Scout Notes – Gameweek 12 – Saturday

Diego Costa keeps Sergio Aguero in the shade as Chelsea breeze past the Baggies thanks to further flourishes from their midfield trio. Man United smash and grab at the Emirates, Danny Ings powers Burnley to back-to-back wins, while Newcastle grind out another clean sheet and three points as their ascent continues. Here’s the Scout Notes from all Saturday’s matches…

Blues Produce Returns Across the Pitch

Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over West Brom did little to solve the Chelsea midfield conundrum for Fantasy managers: Eden Hazard grabbed a goal, while Oscar and Fabregas each notched an assist. Fabregas also helped himself to maximum bonus points, taking the Spaniard into double figures for bonus rewards for the season. Diego Costa’s opening goal meant that the forward has now scored or assisted in eight of his ten league starts, though his lack of creativity against the Baggies once again cost him bonus points. Indeed, Costa failed to provide a single goalscoring opportunity for team-mates, whilst the trio of Hazard, Oscar and Fabregas created twelve between them. It begs the question as to whether doubling up on Chelsea’s midfield options at the expense of Costa could prove a viable tactic. Jose Mourinho’s men also managed their first clean sheet in five Gameweeks yesterday, conceding zero shots inside the box and only five in total, suggesting that we should also consider finding a spot for a defensive asset over their impending schedule (sun, TOT, new, HUL, sto, WHM).

Berahino’s Allure Waning

Saido Berahino’s dip in form continued with the striker withdrawn on 77 minutes after registering just a single attempt on goal. The England Under-21 star is now without a strike in his last three league outings and could eventually come under pressure from the recently recovered Brown Ideye. Berahino lost almost 60,000 owners coming into this Gameweek: that trend looks set to continue going into the Gameweek 13 meet with Arsenal. The flourishing form of options such as Charlie Austin and Danny Ings has certainly compounded matters.

Bony Makes a Case

Wilfried Bony opened the scoring against Man City with his fifth goal of the season – his first in his last three appearances. Swansea now have three of the next four at home, including tempting fixtures against the current bottom two, Crystal Palace and QPR. That should see plenty of investment go the Swans’ way over the course of the next week, with Gylfi Sigurdsson the obvious option in midfield. Bony’s goalscoring pedigree, backed by those fixtures, also looks alluring even with his 8.2 price tag: Bony is currently owned by just 4.2% of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.

Toure City’s Saviour as Aguero Blanks

Despite fielding a 4-4-2, Manuel Pellegrini once again gave Yaya Toure the license to raid into the box in support of Sergio Aguero as City chased three points against the Swans. Toure duly fired his second goal of the season in what was a highly encouraging performance for his 6.5% ownership. The Ivorian’s recent stats have certainly highlighted his increase in goal threat, having tallied 20 shots and created eight chances across his last four, though Toure’s lofty 10.6 price tag remains a major obstacle to investment given the midfield options.

Meanwhile, Aguero blanked for the fourth time this season – he’s now failed to deliver either a goal or an assist on three occasions at the Etihad this season. Aguero had more attempts than any other striker in Saturday’s matches, with seven efforts on Lukas Fabianksi’s goal, but managed to hit the target just once. The Argentine will next square up to a Southampton defence next who have conceded just once at St Mary’s all season.

Mirallas Makes Surprise Return

Kevin Mirallas returned to Everton’s starting XI against West Ham after recently overcoming a hamstring injury. At 7.2, Mirallas is now available to us as a midfield differential, although yesterday’s lacklustre performance offered very little encouragement to invest. Mirallas’ start is also far from assured with the likes of Aiden McGeady and Steven Naismith vying for a role on the right flank. McGeady missed yesterday’s encounter through illness, while Naismith was recalled to the starting line-up but was stretchered off in the first-half. Roberto Martinez revealed post-match that he didn’t expect the Scot to be sidelined for a lengthy period. With QPR and Hull visiting Goodison Park in their next four, Everton’s fixtures remain strong enough to keep them on our radars as a potential source of differential talent. That extends to striker Romelu Lukaku who struck his third goal in five in the 2-1 win.

Hammers Hit Hard by Injuries

West Ham went to Goodison without Senegal pair Diafra Sakho and Cheikhou Kouyate who, along with Stewart Downing, all returned from international duty with injuries. The Hammers also lost both Alex Song and Enner Valencia to training-ground knocks. Sam Allardyce opted for a 3-5-2 set-up with Andy Carroll offered his first start of the campaign alongside Carlton Cole up top and James Tomkins recalled in defence. The Hammers’ six game unbeaten streak came to an end, however, with their strike duo providing just one shot on target between them. Allardyce will be desperate to have Sakho and Downing back fit for the clash with Newcastle in Gameweek 13, suggesting post-match that their injuries were not long-term. Tomkins is set to retain his start in that one after Winston Reid picked up his fifth booking of the season at Goodison.

Ings Provides Clarets Cutting Edge

Danny Ings struck his second and third goals of the season in the 2-1 win at Stoke to blink brightly on our radars as another budget option up front. Valued at just 5.7 in FPL, the Burnley marksman fired the Clarets to consecutive wins and now faces three home encounters in the the next four with Aston Villa and Newcastle next up at Turf Moor. Ings is owned by less than 1% of FPL managers, although that could change if he goes on delivering the goods for Sean Dyche’s side.

Bojan Brings Flair to the Britannia

Subject of our Spot the Differential article this week, Bojan was lively once again for Stoke and provided the assist for his side’s only goal in their 2-1 loss. Only City and Chelsea midfielders enjoyed more touches in the opposing half than the 4.9-valued Spaniard, who has now collected returns in each of his last two outings. Elsewhere, Victor Moses was withdrawn on 56 minutes as Mark Hughes changed tack to chase the game, opting for the craft of Marko Arnautovic. Any investment in Stoke and the rejuvenated Bojan is likely to be tempered by a run of five devilish fixtures over the next six (liv, mnu, ARS, CHE, eve).

Magpies Hold Out Yet Again

Newcastle recorded their third consecutive clean sheet in their 1-0 win over QPR, despite missing defensive lynchpin Fabricio Coloccini with a muscle problem. The Magpies have now achieved four shut-outs in their last five, though potential suitors should note that three of their next four are away days. Indeed, Chelsea are the next side to visit St James’ Park, suggesting that their run of defensive returns could be at an end. Further forward, Moussa Sissoko’s superbly taken winner presented the latest evidence that he could yet provide a mid-price midfield differential at 5.8 in the FPL. He has now returned a goal and an assist in his last three league outings, although the goal was Sissoko’s first in 19 league appearances.

Elsewhere, Ryan Taylor’s return to the starting XI – his first appearance since 2012 – was cut short by injury. Despite fears of a recurrence of his cruciate ligament injury, Taylor tweeted last night to confirm that he has not suffered another long-term setback. He was deployed in a holding midfield role in yesterday’s clash and, true to form, hogged Newcastle’s set-plays. Should he return to the fold and show evidence of cementing a starting berth, Taylor could yet figure in our Fantasy seasons given his dead-ball prowess.

Leicester Goal Drought Continues

Leicester registered their second clean sheet of the season in the league in their stalemate with Sunderland, though their woes at the other end of the pitch continued; Nigel Pearson’s side have now gone five matches without a goal. Indeed, the Foxes boss chose to shuffle his line-up once again in search of goals, with Jeffrey Schlupp and Riyad Mahrez back on the flanks. It was Matty James who came closest to finding the breakthrough, however, twice denied by Costel Pantilimon in the Black Cats goal. A trip to QPR is up next for the Foxes, in what looks to be an early relegation battle.

United Counter to Conquer Gunners

Man United’s most recent wave of injuries forced Louis van Gaal to switch to a 3-4-1-2 formation for their trip to the Emirates, but despite the disruption, they came away with the points. The 34.5%-owned Angel Di Maria was moved into a more advanced role as the Reds looked to hit their opponents on the counter throughout the game. The Argentine continued his steady recent output with his sixth assist of the campaign but missed a golden opportunity to hit double figures by fluffing his lines with a late one-on-one. Robin van Persie again failed to make an impact in the lone striker role, totalling a meagre 12 touches across his 74-minute performance. Wayne Rooney was impressive, however, and staked a claim to be shifted further forward in the coming weeks by hitting his fourth league goal of the season. The result, coupled with Rooney’s display, certainly offered some food for thought for managers ahead of impending Old Trafford encounters with Hull and Stoke. United lost Luke Shaw to an ankle injury in the first-half – he will likely undergo scans this week to reveal the prognosis.

Giroud Grabs Centre Stage

Olivier Giroud made his comeback from injury against United and was immediately in the goals with a rising strike past the seemingly impenetrable David De Gea. With Danny Welbeck wasting numerous chances on his way to a blank against his erstwhile club, the Frenchman will now be pushing for a starting role when his side travel to the Hawthorns in Gameweek 13. Welbeck is likely to be moved to the left flank and we can now expect sales of the England striker to accelerate throughout the week. Elsewhere in the Gunners’ ranks, both Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny suffered injuries which saw them forced off. Arsene Wenger confirmed post-match that Szczesny’s injury was “not bad” but remained vague on Wilshere’s latest ankle setback.