All About the Match-ups

As teams have learned how to "work the system" and increase their overall budget, the notion of "Bargains of the Week" seems a little less important since teams are likely to have a little more flexibility. As a result, for the rest of the season, we'll be tracking what we think are the best match-ups for the week regardless of price. As an aside, if there are some bargains out there, we'll try to let you know about that as well. And with that, we enter the best time of year... EPL in full swing, Champions League about to start up (featuring Arsenal vs. PSV this week no less) and NFL Sundays starting up. Fantasy Sports heaven my friends...

Strikers
Henry vs. whomever - you can't say no to Henry, who is off to an even better start than last year. The fact that Arsenal are playing the sluggish Fulham squad that got crushed by Pompey last we saw them makes it even more attractive. This is a no-brainer.

Yakubu vs. Palace - Speaking of Pompey, Yakubu broke out vs. Fulham and gets another struggler this weekend. He is streaky, and the bet here is that the streak continues with at least one goal.

Cisse vs. WBA - I'm not convinced that Liverpool is as bad as they've played so far. There has been a lot of criticism in the press that the manager hasn't brought a ton of new players together and produced immediate results. If Chelsea weren't bringing a new squad and manager together more successfully (and with more holdover talent I might add), I don't think anyone would be shocked that a team with 50% turnover and a new manager was struggling. I think the 'pool comes together a bit this weekend and scores 3 goals, of which Cisse will have at least one.

Lots of Bargains as well this week - Shearer for 3.58; Stead for 2.13; Angel for 1.00.

Probably best to avoid - Ruud Van Nistelrooy - wait 'til next week even though he's a bargain at 1.00 and will be on the bench this week.

Midfielders
Pires vs. Fulham - see Henry, Thierry above. Even if Pires doesn't start, it doesn't seem to matter, he'll probably see at least 30 minutes and a goal.
Gerrard vs. WBA - needs to have a good game one of these days, doesn't he? Why not at home vs. WBA?

Not as many Bargains at midfield this week - Scholes for 7.29; Kewell for 11.92; Ljungberg for 10.07

Defenders
Anyone on the Tottenham defense - the back line has been playing well and they get Norwich on Sunday. None of these guys are a great pick if you're looking for offensive stats out of your defense. Just a good bet for some solid defending points (best probability of a clean sheet in my estimation).
Josemi vs. WBA - another Liverpool pick, he puts up good numbers without the benefit of clean sheets and there is a good chance of a clean sheet to boot this weekend vs. WBA.

Bargains in the back - Terry for 5.15; Samuel for 2.12

Keepers
Robinson vs. NOR - OK, easy to pick the most expensive guy but he's playing at home against a mediocre Norwich team in addition to coming off a solid performance in his first appearance for the Three Lions. If you've got the money to spend back here, this is the pick over Cech away to a more potent Villa squad.
Lehman vs. FUL - This has the feel of Arsenal letting in a bad goal in a 3-1 or 4-1 game (seems to be a trend so far this year). On the off chance that they maintain concentration in the back and the defense avoids getting caught up in the rush for goals, I like Lehman vs. Fulham as a better bet for a win and a clean sheet than Cech at Villa as well.

Bargains in the Net - Dudek for 6.18; Schwartzer for 4.20