Here’s our fantasy premier league news catch up Sunday 19 February. We look at the FA Cup games and draw plus the blank gameweek implications. We also take a tour around the papers and a few blogs to see if there is anything illuminating there
fantasy premier league news catch up Sunday 19 February
FA CUP
Fulham 0 Spurs 3 (Kane 3 goals Eriksen 2 assists Alli assist)
Vorm Trippier Alderweireld Vertonghen Davies Winks (Dembélé 79′) Wanyama Eriksen Alli (Onomah 86′) Son Heung-min
Kane (Sissoko 75′)
Game stats from the BBC Football site
Here’s the pass and position Map on 11tgen11
This was a pretty comprehensive win for Spurs. Firstly the team that lined up was another very strong team with only Dembele Walker and Lloris rested. After putting out a strong team at Gent and now the Fulham game I’m worried for their fatigue. He will also have to put out a full team to put Gent to bed this week as well to exacerbate the problem.
Kane showed how he ruthless he can be given the service. Eriksen was quite magnificent though with 2 assists and a performance where he was constantly getting forward. This was welcome as I was getting a bit concerned that he wasn’t doing so. You now have a player who can assist and score in open play but who also can do so from set pieces which he totally dominates in the team.
Son in the team does cause Alli problems and the pass and position map really shows that. Son does get ahead of them and instead of a support striker you’ve got Alli as an attacking midfielder. A very good one mind but not a striker.
In defence they looked solid again with Vertonghen back and are now only Rose away from the very successful 3 man defensive formation they were using until Vertonghen got injured. Alderweireld also reminded us of his long range passing ability. In particular 1 long range pass from back to front to Alli saw him through 1 on 1 with the GK.
Blackburn 1 Man Utd 2 ( Rashford goal Ibrahimovic goal Mkhitaryan assist Pogba assist)
Romero Young Smalling Rojo Darmian Herrera Carrick Lingard (Pogba 62′) Mkhitaryan Martial (Ibrahimovic 62′) Rashford (Mata 89′)
Here’s the match stats from BBC football
No pass and position map as I write this but here’s the formation from lineupbuilder
A pretty strong team but definitely not a first team. De Gea, Valencia, Blind, Mata, Ibra and Pogba are the first teamers that were rested. Despite the possession stats this was a much more even game than the Spurs game. It also showed the importance of Pogba and Ibrahimovic as without them they were struggling to create a clear cut chance to get the winner. Ibrahimovic nearly scored as soon as he came on just missing an Herrera cross/shot.
It may sound obvious but Ibrahimovic knows where the goal is and can finish. Alot has been made of barren spells and world class keeper performances against him but in my mind the guy is total quality. The Ibra goal also showed the good and bad of Pogba from an FPL point of view. The good being his ability to create chances and the understanding with Ibra. The bad being the fact that the pass for the assist was from inside his half. He just doesn’t get forward consistently enough
GW28
GW28 is FA Cup quarter final week. Games involving teams in the quarters will be postponed leading to a much reduced fixture list. In fact only 4 confirmed at the moment
Definitely staying in GW28 as both teams out of FA Cup
Bournemouth v West Ham
Everton v West Brom
Hull v Swansea
Liverpool v Burnley
Subject to a replay
Man City v Stoke (Man City v Huddersfield replay is 28 Feb) – Stoke are out of the FA Cup. Man City need to lose the replay for the fixture to stand
Subject to further 5th round games
Arsenal v Leicester – Leicester are out of the FA Cup. Arsenal need to lose to Sutton on Monday for the fixture to stand
Should be removed from the gameweek as teams have progressed to the quarters
Middlesbrough v Sunderland – Middlesborough are through to the quarters
Chelsea v Watford – Chelsea are through to the quarters
Southampton v Man Utd – Southampton are out of the FA CUP. Man Utd beat Blackburn and are through to the quarters
Crystal Palace v Spurs – Palace are out of the FA Cup. Spurs beat Fulham and are through to the quarters
THE FA CUP QUARTER FINAL DRAW
Saturday 11th March 2017 (GW28)
Chelsea v Manchester United
Middlesbrough v Man City or Huddersfield
Sutton or Arsenal v Lincoln City
Tottenham Hotspur v Millwall
I won’t go into the double gameweek locations for the postponements but effectively given the European games no conflict with domestic games rule then GW34 and GW37 have the only vacant midweek slots. 1 game last season did contravene that rule though
A FEW ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Vincent Janssen
No FPL manager really cares about the Spurs back up striker. They do care about Kane being rested something which he didn’t get in the recent EL and FA Cup games. Poch is not happy about Janssen and this is what he said before the Fulham game
“Maybe, maybe. In Ghent he was out of the squad. He needs to show more, and then we’ll see. Maybe he will have the opportunity to be on the bench or play [from the start]. But, at the moment, we cannot be sure if he will be on the squad, on the bench or start from the beginning.
“Performance is always about how the players show their quality, their belief on the training ground. When you select the starting XI and the bench, I try to be fair. So it’s normal that, maybe, he needs to show more.”
Here’s the link to the Guardian article
Luke Shaw
Mourinho doesn’t appear to be a fan at the moment and if you’re holding the current LB Blind then there doesn’t appear to be a huge need to dump him apart from the 2 blank weeks of course. Here is what he has said in the Daily Mail
‘He has had a couple of small injuries this season and needs to adapt. He knows what I like in a defender, he knows that I like stability, that I don’t like mistakes, that for me it is to trust a player totally and he has to work to get it.
‘And when he is on the pitch again he has to try to give me that step by step because he is still only a young player. Sometimes people forget he is only a young player with a lot to learn but I like the player and I like the boy.’ ‘He will be here for sure. It (leaving) is out of the question.’
Lookman
The FPL £5.4m Everton attacking midfielder has made a big impression so far. His problem is gametime security with Mirallas being a threat to his place. Here’s some positive words from the manager Koeman though in the fanzine Toffeeweb
“I’m not surprised because I am watching him in training every day,” Koeman, told evertonfc.com. “He now knows what intensity he is up against and the quality of the players around him.
“It’s a big challenge for Ademola but he is doing well. He is the future of the club. He’s a big, big talent who is working hard to improve, like everybody.”
“Ademola is a good example in that if you are good enough you will play and there are others here like him who will get their chance if they keep working hard,” Koeman continued.
“It’s very encouraging. The club has some good, young boys coming through and as a team that’s exactly what we want.”
This website is free. If you find it useful please support us with a donation
Follow us for updates and news on twitter or facebook
FFGeek Leagues:
fantasy premier league League name www.fantasyfootballgeek.co.uk Code: 68142-27302
Sun Dream Team: name: FantasyFootballGeek League pin: D2T5ZCFN
Sky Sports fantasy Football League Name: FantasyFootballGeek PIN : 8226553
