A few flips at home against Wigan?
Merry Christmas. Happy Boxing Day. Here are your gameweek 18 picks…
I. Blackburn @ Liverpool: I select this game as the ‘game of the week,’ not for it’s on-the-field potential, but for the media circus surrounding it off the pitch. Blackburn boss Steve Kean is receiving miserable, disgraceful abuse from his own fans – but he says it’s inspiring him. Meanwhile, this week at Liverpool has been all about the Luis Suarez guilty charge in his racism case against Patrice Evra, and combined with John Terry’s charges, it’s been a pretty sad week for the sport.
Liverpool, on the field, trail Chelsea by just 3 points in the race for a Top-4 spot, while Blackburn, of course, sit in 20th, 5 points adrift of safety. All signs point to a Liverpool win in this one.
Luis Suarez, subject of all the attention – is the main man from a fantasy perspective, though most managers have given up on him for cheaper, in-form options. Still, Suarez is a solid fantasy play this week despite the lack of value / form. At the back, Liverpool have been more consistent. Enrique and Skrtel are good options, as is Daniel Agger (5.9M).
Expect a Liverpool win. Yakubu may be in good form, but he won’t see much of the ball in this one, so you have to think a home win is on the cards.
Prediction: 3 – 1 Liverpool
II. Wigan @ Manchester United: Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City all have very favorable Boxing Day matches so don’t turn your back on the likes of Sturridge, RVP, or Aguero, but you can’t go against an in-form Manchester United at home to Wigan. Rooney and Nani are your main men. Phil Jones is OK after catching a stray elbow from American Clint Dempsey as an early Christmas present, but he’s fine and should play, while Jonny Evans is such a bargain fantasy purchase with Ferdinand and Vidic out that if you don’t consider owning him in the short to mid-term than you must have some serious fantasy management issues…
Yes, Wigan have hit a bit of form (a 1-1 home draw with Chelsea is proof that Roberto Martinez has a decent squad at his disposal that may just avoid the drop) but you have to think Sir Alex and his men can put 2-3 past their relegation threatened opponents. Arsenal at home to Wolves are a close second here, but have confidence in Manchester United as well…
Prediction: 3 – 0 Manchester United
III. Studs & Duds: Chelsea’s defenders are injured or out of form but you can’t turn your back against the cheap Jose Bosingwa, a stud at home to Fulham. Sturridge and Mata are studs further up the field. Big time. For fantasy managers looking to free up cash and bring in a 5th midfielder to free up funds for an expensive acquisition (say, Nani or Rooney) Oriol Romeu is just 4.6M. Yes, he won’t score many goals or grab many assists (if any) and he may not start regularly, but if you don’t plan on using your 5th midfielder option often, you could do worse than Romeu – who looked surprisingly like a stud in a 45 minute reserve role against Tottenham.
RVP and Walcott are studs at home to Wolves. Wonder if Benayoun will get the start over Ramsey? If he does, and either Arteta or Ramsey get injured or rested / rotated in the coming weeks, the 6.9M rated Israeli could be a decent punt. He’s not a stud until he gets 60+ minutes a match, despite his teammates’ stud status.
Bolton are underdogs at home to Newcastle but I see a shock win or draw on the cards. Bench your usually reliable Newcastle defenders – Krul, Simpson, etc. Duds in my opinion this week. Tottenham are in form so Bale and Adebayor are studs at Norwich. VDV may be injured or he may just make the match, it’s all up in the air….
IV. Gameweek 18 Best Eleven:
GK: Szczesny [hope that's spelled correctly, Merry Xmas Wojciech]
D: Evans – Bosingwa – Agger
M: Bale – Nani – Walcott – Mata
F: Rooney – Suarez – RVP
Subs: Vorm – Sinclair – Kompany – Shawcross
Related posts:
What will be your coverage for the double Gameweek? Or do you perhaps not play to the double Gameweeks?
The reason I ask is that I was wondering whether getting in a Tottenham defender (Galls perhaps, or Assou-Ekotto) would be worth it?
Mr Ibracadabra, I note that you have Rooney and not Nani. Confident with this? Would you prefer it the other way round (given a hypothetical extra wildcard)?
I also note that you’re 1 point ahead of me (http://goo.gl/vyXjc) and so shall use you as a yardstick from here on in.
Thanks for the useful articles this year, best wishes for 2012.
What an odd gameweek 18 – 7 draws out of 10 matches – with many of the big teams failing to win.
Here’s ,my take on it:
http://fantasypremierleaguehints.blogspot.com/2011/12/gameweek-18-summary.html
Your thoughts are most welcome as always.