The Premier League “big guns” had another successful week in Europe having struggled to find goals on the domestic front of late.
Steven Gerrard netted a hat-trick against visiting Italian side Napoli, whilst Gareth Bale and an inspired Tottenham side comfortably put three past the current champions of Europe at White Hart Lane. Meanwhile, both Man United and Chelsea built steadily upon improving performances and had no trouble finding the net in their ties.
So with the goals raining down in Europe, why has the Premier League goal count seemed to run a little dry in the past few weeks? Will “Paddy Say” that the teams dominating Europe will run on empty this weekend, or will their midweek form translate into goals and cleansheets?
Who Will Keep a Clean Sheet?
- Man United 1.66 (WOL)
- Arsenal 2.10 (NEW)
- Blackburn 2.25 (WIG)
- Sunderland 2.30 (STK)
- Birmingham 2.37 (WHM)
- Fulham 2.40 (AVL)
- Everton 2.50 (blp)
- Chelsea 2.62 (liv)
- Man City 2.87 (wba)
It’s no surprise to see United topping this given the clean sheet last time out against Spurs at Old Trafford and of course, the away form of the visitors that shows just 3 goals scored in their 5 road trips. It’s difficult to see where a Wolves goal will come this weekend, despite the form of Matt Jarvis out wide.
Arsenal are second favourites, although their clean sheet looks far more shaky against a Newcastle side who can carry a significant threat. Kevin Nolan will surely fire in efforts on goal following his hat-trick against Sunderland, while Andy Carroll is the kind of striker who can cause havoc amongst Arsenal’s French backline. Much could depend on whether Chris Hughton goes with a 4-5-1 or keeps faith with 4-4-2, with Shola Ameobi possibly relegated to the bench despite his brace last time out.
After the big pair, you can find mid-price Fantasy prospects amongst the Sunderland, Blackburn and Fulham squads. Paddy ranks them all highly in a Gameweek in which the Liverpool and Chelsea defences pair off at Anfield, while the Everton rearguard faces a test down by the seaside at Blackpool.
Fulham look a very decent proposition. Opponents Villa have gone 343 minutes without a goal and go to Cottage with Nathan Delfouneso leading their attack; not a bad young prospect but you can see Brede Hangeland and Aaron Hughes swallowing him up and holding firm for a home cleanie here.
Anytime Goalscorer
- Hernandez 1.83 (WOL)
- Berbatov 1.83 (WOL)
- Chamakh 2.00 (NEW)
- Bendtner 2.00 (NEW)
- Tevez 2.00 (wba)
- Adebayor 2.00 (wba)
- D Bent 2.10 (STK)
- Fabregas 2.10 (NEW)
- Macheda 2.30 (WOL)
- Walcott 2.30 (NEW)
- Nasri 2.30 (NEW)
- Drogba 2.30 (liv)
- Benjani 2.60 (WIG)
- Saha 2.60 (blp)
- Zigic 2.62 (WHM)
- Torres 2.70 (CHE)
- Yakubu 2.80 (blp)
- T Cahill 2.80 (blp)
- Dempsey 2.87 (AVL)
- Anelka 2.87 (liv)
- Pavlyuchenko 2.87 (bol)
- Crouch 2.87 (bol)
Current man of the moment in Manchester, Javier Hernandez, ‘heads’ the group to score at anytime this week. Although Man United’s goal threat will be diminished by the absence of Nani, it’s safe to say Ferguson has found another talent in Chichurito, and at 7.2 FPL points he’s a bargain that proved too difficult to resist when it came to Mark’s Scout Picks.
Arsenal feature heavily this week against Newcastle, with five entries close to even money. Marouane Chamakh has been the bookies favourite for Wenger’s free scoring side so far this season, however he’s let us down at the Emirates before, so perhaps Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas are more likely to threaten Tim Krul’s goal.
With Carlos Tevez still a doubt, Emmanuel Adebayor could well face West Brom away from home. With under 250 mins played this season, and Man City’s inconsistent away record, Paddy seems to be offering a slightly short price for a striker who has yet to convert goals in Europe to Fantasy points, particularly given that Tevez could still start in a 4-5-1.
Darren Bent also features high on the list and there’s a tinge of inevitability going into his meeting with Stoke at the Stadium of Light. No matter what the circumstances, he seems to find the net to save Steve Bruce’s blushes; it could well be the case again this weekend. Finally, Benjani, Louis Saha and Nikola Zigic are all there or thereabouts this week – interesting that Saha is favoured over Yakubu in the bettting here – we’re not so sure on that one.
Paddy’s Scout Specials
Once again we’ve got a few Fantasy Football Scout special bets to offer you. In the Clean Sheet Accumulator you can get 14/1 on Fulham, Blackburn and Sunderland all keeping clean sheets over the weekend. Our Scout Picks special backs goals for Tim Cahill, Cesc Fabregas and Darren Bent and you can get odds of 12/1 if you feel that they will all score one or more goals this weekend. Finally, in our Fantasy Island Risks you can back the selections of Mark and Granville from this week’s ScoutCasts with odds of 9/1 on goals for Yakubu and Mousa Dembele this week.
Paddy’s Money Back Special
This weekend’s “Money Back” offer visits the Anfield encounter where Paddy will will refund all losing 1st /last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match if Steven Gerrard scores at anytime. Pretty decent.
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