Week 2 - Player Picks

I'm really struggling for time this week due to work commitments, so for now I've decided to do a quick analysis of the fixtures and just list my player recommendations. If I get time in the next 48 hours I'll try to expand on my suggestions as I usually do, but it might not happen (it happened!)

Firstly, how lucky are Spurs to still be in the Young Boys tie? The pitch wasn't great, but that first 30 minutes was as bad as I've seen us under Redknapp & it could've been 5-1 before Pav made it 3-2. We definitely have a chance now it's back at WHL, but I'm not counting my chickens after that performance.

Secondly, we have some strange goings-on over at Yahoo, as some points have disappeared from the game (Wigan & Blackpool) affecting weekly totals and player prices. I'm hoping they sort this out asap, but at least they've been good at adding new players this week - Balotelli on there already, plus the Milner/Ireland swap. By the way, does anyone think Villa have got a fantastic deal out of that move? £20m AND Stephen Ireland for James Milner!? I honestly don't think there's a big difference between the two players, so it's absolutely crazy business in my opinion.

Thirdly, some injury news has surfaced - Kolorov (ankle), Nasri (knee), Modric (groin injury caused by stupid plastic pitch), Defoe (groin injury caused by stupid plastic pitch) are all set to miss this weekend's fixtures, while Boateng is again doubtful. Still unsure on Van Persie & Fabregas, but if they're both fit then you have to be tempted.

Now fixtures, and the Week 2 Fixtures can be viewed here, and you will see that it's a single week for all teams. For me, the stand-out fixtures are Arsenal home to Blackpool and Chelsea away at Wigan - they could both end up as thrashings, which is why the RvP and Fabs news will be so important. I also fancy Everton to put last week's defeat behind them at Goodison with a victory over Wolves (sorry Luke!). Wolves were decent last weekend but they're rarely good away (unless they play Spurs), so the Toffees should be back on track.

It was of course Blackburn who upset Everton last week, but they're another side that struggle on the road so I think Birmingham could be a good bet to notch their first win, while Manchester Utd have not enjoyed great times at Fulham in seasons gone by, but with Scholes pulling the strings again I think they'll win at Craven Cottage.

We then come to a bunch of "tough to call" games. Sunderland will be favourites to win at West Brom, but I think the home support could see the Baggies through to a draw and I think a similar thing could happen at St James' Park - 50,000 Newcastle fans should ensure Aston Villa find it tough going. I just don't know what's going to happen between Stoke and Tottenham, so I'll mostly be avoiding that one, while West Ham have their first must-win game of the season at home to Bolton, where again I can't really tip either side (although I predict it's unlikely to be a classic). One game I am looking forward to is Man City v Liverpool on Monday night, but I think we could see a lot of draws this week.

With that in mind, here are my player lists (huge thanks to Hans India for his assistance)...

KEEPERS
Howard
Foster
Jussi
Almunia
Carson

Tim Howard at home to Wolves seems like the most solid pick this week, despite his blunder last weekend, Everton are very good at home, although I also like Ben Foster with vs Blackburn - Birmingham are pretty decent defensively and Blackburn don't score many away, so if you want to save a few quid then he could be your man over THo.

Jussi always makes saves, racked up the points last week and will have a chance of doing well at West Ham, while Scott Carson is the bargain pick of the week and I'm actually considering him at home to Sunderland (despite what happened with Kirkland last weekend) to spend extra on Chelsea & Arsenal players.

Almunia is in there because he faces Blackpool, but you'd need to be brave to spend £9m on a keeper who concedes from almost every shot he faces.

DEFENDERS
Bale
Vermaelen
Ivanovic/Ferreira
Djourou
Zabaleta/Richards/Boateng
Agger
Onuoha
O'Shea
Steinsson
C.Clark
Faubert
Carr
Bassong
Enrique
Heitinga
P.Jones
Van Damme

Bale is probably going to stay in my team for the season unless he gets injured - 18.5 points without a goal or even a SOT shows what he's capable of in his left wing role, but if you don't want  to (or can't) stretch that far then Vermaelen is the next best bet at home to Blackpool. He may be costly for a defender but he looks dangerous at every set piece, will get the odd chance to shoot from free-kicks and like Bale has the bonus possibility of clean sheet points every week.

Wenger may be forced to partner Verm with Djourou, who has recovered from injury, and if that's the case then he's a real option...as is Ferreira, provided we can get news that he'll start, but it's possible Ivanovic takes his place to combat Wigan's height from set pieces.

Kolorov is out and Boateng is still struggling, so Zabaleta and Richards are both reasonably priced for City's game vs Liverpool, as is Agger although I've now read he may be out with concussion suffered vs Arsenal so Skrtel is an alternative. O'Shea, Steinsson & Onuoha are all priced between 6-8 and represent decent value and I'll throw Heitinga in with them - he didn't start last weekend but I think he'll be back after Everton's defeat.

If you're looking for bargains then there are two stand-out options, Stephen Carr thanks to his horror show at Sunderland and Julian Faubert who may even line-up on the wing for West Ham's game at home to Bolton - both priced under 5. Clark, Bassong, Enrique, Jones & Van Damme are others worth taking a look at if you want to do something a bit different.

MIDFIELDERS
Malouda
Arteta
Fabregas/Arshavin
A.Young
Lampard
Adam
Dorrans
D.Jones
Silva
M.Petrov
Walcott
Albrighton
Etherington
Cahill
Larsson
Holden
Riveros
Ireland
Scholes
Rodwell

Malouda is pretty much a "must have" at Wigan and I really want Arteta at home to Wolves but it's tough finding the money when you already have other big names at discount. Ashley Young is being deployed as a support-striker by Villa's caretaker manager and should find plenty of space at Newcastle for crosses and shots, so I'm looking at him as a possible alternative to Arteta/Fabregas.

Wenger is still being coy about Cesc (& RvP) so I'm worried about spending that sort of money for a player who may only get 30 minutes, but then I thought that about Drogba last week! One person getting very little attention is Frank Lampard, but with Chelsea facing Wigan I could easily see a couple goals for him.

Adam, Dorrans, Jones & Silva are an interesting and useful quartet - affordable, guaranteed to start and all capable of good points, so a couple of them could allow you the spare funds to fit in more premium picks. Martin Petrov facing West Ham shouldn't be ignored, Etherington is consistent, Walcott will probably start after Arsenal disappointed at Liverpool, Albrighton should continue after two lively performances, while Tim Cahill faces Wolves and he won't get much cheaper than 8.5.

Larsson, Holden, Riveros, Ireland, Scholes & Rodwell are outsides bets if you're looking for some players that not many other managers will pick up...I have a real hunch on Riveros this week, but can't currently fit him in.

STRIKERS
Drogba
Van Persie
Chamakh
Berbatov
Saha
Carew
Carroll
Bent
Balotelli
Elmander
Zigic/Derbyshire
Kalinic

Drogba.

2nd Paragrah - after him you need to decide if you want to risk RvP. If you don't then Chamakh has to be considered as the next best pick at home to Blackpool. Berbatov will be on a high after his goal last Monday, Saha will want to break his duck for the season vs Wolves and Carew will get chances at Newcastle. At the same time, the Geordie's Andy Carroll looked semi-dangerous vs Man Utd so isn't the worst choice in the same game.

Bent will fancy his chances at West Brom, Balotelli got his Man City career off to a flyer last night but picked up a knock so look for last minute team news (tough when the game isn't till Monday night) and Elmander is beginning to look like a £10m striker & plays at West Ham. Zigic and Kalinic are cheap options to fill a space and you never know, they may even surprise you!

So that's it for now, but as I said I'll look to add some analysis for each position over the next couple of days (done!). Please head over to our Player Picks Poll to vote towards the AM Blog Team for Week 2.

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/497413/

We will try to fit as many of the top voted players in as possible, but obviously some of the most expensive will have to be left out as we only have £100m to spend.

Please let me know if there's anyone I've missed! How's your team looking?

Cheers,
AM

p.s. We have a new Yahoo Fantasy Football resource available which has been developed by a couple of blog readers based in Turkey, Alper & İsmail.....

Football Funtasy 
http://www.footballfuntasy.com/

It's recommended reading, so please go take a look!