We’re about to head into an international break, where all of us fantasy managers can put our feet up and relax for more than a couple of days at a time, but before the tedium kicks in, we figured it would be a good idea to keep you all up to speed on a fantasy treat right around the corner. Yes, as we were first informed in the Scout tweets a couple of days, another one of those (possibly) wonderful double gameweeks has been plotted in the fixtures.
Mark down gameweek 11 (October 31st to November 4th) in your diaries folks, as West Ham will be inviting Martin O’Neills Aston Villa team over to Upton Park for a catch up game under the Wednesday night floodlights…
Somewhat jumping the gun on the already accounted for, and previously mentioned, double gameweek – we have a new fixture to add to our schedules then, and it’s in the not too distant future. So with only two gameweeks between now and then (and the aforementioned international break) where should we be looking to invest our fantasy millions?
West Ham have their extra game right at the end of their tough run of games, and as the fixture list starts to somewhat lighten (sun, AVL, EVE, hul, BUR). Having been reasonably porous at the back recently, the Hammers offensive line would seem to currently be better purchase options.
Zavon Hines at only £4.5m could be a fantasy steal (though I personally am not sold on the minutes the lad will get with a fully fit West Ham squad), Carlton Cole has dropped to £6.8m yet continues to fill his boots with 4 goals and an assist already this season. Finally, at only £6m, Alessandro could be a Diamanti in the rough (happy MFaulkner?) given that he has now stolen the mantle of set-piece and penalty taker from Mark Noble – plenty of options to consider, maybe even Jimenez will come good after all the pre-season hype (though again, I’m not so sure).
Aston Villa also welcome their added game into a reasonably handsome set of fixtures (wlv, eve, whm, BOL, bur, TOT, HUL). With their defence improving since the close of the transfer window, a player like James Collins at only £4.7m provides a good option at a not very risky outlay – it is the attacking options however that once again call out to me though.
James Milner appears to be stepping up in importance to the team, and at only £7.0m is a relative bargain (he also indicates he wants to continue taking penalties, despite having missed his last effort). Ashley Young is an option, but looks expensive by comparison at £8.4m and hasn’t yet hit any semblance of form.
John Carew could make a good leftfield option, now returning to match fitness and getting game time, were he to perform like he did last year then his £7.6m price tag could be a steal. After scoring 4 goals in 4 games (and earning an England call up in place of his team-mate Ashley Young) Gabriel Agbonlahor joins the current strikers revolution, and at a reduced price of £8.3m could be very tempting if he can keep his form up.
It must also be noted that Aston Villa host Man City tonight, so opinions could be all change depending on what happens in the match. Plenty for us to mull over though, and with the international break it gives us more than enough time to put our planning hats on while we work out who is worth bringing into our teams.