The Weekend Scout Picks
Refresh your screen and you’ll reveal my picks for this weekend’s games in the right-hand menu. It was a surprisingly simple lineup this week, without the complication of the Champions League and a few key injuries offering clarity to make some of the more difficult calls that little bit easier. Read on for the beef on my lineup…
So, as I’ve mentioned, there are a few factors that help us out this week. The injury to Rooney for example, makes it clear that Tevez will start against West Ham in a game that United have to chase and win. That, for one thing, made my mind up on one of my striking positions.
Then there’s the Derby situation - their form of late has been so poor, it’s been almost too easy to make selections from teams facing them. Easy and obvious then, but very difficult to resist. So, while I see Derby putting up some resistance against Blackburn, there’s no denying that Bentley and Santa Cruz offer big return potential against the Premiership’s bottom club. That’s the forward line and one position in midfield sorted then.
To stick with tradition though, lets rewind to the defence and keeper. Imposing my own “two players per club rule”, it meant that I couldn’t turn to Friedal in goal in order to select both Bentley and Santa Cruz. That’s not a major problem because, coming from scoring two against Arsenal, and with the desire to claim points to avoid earning the label as the Premiership’s worst ever side, I can see Derby snatching a goal at Ewood. So instead I’ve gone for Reina who should start against an improved City side. Improved yes, but I see Liverpool seeing them off comfortably with a 2-0 scoreline.
Reina is probably the weakest member of my back five though - elsewhere I have more confidence with Toure looking good for a clean sheet against a shot shy and Arteta-less Everton at the Emirates. Cahill meanwhile, will be the rock in the Bolton defence that should keep Sunderland at bay at the Reebok in a low scoring and edgy affair. Elsewhere Laursen and Wheater both have home games - Laursen against a Wigan side who are struggling for goals away from home and Wheater against a Pompey side currently distracted by an FA Cup final. Both, as always, offer an additional goal threat.
I’ve already mentioned Bentley as one of my midfield picks. Ronaldo has to take his place alongside him. With Rooney likely to be on the bench at best, Ronaldo seems a certain starter and should be in the chief architect of West Ham’s downfall. Elsewhere I’ve taken a slight risk and turned back to Bullard - someone who has not notched up the goals or assists over the last few games but has managed to earn FPL bonus to counter that. Against Birmingham, in a game that Fulham must win, I can see Bullard profiting. At the very least a Fulham victory appears to guarantee some FPL bonus return for the midfielder.
The final place in midfield goes to Downing who is involved in another must win game as Boro face Portsmouth at home. As I’ve mentioned, Redknapp’s side have shown signs that they are badly distracted by the forthcoming FA Cup final and are also without James in goal. I can see Boro prevailing in this one, with Downing earning at least an assist and some FPL bonus.
Tevez and Santa Cruz make up my strikers as I’ve already mentioned - both have decent form and are up against weak defences. I expect both to emerge from the weekend with at least a goal to their name.
There are plenty of good alternatives to this lot around. Starting at the back, it’s likely that the Blackburn defence will be popular with many fantasy managers. Samba is often the best choice here with his goal threat from set-pieces. A slight injury doubt makes him a gamble so Warnock is perhaps the best second option. For another option, I can see Chelsea putting on a professional show at St James’ and coming away with a narrow win with a clean sheet. Terry and Carvalho are certain starters and always worth a look then. Then of course there is the United defence at home to West Ham - Ferdinand or Brown being the best options here with Vidic out and Evra a slight doubt.
In midfield Barry is a current popular choice and could profit from the Wigan game. He could be distracted by recent transfer speculation though so I’ve avoided him and indeed Villa in an attacking sense. I can just see Wigan frustrating O’Neill’s side a little in this one.
Blackburn’s Gamst-Pederesen has shown glimpses in recent weeks and is a decent alternative to Bentley. Similarly, Davies presents a good option if Bullard is out of your price range. If you’re looking for a real gamble then I like Hunt for Reading against Spurs and Nolan for Bolton against Sunderland. Then there’s always the in-form Pennant who should start for Liverpool once again as they face City and Ballack for Chelsea at Newcastle.
Moving on to the strikers then. The injury to Van Persie guarantees a start for Adebayor after he had to come off the bench to claim a hat-trick at Derby. He should offer value but Everton are likely to put up some decent resistance with a 4-5-1 expected at the Emirates. Walcott would also be worth a look if you need to gamble and fancy a strong Arsenal win.
Elsewhere the Villa triforce of Young, Agbonlahor and Carew are proving popular, although as I’ve mentioned, I can see Wigan frustrating them a little this weekend. There’s Alves for Boro against a Pompey without James in goal and, for a real long shot, you could always look at Kamara for Fulham who has form and should start alongside McBride in a must-win situation.
Crouch should get another start with Torres carrying a slight hamstring at Anfield and, although Berbatov’s mind could be elsewhere, here’s a little reminder that the Bulgarian put four past the Reading defence last time he faced them. It’s funny how that kind of lightening can strike twice- just look at Santa Cruz against Wigan and Adebayor against Derby this season. Food for thought perhaps.
As for the FPL captain - it’s hard to look beyond Ronaldo for me. United have to win this game and are up against a injury ravaged West Ham defence. The United man has had some muted performances of late but fresh from a Champions League semi-final win and half a dozen awards under his arm, I can see him putting the Hammers to the sword. Of course he’s no use to those managers looking to close a gap - Santa Cruz and Bentley will be the popular choices with them. Outside of this quartet you would be taking a big risk but the Villa attacking players probably represent the next best option.
Should I play Wheater or Taylor this week?
My team:
Cerny (Taylor)
Terry Toure Carragher Wheater (Taylor)
Lampard Gerrard Fabregas Bentley (Kavanagh)
Drogba Santa Cruz(C) (Villa)
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Mark, Downing or Larsson? I had benched Downing and had Larsson in for game v Fulham but your picks I am reconsidering,Downing has not been great for good points of late and Fulham and Birmingham game promises more goals I would say.Do you think Portsmouth without James are THAT much more likely to concede?
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Reply by CK on May 2, 2008 10:34 pm:
You should play them both! Drop a defender, there is gonna be v few cleans IMO
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No brainer, gotta play wheater.
Now what about my dilemna? I have 16 points to make up in 2 remaining gameweeks. Do I give the armband to C. Ron or Santa?
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I have same dilemna but am opting for Ronnie purely based on the fact that he looks cert to play up front
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Reply by Havers on May 2, 2008 10:39 pm:
I should add that my opponent didn’t have Santa in has squad last week, tho he may well have done the obvious and transferred him in for Berbs.
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unfortunately CK I have 3-4-3 formation as it is with Brown/Bouma & Lescott,really cant choose between Downing and Larsson!
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Reply by CK on May 2, 2008 11:07 pm:
ok, yeah tough one. I’m playing them both. If I was pushed I would opt for Larsson. On fire at mo and there will be goals there in a relegation dogfight. Put Downing as 1st sub
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A.Young or Agbonlahor?
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Reply by Nick M on May 3, 2008 8:46 am:
A Young, look at the assist and bonus potential.
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2 of these 3, but who?
Mellberg(doubt), Geremi and Shorey.
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Reply by the Moz on May 3, 2008 8:31 am:
Butch, I have Geremi - difficult to drop him at the mo. The clean sheet points have been a big bonus for a man who takes free kicks and is involved higher up the pitch, so I’ll keep hime in as newcastle are in form
I reckon Newcastle 1 Chelsea 2
Sneak, I’d put in Young after his quiet week last week.
I’d also go with Larsson if I had him.
And the Bulgarian better score after my loyalty but I bet his mind is on a beach in Hawaii with The Nec!
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Reply by Nick M on May 3, 2008 8:47 am:
Mellberg and Shorey (Mellberg can sub out if he doesnt play and the latter for assist potential) good luck!
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Any ideas on good captain choice?
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Not sure whether I should buy Santa or not, league leader has him, any alternatives? Trying to keep my team different, teams already to similar, gotta win that cup!Know he is worried this week though!
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Which is your team marco?
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Struggling with my goalkeepers as I cant see either having cleans but not willing to take a 4 point hit. Which one you reckon?
Hart (Man C V Liverpool) OR Taylor (B’ham V Fulham)
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Reply by the Moz on May 3, 2008 8:42 am:
Jeez, that’s a tricky one.
I suppose it depends who you think is the better keeper and more likely to makes some saves as their are no clean sheets there.
Not sure what to expect with Liverpool or Man C this week. If Torres plays could be 4-0 Liverpool
Fulham vs Birmingham has 2-2 written all over it.
There’ that’s no help at all!!!
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Reply by CK on May 3, 2008 8:58 am:
Torres won’t play but Liverpool will score one or two as will Fulham. Think I might just go with Taylor os he will be busy so should have some saves
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Reply by Al on May 5, 2008 10:39 am:
Eboue is really dreadful isn’t he. Looks like he has his eyes closed when picking out a pass.
I note that tonights match is 4pm, so nice for punters who have to work for a living. Is this the first time ever it’s been at that time mid week?
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Reply by Paul on May 5, 2008 11:09 am:
It’s a Bank Holiday.
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Reply by Al on May 5, 2008 12:32 pm:
Oh yeah of course tnx. Been in Australia far too long =]
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Hey hey party people, its that time again….
Just a quick query, does anybody have any news on Almunia? He definatley not going play?
My reason for concern is the fact that I have Howard in reserve against an in-form Arsenal, with Fabregas and Adebayor in my team as well, so not really wanting to go with the H-Bomb!
Any Arsenal fans, or non-fans out there that can give me the low down on Almoooonia?
Cheers.
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3 bets for this week - not much time to research the best prices…
Bolton 1 Sunderland 0
Tottenham to beat Reading by 2 goals or more
Liverpool to beat Man City by 2 goals or more
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Reply by Nick M on May 3, 2008 9:01 am:
With you there mate, all look solid picks. Id go for correct score on the first one…. 7/1 or something long surely? I think Spurs Reading will be a goal fest…
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I’m a Liverpool fan and think it will be a boring 1-1 or something. Can’t see a big win either way
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I hope you are right!
I have a worry that Spurs will be poor at Reading and Berba will be fretting about his hair band!
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Reply by Nick M on May 3, 2008 9:40 am:
lol, those flowing locks. Class act when he can be arsed! Ive kept the faith this week
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Voted for Santa Cruz in the poll but am opting for Ronaldo now. Just saw Alex on Sky talking about full strength team and Ronnie up front!!
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Reply by jpw on May 3, 2008 9:40 am:
I’m going down the Tevez route as a “risk” over Santa. Any mention of him by Alex?
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I’m with you on that one, CK!
As long as you have Santa and Bentley in your team as well, I’m sure we’ll be fine
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Santa or Ronnie to captain?? with 20 points to catch up..help please!! (the person leading has both too)
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My guess is ronnie will start on the bench.
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Reply by jpw on May 3, 2008 10:25 am:
Behave!
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Reply by CK on May 3, 2008 11:41 am:
Good one Al!
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and i’m now 40 points behind the leader…great
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Take it you captained Santa? I made the switch to Ronnie at 11.29
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Ron has singlehandedly taken the gloss off my FPL season. When will I bite the bullet and put him in the team………I have been taught a lesson
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I knew I had to watch this match, it’s fantastic…. 4 goals (3 of them awesome) and a red card in the first 40mins!! ronaldo is my captain fantastic again. if it wasn’t for nani being a c**t he would have stayed up front and scored another 3
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yeah i did Nick
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Where’s Berbatov?!
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COME ON SANTA!! :-()
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I am so pissed off with Berbtov!! What a waste of time
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Groin injury for Berba, what a tool
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i’m annoyed about berbatov… really annoyed. but i’m laughing at all the people in my mini-leagues that brought in blackburn defenders, i always thought derby would score this weekend. for some strange reason all my nearest competitors didn’t captain ronaldo… can’t believe my luck
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FOREST PROMOTED!!
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Up the Forest
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Reply by Mark on May 3, 2008 5:12 pm:
Thanks guys. At last - something to celebrate as a Forest fan.
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Reply by yer dad on May 3, 2008 5:58 pm:
This was my team for the weekend. Any good leader??
Smith, Chambers, Morgan, Wilson, Bennett, Perch, McGugan, Cohen, Commons, Ormerod Tyson.
Rochdale A.F.C next.
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Reply by Mark on May 3, 2008 6:15 pm:
Good enough for now yer dad…some strengthening needed for next term though. Will be interesting to see how serious we get in the summer.
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what the hell happened to berbatov! the leader and myself had him in our league. He gets 16 points from valencia, i get 2 points from Noble!!! Will now have 20 points to make up on the last day.
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Very disappointed Berbatov didn’t start…would have transferred in Santa had I know in hindsight he wouldn’t play. Ahh isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing!
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Reply by Mark on May 3, 2008 6:53 pm:
Well the “injury” came out of nowhere - the cynic in me thinks that it’s a rather convenient reason for Ramos to drop a player who he feels has his mind elsewhere as this current time. By the sound of things he could have profited nicely had he played, Reading were poor. Santa was always a better bet this weekend though and so it proved.
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Reply by the Moz on May 3, 2008 8:02 pm:
Spot on, Mark.
I told you he’d be on the beach in Hawaii with The Nec!
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scout picks got 67 so far in fpl , with ronaldo captain it would be 83, i think :S
not bad work mark, great predictions as always
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Reply by Mark on May 3, 2008 6:58 pm:
Aye, a good week for the picks at last. Wish I’d have followed through with my own selection though - I held Berbatov instead of investing in Tevez but then, with the 4 point penalty I would have gained a nice fat zero.
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Reply by Fabtastic on May 3, 2008 7:28 pm:
I was in exactly the same boat as you, except my transfer would have been Santa as opposed to Tevez. My net, unfortunately, would have meant an extra 9 points.
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Top recomendations this week Mark. Can anyone tell me what the hell Rio Ferdinand did to earn 3 bonus points?
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Reply by Niall Quinn's Disco Pants on May 3, 2008 7:44 pm:
Ah he was solid I suppose, couldn’t blame him for Ashton’s goal. Pick of the back four but 3 might be a bit excessive I suppose…
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Reply by yer dad on May 3, 2008 7:45 pm:
Your right Steve. I thought Brown had a better game apart from the Ashton assist and Ferdinand should have dealt with that.If Ferdinand had kicked a pie seller or a ball ball then yes give him the points but he didn’t.
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Reply by Paul on May 3, 2008 9:44 pm:
Laughable.
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come on toure: one goal, one assist, 3 bonus points, clean sheet..you can do it! please?
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in town for provisions.
the swarthy bulgarina can sure put away the mai tais.
keeps asking us if we’d rub his groin tho.
whats that all about.
sunny warm killer right to left break and fit women on the beach.
west ham defenders playing board games and drinking warm beer. wtf?
alooooooha to all
-TheNecromancer
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Reply by yer dad on May 3, 2008 9:10 pm:
Book um Dan-O.
No waves up north today Necro and the BBQ is out of the question for bank holiday monday. H 5-0 instead of Manchester, yes please.
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mark, how many points are you on now? are you in the scout picks league?
im on 1270 at the minute, on some bad form as f late though so hopefully pick it up this week and next
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Berbatov - i’ve never seen a guy so bored with his own talent. What a loser.
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Sitting on 57 points with 6 players left including 3 arsenal lads. Left scharner on the bench too, who would have predicted Wigan would win 2-0 grrrrrr. 3rd place is looking a distant reality now but I might get 4th if the gunners win and win well against Everton.
Brad - totally agree, Berbatov is a gimp.
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will berbie play next week though? from the sound of he injury he should. But if not really injured it may be the same again next week. Who do you replace him with? Most people have santa now who should figure against birmingham. Villa strikers should do well against west ham but as we saw this week, the fire may have gone out. Adebayor is probably good for a goal at sunderland. The wigan and bolton defences may put up a stern enough fight against man u and chelsea. A fulham striker may be worth the risk against a pompey not really in it especially if points need to be made up
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how about a risk on jason roberts? or jonny carew?
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Reply by Dr Sanchez on May 4, 2008 8:28 pm:
How’s about MacFadden at home to Blackburn? I’m thinking that they should bag a couple of goals.
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Great day, beloved Leicester relegated, and Fabregas didn’t even play!! Add that to Berbatov faking injury, and Defoe doing nothing since I got him, plus James getting injured, and Lescott/Laursen have realised they are average players!
Thankfully Ronnie never let me down, although Nani tried to ruin that too
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Glad it’s not just me thought Ferdinand didn’t deserve the points. I too thought Brown had a better game, but thought maybe i was biased as i have him and others in my league have ferdinand. I missed out with Fabs today and get Lescott subbed in. Shame i didn’t check on here Sat AM, otherwise i’d have 6 points coming in from Wheater.
Next weeks looking tricky already
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Clichy really bailed me out of trouble on Sunday. Had no idea Fab would be benched, and sounds like Adebayor had an average one? I didn’t see the game.
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The absence of Fabs (who wasn’t even on the bench) and Berkatov (they should re-spell his name) will clobber me as I have 1 point scoring defenders to replace them, but 56 points with Butt and Carvalho to go is respectable enough.
The Arsenal v Everton game was a waste of time - Andy Johnson looked quite sharp early on and Adebayor has two good chances but the rest was barrel-scraping stuff; and Eboue advertised very explicitly his uncanny knack of giving the ball away literally every time he had the ball..
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About fabregas not playing, sky sports news just reported he will miss the last game of the season due to injury.
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Reply by Al on May 5, 2008 12:34 pm:
To me an injury sounds much more plausible, I don’t see any reason for Wenger to bench him just for ‘a rest’. If you are right Lukey then my final transfer of the season is now becoming clear.
Update - just been on the FPL website and it says:
Latest News Groin injury - out for season
Bugger
So what do I do. I can buy Gerrard NOW with zero left over, that means if there’s a price shift in the wrong way, he’s out. I could buy Ballack or Essien. Is Ballack guaranteed a start? Not sure. I think Chelsea will win well. Gerrard is away to spurs, could be a tough match. Not many goals. Need to get this one right could mean the difference of finish 5th or 3rd in my league… need your help guys…
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how about weaving lampard in, may mean making 2 transfers but if you have him captain it could be a huge points haul
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With Ballack playing as well as he did today there is uncertainty as how much fat frank will get out of the last match.NO doubting a points hall from some Chelski players but who is the question,Ronaldo has to be captain choice for anyone not chasing a lead,I have 56 point buffer at top going into week 38,get in there!
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i have a 9 point lead . Its very tight
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1 point behind 4th and 8 points behind 3rd, it’s tight! I’m thinking of Ballack now, because surely he’ll start after having a good game against the magpies.
Sam I could indeed make two transfers but a 4 point penalty might just be too much given how tight it is in my league.
I know the 2 above me will choose Ronaldo as captain, might do the same and hope I can overtake them with my other players.
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