Slipping to Thursday again and following on the heels of the weekend preview provided in the podcast, here’s the weekly meander with my jottings on the forthcoming fixtures…
Best For Clean Sheets…
It’s impossible to look beyond the impenetrable two – Liverpool and Chelsea yet again. They look to have clean sheet friendly fixtures for yet another gameweek. Fulham’s visit to Anfield looks unlikely to trouble Reina to a large degree given that they’ve scored just two goals on their travels. Equally, Newcastle’s away record is dismal enough to suggest that the leaders will cast them aside at Stamford Bridge with plenty of attacking and defensive points to go round.
Stoke perhaps offer the best value defensive potential this week. They are attempting to turn their home turf into a fortress and the visit of shot-shy West Brom looks another opportunity for them to kick-on with a clean sheet packaged up into the bargain. Fuller sits out through suspension which seems likely to blunt their attacking play – at the back however, the likes of Shawcross and Higginbotham (who could be on penalties with Fuller out) are worth a look.
The Boro vs Bolton clash is the outsider for defensive points. Boro are so unpredictable, it’s always unwise to put your house, shed or tent on them but this game certainly doesn’t look to have many goals in it. I’m expecting a narrow home win here – possibly with a rare cleanie.
Best For Goals…
Arsenal’s visit to City looks the plumb match-up here. City are still banging them in to compensate for their brittle back four and, to a lesser extent, the same can be said for Arsenal. Wenger will be without Fabregas and Walcott but will likely start with both Van Persie and Adebayor to compensate for that loss. You can’t see the City defence standing up to that pairing without conceding and equally, you’d expect Robinho, Wright-Phillips and Ireland to cause plenty of concern for an Arsenal defence who have lost the stability of Sagna at right back. I can see four to five goals in this one if it goes to form.
Hull have been powerful on their travels – only Chelsea have had more success on the road. They should ask questions of the Portsmouth rearguard then and that could well see two to three goals here. The likely protagonists – Geovanni, King, Kranjcar (if fit) and Defoe (if fit) all look decent shouts for profit here. If Defoe isn’t available however, Portsmouth could be set to struggle and could even see Adams opt for 4-5-1.
Elsewhere Chelsea could score any number of goals from 1-10 at home to Newcastle so Anelka investors could well be in for early returns. Spurs will be looking to bounce back from the Fulham defeat and are likely to need at least a couple to see of Blackburn if Harry keeps Gomes in goal. I’m also looking forward to see how Cisse and Jones shape up against Zola’s beleaguered West Ham. The Hammers kept a rare clean sheet last time out – I can see them being stretched by the Sunderland pairing though and I’m expecting a couple of home goals here, with at least one in reply from Zola’s side.
Best for Frustration…
Villa vs United looks to be the obvious game with plenty of attacking points flying around – although a closer examination reveals that this could well be a tight, low scoring affair. Villa kept a clean sheet at the Emirates but it’s difficult to see them achieving another with United in town. Ferguson’s men haven’t found the goals away from home though and look more likely to nick an early one and look to protect the lead. O’Neill meanwhile, could go with five in midfield and look to keep this one tight until the later periods.
The stats show that Villa are averaging just over a goal a game over the last five at home and United are reading the same over their last five away. I’ve an inkling that we could have a 1-1 or 1-0 win for United on our hands here.
Fulham spoiled our Bent-bandgwagon party last weekend and they could well prove stubborn opposition for the Liverpool this time out. Rafa’s men will have one eye on the Champions League – they seem likely to be without Gerrard and they’ve had plenty of players on international duty. It’s a Liverpool win – but by a narrow margin in my view.
Finally, I’ve got the fear over Monday’s Wigan vs Everton fixture. Many of us will be watching this, hoping for a late boost to our fantasy week totals but with Wigan’s home record and Everton nursing a string of injuries (Pienaar, Fellaini and Cahill all doubts), I wonder if we see anything but a turgid affair with few goals and fantasy points being shared out. I’m expecting little to cheer from my Monday Night Football.