Week 7 - Match Previews
If you have any team news you have may contridict these starting XIs then please post them up in the comments section below:-
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Ricketts, Knight, Cahill, Samuel, Muamba, Gardner, Cohen, Taylor, Davies, Klasnic
Tottenham: Cudicini, Corluka, Bassong, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, Jenas, Keane, Crouch
Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Carlisle, Caldwell, Jordan, Alexander, Blake, Elliott, Gudjonsson, Nugent, Fletcher
Birmingham: Hart, Carr, R Johnson, Dann, Vignal, Ferguson, Tainio, Fahey, Larsson, Bowyer, O’Connor
Hull: Myhill, McShane, Mouyokolo, Sonko, Dawson, Boateng, Kilbane, Barmby, Hunt, Geovanni, Vennegoor of Hesselink
Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Thomas, Diame, Scharner, N’Zogbia, Scotland, Rodallega
Man Utd: Foster, O’Shea, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Scholes, Fletcher, Nani, Park, Berbatov, Rooney
Sunderland: Gordon, Da Silva, Mensah, Turner, Malbranque, Cattermole, Cana, Richardson, Reid, Jones, Bent
Wolves: Hennessey, Stearman, Berra, Mancienne, Elokobi, Edwards, Henry, Jarvis, Kightly, Keogh, Doyle
Portsmouth: James, Vanden Borre, Kaboul, Ben Haim, Belhadj, Mokoena, Brown, O’Hara, Boateng, Smith, Dindane
Arsenal: Mannone, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Song, Fabregas, Diaby, Bendtner, Arshavin, Van Persie
Blackburn: Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Chimbonda, Andrews, Nzonzi, Diouf, Dunn, Pedersen, Di Santo
Chelsea: Hillario, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Cole, Ballack, Essien, Malouda, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Benayoun, Gerrard, Torres
Everton: Howard, Heitinga, Hibbert, Distin, Baines, Osman, Rodwell, Cahill, Billy, Fellaini, Saha
Stoke: Sorensen, Huth, Shawcross, Faye, Collins, Delap, Whelan, Whitehead, Lawrence, Beattie, Kitson
West Ham: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Illunga, Parker, Noble, Behrami, Jimenez, Diamanti, Cole
Fulham: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Murphy, Gera, Dempsey, Etuhu, Zamora, Johnson
Aston Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Petrov, Sidwell, Milner, Young, Agbonlahor, Carew.
Man City: Given, Zabaleta, Toure, Lescott, Bridge, Barry, De Jong, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Tevez, Adebayor
These predicted line-ups are only for a guide & remember...if in doubt, go with the safer option & pick someone you know will play.
Good luck for this week & for The Blog Cup - any last minute team news will be posted, otherwise i'll be be back to post my team up at 12:01 tomorrow lunchtime!
Cheers,
AM
46 comments:
I know it's a cup week and folks are keeping their hands closer to their chests but here is my line-up at present:
Given
Verms Heitinga Evra
Lennon Billy Kightly O'Hara Arshavin
Drogba Rooney
Contemplating a possible shift of Evra/Kightly for O'Shea/Hunt. But I really rate Kightly very highly...I think he is going to emerge as an even better value pick than O'Hara (who, like AM, I have at 4.2 million).
I'm concerned that Arsh could be subbed for Theo Walcott at about the 62nd minute, especially if the Gunners have the game in hand by halftime. Although if I'm Wenger, why risk Theo before the international break? Give him another two weeks to rest up in my book.
Very interested/surprised by AM not including one Spurs player amongst his final candidates. No Lennon or Crouch?
You know who has been surprisingly (maybe that's not the right word - I mean that he has done so under my radar) consistent and productive this year? Geovanni. He blew up a la Zaki at the beginning of last season and then disappeared into obscurity (Phil Brown wasn't even starting him in the second halfof the season). He has returned just about ten points for each game this season...will the Tigers actually show up and play for their fans (and manager?) this weekend at the KC?
Yahoo/Europsport's expected lineup shows Neville starting in place of O'Shea. Are those ever right, or are they done by the same guy who does the Fantasist/Choose 'Em or Lose 'Em nonsense?
I think I'll trust AM unless someone has heard something.
I would be nervous about O'Shea...I have been burned by Sir Alex in the past when I have selected him. Seems like Neville's nastiness would play well against Sunderland's in former frontline fire power, no?
There seems to be a lot of sites saying that Billy will not start for the Toffees. What to do, What to do....
I have to say - and lots of posters here seem to be picking Everton as the flavor of the month - I hve been totally unimpressed with the Toffeess. I have watched their games against Fulham and Pompey and I don't think they have that balance in midfield that gives them protection at the back...they played a 4-5-1 against woeful Pompey and yet they were really sloppy defensively at times (Pompey should've/could've won that game). They don't look particularly difficult to breakdown or particularly difficult to beat in my opinion. Stoke's away record is poor, mind you...I see a low scoring game, 0-0 or 1-1.
Sonko is a doubt also. More worrying is that there is no defender in his price range so i have to downgrade elsewhere to replace him.
Potter.. no Everton players in my squad for that very reason. Not really impressed with them. Didnt really see the euro match though.. was watching my own team.
I'd be shocked if Fergie threw Neville in at right back vs an in form Andy Reid. I'm confident O'Shea will start.
AM
Hi All need help
Team 1
Myhill
Vermalen Hertinga Sonko
Arshavin/Fab Milner Billy O Hara
Drogba Torres RVP
or
Given
Vermalen Hertinga sonko
Fab Milner Arshavin Billy/ohara
Drogs Torres Tuncay
Please help, head melted
Fancy Arsenal big time , could have rooney in team 1 ,but not gone on it
Wat you think
Depends on whether Given is your SK. Team1 will def outscore Team2 for this week, but Given will give you more points than Myhill/Robinson/Gordon in the long run.
Cheers
Given is my season keeper at moment , but should i gamble for 1 week
sonko doubtful??
yeah! y sonko is doubtful?
My team for now
Given
Vermaelan Heitinga Sonko
Lennon Jarvis Arsh Mokoena
Torres Drogba Adebayor
what do you think? I wanted to switch
Jarvis => Kightly
Adebayor => RVP
however, if i choose RVP, need to drop arsh and go for ohara and bily..
Appreciate your comments
Paul Scharner anyone? Considering he will be playing attacking midfielder and take only a defender slot. A bit expensive tho. Opinions?
@teeth - Geo has quietly been one of the most consistent fantasy players this year, especially given the fact that he plays for Hull and still manages to produce.
Caldwell could be worth a look for 6.06, if you need a cheap defender. Burnley's skipper and reported that he's back to full fitness and set to start against B'ham. or Mancienne home to Portsmouth (i can't believe they're having trouble getting paid)
With Yobo supposedly out maybe Heitinga shifts to center back and therefore less value?
so here's my final team..
myhill
vermaelen, bassong, sonko,
fabregas, mokoena, gerrard,brown
drogba, van persie, saha
i know it's a very odd team with 2 portsmouth midfielders but i've got a kind of a hunch that portsmouth are gonna get their first win this week end with one of these 2 MFs ;)
besides i get to claim gerrard , fabregas , saha and Vpersie!!!
so dropped rooney and lennon :(
and yes... TUNCAY
i'm finally freed from the tuncay disaster !!!!!!
yet i still feel insure about my current team but i've had a real headache deciding whom to pick ... so it won't change...
gambling much on the gunners this time!!!
masterP,
gunner 4 lyfe
still happy with:
jensen
verm, bass, tinga
arsh,kight,o'hara,bily
drog,torres,rooney
kind of scared when I see
ABOUT TO SELL:
Keane, Giggs,Lennon,Given
ok.. i change my team AGAIN..
S. Given
T.Vermaelen J.Heitinga G.Alexander
Lennon O'Hara Bilyaletdinov Kightly
Torres Drogba RVP
what do u think??
my team
myhill
verm, heiting,oshea
lennon,billy, giggs, brown
drog, roo, RVP
is it ok already?
i put my hope into Lennon again. i think he can shake the game with bolton this week. my team for week 7 :
Given
Verma Hetinga Alexander
Bily O'hara Kightly Lennon
Rodallega RVP Rooney
Im just little confused about RVP and Rodallega. I think Roda is good enough and he's play almost full in every game of Wigan this season. But about RVP ... i buy him at 18.x, very high and risky. Maybe i will exchange him with Saha/Arshavin and switch Bily for a better player in midfield.
AM/ TOFFEEDAVE,
this is your chance and everyone else's chance to pass me up. i am 21, right now, but will be teaching english, down here in brasil, on saturday afternoons. so i will miss every saturday game, except the real early ones, which won't be updated on yahoo by the time i start.
the consequences are that i don't think i will be able to barndoor people on saturdays. i am going to sink, in all of my leagues, like the titanic.
i will have to change tactics and go with season keepers. i already have given, verm., heit., ohara, drogba, rooney at discounts.
so i hope you guys and girls, all do well, but not well enough to pass me up!
My two cents. First, I don't have any guts.
Last week I got burned on a hunch, Rosicky, and got two DNP 0"s from Gomez and Richards, and a 0 from Rooney. Still managed 87.5 pts and am 1739 overall and 17 in group 2.
This week I still wanted to take Rosicky. But with Bendtner back and Walcott clamoring for time, Arsenal picks are just too risky. So good bye Rosicky, hello safe pick Hunt. I was also thinking of swapping Lennon for Arshavin, but didn't same reason.
Good bye Gomez, hello, somewhat risky Billy/Blini who seems to be the flavor of the week. I think Kightly is more of a sure thing to start, but I was shy .3 pts to pick him, otherwise I would have. This is my only chance of getting another DNP 0. But the physioroom, and other sites has Pienaar as TBC and Rodwell also injured, so I am figuring that Everton's midfield is stretched thin and Blini has to get the start.
So I will have, final selection:
Given
Verm Heitenga Bassong
Lennon Hunt Blini O'Hara
Drogba/Torres/Rooney.
This is about as vanilla and safe as I could play it. Because of the cup thing I have sought to keep risk to a minimum. I have a feeling the barn door might be wide open after the weekend.
chris m
velvet underground allstars
Week 7 team
Myhill
Vermaelen O´Shea Heitinga
Fabregas Arshavin O´Hara Lennon
Saha R.Keane Crouch
V.U.A -
Very vanilla but I think in the end you will be happy. After all was said and done I've done something that I've promised I wouldn't do. I'm rolling the dice, I'm going all in! I'm throwing away my longer season plans and going for gusto. So away we go:
Keeper
Hennessy: I had Given all week but I looked at the match up I don't love Man City away at Villa and I think that Villa will score and possibly win that game, while I believe Pompey must be in shambles after this week worth of news. So I go with Hennessy to save some units and get a possible W and CS. It's all about the points baby I'm going for the cup!
Defenders
Verm - Season keeper and the one that I've gotten right this season I've had him on my team since the beginning and feel darn good about it.
Alexander - Liking this pick quite a bit, he burned me in the first week but I think my ride on the karma train is about to head into the station. PK Goal for Alexander this week... Please?
Heitinga - Missed out on him preupdate which is a shame but I like him enough to buy him full price this week especially with the news that Yobo is injured.
Middies - A lot a of gambling going on here...
Bily - The flavor of the week is right there on my team for me, I'm feeling at least a two assist performance for the guy with the tough name to spell. I'm thinking one to Saha and possibly one to Cahill, although I would love to see him put one through Sorenson...
Kightly - Mmmmm these weekly flavors are delicious Pompey in shambles 19 assists last season and Pompey is definitetly a Champions league team
Moks - Sold on Tuncay for this enabler but if you look at his weekly scoring he has producing his value...
Arshavin - Prossibly my biggest gamble, I hope he maintains his form from the Championship game midweek
Strikers
Drogba - The first week I have been tempted to sell, I think there are better options this week Saha, Crouch, Diamanti, but I have him at a 3 unit discount so it's crazy to sell him although I'm tempted
Rooney - This guy just has to get back on track right? Everything goes through Rooney...
Van Persie - My first time with Robin. I hope I'm not disappointed by having this brilliant striker...
What's all this Everton bashing I'm reading here? They are rock solid at the back, Saha's playing like he hasn't in years, Cahill's in great form and they've got the workhorses like Osman and Hibbert to do the dirty work. I think they're going to put a hurt on Stoke and it could be a big one. Sure Kitson's been scoring goals lately but it's time for him to go back to sleep for another year and a half. This is a must-win for Everton and DM wins must-win games.
BTW, Everton lead this matchup 52-27-27, according to soccerbase.com.
Here's my final lineup (barring any late news and for informational purposes only, not reccomendations):
Jensen
Heitinga / Distin / Vermaelen
O'Hara / Fabregas / Bily / Ballack
(stuck again this week with 11 bucks to pay for a midfielder and they all stink at that price, chose Ballack only b/c I want to have a dog in that race)
Drogba / Diamante / Rooney
I will offer this one bit of advice -- put your best XI on the pitch and the Blog Cup will take care of itself.
Good luck to all.
VUA - I would swap out Bassng for Alexander...he is listed as a defender for Burnley but is really a MF and takes penalties. Last year he had 13 goals for the Clarets (Second on the team) and started every single game of the season. Much better chance for a cena sheet and a better threat going forward for around the same price.
Hinrik - I don't like your team, mate...too Spurs heavy (that's coming from a Spurs fan!) and you shouldn't be fielding both Arshavin and Fabregas. Diversify, bringing in Hunt/Geovanni and Rooney if you can afford him.
billthegrunt - funny how you just rattled off a slew of Toffee players that you love and you're suiting up none of them. I agree with the earlier posts re: Everton - they have looked shaky.
@ DB You really are rolling the dice. Hennessy for Given I really question. I have Given at his discount original price and will most likely keep him all year. Look at his total points.
Your midfield has me trembling. Blini/kightly may not start, I am looking to barn door kightly if he has a big game. Moks is filler. Arshavin I stand by my comments above. He has been fat and out of shape, and Walcott may sub for him at any time.
I have Torres rather than RVP otherwise the same.
@DT I don't know Alexender. And I just wouldn't take a Burnley defender, who knows what will happen to them,
Have fun.
Chris M - Burnley has only conceded one goal at home this year (that includes a game aainst mighty Man United)! Tough to score on at home!!
@Djimi Jihad
Three from any one side is a lot for me. And two Toffees in the back is a considerable risk but one that's worth taking this week. As for Hibbert and Osman, they're just not good YFF players, unfortunately. But neither are John Terry and Jamie Carragher.
Good luck this weekend.
For anyone questioning the predicted line-ups (and AM does an excellent job compiling them), the Yahoo Premier League site is absolute rubbish. A lot of their picks are wrong and I can't make sense of where they get their line-up information (or the Fantisist for that matter). If you want closer to accurate information on line-ups I suggest Skysports.com or TheGuardian.co.uk These have been very helpful this season so far with fewer mistakes than Yahoo.
Going with Given, Verm, O'Shea, Bassong, Lennon, Hunt, O'Hara, Billy/Knightly (based on starting), Torres, Drogba, Rooney.
I don't see how you can drop Torres if you have him at 15-16mil, hes a season keeper, highest goal scorer thus far and absolutely capable of scoring against any team.
Good luck to all! I hope my fever doesn't keep me from being able to get up to watch the games :(
@kellz-yahoo has fallen down a steep hill.has anyone been to the blog lately? more spam than comments.
-agree on Torres, same with Drogba. had hunt&ohara(who i've had for a bit), changed to kightly&elliot instead. kightly's a risk of not starting, but was hoping to be in on the potential of wolves destroying pompey considering the shit that's going down with $$$. same reason i jumped off o'hara (which is probly stoopid). i'm banking on burnley doing well home to a chucholess b'ham, with their quality record at home. so i'm also in with eliot, hope for a pk alexander, with the beast in goal)
and back to lennon from arshavin, takin' the chance on bily (even if he comes on as a sub, doesn't have to do much to redeem his 4.71 value)
and drog,torres,rooney(he's cheap for him, has a good schedule,etc.)others discount
good luck in the cup.
@Kellz: Skysports.com started off the season with a howler. They listed Daniel Agger as starting for Liverpool despite the "Possible starting XIs" section being immediately preceded by a sentence saying he'd be out for weeks. Apparently they don't even read their own previews. Most predicted line-ups out there seem to be determined by a monkey with a dartboard (except the ones by our AM, whom I trust implicitly :)).
FYI, I've finally jumped off the Tuncay train (someday we'll find out Pulis was just punking us; looks like Yahoo had Tuncay's value right the first time). I've picked up RvP, but replacing a 1.00 striker with a 18.79 striker is causing me some pain. Too bad I didn't pull the trigger during the last BD, which would've made my life easier right now. Sadly I'm still fiddling (yes, I know: that way lies madness or at least bitter regrets).
arghhh!!.. these rumors giving me headache..
can anyone confirm about walcott, sonko, billy and kightly starting..
btw my lineup.. (locked and ready to go)..
myhill
verm, sonko, heiti
fab, billy, o'hara, kightly
drog, rvp, roon
last minute changes..
walcott -> kightly, bass -> heiti..
good luck all with the blog league cup.. cheerssss!!!...
Max..
Given
Verm, Heitinga, Evra
Hara, Milner, Fabregas, Hunt
Drogba, *Tuncay*, Torres
McDamian said,
given
milner cohen fab m.brown
drogba rooney tevez
any comments....
Derek said,
given
vermalean heitinga bassong
milner fab cohen m.brown
drogba rooney tevez
any comments...
Dropping YOSSI for ELLIOT even with the 4 pt disc. Tough match up and not sure he's going to play. Any thoughts?
No doubt there is a pattern here - almost each and every one of the teams posted include Vermaelen and Heitinga in defence. The only question is - whom to put besides them? So I thought I was pretty sure my team will stay as it is (not because I like it, but because it was the best I thought I could do), and then I saw a lot of people considering Alexander in defence. And then I wondered - should I replace Bassong?
It is a problem, because it is a sort of a coin toss. Personally, outside of YFF, I think they both are bad. Really. Bassong tends to tackle a lot, while Alexander is a midfilder like Almunia is a goalkeeper (oh, wait a minute...). Bassong still carries in his average week 1, and since then he got no more then 6.5 points a match, and this match was with a CS. And Alexander didn't have good weeks, beside of week 2 (on week 5 he got a goal and only 3.5 phantom points). And I really doubt anyone should count a player just because he takes PK - how often do we see those?
I'm going with Bassong. I don't know why. I hope he'll do well, he's the only Spur in my team (curse you, Defoe's hand!). What I hope the most is that for next week I'll find a better option. Looking at both Burnley's and Tottenham's defences, they both can concede, so it really is a matter of luck...
So I wish you all (actually only those who are far away from me in the rankings) a fortunate weekend.
SF
o'shea/hunt/lennon/tuncay (at 1)
vs.
sonko/bili/kightly/rooney
suggestions?
Litle trivia question:
66 games had been played in this year EPL. Do you now how many draws was in this 66 games?
Find the answer. Number is unbelivible.
Only 4! It really is quite amazing...
SF
My team been the same since last week which is pretty shocking for me.
Given
Verm, Heiti, [hunch]
O'hara, Hunt, Lennon, Cesc
Drogs, Tuncay, Rooney
Last week i started taking a chance with a defender each week (only spot i had a player i could live with dropping). Worked out last week, even though i had a horrid week (thanks Rooney).
Is Sonko (4.40) injured?
looks like my hunch for berbatov over rooney was right!
So will o'hara get to play in week 8?
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