Jamie Vardy joins a select club of goalscorers as he and his Leicester team-mates dine out on their first clean sheet of the season. Elsewhere, the Gunners reach to the summit, Andre Ayew punishes Villa and Andy Carroll’s towering header condemns Chelsea to another damaging defeat. Here’s all the notes on Saturday’s matches…
Ayew Leads Swans Recovery
Swansea City came back from 1-0 down to record a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa, snapping a five-match winless streak in the process.
Andre Ayew completed the Villa Park revival with a winner in the 87th minute. Priced at 7.1, the Ghanaian winger now has five goals for the season and stands as a strong selection in the mid-priced midfield bracket as the Swans prepare to face off against Norwich City (away) and Bournemouth (home) across the next three Gameweeks. It’s Arsenal at home next for Ayew and the Swans.
Gylfi Sigurdsson returned to the scoresheet following his strike at Southampton in Gameweek 7, highlighting his set-piece prowess with a pinpoint free-kick from 25 yards out. The Iceland international is now simmering as a Fantasy asset but must play second fiddle to Ayew as a potential midfield acquisition given that he’s priced at 7.2.
Recalled to the starting lineup, Kyle Naughton picked up the assist for Ayew’s strike – his second of the campaign. Only four defenders have tallied more key passes (11) than the former Tottenham Hotspur right-back this term, underlining his capacity for attacking returns.
Gunners Reach the Summit
Arsenal stormed to the top of the league table by way of a 2-1 home win over Everton. Olivier Giroud was favoured over Theo Walcott at the lone-striker berth and led the way by notching his fourth goal in six appearances (five cameos).
Neither Walcott, nor Giroud are reliable starters given the current presence of midweek Champions League and League Cup football, forcing us to either sign both and suffer rotation, or look elsewhere in order to cover Arsenal’s potent attacking football.
Mesut Ozil (8.5) continues to emerge as the solution. The German playmaker bagged his fifth assist in four outings, whilst also rattling the upright with a clean strike in the closing stages. Reveling in the number ten role, Ozil now has seven assists in nine starts, having amassed just six in total last season.
At the back, the Gunners conceded their first goal in three outings, with Laurent Koscielny doing his bit to cloud our assessment of their rearguard assets. Now priced at 5.9, just 0.1 more expensive than the blossoming Hector Bellerin, Koscielny’s threat at set-plays could make him a factor once the young Spaniard’s price supersedes his own.
Barkley Intervention Not Enough For Toffees
Ross Barkley – who scored his first goal since Gameweek 2 – couldn’t prevent Everton from falling to back-to-back defeats.
The 6.8-priced marksman drew blanks in his previous three starts, prompting over 110,000 managers to shift him out of their 15-man squads. They may live to regret that in light of the fact that the Toffees now enjoy an excellent schedule (SUN, whu, AVL, bou, CRY, nor, LEI, new, STO) through to the New Year.
Gerard Deulofeu grabbed his third assist in four starts, strengthening his case to retain a starting berth when Tom Cleverley makes his imminent return.
Gareth Barry was given his marching orders for a second yellow-worthy challenge in the dying embers of the tie, meaning he’ll be sidelined for the Merseysiders’ home clash against Norwich in the League Cup.
Vardy Delivers As Foxes Earn Their Pizza Prize
Jamie Vardy netted his ninth goal in seven outings to earn Leicester City a 1-0 home win over Crystal Palace.
In scoring for the seventh consecutive match, the Vardy joined an illustrious band of Premier League players – that includes the likes of Alan Shearer and Theirry Henry – who’ve also achieved that feat.
All good things must come to an end but – with match-ups against West Bromwich Albion, Watford and Newcastle United over the next trio of Gameweeks – Vardy seems more than capable of extending his streak into the double figures. Once again, he tops the FPL “transfers in” ranks overnight, as his bandwagon continues at pace.
Elsewhere, Riyad Mahrez graced the starting line-up for the first time in three matches and capitalised on some poor Palace defending to supply the assist for Vardy.
Claudio Ranieri initially set his troops out in a 4-4-1-1 formation, fielding the Algerian at the number-ten berth. At the start of the second half, the “Tinkerman” struck again, pushing Mahrez out onto the flank and deploying right-back Jeffrey Schlupp in “the hole”. Regardless, the 6.5-priced midfielder performed well with both assignments, diminishing the possibility of rotation at West Brom next time out.
As for Schlupp, he’s now offering real out-of-position potential having been played on the left-flank and in the number ten role in recent outings. Priced at 5.0 in the FPL, although he received his fifth booking of the campaign, Schlupp will sit out the Foxes’ trip to Hull City in the League Cup instead of a Gameweek 11 trip to the Baggies.
The Leicester team as a whole will dine on pizza as a reward for their maiden clean sheet. Despite the fact that the West Midlanders shipped 17 goals through the opening nine Gameweeks, the favourable forthcoming schedule hands Ranieri’s side the platform to build on Saturday’s first shut-out.
Eagles Lacking Bite Up Front
Palace lost their fourth match in six outings, having scored just four goals in that run, drawing three blanks in the process.
They are clearly suffering from the lack of a dominant frontman to provide a focal point to their attack.
Connor Wickham could be the man to catalyse an upturn in fortunes, with his much-needed hold-up play serving to benefit Palace’s wealth of wide talent. The ex-Sunderland hitman continues to nurse a calf complaint, though, and is targeting a return to action within the next two weeks.
Rondon Strike Enough for Robust Baggies
Salomon Rondon netted less than a minute into the second half as West Bromwich Albion triumphed 1-0 over Norwich.
The Baggies big-money summer signing is yet to do enough to court our interest in the mid-priced bracket, notching two goals in 10 appearances. With Saido Berahino coming in at 0.6 cheaper than his South American striker partner, the Englishman – who’s notched three goals in five starts – remains the more attractive route into West Brom’s attack.
Tony Pulis’ knack for masterminding resolute defensive displays was again in full effect as West Brom tallied their sixth-shout in nine league outings.
Since his appointment last January, the Baggies have accrued more clean sheets (16) than any team in the league, emphasising the value of their rearguard assets – Boaz Myhill (nine bonus points, eight save points) and Craig Dawson (one goal and security of starts) remain the pick of the bunch in that regard.
Myhill enjoyed another FPL price rise to 4.8 overnight but now embarks on an evil run of opponents will surely stretch the Baggies back line capabilities (LEI mun ARS whm TOT liv).
Carroll Spearheads Derby Win
West Ham’s 2-1 win over Chelsea means that they are now in the midst of their best start to a Premier League campaign, racking up 20 points through the first 10 Gameweeks.
Dimitri Payet was again amongst the points – delivering attacking returns for the sixth consecutive outing as he claimed the assist for the Irons’ opener. The France international – who’s registered five goals and four assists to date – is flourishing as the Hammers’ chief orchestrator, rendering him a top pick regardless of fixture strength. Payet is the top scoring midfielder in the FPL, a point ahead of Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez, and has returned in eight of his ten appearances to this point.
Mauro Zarate and Andy Carroll inflicted the damage for the Irons, with the latter emerging from the bench to score the winner 11 minutes from time. Although Zarate is likely to lose his starting berth to Victor Moses – who was unable to face his parent club this Gameweek – Carroll is gradually building a case to displace Diafra Sakho (no goals in last three).
Aaron Cresswell popped up with his third assist in eight matches to keep his tally ticking over, although West Ham’s inability to card a clean sheet in their previous five outings indicates that he may have to continue to find attacking returns to justify his 5.6 price tag.
Ten-Man Chelsea Picked Off By Hammers
Chelsea’s dreadful start to the season – their worst ever after 10 matches (11 points) – continued with a fifth defeat in nine fixtures.
Nemanja Matic compounded the task of responding to Zarate’s opener by seeing red for a second bookable offence just before the break. The Serb will serve out his suspension when Chelsea travel to Stoke in the Capital One Cup, meaning he’ll be available for selection when Liverpool roll up at Stamford Bridge.
Gary Cahill offered hope of an unlikely comeback when he netted from a corner, with Kurt Zouma providing the assist. The young Frenchman’s presence at set-plays had earlier seen Chelsea denied an equaliser by the matter of centimetres as Zouma’s goal-bound header was scrambled off the line. Nonetheless, Zouma received two bonus points by virtue of his nod down for Cahill’s strike. Available at 5.5, Zouma lined up at right-back in the absence of Branislav Ivanovic and has now started seven of the last eight.
Elsewhere, Eden Hazard was recalled but proved largely ineffectual. Despite lasting the full 90 minutes, the Belgium winger failed to register an effort on goal and supplied just one key pass. Throughout the course of the campaign, Hazard has tallied just three more shots (12) than Matic (nine), exposing the extent of his impotency this term.
Deeney’s Belated Goal Guides Hornets Victory
Watford arrested a three-match winless run with a 2-0 road victory over Stoke City. Skipper Troy Deeney finally opened his account for the season with the opener at the Britannia Stadium, before Almen Abdi followed suit at the 69-minute mark.
Odion Ighalo demonstrated why he’s the prime source of Hornets attacking coverage, though, recording a brace of assists. The 5.3-priced Nigerian boasts five goals and two assists and will fancy his chances of earning further returns over the next two Gameweeks, considering that West Ham and Leicester have just four clean sheets between them.
Watford’s fourth shut-out in nine outings draws attention to their budget defenders. The likes of Craig Cathcart and Allan Nyom look like excellent squad fillers, although it should be noted that there is renewed competition in the Hornets’ back four. Sebastian Prodl was dropped at the Britannia, having started all the previous league outings: Miguel Britos earned his first league start following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
In addition, with Leicester, West Ham and Man United up next, Watford’s quest for further shut-outs may have to be put on hold for the coming Gameweeks.
