Back in it’s all too familiar Thursday slot, here’s the rambling preview of the weekend fixtures, complete with a smattering of player tips based on the usual unfounded theories…

Best For Clean Sheets….

Personally, I dont’ like the look of this gameweek when it comes to cleanies. The United and Chelsea defences both have home games but will surely be stretched by their opponents Spurs and City. United perhaps looking the safer bet, given the absence of strikers in Mark Hughes’ lineup. Elsewhere in the “big four”, we can look to Liverpool at West Ham and Arsenal at home to Wigan with some hope that we might see some defensive rewards but neither defence has filled us with confidence so far this term. Opting for Johnson in the Liverpool lineup and Song in Arsenal’s eleven does at least offer us some attacking potential and will likely be the way I cover things in my scout picks.

The stronger options for clean sheets appear to lie within the mid-to-low price areas with Everton, Villa, Bolton, Hull and Wolves all going into the weekend with home fixtures against opposition that can struggle for goals. Of these, Eveton, Villa and Bolton appear to offer the best defensive value with Baines, Colllins/Dunne/Warnock and Cahill or Steinsson (possibly playing in a midfield role again), looking decent value in those sides.

If you will gamble on Hull, then Sonko or McShane are you options and look certain starters, while Halford is possibly the best selection in the Wolves defence agianst Fulham, although his starting role and 60 minutes on the pitch are far from assured.

Fulham themselves and even Burnley, would be my selections for outside bets in this area. Fulham are more than capable of shoring things up away from home, with Hangeland the clear option for fantasy managers. Owen Coyle’s side meanwhile, go into their game with Sunderland having kept eight consecutive clean sheets at Turf Moor. The Sunderland attack will test them but Bikey and Jensen in goal could be worthy options for your budget selections this gameweek.

Best For Goals…

On paper we should see plenty of attacking points this gameweek. The United vs City and Chelsea vs Spurs games are lip-smacking encounters which could be high scoring if we get early breakthrough’s to open the game up. I’m wary of the United vs City game (more on that in a bit), although I do see Spurs breaching Chelsea’s defence and bringing two to three goals from them at Stamford Bridge. Drogba continues to look irresistible then, particularly after his rest in Europe in midweek.

Liverpool may need a couple at Upton Park, although with Gerrard possibly in a deeper central midfield role and Torres lacking sharpness, it’s not easy to predict where these goals will come. Kuyt and Benayoun could prove good differentials having stepped up in Liverpool’s last two matches.

You have to look at Arsenal at home to Wigan and back them for a couple of goals. Fabregas looks a good option and with Van Persie a doubt and Eduardo in action in Europe, you’d back Bendtner to start and provide a goal threat in this one. We need definitive team news first though.

Villa’s 4-5-1 may blunt their attacking prowess somewhat but they should have the confidence to put a few past basement club Portsmouth – Agbonlahor and Young being the obvious selections here, although I do wonder when Milner will come good with a decent points haul.

Finally, Everton need a win and should get one at home to Blackburn. Could be an interesting encounter this with Rovers coming into the game with confidence following the 3-1 win over Wolves last weekend. The Everton defence isn’t trustworthy (although Baines with his attacking potential, is a good pick), so we could see several goals here. Cahill and Pienaar look decent selections for the home side. The situation up front should be clearer after Everton’s Europa cup tie tonight.

An outside bet for goals – the Burnley vs Sunderland game could go crazy if we get an early one. As mentioned, Burnley go into this with a very strong defensive home record but Sunderland have the weapons to do some damage. If they get the goal then I’d expect some retaliation from Burnley with budget options Blake, Fletcher, Ward, Paterson and maybe even Nugent, all worth a look.

Best For Frustration…

With City turning up at Old Trafford with just Bellamy up front, I do wonder how Hughes will set out his stall. De Jong and Petrov may get starts in a five man midfield and that could lead to a far more stifled affair than we expect, or indeed hope. I’m going for a narrow home win here – maybe by a 1-0 scoreline.

Elsewhere I don’t see the form-book being too upset. Liverpool may well struggle at West Ham which could frustrate Torres and Gerrard owners once again. Patience will have been tested having seen Torres draw a blank in the 4-0 win over Burnley; another blank here could see massive sales across the fantasy games next week.

Finally, the bandwagons driven by Defoe and Darren Bent may well face an early pitstop given that they come up against decent defences away from home this gameweek. Much depends on how the Burnley defence performs, but having shut-out United and Everton, they will have the confidence going into the clash with Bent and Jones.