Gameweek 35 offers Fantasy managers an appetite-whetting hors d’oeuvres of double Gameweeks prior to next week’s main course. Aston Villa (SUN, BOL) and Bolton (SWA, avl) are the happy beneficiaries this time out and, following on from Jonty’s look at Bolton’s Fantasy assets, we now turn our attention to the runners and riders from the Villa squad…

There’s no disguising the fact that it’s been a decidedly humdrum season for Aston Villa. Alex McLeish’s unromantic ethos has won few admirers amongst a fanbase uncharitably disposed towards a man who won his spurs at the head of bitter rivals Birmingham but, with their top-flight survival likely secured for another season, the Holte End seem to have acquiesced in an uneasy ceasefire with their safety-conscious boss.

Long term injuries to Darren Bent and Richard Dunne haven’t helped the Villa cause and, with marquee signing Charles N’Zogbia failing to blossom within the dogmatic confines of a McLeish midfield, the flaccid forays of Villa’s vanguard have too often failed to compensate for the frailties of their depleted defence.

Early-season spurts of productivity from Gabby Agbonlahor and Darren Bent aside, there hasn’t been much for Fantasy managers to get excited about. McLeish’s reputation for defensive solidity has been coyly reluctant to exhibit itself in claret and blue for much of the campaign but, with Sunderland goalless in their last three games, and Bolton goalless in their last two, a rare clean sheet is not beyond the realms of possibility over the course of the Gameweek.

In attack there are grounds for optimism too; Bolton haven’t recorded a clean sheet on the road since Gameweek 1 and have shipped seven goals in their last three games, two of those coming against hapless Wolves. Sunderland have been difficult to break down at home, boasting six clean sheets at the Stadium of Light in 2012, but they remain prone to catastrophe on the road – shipping four goals away to both Everton and West Brom in recent weeks.

The Likely Lads

James Collins has strolled over the 100 point mark for the last two seasons, and is on course to repeat the feat despite the absence of his regular accomplice Richard Dunne. A total of six goals in almost three seasons at Villa Park somewhat belies the efficacy of his aerial threat and, with Dunne still sidelined, he’ll be the prime target from corners and indirect free kicks. Priced at 5.3 he can’t be described as cheap, but for your money you get guaranteed starts, goal threat, and often enough blocks and clearances to rack up a decent PPI, as his 12 bonus points this season attest.

The alternative option for those looking for assured defensive starts is stopper Shay Given. Priced at 4.7, he weighs in at the cheaper end of the goalkeeping spectrum, and were it not for a six-week absence through injury, he would likely be inside the top ten for save points. Unglamourous at the best of times, goalkeeper transfers are more unfashionable still at the business end of the season, but Given presents a viable option.

Injuries and illness have condemned Carlos Cuellar to a frustratingly stop-start season. Returning to the fold in February he proved himself a more than able deputy for Dunne in the centre of defence, racking up two clean sheets, an assist, and a jaw- dropping eight bonus points in just three Gameweeks. Promptly succumbing to yet another injury, 4.8 priced Cuellar hasn’t featured in Villa’s last four games and, although he merely warmed the bench for their ill-fated trip to Old Trafford last weekend, his manager revealed earlier today that the Spaniard is now fully fit and pushing for a first-team start.

Recalled from a loan spell at Leeds in January, Eric Lichaj has been deputising at fullback through Villa’s recent spate of injuries. Announcing his return to the starting lineup in style, Lichaj bagged a goal and an assist against Chelsea on March 31st, and has played every minute of every game since. With question marks around Stephen Warnock’s fitness, and the possibility that McLeish will use Warnock at left midfield if available, it looks likely that Lichaj will continue to feature at left back for the time being. Priced at 4.0, Lichaj could present an interesting makeweight option for Fantasy managers looking to capitalise on Villa’s double whilst freeing up funds in preparation for the Gameweek 36.

Surplus to requirements following the big money takeover of Manchester City, Stephen Ireland headed south in search of first team football at Aston Villa in the summer of 2010, littering the M6 with sour grapes upon his unhappy departure. Quickly falling out of favour with then-manager Gerard Houllier, an injury-ravaged loan spell at Newcastle and a bench warming brief in the early days of McLeish’s tenure must have come as a bitter disappointment to a player who racked up a massive 160 FPL points in the 2008/09 season.

With injuries forcing McLeish’s hand in recent months, Ireland has been given a new lease of life at the forward tip of a make-do-and-mend midfield. Priced at 5.2 and boasting just one assist since January, it isn’t surprising that Ireland’s ownership is under 1%, but he has shown in the past that he is capable of big returns when let off the leash, and may attract investment from those with a taste for high stakes.

Gabby Agbonlahor’s season has rather fizzled out after an explosive start that saw him riding high on 67 points after Gameweek 11. With no goals or assists in 2012 it is a testament to Villa’s lacklustre campaign that he is still comfortably their top FPL points scorer. With the exception of an injury hit 2010/11 season, Agbonlahor has a remarkably consistent FPL record – registering between 144 and 158 points every season since FPL began. Currently on 106 points, he’s got a bit of catching up to do if he plans on maintaining that record.

With fit strikers who aren’t Emile Heskey thin on the ground at Villa Park, long time understudy and serial Watford loanee Andreas Weimann has been thrown in at the deep end as the campaign enters its final straight. Scoring the winner in a 20 minute sub appearance against Fulham on March 10, Weimann has now started three of the last four – picking up three bonus points for his peach of goal against Stoke, and battling manfully, if fruitlessly, against Chelsea and United. McLeish is clearly enamoured with the young Austrian and, with a starting berth seemingly secure for the immediate future, he represents an interesting budget option at 5.0.

Cheeky Punt

Charles N’Zogbia’s summer move hasn’t particularly panned out the way McLeish, or Fantasy managers, had hoped for. A potent source of Fantasy points over the previous couple of seasons, the Frenchman flourished at the DW under the guidance of Roberto Martinez but he’s failed to spark for the Villians, with McLeish somewhat critical of his negligible work-rate. While injuries have scuppered the second half of his season – N’Zogbia has started just six times since Gameweek 19 – it’s worth noting that he has returned attacking points in four of those first-team appearances; a hint that he has, perhaps, managed to adapt to McLeish’s more stringent style of play. N’Zogbia has been afforded a brief couple of sub appearances in the last two Gameweeks as he works his way back from a knee injury and, with his manager admitting the player is now fully fit, the 6.6 priced winger may have a more prominent say in the final few Gameweeks of the season as McLeish attempts to engineer a scramble to safety and appease the embittered Villa fans.