Fantasy premier league match analysis – gameweek 6 Saturday part 1

Here’s the fantasy premier league match analysis for gameweek 6 Saturday part 1 – Spurs v Chelsea, Man Utd v WBA and Swansea v Arsenal.  I’ll be focusing on line ups and player performances

Line ups and player ratings from the Daily Mail

Spurs v Chelsea  

Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Lloris 7; Walker 7, Dawson 6, Vertonghen 6, Naughton 7; Paulinho 6, Dembele 8; Townsend 7 (Chadli 62, 5), Eriksen 6 (Holtby 69, 5), Sigurdsson 6; Soldado 6 (Defoe 76, 6)
Subs not used: Friedel, Chirches, Lamela, Sandro
Booked: Townsend, Eriksen, Vertonghen, Dawson, Dembele
Goal: Sigurdsson 20  Assist:  Soldado

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech 6; Ivanovic 6, Luiz 6, Terry 7, Cole 6; Mikel 5 (Mata 46, 7), Lampard 6; Ramires 8, Oscar 5 (Azpilicueta 82), Hazard 5 (Schurrle 69, 4); Torres 7
Subs not used: Schwarzer, Cahill, Essien, Eto’o.
Booked: Torres, Ivanovic
Sent off: Torres
Goal: Terry 65  Assist:  Mata

No real surprises in the Spurs line up apart from maybe Townsend holding his place over Lamela

Luiz over Cahill and Ramires not being in the double pivot but further up the field instead of one of the many AMs was a surprise.  It’s always a surprise to me when Torres starts although to be fair this was one of his best games (ignoring the sending off)

Overall a very tight game where chances were at a premium and both sides showed why I have rated them the number 1 and 2 defence.  Chelsea were poor in the 1st half but with Mata’s introduction were excellent in the 2nd half and maybe would have won it until Torres was sent off.

 Player comment

Defences

Both defences played well and although both teams had a couple of clear cut chances each but shots in the box were very restricted.  I’m still positive about both teams defensive capability

Soldado

Finally returned and its now 3 returns from 6 goals and a 50% consistency rate.  However the assist is all he did in this game.  He was very quiet in contrast to previous games where he was unlucky not to return.  However you have to look at the quality of the opposition and this is not the game you would necessarily expect returns from.    If you still own him next weeks game home to West Ham wouldn’t be a selling point for me

Paulino

With Ramsey putting fantasy premier league credibility into box to box midfielders who start in the double pivot.  A tight game which isn’t really one to judge him on but really should have scored and looked threatening when he did get in the box.

Siggy 

3 goals in 3 games and although didnt have too many chances showed what a clinical finisher he can be.  Holding of Chadli for his place and looks a reasonable cheap option with West Ham at home next.

Eriksen

Has set piece duties and created a couple of chances but again pretty quiet.  Still to repeat the theme the opposition is difficult and not really a game that you make a permanent judgement on a player

Terry

Will be rotated, even more so now, as Mourinho looks like he will play Luiz on occasions but looks a real threat at set pieces as he continually showed over and above his excellent goal

Hazard

Another completely anonymous performance and why Mourinho has so much faith in him is beyond me.  Did absolutely nothing

Oscar

A couple of threatening moments but otherwise relatively quiet.

Lampard

Never threatened and still trys to drift into the box but this wasn’t his day

Mata

Got the assists and in my mind made a real difference to the team.  Whether Mourinho thinks Oscar is  a better number 10 after this than Mata will be interesting.  Whether that will secure an inclusion in the next game away to Norwich remains to be seen

Man Utd 1 WBA 2

MANCHESTER UNITED: De Gea 6; Jones 6, Ferdinand 5, Evans 6, Buttner 5; Nani 6, Carrick 6, Anderson 5 (Fellaini 67, 6), Kagawa 6 (Januzaj 46, 6); Rooney 7, Hernandez 5 (Van Persie 58, 6)
Subs not used Amos, Evra, Welbeck, Valencia
Booked Carrick, Jones, Buttner

Goal:  Rooney Assist Buttner

WEST BROM: Myhill 6; Jones 7, McAuley 7, Olsson 7, Ridgewell 6; Yacob 6, Mulumbu 6; Amalfitano, 7, Sessegnon 8 (Rosenberg 90), Sinclair 6 (Berahino 13, 7); Anichebe 6 (Lugano
Subs not used Daniels, Popov, Dorrans, Dawson
Booked Mulumbu

Goals:  Amalfitano Berahino  Assists:  Mulumbu Amalfitano

Alot of changes for United after the derby and prior to the Champions league game with Evans Buttner Anderson and Hernandez giving Vidic Evra Fellaini and RVP a rest.

WBA brought Yacob back and played Anichebe instead of the injured Anelka

A shambles of a game for United that they failed to dominate the game or  play at any tempo in attack and were an absolute shower when WBA countered sitting far too deep  and were just not compact in the slightest.  Buttner was particularly culpable and its no surprise that Amalfitano featured so prominently in the game.  Ferdinand wasn’t much better and there was no CDM there as any defensively disciplined cover.

Player comment 

Rooney

Probably the only positive for United playing behind the centre forward.  Goal was lucky but a good reward for those who captained him

RVP

Only had a little over 35 minutes and made little impression.  The consolation is for his owners that Moyes given the current situation won’t be able to rest him again that’s for sure.   In terms of shots in the box he’s still doing everything right and in my mind he will resume scoring duties.  Whats more worrying is the lack of assists and chances created which kept him going last  year in the odd scoring gap.  The fixtures are  still good with Sunderland  away next and my intention at the moment (at the moment I hastily add) is to stay loyal to the home game against Arsenal in GW11. I hope I’m not tested too much more like the last 2 weeks.

Amalfitano

2 goals and an assist in his last 2 games and at £5.0m maybe we have another budget midfielder in our ranks.  Helped by some appalling defending from Buttner and Ferdinand but the underlyng stats showed it wasn’t a fluke

Berahino

I was aware that the £4.5m cheapie striker had been scoring in cup games and pre-season but this was something else as a performance.  Started from the bench so can’t see him starting or playing behind the striker just yet but worth a watch out for anyone looking for a cheapie striker.

Sessegnon

Was a constant menace and deserved something from the game.  An absolute travesty that the bonus system nowdoesnt recognise such a quality performance.  Next game is home to Arsenal so no reason to jump on the transfer button but it was a promising if ultimately fruitless performance

Swansea 1 Arsenal 2

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm 6; Tiendalli 6, Flores 6, Amat 5, Davies 6; Canas 7, De Guzman 6; Dyer 5, Shelvey 7 (Bony 60, 6), Routledge 5 (Pozuelo 64, 6); Michu 7.
Subs not used: Taylor, Britton, Tremmel, Vazquez, Alfei.
Booked: De Guzman.
Goal: Davies 82.  Assist Bony

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Szczesny 6; Sagna 6, Mertesacker 6, Koscielny 6, Gibbs 6; Flamini 6, Ramsey 7; Gnabry 7 (Arteta 77), Ozil 5 (Monreal 88), Wilshere 7 (Jenkinson 90); Giroud 6.
Subs not used: Vermaelen, Fabianski, Bendtner, Miyaichi.
Booked: Flamini, Arteta.
Goals: Gnabry 58, Ramsey 62.  Assist: Ramsey Giroud

A few rested plus Williams injury for Swansea.  Bony was surprisingly left on the bench with Michu playing striker

No real surprises in the Arsenal line up.

A first game that look like a keep ball played with some rule imposed that the opposition could only watch and the ball had to be played backwards 50% of the time?

The 2nd half things changed when Arsenals finishing quality and ability on the counter attack saw them through.

Player comments

Defences

The Arsenal defensive stats were good but again they seem to give the opposition enough chances to score at least once.

Ramsey

What can you say about this guy?  Was unbelievable today in his clinical finishing although he did make the most of limited chances.  My apologies to anyone who was influenced by my negativity towards him.  My only defence is that Lampard and Gerrard are the only real precedents historically for a box to box midfielder getting good returns in fantasy premier league and they were heavily subsidised by penalties and set pieces plus they were probably 2 of the best fantasy premier league midfielders ever.  However how can you argue with 4 goals and an assist in his last 3 games and good underlying shooting stats.  The key is his ability on the counter attack which you saw today but he also has vision in structured play.  At the moment I’ll be buying him probably once he gets through the Champions league game unscathed although I will probably pay £0.3m more for him to do that.

Ozil

No returns today and didn’t create as many chances as you would expect.  Should have scored though when one on one with the GK.

Giroud

Quiet today although his new ability to create chances saw him through with an assist.

That’s it for the first batch of games

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