Chelsea find Brazilian inspiration to turnaround a Wayne Rooney strike, helped in no short measure by a rather dubious refereeing decision. Frank Lampard gleefully blasted home the winning penalty, leaving Alex Ferguson ranting on one official’s inability to make the right call, just 24-hours after congratulating another for failing to do the same. Alanis Morissette is busily writing a new verse this morning.
Elsewhere, Everton’s cup defeat to Reading almost went unnoticed, except of course by us Fantasy Managers who can now cuddle up to a double fixture in the forthcoming gameweek. The riches of Everton and Birmingham’s squad are ours to explore. Don’t all rush at once.
Here’s the notes on last night’s events…
Carlo Ancelotti went into last night’s clash with Fernando Torres and Nicolas Anelka up front in a 4-4-2. That left Didier Drogba benched, with Ramires and Florent Malouda patrolling the wide areas. United, rather surprisingly, were unchanged as Javier Hernandez kept Dimitar Berbatov benched. John O’Shea was once again given the right-back berth as Alex Ferguson continued to show reluctance to pair Chris Smalling with the inexperienced Rafael on the same side of his defence. That situation may change with the return of Rio Ferdinand.
That won’t arrive at Anfield however. United will travel to their bitter rivals without both Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic as the Serb will serve a one-match ban for his late dismissal, missing the Liverpool clash on Sunday. Wes Brown is now set to start alongside Smalling in defence, with O’Shea surely likely to hold his start at right-back.
The Vidic suspension will come as a blow to many Fantasy Managers but, those contemplating cashing in on either O’Shea, Brown or Smalling now, need to consider that United’s clean sheet at Wigan has been their only shut-out in their last six league games.
United’s attacking talent looks far more attractive. Wayne Rooney’s fine first-half strike and the single Fantasy Premier League Bonus Point that followed, gave him a fine 19 point total for the gameweek. He will surely be the top target following the fallout from the Robin Van Persie injury and we can expect to see Rooney’s ownership rise dramatically. Sunday’s Anfield game will hardly prove an easy encounter, but that’s followed by far more obliging fixtures (BOL whm FUL new EVE) which should offer further profits.
David Luiz is clearly a player. The Brazilian mop top singled handedly dragged Chelsea back into the game with a fine half volley finish and several muscular interventions that inspired the likes of John Terry, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard to lift their game and turn the tables on United. For Fantasy Managers, Luiz looks a strong proposition. Ineligible for the Champions League, his starting role in Carlo Ancelotti’s back four will surely have been cemented by last night’s showing and, at 6.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, he looks a worthy option for those looking to reap rewards from Chelsea friendly run of fixture to come in the next few weeks.
Chelsea’s fixtures are indeed strong, with a home clash with City providing their only intimidating match-up in the next until the encounter with Spurs in gameweek 35. Ancelotti’s side should offer profits then, although attacking returns are hard to gather given the uncertainty of the starting roles up front. The likes of Florent Malouda and, particularly Frank Lampard are expensive differentials to explore.
As stated in our earlier article, Everton’s fifth round FA Cup defeat to Reading last night maintained the double fixtures for both the Toffees and Birmingham in gameweek 29. Everton’s form however, is a major concern. Having seemingly turned the corner with the Cup win at Stamford Bridge and the comfortable passage past Sunderland at the weekend, the Toffees were simply miserable last night. Their season is now without purpose and the jeers of the Goodison faithful that greeted the final whistle will surely add further pressure for their forthcoming run of three home games in the next four fixtures.
David Moyes was without the weekend goal hero Jermaine Beckford – he was delayed by traffic getting to the ground (honest) and could only make the bench, while Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill also missed out (more on them to come). That meant recalls for both Jack Rodwell and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov in a five man midfield. Louis Saha started as the lone striker as Victor Anichebe returned from injury to claim a place on the bench.
Beckford and Anichebe saw action in the second-half as David Moyes shuffled his pack, replacing both Seamus Coleman and Bilyaletdinov. The withdrawal of Coleman will be a particular worry for Fantasy Managers. The young Irishman has been a regular starter on the right side of midfield but Anichebe’s return to fitness now gives Moyes an option in that role.
Everton’s exit from the Cup was compounded by the news that their own influential mop-top, Marouane Fellaini, would miss the rest of the season. The Belgian international requires surgery on his ankle injury that will keep him sidelined for several months. Tim Cahill’s condition is better but he too will miss Everton’s forthcoming matches. David Moyes brought us this summary of his latest casualties.
“Marouane Fellaini is going to be out for the season now, he’ll have an operation on Monday…Most people will tell you he’s been a key key player for us this season…Tim Cahill will miss two or three weeks with a foot injury just now, but that isn’t a reason for tonight’s result.”
Fantasy Managers looking to invest in Everton’s double are now likely to target Mikel Arteta in the middle of of the park, despite a hugely disappointing return from the Spaniard to this point. As a remaining senior midfield player, Arteta will surely be asked to step up as Everton attempt to fill the void left by Fellaini and Cahill. Rodwell is another consideration for those looking for a cheap short-term option, as is Leon Osman; both completed the 90 minutes last night. The injury-prone Louis Saha is also due for attention, although replacing the fragile Robin Van Persie with the Ferrari-folding Frenchman feels akin to divorcing Jordan to shack up with Kerry Katona. Tears before bedtime?
