Dugout Discussion – Bournemouth vs Man United

Double Gameweek 34 rolls on with a clash on the south coast as Bournemouth host Manchester United at the Vitality Stadium.

It’s fair to say that tonight’s team news has sent shockwaves through the Fantasy Football community, with Jose Mourinho confirming growing fears that he would rotate some big names.

Alexis Sanchez was perhaps always at risk. Snapped up by 78,000 managers ahead of Gameweek 34, Mourinho looked to have options in his position.

But the omission of Romelu Lukaku was not widely predicted and is hard to swallow.

The Belgian drops to the United bench for the first time having been signed by 234,000 and trusted by over 934,000 managers with the Gameweek armband.

After blanking against in Sunday’s shock defeat to West Brom, Lukaku is already the second most sold player as we edge towards the reduced slate of Gameweek 35. Short of a stunning cameo tonight, those sales will surely accelerate further.

Remarkably, Chris Smalling, United’s third most signed player ahead of their double-header, survives the cull and starts for a twelfth successive league match. He is the only member of Sunday’s back four on show tonight as Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw all earn starts.

Fantasy interest in Bournemouth remains limited, despite their two fixtures. Josh King was the most signed player for their double-header, claiming a paltry 15,000 new owners. He does at least start for the Cherries.