Celebration is on the cards this evening – despite the intervention of the Premier League earlier this morning. Later tonight I’m going to be force fed champagne, finger food and Karaoke at an office party and at the same time raising a glass to my good friend and site/podcast contributor Granvillle. He’s got every reason to celebrate – more on that at the end of this article.
Before the evening becomes a blur on the way to the morning becoming a tragedy, I have the sober business of the Scout Picks to to complete. Let’s get cracking then. I’ve a sausage on stick with my name on it…
The Defence
The double gameweek for Villa has them making two away trips to Portsmouth and Hull City – attractive fixtures that promise returns at both ends. Defensive investment brings the likes of Richard Dunne, Carlos Cueller and James Collins into the equation but, in truth, I’m not totally sold on clean sheets in either of these fixtures. Both Portsmouth and Hull City have goals in them at their home grounds (both have seven goals in the last five home matches) and Villa have conceded on their travels of late. I’ve opted to cover Martin O’Neill’s defence with Brad Friedel then, at least giving me the promise of points from saves should Villa concede.
The Stoke defence has been rock solid of late, so much so that Ryan Shawcross has been unable to find his back into the starting eleven following suspension and injury. The skipper Abdoulaye Faye offers decent value here then, up against a Bolton outfit who have registered just two goals in their last five away trips.
While Liverpool will likely be without the rapier edge of Fernando Torres against West Ham on Monday, they can rely on a defence which has conceded just two goals in the last five matches at Anfield. Glen Johnson continues to be the start fantasy asset in Rafa’s rearguard and gets the nod in the Picks yet again here.
Blackburn have been in inspired defensive form of late and although they face a lively Everton side, Martin Olsson still offers a strong option in Sam Allardyce’s back four. The young swede continues to be employed in a left wing role, offering the potential of attacking returns for this Ewood encounter.
The final defensive selection is a gamble. I looked at Fulham’s back four at home to Wolves but didn’t have the confidence in Hodgson’s team selection, or their resolve against a Wolves side who have produced goals on their travels. I fail to see clean sheets for Chelsea at Spurs and United at City and the Arsenal defence will be ravaged by injury when they take the field at Wigan. So that left me taking a risk on the Sunderland defence at home to Burnley. Steve Bruce’s side have conceded just three goals in their last five Stadium of Light fixtures but will face a plucky Burnley side buoyed considerably by the 4-1 win at Hull last time out. Michael Turner does at least offer a threat at set-plays, although it’s got to be said that his returns in that area have been very disappointing this season.
The Midfield
I’ve kept Steven Gerrard in my engine room, despite his meagre returns against Fulham last time out. With Torres a likely absentee, it seems likely that Gerrard will again adopt the role up in support of Ngog and I’m hoping to see the skipper dragging Rafa’s men to a narrow win here against another brave performance from Zola’s hammers.
James Milner is a slight risk given that Martin O’Neill could look to hand him a rest for one of their two fixtures in the gameweek but Milner has shown such influence in the midfield, I can see him starting both matches. If that’s the case then we should see returns, albeit assists and Fantasy Premier League bonus, in at least one of the matches. As pointed out in Sir Paulos’ Scouting the Doubles article, Ashley Young is the main in form though and perhaps less vulnerable to rotation.
I can see Chelsea taking the three points at White Hart Lane and all but putting the title race to bed. With Spurs offering a real attacking threat, they will need goals to do so though and so I can envisage a two or three goal return for Ancelotti’s men this weekend. Florent Malouda was rested for Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Bolton but will be back in the eleven here according to Ancelotti. He could find himself up against a make-shift or inexperienced right-back if Verdan Corluka fails to make so a lot of Chelsea’s progress could originate from Malouda’s left-flank.
The final choice in midfield is a little tricky with several candidates pushing for inclusion – all with an element of risk. Stoke’s Matt Etherington comes close although he remains a slight injury doubt and has to contend with Stoke’s patchy home form which shows just five goals in their last five home games. His time will come with the double fixture in gameweek 37. In the end I opted for Fulham’s Zoltan Gera – a slight risk given that he could be handed a rest prior to Thursday’s Europa League fixture. The Fulham vs Wolves encounter has a few goals in it for me and while Bobby Zamora might be a risk too far, his attacking partner offering strong value as a midfielder, looks a decent option.
The Forwards
Up front Sunderland’s Darren Bent is difficult to ignore. The Black Cat’s have notched an impressive 11 goals in their last five home matches and Bent is pushing for that place on the plane to South Africa. He will surely be targeting goals against a suspect Burnley defence and with doubt surrounding the fitness of Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres and with Chelsea and United facing tough away fixtures, Bent looks the obvious choice for goals.
With Bent’s inclusion so predictable, I was tempted to bring Robin Van Persie straight into the Picks is a gamble. The Dutchman made an effective return to action at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night and showed enough to convince me that he will play a major role in Arsenal’s game at Wigan this weekend. The lure of Aston Villa’s strikers is strong though and although they’ve notched just four goals in their last five away trips, the opponents – Portsmouth and Hull – make goals over the two games likely. It’s a straight choice between John Carew and Gabby Agbonlahor here and I’ve opted for the latter. He should start both matches and with a World Cup spot still within his reach, he will be going all out to punish the obliging defences he will face in the gameweek.
Tempting though it is to slap Van Persie on my bench, I’ve given you budget options instead with Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller, Hull’s Jimmy Bullard (with his two fixtures) and Birmingham’s Liam Ridgewell earning call-ups to my Picks reserves.
Paddy Says
As ever I’ve put together a couple of unique markets together for those visitors aged 18 or over who fancy a flutter. You can get 8/1 on Liverpool, Aston Villa and Stoke all keeping clean sheets over the gameweek in the Clean Sheet Accumulator. In the Scout Picks market meanwhile Paddy are offering 14/1 on Gerrard, Milner and Bent all to score one or more goals.
Paddy Power’s normal offer of a free £20 when you sign up for a new account and bet a tenner is now back after last weekend’s National.
And Finally…Granny’s Delivery
Granville score a brace of his own two days ago, a set of twins, Isabella Grace & Dexter Samson.
His first choice names of Rafael and Fabio were ruled offside owing to a small technicality, namely having a girl and a boy, but we can expect that he’s already been on the phone to the United megastore enquiring on the smallest replica kits available.
I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing Granville congratulations on his new arrivals. God help next season with those two screaming in his ear.