With over 3000 votes in the Captain Poll so far, we have ourselves a clear two-horse race. As Arsenal prepare to face Wolves and Stoke in their own backyard, it’s not too surprising to see the in-bloom crystal-limbed Robin Van Persie vying with his silver-tongued skipper, Cesc Fabregas, at the top.
We all know the positives and negatives surrounding this pairing – there’s really no need to tread old ground already covered in wonderful depth by Mark. Instead we’re going to highlight a few of the “differentials” you may just want to take a punt on. Glancing at the contenders, perhaps this week really should have more runners and riders…
Theo Walcott
Little Theo was often a hot topic of footballing debate in the summer, with pundits and fans alike. Left out of the World Cup squad and accused by Chris Waddle of “not having a footballing brain” – I’ll hold my hand up and say I was inclined to agree. A summer’s break and some hot performances later, and I’ll gladly proclaim that, regardless of whether Theo’s brain is made for football, brick-laying or quantum mechanics, the lad is getting results on the field. In the end, that’s all that matters.
Sir Paulos went into great detail to investigate all things Walcott just a couple of weeks ago and not much has changed since. Walcott has an 8.5 points per game average in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) in all games started so, if you think he’ll be on the teamsheet versus Wolves and Stoke, the odds are certainly in favour that he could return strongly.
Peter Odemwingie
West Brom have picked up just four points from their last 9 fixtures, they’ve just sacked Roberto Di Matteo and appointed Roy Hodgson and Odemwingie will be out to impress as a result.
While Chris Brunt has gone off the boil after a grand start to the season, the Nigerian remains the key attacking threat. His performances have seen him pick up 9 goals to date, 7 of them in home matches, and he has duly set himself the target of 15 before the season is out. West Brom welcome West Ham and Wolves to The Hawthorns in the Gameweek, so the chances of getting closer to that target look good. Holding spot-kick duties with Brunt and Graham Dorrans breathing down his neck may not be possible after his most recent miss, but if he does keep them, it will be an extra string to his bow to add to his propensity to catch the eye of the Bonus judges.
Charlie Adam
It took him 25 weeks to score his first goal from open play and yet he is still the third highest scoring midfielder in FPL this season – just imagine his output if he starts finding the net with regularity. Little needs be said about Charlie Adam that hasn’t already been covered – he is an “obvious” pick for any Fantasy squad as he dominates all of the Blackpool set-pieces and is the biggest Bonus Point darling since Cesc Fabregas picked up 54 of them in the 2006/07 season. That’s a total that Adam could very well surpass this season.
There is of course the worry he might pick up his 10th yellow card. The FA and Blackpool have confirmed to us that Adam is currently walking a 2-game suspension tightrope. The assumption is that the FPL awarded Gary Taylor-Fletcher (right team, wrong balding stout guy) a yellow card erroneously in Gameweek 22. This means that Adam could miss his second fixture, but with Aston Villa and Spurs at Bloomfield Road, it wouldn’t surprise if Adam picks up a minimum of 10 points should he avoid the booking against Villa.
Those are your “realistic differentials”, but if you really want to dig deeper into the barrel, there are some further alternatives that deserve a glance. Jermain Defoe doesn’t have a goal to his name this season but faces Sunderland and, more importantly, a faltering Blackpool – maybe those games will kick-start his season like the Hull and Wigan fixtures did last year. Robert Huth is now Stoke’s top league goalscorer (a bit of a sad indictment, certainly), so while he continues to scare the wits out of defences from every set-piece and throw, he warrants attention. His second fixture is at the Emirates however, so investors could well be relying on further attacking returns.
Roger Johnson and Liam Ridgewell are defenders of a similar vein. These two are a menace at set-pieces; tie that to the potential clean sheets at home to Stoke and Newcastle and the Brum pair look decent options. Those willing to forget the Mark Schwarzer tragedy of 2009 may stake their reputation on goalkeeper Ben Foster, while David Bentley and Craig Gardner offer attacking threat and share the various set-piece taking spoils.
Newcastle’s squad offers a couple of options, with Kevin Nolan, lest we forget, the Premier League’s joint top scoring midfielder.Joey Barton meanwhile, now seems to have a set-piece taking monopoly in his Bonus point boosted armoury.
Then there’s still room for Fantasy Favourites without double headers this week. Carlos Tevez will be taking the short trip back to old club United this week while Wayne Rooney will be playing host as both look to be the difference maker. Luis Suarez should make his first home start against Wigan – a potentially obliging fixture for the Uruguayan. Raul Meireles with his four goals in five games as support striker has the form going into said fixture too.
…Or you could just captain Robin Van Persie or Cesc Fabregas.
Whoever you end up deciding to give your armband to, make sure you head back to the front page and place your bets on the poll in the middle column, then hot-step your way back here and let us know your choice.
