The Watchlist has had a full refresh just in time for the New Year’s Day programme. You can find these mid-term player recommendation rankings in the usual place – on your frontpage at the foot of your right sidebar.
United’s growing form and confidence has their Fantasy assets on the climb as they share top rankings with neighbours City, their key players – Joe Hart and Carlos Tevez – hold on at the summit of their respective positions as the Manchester clubs dominate…
Hart’s dominance in the Goalkeeper rankings is threatened by a surge from Sunderland’s Craig Gordon; only concerns of injuries in the Black Cats’ rearguard prevents the Scot from topping the table as his form, fixtures and value has him climb to second. Wigan’s Al Habsi – another budget prospect is our highest new entry with strong short-term fixtures and decent form. The likes of Liverpool’s Pepe Reina and Blackpool’s Richard Kingson have their double Gameweeks to thank for their positions – expect further climbs from them as those fixtures become a stronger short-term factor.
City’s Aleksandar Kolarov gets toppled in the Defender rankings thanks to the fierce competition for starts in Roberto Mancini’s back four. United’s Rafael – a seemingly more secure prospect – takes his place with strong form and fixtures and of course exceptional Fantasy Premier League value.
There are an array of climbers below him, with Sunderland’s Phil Bardsley taking up his highest position of the season and Chelsea’s Ashley Cole benefiting from the recent win and clean sheet that suggests that Carlo Ancelotti’s side could make the most of kind fixtures to come.
The Blackpool pairing of Stephen Crainey and Ian Evatt are high new entries with their double fixtures now a factor – they are just so hard to separate in the budget bracket but we’re favouring the left-back – just. More on him and Blackpool’s other assets to come.
The Midfield rankings see little movement at the top with Nani expected to return from a hip injury to justify his placing. Tottenham’s Rafael Van der Vaart could be rested but his huge potential when he plays has him hold firm in second.
The big movers include Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas who, unlike Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin, offers security in the Arsenal midfield – at a price of course. He leads the charge of the midfield heavyweights with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard ranked further down in our thinking – despite Gerrard’s double Gameweeks. The Liverpool skipper will need to show form before he can threaten our top five.
Blackpool’s Charlie Adam is our highest new entry into our top five with his strong fixtures to come. It’s not clear just how many games Ian Holloway will get out of the Scot, but it is likely that Adam will come out of Blackpool’s hectic schedule with returns that will cement his status as a strong value FPL midfield option.
The likes of Florent Malouda and Kevin Nolan enjoy climbs with strong short-term fixtures, while the same can be said of Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson who has shown outstanding form of late, without blinking on the Fantasy radar. Wigan’s Ben Watson is another name to consider in the value bracket – his penalty against Arsenal indicated that he’ll have a role to play from set-pieces while Charles N’Zogbia serves his three-match ban.
Up front, Carlos Tevez maintains top spot despite his recent rest against Villa. United’s Dimitar Berbatov is a strong challenger and Tevez will need to play and return over the next two to maintain his position over the Bulgarian. Newcastle’s Andy Carroll, with decent short-term fixtures, climbs back into our top three as Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba continue to struggle for form. That might change once we know more on the thigh injury that is threatening to rule Carroll out of the trip to Wigan.
Once again Blackpool’s budget assets make an impression here, with Luke Varney and DJ Campbell entering our thoughts as Holloway’s side prepare for 10 fixtures in 7 Gameweeks.
Expect further tweaks to the Watchlist, with those double Gameweeks playing more of an influence, once we have the New Year’s Day fixtures out of the way.
