The top four are all at home this fantasy football gameweek. Settle down and grab a cold one because next week all hell breaks loose. United are absent from GW 28, Liverpool and Arsenal miss GW 29 and Man City miss both! We'll talk more about how to unspanner your works in our next post but it pays to be prepared. Fix your team up good and proper with some outside-the-box thinking this week.
Captain Marvel
Luis Suarez (13.4) v.s. Daniel Sturridge (10.1) -- Swansea (H) There are only two real contenders for the armband this week. Swansea are bound to be knackered from their efforts against Benitez's energetic Napoli side on Thursday and Liverpool should be fresh as a daisy and have no big injury concerns. This could be a mauling - The Swans have recaptured a degree of form under Gary Monk but they may still be missing big hitters Shelvey and Michu for the Merseyside match-up and haven't had a clean sheet away from home since GW 5! Swansea also haven't won a PL game that followed midweek European exploits since September and that was against a then ineffectual Crystal Palace. Liverpool's form, on the other hand, has been cracking. As with last week, Sturridge could be a better bet than Suarez - and has been racking up far more points than the Uruguayan recently but odds never lie (unless they're telling you to play accas) and betfair has Suarez at 1.59 to score with Sturridge slightly longer at 1.71. Ultimately you'll have to decide what you find more odious - celebrating the goals of someone who regularly dives and is overtly racist or having the joy of your 8 points puked on by the most infuriating recurrent goal celebration since Alan Shearer.
I scored a goal. Also - I'm a twat
Buy Low
Lewis Holtby (6.2) -- @West Brom
Fulham have now canned four managers this season (if you don't believe me, ask a Fulham fan). Felix Magath is the new man at the helm and new managers famously revitalise teams (unless their name rhymes with 'Coolensplein'). Magath, a self described "nice person" sent Holtby out on loan twice while at Shalke so perhaps he's not the biggest fan of his talents but the Spurs loanee has looked sharp so far at the Cottage - he played in Sidwell with an impeccable ball against United and now has three consecutive 90 minute spells under his belt. If he can link up successfully with Mitroglou (6.5), who bagged a brace for Fulham's Under 21s last week, he could be a great difference maker for you. Will it be a marriage made in heaven or a Big Fat Greek Disaster? A minuscule 0.3% of teams have Holtby - that's half the number of people who have Defoe and 1/10 of the people who have Ravel Morrison (now plying his trade in the Championship) - so we say it's worth the risk if you're lagging like bad internets.
To score from outside the box in FIFA, simply Hold B
Marouane Chamakh (4.8) -- Man Utd (H)
Has there ever been a better time to play Manchester United? No. Well, maybe if you're playing them at Old Trafford. Anyway, Chamakh has settled in as Palace's main man and has 5 goals this season. The ex-Arsenal forward may not be great but he's improving - he takes twice as many shots from inside the box as he did a few weeks ago and is now in the penalty pecking order. It's all about spotting geezers on the up and up and 11 points in his last 3 really isn't bad for a bloke under 5 knicker. Palace also have a game in hand but aren't taking a week off like those other lazy buggers - so that's nice.
Younes Kaboul (4.6) -- @Norwich
It takes some doing to displace Michael Dawson, Spurs' club captain who played in 25 consecutive games this season, but that's what the Frenchman has done on return from injury. The fact that Dawson played on Thursday in the 1-0 loss to Dnipro is another indicator that Kaboul may be Sherwood's first choice going forward. Wisdom from the White Hart Lane faithful is that quicker centre backs allow exploitation of Lloris' ability to play as a sweeper-keeper (fun to say out loud - go on, try it - nobody's watching) but anyone who has watched Dawson this season can tell you he's been immense so it's hard to see him falling into a totally subsidiary role. Still, at 4.6, capable of playing right back instead of Walker (who currently has a knock) and not the kind of player who is subbed on or off, Kaboul has become a sensible cheap option in a Tottenham back four that have a few things to prove over the remainder of the season - and relatively easy opponents against which to prove them. Watch this space.
It took 6 hours to photoshop out the Alsatian sitting on Kaboul's head
Sell High
Man City Players - Whomever you dare get rid of -- Stoke (H)
My, my, my what a pickle (that, incidentally, is what she said). City have a double gameweek in week 31 so you'd be cray as a hatter's shit not to fill your quota of three Citizens then and this week they face Stoke at the Etihad, but awkwardly sandwiched between those golden potential point-fests are two total blanks in GWs 28 and 29. The ideal situation, of course, is one in which your bench is so replete with star budget talent by now that you can happily bench Negredo, Silva and Zabaleta for two games without a bead of sweat developing on your wise brow. That is optimistic, though, and everyone knows optimism is for the deluded.
Only horoscope readers and lottery ticket buyers would happily set a team sheet without considering the chance that one of their players may be rested and they'll end up with 10 mugs with whom to make points. This, ladies and gents, is fantasy suicide. If you have 3 City players, the safest bet is to save up two transfers this week and get two city players out next, leaving elbow room in the budget to get them back in for week 30. If you're forced to make transfers avoid teams like Sunderland - who have the same double week blank as City - and United, who sit out next week.
David Silva (9.3) -- Stoke (H)
Anyone who'd forgotten how boring Barcelona can be to watch when they're not playing Real Zararubbish won't have been shocked by the humdrum nature of Tuesday's opening half. Slightly more surprising, and food for thought for those in the Yaya camp, was how Silva looked the only City player capable of unlocking the Barca defence. He cannily put Negredo through in the first half and had City's best chance of the game with a well struck volley which Valdes did well to keep out. City have breezed it so far - especially at home - but their two week gap means all their players will lose value over that period.
You may not care about that. You may argue that budget becomes increasingly irrelevant as the season goes on and it's better to simply have the best players - especially ones with a game in hand. Well, I can't really argue with that - but what I can tell you is that the last time Silva scored more than 6 points, no-one knew what "curling" was, Somerset was dry as a bone and central Kiev was a lovely place to grab a brioche and a garlicky breaded chicken.
Kevin Nolan (6.7) -- Southampton (H)
Put on a little party hat, light some sparklers and pop the sparkling wine because for the first time in three weeks, Kevin Nolan hasn't bagged a brace. We keep telling you not to put him in and hopefully you stuck your fingers in your ears, went "LALALALA" and did it anyway until now but this time... this time... seriously you don't wanna put him in. I plomise.
Buy Anyway
Branislav Ivanovic (6.4)
Tasty, tasty Ivanovic. He's the in form player in fantasy football right now with 42 points in his last four games (that is riddick!)
"Over 10 points a game? For a defender? Whaaaa?!"
A proven goal threat who's a stalwart in the only back line you can trust in the league, his only real drawback is his hefty price tag. Chelski have a relatively benign run-in, although crucially aren't one of the teams with a game or two to catch up on. Forget about that, though and just have a butch at him scoring a beaut header against Villa.
Spot the guy who's shitting himself
Fool's Gold
Yaya Sanogo (4.8) -- Sunderland (H)
After Terry (6.7), Giroud is the most transferred-out player so far this week and it's no surprise after he was benched for Arsenal's big cup ties against Liverpool and then Bayern in favour of Sanogo. The youngster looked relatively accomplished in both matches, although he faded into obscurity in the latter and appears to lack the same lethal touch absent from Giroud's game. Whether claims of Giroud's off-field affairs led Arsene Wenger to drop him, or whether he's being rested (isn't that something you do in preparation for your big games?), he is no longer the dead-cert start he was a week ago - but that doesn't mean he's gone and forgotten. Wenger loves his kids but surely even he wouldn't risk sticking a 20 year old up front for the rest of the season - especially when they're still mathematically in with a shout.
Giroud realises he's left the stove on... his place is under threat... and his tweet didn't really clear anything up
