Friday 15 April 2011

Week 33 - Update

Only a short update post this week as I'm very tired after a long day sitting my Prince2 exam and I'm finding it incredibly difficult to concentrate or settle on a team for Week 33. What I do know is we'll all be picking up players from the three teams with two games, so I'm focusing on their news.

Chelsea are going to be without Ramires & Alex for the first game at West Brom, but both could be back for the Birmingham game. This news is extremely annoying for anyone who had Ramires in their side as he was a great cheap DG option & enabled extra spending elsewhere.

So who replaces him? If 4-3-3 remains then it's likely to be either Benayoun or Zhirkov, with Benayoun the more likely. If the Israeli does start then Ancelotti could be tempted to start with Torres as the two had a great understanding at Liverpool, but then again, Torres was so awful in midweek it would be a big suprise if Drogba sat on the bench again.

Could Ancelotti use 4-4-2 again to accommodate both the strikers?  Would that means Essien & Lampard in the middle with Malouda left, Benayoun right? What about Anelka? The honest truth is we just don't know, so you're going to have to go with your own instincts on this one, but I'm now trying to fit both Drogba & Torres in my team, despite the fact it appears impossible.

Arsenal have Szczęsny (I haven't missed spelling that name) back from injury & he's set to come straight in to the starting line-up for the Liverpool game. Eboue may continue at right-back with Sagna struggling & Djourou is being tipped to return alongside Koscielny at the expenses of Squillaci. Alex Song will be hoping to take back the anchor role from Diaby and the rest is s fairly likely to be Wilshere, Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott (or Arshavin) & Van Persie.

Birmingham are expecting Roger Johnson to be ready after suffering concussion last weekend, so McCleish may stick with a back four of Carr, Johnson, Ridgewell & Parnaby. Zigic and Bentley could return to the squad but Jiranek and Obafemi Martins remain on the sidelines.

Philips & Jerome will probably continue upfront as they've been playing well, so even if he's back Zigic may have to settle for a place on the bench. The midfield is less certain but I'd be really surprised if Larsson was benched, he's been playing well as an out-and-out winger since Birmingham moved to 4-4-2. Ferguson & Gardner are near certainties for the centre, so that would leave Bowyer & Bentley (if he's back) fighting for the final midfield spot.

From the recommended single games, Everton are still without Mikel Arteta, Louis Saha & have doubts over Jack Rodwell, Seamus Coleman & Tim Cahill. This means Bily, Heitinga & Beckford should all keep their places.

Blackpool are without David Vaughan again so Southern should continue & Richard Kingson will remain in goal despite Matt Gilks' return to the squad. If I could afford Charlie Adam this week I would as I feel he's going to score big in Blackpool's biggest game of the season so far.

Remember, Man City, Fulham, Bolton, Stoke & Wolves DO NOT PLAY in Week 33, so don't bother picking any players up from these sides for this week (but note Fulham, Bolton, Stoke & Wolves play twice in Week 34).

That's all I've got time for in terms of injury news, so please check Fantasy Football Scout, BBC Sport or Jeremy & Neal over on FantasyEPL if you're looking for news on any of the other SG teams.

I have no idea what I'm doing with my team at this point in time, but this is on my page:

Howard, Heitinga, Carr, Luiz, A.Cole, Wilshere, Benayoun, Lampard, Philips, Van Persie, Drogba

Spending £19m on Drogba will be a disaster if he doesn't start both, but the thought of not having him as he grabs two hat-tricks is a scary one. I've toyed with the idea of getting Cech, Malouda, Fabregas & Torres in at different times this week, but it's very difficult to manoeuvre with A.Cole, Lampard, Drogba & RvP taking up over 65% of my budget.

Stephen Carr is there in place of Kolarov at the moment, I've squeezed Phillips in & Benayoun is in too, but none of those switches are likely to remain. In fact, the whole damn team could change before the deadline, I'm that confused!

I'm going to leave it there I'm getting stressed. Please let me know how your team is shaping up. Anyone else finding picking a team this week one of the toughest of the season?

Cheers,
AM (not such a short post after all!)

p.s. It's never too late to join the Blog Facebook Group - we've passed 1250 members & it's always great to add more! You can also follow me on Twitter (@nikarg)!

76 comments:

Anonymous said...

1st

--sweets

Anonymous said...

2nd

Anonymous said...

will Benayoun and philips start?

Assistant Manager said...

Have you not just read the post?

Anonymous said...

Will Smalling start?

KHOLIO said...

I agree this is by far the toughest week to choose, if we could only know ancelotti's mystery lineup

Anonymous said...

kingson

luiz koscielny a.cole

lampard malouda eboue (4.86)/b.ferguson

suarez rvp torres

I hate my team!!!

--harrrrr

Anonymous said...

BLOG CUP RESULTS ???

Fernando Torres said...

I wish Carlo can tell me if I'm starting tomorrow!

Martin said...

I'm settling on.

Kingson
Koscielny / Luiz / Heitinga
Valencia / Lampard / Fabregas / Southern
RvP / Drogba / drogBa

I'm banking upon a strong showing from Blackpool at home and comfortable wins for Chelsea.

Fabregas is in over Wilshere + Ramires Or Benayoun. A possible Fab free kick goal and a Blackpool squad where anyone could score leads me to Fab + Southern

Assistant Manager said...

I wrote this in my Player Picks post

"Blog Cup Final results will now be up NEXT WEEK as there is still a chance of a point adjustment right up to the weekend."

Anonymous said...

Cech is the only player that can guarantee a minimum of 20 points this week, i wonder why he's not so popular

Anonymous said...

i am really undecided about drogba too. He usually scores big but then again i could play it safe and upgrade to Cech and improve my team in other ways. Tough call!

kellz said...

Friedel Luiz Kolarov Aurelio Lampard Wilshire Hitz Benayoun Drogba RvP Torres

Pretty happy with it although I don't have any Bham players. Larsson has been playing well and starting as of late but he's not an out and out phantom pt machine and with bentley possibly back will be sharing kicks. Otherwise I ready to rock!

Good luck all

Anonymous said...

@Nik

I love that team you're not settled on i could pick everyone except Howard and Heitinga. I think they'll all start.

Papa Bear said...

man this is by far the hardest week...and leading my private league by only 6 pts makes it even more nerve rattling....

so this is what i have been able to come down to after numerous changes and heart aches..yes heart aches...

Howard
Simpson luiz smalling
wilshere fab benayoun ferguson
torres rvp drogba

8 Dgers...hoping smalling stays in the side with rio playing Fa cup...

i hav malouda suarez valencia amongst others is the back ground....still time before deadline so this might not stay.

kwyjibo said...

Well, the Ramires news sucks. So few sure starters for Chelsea. If I drop A. Cole to Carr, I could fit in either Torres or Fabs. Which one is best?

Here is how it's looking:

Cech
Kol-Luiz-Carr
Hitz-Wilshire-Ferguson-Fabs
RvP-Drogba-Phillips

Or, what about this crazy lineup?
Kingson
Kol-Luiz-Carr
Hitz-Yossi-Ferguson-Lampard
RvP-Drogba-Torres

Papa Bear said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Papa Bear said...

@kwyjibo

had to jus move ramires to yossi...
the Torres and Fabs is definately a toss up...torres i hav a feelin wont start...but he will com on and i feel he gonna get at least 1 goal....if he scores in the first game..he gonna start the 2nd....

fabs has jus not been himself...but he does pop up for those odd assist and penalties which is what i hoping he does this week...

for lampard see fab comments above...

so i squeezed in both...

With cech vs torres...i definately see cech outscoring torres whether torres starts both games or not

hope that helped

kellz said...

Papa there will be no penalties for cesc as long as RvP is on the pitch. AW confirmed RvP is the preferred penalty taker. Just a heads up.

Anonymous said...

Cech
Kolarov - Luiz - Cole
Eboue - Wilshire - Ferguson - Yossi
RVP - Torres - Drogba

Just about settled on this - maybe put Carr in over Cole and upgrade Ferguson to Essien?

Nik, you're right this week is a killer

Anonymous said...

A very tough week! Changed my team around numerous times today, and have never really felt happy with it. Would love to have Droba, but spending 19.56 on him is just killing the rest of my team when I already have RVP (18) and Lampard (15) in there. I agree with AM that Adam could hit big points tomorrow too. Good luck to everyone.

kwyjibo said...

@Papa Bear, @kellz - thanks for the info.

Yes, it's becoming such a tough week to make choices. If cesc isn't on PKs then I can drop Hitz to Southern and bring in Lampard.

What about this?
Cech
Kol-Luiz-Carr
Wilshere-Yossi-Southern-Lampard
RvP-Drogba-Phillips

Not entirely happy with it, but not too bad, either. 9 DGers! (if they all play both, which is always a doubt)

Anonymous said...

This is defninietly a very tough week. I'm pretty certain this will be my team though..

Howard
Kolarov Luiz Carr
Hitz Lampard Fabregas Wilshere
Drogba RVP SantaCruz

I still hold Suarez, Torres, Adam, Cole and Valencia behind the scenes though. Potentially an awful lot of points i'm about to drop..

Irons.

jack said...

Hitz + Torres
or
Lamps + RSC

??

I've always preferred a premium attacker over a premium midfielder, but I don't know this time...

Anonymous said...

anyone rate Ba getting a good score for west ham? i think they will have a good game and can see him scoring well despite only having the one game this week

Anonymous said...

@ anon 6:54pm - I wanted Demba Ba, but just didn't have the cash after paying out for expensive DG players. But I also think he will pickup good points.

Anonymous said...

How bout this

Reina
Heitinga Bale G.Caldwell
VdV Valencia Wilshire Meireles
Carroll Suarez Drogba

Anyone????

Mags said...

Hate my team
currently sitting on
cech
luiz/smalling/walker
hitz/southern/lamp/wilshire
rvp/drogs/rsc

2 fillers, I hold hitz, smalling, and walker at discounts. Was thinking of moving Walker to Carr. If I do that I can go from Lamps and RSC to Gardner and Suarez.
Help please

Anonymous said...

Trick week..i've finalized my team as follows:

KINGSON
LUIZ / COLE / HEITINGA
FABREGAS / WILSHERE / BENAYOUN / SOUTHERN
V.PERSIE / TORRES / DROGBA

5 Chelsea players
3 Arsenal players
2 Blackpool players
1 Everton player

I dont care picking up Tores and Drogba at the same time. I would be more than happy if each of them is given 1 full game. If they play both matches, it is a bonus.

DrA

Anonymous said...

Can somebody comment my team?

Kingson
Luiz Smalling cole
Lampard Fabregas Southern Wilshere
RvP Suarez Torres

still 1.8 in the bank :D
Really hard week!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I am going to go out on a limb and say Torres is not worth it... even if it is a double game week. Meireles is kicking ass, he could put up more in a single game than torres fabregas... etc.

what about carroll? Valencia is cheap and playing aces too

Anonymous said...

I have

Reina
Heitinga G. Caldwell Bale
VDV Meireles Valencia Wilshire
Drogba Suarez Carroll

Any tips on what to do?

Linesman said...

I'm putting all my trust in Torres this week!

Kingson
Kol Luiz Terry
Valencia Lampard Walcott Benayoun
RvP Torres RSC

I have enough to switch Terry to Cole, but that's the only change I'm contemplating now.

Good luck to everyone!

Spanner said...

Hahnemann (zero is better than negative I guess)
Luiz, Zhirkov, Koscielny
Lampard, Valencia (discount), Fabregas, Bowyer
Torres, RVP, Phillips.

I toyed with Anelka for Torres, but same conundrum as you all, could they start Torres/Drogba together? and no way I could make room for Drogba, even after the Hahnemann sacrificial lamb.

Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

Like a lot of people, I'm really struggling coming to a final team this week. Due to the lack of confidence in starting sports for many of the double gamers in attacking positions, I may just load up on Chelsea's strong defensive options. Currently sitting on:

Cech
Walker, Luiz, Terry, Cole
Wilshire, Gardner, Nasri, Lampard
Phillips, Santa Cruz

In the long run, I didn't have confidence that Torres, Malouda, Essien, Anelka, Drogba, Larsson, Jerome or Phillips would start both games. Phillips price makes him a much easier pill to swallow if he does end up on the bench. I preferred to go with players that I was almost certain would start both games in Wilshire, Gardner, Lampard, Nasri, Terry, Cole and Luiz. Clearly that leaves a cheap and worthless forward line. I'll take that if Chelsea post at least one clean sheet. Total of 9 double gamers that represent 91% of my points allotment.

Cech's Mates

Assistant Manager said...

The anon guy with this team:

Reina
Heitinga G. Caldwell Bale
VDV Meireles Valencia Wilshire
Drogba Suarez Carroll

Needs to seriously change things. 2 DGers? 4 Liverpool players with an away game at Arsenal? All change please

Radiopool said...

============================================

HELP! I HAVE 14.53 LEFT with this current team (which i like!):

Cech
Kolarov Luiz A.Cole _________
VDV Wilshere Eboue (2.17) Lamps __________
VanPersie Phillips ___________

I can spend the 14.53 on a defender, middie, or striker and can't decide which or who! Adams? Fabregas? Torres? Walcott?

============================================

Radiopool said...

I may have caught you just in time AM. :) What you think about my above question?

Anonymous said...

I'm counting on torres. In Fifa 11 i scored 5 goals with him so that was a signal(in real madrid by the way :D )

here's my team:
kingson
smalling luiz cole
lampard fabregas wilshere southern
RVP suarez TORRES

Radiopool said...

OH AND REGARDING MY QUESTION ABOVE, i forgot to mention I have Malouda at a discount of 14.00!! So, he is an option as well!!! Tough decision.

Ken said...

Wow,should just keep one post and put 'DITTO" for the rest. I feel I am in great company, as I have reshuffled my team more times then I can remember and most likey there is more to come.
So far..
Cech
Luiz/Smalling/Murphy
Fabregas/Southern/Wilshere/Essien
Drogba/RVP/Ba
Not happy at all, but here are a couple of my thoughts.

Cech....personally, I can't see how you couldn't.
Murphy...a zero as I am out of money and can't have 4 strikers or I could fit in Cruz.
Fabregas..of all Arsenal players I feel he will have the best week. With their match ups that may not be saying much.
Southern..hoping for any points
Wilshere....do not like it at all
Essien..may be a sleeper but hoping for average
Drogba..After his last game I could not sleep if he were not on my team and his cost is killing me.
RVP...Again, could not sleep and miss having him on a double,and combined with Drogba it's all or nothing here!
Ba...My personal pick as I just have one of those feelings. 20 points!!
Last comment: I just don't understand Torres over Cech. Those teams I see with Howard/Torres..you have more faith then I do (by far!). I am standing with Cech/Ba for the same price.

Good luck..this will be interesting for sure!

Anonymous said...

It's always risky loading up on one team in defence, but this week it seems like everybody is at it. I doubled up last week on Luiz and Cole and Cole came through for me. I hope this week will be a classic example of the pitfalls though, as i'm only going with Luiz :D

I'm not quite sure why everyone seems to think Chelsea will get 2 clean sheets. The implied probability of this happening (going by betfair odds) is around 34%.

I'm confident Howard @3.99 will outscore Cech pound for pound.

Irons

Anonymous said...

Sorry, got that completely wrong. The implied probability of Chelsea getting 2 clean sheets is only 19%

Irons

Anonymous said...

suarez+torres or RSC+drogba?

Here is my team(still not sure) DAMN IT!

kingson: if blackpool play well in defence he should be good
luiz and cole: COOL
smalling: if ferdinand returns then ***. But he should keep his place in the 11.
fabregas: better than nasri/arshavin i think
lampard: should score?!
wilshere: good luck kid
southern: ???
suarez: against man utd was awesome! We'll see...
RVP: good form and 11 goals in 2011(league)!
AND FINALLY...
FERNANDO TORRES: Lately he SUCKS! But i ave a feeling that he'll play and score(64%

Ken said...

Sorry..last post.Promise Kellz.
Cech
Luiz/Smalling/Heitinga
Fabregas/Essien/Puncheon/Southern
RVP/Ba/Drogba
Not even going to look at it again!!!!!
Cech....28 points for the double!
Torres..Good luck. I wish nothing but the best. Unless the 3 teams ahead of me in my league have him then...7 points total!

FLScott said...

Finally, people (Hell yeah AM!) understand the Drogs/Torres combo this week.... ba'jesus. Herp de Derp'

Anonymous said...

Drogba/Santa Cruz/Southern or Torres/Wilshere/Phillips???? Somebody help me!!!

Radiopool said...

Valencia and Torres OR Lamps and Phillips?

And, simple question:if you had 14.53 who would you buy between Malouda (at discount), Adam, Walcott or Torres?

Anonymous @ 10:01pm - I'd go with Torres/Wilshere/Phillips or, if you're uncertain on Torres, bring in another middie (if you can), like Fabregas, Walcott or Adam to replace him.

Anonymous said...

pls help

what would u guys pick

Kingson
luiz/carr/heitinga
Lamps/Fabs/Ferguson/benayoun
RvP/Drogs/Jerome

or

Kingson
Luiz/Carr/Heitinga/A.Cole
Lamps/Benayoun/Wilshere
RvP/Drogs/Philips

Toughest week ever!

Jelly said...

I'm going with

Howard
Luiz Cole Heitinga
Lampard Yossi Larsson Southern
RVP Drogba RSC.

gotta go and see you guys at barn door.

Anonymous said...

@Radiopool-->Lamps and Phillips for sure

Ive settled on my team except for the following:
Gardner/RSC or Wilshere/Phillips

Which combo you guys like better?

C-Hawk

Dave said...

@Ken (from previous string):

After absorbing zeros for Almunia and Hernandez last weekend, I tumbled out of the top 1000 to land at 1352 with 2891 points. Hoping to recover with the double gamers this weekend.

Like you I am keeping Smalling and crossing my fingers. In fact, for this GW we share identical defensive lines as well as our GK. We both also hold Fabs and Essien.

So I'm hoping you crush it this GW, since that will mean I probably will too.

Congrats on a fine debut season, by the way.

Anonymous said...

Howard
Kolarov Carr Luiz
VDV Lampard Wilshere Larsson
RVP Drogba RSC

7 DGers
3 SGers
1 no show

TwoFace said...

Cech
Carr,Luiz,Parnaby
Lampard,Wilshere,Southern,Bowyer
RVP,Drogba,Phillips

10DG players plus Southern as filler..i think Cech is a no brainer as Chelsea could easily kept 2 clean sheet and get a lot of points. Carr and Parnaby is cheap and they might get at least 1 clean sheet. I hope Bowyer continue scoring as i got him at BD (5.45), Wilshere will starts both game so i chose him ahead of Benayoun.

RVP is giant while the dilemma will be focus whether to pick Drogba or Torres as the decision will change the team completely. But my guts says this one. The hardest decision whether to drop Kolarov at discount but since i have a lot to catch up in my private league, i'm gambling Parnaby in the squad.

Anonymous said...

cech - he'll score >25points
walker - keep for future
bardsley - same above (easy games coming)
luiz - well you noe y..
lamp8 - DG, easy game
fab4 - DG, 1 easy game
southern - filler
ferguson - DG
caroll - have at discount
rvp - no brainer
santa claus - filler

brilliant or stupid?
and i'll get back to suarez and Hperger during the game...

Anonymous said...

THERE IS NOTHING MENTION ABOUT C.FABREGAS

-ARSENAL-

Anonymous said...

its a very hard week to choose who to pick. for now my team is :

kingson
luiz, heitinga, a.cole
lampard, wilshere, s.larsson, southern
rvp, drogba, phillips

still not sure about my starting line up. I'll appreciate with any comment from you guys.

Thx

Anonymous said...

Team 1:
Howard
Luiz , Smalling , Parnaby
Lampard , Malouda , Hitzlsperger , Southern
Van Persie , Drogba , Santa Cruz

or

Team 2:
Howard
Luiz , Terry , Smalling , Walker
Lampard , Malouda , Wilshere , Hitzlsperger
Van Persie , Demba Ba


Which one better ?

Anonymous said...

friedel
heitinga,luiz,carr
hitz,valencia,fabregas,nasri,adam
rvp,torres

all my SG have discount
have a hunch arsenal will play better then chelsea,although chelsea got easy game ahead..

-man u fans-

Anonymous said...

what do you think better between howard + gudjohnsen (filler) or kingson + phillips ??

Anonymous said...

i dont trust kingson..

Anonymous said...

BIG QUESTION, F.LAMPARD or ANELKA?

F.Lampard is Pinalty Taker, Free Kick Takers.
N.Anelka is Goal Scorer.

Anonymous said...

http://www.footballfancast.com/2011/04/football-news/premier-league-preview-everton-v-blackburn

RSC is a doubt..

Anonymous said...

Howard and Drogba or Cech and Ashley cole/JT

Anonymous said...

AM.
do u think benayoun has any chance of playing atleast 1 game??? or atleast start against west brom?// plz help

Anonymous said...

I put torres(not drogba) in my team firstly because he's cheap. Secondly i wanted to keep suarez cause his price might go up really quickly(7.18 now)

Anonymous said...

king ||

luiz,cole,kosc ||

eboue,wilshere.lampard,malouda ||

rvp,phillips,torres

still hate it!!

--sweets

Anonymous said...

zigic or phillips?

rwlwhite said...

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/szczesny-looks-set-for-first-team-comeback

Szczesny and djourou to start against liverpool.

And keep an eye on it, because Vermaelen could play again this season! (It's a bit strange with Arsenal themselves calliing him the Verminator though!)

kendo said...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/15/squad-sheets-west-bromwich-chelsea

Guardian teamsheet has mikel not benayoun??

kendo said...

http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/matchprere.asp?a=522937

Other Chelsea options?

The Greek said...

@Anon 5:18am

Anelka is a goal scorer?

Anonymous said...

Anelka can't score in his dreams. He's a typical "hasogolis"

AcAN

Anonymous said...

@Anon 9:17

I'd go for Phillips. He'll almost certainly start both B'ham matches.

AJ said...

Okay the teams are up, any thoughts on early barn door teams for next time out? I've quickly picked up this team:

Kingson
Luiz, Huth, Cahill
Adam, Benayoun, Valencia, Jarvis
Torres, Sturridge, Suarez
3.6 left in bank

Only have 4 DGers at the moment (Huth, Cahill, Jarvis, Sturridge), but it's an early platform to pick up others as values change. I'll keep Torres and wait and see how the DG works out - if he continues to perform poorly I can drop him for Dempsey or someone similar. I'd love to have Begovic or Schwarzer in goal, but both are pricey.

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