Townsend.
Owned by 461,000+ and signed by 35,000+ for the Gameweek, the Serbian was well down the list of Palace assets brought in for the trip to Yorkshire.
The returning Wilfried Zaha led the way, with close to 92,000 new owners, but he blanked and then limped off late, with manager Roy Hodgson unsure as to the severity of the issue post-match.
“I don’t know if it is a definite injury. He took quite a few kicks towards the end of the game when we were breaking out and getting the ball up the field. There’s also an element of fatigue as he worked very hard as it was his first full game for seven weeks and he’s been out for a long time.”
Of more concern was an ankle injury for Jeffrey Schlupp, with Hodgson worried that the problem might involve ligament damage.
Christian Benteke (53,000+) and Patrick van Aanholt (48,000+) were also popular picks, with the latter building on his back-to-back goals with clean sheet points yesterday as Palace managed a first shut-out in seven Gameweeks.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Yohan Cabaye returned to the bench and were given pitch-time, while Mamadou Sakho started for the first time since Gameweek 26.
Once a Gameweek 32 visit from Liverpool is done, Palace’s schedule (bou BHA wat LEI stk WBA) is attractive enough, but no double Gameweek should mean our interest in their players ends abruptly.
Huddersfield, meanwhile, appear to be on a relegation crash course.
They’ve failed to score in their last three matches and have drawn a blank in eight of their last 11 top-flight fixtures.
While the Eagles have sprouted wings, the Terriers are rather more earth-bound, having failed to score in a league-high 17 matches this season.
Collin Quaner came in for Rajiv van la Parra in the one surprise change – the Dutchman had been signed by 16,000+ heading into the weekend, but had to make do with a 29-minute run-out from the bench.
Huddersfield do have good fixtures to follow (new bha WAT), but three of the next four are away (and include Chelsea), and with no double Gameweek to come, their assets will surely be sold en masse, particularly by those with Wildcards to play.
