Jan12

Arsenal vs Bolton Rescheduled… For This Week

Arsenal have just announced that their recently canceled fixture at home to Bolton (ruining the dreams of many Arshavin double gameweek captains) has been rescheduled.

However, what really puts the cat amongst the pigeons is that the game is due to be played a week from tomorrow. That is slap bang in the middle of the upcoming gameweek 22. Brace yourselves then, as we try to get to grips with what this all means…

Firstly the facts. Arsenal will face Bolton away and home in the same very gameweek – that’s not something we come across all too often – a first maybe? It’s worth noting however that fixtures for the Gunners stiffen after this gameweek (bol, BOL, avl, MUN, che, LIV). The again, with the Arsenal attack the standout aspect of their game, and all expectations on a Fabregas return this weekend, the potential is still there, at least at one end of the pitch.

The buys look fairly obvious then, those of us who held onto Fabregas and even Arshavin now, can count ourselves lucky as being (somewhat fortuitously) fully prepared. If Fabregas is to be believed and he is fully fit and raring to go – then he has to be option number one. As shown in his 27 minute cameo Aston Villa, he is capable of beating anyone – so must be a major consideration.

Andrei Arshavin, despite failing to impress recently and fighting the pain, will remain an option as we know he does have the talent to open up teams. With the aide of the aforementioned Fabregas, that will surely be of assistance too. It’s probably a case of those that have him should keep, and those that don’t dare not try.

Honourable mentions must go out to hatful of players: Eduardo is starting to play with a bit more guile in recent games, Diaby is a lovely cheap option at only £5.8m and Samir Nasri showed he does have it in him against Portsmouth – even if it was the only game this season he has returned any points for us.

Bolton however now make for very interesting budget choices. They have the already announced double coming up in gameweek 26, and now this just around the corner. However, quite obviously, two fixtures against Arsenal isn’t exactly the most rosy of situations – but you never know, with new manager Owen Coyle now in charge they will surely want to start with a bang.

With fixtures not dreadful to follow (ARS, ars, BUR, liv, FUL), especially a plum tie against Coyle’s old boys Burnley so soon after his departure, investment wouldn’t be the worst idea.

The investment card should look at the names mentioned in the article linked. Gary Cahill in defence knows how to keep his wits about him, Matty Taylor has talent even if he hasn’t really shown it so far this season, while Davies and Klasnic up front always have the potential to nick a goal or assist – Arsenal definitely aren’t the tightest club at the back. We just have to run the gauntlet of not knowing who Coyle’s favoured team is, and be willing to accept disappointment if/when he shakes Megson’s old team up a bit.

Add in Manchester United vs Hull on January 23rd, and this coming gameweek looks like it could be a monster. Something is bound to go awry, but we can’t look a gift horse like this in the mouth.

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Andy has scored fantasy own goals since before the game began.

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949 Responses to “Arsenal vs Bolton Rescheduled… For This Week”

  1. GRRobinson says:

    What are people’s opinions on Skrtel’s potential for the DGW, is he likely to start both games?

    • Applebonkers says:

      if carragher goes right back then yes. tommorow (fa cup replay)might give you a clue as to rafa’s intentions. as far as dgw potential skrtel will more than likely get at least 1 booking, no goals, no assists, no bps and will significantly reduce liverpools chances of a clean sheet

    • Trilogist says:

      yeah prob!

  2. mucka says:

    Team is!
    Kuszack (Sorenson)
    Scharner Evra Dann A.Cole Warnock
    Fabregas Arshavin Ramsey (Eagles) (Etherington)
    Defoe Rooney(c) (Zamora)
    Was thinkin:
    Kuszack to Gomes now that vds is back!
    Any thoughts much appreciated!

  3. ppp says:

    Worth using a wc? For:

    Gomes(*), Hart
    ShawX, Evra, Dann, Nelsen(*), Traore
    Valencia, Diaby, Fabs(*), Collison(*), Kranjcar (*)
    Rooney, Torres(*), Bent

    * – new players
    I already have 3 MU, 3 ARS (no spurs/pool, and arsh instead of fabs) so dunno if it’s unnecessary? Spurs and liverpools fixtures look ok for a few weeks though..

    Other options (still with wc team) would be to downgrade evra (what cheap MU options?) and switch traore to a TOT def or insua..also pondering whether to keep arsh instead of fabs.

    The problem with this plan is that I would need to get rid of MU and ARS players quite quickly (although points hits avoided this week could be taken next?).. mmmh..decisions decisions..

    • shanem152 says:

      link ur team

      hard t kno who ur bringing in for who

      be made easier if we could see

      • ppp says:

        Gomes(Sorensen), Hart
        ShawX, Evra, Dann, Nelsen(Cahill), Traore
        Valencia, Diaby, Fabs(Arshavin), Collison(Nzogbia), Kranjcar (Lampard)
        Rooney, Torres(Rodallega), Bent

        Names in brackets players subbed out. Hope that’s clear enough!

        • shanem152 says:

          so
          is ur wildcard needed for
          sorenson -> gomes
          cahill -> nelsoen
          arshavin -> fabregas
          nzogbia ->collison
          lampard->krancjar
          rodallega->torres

          a good question#

          hold off for a while anyway as we dnt kno what will happen re other changes in fixtures

          as for ur specific transfers
          i dnt think its worth it

          keep cahaill neway
          he has 2 double gws on the horizon??
          getting krancjar and torres(id personally pick modric over krancjar) is worth it for lamps and rodallega

          can u do those 2 transfers and jus take the hit?

          • ppp says:

            Cheers for the response! That’s a very good point..That seems like a very sensible plan, don’t think the other transfers justify the wildcard (sorensen-gomes would be nice, but probs not worth yet another 4pts?)

            Will definitely have to wait and see in any case..

            As for modric vs krancjar, thought the latter was in better form of late, but a bit clueless as to which would be best, not having watched any spurs games..

            • shanem152 says:

              well hes easily in better form of late as modric is only back from injury

              now that modric is back i think hel b the man t have

              but thats all opinion really!!!

              ya sorenson t gomes is nice short term but long term i dnt want t lose sorenson

  4. titihenry says:

    Surely, It is time to cash in on Milner as my free transfer.
    Can bring Fab back or Gerrard which I have nothad of the whole season. Has anybody seen some livrpool gaes recently? Any good?

  5. Boss Hogg says:

    So many questions this week.
    Increasingly my answer to all of them is:

    “Forget about that shit, here comes Mongo.”

  6. conor2me says:

    Gettn Shawcross and Sorensen out, who should i get in ?

  7. Louie says:

    Who should I bench this week? :)

  8. SpiderHands says:

    Hey guys, posted this earlier but no reply.

    This is my side:

    Kuszczak Sorensen
    Evra Mears Baird Ivanovic Faye Ab
    Kranjcar Arshavin Diaby Duff O’Hara
    Defoe Tevez Rooney

    with 3.9m and one free.

    I guess I’m looking at getting rid of Mears, Faye and O’Hara in the coming weeks, with investment in Bolton and Villa players maybe? I’m wary of Bolton defenders though as they haven’t kept a clean sheet this season… I also don’t like sitting with too much money in the bank for too long but I haven’t been able to see where best to invest it since getting rid of Drogs!

    Hope you can help

  9. Jon Boy says:

    ok guys, had a bit of a nightmare and did
    arsh->valencia
    verm->evra
    earlier this wk, i wanted to anticipate the price rises!

    now i’m a bit stuck, does anyone have any suggestions for my team, bearing in mind any more transfers for this gw are gnna cost me another hit? or should i just leave it and miss out on potential arsenal returns?

  10. TorresMagic says:

    Posted earlier with no response

    Current team is
    Hart/Sorensen
    Evra,Evans,A.Cole,Ivanovic,G.Cahill
    Fabregas,Arshavin,Diaby,Lee,O’Hara
    Rooney,Defoe,Bent
    0.5 in bank. 1 free trade

    Is this team good enough this week or should I make a trade or 2?
    Also which 3 would you bench during this DGW?
    Thanks in advance.

    • Samble says:

      I can see the problem! You’ve almost got too good a side.

      I’d bench O’Hara and both your Bolton players. Or one of them and Bent. But I hate benching Bent coz he has been so reliable and always gets you something and I can see him getting a goal (or even 2!) against Chelski.

      I’m currently debating between him or Ramsey on the bench. I figure Ramsey might get 20-30 mins per match if Fabs is back and could well get some returns in that time but I can’t bring myself to drop Darren.

    • Pure Olivia says:

      I’d keep the trades to field a better team next week.

      I’d bench Sorensen, O’Hara, Bent and Cahill. There’s no point playing Bent and the Chelsea defenders.

      Possibly put Cole on the bench instead of Cahill if you want to hedge your bets with the Chelsea defence (or if you think Cahill will get more than 6 … I don’t think he will).

      I’m really glad I’m not playing you this week!

  11. maltasi says:

    I have

    Fabregas
    Diaby
    Valencia
    either Modric or Kranjcar
    Torres
    Rooney
    Klasnic

    (Milner)

    must decide if I want to risk benching Milner for a decent home game (but one thats 3 days after their semi final) and who to captain..and whether (short term at least) Kranj is a better option than Modric

  12. wazza_86 says:

    i’ve already shipped in valencia and anelka this week for arshavin and eduardo, before i knew the arse were on for a DGW taking a 4 point hit. Just wondering if anyone thinks theres any value in takin another hit for bowyer out kranjcar in??

  13. Bandwagon Driver says:

    These DGW’s have really made things interesting! I’ve got 3 Arsenal, 3 Man U and 1 Tottenham player(s) for it already.

    I was planning not to make any transfers this week so I could have two free for GW23 when Man U, City ets aren’t playing, but now I’m thinking to get even more DGW players in for this week to close the gap on my mini-league leader – it really could be make or break!

    My team :-

    Hart, (Sorenson)
    Scharner, Evans, Traore (Ridgewell, Baird)
    Valencia, Milner, Fabregas(C), Arshavin (O’Hara)
    Tevez, Rooney, Defoe

    I was thinking Milner => Modric & Scharner/Baird => Skrtel/Dawson/Cahill.

    What do you guys think? Are there any other alternatives I have overlooked? Many thanks lads, any and all help is appreciated!

  14. threeputt says:

    blimey thats put the cat amongst the pigeons, it was a foregone conclusion for rooney for me as capt this week, now i have to decide between him, fabs & arsh – but having blown my last 2 captain weeks on arsh i somehow think he will NOT get my armband

  15. Pack The Ripper says:

    Is Shawcross to Chorluka a good move? Any other Tottenham defender recommended instead?

    Also Rooney or Fabgregas as captain this week?

  16. JP says:

    Hi all

    Big deicisons needed this week. I was going to use my wildcard but given the DGWs now on then I’m thinking of using the wildcard the week after. My team is:

    Hart
    Vermaelen*/Dunne/Dunn/Shawcross
    Arshavin*/Diaby*/Valencia*/Dempsey
    Rooney* (c)/Rodallega

    Subs: Sorensen/Alexander/Reid/Diamanti
    * DGW

    I have one free transfer (and 4.4m in the bank), who is best to bring in:
    Torres, Gerrard, Modric, Evra, Defoe??

    Any help would be much appreciated!

    Thanks

    • SuperDunny says:

      Torres or Gerrard i reckon although it’s tough to say. Defoe could go and score 4 again on Saturday!?

      • JP says:

        Yeah its a tough one to pick…..the problem with Liverpool at the moment is they are so dodgy….and not playing well. They were very poor in their last game against Reading and Stoke away then Spurs at home are not straight forward fixtures. I’d probably pick Gerrard over Torres if either of them are better than Defoe, Evra or Modric??!!

  17. aha_berg says:

    I’ve had Rooney set as my captain for a few days, but do you think it’s wise handing it to Fab in light of today’s news? Not sure he’ll play 180 mins.

    Also, do we expect any more relevant fixtures to be announced soon?

  18. Skilla says:

    I am thinking of doing Tevez :arrow: Defoe and then bringing Tevez back in for GW24… other than having to pay 0.2m more to regain his services I don’t see anything wrong with it. Mad??

  19. charliesam says:

    I think alot of people will do that skilla.

    • Skilla says:

      Thanks Charlie, it seems the obvious choice. I weren’t planning to make any changes this week as I am happy with having my quota of Utd and Arsenal players but Defoe may bring in a bundle of points I wouldn’t want to miss out on.

  20. kavacomber says:

    Another Stuck soul…

    Hart (Hennessey)

    Evra – Gallas – Ridgewell – R.Johnson – (Stearman)
    Lamps – Arshavin – Diaby – Valencia- (O’Hara)
    Saha – Rooney (c) – (Rodallega)

    Dilemma is- was going to miss this week and transfer out Gallas and Arshavin for GW23 (benching ManU trio – in Fab and Cahill ) BUT I’m thinking, should I OUT Lamps and IN Gerrard?

  21. Defoe rules says:

    Managed to get 7 DGW Players in this week despite only making 2 transfers.

    Starting to devalue this years Fantasy games because of the incredibly anoyying cancellations etc that have ruined so many long term plans. But il stop being a moaning old get and get on with it, even if it is VERY anoyying.

  22. MUfan says:

    Great news. Have sacrifice so much hopefully to see the Bolton Arsenal double game bear some fruit. I am so happy. So happy. Ahhhhh, so happyyy. I love you guys.

  23. barca99 says:

    Hey guys i dnt knw wat team 2 play im havin a fergie headache of last year, at the moment my starting 11 is

    sorensen

    Evra Shawcross Dunne Rafael

    Diaby Fabregas Dempsey Kranjcar

    Rooney Tevez

    Subs: Hanehman Milner Bent Ridgewell

    Bent scores when i least expect him 2 and milner is less likely 2 scores as dempsey luks on fire, n ridge luvs a cleanie, help needed plz!