Updated 5-Week Rankings
They’ll be more changes to come after Wednesday’s Premiership games but prior to that, here’s a little blurb on the changes I’ve made since the weekend to the player rankings for the next five games. Decode this little lot…
Reina drops off the top of the Keepers chart with Liverpool facing United, Everton and Arsenal over consecutive games. Howard takes the top spot for now with both Van der Sar and Cech injury doubts. That could change after the weekend but for now, Howard looks the best selection with superb form and some decent fixtures to come. James climbs to second with some smart fixtures. Robinson also climbs with 6 games in 5 weeks, 4 of which are at White Hart Lane. Kirkland climbs as Friedal drops with Hahnemann coming into the rankings with good fixtures and two consecutive clean sheets to his name.
In defence Ferdinand is the big climber with 6 games in 5 and decent opponents, particularly over the next 2 games. Carragher drops then with some tough games to come. Hutton climbs with 6 games in 5. Scharner and Shorey also climb with good form and fixtures. Dunne drops out altogether with an injury and bad form.
Ronaldo climbs above Gerrard in midfield with better fixtures and 6 games in 5. Rest could be a factor but without Champions League fixtures, Ronaldo could be set for a solid run of games and points. Elsewhere Bullard is the big climber with good form and excellent fixtures. Bentley drops slightly while Hunt is a climber from a lower position with good fixtures to come. Taylor is a new entry with 6 games in 5, Birmingham’s Larsson and Fulham’s Davies both come in with good fixtures. City’s Petrov is close to a return from suspension but is ranked low due to club form.
Up front Berbatov takes the top spot with 6 games in 5 and decent form. Torres has outstanding form but fewer and far tougher games over the next 5 weeks. Tevez is a climber with 6 games in 5 again - only the risk of being rested prevents him from overtaking Adebayor who has dipped in form. Anelka and Drogba are kept low despite having 6 in 5, while Grant sorts out his team selection. McFadden and Forssell climb with Birmingham’s fixtures looking strong. Long is a new entry with decent fixtures although he is threatened by Kitson should his form drop.
Hey mark thanks for updating. Whats the story about pienaar and injury?? Cheers
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dunne, pienaar and van der Sar, any words on the injuries? i have all 3 and only 1 transfer left for the year in the espn league…could get ugly!
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Mark, you wanna do a poll about wat people are doing for the gameweek coming up, which has the doubles for man united and chelsea etc
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Reply by Mark on March 12, 2008 7:20 am:
yep I’ve got it ready to post this morning.
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has niemi been dropped for keller?
or is this temporary???
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Does anyone know if Anelka will start tonight, I have him as captain
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Reply by Top Dog on March 12, 2008 9:38 am:
You’re a brave man….with Lamps & Drogba back in the squad for tonight’s game, I seriously doubt he will start (might come on at half time or something)
Then again you can’t guess what team “The new Rafa” is gonna put out. We’ll just have to wait till tonight.
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How many games is Kuszczak banned for? I’m hoping 3 but is it only 1?
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Reply by steve on March 12, 2008 10:49 am:
seems only one game. not sure y
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Is Senderos sure to be dropped for Toure? I know he’s a bungling oaf, but he had a fair game against Wigan and even got a bonus point.
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Reply by Matt on March 12, 2008 11:53 am:
I believe Toure is first choice for the Arsenal team.
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Mark, Any thoughts on Rooney against Derby and Bolton. I think he will be more lethal than Tevez.
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Cudicini in for Almunia
OR Lampard/Ballack in for Fabregas?!
Also in TPL do united play twice this week or is it next week?
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Reply by ben on March 12, 2008 3:48 pm:
sell fabregas for lampard. and quickly, his price is gonna go up soon. cudicini is temporary, plus i highly doubt he will keep 2 clean sheets next week, tottenham will score…
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In FPL, Laursen is still the most picked defender with 37%.
But judging by his performances lately, I think now I will transfer him out for an MU defender.. and of course I wouldn’t be able to buy him back afterwards..
what do you guys think?
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Reply by Alex on March 12, 2008 2:06 pm:
I’d say be careful. I did the same with Lescott during his dry spell and then he started scoring again and I couldn’t afford to buy him back. He never stopped scoring since, everybody in my league’s top 6 except for me has him and he’s already a whopping 1 mil. more expensive.
Not satisfied with Laursen either, but I’m not getting burned like that again.
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Reply by steve on March 12, 2008 3:45 pm:
sell laursen for brown from man united. laursen had his run but relying on points purely from scoring isnt worth it. at the moment he is overprices; villa have conceded in 14 straight games so if he aint scoring or getting bonus he must go. lescott is completely different, he scores AND gets clean sheets. brown will get u 12 in GW30…
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Reply by Mad on March 12, 2008 10:41 pm:
Yep, thanks Alex. A good reminder of a worst case that could happen. But I think i will go with Steve, changing him into Brown (still waiting news on Neville). Anyway, I still have time to think about it until the weekend
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Portsmouth have got one really tasty looking fixture list between now and the end of the season. No games against the top five and 6 out of 10 at home (admittedly, they’ve done better on the road this campaign). Lose Torres for Defoe everybody! You heard it here first! Torres has only scored twice away from home in the Premiership and after Saturday (for which I think he’ll be warming the bench anyway) he’ll only have 3 more games at Anfield. Defoe is as fresh as a daisy with a point to prove. He’s a better player than Benjani (who scored 12 before heading off to Man City) and he’ll up their goal average no end. For the same reason, fill your boots with Portsmouth defenders. They only conceded a grand total of 4 goals earlier this season against the 10 teams they’ve still to play! Only concern is a League form slump with an FA cup at their mercy.
P.S. Keep it to yourself!
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Reply by ben on March 12, 2008 3:50 pm:
agreed!!!!
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Reply by Havers on March 12, 2008 6:13 pm:
Seconded.
I’d say a front pairing of Yakubu and Defoe with money left over to spend on the usual suspects from the big 4 in defence and midfield is the dream ticket until the end of the season.
Everton’s fixtures aren’t quite as straightforward, but they do have more at home than away and they’ll be playing for that champions league place.
Unless you’ve traded yourself into a really strong financial position, it makes little sense to spend £9m + on the likes of Tevez, Torres, Berbatov, Anelka, Adebayor etc. The extra return would be questionable and the money surely better spent elsewhere.
Also, birmingham’s fixtures look decent until the end of the season, so if you’re looking for a real cheapie it’s got to be either McFadden or Forsell.
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Reply by Mad on March 12, 2008 10:44 pm:
Great info there, Stengo ..
but Torres is so on form and it’s hard to sell Adebayor. I will wait for the right moment to swap either of them for Defoe, but definitely not this gameweek ..
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Regarding certain Portsmouth picks mentioned earlier…”Only concern is a League form slump with an FA cup at their mercy”. Reckon this happened for around half an hour tonight before ‘Arry put them right. It’s not too late everybody. They managed to score 4 goals at their least favourite venue (Fratton Park). They’re now sitting pretty in 7th with targets above them. Lump on Portsmouth. Anger your mates!
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Hi Mark, is there any reason why Carvalho doesn’t make your 5 week ranking list?
Cheers jpw
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