Week 6 - Player Picks

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