Can you feel the excitement? 3 more days until it all starts again!! Here's the frist big posting of the season. I'm going to try something new for the start of the season - instead of giving you my line-up or a close approximation thereof, I'll give you a running set of categories that I'm using to select my guys. Here goes...
Chelsea - Back to the selection game. The only guys who we know will start are Cech, Terry, Makelele, and Lampard - all extremely expensive. Robben is likely to start since he's healthy but he looked like crap in the pre-season and is still very expensive. Drogba had a nice pre-season and seems likely to start over Crespo - as an added bonus, he's fairly affordable. All that means Jose will probably sit him just to spite fantasy managers everywhere and the extremely affordable Crespo will score twice. In the defense, Del Horno is the lock of the year. He looks to play in a nice long ball and he's cheap.
The Former Big Two - Remember last season when Rooney came out with guns blazing against some Turkish squad or another in Champion's League Qualification and everyone had to have him on their fantasy roster to open the season? Remember what he did in the Prem for the first few weeks? Don't say I didn't tell you so when you buy the hype and get nothing but a yellow card in return. The Red Devil most likely to be a great bargain is the newly acquired Van der Saar - he's still priced like he's at Fulham and despite their scoring woes, ManYoo generally has a strong defense. On the other hand, there do seem to be some bargains available in an Arsenal side that is hosting unsettled Newcastle. Newboy Hleb, Fabregas, Silva, and Senderos are all inexpensive. Hleb will likely come off the bench and be very productive and the other three are 90%+ to start with Senderos being 100%. Can't fail to mention Henry who will almost certainly score 2 this weekend but is too expensive for my blood. Reyes and Ronaldo will be interesting since they are now listed as midfielders but neither is particularly cheap and it is uncertain as to where Reyes will fit in Wenger's line-up (my guess is the bench until Bergkamp gets hurt or needs a rest). Of the two, Ronaldo is the better bet but more expensive.
Playing Against Newly Promoted Teams - Chelsea are playing Wigan so there is even more value in their players than there is in a normal week. Outside of the ugly-looking Chelsea/Wigan match-up, two teams that are predicted to be on the rise this season, Blackburn and Charlton get to lead off their seasons with newbies West Ham and Sunderland respectively. This means that Craig Bellamy, MGP, and Brett Emerton are likely to do well and that Big Bad Brad Friedel is probably another good value between the pipes. The Charlton camp holds a number of possibilities as well. Long-time fave Darren Ambrose has left Tyneside for some regular playing time at Charlton and seems to be playing in a wing position in a combination 4-5-1/4-3-3 - and he's cheap (7.80 or so). Darren Bent is playing in the middle of this new offense and is a bargain at 5.something. Finally, American Devil Jon Spector is on loan at Charlton and looks to have secured a first team spot in the center of the defense - another cheapy that's likely to produce in the first week.
Other Bargains and Thoughts - Sadly, two bargains face a terrible match-up this week. James Milner and Emre are both likely to be good fantasy bets throughout the season and if they were playing against Wigan this weekend, they'd be no-brainers for inclusion. As it turns out, they're playing at Arsenal - not so good. Not sure who will play at Tottenham but until it is a little more clear, I'm going to stay away. Liverpool are the trendy pick based on their Champion's League winning campaign but it will be very interesting to see how they do against a very good Boro side who have Blog fave Yakubu up front now. Sadly, the Yak is pretty expensive but the first time he drops down, he's in unless Henry is down there with him. Gerrard might be too hot to keep out of your line-up and Cisse and Morientes are both fairly inexpensive striking options. Robert is a tough call at Pompey since he really has no support. What this means is that he's pretty much guaranteed to start but if there are 3 people covering him, will that be worth anything?
Dean Ashton Watch - One game, one goal.
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