Sergio Aguero grabs two in City’s humbling of neighbours United. Mesut Ozil provides a trio of assists as Arsenal beat Stoke to return to the top of the table. Michu notches again as Swansea ease past Palace, while Spurs finally find a way past an inspired David Marshall to earn the points at Cardiff.
Aguero the Spark as City Run Riot
Rested to the bench for last week’s goalless draw at Stoke, the Argentine was reinstated to the City first XI for the visit of United. Aguero had hinted at what was to come earlier in midweek by grabbing a goal and assist in the Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen and followed that up with a double against an insipid United side yesterday. He has now produced three goals and a pair of assists, supplemented with six bonus points, over four starts this term – as Manuel Pellegrini out last week when omitting the Argentine for the Britannia clash, his side simply don’t have the same cutting edge without Aguero leading the line. After a hugely disappointing second season in the top-flight last time out, Aguero is quickly flourishing under the new manager’s more offensive style of play and is once again looking the number one route into City’s attack as he look to return to the form that harvested 211 FPL points and led his side to the title back in 2011/12.
Toure in the Goals Again
Yesterday’s strike against United maintained a run that has now seen the Ivorian score in all three of his side’s home fixtures this season. Along with Pablo Zabaleta, Toure is one of only two outfield players to have managed every minute so far under Pellegrini – despite the influx of new faces and multitude of midfield options, it’s clear just how crucial his presence in the middle of the park is valued by the new man in charge. In a season that has already proved hugely frustrating for Fantasy managers, consistency of selection is more critical than ever – Toure’s guaranteed game time not only stands out at City but also fares well against other midfielder; he is one of only three premium priced options, along with Steven Gerrard and Michu, to have been handed five lots of 90 minutes so far.
Moyes Confident of Quick Van Persie Return
The Dutchman’s absence undoubtedly played a part in United’s defeat but yesterday’s result continued a worrying trend under David Moyes’ guidance. While Wayne Rooney’s late free-kick consolation helped his Fantasy owners pick up the points, from a United perspective, it makes grim reading – they have now scored just a single goal across three games against Chelsea, Liverpool and City.
With only seven goals so far in the league – and just three in the last four Gameweeks – United’s tactics against their title rivals have seen them come up short so far; luckily they have a superb run of fixtures in the next five (WBA, sun, SOU, STO, ful) that will prevent owners from jumping ship and, while Van Persie’s omission was a huge blow for United, Moyes was quick to reveal the Dutchman’s problem isn’t a serious one:
“We thought Robin would be okay. We gave him every chance. It’s nothing serious. He could be involved on Wednesday [against Liverpool] or next weekend [against West Brom]….I don’t think it’s that bad, we thought he was going to make it. He just felt something in his groin. He did a bit of training in the last couple of days, but he just felt it when he did any sharp movements and he didn’t want to aggravate it, so we took the decision [to not play him today]”
Dream Home Debut for Ozil
While Theo Walcott’s late call-off left his owners thoroughly frustrated, Arsenal’s record signing guided them back to the top of the table against Stoke yesterday. Ozil’s superb delivery from set-pieces played a huge part in Arsenal’s 3-1 win as the German supplied assists for all of the hosts goals – it’s four assists in two appearances now for the former Real Madrid player, who has wasted no time at all in acclimatising to the Premier League. Already surpassing Walcott’s tally of 15 points in the FPL game, Ozil has risen to 10.2, with an ownership of 20% and rising – the upcoming schedule, which pits Arsene Wenger’s side against the likes of West Brom, Norwich and Palace in the next four, is sure to persuade even more to jump on board the bandwagon.
Unsurprisingly, his manager was quick to praise the playmaker’s contribution but believes Ozil is not yet at his best for the north London club:
“When you play against Stoke you don’t expect to score three goals from set-pieces and that is basically the biggest surprise to me today. It shows as well how important the delivery is. He is a player, when you look at his numbers, the assists are not a coincidence, it’s just the reality of his game. I believe that once he is completely integrated we’ll see even more of him but he has shown today that he is a great player.”
Walcott owners are perhaps likely to hold for now until further prognosis – after the game, Wenger was a little vague on the matter, though:
“He had an abdominal muscle problem, I don’t really know what it is. Is it a question of days? I hope so, because he had a test before the game and I decided to play him. I hope it’s nothing…He had a little problem before the Marseille game and it became a bit worse. It is a bit mysterious because we don’t really know what it is.”
Ramsey’s Bandwagon Continues at Pace
The Welshman’s outstanding season continued yesterday as he notched his seventh goal in all competitions. Subject to over 510,000 transfers in last week alone, Ramsey justified the massive show of faith by opening the scoring from a rebounded Ozil free-kick to given the Gunners an early lead and place himself in the shop window for further investment over the next few days. Despite the return of Mikel Arteta, Ramsey looks nailed-on in the double-pivot, with Mathieu Flamini likely to drop out to accommodate the Spaniard – Ramsey’s kind price of 6.1 in FPL remains an outstanding value route into the league’s form side, though with the bandwagon relentless right now, he looks in line to rise 0.3 for the second week running and will surely increase further if Walcott continues to remain a doubt.
Arnautovic on the Radar
While the end result at the Emirates was hardly ideal, the Potters new signing made an impact on his first start for the Staffordshire outfit. Handed a role on the left of midfield, Arnautovic’s volleyed effort off the woodwork was slotted home by Geoff Cameron to earn him an assist but it was Mark Hughes’ decision to move the Austrian up front after withdrawing Kenwyne Jones that is particularly intriguing. Coming in at 5.5 in FPL, Arnautovic now has home games against Norwich and West Brom, in addition to a trip to Fulham, in the next three and may very well prove a decent out of position punt for those Fantasy managers in need of a midfield refresh.
Michu’s Spree Continues
The Swansea talisman found the net for the third successive game in all competitions at Selhurst Park yesterday. Handed a place in this week’s Scout Picks, Michu needed just two minutes to justify our decision with an early opener against the Eagles as Michael Laudrup’s side built on the back of Thursday’s Europa League win in Valencia with a comfortable victory. While Wilfried Bony was surprisingly rested to the bench after the midweek game in Spain, Michu’s contribution is clearly viewed as essential by his manager and once next week’s game against Arsenal is out of the way, the Welsh club look primed for investment, with a superb schedule (sou, SUN, WHM, car, STO, ful) just around the corner. After the game, Laudrup was quick to laud the display of last term’s 18-goal hero:
“I don’t know if he is back to his best, because what is his best? I don’t look at him as just a goalscorer because for me he is not even a centre-forward. He has always been an offensive midfielder than can score goals, but can also play as a centre-forward. I don’t look at Michu just as a goalscorer so I don’t see it as a problem when he does not score for three games.”
Tottenham’s Defensive Form Continues
Not so long ago, it was the team from the other end of north London who were associated with strings of 1-0 wins. Yesterday’s narrow victory in Cardiff was Tottenham’s third such triumph in five Gameweeks, though it could have been so much more but for the heroics of David Marshall between the sticks for the Bluebirds, with the visitors registering 29 shots, with 12 on target. The Welsh side’s keeper defied the visitors time and again – frustrating those who have kept faith in Roberto Soldado and/or loaded up on Christian Eriksen – only to be ultimately beaten by a last-gasp goal from Paulinho.
The result takes Spurs to joint-top along with Arsenal but more importantly from a Fantasy perspective, means they have now conceded just once this term – an incredible increase in resilience at the back from Andre Villas-Boas’ side. Once again, the new Bonus Points System helped the visitors backline to extra points – Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker and Michael Dawson earned one apiece, with the Belgian mow up to 32 points overall, top scorer for Spurs and joint-fifth for defenders, despite yet failing to score or assist. Kyle Naughton picked up a couple of bonus points after deputising for Danny Rose at left-back – the latter is expected to return in time for next Saturday’s clash with Chelsea at the Lane, though.
