Gameweek 18 – This Much We Know

It may have come to an abrupt end and yes, I know the gameweek was one that 99% of Fantasy Managers would like to forget but sadly, I can’t quite bring myself to brush it under the carpet just yet. I need to talk about Diaby, the United defence, Mancini City and those lovely Fantasy Premier League Bonus points among other things.

Humour me while I dig up the corpse of gameweek 18 and conduct a grizzly post-mortem…

Arshavin remains central…
Eduardo returned to the Gunners lineup on Saturday but Wenger started the Croatian international on the left, leaving Arshavin in his central attacking role. There was and will continue to be fluidity in this set-up but it’s clear that the Professor is determined to give the Russian every opportunity to remain in his new role while Van Persie and Bendtner are sidelined.

Diaby thrives when given freedom…
I really should have backed my hunch when it came to Diaby. Installed on my Scout Picks bench, I saw returns for the all-action midfielder because he has previously thrived in the absence of Fabregas. He scored twice in the 4-1 win over Portsmouth earlier in the season with Fabregas off the pitch injured at half-time. Again on Saturday it appears that he was given more freedom to bomb forward with the Gunners skipper absent, and once again he earned handsome rewards for his fantasy owners.

You might see a Diaby bandwagon rolling, however the departure of Alex Song to the African Cup of Nations could put the skids on this before it starts picking up speed. Diaby could be charged with taking up a more defensive midfield role while Song is in Angola.

Evra is not a one man defence…
Ferguson went with a central defensive trio of Fletcher, Carrick and De Laet and watched them get pulled apart from a confident Fulham, inspired by Bobby Zamora. It’s clear that while United’s injury concerns at the back continue, it’s difficult to see defensive returns coming our way.

Having said that, the fixture list is on their side over Christmas (hul WIG bir BUR HUL) and I can still see the possibility of clean sheets if United can dominate possession at Old Trafford. Evra looks an expensive option however, particularly when you can cover any United clean sheets with Kuszczak as a budget keeper option across the games.

Just when you thought it was safe to look City’s way…
Eastlands has not been a reliable source of fantasy talent this season and, just when the fixture list was about to make Wright-Phillips, Adebayor and maybe Tevez worth considering, City go and sack Hughes and “Sheikh” things up. Now we’re forced to sit back and see how Mancini changes things and how the players will react. Judging by the stories surfacing on Monday, which includes reports of Bellamy handed in a transfer request, we clearly need to let the dust settle before we can consider exploiting City’s kind run (STK wlv BLA eve stk POR hul BOL)

Defensive improvements will surely be Mancini’s priority but that could come at the cost of attacking flair. Mancini’s preferred eleven may well be very different to the team-sheet we’ve seen from Hughes and the role of players like Bellamy, Robinho, Ireland, Kompany, Adebayor and Santa Cruz are all up in the air. Shay Given might be worth a gamble in goal with kind fixtures on their way (STK wlv BLA eve stk) aside from him, it would be wise to wait and see how Mancini mixes things up.

Everton might just be turning the corner…
It’s been a miserable underachieving season at Goodison so far. Aside from Saha’s goals, there’s been little fruit to pick from Moyes’ orchard but Sunday’s performance against Birmingham suggested that fortunes will change soon enough. The likes of Pienaar and Cahill looked lively and near to full fitness. With fixtures falling slightly more kindly in weeks to come (sun BUR ars MCY SUN), I can see returns for these two and perhaps even Baines at the back. He too looked sharp against Birmingham and got into decent crossing and shooting positions. Rodwell’s injury confirmed today could cause problems, although Heitinga, as a defender in a midfield holding role.

Birmingham’s defensive resolve will now be tested…
Two things here. Firstly Birmingham’s Christmas and New Year fixtures look tough. Very tough (CHE stk MUN por che TOT). Secondly, defensive linchpin Roger Johnson has suffered a knee injury and could be out for a number, if not all of those games. There has been big fantasy investment in the Birmingham back five in recent weeks – and rightly so. However, returns look limited in the coming weeks, particularly if Johnson is laid low. The Blackburn (wig SUN mcy FUL WIG whm stk HUL BOL) defence could well provide a decent alternative based on fixtures.

Liverpool continue to flounder…
There was plenty of investment in both Gerrard and Torres on their return from injury but Saturday’s performance at Portsmouth demonstrated just how far Rafa’s side are from generating regular returns at either end of the field. There’s little confidence throughout the team right now and for Gerrard and Torres to bring in the points that their price demands, they will need to start generating goals amongst themselves.

Many may look to Torres to replace Drogba when he departs for the African Cup of Nations. I’m wondering if a mid-price or budget option may be a better investment while Liverpool struggle for form. The clash with Wolves up next will give us a better indication.

The FPL bonus point judges have some new favourites…
We’ve always known that the Fantasy Premier League judges have their favourites when it comes to the bonus points. This season some new names can be added to the list. James Milner recorded FPL bonus points for the fifth match running on Saturday. He has now gathered 12 bonus points in those five games. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain this run as Villa’s fixtures stiffen (ars LIV wig WHM ARS).

Burnley’s Chris Eagles gathered his fourth collection of bonus points in five games. Bizarrely Burnley have lost two and drawn three of those games making Ealges a very rare breed of bonus magnet.

Talking of bonus points – can anyone figure out how Tim Howard earned 2 bonus in the 1-1 draw with Birmingham on Sunday? He had nothing to do but pick the ball out of the net from Larsson as far as I can remember. Were these Joe Hart’s points? Thousands of his fantasy owners would like to know I’m sure.