Friday 4 March 2011

Week 29 - Update

I'll start things off with a piece of news I've literally just read - David Luiz is a doubt for Chelsea's trip to Blackpool. This information comes from Fantasy Football Scout who was astute enough to watch Ancelotti's press conference this afternoon.

Apparently "There's hope he could make it" but that's as much as we have & it leaves those holding Luiz with a tricky decision to make in this double week. Mikel is also a doubt - but nobody cares. Blackpool are without the suspended Charlie Adam & DJ Campbell, so I'm sure Ian Holloway is fearing the worst here after Chelsea looked close to their best on Tuesday.

Everton manager David Moyes has reported no new injury concerns, meaning Tim Cahill & Fellaini are the only men missing from the squad to face Newcastle. I'm thinking a midfield of Coleman, Rodwell, Arteta, Osman is likely, although Bily comes in to contention too. It'll be Saha + 1 upfront & I'd expect that '1' will be Beckford over Anichibe given his two goals against Sunderland last weekend.

Carling Cup winners Birmingham are a slightly more difficult one to call. Dann, McFadden & Hleb are definitely out, but Roger Johnson is available. Craig Gardner should also be ready but Barry Ferguson is a major doubt after breaking a rib in last Sunday's final.

There's a lot of middies for McLeish to select from - Bentley, Larsson, Gardner, Fahey, Bowyer, Ferguson & Beausejour - plus Martins will be pushing for a start alongside Zigic after his match-winning cameo. How the manager juggles it is anyone's guess I'm afraid.

UPDATE: Ferguson & Gardner are confirmed doubtful: http://www.bcfc.com/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10412~2306638,00.html

Arsenal have problems; they are without Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, Theo Walcott & Robin van Persie, but they have Aaron Ramsey available. They also welcome back Laurent Koscielny after he missed the midweek FA Cup tie with a hamstring strain - I'll leave it up to you to decide whether his return is good or bad news. Bendtner should continue upfront after his hattrick.

Harry Redknapp has been given it his usual "maybe, might, can't promise anything" about Gareth Bale & Rafa Van Der Vaart. He says they have a chance of making Milan on Wednesday, but they may also be ready to face Wolves, but then they might miss both - I can't stand him sometimes! Defoe is fit but King, Woodgate, Huddlestone & Kaboul remain sidelined.

Don't expect to see Kolo Toure for a while after he tested positive for drugs and was suspended by the club - naughty boy. Kompany is fit so he should form a new partnership with Lescott. Mancini gave an interview earlier this week suggesting Silva, Dzeko, Balotelli & Tevez can't all play together at the moment, so one of them will be given a rest. I'd imagine that will be Balotelli after Dzeko & Tevez were benched for the FA Cup win in midweek.

Manchester United have a defensive crisis with Vidic suspended, Rio struggling & Evans also carrying an injury, so he may be forced to turn to Wes Brown in his search for Smalling's partner. It's unclear what Berbatov has done to upset Sir Alex but he's likely to remain on the bench for the trip to Anfield.

Liverpool are without the injured Martin Kelly but Andy Carroll has been in full training all week & could make his debut, although it's likely this will be from the bench. Meireles, Agger & Auerlio could also be ready as the squad begins to get back to something like full strength.

There's probably loads more but I'm strapped for time today -  I'll try to get back online later to add anything important.

Cheers,
AM

86 comments:

Anonymous said...

yahoooo 1st!

Assistant Manager said...

first!


d'oh

Anonymous said...

Who to select ?

Anonymous said...

Thirst!

kwyjibo said...

According to Wenger, of all people, he said Kolo Toure tested positive after taking his wife's diet pill! He's been trying to lose weight.

Funny how Wenger jumps to his defense, but Mancini is silent ...

Anonymous said...

Any changes to your team AM? Do you mind posting your team changes in this post? Thank you

By the way is not having saha or beckford a suicide this week? My budget allows me martins and zigic or saha and anichebe. Which one is better do you think?

Anonymous said...

Bily or Rod? I'll probably go with Bily but what do you think AM?

madness said...

nice pic

Miecio said...

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/04032011/58/premier-league-wenger-toure-took-wife-diet-pill.html

in Kolo case

Anonymous said...

Howard
Distin Coleman Luiz (wait and see)
Osman Bentley Rodwell Lamps
Beckford Saha Tevez

1.62 left over.

Drop Tevez and go with a Chelsea striker(Torres - ughhh) and I'm tempted by Suarez at home against a Utd defence without Rio and Vidic.

BCB

Anonymous said...

who's your players Nik?

Birty said...

kwyjibo - you should apreciate that picture!

can't wait for kolo to come back - 'you fat bastard!'

I'm betting this week that Phil Neville is due a hat-trick. he's never got one so he's due, right?

Assistant Manager said...

I was hoping some people would get the picture reference :)

I'm not posting my team up until after the deadline this week - a few of the guys in my league have started copying it so I'm giving it a week off so they can fend for themselves (you know who you are!)

Anonymous said...

Nik, I'm disappointed. You shoulda pulled the old switcharoo and posted a fake line up, said nowt and let them copy away.

BCB

Anonymous said...

The fantasist seems to think Bentley won't start tomorrow, writing that he "wouldn't be surprised if Alex McLeish stuck with the side that won the Carling Cup - a five-man midfield of Ferguson, Gardner, Fahey, Bowyer and Larsson." Do you guys agree with this?

Assistant Manager said...

UPDATE: Ferguson & Gardner are confirmed doubtful:

http://www.bcfc.com/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10412~2306638,00.html

Anonymous said...

From the Chelsea official website:

"Carlo Ancelotti is hopeful David Luiz and John Mikel Obi will be fit in time to face Blackpool on Monday night.

Mikel suffered a knee injury in the warm-up before Tuesday's win over Manchester United, while David Luiz, who scored the equaliser in that game at Stamford Bridge, has not trained since due to a hamstring problem.

'After the game we had a problem with David Luiz. Until now he was not able to train,' Ancelotti explained earlier today (Friday). 'Obviously I hope he will train tomorrow, and with Mikel, he had a little problem on his knee in the warm-up before the game. He had a scan yesterday and everything was okay, so I hope also he can train tomorrow.'"

Looks doubtful for Luiz if he hasn't trained since tuesday, although there is still 3 days until the game vs Blackpool. This is bad news for me, as I have him at 5.63 and he looked like a good one to keep for the rest of the season, but similarly I could drop him for Jiranek who is guaranteed to play and may pick up clean sheet points. I think I am going to stick with Luiz and gamble that he plays.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone offer their thoughts on this team?

Foster
Kolarov, Luiz, Carr, Baines
Hitzlsperger, Bentley, Rodwell
Tevez, Saha, Carew

I think I'm happy with 6 DGers + Tevez, though I'm tempted to shuffle around and switch out Bentley, Saha, Carew for Larsson, Beckford, Zigic. Any thoughts or advice??

George S. said...

OSMAN or BECKFORD??????

Please help!

Anonymous said...

AM, how about rooney this week ??

Shan

Anonymous said...

Is anyone going with Torres this week? Chelsea will make a lot of chances at Blackpool and I get a feeling he may finally get some goals.

Ms Peiizi - said...

y no ppl choose foster ???

Anonymous said...

@George - Osman.

Going all out with 10 DGers.

Howard
Ridgewell Baines Jiranek
Silva Bentley Arteta Osman Larsson
Zigic Saha

Wish me luck!

-Mike

kwyjibo said...

@Birty - yes, yes I do ... I suppose that means you know where 'kwyjibo' comes from! If 'Google' can be added to the Oxford English Dictionary, why not 'kwyjibo'?

Anonymous said...

From official Manchester United website:

Vidic is suspended after seeing red on Tuesday night against Chelsea, while Sir Alex says Ferdinand “won’t be fit” for the lunchtime clash. The injuries come as a further blow following the 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

That means Wes Brown is front of the queue to play alongside Chris Smalling on Sunday. “Wes will take over,” Sir Alex said. “He has great experience.”

Wes Brown currently priced at 6.25.

-Mike

Anonymous said...

erm...that's a pictuire of Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons...erm, David Luiz looks like Sideshow Bob...and, erm... Sideshow Bob got injured in that Simpsons episode by a whole load of rakes...and David Luiz is now injured...

I get it!!!!! Nice one AM

(0:

Anonymous said...

Bentley/Carew or Larsson/Zigic?

rwlwhite said...

glad to see ramsay back in the arsenal squad as i mentioned the other day in the rvp: to drop or not to drop post. he won't start but i'm sure if we're winning he'll be brought on in the 2nd half so he can get a massive cheer to boost his confidence. good timing though considering our injuries.

my current line-up is thus:

Szczesny
Distin - Kolarov - Luiz - Coleman
Nasri - Bentley - Arteta
Zigic - Torres - Beckford/Bendtner

Even though last week I didn't have many DGers and had a pitiful 79pts, i'm confident that the single gamers I have in there (Kol, Luiz, Szczesny, Nasri, Torres, and possibly Bendtner) can get good points this week. Szczesny is staying for the season unless he loses his place, as will Kol. I believe Torres has to score soon, so against Blackpool could be a great opportunity. Bendtner still needs to prove himself to me in the league, and Sunderland is a great place to start: they are a fighting team and one of the games we definitely have to win, so he needs to step up, and after that hat trick on wednesday, his super-ego should be nearing new highs so i'm expecting at least some shots on target if not goals!

Foul Master said...

Nik,

Funny story about the pic. In the commentary for that episode, they admitted that the episode was like 30 seconds too short upon completion, so they just added 30 seconds into the rake gag. Lol.


STLRam01

Martin said...

Essien for 8.87 or Gardner?

kwyjibo said...

Here, maybe this will help:

http://oruamid.blogspot.com/2011/03/sideshow-david.html

Ken said...

No more changes? Actually, the thing I do not like the most (are) the double feature players, but..I am also taking a chance and letting Luiz ride unless I get back on in time to make a "certain" change.

Howard
Coleman/Luiz/Richards
Silva/Nasri/Y.Toure/Wilshere
Torres/Tevez/Zigic

Expecting for the week totals: Torres (23) Tevez (34) Zigic (12)

Silva (16) Nasri (18) Y. Toure (12) Wilshire (10)

Coleman (13) Luiz (9) Richards (9)

Howard (14)
Thought it was a good time for a laugh..or two!

Good luck to all...I know I will need it!

kwyjibo said...

Although geared towards FPL and not YFF, there is still some good analysis here:

Birmingham
Scouting the Doubles - Birmingham City

Everton
Scouting the Doubles - Everton

And, as I said before, Nasri may be a good pick. In another article on the same site, it is stated that Nasri had his best scoring performances when RvP, Walcott, and Fabs were injured/limited in their playing time. He referred to day 6, 9, and 16 which also happen to be his best in YFF (29, 17.5, 21.5). So he may be a good choice to pick up for the next several games, at least.

kendo said...

Howard
Smalling Coleman Luiz
Adam nani arteta osman
Ba zigic Beckford

Have 3.46 to spare considering For hitzl but os had a double

Maybe better keepin funds in bank?

Feelin lucky this week ;)

Kendo

Anonymous said...

Hey Nik, how about the smartest guy in bpl? will he play? --> Dr.Ogba --> Doctor Ogba.. Okay that was lame.. Your sideshow bob = david luiz is better :) but the question is real.. Will he be in starting 11?

I've loaded up my team with all DGs, I keep no discounted players this time, except howard.. This will be my first.. And I'll go with Osman than Beckford.. Not sure beckford will play twice.. But I really have a hunch on dr.ogba, I'm sure no one will pick him.. Comments?

-Cuy

SLASH said...

Jiranek + Martins
Jiranek + Zigic
or
Carr + Martins

Not enough funds for the 4th option (Carr + Zigic)

advice ??

Anonymous said...

@SLASH
Jiranek + Zigic

What about
Carr + Tevez
or
Baines + Saha

DJ PIGG said...

Aaarrrggghhh...

I can't quite bring myself to 'Confirm team changes'!

I scored 133 points last week using just nine players. I kept hold of the two vans (Persie and der Vaart) because, even with a week or two off, their average scores gave me hope that they'd be worth holding on to.

Doing so would mean losing 36.66 worth of talent that only cost me 15.22.

In fact, if I held onto RvdV for the rest of the season and he didn't score another point, he'd still have returned an average of 6.3 points in the 33 weeks since I signed him for 6.14.

RvP would hold retain his 9.08 cost until week 35.

Well before then, I'd like to think that both will be back to full strength and scoring well (at least better than any other striker at just 9 and any midfielder at 6-ish).

What to do... what to do...

Birty said...

@Kwyj, of course I do. Life and times of Homer J Simpson would be my specialist subject on Mastermind

LC said...

Quick one before i go peeps.

Will Bowyer play do we know?
I have noticed he is in and out of the team, but when he plays he normally scores ok.

Thanks
LC

Anonymous said...

If Liverpool v Man United is not a 2-2 goalless draw, then Man United or Liverpool will win it.

Btw Greginho, i hope you're still holding on to Van Persie you moron.

Benjitrain said...

whats with all the animousity? Can't a guy hold onto VP and VdV if they want. It is their team, you know.

Linesman said...

@Benji
I think there's nothing wrong with keeping either. Especially VdV who will be back for the next week of fantasy. I've averaged just under 1pt/₤ for most of the season but the weeks I had RvP I was well over that. Last week I got 0 for RvP but still ended up with 168.5 pts. I think it all depends on how good of a comeback he will have in the last few weeks of the season.

I personally dropped him at 9.08 because I can't stand seeing a 0 for more than one week. I like to play around with my squad and I enjoy the excitement of seeing someone you gambled on get big points. In the next few weeks I'm hoping for Bendtner to pick up points and I hope for Torres to start scoring regularly. With Carroll and Welbeck coming back there is no shortage of players that will fill my empty spot left by RvP.

My week 29 team:

Howard
Kolarov Coleman Ridgewell Carr
Hitzelsperger AYoung Larsson
Torres Zigic Tevez

I really struggled to decide between Baines + Saha and Carr + Tevez so I went with my gutt feeling which is the latter. I'm a big fan of Tevez and his style so I hope he will get 20+ pts this week.

Cheers and good luck!

The Greek. said...

"It's unclear what Berbatov has done to upset Sir Alex but he's likely to remain on the bench"

He hasn't done anything. He was on the bench for the previous double week because i had him in my team....

Anonymous said...

Best 31 million ManU ever spent!

Anonymous said...

Juggernaut here...

Week 29 team:

Howard
Kolarov Coleman Ridgewell Luiz
Larsson Arteta Osman
Zigic Saha Torres

After selecting my preferred DGers, I had 12.28 left exactly for a striker and it turns out to be Torres's value exactly, so I'm hoping that's a good sign that he'll hit a hatrick against B'pool.

kwyjibo said...

News from Fantasy Football Scout:

"Word on the news-wires this afternoon has thrown a curve-ball our way, West Brom have pre-emptively announced that if Manchester United and Arsenal draw in the FA Cup next weekend, then any replay of that tie will take place the following weekend, which would mean the postponement of two key Premier League fixtures.

The matches in question would be Arsenal’s trip to West Brom and Manchester United’s hosting of Bolton, leaving all four sides with a dreaded "blank" in gameweek 30."

TwoFace said...

i had only 99 points last week which is disastrous as i chose Berbs instead the in-form Rooney..i hate my guts, currently down to 504 overall rank and i need to bounce back this week

Foster
Kolarov, Jiranek, Coleman, Baines
Bentley, Arteta, Bowyer
Beckford, Zigic, Saha

10DG, i think this is the best line-up i could get based on the money..Kolarov is not going anywhr..i want Johnson but i could not afford arteta if he's in so i downgrade to Jiranek which is not bad..Foster is a must to me instead Howard as he could easily got 2 clean sheets and the points will be massive..the only thing that still lingering in my mind is i have Beckford on discount but Martins could score high against WBA and Beckford could be on the bench instead starting..hmm

that's all folks..good luck this weekend

Anonymous said...

end up with 134.50. thanks to Nik providing latest team news and all of friends here. appreciate it. i'm keeping vps because he might be miss for only 2 games in 4 weeks(2 weeks international break). i willing to spend 9 at zero.Good luck to you all.

Gunners

Anonymous said...

Too bad. Coz ManU are gonna win.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone suggest which site has the best projected team line-ups? I just checked the Guardian and they have a seemingly funky line-up suggesting starts for both Heitinga and Rodwell.

-Toekicker

Anonymous said...

howard
kompany, coleman, r.johnson
vdv, nasri, bentley, arteta
dzeko, saha, bendtner

or nani, bilyaldinov,zigic instead of nasri, arteta & bendtner

Anonymous said...

Do we know if Silva is fit because he missed last week

Anonymous said...

jiranek/torres or roger johnson/zigic?

-james

Anonymous said...

I'm going with:

Hart
Kolarov Coleman Baines RJohnson
Bentley Hitzlsperger Arteta
Ba Beckford Zigic

So it's 4 from Everton, 3 from Brum and two each from ManCity and West-Ham. A lot of risk, and I'm also left with 1.45mil, but I can't find a way to improve this team with that kind of money, so I'm just left with hoping for the best.

SF

NaD4123 said...

My week 29 team:

Hart
Jiranek Coleman Ridgewell
Hitzl Bentley Osman Larsson
Saha Zigic Beckford

2Non DG as I've been avoiding DG's keeper [more games, more chances their getting -ve points] and T. Hitzlsperger somehow very hard to resist.
I don't like this line up as I've been forcing to stuff in DG's player in my squad. Hopefully it pays off man..

Let me know your thought ^^

Anonymous said...

Wondering are there any premier league players also yahoo fantasy football manager ?

Going in with :-
Howard
Kolarov;Baines;Coleman;Johnson
VdV;Nani;Hitzlsperger;Osman
Torres;Saha

Anonymous said...

Luiz@5.63 or Carr or Jiranek? Any ideas pls?

PBS said...

Lampard at 13 or Arteta at 13?? Please tell me...thank you

Anonymous said...

Lampard at 13 is slightly better

Anonymous said...

Voted for Frank too... His freekicks are pretty on target.


@MU

Anonymous said...

Luiz@5.63 or Carr or Jiranek? Any ideas pls?

Anonymous said...

Luiz@5.63 or Carr or Jiranek? Any ideas pls?

Kay said...

guys, martins or zigic? currently have zigic but i certainly couldnt bear it if martins bag the goals tonite...
im going out in 15 minutes, couldnt catch the early teamsheet :(

help much appreciated

Anonymous said...

rate my team: szczesny caldwell(filler) smalling luiz baines nani arteta nasri rodwell dzeko beckford

Anonymous said...

just made 2 last minute changes. had zigic ands larsson but they are benched. Switched to martins and rigdwell.

Anonymous said...

yeah, and martins & ridgewell injury in minutes 2, and than replaced by larsson & zigic.
hahahaha

Dave said...

Where do you find the lineups for the early game in time to make changes?

Anonymous said...

i guess he find on BBC Sport

link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/9410920.stm

Dave said...

Thanks anon. I'll try that next week.

Zapatista said...

My Team:
B. Foster
A. Kolarov
S. Carr
S. Coleman
D. Bentley
T. Hitzlsperger
S. Nasri
M. Arteta
N. Zigic
L. Saha
E. Dzeko

Anonymous said...

For me Nani and kolarov are season keeper

Anonymous said...

Oh my ! ZiGic and LaRsson are sitting on the bench ? T_T

kwyjibo said...

Switched Sideshow David to Jiranek ... not playing and not even on the bench ... D'OH!

Zigic on the bench ... D'OH!

Not a good start.

Did you notice that some player prices dropped A LOT, right after the deadline? I went from 1.88 left to 5.64 just like that. I really could have used those extra funds! WTF, Yahoo?!

Anonymous said...

Wow, switched out Larsson and Zigic at last second for two starters, who are probably junk anyway- Saha and Bowyer. .....and no Jiranek, dodged that bullet- I do not have these three non-starters, but tell me why there is not ONE substitute in this yahoo game-- MAKES LUCK such a huge part over skill.

Keep faith with Zigic, I think he will get a goal-- so many on FPL actually captained him.

Anonymous said...

Just have Larsson from Birmingham and i don't regret it. 4 dg's for me.

Howard
Kolarov Coleman Richards
Nani VdV Arteta Larsson Nasri
Balotelli Saha

Ebi

Anonymous said...

no Coleman !!!

Anonymous said...

damn..what a bad start... zigic and larsson not even played tonite..coleman on bench..this is why i hate double gamers players..

-DrA-

Anonymous said...

Yeah I am p!ssed off!!! I knew I should have had more Chelsea players!!! Learn through mistakes next time much less DGamers with lower teams!!! Damn

Anonymous said...

some relief..Osman scored..assisted by Arteta :-)

-DrA-

Anonymous said...

@-DrA-

its not OVER man, just because your player not play IN FIRST GAME.

Remind, many Manager have same problem with you.

Lets Hope for 2nd next game we have good points.

-andi-

Anonymous said...

what da f**k.. to all manager who had coleman, larrson, jiranek, foster and zigic lets hope they will be play for 2nd game....and more important we gain a big points

Anonymous said...

Anyone any thoughts on the barndoor?

Arsenal players? Nasri or Bendter?
ManU players?
Aston Villa? Bent

A1

Anonymous said...

pls advice my team for gameweek 30

vds
walker,smalling,w.bridge
hitz,nasri,adam,pennant,
rooney,suarez,carew

thinking to get nani and someone will be drop...

Anonymous said...

anon -- check on pennant , possible injury.

Arizona

Anonymous said...

thanks mr. arizona...switch him with someone maybe essien...

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