Thursday 11 November 2010

Week 13 - Player Picks

Week 12 started so well but I faltered badly last night as three players were benched & my keeper provided negative points AGAIN to add to the list of goalkeeping disasters for the 2010/11 season.

I walked away with 83.5 points but know it could've been so, so much better had I not switched Fabianski & Chamakh to Krul & Obinna. Oh well, at least I made it through to the next round of the The Blog Cup! Results are HERE but are now VOID after an adjustment, they'll need to be recalculated tomorrow or next week. Utter waste of my time!

Moving on, there's no time to rest - Week 13 is just 2 days away so we need to start picking another team right-away. 

It's been pretty crazy with 3 deadlines in 8 days combined with calculation of the cup results, so once again you'll see a "budget" version of my player picks post. Apologies for this, but we have a gap before Week 14 so normal service will resume next week.

Fixtures...

Standouts
CHELSEA v Sunderland
MAN CITY v Birmingham


I honestly can't see anything but two comfortable home wins here.

Should Win
TOTTENHAM v Blackburn
MAN UTD @ Aston Villa
ARSENAL @ Everton


Spurs were decent against Sunderland but must win this one & I think (/pray!) they will, Aston Villa struggled against Blackpool's reserve side last night so I think United will win there & Arsenal have a great record at Goodison so I reckon they might sneak it.

Draws/Close to Call
Newcastle v Fulham
Stoke v Liverpool
Wigan v West Brom
West Ham v Blackpool
Wolves v Bolton


All likely to be closely fought battles and I can see all five ending in score draws or narrow wins either way.

With that in mind, here are my Player Picks for Week 13...

KEEPERS
Cech
Hart
Jaaskalainen
Krul
Green


DEFENDERS
Bale
(final chance!)
Boateng
Zhirkov
(set to continue with Essien suspended)
Bosingwa
(watch for team news)
Kolarov
(watch for team news, could be a bargain)
Kompany
Squillaci
Coleman
(will be back after his rest)
Hutton
O'Shea
(should replace injured Rafael)
Enrique/
Simpson
Steinsson
A.Faye
Berra
Ibanez

Jacobsen

MIDFIELDERS
Malouda
Van Der Vaart
Gerrard
Silva/AJ
(Silva could be rested, AJ a great alternative)
Barton
(possible suspension, Guthrie, Routledge or RTaylor could come in)
Nani
Fabregas
M Taylor/M.Petrov
(whoever starts is a great pick)
Adam
Nasri/
Walcott (both should be back after rest)
Etherington
Nolan
N'Zogbia
Brunt
Pennant
Milijas
Holden
Gutierrez


STRIKERS
Tevez
Drogba
Torres
Carroll
Hernandez
Chamakh
Piquionne
Rodallega
Odemwingie
Elmander
Gyan
(pre-update price only)

That's it! It's very unlikley I'll get time to write analysis for each position as it's already Thursday afternoon & I have the update post to write tomorrow as the team/injury news floods in.

Current team on my page: Green, Zhirkov, Coleman, Boateng, Adam, N'Zogia, Silva, Van Der Vaart, Gyan, Tevez, Drogba

Not sure about it yet, a lot will depend on team news tomorrow and I still hold Bale, Bosingwa, Barton & Rodallega at pre-update prices behind the scenes.

Please vote in the poll: http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/507928

If you choose "Other?" in the poll, please remember to type the name of the person you'd like to vote for...last week over 30 "Other" votes were left blank,

Anyone you think I've missed? Who's due a good week? Who will flop? How's your own Week 13 team shaping up?

Check back tomorrow for all the important info.

Cheers,
AM

p.s. We've passed 950 Facebook members - please join us as we look to pass 1000 before the end of the year! :)

68 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW !

I'm the first

Great job AM.

Anonymous said...

Made it through the cup with plenty to spare hitting over 100 points for the first time in 3 weeks after several poor ones.

Hope I can keep it going.

Nice job AM with the frenetic deadlines.

Jugsy

Anonymous said...

Djourou came in for the suspended Laurent Koscielny. Will Djourou continue?
He jumped up in price too much to get him now.

Koscielny ARS 20/11/10 Serving a two-match ban having seen red in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle on 7/11. His one match ban will be extended following a dismissal earlier in the season. He will miss games against Wolves and Everton and return for the home clash with Spurs on 20/11

Thanks. Love the blog

Anonymous said...

What I have right now after dropping Barton (he's being charged by the FA) and also Gyan (Have him at 10+ and over Chelsea I'm not sure he'll cover his cost)

Hart
Zhirkov, Bale, Kelly
Adam, VdV, Brunt, Walcott
Caroll, Torres, Chicharito

Last chance for Bale as far as I'm concerned. If he doesn't score well, I might pick up Kolarov or Boateng and use the rest of the cash to upgrade other positions.
I dropped Barton because of the FA charge but I might pick up after the suspension at a lower price.
Walcott better play or I'll start rumors about Wenger cheating on his wife...oh wait, that happened already. LOL

J0J0

Anonymous said...

Chamakh scored a brace after a millenium, so is he a good pick for wk13?

Mike said...

So far I have:

Kirkland

Zhirkov Bosingwa Boateng

Song Walcott Silva Brunt

Torres Chamakah Tevez

Comments would be great!!

Anonymous said...

Great job on the three player picks in a week AM.

It has been a strange week and a half for my team. Lots of decisions to make on injury concerns with big discounts. After keeping Chamakh all season, I decided to finally drop him for Obinna this midweek. Chamakh scores big and Obinna starts on the bench. Adam and Coleman, two of my long-term keepers at this point, both were on the bench too. With three players on the bench, I thought it was going to be a rough week. Then suddenly I check back after the games and scored 110 points, moving into the Top 500 overall for the first time (in large part thanks to this blog).

For the weekend, I'm going with this lineup for now:
Hart
Coleman, Boateng, Hutton
VDV, Adam, Malouda, Nani
Torres, Gyan, Odemwingie

At this point, a lot of my lineup stays constant due to discounts. I dropped Nani last week (and lost a huge discount) due to the injury only to pick him back up today. I'd like to find a way to upgrade Odemwingie to Tevez or Gerrard, but I'm not sure that will be possible at this point.

As always, thanks for the posts AM. They are of great help.

Cech's Mates

Juelz said...

Tevez or Drogz??

Drogba hasnt been great recently but I know as soon as i drop him he'll net a hat trick or something crazy. If i go tevez it frees up funds for nani again. I wish I held onto him at 13 i thought for sure he would miss more games than 1.

Nikhil said...

sorry AM, but looks like there was a points adjustment..i stayed the same but i dropped 100 spots within the last 30 mins..may have to recalculate your standings

Carefree FC

Saul said...

Yes AM, Nikhil is right. I lost half a point from 105 to 104.5...damn yahoo always getting it wrong.

Sorry AM, I can only imagine what a nightmare it is to have to recalculate the results every single time.

Anonymous said...

thanks AM week 13 picks

my week 13:
begovic
zhirkov/boateng/jacobsen
vdv/milijas/holden/adam
tevez/odemwingie/piquionne

comments are most welcome!

Juelz said...

nice line up but is begovic playing???

I have no trust in any of the goalies this year I have captain kirked most of the season to keep a couple big hitters. The only thing is you have to try to pick 10 actual starters if you kirk.

SfSS said...

nasri and brunt, or A.J. and walcott, of course have to wait for news on city

No Name Fc said...

Barton apologises but gets three-game suspension..

Anonymous said...

Milijas or Walcott? (Both at full price)

Anonymous said...

Here is the dream team : )

Green
Zhirkov Coleman Bosingwa
Adam VDV Milijas Bentley
Drogba Anelka

greginho said...

i am pondering the same thing to replace barton. milijas, walcott, nasri, nani or milner. anyone have an opinion.
for anomyous:
between those two choices arsenal away is not a great thing neither is playing at everton whose defense has been pretty good at home. wolves are hosting bolton and milijas will have more space to create, shoot and maybe get a goal or assist.

SamTheMan said...

Most likely going with
Green
Boateng-Zhirkov-O*Shea
Adam-Da Silva-VDV-Etuhu
Drogba-Torres-Chamakh

My team is like Dolly Parton - very top heavy... Any comments anybody

SfSS said...

who will be on setpieces for newcastle without barton in lineup?

Anonymous said...

Am, any chance that Bentley will start ???

Anonymous said...

Has anyone dropped as far in their blog league as fast as me? 29th to 69th in a month (yes i fielded a full team of 11 each time).

Have to stop the bleeding, and since I always pick the wrong GK at the wrong time I'm going back to Kirkland. The highest weekly scorers take a zero or worse so it seems like a good way to cut my risk of minus points.

Next, don't pick any players coming off a monster week. BD'ing big scorers simply hasn't worked for me.

Then, limit my season keepers. At this point I still have Bale because I KNOW if I drop him he'll have a big game. The best season picks are value players like Charlie Adam. I grabbed Bosingwa early and hope I can keep him too.

Finally, stop helping my GF with her team so much. She's 96th after being 100th and if she passes me I'll have no choice but to take poison.

Kirkland
Bale / Bosingwa / Coleman
Adam / Malouda / Silva / Etuhu / Van der Vaart
Carroll / Tevez

No Name Fc said...

At the moment, my team look like this:

GREEN
SQUALLACI BOATENG ZHIRKOV
VDV C.ADAM MILIJAS BRUNT GUTIERREZ
CARROLL DROGBA

I really wanted to have Tevez in the team..Will make final decision on Friday night. Good luck to all other managers. :-)

No Name Fc said...

@greginho

I would suggest you go for either Milijas or Brunt in the centre half. Milijas gained more confident this year compared to last year. He is putting more shots to the goal and lets hope he will continue his good performance this weekend. Brunt is another option. At 9.61million, he is a bargain as well..good luck

Bartons fist said...

@ SfSS, it all depends on who replaces him- if Guthrie or Ryan Taylor play then they'll be on kicks but if Routledge is selected then it will probably fall to Nolan. I doubt if Taylor will start as Hughton doesn't seem too keen on him and Guthrie was crap least season on the wing (prefers it in the centre) so it would be my guess Routledge will play.

Of course, if Shola is injured then Nolan may be moved further up in support of Carroll, like at the start of the season, meaning that both Guthrie and Routledge could play. You'll have to check team news but all things considered, I reckon Nolan would be the least risky pick.

No Name Fc said...

@SfSS

Use the link below to get some ideas about set piece takers etc:

http://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/premiership-set-piece-takers/

SfSS said...

@barton's fist and No Name fc, thanks, i used the link, but there was not too much info on NUFC, i was considering getting nolan, if he takes at least some of set pieces i may just go with him with even less doubt, though there is a big selection of other good midfielders this week

No Name Fc said...

@Sfss

yes go for Nolan. He might player an important role with Barton absent. He will takes free kick, penalty etc. I wanted to have him in my team but don't have enough budget. At the moment i picked Gutierrez. :-) All the best

Anonymous said...

anyone know whether bentley will start again?? i need replacement for barton..

James Stevens said...

I would say Bentley is very much a squad player these days even though his performance in training/ injuries have provided more first team opportunities.

Anonymous said...

hi Nik,
i would suggest you to save the cup result until the week after it's done.
it will save you lots of time and you could get a little break from writing quality posts week in and week out

chi

Anonymous said...

d.silva will start?

Anonymous said...

my team...
fabianski
coleman boateng zhirkov
silva walcott nolan adam vdv
chicharito teves

any comment?

Anonymous said...

If Lennon is still out with the hamstring injury, Bentley should be the favourite to start in his place.

The caveat is that Bentley has just returned from a long term injury, so there could be question marks on his fitness, considering he played 2 games in 4 days.

Saul said...

My team is...

Carson
Boateng/Zhirkov/Ibanez
Adam/VDV/Brunt/Nolan
Drogba/Tevez/Odemwingie

And to be honest, I love it! I see about 6 possible penalty takers which increases my chances of getting goals :)

Other players I'm strongly considering are Carroll, Holden, Obinna, Malouda, Kalou(if he starts), Pennant, Gomez(Wigan), AJ, Dempsey, Bentley, Milijas. So many options, but have to be careful and choose the most likely to score big.

Good luck to me :)...and good luck to you all! Here's to once again getting back to the top 100. Overall rank atm is 329 so have a bit of a latter to climb :)

Mike said...

Can anyone comment? My Team:

Kirkland

Boateng Zhirkov Bosingwa

Adam Song Walcott Brunt

Hernandez Tevez Torres

Anonymous said...

D.Silva should start unless injured or in poor form. I also expect Adebayo to start ahead of Milner and AJ after that very good not so good draw against United.

Ebi

Ken said...

For what it's worth:

Hart

Squillaci.....V. Kompany......Zhirkov

Malouda...V.D.V. C.Brunt...S. Holden....C.Adam

Chamakh........Odemwingie

Waiting on possible changes with Boateng or Bosingwa.

Anyone considering Song? Why/Why not

Gavin said...

Stuck between two options: Malouda/Gerrard or Drogba/Adam?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!

Anonymous said...

Drogba/Adam without a doubt

Saul said...

@Gavin - Drogba/Adam for sure.

Anonymous said...

is delfouneso gonna play or is it agbonlahor????plzz answer

Damn You Barton! said...

So... Conventional wisdom would say that we should drop Barton even at a discount?? (I had bought him week 1) I'm leading my private league by about 40points, and wondering whether taking the 0 for him for three weeks might be worth it... I mean, I have the guy at 5 and change!!!! Arghhhhh

Anonymous said...

Ken,
I'm considering Song too!! Good option...replacement for Barton.. :)

Anonymous said...

Damn You Barton,
I have the same problem too... wondering if i should drop him...

Laperpool said...

My 13 Week Team

Cech
Bale - Kompany - Hutton/Kolarov
Adam - Barton - VdV - Milijas - Walcot/Nani
Gyan - Torres

Barton may be will miss the game, but I decided to keep him in my team, learning from seasons before.
Goes to Nani as the 1st priority.
I'm still waiting the Arsenal & ManCity starting 11.
Cause if Kolarov play for the team, I will pick him into my team

Laperpool

Anonymous said...

Is Lee of Bolton a good option? He been playing rather well lately.

Mizol

Assistant Manager said...

Lalerpool - Barton will now definitely miss 3 games after the FA charged him...I would drop him if I was you.

Update post will be on the blog later today.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

I don't hate Barton but if i had him at 5 i'll take the hit, its just 5 units, people scored big with 2-3 players not playing.

Anonymous said...

I don't hate Barton but if i had him at 5 i'll take the hit, its just 5 units, people scored big with 2-3 players not playing.

Anonymous said...

Malouda or Tevez? Help!

stc3

Anonymous said...

3 games is almost 10% of an entire season and barton doesn't score well enough to justify 3 zeros in a row imho

Anonymous said...

@5 average of 9.5 for Barton that's way ahead of Drogba's return for value.

Ian Sanderson said...

Barton at 5 is worth keeping IF he continues to be as productive when he returns from suspension.

Anonymous said...

Goalkeeper

A.Begovic

Defenders

Kolo Toure
A.Alcaraz
F.Coloccini

Midfielders

Ashley Young
S.Parker
M.Jarvis
R.Van Der Vaart

Strikers

R.Fuller
S.Kalou
Yakubu

1998jjb said...

stc3 - I'd go Tevez all the way as FloMo hasn't been at his best recently.

On the Barton debate, I would toss a coin! i agree with the 10% of games comment but £5ml is not a lot. I suppose it depends on how much you need the cash elsewhere.

Nik - I've got to confess that I look at the team that you're thinking of putting out each week and if we have the same keeper, I change mine! So far it's been great and I've reached the top 150 so Green's out and Kirk, Carson or Al-Habsi are in. Sorry mate but I had to own up!!

SfSS said...

brunt or nasri?

Harry said...

Kieron Dyer maybe a bargain. Played relaly well in the week and is less than 6m

Anonymous said...

guys please comnt my team

foster
zhikov,boateng,sqillaci
nani,vdv,nasri,albrington n gerard
tevez n klinic

Anonymous said...

this is great i already had a pretty similar team
thanks AM!
but i do have van persie figured he may get a start vs a strong side?

Musteng said...

@SfSS
Base on the stats, Brunt looks more consistence while Nasri like a gamble

Anonymous said...

Boateng injured?

Anonymous said...

foster
zhikov,boateng,sqillaci
nani,vdv,nasri,albrington n gerard
tevez n klinic

please comnt guy

Anonymous said...

my team seems different but I fell better than I have for the pst couple of weeks about it's composition

foster (discount)
zhirkov bosingwa(team news for both)kolorav
silva brunt VDV LAMPSY
gyan torres rodaellga

saitogenetic

Anonymous said...

guys should i change nasri to odemwingie?

Anonymous said...

will Robin v Persie playing tmrw ?

Emperor said...

who will start ? silva or a.johnson ? this is my only dilemma this weekend...whoever starts it's a great pick...

Anonymous said...

with lampard out......it makes ramires the candidite to start the match??

Anonymous said...

Torres With J Boteng, Coleman and a 6 unit Defender...

OR

Mijitas With Boateng, Zirkov and Def 11 Units)..

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