Week 35 - Player Picks

Week 35 sees us go back to a single week for all teams, and I'm pretty glad about that. The occasional double week is OK when it's for the majority, but skewing your team selection to just a couple of sides isn't all that fun, so it's good to be back to normal. Unfortunately it's another double in Week 36 (for Man City & Spurs) but we won't worry about that for now!

Before I get in to the fixtures, I'll quickly talk about the week just passed. I ended Week 34 on 136 points, which is probably below average (150 is par in a DW), but I'm generally pleased with that score after a terrible start saw me take just 57 from the first round of matches.

Dempsey, Pennant & Schwarzer did the business in their 2nd games, but Etherington was unlucky to pick up an injury that could see him miss the FA Cup final, Zamora's double benching left me wishing I'd gone for Kenwyne, and I was sorely lacking a good Stoke defender as Wilson proved why he's so cheap!

I now find myself drifting around just outside the Top 100, and my dreams of the Top 50 are disappearing quicker than Tottenham's dreams of a 2nd season in the Champions League. 40 points is a hell of a lot to make up with just 3 weeks to go, so I'm just concentrating on trying to secure my 3rd ever Top 100 finish.

Now, the fixtures...

Stand-Out
MAN CITY v West Ham
LIVERPOOL v Newcastle

These are the two games I really feel like loading up on this week. West Ham looked to be getting out of trouble a month or so ago, but since they lost Scott Parker to injury they have been awful & City will be licking their lips as they look to tighten their grip on 4th. Big home win for me.

Dalglish has transformed Liverpool since taking over and I'd expect them to beat Newcastle comfortably at Anfield as they continue to chase down Spurs for 5th place and the Europa League spot that neither side really wants. Whisper it quietly, but are they a better, more balanced side when Gerrard isn't playing? I think they might just be.

Should Win
BIRMINGHAM v Wolves
CHELSEA v Tottenham
EVERTON @ Wigan
STOKE @ Blackpool

Two derbies which are sometimes difficult to call, but on this occasion I expect Birmingham and Chelsea to have too much for their opponents on home turf. Wolves are playing as poorly as they have all season and look doomed for the drop, while I'd rather not go in to how rubbish Spurs have been for the past few months.

Everton meanwhile are one of the form teams in the league and after playing a defensive game at Old Trafford they should win this far easier match against another struggling side in Wigan. Stoke are flying and despite their atrocious away record I expect them to take all 3 points in another open game down at the seaside.

Close/Draws
Arsenal v Man Utd
Blackburn v Bolton
Sunderland v Fulham
West Brom v Aston Villa

We were all very excited about Arsenal v Man Utd a few weeks back - a match that could blow the title race wide open! Well, it still could, but it's more likely to benefit Chelsea if Arsenal win, as the Gunners are out of it. However, I think it'll be a draw and United will deservedly go on to seal the league. I also think the other 3 games listed are set to be score draws.

Now, the players...

KEEPERS
Hart
Reina
Howard
Carson

They may be pricey, but the two keepers that stand-out as the best picks this week are the two from the stand-out fixtures. Joe Hart has the slight edge as West Ham are in such bad form, but Pepe Reina is still a great pick against Newcastle and is slightly cheaper. Personally, I'm going with Reina.

If you can't afford either of them then you can either go for Tim Howard at Wigan who is priced around £6m and has a decent chance of a clean sheet or really hit the bottom of the barrel with Scott Carson, who is just 1.00 and playing for a vastly improved West Brom side under Roy Hodgson. It's still a huge risk as Carson is basically a terrible keeper, but you may feel his prices makes it worth that risk.

DEFENDERS
Kolarov
Luiz
Skrtel
Lescott
Coleman
Carr
Shorey
Wilson

Wasn't I a silly boy for selling Kolarov! The players I brought in his place didn't do anywhere near enough to justify that decision and I had to buy him back @10.8 on the barndoor earlier this week. He's worth it though, given his fixture and his ability to score points from all direction, but it's annoying.

I am glad I hung on to David Luiz, who returned to form last weekend and should score well again, and Martin Skrtel is the best defensive option from Liverpool, seeing as their young full-backs have yet to be added to the game. Yahoo have been terribly slack this season (Sessegnon being the prime example) and it's really not good enough.

Lescott is the most affordable City defender at around £8m so he can cover that clean sheet if you can't get Kolarov, and Seamus Coleman could be in for some good points at Wigan. Birmingham captain Steve Carr is a great option this week, while Shorey & Wilson are good fillers if you're looking to spend cash elsewhere.

MIDFIELDERS
Kuyt
Pennant
Adam
Larsson
Lampard
Meireles
Silva
Brunt
Henderson
A.Johnson
Malbranque

Kuyt is on the scoring streak of his life at the moment, loving the space created by Suarez & Carroll and remaining on spot kicks while Gerrard is out. He's probably too pricey now, but if you barndoored him then you're laughing. Pennant will be on everything due to Etherington's injury, while Adam will be on everything because he's Adam.

Larsson getting all set pieces (and he's apparently stolen penalties from Gardner) so he's another good midfield pick, Lampard has started picking up pace for the run-in & Meireles is a fine choice if you can't afford Kuyt but want a Liverpool midfielder. David Silva is a bit like Modric - a "string puller", a great player who doesn't score well in Fantasy Football - but he's probably worth a shot at home to West Ham.

Some less obvious picks - Chris Brunt is back to his best, Jordan Henderson scored twice last weekend and will be full of confidence, Adam Johnson is tempting if he's set to start and Steed Malbranque is my hunch pick of the weekend as he could be played upfront due to the striker injury crisis at Sunderland

STRIKERS
Suarez
Dzeko/Balotelli
K.Jones
Torres/Drogba
Odemwingie
Jerome
Walters
Beckford
DJ Campbell

Suarez. The guy is lighting up Anfield and looks a snip at just £20m, so the fact many of us have him for around 8.xx is great news - I expect big points this weekend. Dzeko should get the nod over Balotelli if City remain with one upfront after the Bosnian broke his Premier League duck in the vital win at Blackburn & Kenwyne Jones is scoring goals for fun at the moment. He'll get plenty of chances at Blackpool.

We won't know if it's Torres or Drogba vs Spurs, but Ancelotti must be tempted to give Torres a game after he finally grabbed his first Chelsea goal and he's sure to cause our defence problems. Odemwingie has been the surprise package of the season and just keeps on scoring, Cameron Jerome is a certain starter at home to Wolves, Walters should continue up top with Jones, Beckford has a good fixture & DJ Campbell is an outside bet to complete the list.

That's it for the players this week!

My own team currently looks like this:

Reina, Luiz, Skrtel, Kolarov, Malbranque, Silva, Meireles, Pennant, Adam, Dzeko, Suarez

I actually like it but I'm sure there'll be some changes before deadline. I'm still considering Larsson in Adam's place, I'll need to check Dzeko's starting status & I may go Skrtel > Carr as I already have Liverpool's clean sheet covered by Reina. As for Steed Malbranque, if he's going to play as a support striker then I think for under £6m he's a great option, I'd love to have Kuyt in Meireles' place but it's not going to happen, he's out of my price range, but everything else should stay.

Let's leave it there for this week. I'm at a mate's weddings for the entire day tomorrow so once again the Update post might be late or not at all. You know you can always go over to Jeremy & Neal if you need team/injury news, they summarise everything very well on a Friday, and Fantasy Football Scout is an invaluable tool.

Please let me know how you did in Week 34 & how your Week 35 team is shaping up!

Cheers,
AM