Most of the Fantasy managers who went early on Chelsea’s favourable fixture run would have been rewarded on Saturday.
Nine of the starting XI delivered returns of some form (attacking return, clean sheet and/or DefCon points), as did substitute Liam Delap (£6.2m).
It wasn’t quite as routine a win as the 2-0 scoreline suggests, however.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Bruno brilliant in the ’10’ + Foden injury confusion
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 22: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
PALMER: JUST HOW FIT IS HE?
A 90-minute run-out for Cole Palmer (£10.4m) and a goal from the penalty spot. Has normal service resumed for the England international? Maybe not.
The midfielder, who shook off a thigh strain to feature, really didn’t look fit on Saturday. Maybe it was the effects of that and the lack of training, or maybe it was the persistent groin issues that have plagued him all season.
Either way, he was barely able to stand at full-time, although his manager hinted it was more fatigue than anything else.
“At the end, I see Cole on the floor, who hasn’t trained all week, played 90 minutes and just ran for the team.” – Liam Rosenior
Despite all the scares, this was actually Palmer’s eighth straight league start for Chelsea. He’ll surely be rested in midweek against Pafos, and likely – injuries permitting – back in the side for Gameweek 23.
Whether he can start in both Gameweeks 25 and 26, which are little more than 72 hours apart, is doubtful.
One other thing worthy of mention re Palmer – he collected DefCon points for the first time on Saturday!
Elsewhere on the fitness front, Estevao (£6.4m) was the latest casualty of the bug sweeping the Chelsea camp. He missed out entirely.
Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.0m), recalled presumably to help combat Brentford’s aerial prowess, came off early with hamstring discomfort.
ENZO-WATCH
Enzo Fernandez (£6.5m) didn’t start in the nominal ’10’, then, with Palmer on board.
But the Argentine midfielder, operating in the double pivot, did progress upfield on occasion, especially when pressing off the ball.
And when Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m) went off, Enzo was more advanced, with Andrey Santos (£4.5m) brought on behind him.
All in all, this game saw Enzo rack up just 14 final-third touches and one touch in the opposition area – both bottom-five numbers for his season:
But it was Enzo’s aggressive hassling around the box that led to Joao Pedro‘s (£7.1m) goal. It was Enzo’s driving run and pass into Pedro that saw the latter appeal for a penalty.
The hope from a Fantasy perspective would be that Rosenior has been sufficiently spooked by Enzo’s defensive limitations, especially when tracking back. Moises Caicedo (£5.9m) was often left isolated and Brentford got plenty of joy behind Enzo, hence the move to bring Andrey on.
It’s a role that may evolve (Palmer right, Enzo in the 10, James/Andrey alongside Caicedo?) as the weeks go on.
“I’m so impressed. I knew what an outstanding player he was. I told him I was actually at the World Cup final when he played. It’s not until you see a player up close and you get to know him and what he’s about. I have to say he’s a winner. The way he trains, the reason he plays so well is he trains 100%. I’ve enjoyed working with him.” – Liam Rosenior on Enzo Fernandez
SANCHEZ REDEEMS HIMSELF
After being pilloried for his performance on Wednesday, the good of Robert Sanchez (£4.9m) was back. Even his kicking was strong, although it was mostly long. Perhaps this was under manager’s orders after the EFL Cup semi.
He made six stops in all, one to deny Tosin scoring an own-goal and another a superb save to thwart Kevin Schade (£7.1m) in a one-on-one.
“He was outstanding today. He was outstanding in his distribution, a couple of fantastic long passes to our wide players, in terms of his command of the box, in terms of the saves that we needed him to make. It was a fantastic performance. It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve known Rob for a long time. He’s a very, very resilient lad.” – Leroy Rosenior on Robert Sanchez
That may quieten any talk of the ‘keeper losing his place, ahead of a juicy fixture run:
LOTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT FOR BRENTFORD
Chelsea banked their first clean sheet in eight on Saturday but it was far from convincing defensively.
The fact that Palmer and three of his teammates – Tosin, Caicedo and FPL’s second-highest-scoring defender, Trevoh Chalobah (£5.5m) – banked DefCon points was testament to the defensive effort needed against the Bees.
The xG (1.59-1.52) suggested a draw might have been a fair result. In fact, Brentford outshot their hosts 15-6, with Palmer’s penalty and a Garnacho sitter accounting for a huge chunk of Chelsea’s expected goals tally:
Schade had the two best chances for Keith Andrews’ side, curiously attempting to square the ball when clean through (that resulted in Tosin’s near-miss) and then spurning the aforementioned one-on-one with Sanchez.
Igor Thiago (£7.1m) also sent a header wide he’d usually bury, while Mathias Jensen (£4.9m) hit the post with a volley.
Schade, incidentally, is top of all Premier League players for xG over the last six Gameweeks. One to very much consider when the fixtures turn good in Gameweek 27.
“Overall, I think when you look at the performance level today, it was of a very high level.
“For Kevin, in particular, I thought his performance deserved a goal today. Just key moments, obviously didn’t take them, but that will come for him.” – Keith Andrews
