Your Captain, Dimitar Berbatov?
Big gameweek for Fantasy Premier League managers. A massive double gameweek. The January wildcard could be thrown around and managers could potentially field a squad of 11 double gameweek players without taking a transfer points hit… Tempting!
Aston Villa, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Wigan, and Blackpool all play twice. So let’s take a look at the best prospects…
I. Manchester City @ Aston Villa: There aren’t any Top 4 matchups this week so I’ll go with Darren Bent’s debut at home against Manchester City. City are on a roll and I’m excited to see the Tevez / Dzeko partnership on the road. They dominated Wolves at home last week and survived a late scare to win 4-3. The defense has been shipping goals but the likes of Yaya Toure, Tevez, and Dzeko have been providing great fantasy attacking returns.
Manchester City have conceded seven goals in their last three games so the likes of Joe Hart, Kolarov, and Zabaleta have taken a bit of a reputation hit – and Bent, Young, Downing and company will be looking to inflict further pain at Villa Park this weekend…
Villa have a double gameweek so if you want to take a punt check out on loan defender Kyle Walker – only 4M, who could be an attacking fullback. Big risk but only 4M. Albrighton is another rotation risk / youngster, but again very cheap at 4.6M if you need to free up funds to bring in a Torres or Rooney. Bent, of course, is 8.7M and Downing / Young are other options in that 7-8M range as well…
Prediction: 2 – 2 draw
II. Manchester United Double Gameweek: Rafael was the pick of the bunch at just 5.6M – he’s Manchester United’s regular right back this season and an amazingly cheap entry-point into their team – but of course, he isn’t a solid pick anymore after picking up a red card against Tottenham. From a personal perspective, this kills me, as I know Rafael would have picked up 180 minutes and a clean sheet or two in United’s two fixtures (Birmingham and Blackpool). Now, United will turn to Neville, O’Shea or Wes Brown – which will reduce their chances of a clean sheet – weaker defenders…
That said, United still have shut-out capability. If you can afford him, Vidic is your main man. Otherwise, Ferdinand and Evra are options though Rio has struggled with injury problems in the past, he seems to be OK this season so far.
Up front, it’s the big three- Nani, Berbatov, and Rooney. You need to own at least one of those for this week, if not two, otherwise you risk getting left behind from the Captain standpoint. They are all great captain options this week.
Prediction: 2 – 0 win vs Birmingham, 1-3 win vs Blackpool
III. Studs & Duds: Let’s look at those players playing twice – they are the main studs. We already looked at United and AV studs. Blackpool have Adam, Evatt, Kingson, and Campbell as cheap studs. Own one of those…. Liverpool have a very great double gameweek as well – almost as good as United’s – against Wolves and Fulham. Torres, Meireles, Kuyt, and Skrtel are the studs. Kelly only costs 4.2M and could be like Villa’s Walker – a cheap two game starter but a major rotation risk. The youngster is a DEFINITE stud if he gets two starts but the likes of Johnson, Aurelio, Konchesky are all veterans who could steal a fullback start here or there…
Fulham and Wigan are the last teams that play twice. The best options are the two midfield options, Dempsey and N’Zogbia. They’ve been great mid-priced fantasy scorers for a while now. N’Zogbia is a dangerous pick as he may get transferred (to Sunderland? to Liverpool?) so you may only get one game out of him if he’s transferred mid-week. Strange but true. Former Funny Feeling Friday Rodallega is another one we love and I also like Fulham’s cheap Pantsil at 4.5M.
Duds this week are Newcastle’s Carroll – still out with a thigh problem. Injured. Chelsea players are on the fence at Bolton. Malouda scored last time these two teams met so perhaps he can get one. Drogba needs a 2 or 3 goal game to annoy / interest fantasy managers once again, so why not this week? Studs despite the tough road matchup…
Arsenal, of course, are all studs at home to Wigan. Nasri, RVP, and Cesc Fabregas your main three obvious choices there. They don’t have a double gameweek, but should win their match.
IV. Gameweek 24 Best Eleven
GK: Kingson
D: Vidic – Pantsil – Skrtel
M: Nani – Dempsey – Fabregas – Adam – Kuyt
F: Torres – Rooney
Subs: Al-Habsi – Rodallega – Alcaraz – J. Collins
Related posts:
Torres again? Really? You’ve had him in the best 11 for 7 of the last 8 gameweeks, during which time he’s scored 19 points (2 games called off) for an average score of 3.2 points per game. Torres’ points per game ratio this season is 4. I think its time to stop beating a dead horse. Surely Rodallega or Bent would be a far better choice with 2 games each this GW.
Captain choice is very tricky this week. I’m going to take a punt on Berbatov over Nani.
He’s had 2 double gameweeks, and as you mentioned – 2 games called off….
I spoke highly about both Rodallega and Bent in the article. They are both superb options – and the content of the preview speaks for itself…
Torres has the easiest matchups – Wolves / Fulham -on paper, and Gerrard is back for the second game (at home) where he has done damage. Bent and Rodallega are good, and cheaper, but have tougher games. I think Bent has a chance of out-scoring Torres but Rodallega, with a game at Arsenal, probably does not.
Ah yes, I’d forgotten about Torres’ double GWs there. I just don’t see any motivation in him this season. He hasn’t scored 2 goals in a game since the 1st week of November, with no signs of that changing.
Disagree on the “no signs of it changing.” He’s looked very sharp in the last few starts. Hit the post in the first half against Everton as Liverpool DOMINATED. Didn’t score but looked superb. On another day could have had 8-10 fantasy points.
You have a good point there, but the form book can always go out the window in Merseyside derbies.
On balance, with Torres having 2 games this GW, I would probably agree with him in the top 11 tbh.
Meant to add that wolves are actually looking good at the moment, 9th in the form table. The could well shut out the ‘pool this weekend.
“The form book can go out in Merseyside derbies” – agreed – for TEAM form, not individual player form. Individual player form is very different from derby / team form. Plain fact is during the first 45 minutes of the Liverpool – Everton game, there is no other striker in the league who could have performed at a better level than Torres. He was menacing, tough to defend, and VERY unlucky not to score once or twice. If they get an early goal at Wolves, they could win 1-3 or 0-2
I agree that Torres was fantastic in the 1st half v Everton. If he can build on that and get back his consistency then he could again be a no brainer start, like a couple of seasons ago. Going forward the Daglish factor could make all the difference. Or maybe he’ll begin showcase his talents for potential suitors in the summer.
We’ll just have to wait and see I guess.