Week 7 - Player Picks

Week 6 was a massive disappointment as my decision to go with Rooney over Van Persie cost me 34 points, undid a lot of the great progress I'd made in Week 5 and left me right on the edge of the Top 10,000.

It's been boom or bust for me in the opening six weeks of the season; 3 weekly scores of between 60-75 points and 3 weekly scores of 115-135 points. I could really do with another bumper score so Week 7 is a chance to bounce back and again it's another single week for all teams. There are seven teams in particular that have my attention...

Stand-Out Fixtures
MAN UTD v Norwich
MAN CITY @ Blackburn
CHELSEA @ Bolton

No surprises here as the 3 teams with the pick of the fixtures make up the current top 3 in the Premier League. Norwich have been playing well but Manchester United will be frustrated after 2 draws in a row and I'm expecting them to hand out a bit of a thrashing at Old Trafford this weekend. Manchester City head to Ewood Park to face 3rd from bottom Blackburn and Chelsea travel to to rock-bottom Bolton. It is advisable to have at least one representative from each of the top 3, ideally two if you can fit them in/afford them.

Should Win
ASTON VILLA v Wigan
SUNDERLAND v West Brom

Aston Villa may sit in 8th but their fans have been less than impressed with the style of football they've seen under Alex McLeish. There won't be many better chances to put on a show than against Wigan at home and I'm expecting them to do just that, leading to a comfortable home win. Sunderland are struggling for goals but 2nd from bottom West Brom are visiting this weekend and again I predict a home win to take a bit of pressure off manager Steve Bruce.

High-Scoring
SPURS v ARSENAL

You get the feeling this game could finish 4-3 or 3-4 as neither side likes defending and both have a great array of attacking talent, so I'm expecting a lot of points for Spurs & Arsenal midfielders & strikers.

Close/Draws/Low Scoring
Wolves v Newcastle
Everton v Liverpool
Fulham v QPR
Swansea v Stoke

It's hard to call these four games but I do expect them to be quite low scoring, so defensive players could be a decent shout. I wouldn't be going out of my way to spend too much money on attacking players unless you hold them on the cheap or at discount (e.g Taarabt/SWP).

With the fixtures in mind, here are the player I'm recommending for Week 7...

KEEPERS
De Gea
Vorm
Given

DDG continues to lead the way in saves (32, almost double the number that Joe Hart has made) and has a great chance of winning every match he plays in, so he'll continue to be listed as the number one Keeper pick for the foreseeable future whether United are home or away. If you've missed that boat then the best options this week are Swansea's Vorm (down in price after -8 at Chelsea) at home to Stoke, or the ever-reliable Shay Given at home to Wigan.

DEFENDERS
Bosingwa
Richards
Smalling/Evans (* awaiting injury news)
Rangel
Riise
Hutton
Brown
Boyata

Chelsea's Jose Bosingwa has a goal and two assists, while Manchester City's Micah Richards also has two assists in the opening six league games of the season. Both men should get plenty of opportunities to get forward against struggling Bolton and Blackburn so this makes them the top defensive picks of the week, although Richards is slightly pricey after last week's clean sheet vs Everton.

It remains to be seen if Chris Smalling or Jonny Evans will be fit to return this weekend but whoever does make it will slot in at right-back and would represent great value given the fixture against Norwich. If they fail to recover then (with Fabio picking up an injury last night) it could well be Antonio Valencia slotting in, and despite the fact he's listed as a midfielder he may actually be a decent choice if you're looking to spend less then 7, as he should get forward plenty..

Angel Rangel has been Mr Consistent all season and he's a fine choice again as Swansea host Stoke, priced @ 8.52. John Arne Riise and Alan Hutton are also great options if you're looking for an attacking full-back as both are playing at home for Fulham and Villa respectively and are priced below 8. Wes Brown is the best value defender this week as he has clean sheet potential at home to West Brom, while Boyata is the filler who continues to outscore his cost.

MIDFIELDERS
Nani
Young
Silva
Van Der Vaart
Nasri
Ramires
Larsson
Arteta
Wright Phillips
Bannan
Ben Arfa

**Ahhh, Blogger has somehow lost what I'd written for my midfield analysis, how annoying! I'll retype it when I get time later. :( **


STRIKERS
Welbeck (*awaiting Rooney/Hernandez injury news)
Aguero
Drogba
Mata
Adebayor
Van Persie
Agbonlahor
Bendtner

We've had no update regarding the injuries to Rooney and Hernandez, so at this point in time you have to consider Danny Welbeck as the top striker pick, at home to Norwich and fresh from two Champions League goals on Tuesday night. The chaos at Manchester City means both Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko are unlikely to feature this weekend, which leaves Sergio Aguero the City striker to go for (unless you fancy a punt on Balotelli!).

Torres serves the first game of his three match suspension so Didier Drogba should lead the line against a Bolton side who have already conceded 16 goals this season (10 of those at home). 20.90 is a lot to spend but he broke his goal-duck last weekend and I'd expect more from him on Sunday. He'll be supported by the excellent Juan Mata (7.63) playing in the hole, who disappointed last weekend after a booking, but should get even more space to work his magic this week.

We all know that when Adebayor is fired up he can be unplayable and he's sure to be fired up facing his old side Arsenal for the first time as a Tottenham player. Admittedly this could just as likely mean a red card as it could mean 2 goals, but I'm sticking with him and I expect a good total. His old striker partner Robin Van Persie is considerably more expensive but he's in excellent form having knocked in goals 99 and 100 for Arsenal last weekend so remains a great choice if you hold him at 20ish.

Finally if you're looking to do something a bit different then two strikers you may be interested in complete the player list this week. Gabby Agbonlahor has been in his best goalscoring form since he burst on to the scene a few years ago, so with a home game against Wigan and priced below 9, he has to be worth a look. An even bigger outsider is Nicklas Bendtner, just 7.26, yet to open his Sunderland account but at home to West Brom; if you're in a gambling mood he could be your man.

That's it!

My current team:

De Gea, Brown, Bosingwa, Richards, Ramires, Wright-Phillips, Silva, Nani, Adebayor, Welbeck, Aguero

That team leaves me with over 5million left in the bank so there's work to do. I may upgrade Brown, I'm undecided on Ramires and I'm aware I may need to change Welbeck if Rooney and Hernandez recover. In fact, if Ferguson confirms Rooney will start then I'd really want to bring him in Welbeck's place, which would require some serious downgrading elsewhere (starting with Nani to Young). The only players safe in that scenario would be De Gea, Silva, Adebayor & Aguero.

I'll leave it there for this week - I'll be back on Friday with team news and an update on the all important Manchester United injury situation. With Champions League and Europa League games still to come, there's sure to be plenty of further knocks picked up before deadline.

Please let me know how your own Week 7 team is shaping up!

Cheers,
AM