Win, lose, or draw, Gary Cahill has been racking up the Bonus Points lately, with a haul in four of the last five games. Cahill’s strong performances have seen him blink once more on our Fantasy radar, while simultaneously prompting quotes in the real world about the young international claiming to be ready for a move to a bigger club. Such comments can be a slap in the face to your team-mates and run the risk of internal dissension, but at least for now they appear in Cahill’s case, to reflect a heightened intensity and commitment in every game..
With the recent win over Spurs and draw with Everton, Bolton continue to climb the table, and sit tied for sixth place on sixteen points. While there is still work to be done, the 2010-11 season has been a far cry from last year, when the threat of relegation loomed large. Most of the credit for the turn-around this season is rightfully put down to the increased offensive output led by Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander, but the Bolton defence shouldn’t be overlooked by Fantasy Managers just yet.
Although the only clean sheet of the season thus far came on opening day, Bolton’s back four may be due further consideration given their forthcoming run of fixtures that includes four home games in the next eight outings against Newcastle, Blackpool, Blackburn, and West Brom, as well as an away affair with Wolves this weekend. Setting aside the other three games between now and Boxing Day – away to Everton, Man City, and Sunderland – Bolton could reasonably look to return around three clean sheets during this eight Gameweek period.
Team performance is only half the picture however. Cahill stands out amongst the Bolton defenders precisely because he doesn’t need clean sheets (or even wins) to provide a Fantasy return. Of course, those alternate scoring opportunities always come at a price, and the Fantasy Premier League powers placed a 1.0 premium on Cahill in comparison to teammates Zat Knight, Gretar Steinsson, and Paul Robinson. To date, selecting Cahill over other Bolton defenders hasn’t paid off, as Knight and Steinsson have scored one goal each, while Cahill has yet to find the net. But with 5 goals last season and 3 the season before, Cahill remains a proven attacking threat on set pieces.
Cahill also has stood out during the past several years as the Bolton defender you want for Bonus Points, with 16 in 2009-10 and 19 in 2008-09. Cahill looks primed to blow past those totals this year, and already has 11 from the first 12 games. Indeed, if you set aside the Arsenal game in which he received a straight red, and the two leagues games he subsequently sat out, Cahill has received Bonus in a remarkable 6 of 9 games in which he played the full 90 minutes, including 1 Bonus Point in the draw with Birmingham, 3 Bonus Points in the draw with Everton last night, and 2 Bonus in the loss to Liverpool.
Further to this, he actually represents a fairly decent differential. Cahill’s ownership took a substantial hit following the red card and suspension and then dwindled slowly over time as he has yet to find the net. He is currently owned by just 4.5% of FPL teams.
