Man City stroll past West Ham 4-1 to promote a pair of compelling alternatives to Harry Kane for the Double Gameweek 37 captaincy.
Any doubts as to the motivation of Pep Guardiola and his title-winning team were brushed aside on Sunday afternoon, both by the players on the pitch and post-match by the coach himself.
City produced a dominant display at the London Stadium, outshooting the Hammers 19-4, before Guardiola outlined just what his all-conquering side have left to play for with three matches remaining, while also appearing to dismiss the idea of heavy rotation to come…
“We wanted to win today so that we can get the record of 96 points at home when we get the trophy in front of our people next week. We have something special in terms of confidence and we needed some targets to set in front of us.
Huddersfield, Brighton, Southampton, they deserve for us to be who we are all season. It wouldn’t be fair to them if we came down here for a holiday.
We have to show who we are, who we’ve been all season, that’s why we scored nine goals in two games.”
That should be music to the ears of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers looking to bring in City assets for their decidedly attractive Double Gameweek 37 (HUD BHA).
And two of their brightest stars – Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus – made convincing cases for it to be them.
Sterling continued his fine form with three assists, which took him to a third successive double-digit haul, and his tenth of the season.
He was the most bought midfielder (130,000+) for Gameweek 36 and now has three goals and seven assists from his last six appearances.
Sterling was also unlucky not have a fourth assist when he was clearly fouled by Aaron Creswell in the penalty area, only for a spot-kick to be denied by the match officials. He was also deprived of an assist when Jesus saw his penalty saved by Lukasz Fabianski in Gameweek 35.
His consistent performances and points output makes him a strong rival to Kane for the Triple Captain chip.
Jesus is another.
The striker was second only to the Spurs option for Gameweek 36 transfers-in (133,000+), and his goal at West Ham means he has scored in each of his last four starts, with two assists thrown in for good measure.
In fact, he has now been directly involved in 30 goals in just 25 starts (19 goals, 11 assists) over his two FPL seasons.
Sterling may just be considered for a rest in one of the Gameweek 37 fixtures, whereas Sergio Aguero’s absence through injury appears to make Jesus an assured a starter as any player can be in Guardiola’s line-up.
One recently rested player, Leroy Sane, is testament to the coach’s rotation policy. The German returned after his benching, following six straight starts, for the Gamweek 35 win over Swansea City.
As a result, the midfielder was bought by just 17,000 heading into this weekend, but today’s strike means he now has two goals and an assist from his last four starts.
City’s other goals came from Fernandinho and a Pablo Zabaleta own goal. Kevin De Bruyne was denied the assist on that one, with his cross taking two diversions, first from goalkeeper Adrian and then Declan Rice, who stuck the ball off Zabaleta for a calamitous pinball-like own goal.
Not so rosy elsewhere
All three of Sterling, Jesus and Sane could well be the go-to options for next week’s double, with the first two currently the most purchased players of Gameweek 37.
And their attraction is perhaps partly down to the doubts surrounding City’s central midfield stars.
De Bruyne’s influence remains unparalleled, but his Fantasy form is tailing off badly – another blank today made it just one goal and an assist in eight matches.
At least he was involved.
David Silva’s run of seven league starts came to an end. He was the third top midfielder for Gameweek 36 transfers-in, only for Guardiola to give him the weekend off.
Problems remain at the back as well.
Last week’s clean sheet against the Swans proved to be a false dawn, as Aaron Cresswell’s fine free-kick, awarded for a foul on Edimilson Fernandes, kept City to just one shutout in five matches.
That made it a barren return for both Nicolas Otamendi (26.2%) and Kyle Walker (13.2%), with the latter’s ownership dented further when their man was subbed off with a muscle issue. Meanwhile, skipper Vincent Kompany missed out altogether through injury.
Guardiola’s willingness to mix and match at the back is not helping City’s defensive solidity, which will surely drive Fantasy managers to invest in attacking assets only for remaining fixtures.
Hammers still not safe
Events yesterday – and this afternoon’s result – keep West Ham fully embroiled in the season’s relegation saga.
They too have a Double Gameweek 37 (lei MUN), and next weekend’s trip to the freefalling Foxes could well be the best chance they have of securing the victory that should confirm their Premier League place for another campaign.
The Hammers’ assets are certainly not attracting great Fantasy interest, however.
Aside from the 7.4%-owned Chicharito, who hasn’t started a match since Gameweek 29 and is presumably to be found in a number of ‘ghost ship’ sides, their most popular player is Marko Arnautovic (6.2%).
But the Austrian blanked for the second time in three Gameweeks – hardly surprising when the Hammers managed just a single shot on target against the champions – which meant that it was left to goalscorer Cresswell to again get in the points.
The defender’s first goal of the season followed up an assist – his seventh of the season – in Gameweek 34.
Cresswell’s dead-ball delivery offers a real attacking threat, which is just as well when he’s operating in a defence that has managed just one clean sheet in eight Gameweeks.
Arnautovic’s continued role as the central striker will surely persuade his owners to hold for the double, while Cresswell (2.2%) and perhaps Manuel Lanzini have some merit as a risky differential, but David Moyes’ side offers precious little else for Fantasy managers to enthuse over.
