Week 10 - Player Picks

As I mentioned in my Sunday post I'm a year older today (thanks for the birthday wishes!) so I'm going to run through things very quickly this week as I have much to do/people to see!

Week 9 was a bad one for me so I'm looking to bounce back in Week 10, spreading my money about a bit more and perhaps going for some less recognised picks. I'll be honest, I've been forced in to this approach after missing the majority of barndoor bargains on Saturday/ Sunday, but maybe it'll work in my favour.

The fixtures throw us a few stand-outs, but the main one is a confident Arsenal facing rock-bottom West Ham. Chelsea will fancy their chances vs a limited Blackburn side, Man City travel to Wolves and an improving Everton host Stoke. Unfortunately I have to throw Man Utd in too as Spurs have not won at Old Trafford since 1989!

Fulham vs Wigan will be tight but I reckon Mark Hughes' men will edge it...they need to after two defeats on the spin. Aston Villa v Birmingham & Newcastle v Sunderland are two fiery derby games that should be fairly even, and I have Bolton v Liverpool & Blackpool v West Brom down as score draws.

Moving on to my player recommendations...

KEEPERS
Fabianski
Hart
Schwarzer
Krul

I'm bloody pissed off that I missed Fabianski on the barndoor, especially after he skyrocketed from 6 to almost 10. Home to West Ham is a guaranteed win and a very possible clean sheet, so at his barndoor price he'll be between the sticks for the majority of you I'm sure.

Next in line is Hart at goal-shy Wolves, a shade over £10m. Put simply, he makes a lot of saves; proved by a positive return despite a 3-0 defeat on Sunday and he should have another great chance if Milijas continues the shooting practice he started at Chelsea. If you have the money then he's probably a better pick than a full price Fabianski.

I'm actually looking at Mark Schwarzer as a possible keeper this week - he's £2m cheaper than Fabianski and Fulham are generally pretty solid at home, while Wigan aren't great on the road. The pick would also come with the added bonus of going against the crowd - a clean sheet for Fulham & a shock at the Emirates could give me the chance to recover some of the ground lost last week.

If you're looking to save money then Tim Krul is the only real choice, but Newcastle's home form is patchy at best and he's burnt us before - you have been warned!

DEFENDERS
Bosingwa
Squillaci
Boateng
Coleman
Bale
Salcido
Zhirkov
Srktel
Enrique/Simpson
O'Shea
Hutton
Crainey
Jara
Jacobsen

We've been waiting for the return of Jose Bosingwa for some time and he did not disappoint on his first start for almost a year. He gives Chelsea something Ivanovic/Ferreira can't offer and I expect him to continue as first choice right-back and provide great points for the rest of the season. Squillaci has a great clean sheet chance and is still reasonably priced, as is Boateng (another I missed @4 on the BD) at Wolves.

Seamus Coleman, under £6m and playing right wing for Everton at home to Stoke is probably my favourite defensive option of the week. It wouldn't be a player picks post without a Gareth Bale mention - he was clearly shattered last weekend but he's had a rest and will relish the big stage as he did in Milan. He's probably not worth full price at Old Trafford but I have a feeling we'll see him at his best and O'Shea (assuming Fergie doesn't risk Neville/ Rafael) will not be looking forward to facing him. Those with discounts may do well to hold on to him.

Salcido has gone a bit quiet after his strong opening week but he is still getting forward and taking shots, so with a winnable home game and possible clean sheet he should be in your thoughts. We await more news on Zhirkov but he could still be a good filler it Ramires/ Lampard remain out, and Skrtel has been scoring quite well for Liverpool so far this season. I also think we'll see Newcastle's full backs getting forward plenty, so you could do worse than Enrique or Danny Simpson, who has replaced the out-of-his-depth James Perch at right-back.

I mentioned O'Shea being in a for a tough time, but he's still the most affordable Man Utd defender, Hutton is back to his marauding best and his crossing has been excellent, Crainey tends to score well for Blackpool, same for West Brom's Jara and Jacobsen is the cheapest "guaranteed to start" defender at 5.00.

MIDFIELDERS
Fabregas
Nani
Malouda
Nasri
Silva
Van Der Vaart
Adam
Walcott/Arshavin
Brunt
Downing
Arteta
Barton/Nolan
Pennant
Milijas
Albrighton (Suspended)
Holden
Gardner
Scholes
Reo-Coker/Sidwell

Fabregas is the man in the photo and undoubtedly top of the list for me this week. I watched Newcastle out-pass West Ham last weekend so just think what the Spanish genius could achieve against them, especially as I expect him to play a more advanced role at home. The in-form Nasri is close behind him, while Walcott & Arshavin should both be on your shortlist and I hope we'll get some sort of team news from Wenger on Friday. Keeping an eye on who plays in the Carling Cup tonight will also help.

Nani & Malouda are enjoying fine seasons so they are difficult to drop/ignore and David Silva is definitely starting to find his feet in the Premiership - bad news for AJ in the long term I'd imagine. VDV is undroppable at the £6m many of us bought him for, although I expect his points production to be significantly lower away from home. Adam continues to rack up points.

I missed the Brunt bandwagon last week but he's still under £10m and starting to hit his best form, Downing has been Villa's best player and will be up for the derby, Arteta is pricey but should score well against Stoke (provided he returns from his injury) and the pairing of Barton/ Nolan have done well all season.

Pennant is slowly starting to steal more and more set pieces from Etherington and I've already mentioned Milijas' performance vs Chelsea - shoot, shoot & erm...shoot. None of his strikes were particularly powerful, but Yahoo minds not - they'll give you 3 points a pop! Holden is Mr Consistent, Gardner is back from his ban, Scholes likes to score vs Spurs and Reo-Coker & Sidwell offer you decent filler options in the heart of the Villa midfield.

STRIKERS
Chamakh
Tevez (Injured)
Berbatov
Hernandez
Drogba
Anelka
Adebayor/Balotelli
Torres
Carroll
Bent
Odemwingie
Dembele/Andy Johnson
Yakubu/Saha

Chamakh has really impressed me so far - he provides a much needed focal point that Arsenal have lacked for a while and has a touch more class and awareness than Bendtner offers. At a cost of under 8 at home to West Ham he has to tempt you. Should Tevez be fit to face Wolves then he's the premium striker choice (he's out), Hernandez is in a purple patch, Berbatov faces his old club and Spurs have a very leaky defence...uh-oh!

I know Drogba at £22m away from home is difficult to justify but I still think he'll put up great points - it's whether you feel you can put almost a quarter of your funds in to him after he ruined a lot of Week 9 totals. if you can't but still want a Chelsea striker then Anelka is under £15m and could prove a worthy alternative. With Tevez out Adebayor and/or Balotelli may be unleashed against Wolves and that certainly gives us something to think about.

Torres will be looking to start scoring on a regular basis after his drought ended and the same can be said for Andy Carroll after he scored for the first time in 5 games at Upton Park. When Sunderland score it's usually Darren Bent who provides it, Odemwingie is being tipped to return vs Blackpool, Dembele and/or Andy Johnson will lead the line for Fulham vs Wigan and Yakubu or Saha will do the same for Everton vs Stoke.

That'll do!

There are more players listed than usual because I feel there are a lot of players (especially midfielders) who can score well this week, plus there's nothing wrong with a bit of variety! I'll be writing my analysis for each area as and when I get time over the next 48 hours (done!) and will post an update on Friday with all relevant team/injury news, so please keep checking back.

The weekly poll is up so please start voting towards The Blog Team: http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/506291

The current side on my team page:  

Schwarzer, Bosingwa, Bale, Coleman, Adam, Van Der Vaart, Nani, Fabregas, Hernandez, Chamakh, Dembele

...that team leaves £1.9m in the bank and Malouda/Zhirkov still held at discount behind the scenes. I could use the extra funds to go Schwarzer->Fabianski, or upgrade Dembele to Barton/ Silva, or switch out Bale to Squillaci/ Salcido/ Boateng/ Hutton and keep Malouda/ get Anelka in Dembele's place. Confused? I am at the moment!

What do you think? How's your team looking? Who will score big? Who will flop? Anyone you feel I've missed from the lists above?

Cheers,
AM

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