Heres the fantasy premier league immediate reaction in game week 9 to Saints v Spurs and Newcastle v WBA
Saints 1 Spurs 2
No surprises in the Spurs line up. Vertonghen continues at LB with BAE injured, Huddlestone continues for the injured Dembele.
For Saints, Boruc continues as the 3rd GK selected by Adkins. Yoshida takes Hooivelds place presumably for his pace . Fox returns after injury. Puncheon is selected in the place of the injured Ramirez and gets the nod over Do Prado.
If there ever was a game of 2 halves this was it. Spurs with their pace on the flanks were lethal on the break and scored 2 early. Southampton came back and dominated the 2nd half and deserved an equaliser.
Possession was 52% Spus with shots even at 11/6 to 11/4. Neither defence performed that well, both conceding a high number of shots in the box. Rodriguez and Defoe had the most shots in the box but both on target ratios were poor. Bale had the best shooting stats in this regard. Chances created were shared by Lallana, Dempsey and Walker. Dempsey was the most forward midfielder for Spurs. Lallana for Saints. The most involved players for each side were Lallana for Saints and maybe Dempsey for Spurs
For Saints Lallana and Lambert are the main players with Puncheon as the cheapie. None really shined this week but these aren’t the games you’re expecting returns from. Lallana is my pick as Puncheons selections is not guaranteed especially when Ramirez returns. Saints have WBA Swansea and QPR in the next 3 and these are the games fantasy premier league managers will be looking for returns.
Baledid it again away from home and showed he could return against the weaker sides. His stats were good, if not overwhelming, and he is a keeper the whole season but only if you have alternate captain options. Im just not sure he can be relied on consistently with the armband. For example, would I trust him with the armband at home to Wigan in the next game? Spurs fixtures finish after Wigan at home and then fantasy premier league managers have a big decision to make.
Dempsey just with his positioning, as you saw with the goal will be a constant threat and Dfoes willingness to shoot will also give dividends against the lower sides. To me these are better players to have when the easier fixtures come along as they are far more in the flat track bully mode than Bale. However if you’re going to stick with the City and Utd captain rotation then Bale is the more consistent performer.
Newcastle 2 WBA 1
A couple of ongoing surprises in the Newcastle line up. Williamson holding his place over S Taylor and Ameobi preferred to Cisse.
For WBA Lukaku came in for long. Yacob is injured and Dorrans and Gera came in instead of him and Fortune.
Possession was 53% to WBA shots 10/6 to 8/4 in favour of Newcastle.
Ba and Lukaku led the shot stats. No one stood out in chances created. HBA was the most forward midfielder for Newcastle, Gera for WBA. HBA was the most involved player for Newcastle. Odemwingie for WBA
The fixtures are really with Newcastle now. West Ham H, Swansea H and Southampton A follow Liverpool away. Ba is easily the best coverage although he is facing an injury scare so fantasy premier league managers shouldn’t push the transfer button. HBA looks good but doesn’t really have the inside the box shooting attraction for me as a midfielder. In defence Santon and Simpson are the best value unless you want to gamble on Williamson holding his place.
For WBA the fixtures return with Southampton next week followed by Wigan. I’ve been raving about Lukaku on the site its just selection that is the worry. Morrison is the steady option with Gera the cheaper less secure version.
thats it on to GW10!
