With the international break upon us, we’re blessed with more time to ponder the failings of our fantasy lineups. A tortuous two weeks of tinkering in our heads. Here’s some thoughts I collected on gameweek eight to help the process along…
Cesc is the real thing…
There was much debate over whether Arshavin or Fabregas was the Arsenal midfielder of choice. Sunday’s 6-2 win over Blackburn provided more evidence that this is Fabregas’ season. Four more assists took him to 8 for the season, as the Spaniard continued to thrive in Wenger’s 4-3-3 and justify his positon at the top of the monthly picks. Arshavin will come good – there’s little doubt about that, however, the fact that Fabregas continues to contribute so effectively, combined with the fact that Arshavin will likely be rested around key Champions League games, should be enough to lean towards the Arsenal skipper. Check out Sir Paulo’s excellent Technical Area article for more evidence. With an early FPL price rise overnight, we can expect massive fantasy investment in Fabregas over the break.
Clean sheets are an endangered species…
Is anyone investing in defensive signings right now? For the first time in living memory, the fantasy season looks massively weighted towards attacking players. The gameweek saw just two clean sheets – for Portsmouth and Chelsea. You wouldn’t necessarily backed either of those. Meanwhile the stats for the big expensive defences are far from impressive. Just two clean sheets in eight games for Liverpool’s backline, three in eight for United. When it comes to signing defenders it’s all about goals with the leading point scorers (Vermaelen, A Cole, Johnson and Shawcross) all up there on goals rather than their defensive points.
Rafa is still baffling…
Benayoun has been arguably Liverpool’s most creative player in recent weeks and yet, at Stamford Bridge, Rafa opted to keep Riera installed on the left as Mascherano was restored to central midfield. Yossi was kept on the bench then, seeing action on 67 minutes. That won’t have pleased his 200,000+ Fantasy Premier League owners and puts a significant doubt on his ability to earn regular starts from this point on.
Bikey’s looking even better value…
Steven Caldwell’s return to the Burnley lineup cast doubt over Andre Bikey’s role in side. His thousands of fantasy owners needn’t had worried. Owen Coyle pushed the powerful defender into a midfield role and he immediately returned a goal in the 2-1 win over Birmingham. With good fixtures to come, Bikey looks to be ripe for investment over the next few weeks and could offer a superb budget option over the season should he hold down that midfield role. Interestingly, Coyle has singled out that decision as a positive one, particularly for Wade Elliot who was freed up to push further forward as a result.
Dave Kitson isn’t…
His stint in the Stoke starting lineup ended at Goodison with fit-again Fuller and Beattie restored up front. Despite his previous form and goalscoring run, Pulis clearly has Kitson down the pecking order in the long-term. At least he’s seen some action though. We’re still waiting to see how Tuncay is going to fit in the Stoke eleven.
Prince Boateng is the new Jamie O’Hara…
Portsmouth’s signings from Spurs have both settled well and, although O’Hara appears to have the greater input from set-plays, it’s Prince Boateng that’s beginning to influence Paul Hart’s side going forward and appears to carry a greater goal threat (four shots vs O’Hara’s zero in the win at Wolves). Boateng is 0.5 more expensive in the FPL, which casts doubt over his potential.
Chung-Yong Lee is the new Tamir Cohen…
A goal, an assist and two FPL bonus points in his Bolton appearances so far making the Korean worthy of consideration when fixtures fall nicely for Bolton. Tamir Cohen’s recent goals have won him some attention of late but Lee looks a more exciting prospect and was picked out for praise by Megson following the draw with Spurs. Keep him on the back-burner though; with United, Everton and Chelsea to come in the next three, now is not the time to back up that interest with a transfer move.