Week 11 - Player Picks
Anyway, I'm having a really busy week so I haven't been able to go in depth on all my player picks this week. It can take me 2 or 3 hours to write my usual article & it's time I just don't have at the moment. However, here is my list of the 45 players I feel it's worth considering:
KEEPERS
Given - Pick of the week with a home fixture vs Burnley. Wish I'd had him last week but at least I barndoored him
Robinson - Bargain basement keeper with a home fixture, but Pompey could spoil the party as their form continues to improve.
Sorensen - An alternative to Given. Stoke face Hull who haven't scored a goal in over a month.
Kirkland - An alternative to Robinson. Wigan are far more consistent at home & Fulham don't always travel well.
DEFENDERS
Vermalen - A few quiet weeks so probably time he popped up with a goal.
Zabeleta - Home fixture to Burnley & has his place back from Richards
Gibbs - He'll replace Clichy for the next month & represents great value.
Givet - Good points scorer with a home fixture
Nelsen - Rubbish points scorer but a home fixture and cheap
Skrtel - Should be back to face Birmingham at home.
Alexander - Penalty taker. Nuff said.
Heitinga - Still returning decent points each week & playing further forward
Wilkinson - Always scores well, but beware the returning Robert Huth
Bridge - Nice home fixture to Burnley
Kyrgiakos - Will probably play with so many Liverpool defenders out & great value
MIDFIELDERS
Fabregas - The premium midfield choice at Wolves, but I don't feel you NEED to have him in away games, especially not at full price
Lampard - Back in form & will score goals no matter the opposition. I wouldn't get him in at £21m mind.
Etherington - Stoke's set piece taker & has had a couple of good games. Will cause Hull nightmares.
Rosicky - Should be back for the Wolves game
Nasri - Ditto
Benayoun - With Gerrard in trouble it'll be down to Yossi to create & he normally comes through in home games.
Hunt - No Geovanni & no Bullard means Hunt will be back on set piece duty.
Kranjcar - Dropped at Arsenal in favour of packing the center of midfield but should be back vs Sunderland
O'Hara - Set piece taker I'm holding at £5.5m. I'll be hanging on to him for some time & he's not a bad choice, even at full price
Dunn - Home fixture & he'll get forward, but Blackburn aren't in great form
Aquilani - May be forced in to the team vs Birmingham, probably on set piece duty if Gerrard is absent & very cheap.
M Petrov - If it was guaranteed that he'd start for City he'd be the first name in my midfield this week. But he's not, so at £10m+ is a big gamble
Larsson - I expect his corners & freekicks to cause Liverpool all sorts of problems
Milner - If back to fitness he's a decent pick at home to Bolton
Rodwell - Filler returning his value.
STRIKERS
Van Persie - The obvious choice. He's in fantastic form & faces Wolves. If you have him at £17m then you're laughing but I find it hard to recommend spending almost £23m on him. Arsenal don't always dominate teams away from the Emirates & at his current price you pretty much need 2 goals for him to return his value.
Torres - Tends to destroy teams like Birmingham at Anfield but doubts over his fitness mean you're taking a gamble splashing £19m on him.
Drogba - Unplayable, undroppable.
Adebayor - Been in poor form or missing completely, but should be back this weekend & he'll be looking to bully a Burnley side who hate playing away.
Rodallega - Disappointed last week but he loves to shoot & he's at home. I expect him to score
Defoe - Back from his idiotic suspension & owes the fans one as we went on to lose both league games he missed. He also will have noticed a certain Michael Owen starting to score goals, so a timely reminder to Capello could be in order.
Tevez - An alternative to Adebayor & good value.
Dindane - Points chasing at it's finest, but if you have him at £7m he's not the worst choice.
Eduardo - Should get a start with Walcott & Bendtner out, very cheap
Bellamy - Another alternative to Adebayor
Cole - Home game vs a struggling Everton
Agbonlahor - Home game to Bolton
Bent - Would love to score at Spurs, and will come up against a pretty generous defence
Saha - Facing West Ham
Benitez - Will cause Liverpool's makeshift defence problems
Beattie - Playing Hull
Diamanti - If he starts!
The obvious choice this week is to get Van Persie & Fabregas in, banking on Arsenal to wreck Wolves, but they're going to take over a third of your budget so if either don't perform then you're going to be struggling to reach the 100 point threshold. For that reason, don't feel you have to break the bank to get them both in - there's nothing wrong with spreading the money about a bit & as you can see there are loads of good striker options to choose from.
How's your team shaping up? Anyone you feel I've missed?
Cheers,
AM
39 comments:
Happy hump day, gents. Eagerly anticpating braces from Diamanti and BFAY this afternoon!!
As for your player picks, I think you've hit on a lot of my preferred selections for this week.
I'll be fielding Fabs in my MF...have him at 16.75 and, to be honest, I will usually pick a high-priced midfielder over a high-priced striker given the higher likelihood of picking up phantom points in the MF. RVP has been so consistently lethal this season...this is usually the point at which he either gets injured and misses a slew of games or picks up a silly red card for petulant behavior.
My inital decision after the weekend was to field one of the following pairs of strikers up front (alongside the immovable Drogs): Adebayor/Eduardo or Defoe/Tevez. I think Citeh will smash Burnley at home - the Clarets have conceded 17 (!!) goals on the road this yer while only finding the net twice away from Turf Moor - and the only issue that remains is K2's fitness (reports seem to indicate that both he and Toure will be back in action this wekeend). I think Defoe may erupt at home with three games of pent up anger/frustration in his boots...I'm disappointed that his price has really not fallen much at all since his suspension. Eduardo always seems to produce with SOTs when he plays up front for Arsenal...although I have a slight concern that AW could play someone else like Eboue in that role. And Tevez is attractive with the same match-up as K2 but cheaper...just really disappointed that he has not produced more this year. He seems to be more prone to gathering up assists rather than goals.
But now I'm thinking of going with a five man midfield...lots of attractive options in the 7-9 price range given the match-ups. Provisionally, I have a MF of Fabs, O'Hara, Larsson, Etherington and Hunt right now.
One player that you did not mention that I am looking at closely is the Black Samba who gets forward a la Verms and Michael Turner and also has a decent chance for a clean sheet at home to Pompey. His price has also dipped to its lowest point this season.
And my darkhorse selection (mentioned in your player picks) is Darren Bent...can really see him taking advantage of a pourous Spurs backline and finding the net a la Mrs. Redknapp, glaring at Daniel Levy in the Chairman's Box along the way.
OK!
I know this might sound dumb and immature(YFF wise) ....
But why aint anyone picking Beattie?? : )
He IS against the ever porous Hull-D !!
And I'm really heavy on Stoke,Citeh,Gunners,Blackburn,and,Pompey!!
ALL my players are from the above teams only! And FYI I have NO player above 12$$ : )
Here's The Team! :
Given
Vermaelen~Gibbs~Ben Haim
Dunn~OHara~MPet~Etherington
Beattie~EdS~Bellamy
Cheers!
Teknokrat!
: )
PS - I'll let everyone know how it pans out... : )
And my team is final.. I dont give a damn to the CL as none of my players are in it :D
So see ya guys on Saturday right after the Deadline... For the BD of course : )!!
Well, I can guarantee you that no one else will have that line-up. Good luck.
Week 11 team for now: 3-4-3
Given
Verm
Samba
Gibbs
O'Hara
A Reid
Hunt
Dunn
Drogba
H Rodd
Defoe
@DT Dude -
You make me think again... I am trying to bring in Larsson and Samba for Ben Haim and Eduardo..
Good switch / Bad Switch?
Whatdya say?? : )
Cheers!
Teknokrat!
: )
Has everyone given up on Arshavin?
Personally, I would do that switch.
I don't think you need Beattie and Etherington on the same team (even though I do think that Stoke will hammer Hull). Eduardo and Ehterington are close to the same price.
Given
Vermaelen-Gibbs-Samba
Dunn-O'Hara-MPet-Larsson
Beattie-EdS-Bellamy
I got Palacios as well. He is the same filler from the kind of Rodwell's, though he's playing home and Rodwell plays away.
I got Tevez instead of Crouch, though I'm not sure it is the right thing to do. Maybe with Defoe back, Spurs will field him with Keane, though I do believe that if Crouch plays he has a good chance to get many points.
SF
Revised team from me:
Given
Vermaelen Gibbs G. Alexander
Fabregas Benayoun Aquilani Palacios
Drogba Kuyt Eduardo
@SF: With Defoe back, Crouch is not guarantee to start. Tevez will be a better bet, but if you have enough $$$ do consider upgrading him to K2. As Tevez isn't much of a prolific goal scorer.
@Doc Teeth: I am going with the combo of Defoe/Eduardo. Just have a feeling that Eduardo will score or rake up huge amounts of phantom points. He seem to score whenever he is fit enough to play.
My current team looks like this...
Given (penalty save hero!)
Verm Gibbs Kyrgiakos
Fabregas Boateng Etherington Reid
Drogba Eduardo Defoe
D2D
What about Emerton, a cheap defender playing on the right of midfield?
Jeremy
fantasyepl.blogspot.com
What you guys think about Benni McCarthy?
Should start ?
Drake
Benni won't start and is likely to move on in January.
Jeremy
fantasyepl.blogspot.com
@Jeremy
I like Emerton, but he has a great chance of being subbed before 75th minutes...
Lots of good picks this week. So far I am looking at MPet, K2, Bellamy, Beatie, Eduardo, Emerton, Gibbs, Zab, Dunn, Reid.
Gonna be a hard choice, but I almost like K2 and Bellamy upfront with Drogs. Citeh finally have a game they can hammer a team and I think if Citeh can get a scoreline of 4-0 or 5-0 both picks will harbor great points. However too many eggs and such, I almost like Beatie or Eduardo to slot in and hope MPet gets a start.
DT -
Forget EdS... I have 9.75 to spend on a player.
He can be D/Middie/FW.. whom would you suggest??
Or should i stick with EdS?? Or do i go Diaby?? :)Or do i go Hunt??
Pls temme wat to do with those 9.75. I am satisfied with my team and would'nt mind a cheap guy also. :)
Thanks!
Cheers!
Teknokrat!
:)
I am looking for the portsmouth to trounce blackburn, they have shown a lack of spirit and their defense looked worse than manure in the champions league <---- unneccesary MU sucker punch :P
With that in mind here is the team
Given
Verms G alexander K. gibbs
Fabs O'hara Rosicky Larsson
Drogba Eduardo Dindane
I might look at lee of bolton as I feel the big upset will be Bolton> aston villa this week
Lineup so far:
Given, Verm, Gibbs, Emerton (Alexander)
Kranjcar, Dunn, MPet, O'Hara
Drogba, K2, Defoe
Questions are dropping BD Alexander for Emerton or hold at discount for better matchups. If MPet is starting (or sure to) will keep, if not other options at 10-11mil could slot in. K2 should be back but if not downgrade to Bellamy, Defoe for the sake of not scoring due to form and Red Card. Sunderland aren't the easiest to score on, so I might drop Defoe for Beatie or EdS.
@Teknokrat: your doing better than me I think you'll find your own intuition and picks are doing good. I don't really want to tell you what to do, matchup wise Hunt looks good and Nasri should be back, but EdS should start so possibly keep him.
Rodwell away at West-Ham, or Palacios at home to Sunderland?
SF
great article. had already nipped in to get gibbs y/day when the clichy news came thru. will
consider kyrgiakos, over nelsen if inj news confirms he's likely to play.
m/f is q tricky to finalise this week... q a few either too dear, not guaranteed to start, or got away games that can't be sure they'll dominate in. arsh & bfay i'm ok with, but might try to improve milner & dunn.
S.P
"...while James Milner's failure to recover from a calf injury sees John Carew return to partner Emile Heskey up front. That means Gabriel Agbonlahor will probably drop back into midfield..."
birds 2 stones 1. not looking at many points from my villa contingent then....
I'm keeping Berba in for sure (I have him at 11 and I believe there will be goals on the big game and I consider him one of my top picks in an open game)!
My team for now:
Given,
Verm, Dunne, Alexander
Fab, Benayun, Reid, Etherigton,
Drogba, Berba, Dindane
Probably lost points with Petrov today, while Diamanti is benched until he quits smoking or something. I'll say it again -- Hammers (except AD) and Villa are FF poison.
Lineup so far...
Given (had all season)
Verm (since week 2)
Wilko (Since last week)
Alexander (Since last week)
A Reid (BDed)
Etherington (had last week)
Dempsey (BDed, but almost picked him last week)
O'hara (BDed)
Drogs (All season)
Dindane (BDed, but was really considering a a Pompey striker for this week before his hatty)
RVP (was able to just afford full-priced RVP)
May switch Dindane and RVP to K2 and someone or dump Dempsey, but Demps is in decent form.
Might not change at all...
P.S. What does "unplayable" mean in English English. In American English if you say Drogba is simply unplayable, you are telling someone not to choose him.
@stlram01: When AM says Drogba is "unplayable," he's indicating that in the real world, Drogba is impossible to play/defend against successfully. That statement's had to be made so often that I think it's just dwindled to the one word.
why is everyone picking eduardo? yes he is a great player, and bendtner is injured, but he is far from guaranteed a start!
wenger is more than likely to start with the following team:
almunia
sagna - vermaelen - gallas - gibbs
diaby - song - fabregas - nasri (or rosicky)
arshavin
van persie
and i'd put money on that being the line up
i'd much rather go for a guaranteed starter, thats why ive gone for rodallega for wigan (lots of shots on goal etc)
team as it stands for this weekend:
robinson
verm - sonko - givet
fabregas - mokoena - benayoun - diaby
drogba - van persie - rodallega
@rwlwhite
I don't enjoy being anal, but you're comment on Wenger's team selection and the corresponding line-up just sticks out like a sore thumb. While you may have a point that Nasri and/or Rosicky are more likely to start against Wolves than Eduardo (who may as well start instead of RVP, tho seeing todays early sub in CL it's unlikely), that formation couldn't be more wrong. That's because Arsenal have played the 4-3-3 every single time this season, including pre-season friendlies. Maybe you just haven't seen them play?
Lucas/Lennon or Nasri/Benayoun?
JT8
Lennon's injured so i guess Lucas/S.W.Phillips or Nasri/benayoun?
JT8
If you had Young and Agbon then you're a winner. 20 points after missing a peno! FU AY. Yes I'm bitter; I had Diam, Milner, Cuellar, Sidwell for a grand total of 0.50 on Wed. Zola is lucky he was such a great player otherwise I'd put the hex on him.
@rwlwhite - like MLowrey I see your point, but that lineup you list is pretty much the exact lineup from their match against Lyon (aside from Sagna), so pretty much guaranteed it won't be the same at the weekend. I think Eduardo is getting a lot of mention because he's cheap, good, and very good chance of starting.. I would keep an eye out for Sonko not starting as he hasn't the past two matches.
After yesterdays game Wenger said the following at the press conference "Eduardo is a super player. I didn't start him tonight because he played to games against Liverpool and Tottenham so I wanted to give him a breather. But Eduardo is a fantastic striker"
So taking from that he's likely to start him, seeing as Nasri played the full game and might not be ready for so many minutes in such quick succession. Another player in direct competition with Dudu would of course be Rosicky.
Picking an Arsenal middie/forward is a risk, not as risky as some other big teams mind you, but there are still always two places up for grabs and quite a few possible quality selections available. I'm thinking Eduardo will start since Sicky just got his first 25 mins after a few games and I'm not certain of the extent of his knee niggle that kept him out for a couple of weeks, so he might be kept safe.
Aquilani or Babel?? What would be the right pick between the two??
@rsxcake - I'd say none. I'm really not a fan of babel. He's a terrible player, and I doubt he's starting. He might ofcourse...
And Aquilani is simply not 100% fit.
MLowrey
My point was not the formation, that is simply how i ended up writing the player's names.
I agree Eduardo is a fantastic player, but I just cannot see Wenger dropping one of Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin or van Persie for him just yet.
song - has been our only real defensive midfielder this season
diaby - has had his moments of weakness but his ball winning capabilities really complement fabregas as he can be the link between defence/midfield/attack
fabregas - never gonna be dropped
arshavin - again, great with the ball, picked out 3 superb passes on wednesday, not getting dropped
van persie - scoring plenty, not leaving the starting line-up
nasri/rosicky/whoever is fit - this is the only place that is not certain, but I feel on his performance on wed, he has to be picked.
whether wenger plays 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1 or 4-3-3, I just can't see eduardo starting just yet.
In fact, to show how confident i am of that, i'm going to choose nasri in my midfield for this weekend!
first time poster...thoughts on this team?
Given
Alexander - Gibbs - Zabaleta
Etherington - O'Hara - Benayoun - Hunt
Drogs - Rodallega - Adebayor
do i need a bigger midfielder?
my team: given
heitinga,alexander,shawcross
o'hara,s.petrov,hunt,krancjar,benayoun
drogba,rodallega.what you think?
well I'm thrilled about my strikers:
Drogba Bent Defoe -- one who is solid goal and 2 who have something to prove this week
in midfield: Ballack, Joe Cole, O'Hara-- if they let Coley off the bench this week, I think that'll be great
Defense I have Verms & K Gibbs--hopefully they will focus the whole game (not leak near the end, like in Champs Lge)--and the last 2 slots are a question.
Right now I have Boyce from Wigan and Kyrgl (thnx to AM's suggestion).
What do u guys think of Boyce vs Wilkinson or Nelsen (both of whom AM had considered. I find it hard to take a Blackburn guy as poor as they've been. & AM mentions the risk on Wilky, since Huth shld be back. Wigan at least are home this week. Thoughts?
Sky Sports predicted line-up: Wolves v Arsenal
Arsenal: Almunia, Gibbs, Gallas, Vermaelen, Sagna, Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Arshavin, Nasri, Van Persie
NB: No Eduardo
Post a Comment