Feb04

The Midweek-ish Meander

With the fixtures rolling towards us a such a rate, it’s been a while since we afforded ourselves a leisurely stroll through the fixture list. This weekend hands us a welcome opportunity then, just before another barmy midweek programme and yet more double gameweek distractions.

Let’s not fret too much about those right now though. Instead let’s take our time, savour the tranquillity of a normal gameweek and pick apart it’s fixtures, assessing the likely sources of our defensive and attacking points…


Best For Clean Sheets…

There are two prime clean sheet candidates in the gameweek. Manchester United’s defence has been caught on many occasions this season. Even so, they trail Chelsea in the clean sheet stakes by just one, having returned ten shut-outs so far this term. This weekend they come up against a Portsmouth side who have scored just two goals in their last six away trips. It’s difficult to see Grant’s men notching at Old Trafford, making United’s defence ripe for picking. Patrice Evra is perhaps the best target given his increased role going forward on United’s left flank. Outside of him you can look to Rafael and Jonny Evans as cheaper options, while Wes Brown should also be in line for a start with Vidic still sidelined. All three look likely starters then.

The resolute Birmingham defence is the next strongest option. Like United they have a decent defensive pedigree this season with nine clean sheets overall and just seven goals conceded at St Andrews. They also face favourable opposition this weekend. Wolves are the visitors for what is likely to be a lively local derby but certainly one that McLiesh’s side will be favourites to win. The Birmingham rearguard has conceded just three goals in their last five home matches, whilst McCarthy’s Wolves have only registered three strikes in their last five games on the road. It all points to a tenth cleanie for Birmingham and more returns for Hart, Johnson and Ridgewell – all likely transfer targets this week.

Beyond these two things get a lot tougher. With Liverpool facing Everton and Spurs hosting Villa, we’ve got four strong defences meeting each other. Those fixtures could produce cleanies but both look risky in terms of defensive investment. If I had to be pushed I’d opt for the Spurs defence at home to Villa. O’Neill’s side may have scored two at the Cottage on their last away trip but did go four games without a goal prior to that.

Instead of those four I’m looking to Bolton earning a second clean sheet of the season against Fulham and possibly Burnley keeping West Ham at bay in their Turf Moor encounter. Owen Coyle’s side kept their first clean sheet of the season against his former club last time out at the Reebok. This time around they face a Fulham side stung by injuries and low on confidence. Burnley meanwhile are severely out of form but showed spirit against Chelsea in their previous home game. They face a West Ham outfit who have just two goals in their last five away games, although Zola may have a new strikeforce on show with McCarthy, Mido and Ilan as options and Carlton Cole possibly back from injury. I still see this as a good opportunity for Brian Laws to endear himself to his home fans and earn a first league victory with a clean sheet possibly thrown in.

There’s also potential cleanies amongst the Stoke vs Blackburn and Sunderland vs Wigan fixtures. None of those four sides are in strong scoring form and both games are candidates for 0-0 draws.

Best For Goals…
You have to tip United to put Portsmouth away by a decent margin. Ferguson’s side average three goals a game over their previous five home matches and the Portsmouth defence arrives having lost five of their last six away games. The issue for Fantasy Managers is whether Ferguson will choose to rest Rooney and rotate Nani. Both players are current fantasy favourites but look under threat given that United travel to Villa on Wednesday. Even if Rooney does sit this one out, you have to imagine that Berbatov and/or Owen, will be amongst the points here.

While United look odds on to win by a decent margin, finding goals elsewhere on this weekend’s fixture list is not an easy task. Again, with Liverpool facing Everton, Spurs facing Villa and Chelsea up against Arsenal, we have six strong sides involved in potentially tight encounters. That’s an awful lot of attacking talent tied up in uncertainty. At a push, I’d back the Chelsea vs Arsenal fixture as the most likely to hand us a few goals, although much will depend on the space allowed in midfield and the form and fitness of Drogba for the home side.

There are options elsewhere. Mancini’s City also look good for a couple given that Hull are scoring relatively freely at the KC stadium and seem set to push City. Tevez and Adebayor will surely cause the Hull defence problems and both, along with Petrov (should he start) could be in profit here.

Elsewhere I also like Bolton at home to Fulham. Hodgson’s side have conceded ten goals in their last five away games in the league, whilst Bolton boast nine goals in their last five at the Reebok. I can see a home win here but a two or even a three goal margin. The likes of Taylor, Lee and Kevin Davies all look favourable options here. Burnley have little or no form but I am tipping them for a home win against West Ham. I see a couple of goals for Brian Laws’ side, with Fletcher, Eagles and Elliot all looking decent budget options. Chris Eagles bonus points? You betcha.

Best For Frustration…
This week’s fixture list is a minefield of potential 0-0 or 1-1 fixtures. The big encounters – Liverpool vs Everton and Chelsea vs Arsenal, could easily be tight affairs that see very little fantasy profit for the players involved. Likewise Tottenham’s clash with Villa could potentially see both defences on top, with few goals on show. Then we have the fixtures between Stoke and Blackburn and Sunderland and Wigan, both of which involve teams low on confidence and crucially, struggling for goals.

It’s Alex Ferguson’s team selection which could undoubtedly be the most frustrating element of this weekend’s games. Wayne Rooney may well rip Portsmouth apart at Old Trafford but he can’t do so from the United bench. There’s mixed views on whether Rooney will be rested given his electric form but even if he starts, you have to wonder just how quickly he’ll be withdrawn if United establish a lead. The trip to Villa Park and the Champions League fixture with Milan next Tuesday will surely be on Ferguson’s mind when he selects his side on Saturday. How much damage can Rooney do in the pitch time he is afforded? That’s the crucial question going into the weekend. Tomorrow’s press conference from Ferguson could tell us more.

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733 Responses to “The Midweek-ish Meander”

  1. MFaulkner says:

    quiet a few tricky weeks coming up. I can see a few more average scores tending towards those of last season, with most of us on here quite happy crossing the 50 mark.

  2. alsybach says:

    I have just come back from the pub and there was a bloke in there with a Scottish accent and drinking heavily saying he was going to rest Rooney on the weekend…….

  3. alex234 says:

    Check the team..
    Anelka,Defoe,Lampard,Terry –> Drogba, Fabregas, Rooney, Shawcross (12 point hit)
    bit crazy??

  4. Nano says:

    nice write up… i was going to rest cahill (bol) and play duff but after reading this I think i will do the opposite. additionally I agree with the Birmingham defence so I will double up on them at the back

    • FPL_crazy says:

      I am not sure I would double BM defense. I am thinking of fielding a BM defender and Stoke’s keeper (instead of Hart).

      • Nano says:

        yeah i have sorenson too and which ever i rest the other seems to do better! so if i play hart then you should play sorenson :)
        and yeah i hope rooney gets to play too! a hatrick would be good! and portsmouth to win 4-3 … impossible but i can hope

  5. FPL_crazy says:

    please don’t rest rooney, Fergie. Let him score hatrick and then you can rest him.

  6. FPL_crazy says:

    69% caping Rooney. I guess this will be the highest record at the end of this week.

  7. Nigel Tufnel says:

    Stoke/Blackburn and Sunderland/Wigan are tough to forecast, other than they are both likely to be ugly. Gotta play one….Nelsen or N’Zogbia this week?

    • FPL_crazy says:

      tough call. 50-50 but N’zogbia is in form and grabbing all bonus. Blackburn performs lowly away from home?

      • Nigel Tufnel says:

        Yeah. Have N’Zogbia in the lineup at the moment, but keep thinking that Stoke/Blackburn match has 0-0 written all over it. This article just furthered that fear. Nelsen got a cleanie away last week at West Ham, but it would probably be pushing it to think he gets two in a row. Probably stick with N’Zog.

  8. dbronaldo says:

    damn should not have popped out to offie there, missed first 15min of new lost!

  9. tempted to captain tevez just in case rooney is benched

  10. marshy17 says:

    doing noble and taylor in next two weeks…any thoughts on who’s better this week?

  11. Louie says:

    Robinson or Sorensen to start this week?

  12. Andy says:

    Ugh…

    So Rooney rises and Anelka drops tonight. Pickle! I hate money chasing, I hate it with a passion – but to see two points moving in opposite directions is a killer blow to my head – knowing I’m going to do the same trades tomorrow and it be £0.2m more expensive to my team. I need to work out how much piece of mind is worth.

    • Akers says:

      I wish I’d paid attention yesterday when Shava was dropping. Think I might just keep Anelka and suffer the financial blow.

    • Nano says:

      just do the transfer now in my opinion… not worth the wait if you know you are going to do it anyway

      • Andy says:

        Financially not worth it… and I know SAF is about the most secretive dog out there, but if I buy Rooney and then he bloody does say “Rooney has got the weekend off to tonk Vanessa Peronncel while I let Michael Owen tonk Portsmouth” – I will kick myself.

        • Nano says:

          fair enough, but you will most likely want rooney for the double the week after anyway. And if he does not play this week you have enough on the bench to cover it! and anelka most likely wont do much against arsenal anyway… in my opinion

    • monstery says:

      With you there Andy. But i’d do that tonight.

    • granville says:

      Patience saved me last week. I was all set to get in Drogba and Malouda but I held off until the Ancelottery press conference the next day where he announced Drogba would not play on the Saturday. So instead I got Anelka and Malouda, both had risen 0.1m. I was 0.2m worse off but ended 10 points better off.

  13. SuperDorrans says:

    How is this team for the upcoming GW? Just made my transfers.

    Sorensen
    Evra – Dann – Cahill – A Cole
    Modric – Fabs – Tuncay
    Rodallega – Rooney (c) – Tevez

    Subs: Hart, N’Zogbia, Duff, Baird.

    ?

  14. Nano says:

    why is Fabregas going down in value? he has 2 difficult game weeks and then smooth sailing!

    • jimmythegent says:

      people dont look at fixtures, most mere mortals do it a gameweek at a time

  15. Pennywise says:

    Anyone know what happened to my Duff assist?!?! :evil:

    FYI he was credited on the beeb for a cross to Greening who then scored. I never saw the game. Does this sound about right?

  16. Freedy says:

    As a first for me Im bringing in a player who is dropping in value(Tomorrow of course). Fabregas for Lampard.Is this a good transfer in your opinions.?Just see Fab doing more than Lampard this game week and then Liverpool and Sunderland both at home..

  17. m165 says:

    Sorensen, Hart
    
Ivanovic, M.Dawson, Ridgewell, Hughes, Gallas
    
Fabregas, Duff, Cohen, O’Hara, Lampard

    Rooney, Tevez, Diamanti

    Any transfer suggestions? I’m thinking of these for GW26:

    Gallas > Evra or a Man City defender
    
Lampard > N’Zogbia
    
Diamanti > Drogba or Rodellega

    Not sure which way round I should do the fisrt 2, probably in that order!

    Any advice is appreciated, cheers guys.

  18. Pennywise says:

    Advice on who I can ditch Anelka for before he drops in price. I have N’Zogbia so wouldn’t want Rodellaga. Would like a DGW player and trying to avoid the missing GW28 victims. Davies of Bolton maybe? Any other suggestions?

  19. jimmythegent says:

    Captain Rooney …. he doesnt play, comes on for 10 minutes at the end… 2 points

    Dont Captain Rooney…. He scores 4 again and I cry into my saturday night pint

    Fergie gives nothing away in his press conferences.

    Im sure im not the only one with this problem

    • pyrohippy says:

      no reason why he wouldnt play…

      • jimmythegent says:

        Portsmouths terrible away form matched with Uniteds busy fixture list could well see Wayne benched.

        Although Rooney will not be happy on the bench and will probably be desperate to add to his goal tally… Portsmouth being an opportunity to lead the goal scoring charts

        Tough call

  20. SuperDorrans says:

    Which 2 to play out of Modric, N’Zogbia, Rodallega & Duff?

  21. mucka says:

    Team is:
    Sorenson
    Cashley Scharner Dann Baird
    Eagles Fab Lamps
    Ronney(c) Tevez Zamora
    Subs: Warnock Dunn Ramsey

    Scharner may ot start so i was thinkin maybe
    Ramsey >> McCarthy
    Its saves me money nd he has good fixtures?? Thoughts??

    • zissou says:

      I’m hoping Scharner plays too.
      I’d say hold off, make no transfer. You’ll be thankful for 2 freebies next week.

  22. Commander Makara says:

    David Dunn, Retire mate!

  23. zissou says:

    Worth doing Anelka out for Rodallega now?
    Avoid the price drop tonight and want Rod in for GW25 anyway…

  24. dbronaldo says:

    it figures ur a chelsea fan………..ur name john terry by the way no?seems similar to his behaviour recently

    • dbronaldo says:

      for anyone tinking im gone crazy with my few cans of cider…….this was in reply to a comment now deleted (he types as he talks to his imaginary pet monkey)

  25. sacg. says:

    anelka > drogs yay or nay (4pt)?

  26. jimmythegent says:

    Capello called Wayne Bridge to confirm Terry had lost the captains arm band……. he then asked Wayne if he could check under his bed

  27. Cesc Machine says:

    Shall i transfer or save it???
    was thinking Zamora out for a.n. other, but intend to do Petrov and Rodallega in Kuyt and Zamora out next week for free???
    Jussi/(Robert)
    Scott/Christopher/Gary/(Branislav/Michael.D)
    Frank/Cesc/Charles/Dirk/(Sebastian)
    Wayne/Carlos/Bobby

  28. Tsumo says:

    Unfortunately if Rooney doesn’t play, I (and everyone who owns him) will automatically get Lampard as vice captain as he is highest in both value and form! I don’t think he’ll score very well this week.

  29. kamdaraji says:

    have i taken to many points hits this season?

    • Cesc Machine says:

      I’m probably not the right guy to answer that!!

    • double gameweeks or when you cant field a team are the best time to take a hit, nothing wrong in taking a hit if you think your new player will outperform the other player over time, i took a 4 point hit on bringing in tevez for defoe last week, i lost 6 points on that transfer because defoe got 5 and tevez got 3 with a -4 deduction, but i think tevez will make that 6 points up over time

  30. dbronaldo says:

    akers just a quick question about the cup i was asking about earlier this evening,
    wat is limit regarding numbers?as i missed out last time