Men in Black – Gameweek Thirty Five

With the eleven fixtures of Gameweek 35 set out before us and referees picked for each one on Monday, a glance down the list shows they’ve handed us the dream start to the weekend’s play…

Mike Dean

Fresh from his (and my own) week off on these pages, the league’s most-used referee has been handed the Saturday headliner to kick off our Fantasy fare. Following his six penalties awarded in eight league games from the turn of the year, Dean has found himself in a bit of a lean patch lately, with no spot-kicks in his last three, but his presence at the Emirates for the Arsenal v Chelsea lunchtime encounter could well break that run.

Neither side will be looking too keenly at his appointment in that respect, though, as both have been on the receiving end of his decisions in recent months. Arsenal conceded a debatable penalty to Gareth Bale’s theatrical fall early in their February North London triumph, while Chelsea also fell foul a month later when Michael Essien’s handball was deemed deliberate enough to spark a Manchester City fightback. The ever eager Frank Lampard is likely to step up for Chelsea, while Robin van Persie may again get a chance to ape one of the great footballing moments, after his coolly taken chipped spot-kick in the recent win at Wolves.

Lee Mason

Mason’s nine penalties awarded in 21 games, with three in his previous five including the Ashley Young/Shaun Derry debacle in his last appearance, are only bettered by the aforementioned Dean. So, with the plum fixture as resurgent Manchester City visit Molineux to face bottom club Wolves, it’s no surprise to see him picked out for potential profit.

Roberto Mancini’s men sit alongside Blackburn Rovers in second place when it comes to penalty awards (eight), with only their city rivals United awarded more spot kicks this season, with 11 so far. The visitors’ Argentine strike force will be itching to step up given the chance. While Carlos Tevez was the penalty king last season, his early season miss, followed by the much publicised absence has seen Sergio Agüero and Mario Balotelli share the duties with three successful penalties each and, with the Italian sidelined with suspension, it’s likely that Aguero would be the man tasked with spot-kick duties should Mason have the urge.

Phil Dowd

Completing the heavyweight trio this week, it’s Mr Dowd’s officiating of Bolton’s home clash with Swansea that jumps out as a prospect. Alongside Lee Mason, Phil Dowd also has nine penalties to his name this season and is fourth in terms of average awards, with 0.36 per game. Earlier this week, he was confirmed as the man in charge for this season’s FA Cup Final, suggesting he will no longer rein in his extravagant tendencies – we’re therefore backing a break from his record of just a single penalty in the last eight games. Add that to his season- leading yellow card total (just a couple of cards short of a century) and there’s quite possibly a game-changing moment in the offing in this one.

Double gameweek target Martin Petrov took, and scored, the last penalty Bolton were awarded, so seems in line to continue those duties, while Swansea winger Scott Sinclair could steal the limelight from his Icelandic teammate Gylfi Sigurdsson, if given the chance for the visitors.

Just one note of caution though. Of the nine penalties Dowd has awarded in the league this season, a massive six of them have not been converted: you have been warned.