Wednesday 29 September 2010

Week 7 - Player Picks

Week 6 turned out to be completely unpredictable - the huge number of shock results meant a lot of low weekly totals and I know everyone will be keen to bounce back by breaking 100, but having looked at the fixtures for Week 7 it ain't gonna be easy.

When I analyse the fixtures each week I look at form, the premier league table, make my predictions for each game based on this data (and my gut feeling) and separate the stand-out fixtures (predicted easy wins) from those I think could go either way - nice and simple.

However, when analysing the fixtures forthcoming weekend I found almost every game incredibly difficult to predict with many matches likely to be close battles and probably low-scoring ones at that. It makes it slightly trickier to recommend players when you're not sure which teams are set for wins/clean sheets etc and I certainly won't be putting an accumulator on this weekend!

The only real stand-out fixture is Manchester City vs Newcastle, with City on a high after their fantastic win over Chelsea. Saying that, Newcastle have been far from useless this season with great victories at Everton and the thumping of Aston Villa, so it won't be easy for them. Liverpool v Blackpool would've been a banker home win when the fixtures were released back in the summer, but the Reds are really struggling at the moment and Blackpool have surprised us all. I still think Hodgson's men will have too much for Holloway's, but as I said earlier I'm certainly not putting money on it.

The biggest game of the weekend is Chelsea v Arsenal, 1st vs 3rd, with both sides looking to bounce back from defeats. Despite Chelsea's excellent record vs the Gunners it certainly isn't going to be a walk-over, but I do wonder how an Arsenal defence who can concede 3 goals vs West Brom are going to cope with attacking trio of Drogba/Malouda/Anelka as well as Essien/Terry/Ivanovic/Alex at set pieces. I think it'll be a narrow home win.

Manchester United have been consistent away from home - draw at Fulham, draw at Everton, draw at Bolton. Sunderland outplayed Liverpool last weekend and Steve Bruce will be relishing the chance to do battle with his old boss so I could quite easily see that one being another draw for Sir Alex. Tottenham and Aston Villa have both had inconsistent starts to the season and I can't tip Spurs after a Champions League game so I'll have to say draw too.

Stoke vs Blackburn will be scrappy & could go either way, Wigan v Wolves will be tight, as will West Brom v Bolton with both sides playing well. West Ham will be on a high after their first win last weekend and they face a Fulham side with no strikers, but Mark Hughes will have Fulham set up to combat that and it's yet another game which I can see ending all square. To round things off, Birmingham v Everton...draw.

See what I mean? Loads of tight games really do make it difficult, but we've all got to pick a team so I've compiled my player recommendations below...

KEEPERS
Hart
Reina
Foster
Carson
Green

There's quite a nice variety when it comes to goalkeepers this week. Joe Hart is too expensive at his current price of almost 12 but I know many of you have kept the faith for a number of weeks so probably hold him at around 8. You're very lucky if you do, because Newcastle at home gives him another great chance of a clean sheet.

Pepe Reina hit negative points for the 3rd time this season vs Sunderland but is tempting priced under 9 with a home game vs Blackpool and Ben Foster has been in good form all season. Birmingham have not lost at home for 12-months so I'm probably going to be hanging on to him for the third week in a row.

Two much maligned (former?) England keepers complete the list - Scott Carson has been solid for West Brom and I can't see Bolton going goal-crazy, while Rob Green returned to form vs Spurs and faces a Fulham side who don't actually have any strikers available. It's slightly risky, but he was under £5m on the barndoor so perhaps you'll feel it's worth it.

DEFENDERS
Bale
Kompany
Salcido
O'Shea
Carr
Jara
Skrtel
Jacobson
P.Jones
Collins
Coleman
Gohouri
Berra
Boateng

Opinions are understandably split on Bale, but he has a home game and should be back on the left wing so I'm set to give him another week. Consecutive sub-10 point weeks will give me something to think about and if there's a suggestion he'll be shifted to left back permanently to accommodate Modric and VDV then it's definitely time to drop him. We'll see how this one pans-out.

Kompany continues to put up fantastic points for City and attacking fullback Salcido has made an exciting start to his career in England. If I am going to get rid of Bale in the near future then I could be looking at a back 3 of Salcido, Bosingwa, Boateng/Kolorov once the latter three return from injury, and I'd advise you to do something similar when the time comes ;). O'Shea is the token Man United defender and Ferreira would be Chelsea's, but it appears Ivanovic is back in favour.

Carr, Jara and Skrtel are all around 7 and have winnable home games/clean sheet chances for Birmingham, West Brom & Liverpool respectively, with Jacobson the bargain of the week as a guaranteed starter at home for West Ham at under £5m. Blackburn's Phil Jones keeps putting up the points in midfield, Danny Collins is the cheapest Stoke defender (assuming Faye returns for Wilkinson) and Seamus Coleman is likely to continue as Everton's right-back ahead of Tony Hibbert.

I could easily see Wigan v Wolves being 0-0 so if you're desperately scrambling around for cheap defenders you could do a lot worse than taking either Gohouri or Berra in that fixtures. Both cost around £6m and not many other people will pick them up, so they could also help if you're looking to do something a bit different. We'll keep an eye on Boateng, but I'm not sure he'll start just yet and even less sure he'd get more than 70 minutes if he did get the nod.

MIDFIELDERS
Malouda
Gerrard
Van Der Vaart
Nani
N'Zogbia
Kuyt
Adam
Silva/Johnson
Etherington/Pennant
Brunt
Barton
Yaya
Holden
J Cole/Mereiles
Scholes
Etuhu

Very familiar looking midfield picks so I won't go in to too much detail about the usual suspects. Sagna was skinned alive by Jerome Thomas so what could Malouda do to him? Gerrard vs Blackpool is obviously a great pick while Van Der Vaart is scoring points for fun and still only costs £9m...if you haven't grabbed him yet do it now!

Nani is in fantastic form and will have extra pressure on him with no Rooney, Valencia or Giggs...expect all free kicks, corners and penalties to come his way for the next few weeks. N'Zogbia is back in the Wigan team and taking everything for them, Nasri the same for Arsenal with Fabregas unlikely to make it (surely they won't make the mistake of rushing him back again?).

Kuyt is back and good value at £11m, I'm still recommending Charlie Adam seeing as he can score 6.5 points despite scoring an own goal in a Blackpool defeat, and either David Silva or Adam Johnson have to be tempting options depending on which one is set to start vs Newcastle.

Etherington at home to Blackburn is more attractive if Pennant is still out BUT if Pennant is back then he'd actually be my preference due to cost. Brunt and Barton are two more set piece takers, but I'll admit Barton is not as attractive since I realised Nolan takes penalties.

Yaya is another City middie at a more affordable price and Holden is Mr Consistent for Bolton putting up above his value almost every week. I'm putting Joe Cole & Meireles in because of their price + fixture, but neither has done anything to suggest they'll score much more than their value (Cole averages zero!) so it would be a gamble. Scholes & Etuhu are fillers who could go +10 or -3.

STRIKERS
Drogba
Tevez
Berbatov
Odemwingie
Torres
K Jones
Obinna
Bent
Chamakh
Rodallega

I toyed with the idea of dropping Drogba for Tevez this week - I feel both are set for really good weeks but liked the idea of saving £3m+. Then I thought about it some more, looked at the averages, remembered what Didier has done to Arsenal in the past and changed my mind. I still think Tevez is set for a bumper score vs Newcastle but at the moment I'm sticking to my guns.

Berbatov should do well at Sunderland as the focal point of all United attacks (no Rooney), and my tip of the week (one many of you had already decided yourselves) is Odemwingie. I'd had my eye on him for a few weeks without being able to fit him in but he's getting better each time I see him and a home game vs Bolton is enticing. I also think Torres will get back amongst the goals vs Blackpool, but I'm not certain enough to spend £16m+ on the hunch!

Kenwyne Jones has quickly settled in at Stoke, which is little surprise given how he suits their style of play perfectly - definite chance of a goal vs Blackburn. Obinna has been really exciting for West Ham so far, shooting from everywhere and is surely ready to open his account soon. Darren Bent keeps scoring against the big boys and will be looking to add Manchester United to his season that already included goals vs Arsenal & Liverpool.

A lot of people will be jumping off the Chamakh bandwagon as they can drop him for Chelsea and bring him back in for only a slight loss afterwards, but he showed enough class last night to suggest his form is improving and the blues will need to keep an eye on for him this Sunday. Finally, Rodallega at home to Wolves - have you got the guts?

That completes my Week 7 Player Picks! As always a lot can change between now and the deadline - injury fall-out from European games, unexpected team news etc, so keep checking back for updates.

Please remember to vote in the weekly poll to help us picks the Blog Team...Bale, Malouda & Drogba are all included again!

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/502684/

I'll admit I'm finding it difficult to pick a team at the moment and this is mainly down to me missing a couple of great picks on the barndoor. I knew exactly who I wanted to bring in but unfortunately can't get close to them at their current values, so I'm currently on...

Foster, Jacobson, Salcido, Bale, Adam, Barton, Van Der Vaart, Malouda, Odemwingie, Obinna, Drogba

Bale, Drogba, Malouda, Adam, VDV, Barton & Salcido are all held at decent discounts and I believe it's still a bit too early in the season to start dumping anyone for having one poor week. However, it's a something I've been looking in to.

Adam and Barton are set-piece takers averaging over 9 points at a cost of under £5.5m...I can't see where else I can currently get that return? Losing Bale or Drogba (or both) would give me so much more room to manoeuvre, but they are proven point scorers. Could I use the extra funds more effectively? Possibly Bale's if Van Der Vaart is stealing his stuff (do I really need/want 2 Spurs players every week?), but losing Drogba @20 still feels like a big risk to me (I scare easy).

I think I may keep things pretty much as they are for Week 7. Obinna isn't a certainty and I'll possibly drop Barton just to give me a City or Liverpool player, but that could be it. After this weekend we have a break for international fixtures so I'll have plenty of time to reflect on the first seven weeks of the season and think about strategies for Week 8 and beyond, but I'd really like to hear your opinions now...

Are you keeping discounts? Are you dropping your pricier players to get a better balance? Is Drogba gone? Are you losing faith in Bale with VDV on the scene? I'd be interested to read the different approaches people are taking...I'm sure it could spark some lively debate!

Cheers,
AM

75 comments:

Anonymous said...

1ST!!

SK Tan

Anonymous said...

AM CHATROOM REGULARS LEAGUE 2. ID:16453,PASS:amchat


Hans_India

Anonymous said...

Thanks AM.

Figuring out how to handle discounted players has been my biggest issue for a few weeks now. Entering today, every player in my lineup was held on a discount, with Koscielny's 0.60 the only discount under a full point.

After thinking about it for a little while, I'm going to jump off the Bale wagon for the time being. At least for this week I want to spend on other players. So I downgraded from Bale to Jacobson, which allows me to upgrade from Carroll to Tevez. I'm not sure the points are going to be all that different, but I'm banking on Tevez this weekend.

Right now my lineup is:
Green
Salcido, Koscielny, Jacobson
Gerrard, Nani, Malouda, VDV, Adam
Tevez, Chamakh

I've got Green at 4.35. For one week, I'm just hoping he stays on the positive side. I'll rearrange my team next week to upgrade the goalkeeper. The defense probably isn't going to score much, but for only costing me 21.33 points, I can live with low point totals at Def and Gk. I'm basically going all out up front and think the midfield and forward group can put up big numbers this week. Hopefully at least.

Cech's Mates

Anonymous said...

how about my team

green
bassong,hutton,jacobsen
nani,maoluda,gerrard,van der vart
carrol,F. Piquionne,D.Bent

but i still waiting for hutton that he play or not gor this week...

Anonymous said...

Dempsey vs. Green again

-Brian

Anonymous said...

AM and others (Kellz) - Thoughts on Nasri v Chelsea? I have him at 8.26.

BCB

Chris O. said...

Just decided to take a risk and blow up my Drogba + 2 cheap strikers, in favor of 3 strikers between 9.5 and 15. We'll see how that goes.

Anonymous said...

Pretty sure that Bale will be playing LW from time to time (home games are most likely), although Harry expects LB to be Bale's eventual position.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_6405980,00.html

Lennon's fellow winger Gareth Bale has impressed Redknapp this term, and the manager has backed the 21-year-old to eventually drop back and become the best left-back in the world.

"I think in years to come, he'll be the best left-back anywhere," added Redknapp, who has compared Bale to former Leeds and England star Terry Cooper.

"But he's also a great left-sided player and it suits me to play him wide left most of the time because (Benoit Assou-) Ekotto is also a top, top-class left-back."

@AM: Coleman actually played RW the last game with P. Neville at RB. I am guessing that since they managed a precious CS in that game, Moyes may stick to the same combination (for now).

Anonymous said...

I'm expecting some funny results again so i wanted to go from Forster to Krul, can't fit in any defender i fancy so i'm taking a zero on Kirkland and yes Drogba comes back in Malouda goes out, he was horrible yesterday fantasy wise, not one shot on target, all flying wild.

Assistant Manager said...

Thanks anon@6.37pm - makes Coleman an even better pick!

kwyjibo said...

It's frustrating because I'm only 0.05 points short of being able to upgrade Etuhu for Yaya. I could also make some good changes if I switch out Berbs for Obinna...decisions, decisions!

Also, is everyone scared off of Jussi now? I'm currently taking the chance...

Currently:
Jussi
Hutton-Salcido-Jacobsen
FloMa-Adam-VDV-Etuhu
Drobga-Berbs-Odem

So far, FantasyFootballScout is predicting Hutton will start. I hope so, since I have him at a nice discount. Especially since I screwed up and lost my Salcido discount.

Ken said...

I think I am missing something..

New to the game and this has been great fun. I am looking at Albrighton to finish out my mid-field and based on (my limited) knowledge I think his numbers should do well this week. I see no mention of him anywhere as being "recommended" for this weeks game.

Why??

Anonymous said...

great post as usual. totally agree that it's a really tough week to read. nasri & arsh did great for me at wk/end, but both have to go. having dropped drog's and malouda last wk, i'm now unsure whether to reacquire 1 or both of them. was going to drop chamakh until he scored last nite. defence is still a problem boateng/kos/squill no idea who will play. will probably go q strong on liv'pool. i've sd before reina is so over-rated , but i may just go with him. i also fear rotation risk for VDV. & citeh - only want ad-jo or d silva but no-one knows who will start ? will just have to see what the injury news brings us.

S.P.

Kavedas said...

I dont think Bale is a SK @13.xx , because he will play many times in Def and he dont take SP anymore , so his points will not be +10 anymore with no CS ... and with +13 you will find good picks at mid everyweek .... as you mentioned AM in the next few weeks there will be some good Def @5.xx and play for Man City/Chelsea . so i guess the best thing to do is to spend less money on DEF and more on MD/FW

tosh said...

stam from wigan? play right wing last match, should be favourite this week ^^

Birty said...

currently got
Foster,
Bale, Salcido, Hutton
Flo-Mal, Adam, VDV, Holden
Berba, Odem-goal, KJones.

depending on Hutton getting the start I may switch him and Jones and spread the money out.

Apparently Scholes is "injured" but can you trust Fergie? Anderson is looking good tonight but can you trust Fergie?

Doctor Teeth said...

Well, now I've seen everything...AM's Player Picks post features a picture of a West Brom player. The sky must be falling.

I swallowed hard and dropped Drogba last week and the move paid off for me...at the end of the day, I defy any of you to make a convincing argument that Drogba + a player priced around 6mill will produce at a higher level in the long run than, say, Berbatov and Gerrard (those two pairings costing more or less the same money). I just don't buy it (pun only slightly intended). Going forward (there are those pesky puns again), I intend to selectively buy Drogba based on match-ups...even if his price does escalate above 25mill, he will always be "affordable" in a given week with Kirk available in goal for 1mill.

So there's one of the "untouchables" gone (for the time being, anyway).

I now feel that Mr. Bale - at just past his 21st birthday, arguably the best left back in the world with all apologies to Messrs. Cole, Evra, Lahm, Chiellini and Zambrotta - could soon be following Drogba out the door as well. I may give him one more week to show if he can still be productive with VDV in the line-up but my guess is that he won't be the uber-producer that he was before. The underpinning logic of spending 13mill on a defender disappears once he is off of FKs and corners and is not bombing down the flanks with regularity. Like Drogba, I imagine that I will pick Bale selectively...hopefully his price does not drift north of 15mill and settles in the 12-15mill neighborhood.

And then there was FloMal...who I will hold at 13mill provided Carlo does not continue to rotate him out every few weeks. Always good to have a Chelsea scorer regularly in the line-up...I view him as a much more valuable commodity than Anelka fantasy-wise.

At the end of the day, it could be my downfall getting rid of 2/3 of the Holy Trinity (never thought I would have been typing those words 3 weeks ago). But, as I've said before, at the end of the day I think it will make this game much more fun for me if week in/week out I am shuffling my line-up and giving more thought to creative combinations without the restrictions of carrying those three expensive players.

My team is still unsettled but looking something like:

Foster
Kompany Skrtel Jacobsen
Nani Adam Gerrard VDV FloMal
Obinna Cham

I will toy with Cham, Foster and Jacobsen a bit but my oh my do I love that MF.

Anonymous said...

Gerrard/Hutton or Torres/Salcido?

joshtottenham said...

Bale gets 1 goal, wins a penalty, puts in about a billion decent crosses in CL tonight. Food for thought.

STC3 said...

I think Hernandez might get a start for Utd with Rooney out for the trip to Sunderland. He scored tonight and hit the post after coming on as a sub. Might be worth a punt at 5.65.

STC3

Anonymous said...

Bale played in midfield and was good and unlike Harry, i think Bale is a left winger not defender, i dropped him though but those who still have him, just hold on to him.

Anonymous said...

May i know is it good to choose M. Da Costa??

Joshtottenham said...

Also Bale was often at LB during his rise to fantasy stardom last year....although he also cost A LOT less back then lol

Anonymous said...

Exactly Josh, a lot of people tend to forget that. So this is what I will probably do for the Bale dilemma.

Pick him for Spurs home games, regardless of Harry playing him at LB or LW. Bale simply loves to play at WHL and always perform well, doesn't matter LB or LW. Though methinks, Bale will be unleashed on the LW mostly for home games.

For away games, it all depends on Spurs away form. If Spurs can pick up some form away from home, then he will probably be considered, regardless of LB or LW.

But if Spurs travel weary form continue (not helped by injury ravaged defenders), I may only consider him when I know for sure that he will be playing on the LW.

A lot of "if", "may", "probably" and "consider" though... LOL!

greginho said...

ken
i think the reason albrighton is not mentioned is because playing at tottenham has 0-0 written all over it, just ask man city. he is patchy, at best and there are many other alternatives with better matchups.
charlie gardener birm. v everton is a nice matchup
jerome thomas west brom v bolton. can he repeat his performance against lesser teams.
stuart holden bolton at west brom he will have good game against a weak midfield

Saul said...

After what Bale did today on that left wing, old 'Arry would be crazy to use him as a left back. The kid was all over the place and is practically unstoppable! Free kicks or not, the kid is going no where...he's in my team for sure.

Ken said...

Thank you..."greginho" for the insight. Need all I can get. Seem to second guess most every move but at the same time enjoy every minute of it.

Team for week seven....

Foster..Salcido..Jara...Kompany
Malouda...VDV....C.Adam...Nani....Gardner
Odemwingie....Chamakh

1.2/bank

At least for the moment....

Thank you and good luck this week

Saul said...

@Ken - Gardner got a red card vs. Wigan last week, he won't be playing this weekend. That is, if you're thinking about Birmingham's Gardner.

Josh said...

Why no Carroll recommendation?

Anonymous said...

@Josh If Newcastle scores it wont be Carroll, Mancini plays just one formation and style, don't concede and try to win on the counter, imo it will be a scoreless draw or a Man city mauling.

Kellz said...

Current Team:

Foster
Bale, Salcido, Jacobsen
Malouda, N'Zogbia, VDV, Meirales
Drogba, Odem, Obinna

A bit scared not to have any Citeh defense or Tevez in my line up. Given their fixtures, Tevez could be a gold mine and CS will be had. When oh when can we get Boateng or Kolarov, another week out for the former I think.

Also a bit scared Liverpool could finally turn the corner against BPool. Torres may be looking unlike his former self, but what better game to turn it around than BPool? He has only scored one goal but that reaped a 20+ pt haul. Mark my words he will score and hes not getting any cheaper than 16.64mil.

As I don't like my team when adding in fillers to accomodate either Torres or Tevez, I have to hope Obinna and Odem can do enough to atleast return their value. However the value pick of the week has to go go Mierales at just about 5mil who, if I am not mistaken, played off Torres and will get the odd goal. Why not take a chance?

Feeling less confident about BHam as I think EVE will turn it around at some point too, but given their home record and EVE worst start I think its an okay gamble to make. Heaven forbid I thrust myself into the Green trap, sorry 1 good performance doesn't fill me with confidence.

As per Nasri as ppl have suggested, my thought is drop him, he only has 2-3 20+ performances a year and with Fabs possibly back, his role is now deeper. Plus hes heading to Chelsea, a much different story when they are at home than on the road to Citeh.

As always good luck!

Kellz said...

Just another note Green is currently priced at 6.66mil. An omen? I won't be touching that at full price lol.

Also just did some snooping and found an alteration of Foster/Jacobsen/N'Zogbia could go for Reina/Boyota/Silva. All this rests on what team is put out by Citeh in their Europa tie on Thursday but something to wacth.

Anonymous said...

...Wigan play at home and i think Wolves cannot score. Therefore, is it ok if I pick Alcaraz for defender position?...(Is Hutton going to play?)

...this is my team for now:

Foster
Bale (Drop or not?) - Salcido - Alcaraz
C.Adam - VdV - Ben Arfa - Etherington - S.Parker
Odemwingie - 10.54

Foster
Bale - Salcido - Kompany
C.Adam - VdV - Silva - N'Zogbia - Ben Arfa
Odemwingie - 10.6

...Which one is better?...

...I need advice for Silva/Ben Arfa pick. Thx a lot.

(Red Devils)

Anonymous said...

Guys,

How about Yakubu?

He played really well last week even it end up with draw. Really need the advice from you guys.

Gasper said...

My team for this week

Foster
Salcido, Jacobsen, PJones
VDV, Nasri, Meireles, DSilva
Odem, Drog, Tevez

I decided to drop both Bale and Malouda. I feel they limited my selection just 2 much + almost evereyone has them. DSilva will be decided after todays matches and Nasri is staying in with taking all the corners and PK. I think he will easy make those 10 points even if(when) Chealse destroys Arsenal.

Anonymous said...

should i dump j.barton + b.emerton to get r.meireles + y.toure based on match-ups or should i just stick with them? kinda weird to drop someone who is averaging 8-9 and get someone who is averaging 2-5.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I still need some help. I have a huge dilemma about 5 spots in my team, and I'll explain it. If Nik or anyone else have an opinion, please tell me!

Foster - Everton aren't the easiest match-up and they can always surprise in a certain match, but they're still last in the table and Foster is on discount and plays at home.
Skrtel - Liverpool seems like the best chance for a CS this weekend (weird to say, right?) and he scores points even without CSs anyway.
Barton - always capable of phantom points, but in a minor discount for me and with a tough match-up.
Nani - wasn't brilliant last night, and so wasn't ManU, so it might get ugly for them @Sunderland. But still... it is ManU and it is Nani and he takes all kicks. Not a major discount though.
Elmander - Just there because I hate Jerome.

OR

Reina - there's a chance he won't get a CS vs Blackpool, because he plays for Liverpool after all, but I still believe Liverpool should at least win SOME games and he always makes saves.
Stam - started every match for Wigan this season, and last week was his only one with negative points.
Holden - seems a very consistent pick.
Silva - if he doesn't start tonight it might mean he's rested for the Newcastle match after playing 78 good minutes vs Chelsea.
Tevez - the most tempting pick of the week. If he doesn't score by the end of the weekend everyone will hate him for it, but with Newcastle's shaky defence he's bound to have a monster-game. Is he worth dropping Nani?

Please help!

SF

Anonymous said...

About Hutton, my guess is that he will play because Gallas is reportedly injured up to 3 weeks, Kaboul aggravated his hamstring in training on Tuesday morning and King played in the CL yesterday.

That leaves Spurs short on defenders, so the starting back 4 should be Hutton, Corluka, Bassong, BAE, unless Harry wants to refresh the squad and put Walker at LB. But it is probably unlikely as Spurs need a result after last week's defeat @West Ham.

@SF: Actually, Stam did NOT start every match. Inclusive of Carling Cup, he started 5, and only had 3 CS opportunities.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/gamelog?id=32808&cc=4716

The upside is he is cheap and plays in MF (mostly). CS is probably not what you are looking for, but for similarly priced defenders, Jacobsen seems to be slightly better pick... just because he is a starter at RB for West Ham and positive points so far.

Or if you believe the talk that is going around, Zhirkov. Started in place of Ramires against Marseille and substituted after 73m. Ramires is awful @Man City, so there is talk Zhirkov will start in his place.

Wait for Chealsea team news? Not that against Arsenal will be an easy matchup, but attacking defender playing at MF provides some food for thought.

Bitsketchy said...

Hi Guys,

I've decided to go for a really strong midfield (cant sell malouda, tried but I just couldn't press the button). So the rest of my team is a little bit wishy washy....

Green
Da Costa/Ferdinand/Hutton
malouda/nasri/Nani/VdV/Gerrard
Piquionne/Di Santo

Answers on a postcard....

Bitsketchy said...

Oh, forgot to say that there's another post on that blog I found http://imawinnersblog.com/. I don't know how much work these guys are going to do on Yahoo Fantasy Football as it's not really their business but it's interesting while it's lasts......REALLY intrigued as to how their team does this week! I might follow their plan if it goes well!

AM, hope you don't mind me putting a link to another blog on here? Thought it would be nice to give more information to everyone but I understand if you want to remove my post....

Anonymous said...

dude thats like the 3rd time you plug that imawinnersblog site in three days, i clicked it and i saw the twitter page is by "Rob", so i assume that is you? dont need to pretend, you shud be proud its really good and useful

thx, mikeQ

Anonymous said...

Guys, big dilemma for me. Elmander up front or Brunt in midfield? Please help

YZ

Anonymous said...

My season needs a kick in the backside. HELP!

Green
Jara Carr Kompany
VDV CAdam MPetrov FloMo
Drogs Odem DiSanto

Anonymous said...

I will not bale out on my favourite defender!
I' malouding of course, to Gareth
He'skey to my team like Emile, and I'm Adamant about Charlie
Pauly

Assistant Manager said...

Pauly, that is the worst comment I've ever read...

...love it :)

Bitsketchy said...

Dear Anonymous, love to say it was me but it's not i'm afraid - i'd be doing a lot better than I am currently that's for sure - currently ranked 17,489th :-( .

I wasn't meaning to plug it three times, I just put a post up when I got an email to say that a new Fantasy football post was available. I know that everyone's looking for information so thought i'd share.....

Anonymous said...

what this Beausejour fellow like? Seems he might get his debut?

Kellz said...

@Gasper: We don't exactly know if Nasri will be taking PK's as Arshavin is the one who struck the PK against Bpool. Nasri was in before Arshavin for the double PK's in the Carling Cup. Also a side note, Arshavin is taking more than half of Arsenals corners, therefore this significantly reduces Nasri imho, barring his two goals your looking at production anywhere from 2.5-8pts. Its my opinion Nasri will be shut down at Stamford Bridge, but if you feel otherwise keep him and good luck! You never know!

Anonymous said...

my team this week

foster
r. johnson gohouri salcido
VDV malouda Gerrard(discount) larsson
berbs odem obinna

larsson will probably go and maybe berbs an suggestions

keep an eye out for yuri zhirkov with chelsea injuries and the need of experience he might get the nod ahead of ramires, which, as a chelsea fan, I am praying for. (ramires is still to slow on the ball and gives it away in the middle of the park often)

saitogenetic

Anonymous said...

Boateng starts for Man City tonight.
Probably means he won't play at the weekend but it's a chance to see how attack minded Mancini will allow him to be. AJ starting too, meaning Silva is likely to play against Newcastle.

Anonymous said...

Liverpool vs Blackpool, upset of the week.

Anonymous said...

Liverpool vs Blackpool, upset of the week.

Anonymous said...

Liverpool vs Blackpool, upset of the week.

Anonymous said...

Foster
Salcido Kompany Jacobsen
Malouda VDV Etuhu Toure
Odemwingie Drogba Obinna

How about it ?

Anonymous said...

man city looking good i'm going to take the risk on J Bo because Mancini hardly has options in the back but i think he wld rest Magic Johnson for silva my team this wk
S. Carson
Bale,Salcido,J.Bo
FloMO, R.VdV,J.Thomas,Park Ji-Sung(hunch pick)
Berbatov,Tévez,Gudjohnsen(needs one shot to return value)
if Mancini says that Magic J is going to start i wld bring him in for thomas. please comment
Ac Trinidad(AM Blog League 5)
Red eyes

Anonymous said...

zab off with a muscle injury they say it's a precaution but it makes J Bo's pick that much more interesting
Red eyes

Kellz said...

If your going to take a risk, Boyota is the right risk to make. Richards could be available for Newcastle meaning he would slot in at RB, but if Zabs is deemed out for the weekend you can bet Boyota will get the nod over Boateng imho. Mancini made it clear Boateng still needs time and I doubt he will rush a player back when he still has options, although not the most desired.

Anonymous said...

thanks kellz makes alot of sense i guess i wld just have to wait on team news but i cld make the Boyota jump cause i have 1.07 in the bank
red

kwyjibo said...

What about:

Berbs + Etuhu + Hutton or
Obinna + Etuhu + Kompany or
Obinna + (Barton or Nolan) + Hutton
???

That's my big debate...I'm just not convinced that Berbs is going to score too high.

Anonymous said...

@kwyjibo: pick berbs if you have discount and had an eye for MU upcoming matches.
pick obin if you're a risk taker and plan to change players week-in and week-out.
likes your FWs and DFs but not your MFs.

where/when can i see the team news??.. really have to make the correct move this week to pick myself up after a horrific week6!
i already had my team in order, only 2 slots to shuffle around and that is between..

j.boateng + yaya

OR

boyata + silva

with only 11.91 to spend on 2 slots.
any suggestion/advice would be helpful?

cheers,
MRA

Anonymous said...

seems like Boyata ahead of J.Boateng according to soccernet...

kikurazz

Anonymous said...

sorry seems like both will start
Boyata RB, JBo LB maybe

kikurazz

Anonymous said...

bale gone, flomo gone, drogs stays

so liberating...

~chug~

Saul said...

@MRA - Trying to guess who Mancini will pick on defence atm, aside from Kompany/Toure, is like picking from a box of chocolate...you 'never' know what you're gonna get. It looks like Lescott, Boateng, Richards are good to go as they all featured in their 23 man squad in the EL. Now in the midfield is a bit similar...you have Milner/Barry/Yaya/DeJong? all sure to play, with Silva or AJ(which one) to take that last spot. If I had a say, I'd go with AJ because he's been exceptional lately, for England and for Club, but once again you never know what the italian job is gonna be. Friday team news are crucial at this stage.

@Kwyjimo - Obinna/Etuhu/Kompany imo. Obinna is on set pieces and has been scoring well even without a goal, now just imagine when he does score. Etuhu has been returning his value, and has a good matchup; and Kompany is, well ...good Kompany. Great trio!!!

@Red Eyes - Gudjohnsen is cheap, but he may not take part in the game. Link below says Fuller could be ready to face Blackburn and with K.Jones, Wilters, Fuller being first in the pecking order, might want to reconsider(but then he's cheap and if you trust him to start, go with your hunch...

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6409715,00.html

I hope that helps and good luck to all.

My team atm, pending on Friday team news(specially Boateng)...

Foster
Bale-Salcido-Boateng?
Adam/VDV/N'Zogbia/Gibson(my huge hunch)
Torres/Tevez/Obinna

I know you guys might not like Torres much because he hasn't been scoring, but is there any better time for him to get off the mark? Arsenal 6-Blackpool 0, Chelsea 4, Blackpool 0(could've been weigh worse). I know Liverpool are not up to par with those two teams but at least they can score 2 goals, with Torres bagging 1 and 1 assist?very possible! And that should be worst case scenerio for 'Pool. Now you guys may also question my Gibson pick but I'll explain why. Manchester United played vs. Valencia in the Champs League with Fletcher,Carrick,Anderson...all three more defensive than creative. The reason he did that is to tire the Spanish side, because they were in better form, and win the game on the counter, which they did. Now Carrick/Anderson have not played that much in months so I'm guessing SAF will ease them into the game and give them one game here, one game there. Gibson will replace one of them this weekend, no doubt in my mind. But then again, that's only my logic and I may be wrong...but my mind tells me he's starting, 90% sure.

Well guys, I apologize for ranting so much and hope I was of some assistance. I've had my fair share of beers and felt like rambling. Good luck to all. Now I'm gonna send an e-mail to my girlfriend, who's in Mexico on vacation, and hope not to write something I will regret tomorrow. Cheers and good morning, evening, night!

Saul said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

foster
salcido\kompany\jacobsen
j.barton\VDV\C.adam\a.helb
odem\drogba\torres

any comment?

Max said...

i have this lineup..

kirkland
bale, salcido, jacobsen
adam, flomo, vdv, barton
drogba, odemwingie, obinna

thinking of switching discounted barton to silva.. any suggestion/news saying i should do that?..

Max

Johnny said...

crazy latest team...

foster
bale, salcido, stam
adam, vdv, etuhu, dorrans
tevez, torres, berbatov

betting on stam and dorrans who have shown great potential to finally show their worth...

thoughts?

Anonymous said...

...Does Stam play this week? And if he does, is Stam or Jacobsen better?...

Red Devils

Anonymous said...

PAULYS FAB FILLERS - WEEK 7
(The greatest of the cheapest under 7)

GKs :
Green - WHam 6.66! H *
Cudicini - Tott 6.44 H *
Carson - WBrom 6.36 H **
Krul - NCastl 4.14 A *

DFs:
Zhirkov - Chels 4.48 H ** ?
Boateng - MCity 5.35 H ** ?
Squillaci - Ars 5.19 A *
Gohouri - Wig 5.64 H **
Bassong - Tott 5.79 H *
Koscielny - Ars 5.92 A *
Boyata - MCity 6.06 H **
Crainey - Bpool 6.17 A *
Berra - Wolv 6.48 A *

MFs:
Holden - Bolt 6.66! A *
Y Touré - MCity 6.37 H **
Mulumbu - WBrom 6.36 H **
Cole - Lpool 5.77 H *
Rosicky - Ars 5.48 A *?
Meireles - Lpool 5.31 H **
de Jong - MCity 4.44 H **
Etuhu - Ful 4.40 A **
Cattermole - Sund H ** (if he behaves!)

FWs:

Kalinic - Bbn 4.48 A *
Yakubu - Evert 6.96 A **
Di Santo - Wig 4.00 H ** ?

H - home match A - away
* Filler
** Top filler
? Check team sheets - unsure starter

Hope that helps for your hair-pulling decisions this week!
Good luck as always
Pauly

Bakaz said...

what about this team? Maybe too many defenders, but hoping for clean sheats which is likely in 2-3 games at leats I think.

Kirkland
Skrtel Bale Carr Kompany
Barton Malouda Van der Vaart
Drogba Odemwingie Obinna

Anonymous said...

is it ok if i keep on using capt kirk as keeper since money is an issue

kirk
gohouri jacobsen jara
vdv nani meireles adamjohson
tevez torres odem

wazzu13

andy (lowestoft) said...

my team is looking like

kirk - zero, i know
bale/salcido/kompany/jacobson
flo-ma/adam/VDV/C N'Zog
Drog/Kalinic

Anonymous said...

cudicini or carson?

Anonymous said...

points of the week will goes to villa a.young (hopefully)

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