The Midweek Preview
Rooney breaks his foot and your Fantasy Football lineup goes under the knife in the first week. There’s a void to fill, millions to spend but the Premiership’s midweek games provide the perfect source for those players to fill that Rooney-shaped gap in your side. Let’s look at the contenders…
On paper there doesn’t look like they’ll be many defensive points available. Clean sheets certainly look hard to come by. United’s trip to Portsmouth won’t be easy, with Pompey’s enjoying a decent record against the Champions in previous seasons. Edwin Van Der Sar and his defence remain a relatively decent option, with Patrice Evra the best the option while he is still being employed in a left midfield role.
The blue side of Manchester are the other good bet for defensive points against newly promoted Derby. It’s unclear how much attacking ambition that Billy Davies’ side will show but Kasper Schmeicalal could have a quiet night. He should remain in goal for City, unless of course Sven can flex the cheque book in the next 24 hours. Micah Richards and Richard Dunne are the best options however, offering a decent goal threat from set pieces. Bear in mind however, that City face Man United at the weekend, followed by a trips to Arsenal and Blackburn.
Chelsea’s defence looked far from secure against Birmingham, and is likely to be tested further by a Reading side no doubt keen to demonstrate their attacking prowess having stifled Man United with an exemplary defensive display on Sunday. Chelsea also visit Anfield at the weekend, so their expensive defenders look unappealing, at least until John Terry returns.
Birmingham and Sunderland defenders could well be involved in a game of few chances at St Andrews. It will be interesting to see how Roy Keane approaches the game having kept things tight against Tottenham. It’s a game he’d certainly look to win but away from home, Sunderland are likely to be modest in their attacking ambitions and try to nick another goal. There could be clean sheets then, with Birmingham’s Liam Ridgewell and Sunderland’s Paul McShane the most attractive options. After this game, it’s Birmingham that have kinder fixtures with Keane’s side meeting Liverpool and Man United in the next few weeks.
Elsewhere the likes of Paul Scharner and Andy Todd are worth considering due to the fact that their currently plying their trades in midfield for Wigan and Derby. There should be goals in the Wigan vs Middlesbrough clash which does make Scharner a useful signing having picked up an assist at Everton. Wigan follow this game with decent fixtures against Sunderland, West Ham and Newcastle.
In midfield the likes of Ronaldo, Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda remain attractive. I still see Stewart Downing to be central to Boro’s chances at Wigan, while Arteta will be influential for Everton at Tottenham. Jason Koumas is perhaps the one to watch. He’ll be expected to come to the fore in Wigan’s first home game and Boro’s injury stricken defence seems likely to concede.
Elsewhere Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kevin Nolan and Man City’s Elano all showed form and earned points at the weekend, which suggests that they’ll be in the thick of things again in midweek. Elano could play just behind the lone striker against Derby, which could be profitable. Martin Petrov is the other City player worth a look. He’ll be central to City’s set plays and should be zipping in the crosses against Derby’s backline.
If you’re on a budget the Fulham’s Simon Davies gets my vote. Fulham follow the game against Bolton with another home game against Middlesbrough at the weekend and then games against Villa and Tottenham. A pretty decent run.
Up front we have Carlos Tevez making his full debut at Portsmouth of course. The game will be a stern test of the Argentine’s fitness and although he seems the obvious Rooney-replacement, it may just be too early for him to play a significant contribution however, so I expect a tepid first couple of games for Tevez with City the opponents at the weekend.
In contrast, the renewed fitness of Didier Drogba is hard to ignore, particularly if Chelsea concede and are forced to chase goals as was the case on Sunday. Drogba could well be the best home for your newly discovered millions. Then again…
Dimitar Berbatov looked out of sorts at Sunderland but he’s a different animal at White Hart Lane. Martin Jol is expected to give Darren Bent a debut alongside him and I expect these two to be in the points with Robbie Keane pulling the creative strings behind them. With Derby at home next, I’m predicting Berbatov to remind us of his class over the next two matches but a visit to Old Trafford at the end of the month might be enough to warrant caution before drafting him in.
Rolando Bianchi could profit from City’s confidence and Derby’s Premiership inexperience. However its Nicolas Anelka and Yakubu that are my picks for these games. Bolton will look to bounce back against Fulham after a first-half hiding at the hands of Newcastle, while Yakubu will want to remind several Premiership bosses of his goalscoring talents. A Wigan defence could well provide the assistance he needs to do just that. Watch the transfer news though, if Boro agree a deal for Mido, Yakubu could well be on his way and out of the midweek game.
Bolton follow this game with fixtures against Portsmouth, Reading and Everton a pretty decent run that could prove profitable for Anelka and Kevin Nolan. Yakubu meanwhile should also flourish while he remains at Boro with games against Fulham, Newcastle and Birmingham in the next three outings.
If you’re looking for a cheaper option then Mikael Forssell of Birmingham and David Healy at Fulham are your best two options. Both face home games against and will fancy their chances of adding to their goal hauls, having got off the mark at the weekend. Both also face home games at the weekend and fairly decent fixtures after that, making them budget buys that can see you right through until next month. If you’re willing to spend a little more then Birmingham’s McSheffrey perhaps offers the chance of an even better return given his role in Birmingham’s set plays and general attacking play, particularly whilst being employed up front by Bruce.
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According to Sky Sports News, “Boro agree Mido fee”.
Surely this renders Yakubu a striker not to acquire as a replacement for Rooney now considering all of the uncertainty around his future at the club?
The two strikers I’m possibly thinking of getting instead are Drogba (9m) or Tevez (7.2m) (I already have Anelka). The game I’m playing is the Fantasy League Classic.
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Hi Freddy. Yep, as I mentioned this is something you should watch for with the midweek games in mind. Long-term though, a move won’t change the fact that Yakubu is a useful signing. Right now, Yakubu should still play at Wigan and it seems likely that Mido will slot alongside him in the Viduka role for the next few games.
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Quiick question for everyone to offer their opinions…I would like to get rid of Silva in my midfield and Matthew Taylor in the back line because neither look like they will be in the starting XI anytime soon. This will be a longer term decision so the most immediate fixtures aren’t neccesarily the most important things. I have narrowed it down to a few choices and just can’t seem to come to a decision…
Evra (Man U) and Koumas (Wigan) or Petrov (Man City)…..or……
Ingamarsson (Reading) and Malouda (Chelsea)
Let me know what you all think, would love some feedback, thanks!
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Evra and Koumas in my opinion
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or I could always keep Taylor and trade Silva for Elano straight up…too many choices so early in the season!!!
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I see your dilemna Brian, because Malouda is looking pretty tasty early on. I have Evra, Koumas, and Malouda in my team. I probably would agree with Brandon, Evra and Koumas are the way to go. I’ve made Koumas my captain this week (fantasy premier league) as i’m pretty sure he’ll do something against a weakened Boro defence.
What’s the rest of your team like though? It may help people decide whether you should be investing more cash into your defence (with Evra) or into your midfield (with Malouda)
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My first year of playing and have so far pummeled my opponents.
However, my eagerness prevented me from taking into account that there is a midweek round that excludes a lot of my player’s teams.
This is my squad:
Reina
Vidic - Toure - Lescott - Shorey
Ronaldo - Fabregas - Speed - Hunt
Anelka - Viduka
Subs: Niemi - Butt - Anderson - Harewood
As I can only make one transfer without having points deducted, I’m racking my brain trying to figure out which one to transfer, as I have a lot of players from teams that aren’t playing in the midweek round and all of my subs aren’t in the starting line-ups. And then of course neither Reina nor Niemi will play, so I don’t have a goalkeeper either.
I’m thinking trade Harewood for Chopra, as this is a long-term transfer as opposed to temporarily trading Viduka for Bianchi or Yakubu.
Any advice?
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Yeah Alex, probably keep your players that will play next week. If you spent 4 points bringing someone in just for the sake of one week it would only be worth it if they did something in the game like assist or get bonus points, and you can’t bank on that.
You’re starting 11 does look promising for the rest of the season, so I agree that should be transferring out one of your bench players that doesn’t start for their team. I’d suggest taking out Harewood and bringing in Forsell this week. Seeing as you’re already beating your friends, I might then justify a second transfer at the cost of 4 points. I’d say use the 0.5 million you gain from the Harewood/Forsell swap to bring in the 4.5 rated Ridgewell for your 4.0 Anderson. Hope that helps
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here’s the team…
Carson and Schmeical
Taylor, Riise, Cambell, A. Cole , Melberg
Silva, MG Pederson, Bentley, Arteta, Whitehead
v Persie, Tevez, Heskey
Let me know what you think! Leaning towards the Evra for Taylor and Koumas for Silva or Evra/Petrov trade instead of the Ingimarrson for Taylor and Malouda for Silva trade. Any other tips would be appreciated!
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I’d go for Ingimarsson & Malouda as Reading have a good run of fixtures after Chelsea, plus Ingi will play all season. Malouda is looking good at the mo, but other midfielders may prove better value in the long run. Koumas is too risky at this point in time, while Evra may not play 60 minutes, or worse could be rested from time to time.
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Thanks, Sam.
Yeah, I did consider Forsell, but thought Chopra might be a better option. Probably won’t decide on that one until 5 minutes before the deadline.
Not sure about making a second transfer, as some of my opponents are close to me in points. But on the other hand I know I need to get rid of Anderson regardless, as he hasn’t played and doesn’t seem to be in the starting line-up for the time being. But we have two transfer windows this week, so might do it then.
Again, probably another last-minute decision. Thanks for the input.
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how long is Malouda expected to play for Chelsea? once Ballack, Makalele, Shevi, etc all come back, do you think he will move to the bench? I am in the ESPN league and we have 30 transfers all year, last year I ran out a lot sooner than expected, so I am trying for some long range picks this year, thanks for the replies!
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All depends on how well he plays. So far he’s played 2 games, Charity Shield and against Birmingham. Not only did he look very good in both of these games, he scored! With Robben probably on his way out Malouda is their only really natural left sided attacker. I can see him playing nearly every game for Chelsea this season.
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what about joe cole? and if they pick up alves…don’t know where he plays tho
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Brian, if you’re worried about Evra not playing every game, then good old Rio costs the same amount and is always a starter (I’ve actually got both at the moment). Koumas is a little risky, but his pre-season form was amazing and he looks like he will be Wigan’s creative spark in attack. Carsson looks like an expensive option in goal at 5.5, so in future weeks you get swap him for a 5.0 keeper and use the cash to upgrade your Whitehead to someone more guaranteed to start
Also, another factor that might affect your decision is that the Evra/Rio + Koumas option costs 12.5, whereas Ingmarsson + Malouda costs 13.6. That 1.1 could be very useful for altering other parts of your team at some point. Either way though, both options are good, so it will pretty much come down to a bit of luck as to which one ends up being best
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I’ve not been impressed by Joe Cole so far. A cheaper option is always Wright-Phillips, but of the 3 I’d still go for Malouda. Alves is a brilliant attacking right-back that will most likely replace Johnson in that position if he signs for Chelsea
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i wish rio was the same price in the espn league, that would make my decision easier! he is 8m and evra is 7m, don’t know why there is such a discrepancy. koumas is 6m, malouda is 8.5, ingi is 4.5. both options are 13 total…
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Ah, I assumed you were playing on fantasy.premierleague.com. It seems they have a similar team selection set-up, just with different prices, and maybe point scoring systems. If they cost the same, then it’s hard to say. Evra does seem to be playing every game at the moment, and the fact that he’s playing in midfield is an attractive option. But again, so is having Malouda is your team. Trust your gut feeling, and if you’re wrong you’re wrong, you can always make changes later in the season. If you still can’t decide right up to the last minute I suggest a coin-toss! Good luck mate
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