The Midweek-ish Meander

Back in its rightful place, just outside a midweek slot, here’s my summary of the gameweek ahead. Littered with the usual splattering of player tips, typos and the now regular guest appearance by Paddy…

Best For Clean Sheets…
I’m somewhat encouraged by the fact that we were treated to no less than seven clean sheets in the last gameweek. It’s remains tough to predict them though; this week’s fixtures are hardly a gift in this respect.

Chelsea, as the league’s best defence, face United at home – making them a risky proposition. Villa meanwhile, have just one clean sheet in the last six league outings and face a Bolton outfit that have been scoring and have notched in each of their last three away games. Neither of those “defensive heavyweights” leap at us as certain clean sheets, but somehow, both remain tempting when you consider the inconsistency found elsewhere.

Paddy Power have City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa as their favourites for cleanies this week. You can certainly argue against that selection, given Livepool’s injuries and City’s record that shows just one clean sheet in the last seven league games. Even so, I’m in agreement that both City and Liverpool remain strong contenders and I can also be persuaded that Villa can hold out against Bolton. O’Neill’s side should have the tools to repel Bolton’s set-plays so it will be a real test of the “new” Wanderers and Megson’s wild attacking strategies.

With this in mind, I’ve got Paddy to put together another clean sheet accumulator based on these three sides. You can get 15/2 on Villa, City and Liverpool to bring in clean sheets this gameweek. There’s also a Scout Picks bet thrown in which I’ll talk more about tomorrow. In the Scout Picks strangely enough.

Back to the clean sheets and Arsenal at Wolves certainly look the next best option, although McCarthy’s side will surely test the Gunners suspect rearguard. As for dark horses – I’m willing to entertain the idea of Blackburn keeping Portsmouth out, while Stoke at Hull also looks decent. The likes of Samba and Shawcross might yet have a say in the Scout Picks then.

Best For Goals…
Very few of the fixtures scream out at me this week. Arsenal should, yet again be good for two or three, this time at Molineux. City will fancy themselves against a Burnley’s travel sick defence, and the Spurs vs Sunderland clash also promises some goals, if we get an early breakthrough.

Of those three fixtures, Arsenal obviously gives me the greatest confidence, with the usual suspects (Fabregas, Van Persie and Arshavin) likely to feature in the points again. City are set to have Adebayor installed up front once more, although he’s off-form so I don’t see a big win here. As for Spurs – yep, they might need a couple to see off Sunderland and they will have Defoe back up front to help them. Lennon and Modric are badly missed though and Sunderland themselves are without Cattermole, Cana and Jones. This could easily be a tight, low scoring affair.

I’ve got some hunches elsewhere though – including, for some reason, a couple for the consistently inconsistent Wigan against Fulham. That’s likely to spark a reply from Hodgson’s men, so I can even see a 2-2 or similar scoreline. Similarly Blackburn vs Portsmouth could go either way – a 0-0 or a score draw thriller. Again, we’ll need an early strike but I just fancy David Dunn to drive the home team on, and Prince Boateng to provide the spark for a newly confident Pompey.

Best For Frustration…
The clash at Stamford Bridge is the key fixture of the week of course. Can we really expect a decent fantasy haul from this one? On paper it looks tight and while the head says a narrow 1-1; the heart, buoyed on by this goal crazy season, hopes for something more. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Drogba profit in a squeaky win for Chelsea, but Ferguson will likely go with five in midfield and look to contain things early on. Frustration may well be part of his game plan and it may also enter into our vocabulary when describing the outcome of this match whilst chomping on our roasts.

Finally, there’s bound to be some excited investment in Zavon Hines off the back of his goals last night and his likely start against Everton in the wake of Carlton Cole’s injury. I’m being cautious here though. West Ham will need to adapt with Cole leading the line, while Everton are a wounded animal who may well come to keep things tight and hit on the break. I personally see a scrappy affair at Upton Park and a disappointing return for us fantasy bosses.