Scout Notes – Captain Kane to the Rescue

Harry Kane dons his Fantasy cape to pull many teams from the Double Gameweek 37 wreckage, although it is another north London striker who’s been the true hero of the piece.

The sofa behind which Kane’s captainers hid to watch armband rival Gabriel Jesus blank at the weekend was in good use again on Wednesday night, particularly when the Spurs striker contrived to completely miss the ball when put through against Newcastle.

It took 50 long minutes for those many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers to finally emerge and, at least vaguely, enjoy their man’s performance after he stroked home Son Heung-min’s pass.

It was a huge goal for Kane, Spurs (who secured their Champions League place) and the 19.4% of FPL owners who’d captained him.

A six-point haul on the night also added an air of respectability to the decision by the 190,000+ (49.3%) to play the Triple Captain chip on him.

Having found the net in three of his last four, the Spurs striker sits just three goals behind Mohamed Salah in the race for the Golden Boot, despite concerns about his overall form and fitness.

A considerably more relaxed Spurs should now go into Sunday’s home match with Leicester City in the mood to help him narrow the gap further still.

Kane has scored five times in his last two matches against the Foxes, meaning that he will surely battle it out with Salah for the armband again.

Defence takes the strain

Watching Kane might have been a painful business of late, but Spurs’ defenders have been a rather more consistent source of joy.

That was just as well, what with Christian Eriksen (19.9%) and Dele Alli (14%) producing precious little from midfield over the Gameweek 37 doubles, while Son’s 14.5% ownership fared only marginally better thanks to last night’s assist.

It was left to the backline to deliver the goods, with a third straight clean sheet particularly fruitful for Jan Vertonghen’s 9.9% fan club as the Belgian also took home maximum bonus to currently sit as the top scoring defender for Gameweek 37 with 15 points.

That total was somewhat massaged by Vertonghen’s substitution before West Brom’s late winner at the weekend; a match in which Ben Davies, at 22.2% by far the most-owned of the Spurs defence, played no part.

He returned in place of Danny Rose last night, while fellow full-back Kieran Trippier (5.4%) made his third straight start, but went off with a knee injury late on that makes him an early doubt for Sunday.

With Serge Aurier still troubled by a hamstring issue, Spurs’ defence might struggle to keep a third clean sheet in four Gameweeks against Leicester, particularly with little more than pride and Kane’s personal glory to play for now.

As for Newcastle, Rafa Benitez made just two changes from the side that lost to Watford on Saturday.

Javier Manquillo was replaced by DeAndre Yedlin and Matt Ritchie came in for Jacob Murphy.

A fourth straight defeat by a one-goal margin followed, with only goalkeeper Martin Dubravka coming out of the double with much credit.

His six saves at Wembley – allied with a penalty stop at Watford on Saturday – meant he ended Gameweek 37 on 15 points and is currently the top-scoring keeper.

City changes wreck plans of many

Rotation-loving Pep Guardiola was always going to deliver a sting in the tail to the Gameweek for any number of managers.

The champions followed up their weekend trophy party with an extended farewell to Yaya Toure against Brighton.

Unfortunately, some key assets weren’t on the guest list, most notably Raheem Sterling (28.3%).

The winger’s absence from the squad was one of eight changes made by Guardiola, and it was a devastating blow to the 264,000 who had handed him the Gameweek 37 armband, while the 69,000+ who Triple Captained Sterling ended up with just nine points for their troubles.

David Silva (12.4%) was another not even at the ground, and the 22% who own Kevin De Bruyne had to make do with 90 minutes of bench-warming.

The Fantasy impact of City’s 3-1 win over the Seagulls was on the decidedly low side as a result, with a hat-trick of assists for Leroy Sane (12.6%) a high point for the 62,439 managers who had made him City’s third most popular transfer-in for the Double.

That figure was still well below those for Gabriel Jesus (268,671) and Sterling (199,980), but the German is finishing the season with a flourish – he now has 15 assists, which is second only to De Bruyne and that man Sterling again.

City’s scorers on the night were Danilo, Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho, none of whom are owned by much more than 4%, which merely served to show just how much Jesus’ second straight blank hurt the majority.

The 18.8%-owned striker was the most purchased player of the Gameweek, with 277,000+ captaining him and a further 75,000 playing their Triple Captain chip on a man who ended home matches with Huddersfield and Brighton with just four shots in total, none of which managed to find the target.

At the back, sweeping changes meant the night off for well-owned assets such as Nicolas Otamendi (26.1%), Kyle Walker (12.3%) and even goalkeeper Ederson (9.1%), but at least their owners didn’t miss out on clean sheet points.

The decision to bench Ederson was a particularly unexpected one as he had the chance to draw level with David De Gea in the race for the Golden Glove.

Brighton striker Leonardo Ulloa, assisted by Davy Propper, grabbed the visitors’ consolation.

The Leicester loanee was the only change made by manager Chris Hughton, who dropped Glenn Murray (5.9%) to the bench.

City’s final fixture involves a trip to Southampton that, mathematically at least, is one of only four matches still having anything major riding on it.

As a result, Guardiola might well revert to something rather closer to his first-choice XI.

While there are suggestions that Silva’s season is now done after he returned to Valencia, owners of both Sterling and De Bruyne will surely be expecting a return to the teamsheet at St Mary’s.

Points aplenty at the King Power

Amid the rush to bring in Double Gameweek stars from Man City, Spurs and Man United, one prolific striker was left in the transfer dust.

But the 43,958 who took a punt on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw their man emerge from the cloud with a Gameweek-high 23 points, scoring his ninth goal in 11 matches as the ten-man Gunners went down 3-1 at Leicester.

Three goals, an assist and four bonus points was a game-changing reward for his 11.9% ownership – the winter arrival has currently outscored the next best striker in FPL by a massive 12 points over the Double.

That forward happened to be on the pitch with him; Jamie Vardy breaking his three-match drought with a penalty awarded after a foul on Demarai Gray.

Owned by 23.1%, Leicester’s top scorer had been trying the patience of his managers during that barren run, but they retained their faith – he’d lost just over a thousand in net sales since Gameweek 34 – and it was rewarded.

Riyad Mahrez’s travails – he’d blanked for six straight matches – had prompted considerably more sales, with 105,000+ getting rid over the last two weeks.

The 8.8% who remained were treated to a first goal since Gameweek 30 when he finished off a late counter-attack, youngster Hamza Choudhury providing the assist.

The Foxes’ other goal was an Kelechi Iheanacho effort from Fousseni Diabate’s pass.

Leicester’s win might persuade some that their players aren’t quite on the beach just yet, although a final-day trip to Spurs won’t prompt much extra investment either way.

And they owed much of last night’s victory to Arsenal, who made it seven straight away defeats courtesy, in part, to the first-half dismissal of Konstantinos Mavropanos.

The ensuing reshuffle reintroduced Shkodran Mustafi to domestic action for the first time since Gameweek 35, his 4.4% ownership bagging one whole point as a result.

Rather more impact was felt by Arsene Wenger’s decision to leave Alexandre Lacazette (7.3%) out of the squad all together, with Hector Bellerin (10.1%) and Nacho Monreal (8.5%) also rested.

Aubameyang was left to fly the Fantasy flag virtually alone, and FPL managers have finally taken note – he’s the most signed player heading into Gameweek 38.

Alas for Arsenal, that will involve another away match, at Huddersfield.

On the plus side, the Terriers might be in an accommodating mood…

Bridge of sorrows, bridge of joy

Coach David Wagner and his Huddersfield bus parked up at Stamford Bridge and came away with the point they needed to secure their Premier League survival.

The irony was that they actually flew down to the fixture.

The 1-1 draw was not pretty – they allowed Chelsea 78% possession and 22 shots – but Laurent Depoitre’s goal, from an Aaron Mooy long ball, and an almost ridiculously heroic rearguard action proved to be enough…just.

Fantasy interest in the Terriers was understandably limited, seeing as they had to travel to both Chelsea and Man City in Double Gameweek 37.

But last night’s result does have interesting implications.

Huddersfield’s Gameweek 38 visit from Arsenal could well be a rather less attritional occasion now that the threat of relegation has dissolved, which promotes the stock of the Gunners attack.

And barring a final-day meltdown by Liverpool at home to Brighton, even a Chelsea win at Newcastle will not be enough to bring Champions League football back to the Bridge next season. The Merseysiders now need just a point to claim a top-four spot.

With an FA Cup final to play a week later, coach Antonio Conte might well shuffle his pack again, as he did last night.

Weekend goalscorer Olivier Giroud was replaced by Alvaro Morata, who missed one tricky chance in an otherwise underwhelming performance, while the side’s most popular attacker, Willian (13.6%), was handed his first start since Gameweek 34, but also failed to impress.

Huddersfield went into the match with just three goals from their last nine matches, and the same total from their previous six away days.

Chelsea’s inability to keep a third straight clean sheet was, therefore, both surprising and hurtful to the 21% backing Cesar Azpilicueta.

But a huge stroke of luck at least kept Marcos Alonso’s 15.9% ownership happy, a clearance hitting the wing-back in the face and ending up in the back of the net.

Two bonus points took the Spaniard to ten on the night and 15 for the Gameweek – joint top with Vertonghen among defenders.

The backline was much-changed from the weekend, with Willy Caballero replacing Thibaut Courtois in goal and Andreas Christensen, who had a potentially match-winning header brilliantly saved by Jonas Lossl, back in after a three-match absence.

The upshot of all last night’s action is a welter of dead rubbers clogging up Sunday’s schedule.

Only the Liverpool and Chelsea fixtures, together with Man City’s trip to Southampton and Swansea City’s home match against Stoke City, have any real relevance.

But even then it will take huge swings in goal difference, and a shock away win by the Seagulls, to change the make-up of the league table as it currently stands.

All of which is going to make our Gameweek 38 decisions decidedly difficult, with run-outs for previously under-employed squad members and any number of pre-beach parties likely to be the order of the day.