GW24 Takeaway, pt. 2

1.  Liverpool 0 v. Tottenham 0.  Neither team covered themselves in glory in this one.  Suarez should have won it for the Reds in his 20 minute cameo but  - again - couldn't take his chance, consistent with his season so far.  With a good goal scoring record at Ajax and with Uruguay at the international level (and not bad last year in the 2nd half of Liverpool's season), it seems crazy to believe he won't begin to bang them in at some point in the Prem.  His attacking threat numbers are very good.  Strange.  At any rate, he remains on my Watchlist after Liverpool's blank GW26.

2.  Liverpool record their 10th CS.  I had 3 starting defenders who play for teams that kept CS this week and came away with zero points: Kompany, Clichy and  . . . Enrique, who missed his first game since joining Liverpool.  I've had him all season, fantastic FF value.  I'll be keeping him but am starting to think about doubling down on this quality defensive unit (tied for 1st in CS, 2nd in 'goals allowed') - that is, after GW26.  The near term schedule GW27-32 is a mixed bag but if you can hold Tottenham, you can hold anybody.  And with Johnson/Skrtel/Agger/Enrique nailed on, you can go high end in G.Johnson(6.8) who offers plenty of attacking threat, or reasonably cheap for an elite team defender in Agger(5.9).

3.  Tottenham record their 9th CS.  I checked out of Dawson last week (for Kompany, ouch) thinking this tough stretch of games was not the time to be invested in a center back who may or may not be first choice.  For reasons I cannot explain, I have a near visceral dislike of Assou-Ekotto, but it's probably time to start thinking about BAE or Walker the way we think about Richards or A.Cole.  Dawson is 5.2 and is appealing at that price but sat out GW23, with Kaboul and King favored.  He returned from injury in GW22 and since has started 2 of 3 games. The report Monday was Kaboul suffered a knock and so Dawson got the nod, but I wonder if Redknapp's preferred CB combo isn't Dawson/King.  I've already got rotation risk Clichy, so I need to think hard about whether to dive for Dawson again.

4.  Chelsea 3 v. Man Utd 3.  The really important thing I take from this game from a FF perspective is the fragility of the Chelsea back line.  They've kept only 6 CS this season (although 2 in the last 4 games) and sit about midtable in 'goals allowed' totals.  This week's rotation of Clichy has me eyeing up a replacement and I thought about Chelsea's defense but this is a risky proposition unless you want to spend the 7.1 to get in A.Cole (6 assists to go with the 6 CS).  I think Cole, Terry and Ivanovic are nailed on if fit (if you look at the season GW history, Ivanovic has only missed games he was injured).  The recent red card to Cole and Terry's injury, meant Boswinga and Ivanovic both played the last 2 GWs but absent injury, I expect the Chelsea normal back 4 to be -
 Ivanovic/Luiz/Terry/Cole (I think Che bought Cahill not to start - but for cover for injuries and for Prem/FACup/CL fixture congestion, see e.g., Feb 18-25, when they play 3 games in 7 days).  Luiz at 6.3 is every bit a gamble, as my conjecture on Cahill was not in conjunction with the Blues' coaching staff (haha), but Chelsea's near-term schedule suggests a CS or 2 - eve/BOL/wba/STK - then mci/TOT - then avl/WIG.  Luiz offers plenty of attacking threat to go with potential CS, but at 6.3, I have to be right about Cahill . . .