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Liverpool wide of the mark
Luis Suarez returned to first-team action on Monday night, the first time he has played for Liverpool since Boxing Day. His 25-minute cameo against Spurs failed to bring a goal, and led to further examination of the Reds' attacking prowess.
Suarez has risen in ownership 0.8% to 4.8% since Monday's game, which is a far cry from his first segment ownership level of around 30%. But there has been little to suggest Suarez is going to be capable, this season at least, of being as valuable as the likes of Robin van Persie and Sergio Aguero.
The Uruguay international has not found the back of the net since December 10 in Liverpool's 1-0 home win over Queens Park Rangers, his only goal in the Premier League since October 1 in a tally for the season of just five.
But the lack of attraction in Liverpool's forward players is not reserved for Luis Suarez, the team's stats as a whole are poor.
Manchester City and Manchester United are level pegging in terms of chance conversion rate, with 16.6% and 16.5% respectively. You have to go right to the bottom of the table to find Liverpool on 7.3%, with Wigan (8.3%), Everton (8.5%) and West Bromwich Albion (8.7%) directly above them.
And the rate of individual Liverpool players, understandably, does not make good reading either. Consider four of the best in the league: Demba Ba (30.2%), Javier Hernandez (28.6%), Robin van Persie (22.2%) and Sergio Aguero (20.5%). Only one Liverpool player is able to break into that group of players.
That man is Craig Bellamy, who has six goals to show for his 26 shots - that's a conversion rate of 23.1%. Bellamy has only made eight starts this season in the Premier League, half of those while Suarez has been unavailable. He has scored four goals in those four starts. But will Bellamy still keep his place once Suarez is match fit? Suarez's conversation rate is 6.6% from his 78 shots.
Bellamy has actually dropped in ownership this week, by 0.2% to 4.1%, perhaps with fantasy managers pre-judging Dalglish's team selection ahead of the weekend's trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United.
The other striker on Liverpool's squad list, Andy Carroll, continues to be a fantasy leper, in just 1.2% of squads with three goals from 42 shots - though that's actually a better strike-rate than Suarez at 7.1%.
Of course, it is important to remember just how little Suarez, Carroll and skipper Steven Gerrard have been available to Dalglish at the same point this season. In fact, they have spent just 78 minutes on the pitch at the same time, which has come across four games with the longest spell being for 24 minutes. Perhaps in the coming weeks the club's attacking stats will improve as the trio play together more regularly.
After this weekend's trip to Old Trafford, which no fantasy manager should seriously target for Liverpool players, Dalglish then has a break for the Carling Cup final before Liverpool entertain Arsenal and then travel to Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers. Perhaps for now a watching brief is best.
Liverpool's expensively-assembled midfield cannot go without blame. The top assist-provider in the Premier League is David Silva of Manchester City with 12. But Liverpool's main creator of goals has just half that to his name, Charlie Adam with six. After that comes Bellamy and Jose Enrique with a mere two.
Looking at the club's expensive summer purchases, Jordan Henderson has contributed just one goal and one assist while Stewart Downing has not managed to score or create a single goal. That is reflected in their ownership level - 0.4% and 0.9% respectively. Adam is in 2.7% of teams.
Bargain of the season?
Fraizer Campbell had become one of the forgotten men of the Premier League. Always tipped as a top-flight player as he netted 14 goals in Hull City's promotion season in 2007-08, when he was on loan from Manchester United, he has endured a difficult few seasons since.
When he came off the bench two weeks ago in Sunderland's FA Cup tie at home to Middlesbrough it was his first appearance for 500 days due to a succession of injuries. He marked that appearance with a goal, then grabbed a goal and an assist in the league game against Norwich. After being rested at Stoke, Campbell then claimed another assist in the FA Cup replay.
Campbell has already gone up in price, but is still only £4.4 million. Few strikers with the promise of regular action are priced so cheaply. His price has led to an ownership level of 3.4%, all of the transfers taking place in the wake of his goalscoring return in the FA Cup.
Sunderland face Arsenal this weekend at home, which acts as a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup tie between the two sides the following weekend, before the Wearsiders go to West Brom and Newcastle. At £4.4 million, Campbell looks like a gamble worth taking with the budget it will free up for other areas of your squad.
