Arsenal clinch a place in the FA Cup quarter finals and reduce the Gameweek 30 fixture list to just five matches. Diego Costa is back in training for Chelsea, Everton have worries over Aaron Lennon’s hamstring, City’s Kevin de Bruyne steps up his injury recovery, whilst Ryan Shawcross could be in line to return for Stoke at home to Southampton this weekend.
Arsenal through to quarters
Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott both bagged braces as Arsenal put Hull City to the sword in a 4-0 thrashing. Arsene Wenger enacted six changes for the FA Cup replay and elected to leave Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil on the bench for the entirety of the match-up. In truth, the French manager’s substitutions were forced, given that Per Mertesacker (concussion, cut), Gabriel Paulista (hamstring) and Aaron Ramsey (thigh) were all withdrawn at various points due to injury. Although Wenger believes the former two should be fine, he expressed greater concern for the health of Ramsey:
“I’m a bit shocked – we lost our two centre-backs in the game and after we lost Aaron Ramsey. Mertesacker has a cut on his eye and a bit of concussion but he should be fine and Gabriel looks alright. Ramsey I’m a bit more concerned because it’s a muscular thigh injury. Apart from that we have played well.”
The Scout Says: As a consequence of their victory at the KC Stadium, Arsenal will now host Watford on Sunday in the quarter finals, resulting in the postponement of their Gameweek 30 tie against West Bromwich Albion. Although some Fantasy managers will feel inclined to part company with their Gunners recruits in an attempt to field a stronger unit on the weekend, it’s worth noting that Arsenal travel to face Everton – who rank top for goals conceded in home fixtures (26) – in the subsequent round of fixtures. Furthermore, Wenger’s troupe could conceivably have a double Gameweek 34, discouraging non-wildcarders from releasing the likes of Mesut Ozil. On the flip side, Arsenal’s fresh injuries decrease our confidence in a back line that conceded eight goals and the joint-third-most big chances (nine) across the last four Gameweeks; indeed, they’ll do well to silence an Everton offense that charts second for home goals (29).
Mixed injury news for Chelsea
Diego Costa (minor tendon), Pedro (hamstring) and Kenedy (groin) look to have recovered from their respective injuries and trained ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain. Meanwhile, John Terry couldn’t shake off his hamstring injury in time for the European encounter.
The Scout Says: Despite scoring in seven of his last ten league outings, Costa (10.8) currently lies at a modest 11% ownership – a likely reflection of the fact that many managers already possess two high-priced forwards in Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero, while Jamie Vardy comes in far cheaper. Nonetheless, the former Atletico Madrid frontman harbours strong differential potential beyond the Blues’ Gameweek 30 blank, with three agreeable fixtures (WHU, avl, swa) on the Londoners’ horizon. Pedro’s likely return to the fold adds competition to the attacking midfield roles behind his fellow Spain international. The former Barcelona man netted twice in the recent 5-1 win over Newcastle before limping off early in the following week’s win over Southampton. His prohibitive 8.8 price tag, compared to Willian’s 7.2 is likely to keep him on the Fantasy periphery, though, given that the latter has served up two goals and seven assists since the departure of Jose Mourinho.
Midfield concerns for Toffees
Roberto Martinez offered a squad update on Tuesday morning. The Toffees boss is optimistic that Gareth Barry and Tom Cleverley will recover from chest infections in time for Everton’s FA Cup clash against Chelsea, though is a little more worried over the in-form Aaron Lennon:
“Aaron is the player that we need to monitor. His hamstring is really tight and he has put enormous effort into the last two games. Over the next 48 hours we will find out a bit more about Aaron. Apart from those three concerns, everyone is the same.”
The Scout Says: Lennon has been a revelation since his permanent transfer to the Toffees, adding a clinical touch that was conspicuously absent during his time with Tottenham Hotspur. In fact, the winger has already matched his best goal haul for Spurs (five) in around a third of the time (847 minutes compared to 2522 in the 2008/09 season), underlining his vast improvement in the final third. Delving deeper into the stats, however, exposes the unsustainable rate of his current scoring: Lennon lays claim to a 50% shot-conversion rate, having posted an attempt frequency (one every 89.8 minutes) that’s in line with the likes of Mousa Dembele (95) and Emre Can (90). Moreover, prospective investors will be wary that Everton lock horns with two of the league’s top-four defences (Arsenal, Manchester United) after their blank next Gameweek, reducing his differential appeal.
De Bruyne steps up recovery
According to reports, Kevin De Bruyne is on schedule to make his comeback in early April, having stepped up his rehabilitation this week.
Elsewhere in the Manchester City camp, Manuel Pellegrini said that David Silva is still feeling the ill effects of his recent ankle complaint:
“David is coming back from a long… I can’t say an injury, because it’s a pain in his ankle. He’s trying to improve as much as he can, but he continues to play when he is not 100 per cent comfortable. He did it well against Aston Villa and I hope if he is 100 per cent he will continue improving, but he is still feeling the pain.”
The Scout Says: Assuming that De Bruyne meets his projected return date, the Belgium international would be in contention for the double Gameweeks – the biggest of which are mostly likely to fall in Gameweeks 34 and 37. At present, De Bruyne possesses a ppg (5.5) that far exceeds the likes of Yaya Toure (4.6) and Silva (4.2), reaffirming his status as the prime selection among Manchester City’s midfield contingent. The latter two could soon steal that crown, though, given that Pellegrini’s men enjoy two favourable road trips (nor, bou) and a home encounter against their closest rivals across the next three Gameweeks. Certainly, with only ten teams duking it out in Gameweek 30, many managers will be contemplating tripling up on Man City assets following their 4-0 evisceration of Villa, though the Silva news is likely to see many lean towards Toure as a short-term pick instead.
Shawcross boost for Potters
Stoke City’s assistant boss, Mark Bowen, revealed that Ryan Shawcross came through a full training session unscathed, priming him for a return against Southampton this weekend:
“Ryan has trained for the first time with the group and came through quite an intensive session. It was always the plan to pull him out about two-thirds of the way through, so now we’ll see how the back settles down after that. We are back in on Thursday and hopefully Ryan will be ready to go again.”
In further good news for the Staffordshire outfit, Charlie Adam clocked over 70 minutes for the U21s as he accelerates his fitness programme.
The Scout Says: Shawcross’ return to the starting XI would serve as a timely boost for a rearguard that’s been hamstrung by injuries of late. That being said, the Potters have improved defensively since a three-match sticky spell from Gameweek 23 (nine goals conceded in three outings), shipping just three goals in their previous four match-ups. Ally that with Stoke’s promising schedule (SOU, wat, SWA) and Jack Butland’s 25% ownership will be quietly confident regarding their clean-sheet prospects. Shifting our focus onto the Potters’ midfield, Adam’s possible return is likely to have little impact on Mark Hughes’ starting XI. Instead, Marko Arnautovic ranks top by some margin for goals (nine) and charts a close second for assists (four), making him the standout pick. Xherdan Shaqiri is also worth a mention: the 6.4-priced Switzerland international carded attacking returns (one goal, two assists) in three of his last four starts and places joint-fourth among all midfielders for key passes (12) over the previous four Gameweeks.
