Yahoo! Fantasy Football Blog - Your Assistant Manager

Never Manage Alone

2011-11-24T14:23:00.000Z

I have moved over to www.NeverManageAlone.com over on SBNation.

Please "like" our new Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/nevermanagealone

Please follow NMA on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/NMA_Blog

Please follow me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/nikarg

Cheers,
AM

Week 9 - Player Picks

2011-10-19T19:11:00.006+01:00

Click here for my Week 9 Player Picks over on NMA

Guys; I know many AM Blog readers are still avoiding Never Manage Alone and that's not unexpected - less than 250 people have joined the new site as "members" (which is needed to enable you to post comments) so the "reply count" to posts remains far lower than we've had here since 2009.

Lots of feedback has been posted in the chat room around the fact that you're not keen on NMA because it's too cluttered etc and I don't blame you. Personally I think the site looks far more professional; I accept the transition will take a while but the fact of the matter is it's a better platform for us, it has more features to allow readers to get involved, with the biggest benefit being the "Fan Post"/"Fan Shot" facility, which allows YOU to start your own topics for more direct interaction with a community we're all a part of.

I will never forget the support and effort you all put in to help me create what we had here, but I hope this week will see more of you move across and help us build something just as special at NMA on SB Nation. Nobody likes change, but if you don't try to improve & progress, then you're standing still. I'm looking to the future now, and I hope you will too.

Please "like" our new Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/nevermanagealone

Please follow NMA on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/NMA_Blog

Please follow me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/nikarg

Cheers,

Week 8 - Player Picks

2011-10-12T23:51:00.006+01:00

And so it begins...

http://www.nevermanagealone.com/2011/10/12/2485178/ams-week-8-player-picks

Look, I know nobody likes change, but I really feel this is a positive move for us all, so I hope you enjoy my opening post of the Never Manage Alone era!

Cheers,
AM

Never Manage Alone is LIVE

2011-10-11T19:22:00.002+01:00

That's right - after months of work www.nevermanagealone.com is finally live over on SBNation!

If you're wondering what I'm talking about then please read my post from back in August explaining the collaboration: http://yahoofantasyfootballuk.blogspot.com/2011/08/week-1-update.html

My Week 8 Player Picks will be up here and on the new site within the next 48 hours but the full transition will probably take a couple of week as we find our feet over on SBNation ... please don't forget Week 8 is Round 2 of The Blog Cup :)

Cheers,
AM

Aguero A Big Doubt For Villa

2011-10-10T13:44:00.006+01:00

Manchester Evening News - Sergio Aguero A Big Doubt For Villa Showdown

Sergio Aguero is losing his fight to be fit for City’s clash at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Blues striker has been ruled out of Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Venezuela tomorrow night, with the adductor strain which he picked up during the 4-0 win at Blackburn last week.

Aguero joined up with the Argentina squad after picking up the injury, and was initially optimistic that he would at least be fit for this week’s game.

But the player, expected to fly back to Manchester on Wednesday, could even face a race to get fit for the Manchester derby a week on Sunday.

Damn it - I was quite confident the 14 day break would be enough, but it doesn't sound like Aguero will be risked this weekend with the Manchester derby the following week. I hold him at a £4million discount but - sitting down in in 10,000th place - I'm not sure I want to take any definite zeros, and buying him back at 10ish isn't too much of a hit when you need points now.

If I did make the decision to drop him, I might bring Dzeko in if it looks like Mancini has forgiven him, although Gervinho could be interesting if I can't stretch to Van Persie. What are your thoughts? Will you hang on to him @6 if he's only set to miss one game? Or have you already sold him? If so, who have you chosen to replace him with?

Cheers,
AM

Stats So Far

2011-10-05T20:17:00.010+01:00

BEST XI (3-4-3)
De Gea	92
Williams	62.5
Rangel	56
Jones	54.5
Nani	83.5
Silva	82
Young	77.5
Dempsey	77.5
Rooney	135
Aguero	115
Dzeko	95.5
TOTAL	931

OTHER TOP SCORERS
Van Persie	86
Hart	77.5
Suarez	69
Vorm	68.5
Lampard	67.5
Di Santo	65
Given	65
M.Petrov	63.5
Van Der Vaart	63
Anderson	60.5
Agbonlahor	60

AVG 10+ (MIN 3 GAMES)
Rooney	22.5
Aguero	16
Dzeko	15.92
De Gea	15.33
Sturridge	15
Zamora	14.75
Adebayor	13.75
Young	12.92
Van Der Vaart	12.6
Van Persie	12.29
Nani	11.93
Silva	11.71
Lampard	11.25
Bramble	11.17
Hart	11.07
Dempsey	10.36
Ba	10

This post has been compiled without any real aim in mind, other than to see if we can draw anything from early season form. Just to get you thinking really, but do any of the these stats mean anything in terms of possible patterns?

We can see that two Swansea players are ripping shit up when it comes to defenders, and many keepers are having a great time - DDG in particular, but also Vorm, Hart & Given - which is very different to last season when most keepers struggled.

It's clear that dropping Silva or Aguero early would've been a mistake at this point, you can see defenders score far less than attacking players (der!) which seems to enforce the reason so many of us spend light on our back three. Premium midfielders are scoring well too, but strikers really are dominating the points thus far, with Rooney & Aguero ahead by miles (despite a zero each already).

Of course, we need to take "price per point" in to consideration before we can make any definitive analysis. It would be great if we had a reporting/stats systems of early values/points to see true patterns of price per point since Week 1, because player price fluctuations are so important in YFF, but we can't without some serious nerdy manual work (and I'm not sure the player values shown on the "weekly" individual player stats pages are 100% accurate anyway), so from now on we need to look to the future based on current prices.

One thing I would think is ... IF you hold DDG, Silva, Aguero, Adebayor & Rooney at their early prices of 6, 8, 6, 6 & 17 (ish) respectively, and they keep their fitness & anything close to their early form (i.e. average points), then you could have a big advantage over other managers in the next few months. But that really is a big IF, and I may be clutching at straws (because I have all four out of the five of them!) :)

Anyway, I'll be back with some more on this tomorrow, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on anything you think you've picked up on.

Cheers,

Aguero Boost For Man City

2011-10-03T21:06:00.001+01:00

Manchester Evening News - Aguero boost for Man City

"Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has revealed positive news over the groin injury he sustained against Blackburn on Saturday.

The Blues forward limped off in the first half, and with Carlos Tevez suspended by the club pending an investigation into his actions last week in the Champions League, City's striking options began to look a touch thin.

But Aguero tweeted on Monday that he had linked up with the Argentina squad and will be monitored there. Argentina face Chile on Friday in Buenos Aires before taking on Venezuela on Porto La Cruz on Tuesday."

I'm delighted at this news as I very nearly dropped him to barndoor a replacement, as I feared it could be a long term injury. I'd be surprised if he was actually risked by Argentina but the break should give him time to fully recover ready for Villa at home in Week 8.

As for my Week 7, I was obviously really happy with the derby win for Spurs, but there was no improvement on the fantasy football front. I managed just 65 points which leaves me stuck at 10,000th overall and not really making any progress at the moment. I also missed Saturday's barndoor but did some work on Sunday and it has left me with the following saved on my team page...

DDG, Boyata, Gibbs, Bosingwa, SWP, Silva, Lampard, Nasri, Adebayor, Sturridge, Aguero

I still have 11.89 left in the bank so it won't be my final team, but in all honestly I wouldn't be devastated it it was!

I expect I'll look to bring Van Persie in for either Sturridge or Adebayor by downgrading either Lampard or Nasri. I'll probably hang on to Boyata @2.33 and Gibbs seems good value @4.4 if he keeps Santos out, but Bosingwa is a bit of a concern. David Luiz looked good against Bolton and AVB is a big fan of Ivanovic's height, so there's a chance Bos drops to the bench. Richards or Luiz himself could come in for me instead, but that's something to worry about next week though. DDG definitely stays after his rest this week, as will SWP at home to Blackburn, Silva & Aguero.

As mentioned earlier we now have a gap for international fixtures before Week 8 (starting Saturday 15th October), which will be Round 2 of The Blog Cup! I probably won't be posting too much this week but I'll be back with Player Picks and Team/Injury News posts next week.

I'll leave it there for now, but please let me know how you're getting on? What did you do on the barndoor? Any early ideas for Week 8?

Cheers,
AM

Week 7 - My Team

2011-10-01T12:09:00.002+01:00

De Gea

Boyata Bosingwa Brown

SWP Ramires Silva Nani

Adebayor Aguero Rooney

I've made a big investment in Man Utd this week with Nani & Rooney and I don't feel I've had to sacrifice too much to do so. I'd like to have had a better defender than Boyata, but he should get plenty of chances to win tackles/block shots, so I'd expect him to at least return his value again. I'm feeling a big win for Chelsea and Ramires seems to be getting forward a lot recently so once his value dropped to 8ish this morning I decided to stick with him, while Bosingwa is held at 7 so it made sense to keep him for the Bolton game. DDG, Brown, SWP, Silva, Adebayor & Aguero are all held a discount and should have decent weeks. I'm pretty happy with it overall.

Please let me know what you ended up with; and good luck!

Cheers,

AM

p.s. I'm getting increasingly pissed off with Chatroll falling over every Saturday; does anyone know of any decent alternatives that can integrate with Blogger?

Rooney & Hernandez Fit For Norwich

2011-09-30T11:34:00.002+01:00

ManUtd.com Official - Rooney & Hernandez Fit For Norwich

"Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez are fit for tomorrow. They trained very well yesterday, which is pleasing. We'll hopefully have Jonny Evans back too."

Arsenal.com Official - Team News

"Walcott, Gervinho and Koscielny will all be late tests and very late decisions. Saturday or even Sunday morning. Walcott looks the most likely to have a chance. Koscielny maybe less. He is recovering well but the game may come too soon."

Guardian.co.uk - Dzeko Apologises to Mancini

"Mancini said he was "furious" with the striker and he reiterated at a team meeting on Thursday that he would not tolerate any more of his players disputing his decisions. The club have decided not to fine Dzeko but he has been warned about his conduct and is hoping to make amends at Ewood Park."

This changes things but I'm out of the office for the day so I'll need to have a proper look at my team later.

Please can I ask you to add any important team news you read about/hear about to the comments sections below and I'll look to summarise everything when I'm home tonight.

Cheers,
AM

Week 7 - Player Picks

2011-09-28T16:59:00.001+01:00

Week 6 was a massive disappointment as my decision to go with Rooney over Van Persie cost me 34 points, undid a lot of the great progress I'd made in Week 5 and left me right on the edge of the Top 10,000.

It's been boom or bust for me in the opening six weeks of the season; 3 weekly scores of between 60-75 points and 3 weekly scores of 115-135 points. I could really do with another bumper score so Week 7 is a chance to bounce back and again it's another single week for all teams. There are seven teams in particular that have my attention...

Stand-Out Fixtures
MAN UTD v Norwich
MAN CITY @ Blackburn
CHELSEA @ Bolton

No surprises here as the 3 teams with the pick of the fixtures make up the current top 3 in the Premier League. Norwich have been playing well but Manchester United will be frustrated after 2 draws in a row and I'm expecting them to hand out a bit of a thrashing at Old Trafford this weekend. Manchester City head to Ewood Park to face 3rd from bottom Blackburn and Chelsea travel to to rock-bottom Bolton. It is advisable to have at least one representative from each of the top 3, ideally two if you can fit them in/afford them.

Should Win
ASTON VILLA v Wigan
SUNDERLAND v West Brom

Aston Villa may sit in 8th but their fans have been less than impressed with the style of football they've seen under Alex McLeish. There won't be many better chances to put on a show than against Wigan at home and I'm expecting them to do just that, leading to a comfortable home win. Sunderland are struggling for goals but 2nd from bottom West Brom are visiting this weekend and again I predict a home win to take a bit of pressure off manager Steve Bruce.

High-Scoring
SPURS v ARSENAL

You get the feeling this game could finish 4-3 or 3-4 as neither side likes defending and both have a great array of attacking talent, so I'm expecting a lot of points for Spurs & Arsenal midfielders & strikers.

Close/Draws/Low Scoring
Wolves v Newcastle
Everton v Liverpool
Fulham v QPR
Swansea v Stoke

It's hard to call these four games but I do expect them to be quite low scoring, so defensive players could be a decent shout. I wouldn't be going out of my way to spend too much money on attacking players unless you hold them on the cheap or at discount (e.g Taarabt/SWP).

With the fixtures in mind, here are the player I'm recommending for Week 7...

KEEPERS
De Gea
Vorm
Given

DDG continues to lead the way in saves (32, almost double the number that Joe Hart has made) and has a great chance of winning every match he plays in, so he'll continue to be listed as the number one Keeper pick for the foreseeable future whether United are home or away. If you've missed that boat then the best options this week are Swansea's Vorm (down in price after -8 at Chelsea) at home to Stoke, or the ever-reliable Shay Given at home to Wigan.

DEFENDERS
Bosingwa
Richards
Smalling/Evans (* awaiting injury news)
Rangel
Riise
Hutton
Brown
Boyata

Chelsea's Jose Bosingwa has a goal and two assists, while Manchester City's Micah Richards also has two assists in the opening six league games of the season. Both men should get plenty of opportunities to get forward against struggling Bolton and Blackburn so this makes them the top defensive picks of the week, although Richards is slightly pricey after last week's clean sheet vs Everton.

It remains to be seen if Chris Smalling or Jonny Evans will be fit to return this weekend but whoever does make it will slot in at right-back and would represent great value given the fixture against Norwich. If they fail to recover then (with Fabio picking up an injury last night) it could well be Antonio Valencia slotting in, and despite the fact he's listed as a midfielder he may actually be a decent choice if you're looking to spend less then 7, as he should get forward plenty..

Angel Rangel has been Mr Consistent all season and he's a fine choice again as Swansea host Stoke, priced @ 8.52. John Arne Riise and Alan Hutton are also great options if you're looking for an attacking full-back as both are playing at home for Fulham and Villa respectively and are priced below 8. Wes Brown is the best value defender this week as he has clean sheet potential at home to West Brom, while Boyata is the filler who continues to outscore his cost.

MIDFIELDERS
Nani
Young
Silva
Van Der Vaart
Nasri
Ramires
Larsson
Arteta
Wright Phillips
Bannan
Ben Arfa

**Ahhh, Blogger has somehow lost what I'd written for my midfield analysis, how annoying! I'll retype it when I get time later. :( **

STRIKERS
Welbeck (*awaiting Rooney/Hernandez injury news)
Aguero
Drogba
Mata
Adebayor
Van Persie
Agbonlahor
Bendtner

We've had no update regarding the injuries to Rooney and Hernandez, so at this point in time you have to consider Danny Welbeck as the top striker pick, at home to Norwich and fresh from two Champions League goals on Tuesday night. The chaos at Manchester City means both Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko are unlikely to feature this weekend, which leaves Sergio Aguero the City striker to go for (unless you fancy a punt on Balotelli!).

Torres serves the first game of his three match suspension so Didier Drogba should lead the line against a Bolton side who have already conceded 16 goals this season (10 of those at home). 20.90 is a lot to spend but he broke his goal-duck last weekend and I'd expect more from him on Sunday. He'll be supported by the excellent Juan Mata (7.63) playing in the hole, who disappointed last weekend after a booking, but should get even more space to work his magic this week.

We all know that when Adebayor is fired up he can be unplayable and he's sure to be fired up facing his old side Arsenal for the first time as a Tottenham player. Admittedly this could just as likely mean a red card as it could mean 2 goals, but I'm sticking with him and I expect a good total. His old striker partner Robin Van Persie is considerably more expensive but he's in excellent form having knocked in goals 99 and 100 for Arsenal last weekend so remains a great choice if you hold him at 20ish.

Finally if you're looking to do something a bit different then two strikers you may be interested in complete the player list this week. Gabby Agbonlahor has been in his best goalscoring form since he burst on to the scene a few years ago, so with a home game against Wigan and priced below 9, he has to be worth a look. An even bigger outsider is Nicklas Bendtner, just 7.26, yet to open his Sunderland account but at home to West Brom; if you're in a gambling mood he could be your man.

That's it!

My current team:

De Gea, Brown, Bosingwa, Richards, Ramires, Wright-Phillips, Silva, Nani, Adebayor, Welbeck, Aguero

That team leaves me with over 5million left in the bank so there's work to do. I may upgrade Brown, I'm undecided on Ramires and I'm aware I may need to change Welbeck if Rooney and Hernandez recover. In fact, if Ferguson confirms Rooney will start then I'd really want to bring him in Welbeck's place, which would require some serious downgrading elsewhere (starting with Nani to Young). The only players safe in that scenario would be De Gea, Silva, Adebayor & Aguero.

I'll leave it there for this week - I'll be back on Friday with team news and an update on the all important Manchester United injury situation. With Champions League and Europa League games still to come, there's sure to be plenty of further knocks picked up before deadline.

Please let me know how your own Week 7 team is shaping up!

Cheers,
AM

Game Over For Tevez

2011-09-27T22:11:00.005+01:00

From SkySports.com:

Roberto Mancini revealed that striker Carlos Tevez refused to come onto the pitch in Manchester City's UEFA Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich.

The Italian admitted in his post-match interview that the Argentine striker 'let his side down' after staying on the bench and will never play for the club again.

Makes it easier for fantasy managers, but just shows what a complete mess Tevez has made of his career in the past 12 months. Utter waste of an immense talent.

It gets better...

From MirrorFootball.co.uk

There was more trouble for Mancini when striker Edin Dzeko shouted at his manager when he was substituted in the 56th minute and then threw his tracksuit to the floor.

Mancini stated: "Dzeko had a poor game. In terms of being unhappy, it should be me, not him. This is the last time with me a player will do this."

There were also reports that Dzeko, Tevez and Pablo Zabaleta were all involved in an angry confrontation with Mancini as the second half wore on. Mancini's assistant David Platt had to try to restore some sense of order as the bizarre scenes raged but City were in chaos on and off the pitch.

Classy!

Week 6 - My Team

2011-09-25T10:47:00.002+01:00

A bit late, but just for the record, my final Week 6 team was:

De Gea, Boyata, Santos, Bosingwa, Wright-Phillips, Adam, Arteta, Silva, Adebayor, Aguero, Rooney

From my Friday Update post:

"I stuck with Rooney over Van Persie in the end but I've put a £10 bet on Van Persie to score two or more goals so that should soften the blow if he goes points crazy against Bolton."

Rooney's no-show hurt badly, especially with RvP hitting 2 goals (although I won £44 from my bet!), Santos was also benched, so I sit on just 58 points with Wright-Phillips to go today. I also missed the barndoor yesterday, d'oh,

Hope the week has treated you better?

Cheers,
AM

Week 6 - Update

2011-09-23T14:03:00.003+01:00

Quick run through of the news on this Friday afternoon....

My fear in the week that David Luiz will replace Jose Bosingwa appears unfounded as Luiz played 120 minutes in the Carling Cup. With Alex suspended for a sending off in that match it should be the usual back four of Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, A.Cole. Drogba is back the squad but Torres should continue with Mata in support.

Martin Skrtel and Charlie Adam are both available after serving their suspensions against Brighton. Steven Gerrard has a chance of starting after getting 20 minutes in that match but another appearance from the bench seems more likely. Martin Kelly is fit to return at right-back and Dirk Kuyt is rumoured to replace the increasingly disappointing Andy Carroll in support of Suarez.

Manchester City rested a host of their first choice XI against Birmingham in midweek and gave 90 minutes to the likes of Tevez, Balotelli, Zabaleta, Toure, Bridge & Kolarov, so expect the usual suspects Aguero, Dzeko, Richards, Barry, Kompany, Lescott & Clichy to return for the game against Everton.

Javier Hernandez has recovered from the injury picked up from Ashley Cole's horror lunge/block/leg breaker so he should continue to partner Wayne Rooney at Stoke, with Nani & Young supporting from the wings. Chris Smalling is struggling with a groin injury but Rio Ferdinand is back so he should partner Jonny Evans, with Phil Jones & Patrice Evra completing the back four.

Tottenham are likely to field a very similar side to the one that beat Liverpool last Sunday, with just one or two possible exceptions. Niko Kranjcar has picked up a hamstring strain which could mean Rafael Van Der Vaart slotting in on the right of a 4-4-2, and Assou-Ekotto is a doubt after a bout of midweek flu. Bassong, Corluka or even the returning Gallas could slot in at left back if BAE fails to recover.

Arsenal have Ramsey, Rosicky & Sagna back in the squad after injury, but Yossi Benayoun and Djourou are both missing this weekend. Gibbs got 90 minutes in midweek so I'd expect Santos to get the start at left-back, and I'd also expect Theo Walcott to start after his benching at Blackburn. That means Wenger needs to make a decision between Arshavin & Gervinho on the left wing, with Gervinho the more likely to start.

That's everything I have time for as I'm off for an evening out in London so won't be online tonight or tomorrow morning. I've had to save my team already and it's very likely to be my final Week 6 team:

De Gea, Boyata, Santos, Bosingwa, Wright-Phillips, Adam, Arteta, Silva, Adebayor, Aguero, Rooney

I stuck with Rooney over Van Persie in the end but I've put a £10 bet on Van Persie to score two or more goals so that should soften the blow if he goes points crazy against Bolton. Other than that I'm lacking a Chelsea attacker but Bosingwa gets forward quite a lot, so hopefully he'll contribute something, Aguero/Silva, Arteta/Santos, Adam, SWP & Adebayor cover the fact I'm expecting wins for City, Arsenal, Liverpool, QPR and Spurs. I'd love to have Van Der Vaart at Wigan but couldn't quite afford him, and there was no room for Suarez or Mata.

Please check out the following links if you need to find any further team and injury news:-

Fantasy Football Scout Team News & Predicted Line-Ups: http://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/team-news/

Fantasy Football Scout Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/FFScout

Guardian Predicted Squad Sheets (from around 3pm): http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/squad-sheets

Jeremy & Neal (should have an injury post up later today): http://fantasyepl.blogspot.com/

Football365 Previews:
http://www.football365.com/premier-league/fixtures

Please let me know your team, and feel free to add an additional injury news you hear/read about in the comments section below to help out your fellow fantasy managers.

Good luck!

Cheers,
AM

Week 6 - Player Picks

2011-09-21T16:01:00.007+01:00

I'd been a very happy chap for the past few days after rather successful weekend all round, but I'm not particularly happy today after seeing Spurs crash out of the Carling Cup on penalties to Stoke City last night. I've probably raised this point on the blog in the past, but I'm going to raise it again.

At the start of each season there are a maximum of 4 trophies available to an English top-tier side - the League title, a European Cup, the FA Cup & the Carling Cup. Now the League title is obviously out of the question for Tottenham and Redknapp is playing a youth team in the Europa League at the moment. He'll probably take it seriously if we get through the group but with 16 matches plus drop-outs from the Champions League to join later on, it's very tough to go all the way. The FA Cup is a complete lottery due to the number of teams and rounds, so the Carling Cup is Tottenham's best chance by far to get to Wembley and win some silverware.

Many people see it as a joke competition but two of the greatest days I've had as a Spurs fan were seeing my team beat Leicester to the trophy in 1999 and Chelsea in 2008. I can't help but feel we threw it away last night by resting the majority of our best XI against a Stoke side (also in the Europa) who were close to full strength, and I just can't see the logic.

The players had it pretty easy on Sunday playing 10 men for 40 minutes, 9 men for the final 25, and we don't play again until Saturday. Surely a stronger team could've been fielded against Premier League opposition with 4 days to recover afterwards? At least if you go out with your strongest team you have no regrets. At a bare minimum could we not have put Modric, Bale, Parker & Adebayor on the bench in case we needed some extra quality?

I know the league should always be a club's focus and Champions League qualification is massive nowadays, but can anyone remember exactly when finishing 4th became better than the glory of winning a Wembley Cup final? I've seen us win just 3 trophies in my 25 years as a Spurs fan and they are some of my fondest memories. Last night increased the probability of that becoming 3 in 26 and I find it all a bit sad really.

Anyway, on to the week ahead and once again Week 6 is a single week for all. Now it's quite a rare thing, but I see no fewer than EIGHT teams having a great chance of winning this weekend. They are as follows.

Win
ARSENAL v Bolton
CHELSEA v Swansea
MANCHESTER CITY v Everton
MANCHESTER UNITED @ Stoke
TOTTENHAM @ Wigan
NEWCASTLE v Blackburn
LIVERPOOL v Wolves
QPR v Aston Villa

Arsenal (despite their form) & Chelsea have nice home games, Man City & Liverpool face slightly tougher opposition but should still win, Man United & Spurs are away but I'd expect them to take 3 points, while Newcastle & QPR are surprise packages so far this season and I think they'll do just about enough in front of their own fans.

Draw
West Brom v Fulham
Norwich v Sunderland

These 2 games are difficult to call, but I wouldn't be surprised if they end up as dull draws, so I'll be avoiding players from West Brom, Fulham, Norwich & Sunderland.

Now on to the players, and there's nothing too left-field this week. The usual suspects are doing the business and seeing as they have good match-ups there's not too many reasons to take risks. Here we go...

GKs
De Gea
Krul

I think anyone who failed to jump on the De Gea bandwagon when he was priced in single digits in the opening few weeks has really missed a trick judging by how things have gone so far this season. Unless he gets an injury he's a season keeper from here on out.

If you missed him at that price and now refuse to pay 11 then the only real option for Week 6 is Newcastle's Tim Krul. They have the tightest defence in the league, face Blackburn at home, and Krul is still priced at below 5 for some strange reason; lump on. I guess Szczesny and Reina are ok alternatives, but the two above stand-out for me.

DEFENDERS
Santos
Bosingwa/Luiz
Richards
Mertesacker
Skrtel
Evans/Smalling
Traore
Brown
Boyata

Gibbs played 90 minutes in the Carling Cup, so I think it's safe to say Santos will continue at left-back for Arsenal this weekend and given his 14 points despite no clean sheet, he has to be considered a fine pick against Bolton. Bosingwa had a bit of a stinker at Old Trafford and I've read a few reports that suggest David Luiz could be close to returning to the Chelsea line-up (at CB, with Ivanovic moving to RB). We'll have to wait for more news, but both are priced around the same, so whoever gets the nod will be an excellent pick.

Micah Richards is having a really strong start to the season and he's the pick of the City defenders against Everton, Mertesacker is the an alternative Arsenal defender if you can't afford Santos and if you want a Liverpool representative then you could go for Martin Skrtel who's price has plummeted after his red card. He serves his ban tonight so he'll be available to replace the injured Agger at center-back this weekend.

Chris Smalling had to be subbed due to a groin injury picked up against Chelsea, and it's possible he could miss the next week or so, which means Jonny Evans becomes the best value United defender if you fancy them to keep out Stoke. Traore was superb in QPR's win at Wolves last weekend so he could be great option at home to a flat Villa side, while Brown & Boyata round out the list once again as filler options guaranteed to start.

MIDFIELDERS
Silva
Arteta
Nasri
Adam
Van Der Vaart
Young/Nani
Walcott
Wright-Phillips
Modric
Cabaye
Taarabt

David Silva continued to light up the season with another mesmerising display at Fulham last weekend, there's no reason that won't continue on Saturday and nobody would blame you if you went with Samir Nasri too as the Silva-Nasri-Aguero triangle should work wonders against Everton. Arteta is the pick of the Arsenal midfielders now he's getting some of Van Persie's set pieces and Charlie Adam should return as Liverpool's set piece taker after serving his one match suspension tonight.

Van Der Vaart was given an hour against Stoke last night and I'd expect that was to get him ready to face Wigan, possibly in place of Defoe with Adebayor upfront alone in a 4-4-1-1 or on the right of a 4-4-2. Either way, he'll take all set pieces. Young and Nani remain fantastic picks in their current form, although you'll pay a premium for them now and Theo Walcott is likely to get a start against Bolton after he was sub at Blackburn and rested last night.

Wright-Phillips has made a great start to his QPR career playing as a support striker, which is making those of us who picked him up at 4 extremely happy indeed. Luka Modric looks to be playing a more advanced role with Parker protecting him so he should get chances at Wigan, Cabaye will be behind most of Newcastle's creative play vs Blackburn, while Taarabt remains a threat and should be on corner & penalties against Villa.

STRIKERS
Aguero
Van Persie
Rooney
Mata
Suarez
Adebayor
Dzeko
Gervinho
Torres

I hardly need to go in to detail on the strikers this week - they're all the big names you'd expect to see given the fixtures. Sergio Aguero is on fire with 8 goals in 5 games and has a winnable home game, Van Persie looked dangerous last weekend and faces Bolton, while Rooney could've had a 3rd hat trick in row against Chelsea and his movement will cause Stoke's central defenders all sort's of problems.

Juan Mata has really impressed me since he joined and looks like exactly the sort of player Chelsea have been crying out for. I think we'll see a big week from him against Swansea as he shoots from distance and looks to feed Torres - I'd love to fit him in my team if I could. Suarez has been looking a little bit stroppy as Liverpool have struggled in the last two league games, but he's a different animal at Anfield and I expect a goal from the little Uruguayan.

Adebayor has 3 goals in 2 starts and with chances being supplied by Bale, Modric & Van Der Vaart you'd expect him to keep that up at Wigan. Dzeko has been a bit quiet since his 4 goals at Spurs but if you're holding him at discount you might want to hang on to him this week to see how he fares (he and Aguero should both get a rest in the Cup tonight so they are sure to start) and Gervinho should continue in an advanced role for Arsenal so remains a good option.

Finally, Fernando Torres. Forget the miss (if you can) - I saw glimpses of the old El Nino at Old Trafford and think this could be his big week as Mata appears to be the key. I'm not brave enough to risk it though - are you?

That's it for the players; here's what sits on my own team page at this moment:

De Gea, Boyata, Santos, Bosingwa, Wright-Phillips, Adam, Arteta, Silva, Adebayor, Aguero, Rooney

I actually quite like it, but at the same time there is a sense of frustration creeping in at having so many players at discount. As I mentioned I'd love to bring Mata &also Suarez in but there just aren't enough forward slots. Aguero is staying where he is and at the moment it seems mad not to hold on to Adebayor @5.79 after the way he's started his White Hart Lane career.

I haven't completely discounted the possibility of switching Rooney (held at 23) to Van Persie, but that's a decision I'll make closer to deadline. I have the funds to go Bosingwa to David Luiz if we get any hint that AVB may make defensive changes, I'm not 100% on Arteta or Adam and I still hold Modric at discount behind the scenes. VDV & Young are still at the back of my mind and I'd like to upgrade Boyata if possible, so there may yet be some tinkering, but DDG, Santos, SWP, Silva & Aguero will definitely stay.

I'll leave it there but I'll be back on Friday with all the team and injury news, and we should have plenty once the Carling Cup schedule finishes tonight. How's your own team shaping up? Anyone you feel I've missed from the lists above?

Cheers,
AM

Week 5 - How Did You Do?

2011-09-19T13:44:00.004+01:00

After a tough start things are finally on the up; 133 points in Week 5, a great win for Tottenham over Liverpool and a major milestone for the blog as we passed TWO MILLION page views - I don't think I'll have many better weekends this season. The 133 could've been 150+ had Rooney not slipped over/hit the post, but complaining would be greedy. I'm in to the Top 8,000 and hopefully I can push on from here.

We saw a real classic between Manchester United and Chelsea, played at such a pace and packed full of drama - goals, chances, misses and contentious incidents - it was the Premier League at it's best. Manchester City's 100% record is over after Fulham fought back from 2 goals down, Blackburn came from behind to beat Arsenal, all three promoted took 3 points, while Bolton & West Brom lost again to end the weekend in the bottom two spots. A cracking weekend of action from top to bottom.

I didn't make many barndoor moves as I'm quite happy with the core of my team at the moment but I brought Wes Brown and Luka Modric in just in case:

De Gea, Boyata, Brown, Santos, Wright-Phillips, Modric, Silva, Young, Aguero, Adebayor, Rooney (4.2 million left in the bank)

Lots will change - I don't think I need Rooney and Young at Stoke, so I may go Young to Arteta or Van Der Vaart (in which case I wouldn't need Modric), may bring in a Chelsea or Liverpool midfielder and I also plan to upgrade my defence with any funds left over. I'd love to have both Suarez & Mata but I can't see Adebayor, Aguero or Rooney going anywhere at this moment in time, while DDG, SWP & Silva will all stay.

How did you get on and what's your overall rank after these first 5 weeks? Did you bring in anyone in on the barndoor?

Cheers,
AM

Week 5 - So Far

2011-09-18T01:46:00.000+01:00

That's a bit better ... 59 points so far thanks mainly to Petrov, Santos & SWP, but Baines & Ward did little. Again, unexpected results (Arsenal, Bolton & Wolves all losing) is affecting returns across the board.

I'm up from 20,000th to 8,500th overall with DDG, Silva, Adebayor, Aguero & Rooney to go, so I'm really pleased with that. Is this the week things start turning around? I hope so!

I didn't make a single barndoor switch as I didn't feel there was anyone I desperately needed at this stage, but that could change after Sunday's games.

How did you get on today?

Cheers,
AM

Week 5 - My Team

2011-09-17T12:04:00.000+01:00

De Gea

Santos Boyata Baines

Wright Phillips Ward Silva M.Petrov

Adebayor Rooney Aguero

..............

What did you end up with?

Cheers, AM

Week 5 - Update

2011-09-16T16:25:00.002+01:00

Wow, this is a tough one. We have almost no decent news from the manager's press conferences today; there's loads of uncertainty over who will/won't start so it makes it difficult to give you decent advice. I'll just go with what we have been told and make a few assumptions, and maybe we can discuss things in the comments section/chat-room.

First up, it appears that Steve Fletcher is really struggling to make it for Wolves game vs QPR - he hasn't trained all week, so that means Kevin Doyle will need a new partner. As I mentioned in my Player Picks, Stephen Ward is the favourite to be that partner and as a midfielder listed below 6 he could be cracking value. It's not 100% but I may take the gamble as he'll definitely play left-back if he doesn't start upfront and he has scored already from that position this season. Jarvis it fit to start so he'll join a strong midfield including Hunt (who has trained without issue this week) and O'Hara.

There's a decent chance we'll get the Arsenal team news before tomorrow's deadline (Twitter is our best bet from around 11:45am) but we can already take an educated guess on the line-up. I think Gibbs may keep his place as he's done nothing wrong, but Santos is a real option for Wenger now he's made his debut in the Champions League. Ramsey is a big doubt so Benayoun should get a start (bargain @ 3). Gervinho and Alex Song are back from suspension but Verm & Wilshere are out.

Manchester United are likely to field their strongest teams against Chelsea as they look to keep their excellent start to the season. This means DDG in goal, Young, Nani, Rooney & Hernandez all starting. News on unclear on the Smalling/Evans decision and Ferguson must decide whether he goes with Fletcher or Carrick in the middle with Tom Cleverly ruled out.

Across the road, Manchester City will be recovering from a tough debut game in the Champions League, so once again there is a rotation fear. However, an away game at Fulham is much tougher than a home game against Wigan, so I'd think Mancini would go full strength and make substitutions once the game is won. I can't see Dzeko or Nasri starting on the bench for two league games in a row, and I'm sure nobody will be dropping Aguero after last week.

Chelsea will still be without Didier Drogba who is suffering with the effects of concussion. John Terry and Frank Lampard will come back into the side after missing out against Bayer Leverkusen but I don't think I'll be going near any Blues player's this week, given the fixture they face.

Bolton could hand debuts to N'Gog, Tuncay & Kakuta after good performances for the reserves in midweek, but Holden is unlikely to be risked just yet. This news about the new boys does have me slightly worried about Martin Petrov, so that could mean I make a change. Coyle has also revealed he could make defensive changes after their recent run of heavy defeats, but provided no specific details on who could might make way.

Absolutely nothing useful coming out of Everton - Drenthe could start after scoring for the reserves, but might not, Cahill could play upfront, or he might be dropped in to midfield to accommodate Saha. The only sure things are probably Howard, Osman, Baines, Distin, Jagielka & Cahill - all others are a risk.

Spurs have had some good news - Rafael van der Vaart has a chance of returning from injury against Liverpool, but William Gallas and Aaron Lennon are still doubts, King could play but Michael Dawson is definitely out.

For Liverpool, Glen Johnsn is out and Steven Gerrard is likely to make the bench at best. He couldbe joined by And Carroll, with Suarez set to lead the line again.

That's everything useful I could find.

Here are two possible teams I'm considering.

DDG, Boyata, Gibbs, Baines, Ward, Wright-Phillips, M.Petrov, Silva, Adebayor, Aguero, Rooney

Or

DDG, Rangel, Gibbs, Baines, Wright-Phillips, Benayoun, Hunt, Silva, Adebayor, Aguero, Rooney

Obvious fears about Gibbs, Petrov & Ward in the first team; Gibbs & Benayoun are the worries in the 2nd team. I had considered bringing in Van Persie for Adebayor instead of spanking 18+ on Baines, but that thought has left me now as I want to keep Ade at 5ish. As I type this I realise I'm not convinced by either of the teams above, so I think it's back to the drawing board.

Tough week! How's your team coming along?

Cheers,
AM