First-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard were just enough for Manchester United to claim victory at The Hawthorns, as a Gareth Barry strike for West Brom broke the hearts of David De Gea’s growing army of Fantasy owners.
Lukaku’s towering header from a Marcus Rashford cross gave the Belgian back to returns for the first time since Gameweek 7.
Backed by 819,000+ (14.9%) with the captaincy, Lukaku has now scored three in his past four appearances in all competitions.
Together with two bonus points, an eight-point return for the striker means that he is finally showing signs of turning the corner and reviving his stock as a premium-priced option.
Lukaku increased his ownership for the first time since Gameweek 7 prior to the meeting with the Baggies. But he had shed over 1.4 million over those ten previous Gameweeks.
Improved form, coupled with Man United’s fixtures could now help him reclaim some of those numbers.
Lukaku will face Leicester City next weekend, before Old Trafford encounters with Burnley and Southampton. That final home encounter falls in Gameweek 21, the blank for Harry Kane.
Lingard the Pogba alternative
Elsewhere in United’s attack, it is Jesse Lingard who has shown promise as a cut-price midfield option.
Valued at just 5.9 in FPL, Lingard again started in the No 10 role, flanked by Juan Mata and Rashford. His deflected strike from a Mata lay-off took him to four goals from his last three away matches.
Lingard claimed the maximum bonus points to give him a third double-figure return in five Gameweeks.
He is perhaps unfortunate that he has timed his ascent as a Fantasy prospect just as Paul Pogba returns to the equation.
The Frenchman – now down to 7.9 and 9.0% ownership in FPL – is back from suspension for the midweek EFL Cup tie at Bristol City, though he will likely be saved instead for the trip to the King Power Stadium.
Pogba averages 7.0 points per match and will doubtless be a key transfer target over the festive period.
He is already the fourth most-signed midfielder ahead of Gameweek 19, and his return to the United starting line-up could change the dynamic of their attack. This impacts on Lingard’s minutes and his current scoring rate requires monitoring.
Valencia blow as De Gea is denied
Gareth Barry’s second-half strike dragged West Brom back into Sunday’s contest and deprived Man United and David De Gea an eleventh clean sheet of the campaign.
The Spaniard still made four saves at The Hawthorns and has now produced at least one save point in seven of his last nine Gameweeks.
Mourinho kept faith with a back four having deployed a three-man defence in previous away matches.
That saw Phil Jones retain his start alongside Chris Smalling, with that pair seemingly the first choice centre-back partnership. It was the first time that Jones has started two matches within seven days this season.
Both Marcos Rojo and Victor Lindelof were on the bench but will likely get minutes at Bristol City and at least one of the four Gameweek outings to come.
Rojo did see action in the second period, replacing an injured Antonio Valencia who limped off on 65 minutes to claim a clean sheet for his 17.6% ownership. The Ecuadorian is now back at the top of the defender standings, though Mourinho confirmed post-match that the right-back had sustained a hamstring problem.
“This is what I call a December injury. It is an injury of accumulation of fatigue. It is a muscular one. Hamstring. Big, small, medium, I don’t know.”
However, Valencia was quick to play down concerns via social media earlier this evening, going on to say.
“Thanks for your support and concern. I am fine”.
Although that offers hope of a quick recovery, given how key he is to Mourinho’s plans, it’s perhaps unlikely that United will take any chances with Valencia and the Portuguese yet protect him over the Christmas fixtures. Valencia is yet to miss a Premier League appearance this season.
Depending on the prognosis, that could open the way for a number of options, including Rojo, Matteo Darmian (5.0) and even Luke Shaw (4.9) given that Ashley Young could be switched to the right to cover.
