Week 4 - Strikers

 On to strikers…

Tuncay (Home to Chelsea) – I’ve already written an entire post on the subject of Tuncay so won’t go in to too much detail. What I will mention is that to return double his value, all he needs to do is win 1 corner and complete 1 cross. If he were to score, he would return TEN TIMES HIS VALUE. Oh…did I mention he costs 1.00?

Torres (Home to Burnley) – I think it was in my Week 2 Preview I mentioned that once Torres starts scoring he won’t stop. He now has 3 goals in 3 games and I can’t see that run stopping as Liverpool face Burnley at Anfield. Again I’m glad I have him at £15million but even if I didn’t I’d be considering him at full price. Torres is capable of destroying the smaller team and could’ve had a hattrick vs Bolton…I’d be disappointed if he doesn’t score at least 2 in Week 4 and suggest everyone seriously considers him.

Bent (Home to Hull) – As you probably all remember, Darren Bent was my tip of the week in my Week 4 Preview and he was set for a place in my team until the Tuncay opportunity came along. I’m a bit annoyed I can’t see a way of getting him in as I’m certain he’ll score vs a Hull side who’ll badly miss Michael Turner (who coincidently has joined Sunderland). Bent started the season on fire and has since had a couple of quieter games, but if he can score against Chelsea I’m sure he will score in Week 4.

Drogba (Away to Stoke) – Unplayable so far and not just weighing in with goals. He’s getting assists, taking lots of shots & regularly hitting the target, plus his partnership with Anelka means he often pulls wide and earns successful crossing & corners won points. Seeing as I have him at £10million and with Chelsea looking like the potential title winners, I can’t see myself dropping him until the African Nations early in 2010. Even at his current price I’d consider getting him in despite his tough fixture.

Rooney (Away to Spurs) – A tough fixture, but Tottenham are yet to keep a clean sheet despite their excellent start & Rooney is the focal point of everything good United are doing at the moment. I expect a score draw at White Hart Lane and I expect Rooney to be on the score sheet. If you’re holding Rooney at a discount then you certainly should be keeping him, especially now he’s taking penalties, but if you’re buying at full price I’d say Torres has the edge for Week 4.

Adebayor (Home to Arsenal) – A home fixture against the side you left due to feeling “unappreciated” by the fans…can there be any greater motivation for a Premiership striker to score? The City crowd & players are going to be up for this game & I expect it to be a thriller with lots of goals. If you fancy Adebayor to continue his great start/get revenge against Arsenal then he’s an excellent choice, especially if you’re still holding him at £12-£13million.

Van Persie (Away to Man City) – If you’ve watched Arsenal’s games so far this season you’ll have seen that Batman’s sidekick has done everything but score. He’s taking freekicks, he’s shooting a lot, he’s involved in great build up, he’s hit the bar, the post and he’ll take penalties. It’s only a matter of time before he hits the back of the net and as I mentioned earlier I think they’ll be plenty of goals in this fixture. He’s very expensive and it’s undoubtedly a risk but he could be in for a very big week.

Kuyt (Home to Burnley) – An outside bet for Liverpool if you can’t afford Torres. Despite playing out on the right he has a knack of getting in to good positions in the box and he’ll have plenty of opportunities vs Burnley. I’m actually surprised at how expensive he is but he’s definitely got a chance of a goal and not many other managers will pick him up. It would take a bit of a hunch feeling to select him.

Jones (Home to Hull) – He's had a decent start to the season alongside Bent and as I’ve written previously I expect a good win for Sunderland. I imagine the majority of people would go with the cheaper Bent if picking a Sunderland striker so Jones (like Kuyt) could prove a good pick for someone looking to do something a bit different to claw back points from fellow managers

Defoe (Home to Man Utd) – Very tough fixture but I have to mention at least 1 Spurs player this week ;) You’ve got to admire the way he’s started the season - he’s greedy as hell but he never lets a miss affect him and it’s why he’s showing with England that he’ll score goals at any level. United haven’t been overly impressive in defence so he’ll get a sniff and in his current form he’ll probably take it.

So that completes the set for Week 4. No real shock suggestions this week, but that’s mainly because I expect the big name strikers to do the business – after all that’s why they’re big names!

I’m going to be really busy the next few days so I’m not sure I’ll get to post again until Thursday…but you have all my selection advice for Week 4 now so I expect you’ll keep the excellent comments/debate going until I return!

Cheers,
AM