Our final look at Gameweek 17 earns a tip of the hat for Arsenal’s Spanish schemer, while Villa’s thriving form and the midfield fallout from the Marouane Fellaini ban both feature in our thoughts…
The Player
Prior to last night’s win at Reading, Santi Cazorla had produced a single assist in his previous four matches. With the Gunners’ morale rock-bottom after a Capital One Cup exit at the hands of Bradford, confidence in their ability to produce had taken a real dent but a sensational 23 point haul propelled the former Malaga man up the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) standings and onto many a radar.
There’s no doubt he can be a frustrating Fantasy player at times – he has nine blanks over the first 17 Gameweeks but with seven goals and six assists, Cazorla’s role in “the hole” at Arsenal means he’s more than capable of overshadowing the most prolific of forwards over the course of the campaign. Only Robin Van Persie and Michu have returned more points than the little maestro – a clear sign of his importance in a stunning debut season, yet heading into last night’s match, only one of the top five FPL managers had him in their side. As a result, that manager – Iyad Zahlan – has returned to the top of the standings.
With a trip to Wigan up next, Cazorla seems primed for points. The Latics have conceded at least twice in each of their last seven and their patched-up three-man backline could be swept aside by Arsenal’s pace up top, bringing Theo Walcott into our thoughts. Handed a first start through the middle, Walcott’s goal vindicated Arsene Wenger’s decision to select him at the expense of Olivier Giroud but with doubts remaining over the Gunners’ Boxing Day match with West Ham due to the tube strike, the pair could yet be facing a blank Gameweek 19. While that’s enough to deter most from investing, the prospect of another away rout would more than make up for any potential blank, should Arsenal decide to call their game against the Hammers off. A decision from the club is expected later today and is likely to influence many Fantasy managers’ tactics heading into the weekend deadline.
The Team
Back-to-back defeats against both Manchester clubs in Gameweeks 11 and 12 seem to have been the making of Aston Villa. Paul Lambert’s side have licked their wounds after shipping eight goals over that pair of matches and last weekend the midlands outfit stretched their unbeaten run to five games with a sensational victory at Liverpool.
Over those five matches, Villa have produced three clean sheets, conceding just twice – despite the fact that summer signing Ron Vlaar has been sidelined at the back for all but 50 minutes of that run. In defence, Matthew Lowton and Ciaran Clark have climbed to 56 and 51 FPL points respectively as Villa begin to offer us real cut-price alternatives at the back, with Lowton’s move to the right of a five-man midfield affording him an out of position berth of late.
Indeed, it has been Lambert’s switch to a 3-5-2 that seems to have bolstered Villa’s ability to rack up the goals. They put four past Norwich in the midweek Capital One Cup match to end the Canaries’ long unbeaten run, while the 3-1 Anfield win was Liverpool’s first home loss since Gameweek 5 and was the first time this term Villa have scored more than twice in the league.
Once again, Christian Benteke proved pivotal to their fortunes. Two goals and an assist returned a 15 point haul and highlighted his importance to the Villa cause – since making his debut in Gameweek 4, he has played a part in eight of his side’s 13 goals, with five strikes and a trio of assists. Coming in at 6.6 in FPL, he faces a tricky trip to Chelsea but with three home games in the following four, the Belgian has the fixtures and stunning form to suggest he could be a real contender over the Christmas period. As Villa go from strength to strength and belatedly settle under their new manager, they are beginning to appeal further with every passing game – Clark’s 2.5% ownership is the highest of any outfield player amongst Lambert’s side; an indication of their differential worth right now.
The Talking Point
The madness of Marouane Fellaini in Everton’s draw at Stoke has already had severe repercussions. As the Belgian’s three-match ban sinks in, Fantasy managers have been quick to react, with over 156,000 in the FPL game selling him on so far. With Fellaini set to miss games against West Ham, Wigan and Chelsea, the frantic scramble to replace the second most popular FPL player over the festive period has led many to acquire the similarly priced Yaya Toure – the Ivorian has notched in back-to-back Gameweeks and now welcomes Reading to the Etihad this Saturday afternoon.
With alternatives such as Michu, Kevin Nolan, Gareth Bale and Adel Taarabt all sitting on four yellows apiece, just one booking away from an automatic one-match ban, a transfer in for any of that quartet doesn’t come without risk. Some are opting for a points hit in order to acquire premium priced options such as Cazorla, David Silva or Juan Mata – with strong fixtures to follow, the trio of Spanish playmakers all seem primed for points and have picked up in ownership as a result of Fellaini’s indiscretion.
Fellaini’s price is set to plummet over the next fortnight as substantial sales continue to snowball, though with the festive schedule picking up pace, the Everton man will be available in just over a fortnight’s time – a trip to Newcastle on January 2. In the meantime, his absence will at least break up the template midfields doing the rounds and allow us to freshen up our squads ahead of the winter wildcards starting in Gameweek 22. We’ll have more on this hot topic later today, with a “Fellaini Exit Route” feature set to follow.
