Marcos Alonso nets twice at Wembley as Harry Kane’s August woes continue. Meanwhile, Aaron Mooy picks up the points again as Huddersfield Town maintain their 100% start to the season.
Here are the notes from Sunday’s brace of matches.
Peerless Alonso at the double
Marcos Alonso recovered from a zero-point return against Burnley in some style by bagging both goals in today’s 2-1 Wembley Stadium win over Spurs.
That disappointing tally against the Clarets had persuaded over 72,000 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers to transfer out the Chelsea wing-back, yet his underlying numbers that day hinted at what was to follow – five efforts on goal in Gameweek 1 was more than any defender.
After last term’s six goals and five assists, it’s somewhat understandable that the Spaniard is the priciest defender on option in FPL at 7.0.
Despite an average of 5.7 points per match in the previous campaign, most have baulked at that cost, with just 11% currently owning Alonso.
Today’s 16-point haul once again reminded us that when it comes to premium priced picks at the back, the Spaniard remains peerless as a supplier of explosive returns.
David Luiz also remains a factor as a cheaper route into the Blues’ backline, though.
Stationed in front of the back-three as Antonio Conte opted for a 3-1-4-1-1 formation, he was brought down for Alonso’s free-kick opener, earning an assist to add to his goal against Burnley last weekend.
Priced at 6.0, he’s the most popular defender in FPL and sits in over 25% of squads.
Luiz fired a reasonable 31 efforts on goal last season – ranked sixth among defenders. So far, he’s registered four efforts in the first two Gameweeks – only Alonso, with seven, has managed more from the back.
Batshuayi back to bench-warming
Five goals in pre-season suggested that Michy Batshuayi could cement an early-season role on Antonio Conte’s teamsheet.
But the Belgian was named among the subs at Wembley due to the tactical reshuffle, with new boy Alvaro Morata handed a first start after his goal and assist off the bench last week.
Batshuayi started just one league match under Conte in 2016/17, with 19 further outings as a substitute. Given that his main impact was to nod Christian Eriksen’s free-kick past his own goalkeeper, it’s a fair bet that Morata looks set to lead the line at home to Everton next weekend.
Kane’s testing our patience
The hoodoo continues, but it’s certainly not for a lack of trying.
Shown the door by over 164,000 FPL managers last week, Harry Kane has now failed to score in all 12 Premier League appearances in August and returned back-to-back single-point returns after earning his second yellow card of the season.
But the underlying numbers could barely be more encouraging. He produced eight shots, with a total of six efforts in the box equal to Chelsea. He also hit the woodwork for a second successive Gameweek.
So far, Kane has registered 14 attempts in two matches, at least six more than any other forward. At this point last term, he’d managed six shots.
A home clash against Burnley surely offers him the tonic to address that lack of cutting edge, with the Spurs striker among the main captaincy contenders for Gameweek 3.
If he fails against the Clarets, though, the exodus will surely accelerate to new levels over the international break.
Eriksen delivers as Spurs show Wembley promise
While Kane spurned chance after chance, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli mustered just a single effort apiece, with Conte’s decision to crowd out the midfield denting their goal threat.
Once again, though, the Dane’s set-piece duties came to fruition – an assist for Batshuayi’s own goal takes him to three for the season.
Sitting in 18% of squads to Alli’s 37% and Kane’s 31%, Eriksen is now up to third in the midfield standings behind United pair Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on 19 points, and level with the top-scoring forward, Romelu Lukaku.
Spurs’ toils at Wembley continue, then – it’s now two wins, one draw and eight losses in 11 competitive matches at the venue.
However, the statistics suggest it’s not all doom and gloom. Mauricio Pochettino’s team outshot Chelsea by 18 shots to nine, though, firing 10 efforts inside the box – almost identical to their respective tallies of 19.6 and 10.2 at White Hart Lane last season.
Mooy moves into double figures
Aaron Mooy’s goal kept Huddersfield’s perfect Premier League record intact while cementing his emergence as a go-to budget midfielder.
The Australian followed up an assist at Crystal Palace with the winner against Newcastle United, from an Elias Kachunga assist. That took him up to 16 points in FPL and confirmed him as the most productive midfielder for 5.5 or less – indeed, Mooy is the top ranked midfield for value in terms of points per million.
Mooy’s ownership close to doubled after his role in the 3-0 opening day win as he continues to impress from a position that, on the face of it, doesn’t exactly scream offensive threat.
But despite operating from a deep-lying role in the double-pivot, he’s led the way for the Terriers for touches in the final third over the first two fixtures.
Add in the fact that he’s also the side’s primary set-piece taker and it’s clear to see why he has such potential for attacking returns.
Huddersfield’s kindly opening schedule continues for another four Gameweeks, giving Mooy further chances to build on his impressive start to the season.
Mounie misfires
If Mooy’s ownership burst into life following the Palace win, striker Steve Mounie’s practically exploded.
Over 160,000 managers brought him in on the back of his brace at Selhurst Park, only to see their new budget third striker fail to spark against Newcastle.
A booking kept him to just one point from a tepid afternoon in which he managed only two penalty area touches and zero attempts.
The 6.1-priced striker will hope for considerably better days as Huddersfield move onto fixtures with Southampton and Leicester City at home and trips to West Ham and Burnley.
Terriers keeping it tight
At least there were no such complaints for those owning Huddersfield’s backline and goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.
The Danish stopper made it back-to-back clean sheets and save points and is the only keeper to earn FPL bonus in both Gameweeks.
In front of him, two fellow 4.5-priced assets continue to rake in the returns as well.
Zanka, now the side’s most popular player with 5.1% ownership, and Christopher Schindler have both enjoyed good bonus returns to add to their shut-out points, with the latter bagging a maximum against Newcastle.
The German centre-half registered an eye-opening 17 clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI), won five of six tackles and all four of his aerial duels in a towering defensive display.
Small wonder that three Huddersfield players now grace the top ten for points scored by defenders (Chris Lowe is also in there) and all three are the cheapest on that list.
Gayle lacking force
Dwight Gayle hit 23 goals to help Newcastle back into the Premier League at the first attempt.
His own return to the top flight has been deeply underwhelming.
Gayle managed 52 minutes at Huddersfield before being subbed off having mustered just a single attempt.
His replacement, new signing Joselu, proceeded to have four attempts – all of them on target – in an all-action 38-minute display.
Gayle (6.5) sits in 2.3% of FPL squads, the 5.5-priced Joselu in 0.2%, but it is the latter who has made a convincing case for inclusion when West Ham visit on Saturday.
Newcastle have yet to score this season, which only strengthens the lively Joselu’s case, particularly as Rafa Benitez’s side still have a very attractive schedule stretching all the way to a Gameweek 11 clash with Bournemouth.
