We continue our round-up of the Gameweek 22 matches with a look at what happened from a Fantasy perspective at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge.
Manchester United 4-0 Norwich City
- Goals: Marcus Rashford (£9.2m) x2, Anthony Martial (£7.9m), Mason Greenwood (£4.3m)
- Assists: Juan Mata (£6.2m) x2, Brandon Williams (£4.0m)
- Bonus: Rashford x3 Mata x2 Williams x1
Marcus Rashford (£9.2m) marked his 200th game for Manchester United with a fourth double-digit haul of the season as Norwich City were swept away at Old Trafford.
The striker scored a goal in each half as his 30.2% Fantasy Premier League (FPL) ownership continued to reap the benefits of his fine form – he’s now scored four times in as many Gameweeks.
Rashford opened the scoring when he converted a Juan Mata (£6.2m) cross before he doubled United’s advantage from the penalty spot after Brandon Williams (£4.0m) was brought down by Canaries keeper Tim Krul (£4.5m).
The only potential downside to his day came when he was substituted after 58 minutes, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saying that “he is struggling a little bit so we took him off”.
But the player himself later confirmed on social media that the move was more about staying fit for his side’s FA Cup replay with Wolves in midweek, saying:
Just a precaution and looking forward to getting back at it Wednesday.
Mata earned his second assist when Anthony Martial (£7.9m) headed home his cross, a finish that meant the France international matched Rashford’s fine goalscoring record over the last four league matches.
Substitute Mason Greenwood (£4.3m) then rounded off the rout to make it three goals from the last five games for the young striker, only one of which has involved a place in the starting line-up.
Consistency remains an issue for Solskjaer’s side, although they have at least started to see off supposedly lesser teams in recent weeks, but Norwich’s notoriously leaky defence is not the benchmark required to judge the overall improvement of this young United outfit.
Next week’s trip to Liverpool certainly is, and it’s a fixture that ushers in a tough run involving away matches at Chelsea, Everton and Spurs and visits from Manchester City, Sheffield United and Watford.
All of that has not dissuaded Fantasy managers from buying into Rashford, who is in the top three for transfers-in ahead of that Anfield clash.
Investing in a defence with two clean sheets from the last three Gameweeks is proving less tempting, but the rise of youngster Williams offers a cut-price way into that backline, with the added bonus of potential attacking returns as well – only Martial and Rashford had more attempts than the left-back on Saturday.
The key question is whether Williams can now hold down a regular starting spot. Solskjaer was certainly not ruling out that possibility in his post-match praise for the 19-year-old:
We want to get to a place where players understand that, if I play well, I’ll keep my place. If I don’t, there’s competition behind us. There’s good competition there now (at left-back) and Brandon has never let us down. Another excellent performance by him.
If United’s final position in the league is still unclear at present, Norwich are now looking nailed-on to finish bottom.
With Teemu Pukki (£6.5m) out of form and injured (although expected to be back in Gameweek 23), their one Fantasy asset worth considering remains Todd Cantwell (£4.9m), who came closest to scoring for the visitors when his fine shot was expertly saved by David de Gea (£5.4m).
The fact that the United keeper ended up producing more stops than his Norwich counterpart said it all – the home side were ruthless, the visitors wasteful.
Either way, there’s little to tempt managers into buying Canaries assets, especially with Liverpool, Leicester and Spurs to come over the next six Gameweeks.
Manchester United XI (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Williams; Fred, Matic; Mata, Pereira (Greenwood 71′), Rashford (James 59′); Martial (Gomes 80′).
Norwich City XI (4-2-3-1): Krul; Aarons, Hanley (Lewis 81′), Zimmerman, Byram; Tettey, Vrancic (Amadou 65′); Cantwell, McLean, Buendia; Idah (Hernandez 65′).
Members Analysis
Chelsea 3-0 Burnley
- Goals: Jorginho (£4.9m), Tammy Abraham (£7.8m), Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.3m)
- Assists: Reece James (5.0m), Willian (£7.2m), Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.8m)
- Bonus: Azpilicueta x3, James x2, Jorginho x1
Chelsea bounced back from a three-match winless run with a regulation victory over struggling Burnley.
Goals from Jorginho (£4.9m), Tammy Abraham (£7.8m) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.3m) didn’t flatter the Blues, who had eight shots on target to the visitors’ one.
Hudson-Odoi’s strike, from a Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.8m) assist, was his first Premier League goal for Chelsea and with just 0.5% FPL ownership, the young winger could be a major differential candidate if he can build on that landmark.
His manager, Frank Lampard, was certainly happy to praise him post-match:
For Callum to score in the six-yard box is more exciting than him scoring from 30 yards. It means he is willing to get in there. It wasn’t the only time he did that. His overall performance was a statement of what he has to do. That was the real Callum. If he carries on like that we will have a real player.
The one rider when it comes to investment in any of Chelsea’s players involves their immediate schedule, however.
Lampard’s side travel to Newcastle next before embarking on a brutal four-Gameweek run involving Arsenal, Leicester, Manchester United and Spurs, although the only away fixture in that quartet will be at the King Power Stadium.
At least Abraham will head into all of that with his return to form gathering pace. He produced an attacking return for the third straight Gameweek – two goals and an assist – when Burnley keeper Nick Pope (£4.6m) failed to deal with his header.
Reece James (£5.0m) set up the goal and he and fellow defender Azpilicueta dominated the bonus point standings as the Blues kept their first clean sheet since Gameweek 18.
A tendon injury ruled out Christian Pulisic (£7.0m). The American has been in the thoughts of many Fantasy managers this season, while his team-mate Willian (£7.2m) has spent much of the campaign under the radar.
The Brazilian was brought down for the penalty kick converted by Jorginho, making it two assists from the last three matches for the winger. He also scored twice to bring in 16-point haul against Spurs in Gameweek 18 and is now seven points clear at the top of the team’s midfield scoring charts in FPL.
That nasty upcoming schedule will persuade only the bravest to tap into Chelsea’s stars, while Burnley’s wretched form means investment in their players would be an act of desperation.
Sean Dyche’s side have now lost four straight matches in the league, scoring just the once along the way, and they’ll be facing Leicester, Manchester United, Arsenal and the in-form Southampton over the next four fixtures.
The manager knows just what is needed to revive their fortunes.
We have to fight for everything. We have always had to do that. The confidence gets sucked out of players if they are not winning. We are trying to revive that.
But until that revival kicks in – if it does at all – their players look off-limits, with even the popular Pope (13.0%) shipping managers in seven of the last eight Gameweeks.
On the injury front, Dyche explained:
Jay Rodriguez is ill. Bardo only trained yesterday morning after four days of illness. Barnesy we will find out more about [this week]. Johann [Berg Gudmundsson] is settling down his hamstring and we are not sure on that one, we will have to wait and see. Robbie [Brady], calf, so he will probably be back on the grass hopefully this week.
N’Golo Kante (£5.0m) missed out for Chelsea, meanwhile, with Lampard saying:
It was something that came up last night. It was more of an awareness in the hamstring as opposed to a moment where he had to pull up. That makes you hope that it’s a small thing but we’ll have to see how it goes.
Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1): Kepa; James, Rudiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta; Barkley, Jorginho; Hudson-Odoi, Mount, Willian; Abraham.
Burnley XI (4-4-1-1): Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Lennon, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Hendrick (Vydra 73′); Wood.
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