I know you've all been salivating at the chance to dip into the cheap transfers that made their way to England at the end of August. Welcome back Michael Owen, you've no doubt been the person at the forefront of most of our minds as we try to decide if we should rearrange our line-ups around you. Welcome also to a host of new defenders who are cheap and likely to start for Everton, Tottenham, Blackburn and Fulham to name just a few. Finally, welcome to the gimpy Andy van der Meyde - we wish you a speedy recovery so that we can include yet another inexpensive, but talented midfielder in our line-ups soon. And with that, we're off to the preview for the week...
Chelsea - I'm not sure anyone has any idea who is going to play for Chelsea since John Terry is rumored to be out and there have been rumblings that Jose might rest ironman Frank Lampard. What's next? The sun not rising in the East? If you can figure out who is going to play, that's a good thing because Sunderland is coming to Stamford Bridge in what should be a massacre. Drogba hasn't played since scoring two goals on Saturday against Cameroon so he should be ready to go and in fine form. Arjen Robben also played in midweek for Holland so he is at least in contention for one of the wing spots. Essien is likely to play, but he looks to be more Makelele than Lampard as a fantasy player so far. I'm not ready to take the risk on him. Joe Cole is a reasonable bet at a low price but with Robben, Duff, SWP, Lampard, Essien, and Makelele all theoretically healthy, who knows for sure if he'll start.
The Former "Big Two" - It's Manchester Derby day and Man Citeh is in fine form so it's hard to know what to expect from this one. The Devils have been in fine form as well with Ruud having been particularly productive for his squad. The biggest note in this match is that Cristiano Ronaldo is out due to the death of his father - Giggs or Park will deputize. My inclination is to stay away from this match and try to shift as many of my ManYoo guys to Chelsea guys this week if I can afford it. The big news out of Highbury is that fantasy god Theirry Henry will not be suiting up this weekend due to an injury sustained in midweek playing for France. Arsenen has indicated that he will include Reyes, Bergkamp and Pires among his starters. Pires and (sadly) Bergkamp) still have to prove themselves to me as viable fantasy options. Reyes, though, is a great bet if you can afford him. Ditto anyone in Arsenal’s defense against toothless Boro.
Playing Against the Newbies – We’ve already covered Sunderland, hopefully, they won’t be too mentally scarred from this weekend’s experience. Wigan travel to West Bromwich Albion who have proved that they can score with the big boys this season but that they really can’t defend. It should be an interesting match up with Wigan who have been tight in defense, but can’t score. Geoff Horsfield has been hot but as Jeremy pointed out, he hasn’t had a ton of chances, he’s just been perfect when he’s had them. That always leads to the question – when will his luck/good form run out? Finally, Villa travel to London to face the best of the three promoted sides so far, West Ham United. Villa will have a new look without Solano and I’d anticipate that they’ll suffer a little bit as they figure out how they’re going to get the ball to Philips and Baros. Baros is still a decent cut priced bet but I’d be more likely to take a chance on his former teammate at Anfield. Nigel Reo-Coker may have done everything he’s going to do for the year (and in doing so, win the Steve Watson award for stunningly successful early season match followed up by not much of anything).
Random Notes – Still on the Darren Bent bandwagon even thought Charlton/Birmingham isn’t the most exciting match-up ever…Ditto Jermaine Pennant and Danny Murphy…It looks like Nuno Valente is going to start for Everton – cheap wing defenders are always a welcome thing…Ditto Lee from Tottenham although the match-up with Liverpool isn’t as enticing as the match-up between Everton and Pompey…I’m staying away from the Tottenham/Liverpool match as well as Blackburn/Bolton as both feel like they’re going to be nearly unwatchable, not very high scoring, and in neither case do I have a strong feeling about who will win. From those four squads, I am only planning to include Mort Gamst Pedersen since he’s been great all season so far.
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