Week 25 - Player Picks

We have just 48 hours of the transfer window to go and I while it's been reasonably quiet in terms of actual signings so far, the rumours suggest we should expect some big money transfers before the deadline at midnight on Monday night. It's the rumours that are causing some real headaches when it comes to picking a team this week.

Many of us have Torres. Will he be at Liverpool or Chelsea? If he stays, will he play against Stoke. If he plays, will his mind be elsewhere? The same questions could be asked of Charlie Adam, who is getting increasingly frustrated over Blackpool's stubbornness. Add Bale's injury (10 days according to Redknapp, but he often lies) to the list of worries and my own team is in real disarray at this point in time (I have all three of the players mentioned), with this weeks deadline at 7pm on Tuesday.

I guess we need to focus on the players that we know will definitely play (and will definitely be available on YFF - e.g. not Suarez), so that's what I'll be doing in this post. The good news is, we have lots of nice fixtures to look at in Week 25. They are as follows.

Stand-Out
ARSENAL v Everton
MAN UTD v Aston Villa
BOLTON v Wolves

The current Top 2 are in great form and I have no doubt they'll win their home games, despite Everton & Villa being decent sides. Bolton are in a real slump but I think this will be the game that they begin their recovery - Wolves don't travel well (1 win, 1 draw, 9 losses away from Molineux).

Should Win 
MAN CITY @ Birmingham
LIVERPOOL v Stoke
BLACKPOOL v West Ham
WEST BROM v Wigan

City often play with more freedom on the road & they should have too much quality for Birmingham. Liverpool are on a decent run - despite the Torres issue the club has been lifted by Dalglish, so I think they'll beat Stoke at Anfield, Blackpool almost ended Man Utd's undefeated run last week, so there's no reason they can't overcome West Ham. The final game is more a "must win" than "should", but West Brom are capable of winning this one & I think they will.

Close To Call
Sunderland v Chelsea
Blackburn v Spurs
Fulham v Newcastle

I'm putting £5 on these three games being draws (44/1).

With that in mind, the players...

KEEPERS
Reina
Jaaskalainen
Szczesny

DEFENDERS
Kelly
Smalling (*depends on Rio)
Kolarov
Koscielny
Steinsson/Robinson
Bridge (was taking set pieces last week)
Jara
Spector (playing as an attacking midfielder)
Carr
G.Caldwell (not suspended, he's served his one match ban)

MIDFIELDERS
Fabregas (Nasri out for 2-3 weeks)
Nani
Adam (*transfer dependent)
Giggs (in outstanding form, will surely start after FA Cup rest)
M.Taylor/Holden (both good options for Bolton)
Meireles
Dempsey
Brunt
Van Der Vaart
Bentley
Lampard (back from injury)
Duff
Richardson (supporting the striker)

STRIKERS
Berbatov
Van Persie
Torres (*transfer dependent)
Elmander (time for him to fire again)
Dzeko
Rooney (last chance saloon, but I think he'll score)
DJ Campbell
Defoe
Vela (on loan at West Brom, dirt cheap)

That's it - I'll try to add some analysis over the next couple of days & of course the lists will be updated if any transfer developments change things. I'll also produce an update post on Monday/Tuesday with all the important team/injury news.

I mentioned earlier the problems I have with my own team. It is still saved as this:

Reina, Spector, Kelly, Kolarov, Bale, Adam, Van Der Vaart, Nani, Dzeko, Torres, RvP

Bale, Adam & Torres may all need to go. Rooney or Elmander might come in for Torres, Giggs could come in for Bale (switching to 3-4-3) & Matt Taylor may come in for Adam. I'll wait until the last possible moment to make my decisions and save my changes.

I'll leave it there, but please let me know how your own team is shaping up. What decisions are you making on Bale/Adam/Torres?

Cheers,
AM

p.s. Blog Cup Results from Week 24 will probably be calculated on Monday - good luck!