Christmas is no time to break from tradition. So I haven’t – here’s the regular Saturday morning preamble to walk you right through to that lovely Fantasy Premier League deadline and ease you into the arms of Jeff and his Soccer (football) Saturday team. Read on, then cuddle up to the Le Tiss…

The big issue this morning is once again the FPL armband. With Ronaldo out of the equation, I’m feeling a lot better about the situation to be honest. When you turn your back on Ronaldo, the potential damage inflicted should he catch fire is substantial – the same can’t quite be said for any of his armband rivals. This weekend then, the fallout from a bad captain decision seems far less daunting. Not that I’m destined to make a bad decision – hopefully.

Lampard has traditionally been the reliable safety net for Ronaldo naysayers. His form of late however has been a major concern. Just one assist in the last 6 Premier League outings and a shortage of FPL bonus, makes falling back on the Chelsea man for your double points far less comfortable than it should be.

Our Frank is without doubt the safest bet this week though. While his recent returns have been disappointing, that’s coincided with a fairly patchy spell for Chelsea during which they’ve struggled to break teams down at the Bridge. Away from home however, Chelsea are still flying and the key factor for their visit to Goodison could well be the return of Drogba to the starting lineup. He will immediately give them that new dimension that will have them bullying teams who dare to put up a defensive resistance. His presence up front will surely only encourage Lampard’s trademark surges into the box, while free-kicks around the penalty area should also be far more forthcoming. That should give Lampard further opportunities to copy Ronaldo’s set-piece technique (did I imagine that against West Ham last week?).

Add to that Everton’s rather questionable home form, the fact that Lampard has scored and enjoyed trips to Goodison on previous seasons, and my doubts that the rest of the contenders for captain offer the same potential in terms of heavy scoring, and for me the conclusion is obvious. Lampard gets the armband unless you feel forced or inclined to look for an inspired gamble due to your mini-league situation.

Casting an eye over the other contenders and Villa’s Ashley Young has to come into the equation. His form has exploded over the last fortnight and he goes to Upton Park on a wave of confidence and is up against a side who haven’t coped well in front of their own fans. Zola’s side are very capable of shutting a game down – doing so in front of their own supporters is far far more difficult however and you can easily see Villa keeping up their impressive scoring record away from home by notching a couple in this one. Young should be instrumental in that but for me, the memories of his recent lean spell and the fact that Barry shares set-pieces with the winger, is enough to convince me that the jury is out on a heavy points haul this week.

Santa Cruz was another in the running, albeit a risky option. News of a calf injury sustained in training on Friday morning broke late on yesterday and that makes even more of a gamble. Few of this morning’s press carry the story and most are therefore predicting he’ll start. I think there’s every chance he will – handing him the captain’s armband however would be very gutsy at this point.

You can delve deeper into the barrel without scraping the bottom, by looking at Hull’s Geovanni who should shine again at home to Sunderland. The Black Cats mini-revival is the x-factor here though and their resistance could well hamper the possible points harvest coming the way of the Brazilian.

Lastly, there’s always the option to go on the defensive and opt for Bosingwa who looks nailed on for a clean sheet at Goodison. Moyes may have to turn to Cahill to lead the line again and, given that Chelsea haven’t conceded in their last 5 on the road, you’re struggling to see Everton inflicting damage on Chelsea’s goals against column. If you fancy Lampard to falter again, then his team-mate and leading FPL points scorer, is a fine plan B.

Moving on to the late team news and as mentioned, Santa Cruz is the big breaking bulletin. As i say, I can see him pulling through and making his first start under Big Sam but even so, the doubts make Derbyshire that little more tempting as a budget buy. He’s a good bet to start regardless – with Santa out of the picture, he’s almost a certainty.

Elsewhere, Tottenham’s own creative duo – Lennon and Modric, emerged as late doubts for Spurs yesterday afternoon. They join Woodgate and King on the physio’s list of fitness tests prior to the game at St James’ Park. My bet is that both the attacking players will make it, with King also starting, probably alongside Dawson. Some of the papers are predicting Lennon will miss out with O’Hara starting – that’s a possibility and O’Hara could certainly be an outside bet for a low-to-mid price purchase this weekend. There’s no news as yet on the status of Newcastle’s Martins who is due to undergo a fitness test on a groin injury. My bet is that Ameobi will start against Spurs though.

In general, the team news you’ll find in the Saturday press is off-beam – The Times are predicting that Benjani will start up front for City but he is sidelined through injury and Hughes will instead likely choose from Jo, Evans and Sturridge to start up front. The latter could be worth a gamble. The Mirror meanwhile, either know some inside information (not out of the question given Adams’ erratic approach to coming clean on injuries) or seem to have forgotten that Kranjcar exists have omitted him from their Pompey lineup. They do however predict that Johnson won’t recover from his knee injury to fill the right back slot. That’s an opinion shared by a few of the press this morning. Pamarot could well fill in at right back again then, with Belhadj starting on the left.

Finally, for those who follow my nip-and-tuck battle with Granville via the podcast – the latest is that I’ve gambled on Samba at the back as a second transfer as a reaction to Granny who has, I believe brought in Owen and Matt Taylor this week (unless he has adopted an Adams policy of misinformation). I’m banking/gambling on my two cheap defensive purchases – Mendy and Samba doing the business at one end or the other, while I consider where to put the 3.7 I have in the bank next gameweek.

In the Guardian meanwhile, I’m pretty content with my lineup this week with Samba, Cahill, Laursen and Turner at the back all looking pretty decent options. I’m not too confident in Van Persie and Anelka up front but I need to gamble on strikers to make up ground in that game, given that most have the defence and midfield sewn up. A goal or two for Wright-Phillips would do me a power of good too.

Overall though, I’m mildly excited about the week without Ronaldo. I’ve knee-jerked against Granny’s accusations of playing safe with my lineup and I’m hopeful it will pay off. Have I been a cruel victim of fantasy manager mind games? We’ll see. Good luck to one and all for another gameweek.