Fantasy EPL managers note: Carlos Tevez an unused substitute; Nasri played 57′; Garcia departed injured; Gervinho scored again. We have quick recaps and all the fantasy EPL analysis of Wednesday’s Champions League action as fantasy premier league managers prepare ahead of gameweek seven.

Manchester City 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
Balotelli (90′ PEN)

Manchester City sXI: Hart; Clichy Nastasic Kompany Zabaleta; Yaya Garcia; Nasri Aguero Silva; Dzeko
Substitutes: Rodwell (Garcia 34′); Kolarov (Nasri 57′); Balotelli (Clichy 81′)

Carlos Tevez was an unused substitute in this match after having played 120′ last midweek in City’s Carling Cup loss to Aston Villa and a further 65′ in the win over Fulham. The mad rush to transfer Tevez out following comments from Roberto Mancini may have been a bit of an over-reaction by fantasy EPL managers. While Tevez has not scored in three Barclays Premier League fixtures, he has contributed an assist and picked up two bonus points for his 65′ appearance. -64457 net transfer for gameweek six resulted his price dipping from £9.9m to £9.7m as of Thursday.

Balotelli was once again a late substitute and, once again, scored from the penalty spot with all the drama of cat once again landing on it’s feet. Why Always on the bench? But fantasy EPL managers have no option for the mercurial striker as playing time is the most vital of currencies in any version of fantasy premier league.

It is nice to see that Mancini is holding steady with Kompany and Zabaleta in his defensive four. We’re still not investing until the Citizens can provide a cleansheet in ANY competition, but once that does occur, we’re happy to purchase Zabaleta. He has played the full 90′ in four of six BPL fixture and his price has dropped to £5.9m following net transfers out in three straight gameweeks.

The last note – per the fine folks at Opta and WhoScored we know that Joe Hart is making saves an the ridiculous rate of nine per match in the Champions League at this early stage:

Man City 1-1 Borussia Dortmund: Joe Hart has made 18 saves in this season’s CL, at least 4 more than any other goalkeeper in the competition

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 4, 2012

Hart’s remarkable feat has not resulted in a cleansheet for the ‘keeper who kept 17 in 2011-12 Premier League action and a further 18 in the BPL the season before. He has had net transfers out in five straight weeks as City failed to provide him the vital cleansheet points and he can not be owned for £7m at this time.

Arsenal 3-1 Olympiakos
Gervinho (42′), Podolski (56′), Ramsey (90′)

Arsenal sXI: Mannone; Gibbs Vermaelen Koscielny Jenkinson; Coquelin Arteta; Santi Podolski OX; Gervinho
Substitutes: Walcott (OX 71′); Ramsey (Podolski 80′); Giroud (Gervinho 80′)

We’re simply not believing in Gervinho, but we may still invest in the Gunners attacker. It may sound ridiculous, his play is noticeably better, he’s lined-up up on  and his playing time looks certain given recent success but he is getting very lucky. Let’s ask OptaJoe, shall we?

5 – Gervinho has scored five goals from just five shots on target in all competitions this season. Gleaming.

— Opta(@OptaJoe) October 4, 2012

Gleaming or otherwise, that is even better than Steven Fletcher. It’s taken Fletcher seven shots to score his five Barclays Premier League goals this term. Provided Gervinho has earned the starting role as the tip of the Gunners spear, he could continue to poach a handful of goals. Two of his three of his Premier League goals this season have come from clear-cut chances and he has scored on two of his three clear-cut chances. Only Bobby Zamora has scored more goals from clear-cut chances this season – scoring all three of his BPL goals on such chances and converting three of four clear-cut chances this year.

More bad news for fantasy EPL managers as Lukas Podolski found the net, but it will not count for your FPL side. He hasn’t scored since gameweek four in League play and priced £8.6m. In two respects, Gervinho is a better option for fantasy EPL – he costs less and is available as a midfielder. For £7.4m, Gervinho is a decent bargain provided that he maintains hist place in the first-choice starting XI.

As we noted in News & Notes on Wednesday, About Diaby is absent through injury. We’re not interested in laying blame, we are interested in purchasing Francis Coquelin for £4.8m. Arsenal have West Ham, Norwich and QPR in their next three and any Gunners player is worth owning at the right price. We may not start Coquelin, but having bench players than can provide three or more points is worth owning.

Scads of information available across multiple sites today. For more on Gunners Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson, read Most Creative Defenders By Cooper at EPLIndex, check out a synopsis first on our site and keep current on  EPL fantasy tips and analysis by following @FantasyGaffer.

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