Our Watchlist is almost done for another season, leaving just a couple of updates before Gameweek 38 is upon us. This week’s refresh, unsurprisingly, sees the rankings heavily influenced by the double fixtures in Gameweeks 35 and 36, leading to the re-emergence of some familiar names and one or two risky differentials making a play for our end of season attentions. Check out our current rankings in your right sidebar and read on for talk of the major moves…
Goalkeepers
Brad Friedel climbs to the top of our keeper rankings, with a strong double in Gameweek 36 and kind fixtures falling around this – starting with the trip to QPR this weekend. While Tottenham’s form has faltered badly, Friedel has kept two clean sheets in his last four and conceded just five goals in six. Tottenham remain a tough nut to crack, then, and Friedel is the obvious route to profit for those looking beyond Benoit Assou-Ekotto in defence.
Adam Bogdan’s two double fixtures have him well placed in second. These are desperate times for Owen Coyle’s men and, even without clean sheets, Bogdan should bring in save points to justify a meagre 4.0 outlay in the FPL over the next two Gameweeks.
Both Friedel and Bogdan are options that could carry you through to the final Gameweek. The same can’t quite be said for Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer or Villa’s Shay Given but, in the very short-term, they look strong options. Given has his two home fixtures to come with Alex McLeish surely looking to keep things tight at home to Sunderland and Swansea. Schwarzer, meanwhile, has two attractive home matches sandwiching a double; while clean sheets at Everton and Liverpool look unlikely, the Fulham stopper should bring home decent save point returns from those two match-ups.
Asmir Begovic and Tim Howard are your other two highly ranked double Gameweek offerings. Both have tricky fixtures this coming weekend which seem unlikely to return profit; Gameweek 36 could see clean sheet returns, however, with Begovic slightly favoured on price in our rankings.
This all leaves Michel Vorm suffering a drop down our rankings, although he’s surely likely to be held for the next two Gameweek fixtures with Bolton and Wolves. Swansea’s run-in seems to offer little encouragement, however, with United and Liverpool on the horizon. Wigan’s Ali Al Habsi or the aforementioned Begovic and Friedel look to work well in rotation with Vorm until Gameweek 38.
Defenders
There’s no displacing Jonny Evans and Thomas Vermaelen from the top two spots in our defender rankings, given their current run of form. Below them, however, there’s plenty of movement with double Gameweek assets again coming to the fore.
Stoke’s Robert Huth looks the biggest temptation, simply because a lack of clean sheets could be countered by his threat from set-pieces. Huth has claimed goals in his last two Gameweeks and will fancy his chances with Arsenal and Everton at the Britannia in Gameweek 36.
Villa’s James Collins benefits from an immediate double fixture with home ties with Sunderland and Bolton offering him plenty of clean sheet potential – like Huth, Collins also carries a decent threat from set-plays too. There are, of course, cheaper options in the Villa back four this Gameweek but none quite so secure with the same attacking threat.
Tottenham’s Benoit Assou-Ekotto then completes our top five, holding off Leighton Baines by virtue of a strong fixture this coming weekend. The Cameroonian has continued to be a creative outlet for Harry Redknapp’s side and should profit from a kind Tottenham run-in. Baines, meanwhile, has a slight hamstring injury that could yet rule him out of the Old Trafford trip this weekend. A double of Fulham and Stoke in Gameweek 36 will surely tempt investment once his fitness is no longer an issue – particularly given Everton’s form and their final two fixtures.
Below this there are less attractive options, with Bolton’s David Wheater offering two doubles with a goal threat and Newcastle’s Danny Simpson a solid and reliable source of points. Chelsea’s Gary Cahill should be cleared to feature in the majority of Chelsea’s remaining fixtures, but there is still some doubt given the schedule ahead of Roberto Di Matteo’s side. Despite a decent price tag, we feel there are more secure options elsewhere, regardless of Chelsea double home fixture in Gameweek 36.
Midfielders
Again the top two sit still here. Antonio Valencia and Gylfi Sigurdsson did enough in Gameweek 34 to cement their status with a goal and two assists between them. Below that duo, there’s plenty of activity with both Clint Dempsey and Gareth Bale benefiting from incoming double fixtures. Dempsey’s profit may well come on either side of his Gameweek 36 meetings, however, with Wigan and Sunderland due at the Cottage in Gameweeks 35 and 37.
As for Bale, while his form is dismal, there’s no doubting his potential to fire over Tottenham’s remaining matches, including the double with Blackburn and Bolton. Coverage of Redknapp’s attack looks vital with the Champions League spot still up for grabs; unless you’re finding room for Emmanuel Adebayor amongst your strikers, Bale or the more risky Rafael Van der Vaart, are clearly the options to consider.
Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa has the form to move the Frenchman up our rankings, with an extra fixture to come. This weekend’s home clash with Stoke could well be his most profitable remaining match – so he’s one to target immediately perhaps, rather than wait for the away trips to Wigan and Chelsea.
Lower down the double fixtures bring the likes of Martin Petrov, Juan Mata, Steven Pienaar and Jon Walters into the reckoning. All differentials – Mata looks the most appealing, although like Cahill, he could yet suffer from fatigue and rotation given the schedule in front of him.
Forwards
The top two are clearly under threat here. Arguably, if you were shopping for strikers today, Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney will slip down your list in favour of Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse and Tottenham’s streaky Emmanuel Adebayor. For us, they just hold on from these two on the basis that there’s still motivation and undoubted class that could punish those who lose faith.
The City pairing of Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez are clearly forces on the up and, for those chasing a mini-league deficit, they provide an obvious route to a differential. Both Tevez and Aguero could replace Van Persie and, more likely, Rooney in our squads, offering an immediate chance of profits with the trip to a doomed Wolves outfit this weekend. The potential of the City pairing is much dependent on the clash with United in Gameweek 36, however. Should the title be sealed by a win for United, arguably we’d see profits tail off for City’s remaining fixtures with Newcastle and QPR. In contrast, the likes of Cisse, Adebayor and, indeed, Van Persie, could well have the motivation of the race for Champions League places right up to the final Gameweek.
Should you need a bigger differential, then Peter Crouch could provide an unlikely solution. His fixtures include a double home clash with Arsenal and Everton in Gameweek 36 and, with a Euro 2012 spot still in his sights, he’ll be looking to end the season on a high. Two goals in his last four, with an FPL price tag of just 6.2, suggests he’s an option for those really looking shake up their lineup to close a gap. Villa’s Andreas Weimann is the other risky option – an immediate home double adds to his attraction but Villa’s lack of attacking threat, like Stoke’s, is a concern.
