Liverpool make amends for last Monday’s defeat by West Brom with a comprehensive hammering of Swansea. The Reds’ main attacking assets all rack up the Fantasy points, while Jose Enrique ends the double Gameweek as top scorer in Fantasy Premier League (FPL). Michael Laudrup’s decision to rest and rotate ahead of the Capital One Cup final backfires terribly, while Chelsea, City and Wigan all find their goalscoring touch to seal progress in the FA Cup:

Suarez and Sturridge Clicking
A return from a thigh injury afforded Daniel Sturridge the chance to again produce the points and highlight his superb mid-price Fantasy potential. Sturridge’s assist and (somewhat surprising) converted spot-kick took his tally to four goals and two assists in five appearances since arriving from Chelsea last month – he has now averaged 6.2 points per game for Brendan Rodgers’ side. Given only Robin Van Persie and Luis Suarez have exceeded or equalled that tally for forwards, Sturridge’s FPL price tag of 7.8 looks outstanding value and once Liverpool’s blank Gameweek 27 is out the road, he is surely set to receive significant investment, with five enticing fixtures (wig, TOT, sou, avl, WHM, rea) in his following six fixtures.

For Suarez, yesterday’s match saw a return to goalscoring ways after a couple of back-to-back blanks. Many were initially concerned that Sturridge’s arrival would perhaps dent the Uruguayan’s Fantasy potential but a goal and two assists saw Suarez maintain his consistency despite having to move to a more withdrawn berth. He has started four times alongside Sturridge and has returned three goals, a pair of assists and five bonus points – 31 points over that quartet of fixtures equates to 7.75 per game.

Interestingly, Sturridge took time out post-match to speak of Suarez’s Golden Boot ambitions, stressing that he would do all he can to help the Uruguayan snatch the crown…

“I’ll try and help him get there and give him opportunities. It’s always good to get individual glories as a player because they’re the things you can look back on at the end of your career and tell your grandchildren you were top scorer for that season. I’m sure he’ll be gunning for that and I’ll try to help him get there.”

The main issue when considering the merits of Suarez is cost, however – he is 10.8 compared to Sturridge’s 7.8 and with many looking for ways to save budget, the latter’s value could be key when assessing our squads for next weekend’s blank and beyond. In addition, with Suarez sitting just two bookings from a two-match suspension and with Sturridge ineligible for Europe – therefore reducing the injury risk – the factors do seem to stack in favour of the former Chelsea man.

Frustration for Gerrard Owners
The Liverpool skipper atoned for penalty miss against West Brom last Monday by opening the scoring from the spot to pick up his eleventh set of returns in the past 14 Gameweeks. Nevertheless, the Gameweek proved hugely disappointing for Gerrard’s owners after he handed Sturridge the chance to notch Liverpool’s fifth from the spot – over 164,000 FPL managers snapped him up prior to the deadline, with penalty duties a significant factor in his acquisition. One converted from the three awarded, however, proved bittersweet and with plenty of midfield options staking a case for inclusion, Gerrard may well find himself offloaded ahead of the Gameweek 27 blank, despite moving up to fourth in the FPL midfielder standing, just five points behind Gareth Bale in third.

Sturridge went on to explain the story behind the second spot-kick, indicating that the responsibility almost went to Jamie Carragher before Sturridge intervened….

“Stevie was very nice to me and let me have the penalty. I guess he knew my pain and thought he would be kind to me. Before that, the ‘keeper made some good saves and I was hitting the target. When you hit the target and the ‘keeper saves it, there’s nothing you can really do. The ‘keeper did his job, I was doing my job – he got the better of me. So I was lucky that I got the penalty from Stevie and I’m happy that I put it away. He was asking Carra first, then I asked him. In the end, he let me have it and I thank him very much for giving me the opportunity to score another goal.”

Enrique’s Attacking Home Form
A goal, assist and maximum bonus points from Jose Enrique helped the left-back to an 18 point haul against Swansea yesterday. With a point also accrued in the 2-0 loss against West Brom, the Spaniard ended the Gameweek as the top scoring player as he continued a series of superb home attacking displays. Enrique has now produced two goals, four assists and eight bonus points over his last six games at Anfield, racking up a total of 59 points across those fixtures – an average of 4.6 points per game is the equal of Leighton Baines and far superior to Glen Johnson’s 3.8 for the Reds. Coming in at 5.8 to Johnson’s 6.5, Enrique is another who is likely to earn new interest once the upcoming blank is out of the way.

Laudrup Blames Lack of Focus
Michu’s owners had anticipated further Fantasy returns after he accrued up 18 points in the first game of Swansea’s double but with the Capital One Cup final on the horizon, Michael Laudrup left his top scorer on the bench at Anfield in what proved a bitter ant-climax to the double. With Chico sidelined due to an ankle injury, the Swans manager’s decision to rest the likes of Ashley Williams and Angel Rangel at the back also proved costly as his side were taken apart – Swansea had conceded five times in their previous nine away matches, such had been their resilience on the road prior to yesterday’s match. While Laudrup was somewhat reluctant to blame his rotation policy for the defeat, the Dane did admit that the final clearly affected many of his players:

“People can say we made a lot of changes. But you can look back at the times we made a lot of changes, like Fulham where we made seven changes and still won. I won’t exclude that some players may be thinking of the game next week, which, in a certain way, is understandable because it is maybe the biggest game in the history of the club. We could have lost seven or eight-nil easily if it wasn’t for Michel (Vorm) today. We have to learn from it. Everyone needs to look at what they could have done better.”

In Other News

Man City 4 Leeds 0
Roberto Mancini also made plenty changes for City’s home clash with Leeds. At the back, only Pablo Zabaleta kept his place from the side that lost at Southampton last weekend. Joe Hart was rested, with Costel Pantilimon handed a rare chance between the sticks, while Joleon Lescott, Javi Garcia and Gael Clichy were replaced by Matija Nastasic, Kolo Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov. With Gareth Barry missing out through injury, Garcia moved into central midfield to partner Yaya Toure, while Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko made way for James Milner and Carlos Tevez.

Yaya Toure grabbed an early opener, while Sergio Aguero served a reminder of his capabilities with a brace (one coming from the spot) and an assist; Tevez also played a part with a goal and assist, suggesting their partnership is starting to click once again. Aguero lasted 81 minutes before making way for Edin Dzeko and Tevez was replaced by Maicon just after the hour mark – post-match, Mancini was full of praise for Aguero’s contribution, in particular – an indication, perhaps, that he sees the Argentine as first-choice forward, with Tevez and Dzeko likely to battle it out to partner him up top:

“I hope Sergio will be like this until the end of the season. If Sergio is like this and our strikers continue to score a lot of goals from now until the end, the championship is not finished.”

The Sixth Round draw has pitted City against Barnsley on the weekend of March 9-10 (Gameweek 29) which means their league clash with Wigan, scheduled for Saturday March 9, now needs to be rearranged. While no date has yet been set, the fact that City are out of all European competitions could yet see the fixture played within the Gameweek 29 timeframe, however, with the following midweek free for both clubs.

Post-match, Mancini also confirmed that both Barry and skipper Vincent Kompany should be in line for returns at Southampton next time out, whilst being optimistic on the knock sustained by Javi Garcia which saw him forced off on the hour-mark.

“We were unlucky with injuries, we have been all season but Gareth should be fine and Vinnie should be back next game – with Javi we will find out on Tuesday but I think it’s nothing.”

Chelsea 4 Brentford 0
Rafa Benitez made a total of six changes for yesterday’s Fourth Round replay. The Chelsea boss opted to bring back John Terry and Ashley Cole at centre-half and left-back respectively, in a defensive reshuffle that saw Branislav Ivanovic move to right-back, with Cesar Azpilicueta and Ryan Bertrand dropping to the bench. David Luiz – who missed out against Sparta Prague in midweek due to suspension – replaced Ramires in central midfield, while Marko Marin, Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres made way for Victor Moses, Oscar and Demba Ba.

Juan Mata and Frank Lampard once again maintained their superb scoring form with a goal apiece in the rout, with the Spaniard also providing an assist before making way for Yossi Benayoun with 14 minutes remaining. Oscar also chipped in with a goal and assist, while Terry and Ivanovic picked up a goal and assist respectively. Hazard was given a 25 minute run out, with Moses the man to make way, while Lampard was replaced by Bertrand with 10 minutes left on the clock. The win means Chelsea now travel to Middlesbrough in the Fifth Round on Wednesday February 27 – if they triumph in that one, their Gameweek 29 visit to Fulham will need rescheduled; they would potentially face the winners of tonight’s match between Reading and United.

Post-match, Benitez spoke on Terry’s return to action but admitted he has plenty of competition for places at centre-half:

“JT was fine. The only way to improve is training and playing games and he is training okay now. The last two training sessions he was fine and he was playing today so it is good for the future. Ivanovic, Cahill, David Luiz and him have to compete and that is really good for us. We will have more options in different games and different competitions. Terry knows the main thing is the team winning and if he can play, it is much better. He is positive.”

Huddersfield 1 Wigan 4
Roberto Martinez made six changes from the side that lost at Chelsea last weekend. Ali Al-Habsi was given the day off as Joel Robles took his place between the posts, while Roman Golobart stood in for Gary Caldwell in the back-three. Fraser Fyvie replaced James McCarthy in central midfield, while Jordi Gomez, Callum McManaman and Arouna Kone came in for Jean Beausejour, Shaun Maloney and Franco Di Santo. In his first start since returning from the African Cup of Nations, Kone again highlighted how crucial his contribution is to the Latics with a smartly taken double – McManaman and Gomez provided a goal and pair of assists respectively, while James McArthur also stood out with a goal and assist. Martinez’s men will now face the winner of Oldham’s replay with Everton on the weekend of March 9-10 but, as mentioned above, they could still face a Gameweek 29 clash with City in the following midweek.