With Granville swanning off to sunnier shores this week, the Scout Selection Committee was one man light. Us remaining four good souls knocked our heads together in his absence and after much deliberation, bring you the selection for the gameweek ahead. For those of you through to the first round of the Paddy Power Cup, all the best for the weekend:
With a single goal conceded and 11 Fantasy points returned in his two Sunderland starts, we’re opting for Kieren Westwood between the posts. The former Coventry keeper has excelled since an injury to Simone Mignolet afforded him a first-team chance and a home clash with a lacklustre Wigan should hold no fear for the Black Cats.
Phil Jones offers a route into the Man United defence ahead of the Old Trafford encounter with Newcastle. Having started ten of his side’s twelve league games, Jones has proven himself to be an integral part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s side this season, with an adaptability affording him chances either at right-back, centre-half or in a central midfield role. The champions have rediscovered their defensive solidity of late with three clean sheets in a row and look a good bet to continue this tomorrow.
Swansea’s penchant for clean sheets at the Liberty Stadium sees Angel Rangel called up to the picks. The Spaniard will be desperate to atone for his mistake in last week’s narrow defeat at the hands of Man United and, as the most attack-minded member of Brendan Rodgers’ back-four, is the only Swans defender to pick up any assists so far this season. A home clash with Aston Villa allows the Welsh side a chance to return to winning ways in front of their own supporters.
It’s not often we plump for an Arsenal defender but Andre Santos has both the form and fixture to make a persuasive case at home to Fulham tomorrow evening. The Gunners’ last three games have seen the left-back score and pick up bonus on two occasions and at 6.0, is more budget friendly than 6.7 Thomas Vermaelen. Price, again, was the reason why we chose him over Leighton Baines, despite the Everton man’s return to form against Wolves last weekend.
Though he’s been benched on a couple of occasions, it’s noticeable that David Silva has started every away match for Man City so far this season. With City’s previous game against Napoli on Tuesday, there seems little chance of rest required for the crucial trip to Anfield. An average of just over 7 Fantasy points per away game sums up his importance to the league leaders ahead of Sunday afternoon’s showdown.
Last week, we had Gareth Bale pencilled in for the picks until a last minute change of heart saw Rafael Van der Vaart drafted in instead. The Welshman made us regret that decision with his third double figure points haul in a row and with Van der Vaart a doubt for tomorrow’s trip to the Hawthorns, we’re not making the same mistake again.
A home game with Wolves is enough encouragement for us to turn to the old Fantasy faithful that is Frank Lampard. Season after season he is written off but Lampard sits just 3 points behind David Silva as the second-top scoring midfielder, with four double-figure hauls to his name in eleven appearances. The one man in Andre Villas-Boas squad likely to return the Fantasy points tomorrow, he’s second top of the captain’s poll for this weekend.
The final place in midfield was a toss-up between Scott Sinclair and Jonathan Walters and, in the end, the former got the nod, with the Potters man making do with a place on the bench. Similar to Rangel, Sinclair has much to make amends for after his horror miss against Man United last Saturday and given that he’s likely to be up against Alan Hutton on the Swans left flank, should stand a good chance of redemption.
While Wayne Rooney struggles with form and fitness, Javier Hernandez has proved crucial for Man United over the last few games. The Mexican has bagged 3 goals and 7 bonus points in his last five fixtures for a total of 30 points- over the same period, Rooney has returned 11 points in comparison. Though United have reined in their attacking tendencies of late, it’s clearly making no difference to the Fantasy potential of “Little Pea”.
Robin Van Persie. If his 12 goals in the last seven games haven’t tempted you by now, there’s little we can add to persuade you. The Dutchman warmed up for this weekend’s showdown with Fulham by netting twice for Arsenal against Dortmund and clinching the Gunners place in the knockout stages of the Champions League. With the majority of Fantasy managers ready to hand him the armband, Saturday evening’s clash with the Cottagers should make for perfect weekend viewing.
Our faith in Nicklas Bendtner is starting to approach Victor Moses-esque proportions. The big Dane comes head to head with the Latics flier at the Stadium of Light tomorrow and given Wigan’s dire form on the road, we’ve just got to give good old Nicklas one last roll of the dice.
