I hope everyone is having a good time over the holiday period
and that everyone enjoyed the matches on Boxing Day. Bottom of the
table teams were on fire this week and many of them picked up valuable
points to get out of the relegation zone. There were some great upsets
today along with some unfamiliar fantasy stars and we have a lot to
cover.
Don’t forget the next set of matches begins on Saturday so you only
have a couple of days to set your fantasy lineup for week 19. I’ll
throw in a few suggestions in here if you are trying to change things
up.
Hull City 2 – 3 Manchester United
What a game to start off the day. Manchester United started off in horrible fashion and quickly went down 2-0 on goals from
James Chester and
David Meyler. Manchester showed the kind of composure they had under
Sir Alex Ferguson in a great comeback led by
Wayne Rooney.
Rooney was the man of the match for me in this one as he was once again
involved in everything Manchester did. His efforts showed up on the
stat sheet with a goal and an assist and he has become a premium fantasy
option. I recommend him going ahead and I think he is matchup proof.
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Aston Villa 0 – 1 Crystal Palace
Both teams came off defeats and were desperate to win points here. The game was shaping up a lot like a 0-0 draw when
Dwight Gayle
gave Palace a stoppage time winner to steal all the points from Aston
Villa. After beating his man, Gayle scored with an incredible 20-yard
strike that left Brad Guzan helpless. Before that shot, Guzan had shown
off his skills with a number of incredible saves and made another
strong case for taking over United States goalkeeping duties ahead of
next year’s World Cup. I will consider using him in goal for my fantasy
team over the weekend when Villa face Swansea at home. I would avoid
all Palace players except maybe
Joel Ward because they have an extremely tough away match at Manchester City next.
Cardiff City 0 – 3 Southampton
Both teams had been out of form before the start of the match but
Southampton turned their luck around and were winning 3-0 by the 27
th minute.
Jay Rodriguez,
Rickie Lambert, and
Adam Lallana
were all phenomenal and picked Cardiff apart in the first half hour.
After going up 3-0, the Saints slowed the game down and controlled it
comfortably. Cardiff couldn’t get anything going and despite improving
in the second half, couldn’t even get one back. This was the first
clean sheet for Southampton in nine games but it seems the Saints may
finally be overcoming their injuries and I wouldn’t be surprised to see
them challenge Everton for at least a point at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Morgan Schneiderlin picked up a fifth yellow on the season and will miss the weekend match.
Chelsea 1 – 0 Swansea City
The game started with Chelsea being the better team and they rightly went up 1-0 in the 29
th minute.
Ashley Cole intercepted a pass and played the ball to
Eden Hazard, who took it down the left side, cut back on his right foot, and put the ball past
Gerhard Tremmel.
Tremmel had a few saves later in the game to keep Swansea within
striking distance as Chelsea once again failed to capitalize on their
chances. Samuel Eto’o started at striker for the Blues for wasted a few
chances and will probably be replaced for the game against Liverpool.
Despite Chelsea not being able to double their lead, Swansea didn’t
cause
Petr Cech
any worries as they failed to create any chances and that left Jose
Mourinho a happy man after the game. Ramires will miss the next match
due to getting his fifth yellow today and that means
Frank Lampard is almost certain to start against Liverpool.
Everton 0 – 1 Sunderland
Everton were in fourth place before today and had looked like a real
top four contender; Sunderland were dead last. 23 minutes in, Everton
keeper
Tim Howard
was sent off for bringing down Ki Sung-yueng in the box. Everton went
down 1-0 on the penalty that followed and couldn’t get a goal back with
10 men. The Toffees pushed Sunderland back in the closing minutes, but
Vito Mannone
was in fine form and wouldn’t allow a goal. Everton only go down to
fifth place but they need to find a way to beat relegation zone teams
even with 10 men if they are to fight for a Champions League place.
Sunderland, on the other hand, looked better and are now only three
points away from getting out of the relegation zone. They face
struggling Cardiff City next.
Newcastle United 5 – 1 Stoke City
Lots of things happened in this game but lets start with the red cards.
Glenn Whelan,
Marc Wilson
and even manager Mark Hughes were all sent off in the first half and
those three decisions shaped the game. Stoke were up 1-0 on a beautiful
Oussama Assaidi
goal but Newcastle were able to dominate the second half with their two
man advantage. The result could have been different were it for a
different referee. With that said, Newcastle are in sixth place and
will need to continue their strong results if they are to stay ahead of
in form Manchester United.
Yohan Cabaye was once again in form and scored a goal to make fantasy managers happy; I would consider playing him next week.
Norwich City 1 – 2 Fulham
These two bottom of the table teams were headed for a draw but just
like in the Aston Villa – Crystal Palace game, the away team scored a
fantastic late goal to steal the points. Fulham’s
Scott Parker scored a superb winning goal in the 87
th minute and gave Fulham enough points to avoid being tied for last place.
Gary Hooper scored the goal for Norwich and he has been in good form lately, making for an interesting fantasy choice at a fair price.
Tottenham 1 – 1 West Brom
Tottenham were coming in hot after beating Southampton in a shootout
last weekend but things were different against West Brom. Spurs took
the lead from a
Christian Eriksen free kick but West Brom’s
Jonas Olsson
equalized before Tottenham could regroup. New Spurs boss Tim Sherwood
failed to give fans what they wanted and his team struggled in creating
and finishing chances just like they have all season long. I’m not sure
Sherwood deserved to be named manager after just one win and now I’m
even more skeptical after seeing his team struggle against West Brom at
home.
West Ham 1 – 3 Arsenal
West Ham started the game hot and kept Arsenal scoreless in the first half. At the beginning of the second,
Carlton Cole
surprised the Gunners and gave West Ham the lead. That didn’t last
very long as Arsenal regrouped well and scored three goals in 11 minutes
to put the game away.
Theo Walcott
scored two and Lucas Podolski added the third. Both of them looked
healthy and once again give Arsenal a potent attack from the wings. I
would feel good using Walcott in fantasy. One man to avoid in the next
few weeks is
Aaron Ramsey; the midfielder limped off and was deemed unfit for the next few games by
Arsene Wenger.
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Manchester City 2 – 1 Liverpool
The most entertaining match of the day ended with a narrow win by the
home side. Manchester City continued their great run at the Etihad by
seeing off Liverpool. Phillippe Coutinho opened up the scoring in the
24
th minute after a great move by the Reds.
Vincent Kompany tied things up soon after and Alvaro Negredo’s shot found the back of the net right before halftime.
Simon Mignolet
should have saved Negrodo’s effort but the Belgian goalkeeper’s error
ended up being the deciding factor. City are now in second place and
Liverpool go down to fourth. The top of the table is extremely tight
and games like these will end up deciding who takes home the trophy.
Make sure to tune in tomorrow because we will have a lot of content to get you ready for Week 19.