Gameweek 13 – Best Punts

Gameweek 12’s punt selection included a Sunderland clean sheet which seems to be something of a collector’s item recently. Anthony Reveillere was my punt and his sterling performance contributed to Sunderland’s shut-out. Midfielder Marouane Fellaini played well for United; he and Carrick were key in United’s shock win over Arsenal, but didn’t manage any Fantasy returns. The ever-unpredictable Neil Warnock decided to rest the injury-niggled Frazier Campbell last weekend, giving youngster Dwight Gayle the nod ahead of him. Gayle produced the goods with a tap in after a Yannick Bolasie shot which left me a little disappointed as I was convinced that would have been Campbell’s goal had he been playing. Here are Gameweek 13’s best punts in defence, midfield and attack with ownership figures correct as of the 26th November.

Glen Johnson

Club: Liverpool

Price: 5.3

Ownership: 0.8%

I don’t see there being many clean sheets this weekend but, despite their poor defensive form, Liverpool should manage a shut-out against Stoke. The Potters have only failed to score three times this season although their strikers, Mame Biram Diouf and Peter Crouch, haven’t found any consistent goalscoring form. Brendan Rodgers’ side have only managed two clean sheets this season, against Tottenham and Hull, so will want to improve on this. Victor Moses has been ruled out injured until late January and the impact that this will have on Mark Hughes’ side cannot be underestimated. He is their dynamite who can create a chance from nothing. Without him Stoke could well fail to exploit Liverpool’s greatest defensive weakness; their wing backs.

Glen Johnson has regained his starting role since Gameweek 10, and although he is weak defensively, the Englishman loves to drive forward. Despite playing left-back Johnson is right-footed and loves to cut in and fire shots off at goal, which we have seen fly in over the past few seasons. This year Johnson has attempted five shots outside the box in his 593 minutes on the pitch. When running at pace Johnson can be hard to stop due to his bullish strength and he should have the beating of Phil Bardsley. Having picked up four yellow cards already this season, Bardsley is a little hot-headed and once Johnson has got the better of him a couple times may be reckless and careless, allowing the full-back to slip through on the overlap. Should this happen, Johnson could be in amongst the goals and assists.

Jefferson Montero

Club: Swansea

Price: 5.7

Ownership: 0.3%

I managed to resist the temptation of picking Jefferson Montero last Gameweek as he faced a tough Manchester City side. However, I hope that he will reward my patience with a big return this week. Gameweek 13 sees the Swans welcome Crystal Palace to the Liberty Stadium. After some solid performances from Palace they will be hoping to continue their run of form and get something from this weekend’s fixture. This means that Warnock’s men are likely to go out all guns blazing in order to get the better of a stingy Swans defence. As a result there will be gaps further up the pitch. Palace’s wing backs do not commit themselves forward as much as other full-backs, Leighton Baines for example, but prefer to hold their ground. Although this would make it harder for many wingers to beat them I believe that it suits Montero. When he has a player to run at, the tricky Ecuadorian winger becomes more of a threat. He can use his blistering pace to make his opponent feel uneasy, then rely on his mesmerising trickery to get the better of them. He will be up against Joel Ward who, despite being one of Palace’s better defenders, is still young and a little too inexperienced to cope with this international star.

Montero creates a clear goalscoring chance at least once a game but I fancy there will be many more than one opportunity for his team-mates to score from his passes this weekend. Despite being more of an assister than a goalscorer, three quarters of Montero’s shots this season have been on target. He has attempted an incredible 66 dribbles this year, which is in the top ten of the whole league, half of these being successful. Furthermore he has been involved in 25% of all Swansea goals this season which highlights the importance of his role in the team. Montero is a winger in form and this weekend’s fixture is set up perfectly for him to explode.

Andy Carroll

Club: West Ham

Price: 6.9

Ownership: 0.1%

Andy Carroll is back and looks set to start again this Gameweek, with doubts over Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho. It is fair to say that watching Andy Carroll play is not the easiest on the eye but when you are that tall, that strong and leap that high, you are always going to be a threat. I was at Goodison for Everton’s clash with West Ham last weekend and nearly every time that the ball was hoofed up to Carroll he won it. He was a danger all afternoon and played the full 90 minutes. He managed six shots on his return to Premier League action, three with his head – only Sergio Aguero had more attempts last Gameweek. He won the most aerial duels of all Premier League players in Gameweek 12 with the highest success rate of anybody who entered more than eight duels. Obviously he is a threat from set plays, although not just with his head – he can strike a mean dead ball too.

This Gameweek Sam Allardyce’s men welcome Newcastle to the Boleyn Ground. Newcastle have been gathering momentum of late, winning each of their last five. However none of the teams that they have beaten recently have had a physical player like Carroll in the front line. The Magpies’ back four haven’t been seriously tested lately but will be this weekend. Carroll will most likely be partnered by Enner Valencia who makes up for the pace that Carroll lacks. The news that Stewart Downing has returned to training should add further creativity for Carroll to exploit. West Ham will be hard to handle in all aspects of play going forward. In addition Newcastle have  a number of defensive injuries, most notably their experienced centre-back Fabricio Coloccini.