Yahoo Daily Fantasy Gameweek 26 review: Kane stars, as Vardy and Fabregas wind back the clock

After a 13 day layoff, Premier League action returned with a bang this week – even if we were two games short due to the EFL Cup final. Oh well, we can’t have it all!

Only half of the top 6 played this week, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur took advantage with comfortable home wins against Swansea and Stoke respectively but Liverpool will rue a missed opportunity with their 3-1 loss Leicester.

So which players impressed the most? Simply read on as we review the top performers from each game, or alternatively check out our Gameweek 26 Dreamteam.

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Chelsea 3 Swansea City 1

Chelsea took another step seemingly on their march to win the Premier League title with a 3-1 win over a much-improved Swansea side under new boss Paul Clement. Forefront to the Blues’ success was midfielder Cesc Fabregas (26.65, goal, assist) and forwards Pedro (18.15, G,A) and Diego Costa (14.50, G, 2 shots, 3 fouls won). Eden Hazard had another solid round, scoring 10 points but popular selections Marcos Alonso (47%) and Thibault Courtois (27%) were underwhelming with scores of 3.70 and 1.50 each. As for Swansea, Gylfi Sigurdsson (A) was once again a popular selection (36%) and scored a solid 8.80 points but he wasn’t their top scorer – that honour went forward Fernando Llorente (G) who continued his rocks-or-diamonds season with 10.90 points.

READ MORE: Gameweek 26 Dreateam

Tottenham Hotspur 4 Stoke City 0

Like Chelsea, Spurs took advantage of Liverpool’s loss and the remaining teams around them having a week off by thrashing the Potters at White Hart Lane. Harry Kane (3G, 1A, 6Sh) was the gameweek’s top scorer for the second time with a mammoth 42.20 points. He wasn’t the only Spur to star though, with Dele Alli (1G, 4Sh, 6 fouls won), Christian Eriksen (2A), Hugo Lloris (3 saves, clean sheet) and Kyle Walker (CS, 4Sh, 3 corners won) all scoring strongly. However, popular selection Toby Alderweireld (31%) could only score 0.80 points due in part to his early injury. Stoke’s top scorer was defender was Bruno Martins Indi (5 points), followed by their most popular player in Joe Allen with 4.10. Forward Marko Arnautovic was selected by 15% of players but scored -0.05 points.

Leicester City 3 Liverpool 1

Leicester beat Liverpool for the second match in a row at the King Power Stadium in the Foxes’ first match in the post-Claudio Ranieri era. It’s safe to say not Fantasy players saw the result coming with only 3 players – Jamie Vardy (26.35), Wilfried Ndidi (9) and Riyad Mahrez (2.40) – selected in more than 10% of teams. Vardy’s 2 goals propelled him to his highest score in more than 2 months as Danny Drinkwater (13.90 – 1G, 2TW, 3INT), Kasper Schmeichel (11 – 6S) and Christian Fuchs (10.45 – 1A, 3TW, 2INT) all had strong games. It was a slightly different case for Liverpool though – their only strong performances came from Philippe Coutinho (26.85 – 1G, 4SH, 3 crosses, 2CW, 2FW), Emre Can (1A, 5TW, 1INT) and Adam Lallana (1Sho, 2CW, 2FW, 4TW, 1INT). James Milner (5.60), Sadio Mane (3.20), Roberto Firmino (2.55) and Simon Mignolet (0) were all popular selections but failed to fire. Even Jordan Henderson was in 17% of teams despite being ruled out in the build up – head to dailyfantasy/research where we bring you all the Fantasy news & tips you need.

Everton 2 Sunderland 0

Everton’s win over David Moyes’ Sunderland to keep the pressure on Manchester United in sixth place, was the other big Fantasy performer in Gameweek 26. Idrissa Gueye (G, 4 tackles won, 4 interceptions) was only in 3% of teams but scored an impressive 22.25 points. There were also strong returns for popular selections Romelu Lukaku (1G, 5Sh), Seamus Coleman (1A, CS, 2CW, 2TW), Joel Robles (1S, CS) and one selection who flew under the radar – Morgan Schneiderlin a superb defensive effort (3TW, 4INT) saw him score an impressive 10.35 points. Midfielder Ross Barkley had an off day by his standards, only scoring 6.80 points. As for Sunderland, only forward Jermain Defoe was in more than 2% of teams but he could only score 1.80 points, had no shots, 6 passes and 1 foul conceded.

West Bromwich Albion 2 Bournemouth 1

West Brom came from behind against Bournemouth to keep their Europa League dreams alive and their top 2 Fantasy performers were goal-scoring defensive partners Gareth McAuley (15.35 points) and Craig Dawson (13.20). Popular selections Nacer Chadli (7.20) and Chris Brunt (2.80) underwhelmed by comparison. For Bournemouth, top scorer was forward Joshua King (1G, 2FW) with 12.95 points, with second place going to defender Tyrone Mings with 8.05. Meanwhile, most popular selection Junior Stanislas (12%) didn’t even play.

Watford 1 West Ham 1

In Watford’s mid-table draw with West Ham, the Hornets’ star player was Troy Deeney with 12.35 points (1G, 1FW, 1INT), while the most popular player was Mauro Zarate whose unfortunate injury only saw him score 2.95 points and will see him likely miss the rest of the season. West Ham’s top performer was Andre Ayew, who was only selected in 0.07% of teams. He was only on the pitch for 25 minutes but he made it count with his goal, tackle and interception. The news isn’t so good for former Fantasy favourite Robert Snodgrass, however. The former Hull man has failed to fire since his move to east London and despite being in 28% of teams, he couldn’t impact the game, only scoring 4.80 points.

Crystal Palace 1 Middlesbrough 0

Crystal Palace finally found some fluency under Sam Allardyce, and it owed much to 2 defenders – goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey (16 points – 4S, CS) and Patrick van Aanholt (13.10 – 1G, 1CW, 2INT). Christian Benteke also had a solid game with a score of 7.60 but Wilfried Zaha had disappointing returns with only 3.35 points. For Middlesbrough, Gaston Ramirez was top scorer with 6.80 points, while most popular selection Fabio scored 3.40.

Hull City 1 Burnley 1

Burnley picked up just their second point away from home since their draw at Old Trafford, frustrating Hull boss Marco Silva in the process. Thanks to his penalty goal and hard work in the middle of the park, Tom Huddlestone was the Tigers’ top Fantasy scorer with 12.90, while popular selections Kamil Grosicki (8.20) and Eldin Jakupovic (3) had contrasting games. In 23 minutes of action Oumar Niasse’s contribution was 1 pass and a foul for a score of -0.45. For Burnley, their most popular player by far was Robbie Brady and he delivered the goods with an assist, a shot, 3 corners win, 2 fouls won and 2 successful crosses for a personal haul of 10.10 points. Defender Michael Keane’s goal saw him score a respectable 9.70 points.