Most Fantasy managers who started Chelsea’s favorable game early would have been rewarded on Saturday.
Nine of the starting eleven provided some form of return (attack return, clean sheet and/or DefCon points), as did the substitute Liam Delap (£6.2 million).
However, it was not as routine a victory as the 2-0 scoreline suggests.
PALMER: HOW FIT IS HE?
A 90 minute lead-out Cole Palmer (£10.4 million) and a goal from the penalty spot. Has normal service resumed for the England international? Maybe not.
The midfielder, who shook off a thigh injury, really didn’t look fit on Saturday. Maybe it was the fallout from that and the lack of training, or maybe it was the persistent groin problems that have plagued him all season.
Either way, he was barely able to work full-time, although his manager hinted it was more fatigue than anything.
“At the end I see Cole on the ground, who hasn’t trained all week, played 90 minutes and just ran for the team.” – Liam Rosenior
Despite all the concerns, this was actually Palmer’s eighth consecutive league start for Chelsea. He will certainly be rested in midweek against Pafos, and probably – injuries permitting – back in the starting line-up for matchweek 23.
Whether he can start in both Gameweeks 25 and 26, which are just over 72 hours apart, is doubtful.
Another thing worth mentioning concerns Palmer: he collected DefCon points for the first time on Saturday!
Elsewhere on the fitness front Estevao (£6.4m) was the latest victim of the bug that swept the Chelsea camp. He completely missed it.
Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.0m), believed to have been recalled to help combat Brentford’s air force, came off early with hamstring discomfort.
ENZO WATCH
Enzo Fernandez (£6.5 million) therefore did not start in the nominal ’10’, with Palmer on board.
But the Argentine midfielder, operating in the double turn, occasionally made progress up the field, especially when he pressed the ball.
And when Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4 million) went away, Enzo was more advanced with Andrei Santos (£4.5 million) was bet behind him.
Overall, Enzo saw just 14 last-third touches and one touch in the opposition area in this match – both bottom five figures for his season:
But it was Enzo’s aggressive fussing around the box that led to João Pedro‘s (£7.1m) target. It was Enzo’s drive-run and pass to Pedro that caused the latter to ask for a penalty.
The hope from a Fantasy perspective would be that Rosenior is sufficiently spooked by Enzo’s defensive limitations, especially on backtracking. Moses Caicedo (£5.9m) was often left isolated and Brentford got plenty of joy behind Enzo, hence the move to bring in Andrey.
It’s a role that can evolve over the weeks (Palmer right, Enzo in the 10, James/Andrey next to Caicedo?).
“I’m so impressed. I knew what an excellent player he was. I told him I was actually at the World Cup final when he played. It’s only when you see a player up close that you get to know him and what he stands for. I have to say he’s a winner. The way he trains, the reason he plays so well, is that he trains 100%. I’ve enjoyed working with him.” – Liam Rosenior on Enzo Fernandez
SANCHEZ REDEEMS HIMSELF
After being pilloried for his performance on Wednesday, things went well Robert Sanchez (£4.9 million) was back. Even his kicking was powerful, although it usually took a long time. Perhaps this was on the manager’s orders after the EFL Cup semi-final.
He made six stops in total, one to prevent Tosin from scoring an own-goal and the other a great save to thwart. Kevin Damage (£7.1 million) in a one-for-one.
“He was excellent today. He was excellent in his distribution, some fantastic long passes to our wide players, in terms of his control of the box, in terms of the saves we needed from him. It was a fantastic performance. I’m not surprised. I’ve known Rob for a long time. He’s a very, very resilient boy.” – Leroy Rosenior on Robert Sánchez
That might soften any talk of the goalkeeper losing his place ahead of a juicy match run:
LOTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT FOR BRENTFORD
Chelsea scored the first clean sheet in eight on Saturday, but defensively it was far from convincing.
The fact that Palmer and three of his teammates – Tosin, Caicedo and the FPL’s second highest scoring defender, Trevo Chalobah (£5.5m) – The DefCon points collected were testament to the defensive effort required against the Bees.
The xG (1.59-1.52) suggested a draw might have been a fair result. In fact, Brentford defeated their hosts 15–6, with Palmer’s penalty and a Garnacho sitter accounting for a large proportion of Chelsea’s expected goals:
Schade had the two best chances for Keith Andrews’ side, curiously trying to square the ball as he went through (resulting in Tosin’s near miss) and then rejecting the aforementioned one-on-one with Sánchez.
Igor Thiago (£7.1m) also sent a header wide that he would normally bury Mathias Jensen (£4.9 million) hit the post with a volley.
By the way, damage is the top of all Premier League players for xG over the last six gameweeks. Something to think about very carefully if the matches get good in Gameweek 27.
“If you look at the level of performance today, I think it was at a very high level.
“Especially for Kevin, I thought his performance today deserved a goal. They were only key moments, of course I didn’t catch them, but that will come for him.” –Keith Andrews
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