Week 29 - Player Picks

Finally - after 28 weeks - Manchester United are starting to wobble. Wednesday's defeat at Stamford Bridge (a cracking match by the way) was their second in four league games and with trips to Anfield (without Vidic or Rio), the Emirates and the reverse fixture with Chelsea still to come, as well as some tricky matches against teams fighting for survival, it's perfectly conceivable that they will lose more matches. But does the result in midweek throw Chelsea back in to the title race?

No, not in my opinion. If Chelsea were 2nd then I'd offer them a slim chance of overturning the 12 point gap (with a game in hand), but because Arsenal sit between them & United, they're relying on not one, but two teams blowing it; I just don't see that happening (I'm ignoring Man City because they've played a game more and have a weaker goal difference). For what it's worth, I still believe Fergie will seal a record breaking 19th league title to overhaul Liverpool, but Arsenal will be right with them until the end and the race for the Champions League spots between Chelsea, City & Spurs adds an extra bit of spice to the run-in... not forgetting the unbelievable scrap at the bottom with 6th place and the relegation zone separated by just 10 points!

Anyway, Chelsea's win meant the loading up on Manchester United players didn't work out as well as it could've, but there were still plenty of decent scores about and I ended Week 28 on 137 points and 60th overall. It was of course a Blog Cup week, but as has become the norm I won't be calculating the semi-final results until next week to be sure Yahoo don't ruin things by making adjustments - make sure you check back here on Monday!

Week 29 sees another double, but thankfully it's for two teams on this occasion. Picking an XI last week wasn't much fun when you can only target one team, so it's enhanced slightly by both Everton & Birmingham offering options. Everton travel to Newcastle & Birmingham host West Brom before the sides meet at Goodison Park in midweek.

McLeish's men will be buoyed by their magnificent Carling Cup triumph, so you'd expect them to beat West Brom and perhaps that gives their players the edge over the Toffees, but we know Everton are a match for anyone on their day, so it's sure to be an interesting clash. I don't really have a preference - I think there are good options from both teams (particularly in defence) - but you should be looking to get at least 7 double gamers in to your side, ideally more if possible. People will continue to doubt this philosophy, but it works 99% of the time & is a tactic employed by the majority of the top-ranked YFF players.

As always, injuries need to be looked at, and they will be in more detail tomorrow, but we already know the following.

Everton will be without Fellaini for the rest of the season & Tim Cahill is out until the end of March, so both can be discounted from Week 29. Jermaine Beckford is a slight worry, but reports are suggesting both he & Saha should be fit, so expect them to lead the line. 4-4-2 is Moyes only real option considering he's missing the two players that can usually link his 4-5-1 formation. Birmingham are without long-term absentees Scott Dann & James McFadden, while Hleb is 50-50 and Gardner & Roger Johnson are slight doubts due to injuries picked up at Wembley last Sunday. I'll have a more extensive look at this in my Friday Update post.

I'm not completely forgetting the other fixtures in Week 29. Manchester City have a cracking home game against bottom club Wigan & Chelsea travel to a Blackpool side missing the suspended Charlie Adam & DJ Campbell - undoubtedly the two stand out single fixtures. You may want to look at Arsenal hosting Sunderland & Spurs at Wolves but injuries to key players devalues both North London clubs slightly, so don't get too excited. Also worth nothing, Jamie O'Hara is illegible due to standard loan terms.

I'll be avoiding Liverpool v United, West Ham v Stoke, Fulham v Blackburn & Bolton v Villa as they are likely to be close, possibly scrappy encounters, and I'd advise you do the same unless you have a really big discount you're desperate not to lose.

Talking of discounts, a quick word on Robin Van Persie. The knee injury was initially reported as at least 3 weeks, but a number of "in the know" journalists are suggesting (via Twitter and other media) that it's more likely to be 4-6 weeks, with the Dutchman known to be a slow healer. Wenger himself was quoted last night, stating "we have to hope it is only 4 weeks", so I cannot stress this enough - you should be selling him, even @9. That's the last I'll say on the matter.

Now on to players, and you won't be surprised with the majority of names on the list...

KEEPERS
Foster
Howard
Hart

DEFENDERS
Baines
R Johnson (* injury news to be checked)
Coleman
Ridgewell
Carr
Jiranek
David Luiz
Kolarov

MIDFIELDERS
Bentley
Arteta
Gardner (* injury news to be checked)
Osman
Larsson
Lampard
Hitzlsperger
Nasri
Nani
Silva
Bilyaletdinov
Rodwell

STRIKERS
Tevez
Saha
Zigic
Beckford
Torres
Bendtner/Chamkah
Suarez
Martins
Dzeko/Balotelli

That's it!

I probably picked the worst week ever to miss the barndoor, as Everton values rocketed after their 2-0 win last weekend. It means paying full price for everyone, so I'm limited in what I can do.

Howard, Kolarov, Coleman, Ridgewell, Baines, Osman, Bentley, Arteta, Carew, Zigic, Saha

I'd prefer Foster over Howard but can't get close to affording him. Kolarov is a season keeper & unfortunately Carew is a necessary evil to free up funds, but the rest are all double-gamers with a very good chance of playing both. Arteta has been disappointing recently but he gets some set piece & is the penalty taker, so I'm willing to take the risk. I'd like to bring Roger Johnson & Craig Gardner in if team news suggest they'll be fit, which would probably mean Ridgwell & Osman moving out.

Other than that I can't see a lot changing - I'm concerned about not having a City or Chelsea attacker, but what happened with Tevez last week is in the back of my mind. I don't want to spend a large amount on a single gamer as he only gets one chance & spending £20m on him for a return of 10 points would be a disaster in a double week.

UPDATE: I may go Ridgewell/Carew to Jiranek/Dzeko to get a Man City attacker in - thoughts?

I'll leave it there, but I'll be back tomorrow with all the team and injury news. Please let me know how your team is shaping up!

Cheers,
AM