Danny Ings and Chris Brunt grab a goal and assist apiece as Burnley and West Brom slug it out at Turf Moor. Andre Wisdom is benched for the Baggies, Jack Colback’s excellent form continues for Newcastle, Jon Walters retains Stoke’s lone forward role, whilst United’s main men stutter yet again in an insipid display at the Hammers.
Ings the Clarets’ Talisman
Burnley struggled to find rhythm in their attack during the first half of the season, only notching 14 goals in 19 matches. Since the turn of the year, however, the Clarets’ fortunes have changed, with the Lancashire club’s 2-2 draw at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday increasing their tally to nine goals in the last five Gameweeks.
The Clarets’ upturn in form has been spearheaded by a resurgent Danny Ings. The 5.7-priced striker failed to register once in a busy December but has since netted in four of his last five outings. Whilst Ings’ 11-point haul at The Hawthorns – by virtue of his eight goal and fourth assist this term – underlined his excellent value, a brutal upcoming schedule, which pits the Clarets against eight of the top nine sides in the next nine Gameweeks, will ensure few will be prepared to snap up his services. George Boyd’s assist served a reminder just why he’s so popular as a cheap fifth midfielder but he’s likely to be on bench-warming duties for the entirety of that run.
Wisdom benched for Baggies
Tony Pulis elected to reshuffle West Brom’s rearguard following their 3-0 defeat to Tottenham last weekend, dropping Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Andre Wisdom to the bench as Craig Dawson switched to right-back and Chris Baird returned on the opposite side of defence. Considering Wisdom has been selected by 22.6% of all FPL managers – making him the third most popular FPL defender besides Nathaniel Clyne (32.5%) and Branislav Ivanovic (24.5%) – yesterday’s team sheet, coupled with the fact he was hauled off on 60 minutes against Spurs, suggests his new manager remains unconvinced.
Baird lasted just 45 minutes before being sacrificed for tactical reasons as Pulis switched from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2. Chris Brunt may have earned a 15-point return to arrive on radars but the Northern Ireland international was fielded at left-back for the second period after Pulis threw on Brown Ideye to partner fellow sub Saido Berahino in an attempt to go on the offensive. The Baggies have four decent fixtures (SWA, sun, avl, STO) in the next five but Pulis’ tinkering is restricting their backline options – so far, only Joleon Lescott and Gareth McAuley have played every minute of his four league fixtures in charge.
United toil yet again
Louis van Gaal’s men failed to take advantage of a patched-up West Ham at Upton Park, with Daley Blind’s late strike saving the blushes of their misfiring attackers. With respective ownerships of 18.8% and 15.8%, Wayne Rooney and Angel Di Maria are heavily backed in the FPL game yet have only mustered a single assist between them in the Red Devils’ last four fixtures following another fruitless afternoon. The pair’s meagre recent returns, coupled with United’s five different scorers in their last three matches, has made it difficult to make inroads into Van Gaal’s side and yesterday’s display may well persuade owners to jump ship. Frustratingly, United have one of the most obliging run of short-term fixtures through till March (BUR, swa, SUN, new) but with Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao each scoring twice in their last six starts, the Red Devils are doing little to convince us they are worthy of our attentions.
Walters retains lone striker role
Despite netting a hat-trick last Gameweek, doubts remained over whether Jon Walters would keep his centre-forward berth upon Mame Biram Diouf’s return to the starting XI. For the Newcastle clash at least, Potters boss Mark Hughes opted to deploy Walters in his favoured lone striker role, while Diouf was tasked with providing width on the right wing as Marko Arnautovic dropped out altogether.
Drafted in by over 57,000 FPL managers last week, Walters proved a bitter disappointment and failed to produced a single shot on target or from inside the area in the 1-1 draw – a stark contrast to last weekend, in which he boasted a 100% shot conversion after all three of his penalty-area strikes rippled the net. With Peter Crouch emerging from the bench to salvage a point courtesy of a superb last-minute header, Hughes has food for thought as he looks to take advantage of an excellent run of matches from Gameweek 26 onwards, with concerns still hovering over Walters’ ability to remain as the Potters’ preferred forward from here on in.
Colback in the points again
A goal against Stoke continued the Newcastle midfielder’s impressive Fantasy form. Having served up a single assist in the first 15 Gameweeks, Colback was far from our thoughts as we headed into the winter period, but yesterday’s strike means he’s now produced a goal or assist in six of the subsequent nine rounds of fixtures and with Palace and Villa in the next three, he may now be challenging Burnley’s Boyd as the budget midfielder of choice.
