Just over an hour to go before the door slams shut on another week’s Fantasy tinkering. Time for our Saturday morning sit down with our bookie buddies at Paddy Power – can their odds sway our late late gameweek thinking?
Who Will Keep a Clean Sheet?
- Chelsea 1.72 (WIG)
- Man Utd 2.00 (FUL)
- Tottenham 2.25 (STK)
- Arsenal 2.40 (blp)
- Blackburn 2.40 (BIR)
- Aston Villa 2.50 (NEW)
- Sunderland 2.87 (WBA)
Defeated on home turf in the Champions League in midweek, Chelsea head the Clean Sheet market with by far and away the shortest price this week. Wigan travel to Stamford Bridge with a markedly better defensive record on the road than at home, sporting a reasonable 1.43gca (goals conceded away), but still very much lacking bite going forward, tallying a mere 0.79gsa (goals scored away). David Luiz was ineligible mid-week and will surely return to the Chelsea back four – given Paddy’s odds it’s no surprise to see him enjoying heavy Fantasy investment this week ahead of the double in gameweek 33.
Manchester United welcomed Rio Ferdinand back from his calf injury to keep a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge, but he could well be rested with Chris Smalling drafted in. The former Fulham defender could face off against his former team-mates then, with Paddy ranking Alex Ferguson’s back four as strong options for another shut-out. We’re less than certain here, with Bobby Zamora and Clint Dempsey key threats for the visitors.
Fresh from a Real mauling on Tuesday night, Harry Rednapp will be looking to add to a recent spat of clean-sheets against a travel sick Stoke unit. Michael Dawson will be key to dealing with Rory Delap’s slingshot throws, and, given Stoke’s poor scoring record away from home, Spurs look justified as third favourites in Paddy’s reckoning.
Further down, the value in Fantasy terms can be found via Blackburn at home to Birmingham and Villa hosting Newcastle. Paddy offers them favourable odds, with Chris Samba and Kyle Walker both graced with selection in this week’s Scout Picks.
Anytime Goalscorer
- R Van Persie 1.53 (blp)
- F Torres 1.61 (WIG)
- D Drogba 1.61 (WIG)
- J Hernandez 1.83 (FUL)
- D Berbatov 1.90 (FUL)
- D Bent 1.90 (NEW)
- N Anelka 1.90 (WIG)
- F Lampard 1.90 (WIG)
- M Chamakh 2.00 (blp)
- N Bendtner 2.00 (blp)
- S Kalou 2.10 (WIG)
- S Nasri 2.10 (blp)
- A Arshavin 2.10 (blp)
- C Fabregas 2.30 (blp)
- D Welbeck 2.30 (WBA)
- Asamoah Gyan 2.30 (WBA)
- R van der Vaart 2.37 (STK)
- P Crouch 2.37 (STK)
- D Sturridge 2.40 (WHM)
- Nani 2.40 (FUL)
- T Walcott 2.50 (blp)
- J Defoe 2.60 (STK)
- C Tevez 2.60 (liv)
- R Pavlyuchenko 2.60 (STK)
- J Elmander 2.62 (WHM)
- K Davies 2.62 (WHM)
- F Malouda 2.60 (WIG)
- L Suarez 2.62 (MCY)
- J Elmander 2.70 (WHM)
- K Davies 2.70 (WHM)
- J Beckford 2.75 (EVE)
January and February were golden months for Robin Van Persie in what most players would consider an injury devastated season. For the Dutchman however, it’s business as usual – Fantasy Managers have come to accept his brilliance and brittle limbs in equal measure. Ten of Van Persie’s eleven goals were notched up in a short burst of games, and Paddy have him as a huge favourite to register against the Blackpool defence this weekend.
Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres get close to Van Persie’s odds but, in Fantasy terms, neither is nailed on for starts at home to Wigan. Carlo Ancelotti will surely rest players ahead of the Champions League second leg on Tuesday and Wednesday’s strike pairing are leading contenders.
Some familiar names follow the Chelsea duo. Darren Bent heads them up – he was in the goals again last weekend and should find Newcastle’s 1.53gca record an invitation to continue boosting his late assault on the Golden Boot.
Midfielders Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou join the list a few places down, hovering around the even money mark. Lampard has been snaffling up Fantasy interest this week and heads the likes of Rafael Van der Vaart and Samir Nasri when it comes to Paddy’s midfielder scoring odds.
Switching back to strikers – Paddy rate both Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck over Bolton’s Daniel Sturridge – we’re not sure we agree with that assessment, but there’s no doubt that all three will head into the gameweek as strong scoring prospects.
That trio are fancied above Carlos Tevez and Luis Suarez who come face to face at Anfield on Monday night. If you’re looking for a striker with Fantasy potential and decent odds for a goal however, consider one of “Big Dunc’s Differentials” – Wolves’ Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. Paddy have him at 3.0 for a goal against Everton – that looks tempting with Mick McCarthy set to go with a 4-4-2 and with and in-form Matt Jarvis feeding from the flank.
Paddy’s Scout Specials
Friday night’s “Fantasy Flutter” was packed with Paddy specials based on our Scout Picks selections. You can get a view on the batch of special bets right here. These include the Clean Sheet Accumulator with 8/1 offered on shutouts for Blackburn (vs Birmingham), Spurs (vs Stoke) and Chelsea (vs Wigan) this weekend. Other highlights are odds of 9/1 on Chris Samba scoring a header and 17/2 on a Daniel Sturridge brace against West Ham at the Reebok.
Paddy’s Money Back Special
Paddy takes a trip to Villa Park for this weekend’s refund special. If Darren Bent scores the last goal, Paddy Power will pay back all losing 1st /last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.
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