The Digest – Gameweek 19

Our last look back at the final Gameweek of 2014 brings Liverpool’s former Saint under assessment, whilst the Clarets’ fightback at Man City and the lack of reliable frontmen also afford us much to discuss.

The Player

It’s fair to say that Adam Lallana’s transition as a Liverpool player hasn’t been a seamless one. A guaranteed starter for Southampton last time around, he took his time to convince Brendan Rodgers – handed just seven appearances in the opening 13 Gameweeks, he served up just a goal and assist as the Merseysiders toiled from one match to the next.

With his team struggling for form, Rodgers has placed his faith in the former Saints skipper over the last month. Lallana has subsequently started all six league outings over December and vindicated his manager’s decision with three goals and an assist over that period, with a double against Swansea last night bringing him onto our Fantasy radars once again.

Rodgers’ new 3-4-3 system has not only helped arrest Liverpool’s slump, it’s brought their midfielders into consideration as the Reds boss relies on Lallana, Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho to lead the line in a high-pressing style of play which looks beyond the more lethargic Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert.

There’s no doubt that the nature of last night’s emphatic win over the Swans will give Rodgers’ side a real shot in the arm, and with the fixtures in their favour, Liverpool look poised to take advantage. As he showed last year, with nine goals and as many assists to his name, Lallana has the end product, providing his pitch time is guaranteed – with Leicester, Sunderland, Villa and West Ham in the next four, the 8.3-priced midfielder, who is owned by less than 1% of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, may be poised to profit.

The Team

After heading into the Etihad dressing room two goals down at the break on Sunday afternoon, Burnley could have been forgiven for writing off their chances. City were on a roll, after all, and had won nine successive matches in all competitions, but in a stunning turnaround in fortunes, Sean Dyche’s side salvaged an unexpected points thanks to strikes from George Boyd and Ashley Barnes.

That morale-boosting draw could yet prove a pivotal point in the Clarets’ season. The Lancashire outfit still remain in the drop zone – albeit on goal difference alone – but one look at the following five fixtures (new, QPR, CPL, sun, WBA) suggests they have the chance to build on the momentum gained from Sunday’s result.

A single clean sheet in eight suggests that few will be keen to invest in the likes of Tom Heaton and Kieran Trippier at the back, but with four shut-outs already at Turf Moore, Burnley have shown they are capable of keeping out their opponents. Boyd’s returns from the flank hand his owners a quandary, though – mainly utilised as a bench-warmer by many, he could be a viable starter if he can kick on from this point. Up top, Barnes has now notched in three of his last four, whilst three goals and as many assists from Danny Ings in the last eight suggests that there’s plenty of reason for optimism as we enter the New Year period.

The Talking Point

Put frankly, Gameweek 19 was a complete write-off for the most popular forwards across the Fantasy games.

Diego Costa’s failure to score at Southampton, Charlie Austin’s blank at home to Crystal Palace and Spurs and United’s goalless draw at the Lane left the likes of Mame Biram Diouf, Ashley Barnes, Ayoze Perez and Danny Welbeck to hog the headlines and fire their owners up the rankings. Boasting an 11% ownership, Welbeck was the only popular forward amongst those scorers – having earned a single assist in his previous five, though, it’s fair to say he’s been far from prolific.

With Sergio Aguero still sidelined through injury, Olivier Giroud banned for a moment of madness and Wilfried Bony on the verge of departing for the Africa Cup of Nations, it’s arguable that there’s more diversity than ever before in our three-man frontlines. As the winter wildcard approaches, Fantasy managers are a little more willing to take gambles with their forwards to free up funds for the big-hitters in midfield – Alexis Sanchez, Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas have outscored every striker so far.

With a lack of reliable replacements up front, Aguero’s absence is making the armband decision a real lottery right now. Whilst his expected return in late January simply can’t come soon enough, it seems that for the time being that the restructuring process will continue until he’s back in contention. Given that the winter wildcard can be used at any point after Gameweek 20 gets underway until the end of Gameweek 23, it’s likely that our squads could retain this greater degree of variation until the Argentine’s comeback forces a re-think.