While Swansea and Liverpool are due to clash this evening, there’s still plenty for us to consider from the nine fixtures played out so far. Tim Sherwood’s impact at Aston Villa, Crystal Palace’s attacking trio, Sergio Aguero’s recent toils and the thriving form of Olivier Giroud are all amongst our lunchtime topics…
Giroud’s the Big Gun…
Whilst Alexis Sanchez’ simmer goes on with a fifth blank in six appearances and Mesut Ozil failed to fire against the Hammers, Olivier Giroud continues to provide points aplenty. It’s six goals and three assists in his last seven starts now for the Frenchman, who looks more or less immune to his manager’s rotation – with eight appearances in the Arsenal first XI over the last nine, he offers outstanding value at just 8.4. Up next for the Gunners is a trip to St James’ Park to face a woeful Newcastle defence robbed of suspended skipper Fabricio Coloccini – it’s hard to see Giroud failing to take advantage, given his current level of performance.
You get what you pay for with Bellerin and Zouma…
Rested to the bench for home clashes with West Ham and Southampton, it’s clear that the cut-price pair are not yet guaranteed starters for Arsenal and Chelsea. Uncertainty of pitch time is something we have to accept – perhaps less so with Bellerin, who should be restored at Newcastle as Arsene Wenger occasionally utilises Calum Chambers to cope with the Gunners’ schedule, which sees them still fighting on three fronts. If Wenger’s side are knocked out of Europe by Monaco in midweek, fears over the young Spaniard’s minutes are likely to ease.
Palace’s class of 2013 will keep them afloat…
While most of the recent interest had surrounding Jason Puncheon, it was Palace’s front three of Glenn Murray, Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha who ran amok in the 3-1 win over QPR. The trio were key to the Eagles’ promotion to the top flight in 2012/13 and, back together once again, tore apart the R’s defence as Pardew’s side moved 11 points clear of their visitors. The Murray-Bolasie-Zaha combination has played twice in the league this term – also registering a 3-1 win over West Ham in Gameweek 27– and they have served up three goals and as many assists between them over those matches. With Stoke, Sunderland, West Brom and Hull in the next five, Pardew’s troops could well seal their safety before too long, though with Puncheon and Zaha limping off last weekend, the Palace boss faces an anxious wait over their availability.
Pearson could keep Schlupp on a leash…
After months on the left of the Leicester midfield, the Ghana international was handed the left wing-back berth as Paul Konchesky dropped out of the starting XI for the visit of Hull. Our hopes were high that Schlupp would offer us an out-of-position prospect for a run-in that hands the Foxes six home clashes in the final ten fixtures but Saturday’s teamsheet suggested otherwise. With Nigel Pearson opting for the pace of Jamie Vardy on the left of his attack in the 5-2-3 formation, Schlupp may have to settle for a more withdrawn role, though a clean sheet and bonus point on Saturday wasn’t too much of a deterrent for would-be suitors. In order for Schlupp to prosper as an attacking outlet, however, we need Konchesky back in the picture.
Sherwood’s attack boasts a set of differentials…
A 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland took Villa’s run to three consecutive wins under new boss Tim Sherwood. Clearly, the confidence gained by back-to-back victories over a resilient West Brom has given Villa the shot in the arm they so desperately required and the recent move to a two-man frontline is paying off. Sherwood’s decision to pair Christian Benteke with Gabby Agbonlahor has seen the duo score three times apiece in the last two Gameweeks, with the big Belgian also supplying an assist. With Leandro Bacuna impressing and supplying a pair of assists from right-back, though, Alan Hutton could struggle to regain his right-back berth once he’s free from suspension.
Ramsey’s form could hand Wenger a headache…
With the midweek trip to Monaco clearly in mind, Arsene Wenger’s decision to bench Santi Cazorla handed the Welshman a first start in six rounds of fixtures. With the defensive qualities of Francis Coquelin affording the Gunners greater balance in the middle of the park, Ramsey has had to play second fiddle to Cazorla and Mesut Ozil of late but his goal and assist in the 3-0 win over the Hammers served a reminder of his capabilities. It was noticeable last season that most of Ramsey’s best displays came with Ozil on the park, and with Cazorla out of the equation on Saturday, he delivered a 14-point haul alongside the German to stake a claim for further pitch time over the run-in.
We can’t rely on Aguero in the 4-4-2…
Partnered by Edin Dzeko this time around, the Argentine had eight attempts on goal during City’s loss at Burnley – we can hardly accuse him of going missing in recent matches. Nonetheless, we need Manuel Pellegrini to return to the lone striker system to unlock Aguero’s full potential as a sure-fire captaincy candidate – over his nine appearances since returning from injury, the City striker has embarked on four-match and three-match runs without scoring. Bearing in mind he failed to find to notch in back-to-back matches on just one occasion in the opening 15 Gameweeks, it’s clear he’s yet to return to his clinical best. With Harry Kane set to face Leicester, Burnley and Villa in the next three, the Argentine is no longer our go-to guy for the armband: it’s already neck-and-neck in the Gameweek 30 Captain Poll.
But we can always rely on Boyd…
Burnley’s summer signing took his tally to five strikes for the season with the winner against City – the second time he has scored against the champions this term. Ever-reliable, Boyd has defined what we need from a fifth midfielder and has seen off the challenge of a number of pretenders as the budget option of choice around these parts. We can’t blame him for getting our auto-subs wrong.
Martinez isn’t afraid to tinker…
Despite their success in Europe so far, it’s fair to say the Toffees have been toiling on the domestic front. Prior to yesterday’s visit of Newcastle, Roberto Martinez’ men had scored just three times in the previous seven Gameweeks and failed to win any of the last five as they slipped dangerously close to the drop zone. The Spaniard’s answer was to rip up his lone striker system and, handing Arouna Kone a place alongside Romelu Lukaku, watched his side rout the Magpies 3-0, with the latter serving up a ten-point return – his highest of the season. With QPR, Swansea and Burnley in the next four, Martinez will surely be tempted to maintain his more offensive approach as the Toffees look to secure their safety. Lukaku’s converted penalty came at a time when Leighton Baines was on the park and suggests the left-back’s stock continues to diminish further, bearing in mind he’s already relinquished a share of set-piece duties this season.
Mane will be in profit if the Saints start firing…
The Saints midfielder was deployed behind lone striker Shane Long for the trip to Stamford Bridge as Ronald Koeman finally lost patience with the misfiring Graziano Pelle up front. Mane’s pace through the middle caused the Blues problems aplenty – felled by Nemanja Matic for the visitors’ penalty, his trickery persuaded Jose Mourinho to haul off the Serbian, who teetered dangerously close to a second yellow. In Mane’s last ten league appearances, Southampton have found the net on nine occasions, with eight of those strikes coming when he’s been on the pitch – given that he’s played a part in seven of those goals (notching five times and producing two assists) he looks poised to take advantage of some eye-catching fixtures for the St Mary’s outfit.
Van Gaal has a dilemma with Di Maria…
With the Argentine sitting out a one-match suspension, United turned in what was, for many, their most impressive display of the season at home to Tottenham yesterday. Prior to last Monday’s cup dismissal, Di Maria had been hauled off before the hour mark in each of the last two Gameweeks and it was noticeable that Louis van Gaal chose to hail his midfield in the 3-0 win over Mauricio Pochettino’s men. With Liverpool, City and Chelsea in the next four, the Red Devils boss can ill-afford any slip-ups if he’s to clinch a top-four finish and, judging by yesterday’s team performance, there’d be no eyebrows raised if the Argentine was handed bench-warming duties for the weekend trip to Anfield. Marouane Fellaini, on the other hand, goes from strength to strength under Van Gaal, with yesterday’s goal and assist surely cementing his spot in the starting XI for the foreseeable future.
We need clarity on Foster’s injury…
A 1-0 win over Stoke took West Brom’s tally to six clean sheets in nine since Tony Pulis arrived at the Hawthorns earlier this year. The Baggies defence goes on performing and, given their price tags, there seems real merit in doubling up, though the prognosis on Ben Foster’s knee injury could be key to our plans. Certainly, with a trip to City up next many will be happy to bench their West Brom assets but with back-to-back home encounters against Leicester and QPR up next, and a trip to Palace in Gameweek 33, Boaz Myhill could be a real bargain at just 4.0 if Foster is consigned to a spell on the sidelines.
