The reasons for not currently owning Eden Hazard (£11.2m) in Fantasy Premier League are becoming harder to justify.
Burdened with the “arch-troll” tag in some quarters of the Fantasy community after years of maddeningly inconsistent returns (if not performances), Chelsea’s talisman has racked up at least ten FPL points in four of the last five Gameweeks and has scored or assisted in every league fixture this season bar one.
And if there were any lingering doubts about the Belgian’s ability to perform away from home after a blank at West Ham a fortnight ago, then his display and 14-point haul in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Southampton on Sunday afternoon would have helped assuage those concerns.
Hazard registered a goal, assist and maximum bonus in that victory for the Blues on the south coast, while there was a day to forget for Danny Ings (£5.7m) in the Saints attack.
Our latest set of Scout Notes from the weekend rounds up the goals, assists, manager quotes, FPL talking points and injury news from the Sunday afternoon encounter at St. Mary’s Stadium.
Southampton 0-3 Chelsea
- Goals: Eden Hazard (£11.2m), Ross Barkley (£5.7m), Alvaro Morata (£8.7m)
- Assists: Ross Barkley, Olivier Giroud (£7.8m), Eden Hazard
There are some afternoons when Eden Hazard’s Fantasy appeal hinges on “the eye test” alone, when the Belgian’s influence on a game is not fair reflected by the underlying stats that form so much of our judgement as FPL managers.
Sunday’s clash at St. Mary’s was a fixture in which both Hazard’s key performance indicators (KPIs) and his ease on the eye were intertwined.
The Belgian midfielder had more attempts on goal and shots from inside the box than any Chelsea or Southampton asset and registered more than twice as many penalty box touches than any other player on show. Hazard’s penalty box touch count was indeed greater than all other Premier League players (including forwards) in Gameweek 8.
Creatively, Hazard also shone. No player supplied more key passes than the Chelsea playmaker at St. Mary’s, while his total of three big chances created was also more than any Premier League player managed this weekend.
Substitute Alvaro Morata (£8.7m) should have converted one of those big chances before he finally capitalised on another slide-rule Hazard pass in stoppage time to put the gloss on a somewhat flattering scoreline.
Hazard was buoyant when he spoke of his and his team’s form after full-time, suggesting the Chelsea camp is a happy one at the moment:
We are enjoying playing well and scoring goals.
The first half was not so easy. They missed big chances and then we have had a bit of luck for our first goal, but we controlled the match in the second half.
I don’t know if I’ve played better [than I am at the minute], I’m just playing good football because we [Chelsea] are playing good football.
I want to keep doing it and keep everyone happy. I don’t think about personal targets, I’m happy as long as we win. Maybe I need to think about that, some people only think about goals.
Hazard had opened the scoring after half an hour with Chelsea’s first shot on target of the match, latching on to a Ross Barkley (£5.7m) pass to fire past Alex McCarthy (£4.5m).
The confidence with which Hazard sent McCarthy the wrong way with that strike is something not reflected in any KPI but is symbolic of the conviction with which the Belgian international is playing at the moment. Another encouraging trait of Hazard’s performance was the freedom with which he was permitted, at one instance hugging the left touchline and the next moment popping up in a central position or on the opposite flank.
While Hazard was chiefly a provider for Morata in the final quarter of the game, his relationship with Olivier Giroud (£7.8m) is a different beast altogether. Giroud’s only “shot” in the match was actually the bicycle kick across the box that Barkley tapped in for Chelsea’s second goal, and as a Fantasy asset himself, the Frenchman leaves much to be desired regarding goal threat.
As someone who allows Hazard to excel, however, Giroud’s continued inclusion in the Chelsea starting XI seems to be helping the Belgian schemer’s status as a reliable Fantasy asset.
Giroud’s average position on Sunday afternoon was considerably deeper than that of Hazard or Willian‘s (£7.4m), but his ability to draw his centre-back out of position and allow room in behind for Chelsea’s wide-men is bearing fruit for other FPL assets at the moment.
The only change to Maurizio Sarri’s line-up from the side that drew with Liverpool was Barkley in for Mateo Kovacic (£5.9m) and the decision proved to be a masterstroke from the Italian coach.
While far too early to consider Barkley as a reliable Fantasy asset – this was the former Everton midfielder’s first league start since Kovacic was first considered fully “match fit” in Gameweek 3 – his goal and assist might have been enough to keep his place in the side for the time being.
Sarri was certainly impressed by what he saw from the England midfielder:
Today Ross played very well. I am really happy with him, because from the beginning he has improved day by day, week by week.
I am very happy with him, and for him: for the goal, for the national team [call-up]. He had a very serious injury in the last two seasons but now he is improving and the best will come.
I said to him from the first day that he has great physical quality, great technical quality, but he had to improve from the tactical point of view. Now he has improved.
I think potentially he is a great player. He has quality, very important qualities. He will become a very important player in England and for the England national team.
Barkley certainly looked better from an offensive point of view: in 90 minutes on Sunday afternoon he more than doubled his penalty box touch count for the season, while three of his seven attempts on goal in 2018/19 were recorded at Southampton.
At £5.7m Barkley is available at an attractive price, but we’ll need to see this attacking improvement borne out over a sustained period of starts if we are to go anywhere near the 24-year-old midfielder in FPL.
While no team racked up more attempts on goal than Chelsea in Gameweek 8, 12 of those 21 efforts – including Hazard’s four other shots – were blocked.
Southampton had begun the first quarter of the match camped in their own half and in truth, Chelsea struggled to break the Saints down until Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (£4.5m) was dispossessed in the passage of play that led to Hazard’s opener.
More worryingly for Chelsea was that when this rather limited Southampton side did come out and attack, the Blues looked vulnerable.
The Saints had two excellent chances that were spurned in a similar fashion, Ryan Bertrand (£4.9m) and Danny Ings blazing over when meeting crosses on the volley in or around the Chelsea six-yard box. Ings’ miss was particularly glaring and came when the game was still goalless.
Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5.5m), as he had been in midweek and (in vain) last Saturday against Liverpool, was called upon to preserve Chelsea’s clean sheet and made two flying stops from Nathan Redmond (£5.3m) and Ings in the second half.
While only Liverpool and Manchester City have kept more clean sheets than Chelsea this season, the Blues look far from as assured as their title rivals in defence: only eight Premier League sides have allowed more big chances than Sarri’s troops this season, not one of which is a “big six” club.
The Chelsea boss acknowledged defensive improvements were required in his press conference:
We need to be able to be in control of the match. We can do better in the defensive phase, and sometimes also in the offensive phase.
We did two or three counter-attacks wrong, four against three, or three against two, so we could do better.
Despite those two clear-cut chances and recording as many shots on target as their opposition, Mark Hughes was disappointed with his side’s display.
Speaking after the match, Hughes said:
We were too passive in the opening period and that’s why I had to make a change at half time.
We worked on triggers to our pressing, but we didn’t really instigate them, and as a consequence, they had easy possession and we found it really difficult to get out to the ball.
The only time we could put pressure on them was on the edge of our box, which clearly was unsustainable, and we needed to do something about that.
Unfortunately, they were able to get in front, and at that point, you sensed they could manage the game quite comfortably and look to play on the counter-attack, which is perfect for them given the talent they have.
Hughes had sent his side out in a 3-4-3 after using that formation in the Carabao Cup against Everton last week, but that system was ditched at the interval with the hosts a goal behind. Jan Bednarek (£3.9m), who was brought into the starting XI along with Maya Yoshida (£4.2m) to play in a three-man central defence, was sacrificed for Oriel Romeu (£4.4m) at the break as Hughes matched Chelsea in a 4-3-3.
Manolo Gabbiadini (£5.6m) and the lively Redmond supported Ings in attack but were mostly restricted to efforts from distance, while it was an afternoon to forget for the on-loan Liverpool striker. As well as spurning that gilt-edged chance on 25 minutes, Ings wasted a presentable opportunity in stoppage time and was booked for a nasty tackle on Kovacic. The consolation for his owners, at least, is that he is still getting into decent goal-scoring positions that he would ordinarily convert into precious FPL points.
There was little to report on the injury front, with both sides apparently coming into this fixture without a single fitness concern. Antonio Rudiger‘s (£5.9m) wince at the end of the match appears to have just been a kick in a particularly sensitive area for a man, while Mohamed Elyounoussi‘s (£6.3m) omission from the Southampton squad came just days after Hughes declared him fit to play and was reportedly tactical – though confirmation is awaited on that.
Finally, a quick summary of Marcos Alonso‘s (£6.9m) performance. While Southampton’s somewhat negative approach in periods of the match allowed him to rack up more final third touches than all other players bar Hazard, the Chelsea left-back only converted that prominence into three penalty box touches and two attempts on goal – both of which didn’t hit the target.
Alonso’s attacking numbers from Gameweek 5 onwards are way down on those produced in the first four matches of the season and a concern for FPL managers who have shelled out considerable money for his services. Further analysis of his drop-off in stats can be made using our Comparison Tool in the Members’ Area.
Southampton XI (3-4-3): McCarthy; Bednarek (Romeu 46′), Yoshida, Hoedt; Soares, Hojbjerg, Lemina, Bertrand; Gabbiadini (Long 78′), Ings, Redmond.
Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Barkley (Kovacic 81′); Willian (Pedro 74′), Giroud (Morata 68′), Hazard.
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