Monday’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa not only confirmed Tottenham’s rise into the top three, it also provided further evidence that Harry Redknapp’s attacking options were impossible to ignore in Fantasy terms…
While Rafael Van der Vaart has long since established himself as a key midfield target, Gareth Bale’s form and Emmanuel Adebayor’s return to the scoresheet saw them both promoted in our thinking, as reflected in this week’s Watchlist update.
Our new rankings are viewable in your sidebar as ever. Read on for details of this week’s big moves.
Sunderland’s clean sheet against Fulham heralded a run of favourable fixtures – as outlined by this week’s “Frisking” article. It meant that Keiren Westwood offered immediate rewards to his investors. Steve Bruce spoke earlier this week of how Westwood has seized his opportunity to stake a claim for the number one jersey at the Stadium of Light, suggesting that, even when Simon Mignolet makes a return from his horrific facial injury, the free transfer from Coventry could hold the spot between the sticks. Westwood climbs to our number one spot in the goalkeeper rankings – nudging ahead of this season’s Fantasy success story, Michel Vorm.
Blackburn’s Paul Robinson is the other climber to note in this position. The Rovers stopper earned an unlikely assist in the 3-3 draw at Wigan and, despite picking up a head injury, will be expected to start at Stoke this weekend. Clean sheets remain hard to come by for Blackburn, but Robinson is a supreme shot stopper who should gather save points in the coming weeks. With fixtures also falling his way in the month ahead, Robinson emerges as a viable alternative for a keeper’s spot in our squads.
Leighton Baines was another Watchlist mover to deliver last weekend. The Everton left-back now climbs to the top of our defender rankings, with a favourable run of opponents in front of him and encouraging form on show. We don’t need to spare further words here to describe the benefits he offers in attacking terms.
Man United’s recent improvement in defensive areas was signposted, and with fixtures taking a turn for the better, Phil Jones climbs in our reckoning to the number two spot. On current form, Jones looks assured of his start either at right-back or in a defensive midfield role, and that should offer further profits in the gameweeks to come.
Like Westwood, Sunderland’s Wes Brown benefited from a clean sheet return against Fulham and joins Swansea’s Angel Rangel as a low-to-mid price option to fill our back four positions. Liverpool’s Jose Enrique enjoys a slight climb as fixtures begin to improve, having disposed of the trip to Chelsea – that’s enough to lift the Liverpool man back into our top five.
Significantly, Vincent Kompany drops out – replaced, at last, by Micah Richards. The right-back has now done enough to convince that his place in Roberto Manicini’s lineup is assured. Richards’ five assists so far this term, coupled with his strike in the win over Newcastle, reinforces his case enough to oust the more secure Kompany as the City option. His climb in our rankings is somewhat tempered by a fixture list that has him visit Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in the next four gameweeks. Over the season, however, Richards seems set to establish himself as a key Fantasy property.
Below Richards, it’s worth noting that Ryan Taylor is creeping back into the reckoning as Newcastle come out of their run of difficult opponents. As expected, Alan Pardew’s defence came away from City without profit and, this weekend’s trip to Old Trafford may see that repeated. However, a home clash with Chelsea in gameweek 14 will afford Taylor and colleagues more potential; following that the Magpies have a far more favourable run that will likely see the Newcastle back four reinstalled in our top five defenders. With his significant goal threat, the left-back remains the top Newcastle choice if you can afford the 5.2 outlay.
Rafael Van der Vaart holds the number one ranking in midfield, despite a second consecutive blank against Villa on Monday. He’s joined in the top five by team-mate Gareth Bale, who climbs with outstanding form and strong fixtures. There’s every reason to consider both the Dutchman and Bale right now given those fixtures, also bearing in mind that Spurs have a double fixture to come in gameweek 20.
Arsenal’s Theo Walcott is the big climber, nudging into our top five ahead of Swansea’s Scott Sinclair and Stoke’s Jon Walters. United’s Nani also enjoys a slight rise, despite a drop in form. Nani’s fixtures now improve markedly- that should offer him the platform to return to the kind of form that briefly mirrored last season’s heavy scoring displays.
Up front, another Dutchman reigns supreme. There’s no shifting Robin Van Persie right now as he continues to punish those Fantasy managers yet to acquire his services with a relentless run of goals.
Below the Arsenal man, Emmanuel Adebayor makes the biggest leap following a return to form with his two-goal salvo against Villa. He creeps above both Luis Suarez and Javier Hernandez in our reckoning, with fixtures very much in his favour going into December.
Newcastle’s Demba Ba suffers another slight drop with his Old Trafford date this weekend, but is destined to threaten our top five very soon as his schedule brightens. Below him, Blackburn’s Yakubu presents an intriguing option for those shopping in the low-to-mid price bracket. The Nigerian has both form and fixtures on his side and could go on delivering profit, if he can maintain fitness and starts.
Swansea’s Danny Graham and Norwich City’s Steve Morison are your budget options – with Shane Long of West Brom and Junior Hoilett of Blackburn offering very viable alternatives. The Villa pairing of Gabby Agbonlahor and Darren Bent continue to slide as form and fixtures desert them.
