Another blank for Mohamed Salah, returns for (mostly) low-owned Chelsea stars and an unexpected deluge of points from Arsenal – Gameweek 37 is starting to become the stuff of legend for all the wrong reasons.
The Blues’ 1-0 victory over Liverpool kept things nice and interesting in the fight for a top-four finish.
But it was neither of those things for many Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with more than half of them enduring a second successive Gameweek without a significant contribution from Salah.
Such has been the impact of the Egyptian this season that he went into Double Gameweek 37 as the second most popular captaincy choice, with 19.42% handing him the armband despite the lack of a second fixture.
“Ghost-ship” or inactive squads played a part in that percentage, though that impact of Sunday’s blank remains significant.
Following a yellow card, Salah returned one-point return for only the third time of an incredible campaign, with the other two occurrences arriving from limited pitch-time.
His failure to score for two league matches running was an even rarer event, mirrored just once this year across Gameweeks 7 and 8.
That would have pleased the 356,000 managers who had moved him out for the double, but they now have the awkward decision of whether to consider him once again for Gameweek 38 for a fixture against Brighton which now has greater importance for Liverpool.
Salah had just one shot on goal at Stamford Bridge, which suggests that the season is finally catching up with the winger and perhaps Jurgen Klopp’s side as a whole.
But the campaign is still not done, and Klopp is unlikely to be fielding a second-string side for the Seagulls’ visit on the final day, with Chelsea now able to draw level with the Reds in the fight for fourth should they win at home to Huddersfield in midweek.
Ahead on goal difference, Liverpool would then need to match Chelsea’s result next Sunday to ensure Champions League qualification.
Given that Klopp made just one change from the team that took on Roma, with Nathaniel Clyne replacing Jordan Henderson as Trent Alexander-Arnold moved into midfield, a strong final-day line-up looks inevitable.
Handing the armband to Salah for that match is not so clear-cut, however.
The initial moves in the Gameweek 38 transfer market suggest faith in both Salah and team-mate Roberto Firmino is still strong.
The pair were the top two for Double Gameweek 37 sales, but are now among the top four for transfers-in heading into the final weekend of action for the season.
For Salah, the recent ‘drought’ is relative to an extraordinary campaign thus far, though Firmino’s output has tailed off dramatically – he now has just two goals in eight Gameweeks.
Nonetheless, Liverpool have form against next week’s visitors.
They beat Brighton 5-1 earlier in the season, with the Brazilian scoring twice, so there is clearly hope of a similarly emphatic result to help wash away some of Gameweek 37’s more unsavoury memories.
But the simplicity that Salah had brought to the game – buy him, pick him, captain him – can no longer be relied upon for what will almost certainly be a crucial final round of fixtures.
The one big factor could, bizarrely, be Huddersfield Town. If they can pull off a result at Chelsea to match yesterday’s draw with Man City, then Liverpool would only need a draw against the Seagulls.
Chelsea not done just yet
A few weeks ago, Antonio Conte was the captain of a sinking Chelsea ship, with Fantasy managers rushing to the lifeboats as their expensive stars were moved on.
Five straight wins in all competitions later, it seems we all blinked too early.
Cesar Azpilicueta and Olivier Giroud were the two most bought Blues players for their Double Gameweek 37, welcoming aboard less than 70,000 new managers between them to indicate how little interest was to be had in their assets.
Both produced good returns against Liverpool, with the Frenchman – owned by a mere 2.6% – scoring yesterday’s winner to also claim maximum bonus points.
Giroud has now netted four times in those last five fixtures and seems to be the best fit up front in the 3-5-1-1 formation that Conte has employed to help stop the recent rot.
His start yesterday was helped by an injury to Alvaro Morata, although the Spaniard is expected to be in contention for Huddersfield’s midweek visit, with the Chelsea coach suggesting he will ring the changes:
“It’s not serious [Morata’s injury]. In my mind, there is the intention for him to be in contention for the game against Huddersfield. I hope to recover him, also because today, on the bench, we had no strikers.
We’ll have to make rotations on Wednesday because today took a lot of energy from us. Then we’ll see what happens. It’s important to approach this situation with great pride and a great will to fight, to show we are still alive.”
In defence, that recent change in formation has now produced back-to-back clean sheets, which meant instant returns for the 15.9% of managers who stuck by Marcos Alonso through his suspension, with the Spaniard fast-tracked back onto the teamsheet.
But the star performer at the back was Victor Moses (2.7%), who set up Giroud’s winner and was awarded two bonus points for his second double-digit haul in three Gameweeks.
The Nigerian has now accrued 35 points from his last five starts, scoring once and providing three assists along the way.
It remains to be seen if both wing-backs retain their starts amid Conte’s rotation in midweek, with Emerson and Davide Zappacosta available as options to the Chelsea coach.
Not everyone has benefitted from Conte’s recent formation change.
Willian’s 13.7% ownership makes him the third most popular player in Chelsea’s squad, but he has now managed just 13 minutes of action across the last three Gameweeks as Eden Hazard continues to support Giroud as the most advanced of the Blues’ midfielders.
Aubameyang to the rescue
While the majority of big hitters failed to fire in their first match of Double Gameweek 37, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the star of the show as Arsene Wenger was afforded the perfect Emirates send-off.
The Gunners manager named a strong line-up after his side exited the Europa League on Thursday evening, with the Gabon international and Henrikh Mkhitaryan stationed on either side of Alexandre Lacazette against Burnley.
Despite that initial role on the left, Aubameyang still produced two goals and an assist to tally 16 points – his biggest haul of the season.
The most sold player (207,000) for Gameweek 36, he was moved on by a further 56,000 last week.
As many as 41,000 of them swapped him out for Harry Kane or Gabriel Jesus, who currently sit on two points apiece.
As a result, just 11% of FPL managers held the winter signing heading into yesterday’s match, with only 104,000+ handing him the armband.
In terms of Triple Captain chips, while over 190,000 were played on Kane and 75,000+ on Jesus, just a little more than 8,000 had the foresight to opt for Aubameyang.
With a trip to Leicester up next, he now has the platform to cement his spot as a huge armband differential and shake up the FPL rankings.
Aubameyang’s numbers already hint at his potential for our three-man frontlines next season.
An average of 6.5 points per match is second only to Sergio Aguero’s 6.8 among FPL forwards, while his 112.6 minutes per goal is ranked third behind the Argentine (93.8) and Kane (107.5).
Gunners profit from home comforts
As many as four Arsenal player delivered double-digits in the 5-0 win over Sean Dyche’s side, with Lacazette, Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac joining Aubameyang with bumper hauls.
While the likes of Nacho Monreal and Shkodran Mustafi warmed the bench from start to finish, full-backs Bellerin (two assists) and Kolasinac (one goal) both profited from Arsenal’s twelfth clean sheet of the campaign.
Lacazette’s goal and assist means he has five goals and an assist over his last five league outings, with the Frenchman’s link-up play with Aubameyang looking more promising as the season unfolds.
Currently sitting on ten points, Lacazette has proved another big differential – only 742 played their Triple Captain chip on the summer arrival.
Yesterday’s victory means the Arsenal are level with Man City for wins (15) and points (47) in front of their own fans, scoring 54 times to the champions’ 58.
That contrasts starkly to their tally of 13 points on the road – only three teams have picked up fewer points away from home.
Those backing the Gunners will hope they can address this form quickly, given that the final two fixtures of 2017/18 take them to Leicester and Huddersfield.
