Just like the snow that created the original backlog, rescheduled Premier League fixtures have been coming at us thick and fast over the past few days. If you’ve been tracking Greek Fan’s fantastic twitter service you may have been keeping up with things, but just in case you got lost in the fixture flurry, here’s the skinny on a whole wave potential double gameweeks in our scope.
In the long-term, Wigan will be hosting Aston Villa in gameweek 30 and Stoke will make a visit to Brian Laws’ Burnley side up at Turf Moor in gameweek 29. We will digest those at a later date though, right let’s delve a little deeper into are those games added to the more immediate gameweek 24.
Chelsea have announced that they will be heading to the KC Stadium to face Hull at the second time of asking, Portsmouth will visit the big smoke to have a crack at Fulham and, as already alluded to in my last fixture update, West Ham will invite Wolves to Upton Park.
These three fixtures all come with a caveat though, and that is the FA Cup. If any of Chelsea, Wolves, Fulham or Portsmouth (Hull & West Ham have already been knocked out) draw their fourth round fixture this coming weekend, these rescheduled fixtures will be once again wiped from the slate to allow for the replay to take place. So those of you hovering over the transfer button, be patient. On a positive note, it at least gives us time to contemplate our options with the double gameweek teams. There’s no better time than the present to start doing that…
Let’s begin at the top with Chelsea then. Having just entered seventh heaven against Sunderland this weekend, every man and his dog will be after a bit of action from the current league leaders. The fixtures certainly provide plenty of incentive for investment (BIR, bur, hul, ARS, eve, wlv).
Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard will undoubtedly gain the most interest and as Mark stressed in his recent article, both made a major impression this weekend against Sunderland. There will likely be big fantasy money heading their way, particularly with Rooney missing from gameweek 23.
Elsewhere it’s the full backs who next catch the eye. Branislav Ivanovic seems to be nailed on in the right-back spot (at least until Bosingwa returns). He has been getting forward with a fair few assists of late and always good for a header from set pieces. He still represents decent value at a £6m. On the other flank, Ashley Cole scored 10 points in the FPL this weekend in just one half, he comes at a more costly £7.4m but will always pose as much offensive threat. The same could be said for Juliano Belletti (a defender) who is covering at the base of the midfield diamond in the absence of Mikel and Essien. Attacking points from these Chelsea defenders may well be required – surprisingly Ancelotti’s side have now kept just a single clean sheet in their last 7 league outings.
There’s a whole handful of choices through the whole squad too. Aside from Lampard, the midfield also offers an array of treats a little cheaper than Frank. Industrious Ballack is always there or thereabouts (though it must be noted he seems to be scoring most of his points at home so far), Malouda is in form and scoring but can we really be certain he’ll play both games. Joe Cole meanwhile remains an enigma, rotation with Deco and a reluctance to take his opportunities when they come have kept him off the radar.
As for Chelsea’s opponents Hull, it’s a case of the same old story. Forthcoming fixtures don’t inspire (blank, WLV, CHE, MCY, bla, whm) and the obvious fantasy candidate is once again Stephen Hunt. He remains a snip at only £5.1m and as shown in gameweek 13 that he can bring good returns in a two fixture spell – he’s also even scored against Chelsea once this season, small but encouraging signs. Beyond Hunt again it looks difficult to uncover further potential – one left-field selection could be that of the recently confirmed signing of Amr Zaki (if the FPL don’t over-price him). He would be a massive risk though; he notched 10 goals in 8 games for Wigan but then his performances vanished; which Zaki will turn up for Phil Brown?
Moving on and West Ham bring us a rather appetising set of fixtures (por, BLA, WLV, bur, BIR, HUL) which makes them worthy of consideration. Do they have the players to back up said interest? Well, maybe in defence. Having kept 2 clean sheets in their last 3 fixtures and with a relatively light schedule to come, investment in players like Robert Green (only £4.8m), Matthew Upson (a more premium £5.4m) and James Tomkins (a potential bargain £4.1m) might just be the fantasy tree that bears fruit.
The midfield looks more sparse. Scott Parker is a great player at a decent price, but he’s more of a card magnet than a fantasy heavyweight. The likes of Kovac and Behrami are also fantasy non-starters as far as I’m concerned and Mark Noble has also been having a season to forget. Luis Jimenez and Junior Stanislas are probably more likely to be on the bench than play, Kieron Dyer is currently on the sidelines (I know, shocker!) so that then leaves us with Jack Collison. The young Hammer is certainly a good prospect and despite having a tough time off the pitch this season has been able to so far score 2 goals and get 4 assists (not a single bonus point though). So even though he’s not a fantasy heavyweight, at a mere £5.2m he appears to be the best option available.
Up front West Ham are in a bit of an injury crisis. Zavon Hines is missing, Franco is set to miss January and they hope Carlton Cole will be back by the end of the month.
That leaves young Frank Nouble, who is a risk too far in my book, and Alessandro Diamanti. The mercurial Italian has caught the eye of managers and pundits alike (though not me, I hasten to add). But as shown this weekend even in this crisis he still was only good enough for a seat on the bench – not exactly the most encouraging sign. At least if he does play he will hog the penalties and set plays. It’s a big hope, but I’ve got all mine still on the aforementioned Cole making his recovery in time for this double. With a goal a game average at home he’s got the record – now I can only cross my fingers and toes that he will make it back in time for consideration.
West Ham’s opponents Wolves aren’t going to exactly shine like a beacon when it comes to selection, double gameweek or not. The fixtures are okay for the double itself (LIV, hul, whm, bir, TOT) but everything around it looks like nothing more than a stifling affair for a team that hasn’t really been impressing too much on the Premier League or as a source of fantasy talent.
The defence doesn’t look strong enough to back unless you want to gamble on more goals for Craddock or a punt on Foley who is currently plying his trade on the right of Mick McCarthy’s midfield – a long shot but a cheap cheap option.
In the midfield the moderately priced Milijas has shown on occasion the gumption to bring in the points, so with fixtures against Hull & West Ham on the table, he certainly has the potential. Want someone even cheaper? Then Matt Jarvis is the preferred option. Not a fashionable choice but he should start and contribute the odd assist here or there for a bargain basement price. We all had so much hope for him, but having only scored a single penalty this season, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake falls by the wayside, leaving Kevin Doyle as a cheap consideration for a striker with a good pedigree. If you need someone on a budget, he appears to be the path to follow.
The final fixture offers us Roy Hodgson’s Fulham. Their fixtures look favourable enough (AVL, POR, bol, BUR, BIR) with four home games in four gameweeks – the question is who will be left standing? Not long ago Zamora was lost and we were talking up Dempsey. Now we’ve gone and lost Dempsey, maybe for the rest of the season.
In defence you’ll find your best guaranteed value in Aaron Hughes (though Chris Baird at £4.3m looks pretty safe), and having conceded only 2 goals in their last 6 home games, so very different from their away form, the chances of one or two clean sheets would seem high.
Fulham have a good selection of midfielders, Danny Murphy is team captain and will take set-pieces as well as penalties for only £6.0m of your FPL pot – a good option. Damien Duff has been slowly accumulating a decent tally so far this season with 5 goals and 4 assists and comes in a tad cheaper at £5.9m. Finally, we have perhaps a bargain in our midst named Zoltan Gera at only £4.7m. With Zamora and Dempsey now absent, he looks assured to earn a run in the team and might just make the perfect cheap double gameweek selection if you’re on a budget.
Up front there are slim pickings given Fulham’s injuries. Andy Johnson is now fit and playing, but at £6.1m and not having scored yet this season might be a little risky.
Portsmouth are our final double gameweek offering, a club in strife with only moderate fixtures (WHM, mcy, ful, mun, SUN) which seem unlikely to spark interest from most fantasy managers.
Jamie O’Hara, the fantasy mainstay at Fratton Park, has returned to Tottenham with the transfer embargo in place, so with a handful of players currently in Africa options are pretty slim. I think the only people I can semi-confidently advise are Kevin Prince-Boateng who comes reasonably cheap at £4.8m and has shown real talent and promise (though he is carrying an ankle injury that we as of yet don’t have the low-down on) and Frederic Piquionne who also comes in at the same price and was starting to pick up a few points for Pompey. Again, only really a choice though if you are working on the tightest of budgets.
That’s a lot to take in, although early planning may steal you a march on your fantasy rivals. Again, we need to wait for the FA Cup fixtures to pass before making any transfer moves. We can only hope that we don’t see any draws next weekend and that our double gameweeks remain in place. I certainly will be – if only for the fact that they could make writing this piece moot.