The Scout Squad

Sunday’s finale presents us with a problem – a real lack of motivation. After last night’s result at Eastlands, the only remaining Premier League question mark hovers tenuously over the very top of the table. What’s more, the fixture list has fallen kindly in favour of home wins for the two sides that are charged – Chelsea and United. It’s going to take real balls of steel to overlook those two and gamble on a budget or differential signing this week.

With relegation and European places settled, all the smart money is piled high on the likes of Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba to come out of the week with decent points hauls. That’s a predictable scenario that hardly helps chasing managers close that mini-league gap with some shrewd transfers.

Even if you have the inclination to make a number of moves, finding the budget and worthwhile candidates as differentials looks difficult. There are a couple of relatively cheap, but favourable options to explore in my Scout Squad however…

While investment in defenders looks an unlikely ploy for most Fantasy Managers, the Wolves duo of Marcus Hahnemann and Jody Craddock appear to offer some value. They face off against a Sunderland side at Molineux and with the Black Cats managing just two goals away from home in their last five trips, McCarthy’s outfit offer a cut-price path to defensive returns this week.

In attacking terms Chelsea’s Salmon Kalou looks to provide a differential. He looks a very decent mid-price midfield option in the Fantasy Premier League game, particularly if Frank Lampard is out of your lineup or the reach of your budget. Kalou has strong form and as Sir Paulos highlighted in his recent Technical Area article, looks set to hold down a starting role flanking Drogba against the Latics. In value terms, it’s Kalou and Nani that appear to offer the best route in for Fantasy Managers looking to invest in Chelsea and United.

If you need to free up cash for a Lampard or Rooney, then Bolton’s Jack Wilshere could be worthy of investigation. He’s been outstanding in the Trotters previous few matches and has a fixture against Birmingham at the Reebok which gives him a platform to display his talents again. He might emerge with an assist and bonus should Bolton come good in their final game against the inconsistent Brum.

The rest of my Squad looks familiar enough and, right now, it seems likely that the Picks will boast a backbone of United and Chelsea players. With City and to some extent Spurs both facing deadrubber fixtures at West Ham and Burnley, it’s Everton’s candidates are set to break up that dominance from the mid-price bracket. They face a Portsmouth at Goodison, a side ravaged by injury and distracted by the prospect of a Wembley final. Both Leighton Baines and Mikel Arteta look good options once again then but they are hardly effective differentials; perhaps Tim Cahill provides that option.

Goalkeepers
Marcus Hahnemann (WLV), Lukasz Fabianski (ARS), Brad Friedel (AVL)

Defenders
Gareth Bale (TOT), Patrice Evra (MUN), Ashley Cole (CHE), Leighton Baines (EVE), Jody Craddock (WLV), James Collins (AVL), Gary Cahill (BOL)

Midfielders
Frank Lampard (CHE), Salomon Kalou (CHE), Mikel Arteta (EVE), Tim Cahill (EVE), James Milner (AVL), Nani (MUN), Aaron Lennon (TOT), Matt Taylor (BOL), Jack Wilshere (BOL)

Forwards
Carlos Tevez (MCY), Wayne Rooney (MUN), Didier Drogba (CHE), Jermain Defoe (TOT), Robin Van Persie (ARS)