Paddy Says – Gameweek 25

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, and what better way to surprise and delight your other half than by doing what you usually do this time of year – obsessing over mid-February’s fixtures?

At least Paddy understands you. He doesn’t even require a bunch of Happy Shopper flowers or a last-minute Ginsters pasty from the nearest filling station as proof of your devotion.

He would, however, be delighted if you take a moment to gaze longingly into the eyes of the latest Enhanced Offers available for new customers this week before we all go for a romantic stroll through the Anytime Goalscorer and Clean Sheet odds.

If only a rose by any other name would smell as sweet as the prices available on the weekend’s main event, Spurs at Liverpool. Paddy’s offering 10-1 on Liverpool to beat Spurs, which is enough to get the heart all of a-flutter until he then wades in with Spurs to beat Liverpool at 16-1.

Liverpool are winless in five, losing to the likes of Swansea and Hull while picking themselves up just enough to scrap to draws with Chelsea and Man United. Tottenham are unbeaten since Gameweek 15, although they did blank away from home last time out. But, you know, 16-1!

A rather more sober, but no less attractive, price can be found Chelsea to beat Burnley, Arsenal to beat Hull and Man City to win at Bournemouth. That price is 6-1.

There’s also 5-1 available on Man United to beat Watford.

Enhanced winnings are credited in free bets. Be sure to check the terms and conditions that apply on all those offers and, of course, we should state that all these specials are only available to those aged 18 or over. If you’re going to wager, please always gamble responsibly.

ANYTIME GOALSCORER ODDS – GAMEWEEK 25

The standard captaincy fodder that are Sanchez (1.83) and Ibrahimovic (1.57) again attract Paddy’s lower prices, but things are otherwise starting to get a little vexed for us Fantasy managers.

With four teams definitely missing Gameweek 26 and all manner of others likely to do the same in Gameweek 28, we’re scrabbling around trying to find the right combos to maximise points now, while ensuring we don’t have a team of about five and a half for the weekend of March 11.

That goes some way to explaining why Gylfi Sigurdsson has emerged as an unlikely captaincy selection this week.

Swansea, after all, are one of just six teams definitely around for Gameweek 28. They’re also starting to find some form under Paul Clement and will host a Leicester side with an away record that is considerably more ‘criminal’ than ‘Guinness Book of World’ this season.

The Icelandic midfielder is second only to Gabriel Jesus for transfers-in this week. If you’re one of the 150,000 or so new boys going for Gylfi, you might want to double down on that by snapping up Paddy’s price of 3.60 on your man to score on Sunday.

Jesus, meanwhile, has risen! Risen above Sergio Aguero in Pep’s pecking order. His price has also risen above Sergio’s when it comes to scoring on Monday at Bournemouth. The Brazilian is at 2.00, the Argentinian at 1.80. A better price looks like the 2.62 on Kevin De Bruyne to make it three goals in his last four starts.

To those who captained Romelu Lukaku last week – well done, we’re all still so very pleased for you as you contimue to bathe in your bottomless well of self-satisfaction.

A further 140,000+ have leapt aboard the Belgian’s bandwagon this week for the trip to Middlesbrough, with Paddy offering 2.29 on him scoring again.

Eden Hazard has accrued roughly half the amount of new owners as Lukaku, but he’s still the fifth most popular purchase of the Gameweek and you can get 2.10 on him scoring back-to-back league goals for the first time since Gameweek 11.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, meanwhile, has emerged as a possible captaincy differential punt this week. His 2.29 price suggests it’s not such a huge leap of faith, however.

CLEAN SHEET ODDS – GAMEWEEK 25

Defenders don’t usually take up much space in the top ten for transfers-in of a Gameweek, but there’s three in there this week – and five in the top 15.

Marcos Alonso, as ever, gets star billing, which is hardly surprising when he’s a goalscoring wing-back in a team that’s used to seeing more zeroes than a banker’s bonus.

But Chelsea aren’t Paddy’s first pick for shut-out supremacy.

That honour belongs to Manchester United, who entertain Watford. The 47,000+ who’ve invested in Antonio Valenica this week (the tenth most popular buy) will feel particularly pleased about that, which might help offset the pain of definitely losing him for Gameweek 26 and probably having to endure a Gameweek 28 blank as well.

The third top ten defender is Everton’s Seamus Coleman, who has a goal, two clean sheets and three assists to his name from the last four Gameweeks. Paddy has the Toffees at 2.40 to blank Middlesbrough away this weekend.

Spurs, meanwhile are at 4.00 to keep a clean sheet at Anfield – a feat that only Man United have managed this season. More than 33,000 managers have welcomed Kyle Walker into their squads this week, so plenty clearly think Tottenham have what it takes to emulate Mourinho’s men.

Liverpool are, as we all know, on the sort of run usually only experienced during a severe bout of gastroenteritis, so Paddy’s price looks considerably more tempting than, well, a severe bout of gastroenteritis.

Last week we mentioned, in passing, the long odds on Hull blanking Liverpool; odds that seemed rather generous for a team that had just gone to Old Trafford and come away with a fighting 0-0 draw.

As a result, we’ll mention, in passing, the long odds on Hull blanking Arsenal; odds that seem rather generous for a team that has now kept consecutive clean sheets at United and home to Liverpool. Arsenal are not given to being shut out at The Emirates, but it has happened this season when Middlesbrough kept the Gunners at bay in Gameweek 9.

Hull defenders have got a lot going for them. They’re cheap as chips and should be considerably better for you based on a mouth-watering run of fixtures to come – after the Arsenal match – which includes a guaranteed Gameweek 28 fixture.

Only new signing Andrea Ranocchia is proving a popular buy so far – his 23,000+ new managers this week puts him in the top 30 – and if you share the early adopters’ far-sightedness, you can get 10.00 on the Tigers completing an unlikely clean sheet treble.