With the announcement by bookie Paddy Power and every columnist everywhere that Chelsea have already won the Premiership, we can all rejoice in the fact that we - as fantasy owners - still have a long and competitive season ahead of us. Personally, I'm still reeling from predicting a good week for Mort Gamst Pedersen and then not picking him for my own line-up - would have been a hell of a week with him, Murphey, Lee, and Owen. Rest assured, that won't be happening again. One other note - my condolences to Toffees fans on one ugly European experience. There is, however, a silver lining for both the Everton faithful and fantasy managers. With the premature end to their continental schedule, Everton can concentrate their energy on what is shaping up to be a relegation battle rather than dividing their attention between the UEFA Cup and the Prem. From the fantasy standpoint, this may return Cahill, Arteta and the Everton defense to the consideration set after they have a chance to settle in for a few weeks minus the extra matches. With that, on to the upcoming week...
Chelsea - Apparently, there are no goals to be had at Anfield this season. Midweek saw Chelsea and Liverpool play to a scoreless draw in Champions League action and Sunday sees a return match in Premiership action. I have a hard time believing that anyone can shut out Chelsea in consecutive matches so I look for a 1-0 Chelsea win featuring very few chances on net. The usual suspects from Chelsea (Cech, Terry, Gallas, Lampard, and Robben) are good bets to get a majority of the points but will cost you dearly. Essien is still a relative bargain at 8.05 and I have a feeling that he's going to have a break-out offensive game some week soon.
On the Liverpool side, Reina is still a decent bargain in net but I have a hard time believing that this is the week to pick him up. Honestly, the same goes for the entire Liverpool squad. Their lack of offensive production has minimized their value as fantasy players so far this season. Even Gerrard, who has the 7th best fantasy points/game average among midfielders who can be counted on to start, is way overpriced for what he's delivered. As with most players who are playing Chelsea, I'd stay away and hope they drop a bit in price after what promises to be an unproductive weekend.
The Former "Big Two" - What have things come to when ManYoo is set to square off against strugglers Fulham and I'm questioning the value of including any of their players other than the Ruud one. Rooney certainly invigorated the squad when he was introduced against Blackburn but he still isn't producing enough to justify his selection. I still have van der Saar in net but I have to say that I'm wavering more and more with every passing week. I'm already starting to have nightmares of Boa Morte terrorizing the fringes of the Red Devil defense. The other beneficiary of the Devils full back woes will be Claus Jensen as the ManYoo defense gives up a bunch of fouls within his range. There is a slight chance, according to the Soccernet injury report, that Jensen will miss out due to an injury but he seems confident that he'll play and that's good enough for me.
Turning to Highbury, Arsenal are at home which has meant good things so far this year and must be confident coming off of their short-handed win away at Ajax. Van Persie and Reyes are both in position to start again and I predict good things for both as they continue to develop their partnership. Outside of those two, I have to say that the only other Gunner that I'm bullish on is Freddie Ljungberg but his fantasy production has been spotty so far this season and that has to put him in the "risk" category. On the Brum side of things, Pennant is the man. If you currently have Gerrard at or near his current valuation, do yourself a favor and trade him in for Pennant and pocket the $5 difference and spend somewhere else. Lehman is an OK bet for a clean sheet but he's pricey and Brum isn't as bad as all that on offense.
Playing the Newbies - The first note I'll make here is that I'm adding West Brom to the "Newbies" category and removing West Ham since they've proven that they really don't belong. Everton is on the way to being included as well if they don't turn it around soon. With that in mind, West Brom travel to Ewood Park to play a Rovers team that must be high after their victory over United last weekend. MGP is a stud and should be in your line-up if you can afford him - hopefully, you picked him up before his value went up. Brad Friedel might be a good value pick in net if you're not sold on Reina vs. Chelsea, van der Saar vs. anyone or Andersen vs. Spurs.
West Ham gets to stay in this category for one more week as they travel to Sunderland. After earning a draw with Arsenal last weekend, the Hammers seem likely to get a win on the road this weekend (2-1 sounds about right). Marlon Harewood's price has gone back down under 8 and he represents a good bet given his recent good form. Etherington, Benayoun and Reo-Coker are also good values in midfield, attack and defense respectively. For Sunderland, um, well, their stadium has a cool name.
Finally Wigan host Bolton who are displaying excellent form but can't help but be negatively impacted by their away match in UEFA Cup action. I have a hard time justifying a prediction of more than one goal by either side and wouldn't be shocked if this were the nil-nil draw of the week. Probably best to keep guys from both sides out of your fantasy line-up.
Random Notes - The most interesting match of the week for me is Charlton hosting Spurs. Charlton are the most improved team in the Prem so far while Spurs added the most talent in the off-season. Charlton have had a relatively easy schedule so far other than the loss to Chelsea so this will provide an excellent test. Murphy, Bent, and Smertin are excellent bets in what I predict will be a 2-1 home win. Smertin is one of the best values currently available on a points/$ basis. In response to Jeremy's worry about the shine being off Bent. I'm still on the bandwagon. You have to write off the Chelsea match because, well, they're Chelsea and then you're just looking at one bad match. No reason to drop one of the best fantasy producers so far this season.
The Pompey vs. Newcastle match-up, despite the flurry of postings in this space about it, has turned into much ado about nothing since Pompey agreed not to play Robert against his former team as part of the transfer deal. I'm pretty sure that and LuaLua's malaria leaves Pompey without a credible threat on offense. If you're shaking up your roster and are looking for value in defense or at striker Owen and anyone on the Toon defense are a good bet.
Man City hosting struggling Everton who have to be deflated after their European ouster - if Andy Cole is back in the line-up, I think he, Reyna and Barton are all reasonable fantasy bets this weekend. Without Cole to draw attention and create a little magic up top, City will struggle to score and this could quickly degenerate into a completely unwatchable match. Finally, we come to Boro's trip to Villa Park. Boro are returning from Europe and have been pretty bad over the last season and change when returning home. Add to that their poor Premiership form so far and this looks like a good week to pick up a Villa player or two. I'd strongly consider Baros (although I generally don't like his game in real life, he's been a pretty good fantasy pick so far) and Jeremy's boy Milner who is playing well after his move from Newcastle to Villa.
So, there it is - happy shopping and good luck.
Pompey agreeing or not is completely missing the point. A loan player cannot play against the team holding his contract. Hence Robert does not face Newcastle.
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