Week 33 - Player Picks

The penultimate week is upon us & as you all know, we have 4 teams with a double week. At this stage of the season I'm telling you now - fill your team with as many double gamers as you possibly can. I'm aiming for a full team, 11 players, all playing 2 games.

It's actually highly unlikely I'll pick 11 players who play twice for a 22 game total, maybe a few of them get rested, but I'd still expect to get 18-20 games from my team. The point is you're giving yourself the chance, and as we all saw with Villa's double week recently (where many of us hit 160+), it can really pay off.

To do this you'll need to drop a lot of discounts, but this is actually quite easy to convince yourself to do because out of all the single gamers, not one fixture really stands out.

I guess Birmingham at home to Burnley & Wigan at home to Hull would be the preference, but other than that, Liverpool v Chelsea, Sunderland v Man Utd, Blackburn v Arsenal & Pompey v Wolves are all difficult to call - you'd favour Man Utd & Arsenal, but I certainly don't see any wins coming comfortably.

For this reason, my player picks will be almost entirely focused on the 4 teams with a double - Fulham, Stoke, Tottenham & Manchester City. My advice is to look for 11 double gamers if you possibly can, with a few exceptions (Drogba @ 10 or Jagielka @ 5 etc).

Fulham have the best fixtures as they face West Ham & Stoke at Craven Cottage. The problem is they've had the Europa Cup to contend with, so predicting their starting XI has been less than straightforward. If they get knocked out tonight I'd expect to see most of their 1st choice players start both games to boost their final league position, but if they go through to the final then Roy will undoubtedly rest people.

Man City are the other team to play 2 home games, but their fixtures are far tougher. They face a resurgent Aston Villa, followed by Spurs, 2 sides who still have their hearts set on pipping City to 4th place. They rarely lose at home, but Shay Given has been City's saviour on countless occasions this season & he'll be missing for both games - will Marton Fulop end the season as the unlikely hero?

Spurs, as mentioned above, face the very tough task of going to Manchester in their second game, but before that they have arguably the easiest fixture of all 4 double gamers - Bolton at home. The Trotters are safe from relegation so have little to play for & are usually terrible on the road, so you'd have to predict a home win before their midweek trip.

Stoke are coming off the back of the 7-0 thrashing at Stamford Bridge, which was proceeded by a home defeat by Bolton, so it's safe to say their season is ending with a whimper. I'd fancy in form Everton to go there & win, before Stoke have to travel to Fulham, which could be equally tough depending on Fulham's european status.

That sums up what I think of the fixtures. I'm writng this before I know tonight's results so I don't know what Fulham are going to do, it's hard to predict who plays no matter what occurs tonight, but I still think all the big names will get at least 1 game in an easy fixtures.

If they get to the final, Roy won't want them going into a final having played no competitive football for 2 weeks & there is a week gap between their 2nd fixture & the final, so if they're likely to get a rest it would be vs Arsenal in their final league game. If they get knocked out I think he names his strongest side for the rest of the season.

Obviously because I'm focusing on the double gamers there are going to be far fewer players to choose from, but I'm giving my honest opinion on how I think you should approach Week 33.

Here we go...

KEEPERS
Schwarzer
Gomes
Fulop
Kirkland
Begovic

If I had the money I'd go for Schwarzer as he's the only Fulham player 100% certain of playing 180 minutes (barring injury), but at the moment it doesn't appear that I'll be able to find a way. Next choice would be Gomes because he's in fantastic form for Spurs, but again you'll be paying some serious cash to bring him in. He has a chance of a clean sheet, but I'd prefer the big Aussie.

If you're going the bargain basement route then I'd have to go with Fulop over Begovic. I actually thing Beg is the better keeper, but Stoke are all over the place defensively at the moment so Fulop would leave me feeling safer. But lets face it, if you pay less 1..00 or 1.60 for a keeper you should know you're taking a risk...both could go negative in at least 1 game.

If you want a cheap keeper but don't fancy either of the 2 men above then Chris Kirkland is the only choice as far as I can see. Home to Hull, a shade over £3m, he certainly isn't the worst choice.

DEFENDERS
Bale
Konchesky
Zabaleta
Richards
Baird
Collins
Smalling
Toure
Dawson
Jagielka
Bramble
Mancienne

Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale Bale.

After that I'd say Zabaleta is a pretty safe bet now he's back from suspension, with Baird & Konchesky not far behind as they usual play for Fulham no mater what. Richards is a bit of an outside bet, but if Wayne Bridge's injury keeps him out, Garrido is out of favour & Sylvinho is injured so Richards could go right-back with Zab shifted to the left.

Michael Dawson & Koulo Toure are both certain to start 2 games but you'll pay over £10m for them, Collins is also guaranteed 2 games for Stoke & is more affordable, while Smalling will get at least 1 game & is a bargain.

A discounted Jagielka, Titus Bramble & Mancienne are probably the best value single game defenders, but to be honest my research in this field is limited due to my obsession with 2 gamers.

MIDFIELDERS
Dempsey
A.Johnson
Modric
Etherington
Duff
Huddlestone
Gera
Ireland 
Lennon
Delap
Arteta
Watson

I get the feeling Fulham are nursing a seriously broken Bobby Zamora through Europe at the moment, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Dempsey lead the line in the remaining league games. He may only play once, but I'm probably gonna take a risk with him. Lennon & Duff are similar value & will do well if they play twice, but I'm less confident because of rest/recent injury.

Next up are Luka Modric & Adam Johnson who represent amazing value at under £9m for the double week. I know Modric doesn't score that well in fantasy terms but I think you can look past that when a player of his quality has 2 games. Johnson will be on all set pieces, & that also brings Etherington in to the mix, who hasn't scored well recently but will be on set pieces & penalties.

Gera & Huddlestone are decent options, with Hudd more likely to play twice but Gera more likely to score points. Stephen Ireland is an interesting one - we all know how good he was last year, but he's lost his way this season. However, with Barry potentially out injured he could get his place back & his value is probably as low as it's ever been.

Delap is a dg filler, Arteta should be hung on to if you still have him for around £10m & Ben Watson is a complete left field pick who has been looking in fantastic from for Wigan since he finally got back in the starting 11 two weeks ago.

STRIKERS
Tevez
Defoe
Bellamy
Adebayor
Fuller
Tuncay
Nevland

Not a huge choice, but Tevez is my number one pick this week. I know he's expensive at his current price but I'm going to pay it anyway because Tevez at home is always tempting, at home twice is essential. Defoe isn't in good form but he's the most likely Spurs striker to play both games so again I'm going to try and fit him in.

Bellamy is almost more tempting than Defoe, but if I'm going with Tevez I'm going to look for a Spurs striker ahead of 2 City strikers. Adebayor would be in the boat, but I'm reading he could also be injured along with Barry, so be careful.

Fuller, Tuncay & Nevland are cheaper option, with Fuller the most likely to play twice.

That completes my Week 33 player picks. Not my best, but finding the time has become tougher & tougher over the past few weeks - apologies.

My team page currently looks like...

    Fulop

      Richards  Konchesky  Bale

       A.Johnson  Modric  Dempsey  Etherington

     Tevez  Defoe  Tuncay

By no means is this set in stone, just an early draft. I'd like Bellamy in Tuncay's place, which will mean some serious downgrading elsewhere. Fulop is likely to remain my keeper choice. 

How's your team shaping up? Anyone you feel I've missed from the lists above?

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Cheers,

AM