Arsenal and Chelsea squeak to victory, United claim a three points steeped in controversy, Wolves take a bite out of City’s title aspirations.
We had an eventful Saturday, even before Kevin Nolan’s hat-trick lit up an otherwise soporific Sunday afternoon. Here’s a bumper edition of Scout Notes from the weekend to get your Monday moving…
John O’Shea was left on the bench as Alex Ferguson started the clash with Spurs with the pace of Rafael at right-back to counter the threat of Gareth Bale, while Park maintained his start on the left of midfield to shift Patrice Evra to left-back. O’Shea has now missed two of the last three for United, underlining his lack of security within United’s back four. Evra and Vidic remain the key Fantasy targets at Old Trafford. Forthcoming home games against Wolves, Wigan and Blackburn appear to offer clean sheet potential over the next five Gameweeks for those who can afford the outlay.
Nani was once again the significant influence in the victory over Spurs. He provided the free-kick which allowed Nemanja Vidic to head his second goal of the season, before scoring United’s farcical second. Regardless of the nature of that goal, there’s no doubting that he was a major attacking threat throughout and central to much of United’s best work. The winger has justified his top ranking position in our Watchlist by continuing to reign supreme amongst FPL Midfielders with 4 goals and 8 assists to his name so far.
Rafael Van der Vaart was again prominent for Harry Redknapp’s side, striking a post in the first-half. Sadly for Spurs and the growing number of Van der Vaart owners, the Dutchman suffered a hamstring injury in the second-half and was replaced on 77 minutes. We can only await further news on the injury but he will clearly be a major doubt for the trip to Bolton next weekend.
Mario Balotelli was given his first Premier League start at Wolves as Roberto Mancini started with a 4-4-2. Nigel De Jong was absent from the squad after picking up an injury in training on Friday, making Mancini’s selection that little easier. The City boss was however, left non-plussed by a lacklustre City showing as Wolves were allowed back in the game following Emmanuel Adebayor’s penalty, before taking a deserved three points. Expect changes next time around.
Adam Johnson was left on the bench at Molineux – he will surely be in line for a start when City take on Lech Poznan on Thursday and is due a League start. City have a trip to West Brom and the local derby with United after that – hardly a easy pair of games. City need Tevez back – they look a no-go area for Fantasy Managers without him.
Stephen Hunt made first start for Wolves and Nenad Milijas kept his starting role with Mancienne surprisingly dropped to the bench. Karl Henry returned to skipper the side and his influence was felt as Wolves found first win since the opening day of the season.
Matt Jarvis was outstanding yet again, switching from left to right flanks to torment the visitors. He duly earned the assists for the Milijas goal, and rightfully pocketed the maximum 3 FPL Bonus Points. Wolves’ fixtures improve from Gameweek 13, at which point Jarvis surely warrants consideration as a 5.3 Midfield option. Mick McCarthy picked out Milijas and David Edwards for praise in his post-match comments, surely cementing their starting roles for the forthcoming matches.
Branislav Ivanovic’s muscle was preferred to Jose Bosingwa at right-back by Carlo Ancelotti as expected. The Chelsea back four, statistically the best in the league, were run ragged by Blackburn at times and Benjani’s opener was deserved following a spell of heavy pressure. Ancelotti’s defence kept them at bay from that point on, thanks mainly to Jason Roberts’ wayward finishing, and Ivanovic may well have done enough to keep Bosingwa out of the side when Chelsea travel to Liverpool. The Serb came out of the game with his first goal of the season to win the game late on for the visitors.
Florent Malouda was subbed for the second consecutive league game on 71 minutes – a growing concern for his many Fantasy owners. Malouda’s returns of just 1 goal in his last 5 league outings is also undoubtedly a worry and the next three matches are going to be vital for his owners – the trip to Liverpool next weekend is followed by home clashes with Sunderland and Fulham. We will need to see returns in those games.
Clint Dempsey benefited from the return to fitness of Danny Murphy and Simon Davies. The pair missed out at West Brom last weekend but return to allow Dempsey to oust Diomansy Kamara in the centre-forward role; Dempsey took the opportunity with a brace of goals from Carlos Salcido and Chris Baird assists, earning the maximum FPL Bonus as a result.
Should Dempsey continue in his “out of position” exploits then the £6.7m FPL midfielder will stand out for selection after his 16 point haul this weekend. It must be noted however that Andy Johnson continued his comeback from injury by coming off the bench once again; he will surely threaten to stake a regular place in the Fulham attack.
Gary Caldwell came back into the starting line-up for the first time this season as he displaced his brother Steven Caldwell. Steve Gohouri’s potential as a budget defensive signing now looks to be very limited.
Mikel Arteta was drafted back in to the Everton starting lineup, after the one-all draw with Spurs last week with a hamstring injury. Predictably the Spaniard picked up the maximum FPL Bonus Points in Everton’s 1-0 win. Having now picked up four clean sheets in their last five fixtures the Toffees have shown excellent resolve in protecting their goal this last month or so while Yakubu was also able to get his first goal of the season up the other end of the pitch which, along with the return of Louis Saha, will only boost the confidence in Everton’s goalscoring ability over the coming weeks. Fixtures remain in Everton’s favour and we should see continued returns as a result, with Arteta always likely to benefit from Bonus while Everton pick up the three points.
Seamus Coleman was subbed on 61 minutes, just a minute over the time required to register a clean sheet. The substiution took place as David Moyes chased the three points, shifting to a 4-4-2. However, the fact that Coleman was replaced underlines the fact that his place in the side is far from secure and requires monitoring.
Theo Walcott was left on the bench as Denilson maintained a starting role but was duly called on to provide a spark as the Gunners took a little over 88 minutes to break through the West Ham defence. Defensive midfielder Alex Song headed home a Gael Clichy cross into the box, while popular midfield bandwagons – Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri drew blanks. As highlighted in yesterday’s knee-jerk Song already has 3 goals to his name this season, even if he’s attacking a bit too much even for Arsene Wenger’s liking…
”He has got the taste to go forward, even if I think a little too much sometimes for a holding midfielder”
Cesc Fabregas failed to have his usual influence on the game and missed out on FPL Bonus as a result. The Arsenal skipper later bemoaned his own performance, blaming on-going hamstring trouble, as reported in our earlier article.
Marouane Chamakh came out of the game without reward and his owners must be conscious of the threat from Nicklas Bendtner and the impending return of Robin Van Persie which is expected in just over a fortnight. Chamakh’s record of just one goal in his last six league starts seems likely to catch up with him very soon. He badly needs returns against Newcastle next Gameweek.
With Stilian Petrov expected to be out for Aston Villa till December, Steve Sidwell was given his first start of the season in the Midlands derby with Birmingham but failed to make any impression. Villa may have tightened up at the back -conceding just one goal in their last three league games- but Gerard Houllier’s side have real issues going forward: Stephen Ireland stayed on the bench and John Carew was given a mere 8 minutes as Villa failed to score for the third league game in succession. Houlier set up in a 4-5-1 for this home game, choosing to play Ciaran Clark out of position in a holding midfield role and keep the far more attack-minded Ireland benched; not a decision that would have excited Villa fans but clear indication that Houllier is looking to avoid defeat first, before even thinking of going for goals.
Craig Gardner returned to the Birmingham line-up after suspension, with Alex McLeish keeping faith with Nikola Zigic as the Blues lone frontman in a familiar 4-5-1. Cameron Jerome replaced Alex Hleb with 20 minutes left as McLeish took a more attacking approach in an attempt to grab the win, but the no score bore draw will be easily forgotten. Birmingham are another team struggling for goals right now; having scored 6 goals in their first 3 games, McLeish’s side have found the net just 4 times in the last 7 games.
Chris Hughton stuck to a 4-4-2 formation for the Tyne-Wear derby and it paid off in spectacular style. Kevin Nolan showed just why he featured in our Watchlist article early last week,with a hat-trick and 3 Bonus Points, as he moved up to third highest-scoring midfielder in Fantasy Premier League (FPL). Andy Carroll made two assists and Shola Ameobi assisted one, grabbed two (including a penalty, which suggests he may be the number one choice for spot-kicks) and was awarded 2 Bonus Points, as a rampant Newcastle put their recent poor home form to rest with a ruthless performance against their bitter rivals. Should Hughton continue with this line up, Ameobi, at just £4.2m, could prove to be an absolute bargain, though question marks will always hang over his guaranteed starting place.
Sunderland came into Gameweek 10 on the back of three straight clean sheets, and had conceded only 7 league goals all season. With Newcastle completely dominating, out of position Fantasy favourite Elmohamady was a victim of Steve Bruce’s tactical re-think, lasting just 39 minutes before Sunderland changed from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2. Having gone in at the break 3-0 down, Sunderland’s attempt to get back into the game was made somewhat futile as a red card for Titus Bramble early in the second half put paid to any hopes of a revival. A last minute Darren Bent goal proved infuriating for FPL managers hoping for a Newcastle clean sheet, with Hughton’s side now conceding in seven of their last eight.
Liverpool’s 1-0 win at the Reebok was Roy Hodgson’s side’s first league clean sheet in six games -since back in Gameweek 4- with the commanding performance of Sotirios Kyrgiakos (who was awarded the 3 Bonus Points for the second week running) fundamental in repelling the Trotters. Fernando Torres looked out of sorts all game but still managed a sublime flick to set up the only goal of the game for Maxi Rodriguez in the 85th minute. Just as the Reds find some semblance of consistency, it’s a home game with Chelsea up next.
Despite having failed to score for the first time since Gameweek 1, Bolton -with Matt Taylor starting in left midfield- were still unlucky to lose at home to Liverpool, as Pepe Reina keeping Bolton at bay with four saves. Owen Coyle’s side have a real problem with keeping clean sheets, however, with this defeat the ninth game in succession they have conceded, though Gary Cahill did pick up 2 Bonus Points for his performance; he will be a prospect if clean sheets ever arrive on the radar. Top scorer Johan Elmander again struck a blank at home and has yet to score at the Reebok this season, though he does have 3 home games in the next 5 to rectify this record.
