FA Cup victories for Chelsea and Southampton complete the semi-final line-up and limit the Gameweek 35 schedule to just six fixtures.
It took Chelsea 120 minutes to see off Leicester City 2-1, while the Saints rode their luck to win 2-0 at Wigan in Mark Hughes’ first match in charge.
The Blues went ahead at the King Power Stadium when Alvaro Morata finished sweetly from Willian’s through ball just before half-time.
It was the Spanish striker’s first goal in 14 appearances in all competitions. He last scored in the league in Gameweek 20 as injuries and a crippling collapse in form and confidence threatened to blight his first season in English football.
One goal doesn’t confirm a sudden renaissance, but his performance yesterday was impressive – he had a match-leading seven shots, five of which were on target – and much closer to the levels that had brought in 10 goals and four assists during the first half of the season.
Jamie Vardy equalised for the Foxes, poking home a Vicente Iborra rebound as the home side rallied after the break to force extra time.
That meant back-to-back goals in all competitions for the forward, who also has five strikes from his last seven league outings to justify his current status as the fifth most popular purchase of Gameweek 32.
Chelsea dug deep in extra time and substitute Pedro won the tie when he headed home N’Golo Kante’s cross, the finish made that much simpler as Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel committed himself to a ball he was never going to reach.
Coach Antonio Conte’s decision to field Morata, supported by Willian and Eden Hazard, worked well, particularly during a first half in which the visitors were comfortably on top.
But Leicester’s revival after the interval meant yet another match went by without a Chelsea clean sheet – they’ve kept just one of those in their last seven Gameweeks – which may yet dampen our interest in their backline.
The one exception remains Marcos Alonso, who continues to raid forward down the left flank at every opportunity, although his attacking output yesterday was kept to just one attempt on goal.
Chelsea’s run-in involves two huge home matches, against Spurs and Liverpool in Gameweeks 32 and 37 respectively, with the latter fixture part of a likely double Gameweek involving a visit from Huddersfield Town.
They’ll also have a double Gameweek 34, yet to be confirmed, comprising trips to Southampton and Burnley, with a home match against West Ham and visits to Swansea City and Newcastle rounding off their schedule.
The Blues have a mini-mountain to climb if they are to make it into the top four by the end of the season, but while that is still a possibility, Conte is highly likely to field his strongest XI, marking out the likes of Hazard, Willian and Alonso as clear contenders for our Wildcard squads.
Given that Morata has started one league match in five since Olivier Giroud joined the Blues, the situation up front is far less appealing.
Gameweek 32’s visit from Spurs could be pivotal. Should Chelsea lose, then their aspirations of Champions League qualification would be severely dented.
A victory, however, would present us with an opportunity to tap into a highly-motivated side with a measure of momentum about them.
Those of us waiting to play our Wildcards in Gameweek 33 will be watching that match with a very interested eye indeed.
Star duo the pick of the Foxes
Leicester also have a busy run-in, with an expected pair of double Gameweeks and some attractive fixtures to promote their assets.
Vardy and Riyad Mahrez remain the big draws, although the Algerian was relatively quiet yesterday, with his two attempts matched by centre-half Wes Morgan.
Mahrez’s league form, however, is picking up – after four straight blanks, he’s produced two goals and an assist from the last two Gameweeks.
The Foxes’ schedule promises more of the same.
Southampton’s win yesterday means a blank Gameweek 35 for them both, but before that Leicester will travel to Brighton, host Newcastle and then probably have a double Gameweek 34 involving Burnley away and Arsenal at home.
Their second double, pencilled in for Gameweek 37, will be much more attractive as it should be made up of home matches with West Ham and Southampton, and they’ll also travel to Crystal Palace and Spurs before the season is done.
Essentially, Leicester will be one of just six sides with two double Gameweeks yet to follow – perhaps a key factor in determining the case for Vardy as part of our three-man frontlines, while Mahrez appears to be a shoo-in.
Nonetheless, investment outside the Foxes’ star duo is harder to justify.
They’ve not kept a clean sheet for six matches and, a 4-1 win at West Brom in Gameweek 30 aside, have failed to score more than one goal in a fixture during that spell, with Vardy and Mahrez netting six of the team’s nine goals.
Saints alive under Hughes
New Southampton manager Mark Hughes described his side’s win at Wigan as ‘a statement of intent’ and he did something similar himself by naming two strikers – Manolo Gabbiadini and Guido Carrillo – in his starting XI.
As it turned out, the goals came from rather more defensive assets, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cedric Soares securing the victory and Dusan Tadic providing an assist.
Gabbiadini, a Fantasy legend for almost entirely the wrong reasons, did his reputation little good when he earned and then missed a second-half penalty, although to be fair to the Italian, his spot-kick required a superb save from the Wigan keeper.
Fantasy interest in him and the rest of the Southampton squad was the wrong side of minimal before the cup tie – they’d won only once in the league since Gameweek 13 and managed one clean sheet in nine matches before Hughes replaced Mauricio Pellegrino late last week.
And the Saints’ schedule is unlikely to prompt a change in our thinking any time soon.
Two double Gameweeks – Chelsea at home and Swansea City away in 34 and trips to Everton and Leicester in 37 – are only marginally attractive.
Matches with West Ham (away) and home to Bournemouth are high points, but they’ll also have to face Arsenal and Man City before the end of the campaign.
Unless Hughes inspires an unlikely revival in Southampton’s fortunes, their assets seem likely to remain limited to a fifth defender or possibly Alex McCarthy as a budget keeper for the Gameweek 34 Bench Boost.
Gameweek 35 and beyond
Following postponement’s this morning, the Gameweek 35 slate now look like this:
Everton v Newcastle
Stoke City v Burnley
Watford v Crystal Palace
West Brom v Liverpool
Man City v Swansea City
Arsenal v West Ham
This reduced programme causes an issue for those managers loading up on double Gameweek 34 (yet to be confirmed) assets with the Bench Boost in mind.
Much depends, of course, on the remaining chips at your disposal.
Those with the Wildcard still in hand can simply load up on teams with doubles and play the Free Hit chip in Gameweek 35 to solve this dilemma.
Only six sides – Brighton, Spurs, Chelsea, Leicester, Southampton and Man United – now look set to be handed a pair of double Gameweeks and are likely to be heavily targeted in our squad refresh.
However, managers devoid of a Wildcard and/or Free Hit chip need to now pinpoint their targets for the run-in.
Only six of the teams with a double Gameweek 34 will also play in Gameweek 35 – Arsenal, Burnley, Man City, Newcastle, Swansea and West Ham.
