With Gameweek 21 done and dusted, we dig deep into the data in our regular Sunday evening article. A trio of in-form midfielders at Arsenal, Man City and Swansea are amongst tonight’s topics, whilst we also assess United’s alarming attack, Burnley’s raiding right-back and the main men for West Brom and Palace as Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew kick-start their respective stints at the helm with a victory.
A
Think A got better balance but tempted on b)
A
A
B. Forget about the 5th mi.
Oh wait missed out Chadli...A.
Afternoon dz. I'm in puntsville for the next 2 weeks
Which do you like better? (Its 2 weeks of differentials)
A) Carroll (HUL) + Eriksen (SUN) + giroud (AVL) + Sterling (WHU) + Austin (sto)
B) carroll (HUL) + eriksen (SUN) + adm (LEI) + Sterling (WHU) + austin (sto)
B) Rooney (qpr) + Downing (HUL) + rooney (LEI) + sterling (WHU) + johnson (BUR) / Tadic (SWA)
C) rooney (qpr) + Downing (HUL) + rooney (LEI) + adm (LEI) + Austin (sto)
3rd
Thanks
The last one
Good to go?
Forster
Hutton - Terry - Lescott
Hazard - Di Maria - Sanchez - Fabregas
Aguero - Kane - Ings
Just did van Persie (one week punt) to Aguero on FT.Very good team, good to go!
A) Foster + Krul + PVA ..... (0.0 ITB)
B) Panti + Hamer + Wisdom ..... (0.3 ITB)
Rest of defenders are: Terry, Bertrand, Clyne, Hutton
Thanks in advance 🙂a
Top 3 Highest Scoring Forwards
1. Austin! 107
2. Aguero 106
3. Costa 103
~
Top 3 Forwards for PpG (Points per game)
1. Aguero 6.6
2. Costa 5.7
3. Austin 5.6
~
Costa may not be good value, but he gets you points.11.2 sucks in value, rather have fabregas at 9.7
Austin is beginning to annoy me. Why can't just someone buy him so he isn't the centre of everything QPR do?
Yeah he got decent points in the first 4 GWs. Not so much since his conversion rate etc has dropped to a sustainable level.
Fair enough. When you consider upside though, Costa is the only player that can come close to Kun. Should have a hat-trick at the weekend.
I'm not sure it's that cut-and-dry though. Austin already has a hat-trick this season and as you say is at the heart of everything QPR do. No doubting Chelsea's upside is far far higher than QPR's but there are a lot of players with fingers in that pie.
Reminds me of that dude's cake theory 😆
That was classic 😆
Fair point. One haul and will start to look different though.
There is strong case for that being your front 3 but we all want a piece of harry kane dont we so surely looking at that its costa who should make way based on austin being 3.8m cheaper
You doubling on Spurs attack with Chadli and Kane?
Just kane
Likely mf of haz, sanchez, fab, adm
Kane at 6.7 since nailing a starting spot (5.2 overall)
I made a massive blunder getting Bony ahead of Kane when Aguero got injured.
I'm expected a big decline in his form. He has a smaller sample than the rest. I doubt he'll keep up Aguero rates 😀
Great weekend for Chelsea fans finally 🙂
Do you think mourinho will play with mikel+matic more often?
Ramires should come into the picture more now, rather than Sir John Obi. All this could change of course if we buy a quality CM or AM, which is likely if Andre leaves for the rumored amount of 30m euros 😯
Must be tough supporting a multi-billionaires play thing playing champions league each season
Haha. We've come a long way from finishing 6th in the league, so let us have our moment.
RMWCT draft - this is one with terry out fab in
Panti, Hamer
Fonte, Gardos, PVA, Wisdom, Wasi
Haz, Sanchez, Fab, ADM, Albrighton (not sure)
Costa, Aguero, Kane
Tempted to go all out on midfield...
Pantilimon (Hamer)
Terry - Bertrand - Wisdom (PVA - Wasilewski)
Sanchez - Hazard - Fabregas - Di Maria - Silva
Aguero - Kane (Zamora)
I know, the bench isn't up to much, but that XI looks pretty tasty to me!
1 extra big mid just ruins so much
Hmm, maybe...
don't invest in ADM Fab and Silva too much in the expense of your forward and bench imo , there are plenty of other good options
a) Fab* Haz-Sanchez-Silva-Downing
b) ADM* Haz-Sanchez-Silva-Downing
(no Costa)
Cesc. If I was bringing in ADM there it would be for Silva.
cheers !
With 18 games remaining, how do you see the top 5 and bottom 3 panning out?
*17 games now already till the boredom of summer creeps in.
Leicester and qpr get relegated. Arsenal 3rd, Man Utd 4th, Spurs 5th
Chelsea
City
Arsenal
United
Southampton
Villa
Burnley
Leicester
Its hard to look past this tbh. I also think Saints will hold Spurs and Pool off
City
Chelsea
Arsenal
Utd
Sunderland
Hull
LeicesterI hope Hull go down too. They've added nothing to the league.
Same as I thought before the season began. Top 2; Chelsea and City in either order. 3rd/4th; Manure and Arse in either order. 5th; Southampton or Liverpool.
Bottom 3; Hull are in real trouble but I still think it will be Leicester, QPR, Burnley. QPR are the most likely of those three to escape because they do have goals in the team.
City
Chelsea
Arsenal
ManU
Southampton
CPalace
Burnley
Leicester
Morning DZ, whatcha reckon looks best here?
Bank 1.4m, 2 FT. Wildcarding next week.
D) removes the benching headache and gets Kun, but my defence is in tatters. RMT tool says A.
A) Debuchy & Chambers -> Cresswell & Jags
B) Debuchy & Chambers -> Baines & Wailewski
C) Debuchy & Austin -> Baines & Ings
D) Silva & Austin -> 4.4m fodder & Aguero
Hart
Terry, Hutton, Wisdom
Sanchez, Hazard, Silva, Eriksen, Downing
Costa, Kane
Elliot, Austin, Debuchy, ChambersSeems strange if have kept Chambers this long aswell to keep noe Debuchy injured
only didnt play 2day due to illness sure be bck in starting 11 next weekDefence is ok for this gameweek. Most teams have a chance to concede.
So DSeems like quite a risk though - Austin at home is decent, Silva playing in the hole at home and being forced to play Wisdom and Hutton (with tough fixtures), all to get Kun in for a game he may only play 60 minutes of.
Just get rid of costa, he has quite a hard fixture. And you can help your defence
I actually like the look of C) Jinswick. Baines and Ings are two players who could both deliver good differential points thsi week. A perfect pre-WC punt.
Cheers AB. Leaves me with quite a benching headache though - Downing to the bench?!
Oooo , I see what you mean - that really is a benching headache! I was all primed to type that 'there is no way you should bench Downing'...but yeah with that particular squad you're probably right.
Given how strong your front 7 is, maybe RMT is right (if somewhat dull)?
- Di Maria - The Fallen Angel
I am amazed that people are still getting ADM. He proved his worth against Southampton. Stay well clear
Amen.
Southampton defended extremely well. The guy will get points against QPR and Leicester imo!
Just like Kane and Austin provide better value in attack. Downing and Siggy do the same in midfield.
Same with Chadlii. I'd rather have 2 of those mid priced mids + Sanchez and Hazard.
Southampton are about 10 times better defence than QPR and Leicester though.
Too much emphasis on fixtures and not enough emphasis on ADM as a good FPL player. Fixtures are blinding people
He was my tactic at gw 8. I knew he couldn't shoot, so most teams above me had 10m invested in him.
Just back from injury and playing against a defensively strong team.
Think it's worth giving him a shot given his fixtures and his (relatively) low price. Plus it's easy to downgrade him if things go wrong.he's very poor agreed..perhaps the fixtures + advanced position + still has qualities in him..
United need to have 2 proper strikers up front. Having ADM so central and advanced was not good.
Those fixtures though...!!
I'm even considering transferring him out in UFPL.
Done my mock 12 transfers & don't need the money so he stays in mine.... probably.
Watched The Sanchez replay later - you were right. 🙂
(But physics ain't simples)Yeah, I haven't taken a good look at it yet myself. Depends on who I prefer and how many of ADM, Sterling, Walcott, Silva etc I want.
That last statement sure is true! 🙂And may I just say I'm VERY glad I did Ramsey –> Sanchez(c) as one of my 3 this week.
Took me up about 300 places single-handedly.
United seem too unpredictable in terms of form and also team selection to rely on any player. RVP, Falcao, Rooney, ADM, Mata, Herrera, Fellaini... who knows where their attacking points will fall. I have none now and won't after wildcard either.
Absolutely agree. Their fantasy assets are falling victim to LVG's philosophy.
*filoshofee
😀
I think lvg should let the midfielders make the assists and the strikers shoot. It's the other way around for man u at the moment. The dire amount of shots falcao/rvp and rooney have had each is poor.
Strikers need around 4 chances per game. Falcao has about 1 or 2And this is it. Why would ADM get amongst most of the points with all the quality around him. United don't score many goals and there are too many goal scorers and assisters that ADM will simply be crowded out of the points.
I don't agree with that Ryan, playing with quality players helps you score points, do you think Di María would score more points if he were playing for Leicester?
You've also contradicted yourself by stating that United have lots of goal scorers and assisters, and at the same time that they won't score many goals. Very weird.
Di María isn't a great season long pick, I get it and I agree, but for the next two fixtures and being able to take him out your team on the wildcard, he's a great option.For a short term punt Before a WC is more understandable. To bring him in on a WC isn't because IMO it's a transfer waiting to happen.
You also seem confused about my point on United goal scorers. It's quite simple so let me explain it to you. United have a number of players capable of getting goals/assists. Despite that United aren't scoring too many because they aren't showing much form despite the talent at their disposal. If United score 2 goals there are numerous players who could be involved, eg RVP, Rooney, Falcao, Mata, Herrera, Fellaini, ADM. So what are the chances of ADM being the shinning light and getting all the points?
Southampton proved their worth against him IMO. Running at QPR, Leicester and Burnley in the next four, shooting passing and crossing from everywhere is bound to result in 'flukey' points.
His stats are appalling. He might get the odd assist but I wouldn't count on him scoring the goals for United.
Sanchez and didn't do much against them either. Not saying Di Maria is as good an option as Sanchez just pointing out that Southampton are good at stopping people play like they do against others.
To be fair most were only punting because of the fixtures, upcoming wildcard and spare cash. He's been playing quite advanced as well.
I saw many RMWCT with him in it. I'm only guessing so because he is a famous United player and nothing else? He overperformed his stats earlier in the season. It was never sustainable
Di Maria came in for a bit of criticism here after yesterday's game. Perhaps it wasn't the most polished performance but it was his first 70mins back from injury.
In his Utd debut (GW3) he played 70mins against Burnley and blanked. Then he got a goal & assist in each of the next two fixtures against QPR & Leicester. I wouldn't back against him doing that again and he'll be given the chance - those are his next two fixtures.
"I normally have nothing but praise for this site but today I was quote disappointed upon reading the hot topic "Di Maria- The Fallen Angel." To summarise it was about how awful Di Maria was and that you shouldn't touch him with a barge pole. This is utterly ridiculous as he has only played one game after an injury and this game was against one of the best defences in the league. It wouldn't bother me if a member wrote this but it was written by a mod. Mods are supposed the public face of the websites management, and pretty much all of them are brilliant. So is it really a good thing the a mod is writing so irrationally, possibly influencing less experienced players? No not really. Yes this is a small thing but people remember bad things more than the good especially when coming to renew their memberships. And before anyone says yes I know that hot topics are supposed to cause discussion but this was written in very one-sided fashion with little view to the rational side of things, unlike most of the other hot topics.
From someone who thinks that this side is brilliant and who only wants to help it improve even more."
Presumably hot topic because of the shear number of responses rather than the initial post.
I wasn't so sure, it seems ridiculous. I've seen many things with more responses than this which aren't hot topics.
Everything is opinion. Trust noone
I think the fact that it has generated debate shows it is a worthy hot topic. Ryan has presented a controversial statement. People are debating it and the ensuing conversation raises lots of great points about Di Maria, both in favour and against drafting him in.
I hot topiced this after just a few comments as I thought it was incendiary enough to generate more debate - which is exactly what happened. 🙂
For what its worth my view is that Di Maria is still very much on the radar, especially as the furthest forward of ManU's players last weekend. But his performance against Southampton did show an all too common trait among forward placed midfielders - they are not that great at scoring. If they were they'd be strikers. We've seen it from Sterling and Silva at times as well. I'd like to see ADM doing what he does best - supplying strikers. Problem is that ManU's best striker is in decline (RVP), their second best is out of favour (Falcao) and their third best is playing as a central midfielder (Rooney).Thanks Jonty. I would loath to hot topic myself
Saints > Angels
The Leicester game is tempting thoughWow, this is a "hot topic"?
JeezIt's a topic yes. A long post no. IMO the wave of support for ADM last week was completely unjustified. Time will tell if he can reward his owners in the upcoming fixtures and I firmly believe he could disappoint. It's not to say he will but his stats and Uniteds poor form doesn't bode well. My main problem with United right now is that no one has put their hand up as the main offensive weapon in the team
I'd like to add that we shouldn't read too much into any player blanking against Southampton. It seems it requires something special from a special player to breach them, like Hazard's bit of individual brilliance for his goal. But Angel has the quality - I think on another day he could've made the difference.
Why did people buy him before the Saints game then? surely peoe were expecting too much from him. It's not a good start.
Mainly because Sterling was gonna be out and i were already gonna get him after the Saints game so just decided to get him in earlier instead. Same for several others.
Yep that logic is fine. I did the same thing with Bony and Aguero last week. We'll see how things go but United need to improve in the upcoming games.
Personally speaking, I was wildcarding anyway. But yes a lot probably did the swap for Sterling. Hope ADM can take advantage of the good fixture run now.
(c) Di Maria this week. Differential points come at me
*Cries self to sleep watching Kane go huge*
ADM v QPR (H) - 14 points
v LEI (a) - 11 points
His value is as low as it has been. He took up central positions often further ahead of RVP against Southampton. Expect this will continue with RVP having a slight injury, Falcao being used sparingly and Rooney playing in midfield. For these reasons, he's a very good option IMO.But still a punt IMO. You are putting faith in his ability as a striker (dodgy to say the least) and you are getting a player yet to show some form in a team out of form. It's a punt no two ways about it.
Man Utd showed plenty of form prior to the game on Sunday, a game in which neither side played well. Is it that big a punt to assume ADM will recpature league form following his return from injury? I don't think it is but given the fixtures it's a punt worth taking. I assume there'll be plenty of people more interested in him given his forward positioning, the likes of Sanchez and Chadli have done serious damage this season from taking up advanced positions. ADM has shown he can score goals.
Thoughts on this WC draft?
Pantillimon ~ Hamer
Bertrand ~ Clyne ~ Baird ~ PvA ~ Walisghuierjski
Sanchez ~ Hazard ~ Di Maria ~ Chadli ~ Boyd
Aguero ~ Costa ~ AustinNice Kun - Costa team.
Would like to see Terry in there.I'd have to lose both Bertrand and Clyne for that. Not sure I would tbh.
Definitely not then.
Nice. Same front 8 as me, on WC too. As Rupert says, maybe Terry in and one of Bert/ Clyne -> Gardos maybe?
Depends how long Toby is out for.
Guzan (McCarthy)
Zaba terry wisdom dummett Hutton
Sanchez hazard silva downing Boyd
Costa Austin kane
1 week punt needed with 5.8ITB (can't afford kun)
Thoughts lads?Baines v WBA? Cresswell v Hull?
I like it. Sir Leighton owes me. Thanks Ruth
Wonder how long Costa can go before he gets his 2 game ban?
Maybe 45/6 GWs?*5/6
5 games without a yellow. Signs of less thuggishness?
Maybe, yeah.
4 out of his 7 YC were based on his reputation. Some other player did much worse and still got away with that. Away fans try to put pressure on referee to book him on every foul he makes just because his previous history.
A green after 6 reds. uuurgh, that was a painful Christmas.
I hear you buddy, undid 7 weeks with one bad transfer on boxing day. As you can see I still cant let it go.... 🙂
Same here. After Kun injured, I went from donkey Dzeko (immediately injured) to donkey Giroud (captained, red card). Rotated Azpi and 0 point Zabaleta.... finally 82 points (in spite of Haz (c) fail) this week. First green in months.
I'm interested in a neutral opinion as opposed to the self serving fan sites im reading whilst im supposed to be working........
Does this mornings result make Saints viable champions league prospects this season?
Or does it say more about UTD not being the real deal?Both.
I reckon they are a force to be reckoned with, it will be tough of course but their in with a shout providing Transfer window doesn't rock them.
A bit of both. Saints aren't champions league material, they can defend but they don't attack well enough.
Man united are still a work in progressI agree we need to be more clinical up front. we've turned into George Grahams Arsenal teams 1-0 to the saints......
A bit of both probably. United have been riding their luck for a long time recently. Saints are just so well organised though.
Billy I agree re UTD and expect arsenal to climb into a CL place in the next few game weeks (city will be a test obviously). However I still don't know how UTD beat us a few weeks back, we battered them, they've looked less than convincing for a while......
That's what I mean re riding their luck. You dominated that game yet a couple of gifts and they won. Same with Arsenal around that time as well, just their inept finishing then naive tactics handed them the 3 points. They've been living on oppositions gifting them goals for a while now.
Ridiculous considering the attacking talent they have on the pitch...
Was a fantastic away performance, no doubt. United were poor but all credit to Saints.
*excuse the bland Jamie Redknapp-like punditry 🙂haha I thought it was a top top comment.
More United not being quite there yet. Southampton showed the credentials when they beat Arsenal and drew with Chelsea.
Everton, CPalace, Chelsea, Arsenal & ManU - 4 wins & a draw. They have it them regardless of how the other teams play..
With the results you've been getting against the top 5, I think Saints deserve Champions League. United have been really fortunate thus far. With a little bit of luck, it could happen.
saint are viable,but will come short imo and united are sh*t atm
I've come a long way since GW 8, dropped a whole 10 places in fact.
Would you rather have Costa or Fab?
Fab. Will score roughly the same points + he's 1.5 cheaper. Especially if you have Haz too.
Costa for me.
Fab will never score you goals.
Costa. He score one goal so often, it will just take one swing of his leg for a brace and a 13 pointer. That's what I keep telling myself anyway.
Thoughts on potential WC team + lineup
Heaton - (Panti)
Terry - Bert - Hutton - (Wisdom - Wasil)
Sanchez - Haz(c) - Boyd - Fab - (Chadli)
Kane - Crouch(2 wk punt) - Aguero
1.1itb.Bojan instead of Crouch. Rest is ok.
Crouch is on pens ?
Crouch to WBA is a strong rumour.Downgrade Heaton and upgrade Wasil to Clyne if you can
I like Crouch punt 😀
Next gwk only best:
1.downing HULL
2.ADM qprDowning.
thats what i also think. i added adm for wc but think ill drop him fr downing for 1 gm
adm 1000%
Continuous reds, 3 in a row.
Had to wildcard.
Any suggestions ?
Ospina - Hamer
Clyne - Terry - Hutton - Wisdom - PVA
Haz - Silva - ADM - Sanchez - Boyd
Kun - Austin - KaneHenry will be on the Sky panel analysing Aguero(c)'s hattrick next weekend. Nice.
Had to reply to that Ruth NZ user, so rude. 😛
I'm worried I won't like henry anymore when he starts punditry. He will smirk too much and try to sound too intelligent
true, its very annoying when a pundit is intelligent and doesnt come down to the level of his audience.
He did a few CL games before, he was very good imo. And this is coming from an Irishman. 😡
He exudes that french arrogance.
RMWCT:
Guzan (Hamer)
Terry, Bertrand, Trippier (wisdom, Wasilewski)
Haz, Fab, ADM, Sanchez (Boyd)
Kun, Kane, Ings
Thanks in advance.template, which is good
thanks
Tempted to go all out attack with WC team:
Foster (Myhill)
Baird - Cameron - PVA (Wasi - Dawson)
ADM - Silva - Sanchez - Hazard (Boyd)
Aguero - Costa - Kane/Ings
I know the defence is weak, but will the attacking returns make up for it?
Thats pretty much my team, wc last week, and doing ok at then moment. I managed to squeeze Terry in
you have Silva, i have Siggy (could be Chadli)
I have Terry over your Cameron
You'll be pissed if it doesn't pay off, but it might just work.
Who do you think will score more?
A) Costa and any midfielder up to 8m
B) Fabregas and Silva.costa and chadli
A) I have a feeling Fabregas is regressing a little. I'm also thinking once Yaya returns Silva won't be as prominant as he has been in recent weeks (without Aguero and Yaya)
Possible!
Hmmm, that observation was made about Fab at the beginning of the season, that he falls away in the 2nd half of the season.
I've had him since GW1 but I think I'll watch that over the coming fortnight - Oscar might come into the reckoning.
B) I just have a guess fabregas will play in the hole again. He's good at away games
A
a
There's no way anyone can know this, as of now there is now right or wrong re: Fab/Costa
We all have our own decisions for going without one or the other, each completely justifiable.Sure. Just checking out the consensus of opinion.
Yeah it's hard. We know the essentials now - kane, terry, aguero, sanchez, haz. The rest are just guesses
Even then, one could question the merit of "essential" status.
I, for one, don't think there is any essential player in the game.
two goalscorers vs two assisters
Goalscorer's winWhich goalscoring midfielder, Chadli?
Quick Poll
1. Terry & Gardos(+0.2)
2. Bertrand & Clyne1. all he way if Alder confirmed out for a while
2
Depends how long Toby is out for, innit
Amy Adams 😯
*Googles*
Oh my...
Is that okay to have Chadli & Kane together?
If Spurs start frustrating us (likely) it could be a pain.
both offer form, fixtures, value = more points (+ profit if sold)
Thoughts on my WC Team?
Heston (Hamer)
Terry, Bertrand, Clichy (Wisdom, Waliewisky)
Sanchez, Silva, Hazard, di Maria, Sterling
Kun, Cane (Barnes)
0.1 in the bank
9 years, 4 months agowidcard team nearly set
Forster/Hamer
Terry/Tripper/Pva/Baird
Sanchez,Di maria,Hazard,
Aguero,Costa,Kane
last 3 places A or B
A) bertrand,Boyd,Chadli
b) Sterling,Albrighton(bench every week) Hutton