Week 9 - Player Picks

It's been a crazy busy week with work, plus we've had the Rooney news, calculation of the Blog Cup results and Champions League games to watch (Spurs still making me laugh and cry in equal measure), so due to a time shortage I'm going to have to jump straight in with a look at the Week 9 fixtures.

The stand-out fixture by a million miles is Chelsea at home to Wolves. I could see a bit of a kicking here and it isn't going to get any easier for Mick McCarthy's men going forward. My good buddy Luke (Wolves fan) revealed that Wolves' next 3 league fixtures (after Chelsea) are Man City, @Man Utd, Arsenal....ouch!

Liverpool have been shocking so far but Blackburn travel to Anfield without the suspended Samba and I've just got a feeling that it could be time for Torres to breakout of his rut. Everton are vastly improved but I would still hope that Tottenham could beat them at White Hart Lane (although it will be tight) and I expect Manchester United to go to Stoke and get their first away win of the season - they always seem to silence their doubters when their backs are against the wall.

I also fancy Birmingham to scrape a win at home to Blackpool - it's pretty much a must win game for the boys in blue after a torrid start - although a draw wouldn't be a shock. Same story a Upton Park - West Ham are just about favourites but Newcastle are totally unpredictable, and I reckon West Brom will continue their fine start with another 3 points vs Fulham. Home advantage in tight matches is often the deciding factor.

Saying that - Wigan v Bolton, Sunderland v Aston Villa and the big game of the weekend Manchester City vs Arsenal all look like score draws to me, although with Fabregas returning you wouldn't discount Arsenal causing an upset (am I really referring to City losing to the Gunners as an upset? Maybe the balance is shifting...)

OK that's the fixtures, time for my player picks (remembering that we still have to wait for the injury fall-out from European games)

KEEPERS
Reina
Foster
Carson
Green
Kirkland

Pepe Reina @ 7.2 is probably the lowest price I've ever seen him at. Yes Liverpool are a bit rubbish, but Blackburn are hardly the most attacking team in the league so a clean sheet is possible. Birmingham will be aiming to keep out Blackpool and Ben Foster has been playing well so is a decent option, as is Scott Carson with a home game vs Fulham.

I wouldn't have been recommending Rob Green a month ago, but his form has improved greatly and Newcastle are struggling a bit at the moment so @ £5m he could be worth a punt. A lot of people have been taking the zero for Kirkland since he was dropped in Week 3, but this week he will play; Al-Habsi can't play against his parent club Bolton.

Kirk costs just 1.00 but he averages -13! Are you taking the risk to free up funds elsewhere?

DEFENDERS
Bale
Zhirkov
Bosingwa/Ferreira
Boateng
Hutton
Jacobsen
Salcido
Coleman
Konchesky
Squillaci
Dann/Carr
Jara
Stam

After brief temptations to drop him 2 weeks ago I'm likely to keep Bale for the long haul now; guaranteed points scorers are too hard to come by (update: and now a sensational hat-trick in the San Siro!). You may be surprised to see Zhirkov second on the list but after a fine performance in the Champions League I reckon he could find himself starting either at left back or in midfield if Ancelotti decides to rest players vs Wolves - he'd be the bargain of the week @ 4.22.

The Bosingwa/Ferreira conundrum is currently unknown, although Paulo got 90 minutes in Moscow so it could be Jose's turn. Hutton is a great alternative if you can't stretch to Bale, Boateng is too cheap to resist (provided he's recovered from his knock suffered at Blackpool) and Jacobsen is another sub-5 defender guaranteed to start and with a decent chance of a clean-sheet.

Salcido, Konchesky & Coleman are all priced a shade over 7 and should get forward plenty (especially thr Everton man out on the right wing). Squillaci is holding the Arsenal defence together at the moment, Dann or Carr could cover the potential Birmingham clean sheet at home to Blackpool while Jara & Stam have home games and offer alternatives if you're looking to pick a defender not many other managers will go for.

MIDFIELDERS
Malouda
Van Der Vaart
Gerrard
Nani
Adam
Silva/AJ
N'Zogbia
Brunt
Larsson/Gardner
Pennant
Essien
Holden
Henderson
Meireles
Reo-Coker

Malouda has been a bit up and down recently but he's still the joint top scorer in the league so it would be crazy to ignore him at home to Wolves. However, as mentioned earlier Zhirkov is a possible player to replace him if Ancelotti wants to rest a player who has already played 15 games for club and country this season. Lets hope we get a nice and helpful press conference this Friday!

Van Der Vaart need no introduction, Nani is in fine form (scoring again last night) and Gerrard will be heart of everything good Liverpool do vs Blackburn (assuming they do something good). Charlie Adam has proved himself a season-keeper no matter the fixture, and assuming Mancini reverts to 4-5-1 vs Arsenal (and I'm sure he will) then it'll be a straight fight between Silva & AJ. Watch to see who plays in the Europa Cup because the guy on the bench will probably start at the weekend.

N'Zogbia hit form vs Newcastle and he'll be looking to continue you this at home to Bolton, West Brojm's Chris Brunt is another set piece taker, as is Larsson for Birmingham and Pennant will share them (with Etherington) for Stoke. I thought Gardner had completed his suspension but I was wrong, he has one game left, so he's been removed from the list above.

We still don't have news on Lampard but if he's out then Essien continues to be a good pick in home games, Stuart Holden is consistent and Henderson has been grabbing some useful points for Sunderland, taking the occasional set piece. Meireles clearly likes to shoot and was the only player I saw trying to make something happen for Liverpool at Everton, and Reo-Coker is a great filler option under £3m if you want to save some cash to bring in the bigger names.

STRIKERS
Drogba/Anelka/Kalou
Tevez
Obinna/Piquionne
Odemwingie (*major injury doubt)
Torres
Berbatov
K.Jones
Bent
Chamakh
Hernandez
Zigic

I read in the Metro newspaper this morning that Drogba will be back to face Wolves - confirmed by Ancelotti - so if you dropped him last week you need to decide whether to spend £24m on him or bring in Anelka. Mind you, could Anelka be rested now Kalou is back? At the moment we don't know so we'll all be waiting on the press conference praying he names his starting XI.

Tevez is in fantastic form (even if both his goals should've been disallowed last weekend for offside/a foul) and Arsenal have been a bit leaky, so he's the next premium striker in line, I've mentioned my Torres hunch (although it's unlikely I'll pick him) and you have some nicely priced forward options with a chance of a goal - Obinna, Piquionne & Odemwingie (Update: Odemwingie possibly out due to injury).

Berbatov will continue to lead the line after the Rooney revelations/injury while Kenwyne Jones will be looking to cause United some further defensive headaches, Darren Bent will want to get back on the goal-trail vs Villa, Chamakh is starting to find his feet in England (at least when he tries to stay on them), Hernandez could partner Berbatov after his goal vs West Brom and the man-mountain Zigic will be hoping to keep his place for Birmingham.

That's it for another week...I'm not 100% deciding on my team until we hear from Ancelotti on Friday, because news on Drogba/Anelka/Zhirkov/Malouda/Kalou/Ferreira/Bosingwa is going to impact hugely on my final XI. I'm sure it's the same for you guys too so I'll post an injury/team news update on Friday that will hopefully clarify everything!

Update: After a play around with possible combinations, I've reckon if Silva is rested tonight, Zhirkov is set to start and Drogba is definitely back then I may do something like this:

Kirkland, Boateng, Zhirkov, Bale, Adam, Silva, N'Zogbia, Nani, Van Der Vaart, Obinna, Drogba

I'd be happy with that, but lets wait and see!

Anyway, please remember to vote in the Week 9 Poll:
http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/505502

Please let me know how you're team is shaping up! Are you planning on splashing out £24m for Drogba if he's fit? Do you feel I've missed anyone from the lists above? Who's your hunch for Week 9?

Cheers,
AM

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