Week 2 - Player Picks

The dust has settled on Week 1, we've accepted that most of us did pretty poorly, but it's a new week and it's time for blog readers around the globe to put their disappointment behind them and start the march back towards the Top 50/Top 500/Top 1000 or whatever personal target they've set themselves for this season.

I'm sure we're also all hoping to see a better weekend of Premier League football, after 5 draws and just 18 goals from the opening weekend proved a bit of an anti-climax. In terms of excitement from a personal stand-point it helps that Spurs will finally be in action, although a trip to Old Trafford is hardly the ideal start; especially with Man City to follow in Week 3.

Anyway, from a fantasy perspective I definitely feel like there is a better selection of fixtures this weekend with no fewer than 6 games looking like they have a reasonably clear favourite. Let's get in to them right away...

Wins
EVERTON v Queens Park Rangers
CHELSEA v West Brom
MAN CITY @ Bolton
ASTON VILLA v Blackburn
MAN UTD v Tottenham
STOKE @ Norwich

I don't want to write off QPR completely after one match but they did look out of their depth last weekend in the 4-0 drubbing by Bolton. Neil Warnock has found it difficult to bring enough quality in to his squad and Goodison Park is an incredibly tough place to go at the best of times, never mind for your first away game back in the top tier. You have to fancy Everton in front of their own fans for the first time this season, so I'm classing them as a stand-out fixture.

Chelsea will want to pick up their first win of the season and I'd expect the team to lift themselves and beat West Brom for their new manager's first game at Stamford Bridge. Man of the moment Sergio Aguero should be unleashed from the start for Manchester City's trip to Bolton and their attacking flair combined with defensive solidity must make them favourites here.

Aston Villa started with a decent draw at Fulham last weekend but will know they need to win home fixtures such as this if they want to avoid another relegation battle. Blackburn couldn't beat Wolves on their own patch last Saturday and Bent, N'Zogbia & Albrighton should have too much for them this weekend. Spurs never win at Old Trafford so I'm predicting another comfortable home win for the defending Champions and I reckon Stoke will out-battle Norwich at Carrow Road (sorry Delia).

Draws/Too Close To Call
Arsenal v Liverpool
Sunderland v Newcastle
Swansea v Wigan
Wolves v Fulham

Four games that look extremely tight to me; Arsenal v Liverpool should be a cracker but a draw seems very possible, the Tyne-Wear derby will be a fiery affair which could see both teams cancel each other out, Swansea and Wigan will both try to play football the right way so it should be entertaining but again I can see a draw and Wolves v Fulham has 1-1 written all over it. I may even put a four draw accumulator on these fixtures.

With the fixture analysis done, lets look at the players...

KEEPERS
Howard
De Gea
Given

Pretty obvious why the three keepers above are recommended - Howard has the pick of the fixtures at home to QPR and is priced OK at around 8.5. Everton are quite solid at home so I'd fancy a clean sheet if I picked the Toffees stopper in net for Week 2. I probably won't pick him thought because I'm giving Mr De Gea another chance.

The young Spaniard has been quite terrible so far and reminds me of the lanky kid at my school who we stuck in goal just because he was tall (he was rubbish too), but I'm willing to give him one more week - he's Manchester United's keeper after all and it seems silly to dump him already when he returned a positive score and he's still dirt cheap. The defensive injuries in front of him are a concern, but as I've stated, Spurs never win there so you should be safe this week.

The other option is Shay Given at home to Blackburn, although we await news on the groin injury he picked up in his man of the match display at Fulham. Villa have a very decent chance of a clean sheet but seeing as Given is the most expensive of the keeper picks at almost 10.00 and a doubt at this stage you'll probably only be picking him if you grabbed him on the barndoor.

DEFENDERS
Baines
Bosingwa
Gibbs
Warnock
Smalling
Heitinga
Richards
Riise
Woodgate
Brown

I really like the options in defence this week and we start with the only man in the list costing double figures, Leighton Baines.

People may scoff at the thought of spending over 17.00 on a defender, but the guy takes free kicks, corners and penalties, has a great home fixture and the added bonus of potential clean sheet points. Ashley Young (for example) doesn't have all that going for him yet we were happy pay the same price for him last week, so Baines is worth thinking about.

Next up is current Chelsea right-back and old fantasy favourite Jose Bosingwa, priced around 9.00 but with a good fixture; we just need to check Ivanovic isn't ready to return. Arsenal's Kieron Gibbs is still cheap but picked up a hamstring strain last night so is currently 50-50, and Stephen Warnock is a man who hasn't appeared in this list for some time but is back in favour under McLeish and the most affordable Villa defender.

I referred to Manchester United's injuries earlier and they'll definitely be without Ferdinand, Rafael and possibly Vidic. This means Phil Jones, Fabio & Jonny Evans all have a chance of appearing, but Chris Smalling is my pick of the bunch and is just 6.14. Heitinga is the most affordable Everton defender at 5ish and the same goes for Richards at City, although he'll cost you over 9.

Stoke's new signing Jonathan Woodgate managed to stay fit for a whole 90 minutes and was very impressive against Chelsea so he could be a good outsider to fill a defensive spot and has a winnable game at Norwich, while Wes Brown is a fantastic filler option, still priced below 4.00, and with a home fixture.

MIDFIELDERS
Cahill
N'Zogbia
Lampard/Malouda
Young/Nani
Silva
Larsson
Pennant
Walcott
Moses/Watson
Taarabt
Hoolahan
Ramsey
Delph

At the top of the midfielders list is a player who will usually give you all or nothing - a double strike and 22 points or a yellow card and -3. I'm assuming he'll be back supporting the striker again this season so for a home game against QPR and priced below 10.00 I'm risking it, and he's my top pick. I also really like N'Zogbia at home to Blackburn, although he'll cost you a bit more.

There's not a lot to chose between the next 4 players in the list - Nani & Young will probably share duties and score similar points throughout the season and the same can be said for Lampard and Malouda. They all have a good fixture and are all priced around the same at 18ish, so it's really going with your gut if you want a premium midfielder.

David Silva had been City's best player on Monday but he came to life even more when Aguero came on, so I'll be keeping him for the long-haul to see how that one pans out. Seb Larsson scored a beautiful volley and was taking set pieces at Anfield so I like him at home to Newcastle, while Pennant will take over duties at Stoke with Etherington's shoulder injury keeping him out and has a good fixture at Norwich.

Moses is the cheaper Wigan midfield option but Watson will be on free kicks and penalties if you want to pay a bit more for that scoring potential, Taarabt and Hoolahan remain great value seeing most of their team's play will go through them and Ramsey is a bargain playing the Cesc role for Arsenal, just 4.33. Walcott is also a decent shout after his performance last night, but 13+ might be a bit much. Delph's a filler option.

STRIKERS
Aguero
Saha/Beckford
Rooney
Bent
Torres
Suarez
Sinclair
Holt

I don't need to go in to detail on Sergio Aguero - he's already fantasy gold, you should've barndoored him for 6 but if you didn't get the chance then you must bring him in at 11 and keep him forever. Dzeko and Balotelli will probably share time, so they both miss out. If you want an Everton forward against QPR then it remains to be seen if it'll be Saha or Beckford, assuming Moyes goes 4-4-1-1. We await team news but either one will be a decent pick.

Wayne Rooney is pricey but has a great record against Spurs and I expect that to continue. Another fine choice is Darren Bent, who should have a good chance to open his account for the season at home to Blackburn. He costs 7.00 less than Rooney so if you're struggling for funds he's a great alternative. Fernando Torres looked sharp against Stoke so it would seem harsh if he lost his starting spot to Drogba, but Villas-Boas will be trying to keep everyone happy while he works out his best XI. I still think Torres will start but we need to see what the manager reveals in his press conference.

We've spoken about Manchester United' defensive worries, but it's the same story at Arsenal with Gibbs & Djourou both injured - could Squillaci be called on? If so Luis Suarez remains a very tempting choice despite a tough away fixture and a high price. At the lower end of the scale I quite like Sinclair & Holt playing their first homes Premier League games for promoted Swansea and Norwich respectively.

That's it for this week's players. We have some Europa League games still to played before the deadline, so any injury / team news we get over the next 48 hours will be fully detailed in my Friday Update post.

My own team currently looks like this:

Dea Gea, Brown, Heitinga, Richards, Moses, Silva, Cahill, A.Young, Torres, Bent, Aguero

I think it's a good starting point but a lot will depend on whether Torres is still set to start ahead of Drogba. If not then I'll need to do some major re-jigging as I definitely want a Chelsea player in there somewhere. Gibbs could still come back in for Brown or Heitinga if his injury clears up, I'm undecided between Moses & Taarabt, Bent isn't a certainty, but De Gea, Richards, Silva, Cahill, Young & Aguero are all likely to stay.

I'll leave it there for now but as mentioned I'll be back on Friday with all the team and injury news.

How's your own team looking? Anyone you think I've missed from the lists above? Who's your hunch for Week 2?

Cheers,
AM

Twitter: @nikarg
Facebook Group: http://on.fb.me/o1rarh