Week 27 - So Far

Fulham v Chelsea completed the first round of Week 27 fixtures last night, so we're now left with the double game teams to play their 2nd match. Until Arsenal, Birmingham, West Brom, Spurs, Blackpool, Stoke, Newcastle & Wolves complete the week we can't tell exactly how's it's gone, but we can analyse what's happened so far.

Manchester United v Manchester City and "that" goal seem ages ago already, but the most important thing from a fantasy stand-point was Nani's performance. I'll admit that having dropped him @17.84 my heart sunk as I saw a goal & assist bring him another 20 points, forcing me to grab him back on the barndoor for 21.10 (and Rooney @16) in preparation for the possible double in Week 28. United's win keeps them in pole position for the title and City are probably out of it, but they are improving & I'm sure they'll be back with a full-on challenge next season.

I replaced Nani him with Fabregas, who brought in 11.5 points & has another game to play, but unless Cesc can hit 20 points in Arsenal's game vs Stoke then the gamble can probably be classed as an error. There was no such problem with Szczesny as he grabbed a clean sheet, and Van Persie did superbly again with two goals & 25.5 points as the Gunners kept themselves on United's heals with a comfortable victory over Wolves. Arsenal (along with Spurs & Birmingham) have a blank Week 28, but I'll be keeping Van Persie given his current form & £12m discount.

Spurs pulled off a great win at Sunderland despite being without Bale, Van Der Vaart and Modric, coming from behind again. They've now rescued 20 points from losing positions this season and are 2 points clear in the final Champions League place after Chelsea could only draw at Fulham. It could've been worse for Ancelotti's men as Petr Cech saved a 93rd minute Clint Dempsey penalty conceded by the otherwise excellent David Luiz, but something doesn't look right for Chelsea at the moment - and I'm not just talking about Fernando Torres' awful first touch. Could Spurs keep them out of the Top 4?

Down at the bottom West Brom & West Ham played out a six goal thriller, but there's no doubting which team were happier with a point as the Baggies blew a 3 goal lead. Odemwingie picked up some great points but Brunt & Olssen have been a let down so far. Birmingham snatched 3 vital points from Stoke thanks to a late Zigic winner, with the clean sheet providing great points for Foster, Ridgewell & Johnson, but Bentley disappointed. Carew provided double his cost with 4 points but the late switch of Pennant to Brunt has been a poor one so far.

Suarez looked impressive for Liverpool but it wasn't enough to beat a spirited Wigan side, with Reina owners taking an unexpected zero. Blackpool & Villa played out an entertaining 1-1 draw, Charlie Adam scored good points again and more importantly managed to avoid his 10th yellow card, so he'll face Spurs in the 2nd fixture next week. Van Der Vaart should also be available for that game, but he of course has a blank Week 28. Blackburn & Newcastle ended 0-0 despite Pardew's men dominating. Blackburn became the first home team in the Premier League this season to not register a single shot on goal - woeful!

What does that all mean? Well - I'm on 105 points with 10 DGers to go but that score actually dropped me a few places to 107th overall, so some people scored better (and some of them probably kept Nani & VDV!). I really need big points from my DGers - specifically Fabregas, Johnson, Brunt & Olssen - to make any sort of upward movement & to justify some of my Friday trades. As we know double weeks tend to produce some crazy midweek points, so I'm still hopeful I could end it in the Top 100.

Now my barndoor team is slightly misleading as it will change significantly depending on the outcome of the Manchester United double week, but this is what I have saved:

Freidel, Kolarov, Luiz, Walker, Gutiérrez, Adam, Silva, Nani, Carew, RvP, Rooney

If it ends up as a United double I'll look to bring in Giggs, Evra & possibly Chris Smalling if Rio Ferdinand is set for a long lay-off. If Adam picks up a booking at Spurs then he'd face a 2 match ban so would have to go, but as I've already mentioned I'm taking the zero for Van Persie. Kolarov, Silva & Carew will probably all stay.

If Chelsea v Man Utd is postponed then Luiz would have to go as Chelsea would have a blank week, so I'd maybe bring Shawcross or Heitinga in. I'd also probably drop Rooney but I'd hang on to Nani at Wigan. Gutierrez is just filling a space at the moment - I'll try to switch him to Pennant or someone similar if I can find the cash. I also wouldn't mind Dzeko or Suarez. As you can tell, I haven't really made any firm decisions yet - it'll all depends on the Chelsea v Everton FA Cup result next week.

That's it for today -  sorry it's a bit of a rambling post. As I'm sure you can imagine I'm getting pretty nervous/excited about the Champions League tonight - AC Milan v Tottenham in the San Siro! We'll be without Bale, but hopefully Van Der Vaart & Modric will be fit to start. I'd be satisfied to go back to White Hart Lane perhaps 2-1 behind as I know we can beat anyone at home, but it'll be really tough if we give away more than a one goal deficit and an away goal is vital. Then of course we have Arsenal v Barcelona tomorrow night...!

How are you getting on in Week 27 so far? How many DGers to go? Have you started on your Week 28 team? Prediction for Milan v Spurs & Arsenal v Barca?

Cheers,
AM