With gameweek 16 safely tucked up in bed, it’s time to reassess my picks/rankings for the next five games. The tables in the right-hand menu have been updated and you can read this lovely post for the reasoning behind the latest chart action…
There’s little movement in the keeper bracket with Cech, Reina and Van der Sar the clear top three options, even with United’s missing gameweek. That’s symptomatic of the rest of the defensive options available, with few sides offering reliable low-to-mid price clean sheets right now. Villa are perhaps the next best bet so Friedel holds his position in fourth. James suffers a slight drop despite some very strong fixtures as Adams continues to search for solidity at the back. Gomes, Howard and Robinson are new considerations lower down the rankings – all have strong fixtures but are certainly long shots.
In defence it’s a similar story with Bosingwa now dominating this position. Carragher holds in second with Liverpool’s fixtures still kind enough to present more clean sheet opportunities. Vidic drops a little with his missing gameweek, with both Laursen and Johnson offering enough attacking threat with decent fixtures to supersede him. O’Shea is also a new entry high up with his place looking assured for the next three matches given Evra’s suspension.
Coloccini also enjoys a slight climb despite conceding two at home to Stoke this weekend. He has decent fixtures and could find himself pushed into midfield should Kinnear install Taylor alongside the impressive Bassong. Indeed, Bassong offers a very decent budget option if you fancy the Newcastle defence over the next five. His starting role is a little less secure however.
Wigan’s Taylor, City’s Kompany and Tottenham’s Woodgate are all new entries with decent fixtures to come. Belhadj suffers a drop lower down with poor defensive form and the face that his minutes on the pitch are under threat from Adams’ tendency for the 60-minute sub. There are a host of new entries after this with Lescott, Emerton, Faye and Sunderland’s Ferdinand coming in with good fixtures. Again, these are real long shots in the current climate that sees the top three defences dominating.
The midfield has seen Ronaldo toppled on the back of his recent poor returns and injury concerns. Lampard stays top despite bad form – I personally can’t see his blip continuing for too much longer given the run of opponents he has over Christmas. Ireland climbs to second, again with very strong fixtures to come. Ashley Young is the highest climber on the back of his two Goodison strikes. I still rank him below Geovanni and the Liverpool pairing of Kuyt and Gerrard however. Consistency has been a problem for Young and I’m still not convinced that he will regularly produce without Carew in Villa’s frontline.
Deco and Modric both make returns to the rankings with form returning for the Chelsea man and injuries clearing for Modric. Both have decent fixtures in their favour too. Everton’s Cahill and Portsmouth’s Kranjcar also enjoy slight climbs this week as their fixtures pick up. Low down there are new entries for Sunderland’s Richardson, Fulham’s Bullard, West Brom’s Greening and Everton’s Fellaini with improved form and fixtures.
Up front I’ve left Defoe on top with very strong fixtures over the next five. Anelka holds firm, despite the threat from Drogba from this point on. Adebayor and Crouch improve with recent form and decent fixtures to come. Tottenham’s Bent suffers a sizeable drop as his starting role and minutes on the pitch come into doubt following Redknapp’s shift to 4-5-1 last night. Owen is the new entry just above him with form and fixtures in his favour. King and Benjani both climb with decent form. The latter also has strong fixtures to come over the next five. Lower down, Tuncay and Sidebe come in as low-to-mid differential options.