It takes a homegrown starlet to dig Manchester United’s all-star cast out of a large hole against Burnley, while West Ham’s reborn midfield option scores again ahead of a double Gameweek.
For all their wealth of big-name starters, it was left to substitute Jesse Lingard to spare Man United’s blushes in Tuesday’s 2-2 home draw with Burnley.
The England midfielder was rested by Jose Mourinho after producing four goals and two assists from his previous six starts.
But the combined might of Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba was so efficiently shut down by the Clarets that Mourinho was forced to turn to Lingard after the break.
He responded with a pair of goals, two Fantasy Premier League (FPL) bonus and 13 points from a dazzling 45-minute showing – enough to take him top of United’s midfield scoring charts, on 76 points, despite starting only seven matches this season.
More than 69,000 managers brought Lingard in ahead of Gameweek 20 and the market is very much in his favour again, with 68,000+ making him the upcoming weekend’s second most popular signing.
His form and 6.1 price tag are beginning to demand consideration as fifth or even fourth midfield option, with United’s schedule (SOT eve STO bur tot HUD new) another major factor in his popularity.
The contrast with Pogba could not be more stark.
The Frenchman has delivered a pair of two-point displays since returning from suspension and he managed just one shot inside the box in a match that United spent the majority of the time chasing.
Pogba is now without a goal from his last five Gameweeks, and Lukaku’s record isn’t much better.
The Belgian’s blank on Saturday was the sixth time he’s failed to score in the past eight Gameweeks. That delivered another blow to the 752,000+ who had trusted him with the Gameweek captaincy.
Little wonder that, despite United’s solid schedule, Lukaku is the most sold asset heading into Gameweek 21. More than 68,000 managers have moved him out, with Roberto Firmino (17,500+) and Harry Kane (26,000+) – despite his blank – the obvious replacements.
Even United’s previously watertight defence is now suspect.
The Red Devils have kept just one clean sheet in seven matches, making the 5.9 invested in David De Gea by close to 2.5 million managers a huge outlay for little reward.
More than 16,000 have now had enough, most of them replacing him with the in-form Jordan Pickford or the Burnley stopper Nick Pope (both 4.8).
Arnautovic bows out with a brace
West Ham signed off for their Gameweek 21 blank with a mad, and defensively bad, 3-3 draw at Bournemouth.
Managers planning ahead for the Hammers’ double that follows, involving a visit from West Brom and a trip to Spurs, had mostly tapped into a defence that had kept three consecutive clean sheets from Gameweek 16.
But the rearguard has now shipped six goals in two matches, significantly reducing the appeal of popular picks such as Angelo Ogbonna and Arthur Masuaku.
Midfield option Marko Arnautovic has remained relatively under the radar by comparison.
The Austrian international scored twice yesterday – although Asmir Begovic’s slip for his second was a decidedly late Christmas gift – and added maximum bonus for a season-high 15-point return.
Charity aside, he’s now scored all five of his goals for the campaign in the last five Gameweeks and is clearly a pivotal member of David Moyes’ team. And yet market interest has remained muted.
Only 31,000 signed him up for Gameweek 20 and this weekend’s blank should ensure he remains in only 2.1% of squads.
But with the schedule still favourable (hud BOU CRY bha WAT) following the double, Arnautovic will likely pick up traffic from a faltering Eden Hazard as managers use the double Gameweek 22 to shift funds around their squads.
Depoitre muzzled by Terriers
More than 200,000 managers made Huddersfield striker Laurent Depoitre the second most purchased payer, behind Roberto Firmino, of Gameweek 20.
The Belgian’s three goals in as many matches, together with his budget-friendly 5.4 price tag, were behind the surge in ownership to 6.1%.
And all those new managers got for Christmas was a 28-minute cameo from the bench in the Terriers’ 1-1 draw at home to Stoke City.
Instead, his striking counterpart Steve Mounie started his third successive home match, although it was the final member of Huddersfield’s forward trio, Collin Quaner, who delivered by providing a second assist from his last three starts.
That continues to mark him out as a budget (4.6) enabler for those managers needing extra funds to invest elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Depoitre’s new owners should be fairly confident that the striker will start in Saturday’s home encounter with Burnley.
At the back, the pickings remain slim.
Huddersfield kept a clean sheet in their first three Premier League matches this season, but have managed just three more in the 17 Gameweeks since.
The situation is even worse at Stoke – the Potters have recorded only two shut-outs all season, and their skipper Ryan Shawcross was withdrawn on 31 minutes yesterday to add to their troubles.
With Kurt Zouma ineligible for Stoke as they will be facing his parent club Chelsea next, the chances of a third clean sheet are the wrong side of rare. A repeat of the 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the Blues in Gameweek 6 looks more likely.
Richarlison struggling to keep pace
Watford midfielder Richarlison had been suffering sales for three straight Gameweeks as his output – one assist from six starts – going into yesterday’s match with Leicester City tailed off following a fine start to the season.
More than 90,000 got rid ahead of the 2-1 home win over the Foxes, but they would have been more than twitchy about that decision when they discovered that the Brazilian was to be used as a lone striker in place of the benched Andre Gray.
Those nerves abated somewhat when he was shifted wide left as Stefano Okaka was introduced for the injured Roberto Pereyra on 44 minutes, although Richarlison did manage an assist from the scramble that led to Molla Wague’s equaliser.
That might not be enough to halt the sales – 16,000+ have already moved ahead of this weekend’s visit from Swansea City, with a potential rest for a player who has started every match since Gameweek 2 perhaps behind some of those transfers.
But a Gameweek 22 trip to Man City will surely accelerate the selling trend and with both Lingard and Arnautovic offering more consistent returns in the same price bracket, Richarlison’s 18.0% ownership looks set to shrink further as the New Year kicks in.
Elsewhere for the Hornets, Marvin Zeegelaar returned at left-back following a three-match ban.
That should reinstate the defender (4.4) as a cut-price consistent starter in the Watford backline.
Then again, Watford need to start keeping clean sheets – they’ve not managed one of those since Gameweek 13, and have just five to their name all season.
Mahrez form not proving enough
A Kasper Schmeichel own goal, from an Abdoulaye Doucoure assist, earned Watford a much-needed win, while Riyad Mahrez was the other Leicester player to get on the scoresheet.
The Algerian midfielder has now produced either a goal or an assist in six of his last seven starts, and in 10 of the last 13 Gameweeks.
That consistency has pushed him to fourth in the midfielders’ scoring charts, on 107 points, and at 8.5 he is the cheapest of the top five.
But the sheer weight of high-scoring midfield options currently available has meant take-up in Mahrez has not just remained slow, it’s actually not happened at all – some 112,000+ managers have sold him off over the last two Gameweeks.
The 7.2%-owned player continues to be an impressively reliable differential, and trips to Liverpool and Chelsea over the next three Gameweeks are likely to keep his ownership on a downward trajectory.
Robust Everton stand firm
Love him or loathe him, you know what you’re going to get from Sam Allardyce.
The new Everton manager has now led his charges to two straight goalless draws and they now have five clean sheets from the seven matches since Ronald Koeman was sacked.
The big winner in all of that parsimony has been goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
He’s picked up 11 bonus points from those last seven matches and is now tied at the top of the goalkeeper bonus table with Burnley’s Nick Pope.
Pickford took home 10 points from yesterday’s stalemate at West Brom, while budget buy Jonjoe Kenny made it three six-point returns from his last four starts, with his price now up to 4.5.
Up front, the options are considerably more threadbare.
Wayne Rooney’s virus kept him out of action for a second successive match, and he is now the second most sold player going into Gameweek 21.
At least worries over a rest for the 13.6%-owned Dominic Calvert-Lewin proved unfounded.
And the fact that he was subbed off after 60 minutes at The Hawthorns suggests the striker might well start his ninth straight match when the Toffees travel to Bournemouth on Saturday.
