Blanks for Hazard and Higuain in Chelsea’s Gameweek 32 opener

Chelsea and Cardiff City contested their first Double Gameweek 32 fixture on Sunday afternoon, as Maurizio Sarri’s side edged out Neil Warnock’s strugglers with two late goals.

There is nothing that Fantasy Premier League managers can do ahead of those two clubs’ matches on Wednesday evening, of course, but there was little to thrill owners of Chelsea assets ahead of their home match against Brighton in midweek, with the Blues very fortunate to emerge with all three points from this encounter in South Wales.

This was an underwhelming afternoon for many Fantasy managers who invested in Chelsea’s most-popular FPL players, as we’ll discuss in our Scout Notes piece below.

Cardiff City 1-2 Chelsea

• Goals: Victor Camarasa (£4.5m) | Cesar Azpilicueta (£6.3m), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.2m)
• Assists: Harry Arter (£4.9m) | Marcos Alonso (£6.4m), Willian (£7.1m)

Eden Hazard‘s (£11.0m) first benching in the Premier League since the beginning of November came at an inopportune time for those Fantasy managers backing the Belgian winger in Double Gameweek 32.

Hazard was thrown on as a 53rd-minute substitute at the Cardiff City Stadium with Chelsea a goal down but the talismanic winger went on to blank for the eighth time in 12 Premier League matches.

Owned by over 30% of FPL managers and three-quarters of the top 10,000 at the point of Saturday’s deadline, Hazard was also backed by close to 50,000 FPL bosses who were using the Triple Captain chip.

Having provided some ominous comments on Friday afternoon in his press conference, Maurizio Sarri confirmed to Sky Sports ahead of kick-off that Hazard and the hitherto ever-present N’Golo Kante‘s (£5.0m) demotion to the bench was fatigue-related:

At the moment, Kante has played 50 matches this season and Hazard 47.

They both played with the national team, Hazard for 187 minutes and Kante for 175 minutes and so I think that it’s time to rest.

Hazard did look lively on his introduction and caused a few nervy moments in the Bluebirds’ backline but didn’t register a single shot in his 37-minute showing.

The Belgian could still have had an attacking return, however, with Ross Barkley (£5.1m) blazing over one glorious chance that Hazard had carved out in stoppage time and Sean Morrison (£4.7m) narrowly diverting wide another low ball from the Chelsea wide-man after Hazard’s neat one-two with Marcos Alonso (£6.4m).

Hazard, at least, looks a very likely starter when Brighton visit Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Pedro (£6.4m) and Willian (£7.1m) were chosen to flank Gonzalo Higuain (£9.6m) in the visitors’ three-man attack in South Wales and Sarri was also asked why Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4.2m) wasn’t given the nod to replace Hazard, suggesting the young England winger may instead have a chance of starting against Brighton in midweek.

Sarri said:

Callum is always in my mind when I have to decide the starting XI but today I wanted to put him in the condition to change the starting XI in the next match on Wednesday.

I had for all the international break in training, Pedro and Willian, so I thought it was right to start with them.

Having aggressively pressed West Ham United high up the field in their Gameweek 30 victory in South Wales, Neil Warnock’s side emulated the approach of many of Chelsea’s lower-league opponents of late and sat back deep early on, allowing the Blues plenty of possession but few clear-cut opportunities.

Curling efforts from Pedro, Willian and Josh Murphy (£4.8m) and a stabbed effort from Marcos Alonso (£6.4m), all of which narrowly missed the target, were the closest we came to a goal in a relatively action-free first half.

A tame effort from distance from Lee Peltier (£3.9m) was the only shot on target that either side managed in the opening 45 minutes.

Higuain’s movement was sporadically intelligent but there was little else to excite his owners in the first half, with the Argentinean striker not managing a single penalty box touch before the break as he drifted Kane-like into deeper positions.

Victor Camarasa‘s (£4.5m) well-taken goal shortly after the restart did little to spur Higuain or Chelsea into action, with the former Argentina international having only one attempt in the Cardiff box (a blocked one, at that) before being hooked for Olivier Giroud (£7.7m) in the 77th minute.

Higuain’s touch frequently deserted him, with his pass completion in the final third being the lowest of all of the Blues’ outfield players.

Not that there were many to impress in a Chelsea shirt: Barkley and Jorginho (£4.6m) were wasteful, while Pedro did little to enthral before his substitution in the second half.

Willian, who initially lined up on the left flank in Hazard’s stead, didn’t particularly excel either but he was perhaps the best of an average bunch, with no player on show registering more shots on goal or key passes.

It was indeed from the Brazilian’s excellent cross that substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.2m) nodded in Chelsea’s winner in injury time.

Chelsea’s equaliser was controversial in nature: a well-offside Cesar Azpilicueta (£6.3m) nodding in Alonso’s flick-on from a Willian corner.

That was Alonso’s first attacking return since Gameweek 11 and perhaps overdue given that he has hit the woodwork on four occasions since that last contribution but it was another difficult afternoon for the Spaniard defensively, with Murphy getting plenty of joy down the Chelsea left.

Azpilicueta scored his first goal of the season but this was his fourth attacking return in his last seven Premier League appearances: no FPL defender has more since Gameweek 25.

FPL returns for Chelsea’s full-backs glossed over another unconvincing defensive performance for the Blues away from home and Sarri’s troops have no clean sheets in their last six Premier League matches on the road.

Antonio Rudiger (£5.9m) was also perhaps lucky not to see red for a professional foul on substitute Kenneth Zohore (£4.6m) before Chelsea’s winner.

The Blues are, at least, more solid on their own turf and are at home against Brighton in midweek and against West Ham in Gameweek 33.

No Premier League side has conceded fewer goals, shots in the box, efforts on target or big chances than Sarri’s troops when filtered by their last six home fixtures.

Sarri reflected on his side’s latest unconvincing display, which drew boos from the travelling support, in his post-match press conference:

We were lucky because in the first half we didn’t play very well. In the last period, we conceded a goal similar to Everton. Today we were able to react better. At the end, I think that we deserved to win. 

I can understand [the away fans’ frustration]. Unfortunately, I am getting used to this. I need to work in order to change their opinion.

This defeat may have been a hammer blow to Cardiff’s survival hopes as the Bluebirds are five points adrift of safety and have a trip to the Etihad to come next, followed by a Blank Gameweek 33.

There were positive displays from some of Cardiff’s budget assets ahead of their Double Gameweek 34, at least, with cut-price midfielders Camarasa and Murphy giving a good account of themselves.

The Bluebirds’ backline weren’t often seriously troubled either and didn’t concede a single big chance until the final seven minutes of normal time.

Reflecting on the match, Warnock said:

VAR is needed, they need help. It would have taken ten seconds to sort out [Azpilicueta’s goal]. It is soul-destroying and I can understand the lads being down.

There was a penalty shout in the first half, the second half there was another one. The ref is in a really good position, it is almost not who you play, it is about who is in the middle and who has a flag.

On top of everything that has gone on this season. Rudiger should have been off.

What can I say about my lads? They were brilliant and it made for a great game. It kicks you in the teeth. We’ve had enough of them this year.

I am deflated because we have worked hard for this game and felt we could win it.

Cardiff City XI (4-2-3-1): Etheridge; Bennett, Morrison, Ecuele Manga, Peltier; Murphy, Gunnarson, Arter (Ralls 80′); Murphy (Mendez-Laing 89′), Camarasa, Hoilett; Niasse (Zohore 82′).

Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kovacic, Jorginho (Loftus-Cheek 64′), Barkley; Pedro (Hazard 53′), Higuain (Giroud 76′), Willian.