Norwich City 2-3 Chelsea
Goals: Teemu Pukki (£6.8m), Todd Cantwell (£4.6m) | Tammy Abraham (£7.0m) x 2, Mason Mount (£6.1m).
Assists: Pukki, Emi Buendía (£6.0m) | Cesar Azpilicueta (£6.0m), Christian Pulisic (£7.5m), Mateo Kovacic (£5.5m)
Bonus Points: Abraham x 3 Pukki x 2 Mount x 1
Chelsea secured their first Premier League win of the Frank Lampard era as they overcame a spirited Norwich City to prevail 3-2 winners at Carrow Road.
Tammy Abraham (£7.0m) struck twice to reward Lampard’s faith in restoring him to the starting line-up, with two fine strikes to record his first league goals for Chelsea.
However, the top Fantasy story was Teemu Pukki (£6.8m), transferred in by over 1.2 million managers since the start of the season, registering a second double-figure score of 2019/20.
The Norwich forward scored one goal and provided an assist, as well as collecting two bonus points for his battling performance against Chelsea.
In a game that had all the elements of a classic Premier League encounter, the narrative surrounding Pukki is one that leaves Fantasy managers not owning the £6.8m striker with a serious decision.
Since the Gameweek 3 deadline, he has attracted 120,000+ new owners, and the striker’s performance against Chelsea, coupled with his form in the first two matches, are indicative of a forward with the ability to establish themselves as fixture-proof this season.
It is difficult to look past Pukki as the best value budget forward so far in 2019/20, and with his price set sky-rocket once more this week, those not in possession of him may have to act fast.
Up next for the Canaries is West Ham, whose defence has not particularly impressed this season and, even though it’s Manchester City after that, interest in Pukki will certainly be high in the build-up to Gameweek 4.
There may also be some alternatives in the Norwich ranks for Fantasy managers to consider.
Pukki was supported in his attacking endeavours once again by Todd Cantwell (£4.6m), who opened the scoring for the Canaries after an incisive cut-back from the Finnish forward.
We shouldn’t forget about Emi Buendía (£6.0m) either, who has been an important creative player for Norwich so far this season.
After assisting at Anfield in Gameweek 1, the diminutive midfielder set-up Pukki’s goal against Chelsea and now has two attacking returns in 2019/20.
The potential value in Norwich’s attacking options simply cannot be understated or ignored, Pukki, Cantwell and Buendía particularly impressing in their last two outings.
The Finnish international now has five goals and one assist in three matches, while Cantwell, playing on the left flank of the Canaries’ attacking midfield trio, has a goal and two assists.
If the trio can continue their impressive early-season form in some promising fixtures from Gamweek 6 to 8, then Daniel Farke’s side could become the most important source of budget options in the Premier League.
Whilst Abraham’s brace understandably stole the headlines in Chelsea’s victory, Mason Mount (£6.1m) delivered yet another exceptional performance to cement his place in Lampard’s plans for the upcoming Premier League campaign – and on the Fantasy radar.
Mount, whose goal put Chelsea 2-1 up inside 17 minutes, burst through the Norwich defence to unleash a stunning strike past Tim Krul (£4.5m).
It was another goal that highlights his potential value this season, with two strikes in his last three league games, rewarding his 6.7% ownership for Gameweek 3.
Admittedly, Mount did leave the field with a suspected calf injury, Lampard allayed any concern that Mount could be out with a long-term problem.
“For Mason, it was more of a kick on his calf so better news hopefully than a strain of any sort so hopefully he’ll recover.” Frank Lampard
With over 440,000 Wildcards having been deployed in the build-up to Gameweek 3, Mount is a name that had already held relative gravitas as a budget pick for attacking coverage from Chelsea, but his impressive performance on Saturday is likely to consolidate his credibility as an attacking asset for Fantasy managers ahead of Gameweek 4.
At this point, Mount’s place in the side looks fairly assured too, not just because of his impressive form.
Chelsea were dealt another injury blow on Saturday as Pedro (£7.0m) was injured in the pre-match warm-up. While Chelsea did well in response to losing the player, it does reduce the competition for Mount in the side.
“I thought we adjusted well to that. Pedro was a last-minute change. I thought Ross came in and did very well, Mason moved to the left and did very well so I was pleased. We talk about a young team who have to deal with things on the pitch and they did it well.” Frank Lampard
Interestingly, it was Ross Barkley (£5.9m) who was turned to when Lampard needed a replacement, not Willian. He deployed Barkley in the central midfield trio and pushed Mount forward onto the left flank of the front three.
Chelsea’s defence has now failed to keep clean-sheets in any of their opening three Premier League fixtures, and the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta (£6.0m) and Kurt Zouma (£5.0m) do not seem viable options accordingly
It was another concerning performance from the Blues’ backline against Norwich on Saturday, which should sound more alarm bells for those in possession of Chelsea defenders.
This was an important result for Lampard but equally an impressive performance from Farke’s side, with players from both sides affirming their credentials as Fantasy selections, most notably Pukki, Cantwell, Abraham and Mount.
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