With the 2009-10 Premier League season entering its final furlong, there are still thousands of managers searching for an all important edge to make their team stand out from the crowd.
Ok, so there may be a select group of fifty that get the most publicity and are supposedly under the most pressure but anyone that’s played fantasy football knows that it wont just be Arsene Wenger and co that are faced with crucial selection dilemmas this weekend.
Just like the professional game, the road to glory can be littered with obstacles and pitfalls, so in order to ease the burden just a little bit I will be compiling a weekly selection of tips to help guide you towards the promised land. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.*
Build from the back
Many a top flight manager has built his success upon a solid defence. George Graham at Arsenal, Gerard Houllier in his treble winning year at Liverpool and Don Revie at Leeds United all placed a huge emphasis on their respective back-lines and while their style of play was not always pleasing on the eye, it certainly reaped rewards.
With plenty of points on offer for clean sheets, fantasy football managers will also know the benefits of a good defence and this week in particular should prove to be a productive one for the boys at the back.
As the season nears its climax and points suddenly become more valuable the goals often tend to dry up, with teams placing a greater emphasis on defence. This is especially the case for those fighting the drop and as such the matches taking place at the Reebok (Bolton v Wigan) and Turf Moor (Burnley v Wolves) are unlikely to be awash with attacking flair.
The scorers may also remain untroubled at St Andrews as the Premier League’s second lowest home scorers (Birmingham City) take on an Everton side one position and two points below them.
Express recommendations –
Leighton Baines (Everton)
Phil Jagielka (Everton)
Graham Alexander (Burnley)
Make hay while the sun shines
If there is one side likely to score goals this weekend it’s Arsenal and if there is one side likely to concede them it’s Hull City.
The Gunners knocked five past FC Porto in midweek, while poor Hull were still trying to get over their 5-1 thumping at the hands of Everton.
Nicklas Bendtner doesn’t have a particularly good reputation when it comes to making the most of goalscoring opportunities but the young Dane netted a hat-trick on Tuesday and is also likely to be available on the cheap.
Express recommendations –
Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)
Don’t ignore the obvious
Hidden gems can often make the difference in fantasy football but that doesn’t mean you can afford to leave out the big hitters.
Wayne Rooney has been so hot in recent weeks that few would be surprised if the England talisman was to literally burst into flames. Indeed, if any fantasy manager still needs convincing of Wayne’s worth after a routine destruction of AC Milan on Wednesday night, then quite frankly they need sectioning.
This weekend’s opponents Fulham are strong at home but do tend to buckle at Old Trafford. Add to this a taxing midweek trip to Juventus and Roy’s boys should be a prime target for the goal hungry striker.
Express recommendations –
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
*In case of any unexpected turbulence please ensure that seatbelts are kept securely fastened at all times. I can not be held responsible for any Keegan-esque meltdowns triggered as a result of this advice.
Bendtner is only good when there’s no keeper @ front of goal
you missed out on picking villa players b/c of the double fixture
Use the fixture list to your advantage. For example, Aston Villa & Wigan play twice this week.
A great way to “break the tie” in fantasy premier league when needing to start / sit players is to look at the gamblers (Paddy Power, vegas sports books, etc.) odds for clean sheets and goalscoreres. For example, Torres is more likely to score this weekend than say, Rooney, according to some bookies, so perhaps you should captain Fernando over Wayne, etc.
this works for clean sheets too…
good luck to all.
That’s because no one else scores for Liverpool(!), and Portsmouth are bottom of the table. High risk taking the captaincy off Rooney and onto Torres, Liverpool may not even win the way they’ve been playing all season.
Help me pick a GK this weekend!: Hart for Birmingham, home vs. Everton, or Sorensen for Stoke, home vs. Villa?
I had the same dilemma, but went with Hart because of their goals against record at home.
….and I am freakin’ brilliant.
TC – That’s quite the toss up but I would go with Birmingham… just slightly.
BIR are 5/2 to keep a cleanie and Stoke are 13/5 so it’s basically a toss-up.
Both will get save points and both are good at home.
the doubles are below which need to be considered when planning your transfers:
* GW30 – Ast and Wig
* GW31 – Ast, Bir, Bla, Che, Eve, MNC, Por, Sun, WH and Wol
* GW34 – Ful and Sto
http://premierleaguefantasy.blogspot.com/
Bendtner is better than Adebayor in the same age and confidence is the most important attribute for a striker, I believe he can grow big…
http://www.eplp2p.com
It’s funny looking at this after today’s fixtures. None of what you said seemed unreasonable yesterday, but looked what happened. After you said the Bolton-Wigan game was unlikely to have any attacking prowess, Bolton score 4 . Then you said that the Arsenal game was likely to be high scoring, Arsenal can barely score 2. Not that I really understand how any of this affects Fantasy footie, but still. It’s an unpredictable league.
Its actually a very predictable league, maybe not the actual score lines but definitely the results. Same old every season.
Well put very basically in terms of fantasy football, you want defenders that don’t concede and strikers that score and set-up goals, so in this sense Bendtner was a good tip (1 goal, 1 assist) and the defenders weren’t so good (although Alexander did get an assist).
As for unpredictibility, the EPL is a fairly predictable league but I think that this season has been less so than most.