The Week Ahead - Week 2

It was quite an opening weekend for fantasy managers.  Everyone's favorite projected trend - load up on players playing against Blackpool, especially when 'pool are on the road - was about as big a flop as something can be.  Chris Kirkland owners are nodding their heads vigorously at this point and joined to a lesser extent by those who bought in on Yayga, Boselli, N'Zogbia, Stam, and Figueroa.  Just not a good week for Wigan and the fantasy managers who bet on them. 

Before we over-react TOO much, let's remember that this was the Premier League debut for both Boselli and Stam so I wouldn't write either of those two off just yet.  We also may want to give some level of credit for the debacle to the unsettled nature of the Charles N'Zogbia situation.  For those of us operating outside of the dressing room, we can never know how much or how little a single unsettled player can disrupt an entire team.  It can be very little (see Milner, James for Villa last weekend) or potentially a lot as in the case of Wigan.  Or it could just be that Wigan miscalculated when they lost Scharner and Bramble in the off-season and their replacements either aren't that good or just haven't adapted yet.  Hard to say.  What we can say is that we probably won't be betting on Wigan again until they show some signs of life.

The other drama that we have to contend with is the inevitable roster shuffling that went on this past week with the transfer window still open.  Here are the major moves:

• James Milner to Citeh - hard to know where he fits into the starting line-up based on last week's alignment but you have to assume that he'll be in there given the amount spent.  Does he move back out to the right and replace SWP/Adam Johnson? Does he take the spot that Silva seemed a little lightweight for last weekend and push Silva out to the left?  More importantly, how many free kicks does he get?
• Stephen Ireland to Villa - don't you wish this one had gone official about 3 weeks ago so we could have seen Villa with their new alignment a few times before the season started?  Since it didn't we're left to wonder how things will go with Agbonlahor presumably coming back from injury and Ireland joining to presumably play "in the hole" behind Gabby and Carew.  Does their best player from last weekend - Albrighton - move back to the bench with SPet anchoring AY, Downing, Ireland, Gabby, and Carew in some fashion in front of him? Does Downing sit? Is there just more rotation?  We probably won't find out the answer this weekend as Ireland will probably be given a little time to adapt but I'd bet we'll find out soon.
• Moussa Dembele to Fulham - again, he probably won't get a start this weekend since he's just arriving but you have to think that he'll be given every chance to form the partnership with Zamora that everyone had hoped Andy Johnson would form before he turned out to be injured all the time.  Worth taking a look at Dembele's performance this weekend if he comes on as a sub to gauge your interest.
• Mario Balotelli to Citeh - the reports from today's Europa Cup match where Balotelli is reportedly going to get his debut [update: apparently as a sub if at all] will tell us more but it's hard to imagine that he'll play, travel back from Romania, and then start again this weekend.  He may be young but with Citeh already having lost points in week 1 there seems little chance he'll start in week 2 with so little time to train with the team.  Still, we should all continue to watch to see how he fares in a potential substitute appearance.

Other rumored moves - Squillaci to Arsenal, etc. - are likely to happen too late in the week to make an impact if they happen at all.

Schedule
There are two aspects of the schedule that matter this week with the first week of European football upon us.  The first is a brief analysis of the teams that have midweek matches:

• Spurs away to Young Boys, Tuesday - In addition to losing the match, it looks like Spurs lost Defoe and Modric to more than minor injuries.  The fact that the match was early in the week will help them recover for the weekend but in having to turn around and go on the road again for what is likely to be a very physical contest at Stoke you have to wonder if they won't suffer down the stretch.  The impact of the artificial turn at Young Boys will also factor in at least a little bit.  Probably worth down-grading Spurs a little bit based on their European participation;
• Villa away to Rapid Vienna - Villa are apparently looking at this season's Europa Cup in much the same way that Wenger looks at the Carling Cup.  In fielding a decidedly second team line-up with Warnock, Davies, Albrighton, and Downing the only potential first-team player to feature.  Even the bench brings little experience with only Friedel and Clark traveling.  The strategy seems to be to keep the first team fresh for the trip to St. James' Park this weekend. No real impact for Villa's chances this weekend with the possible exception of Albrighton and Downing being available for something less than 90 minutes.
• Liverpool home to Trabzonspor - Liverpool definitely went with the "B" team at Anfield today meaning that most of their important fantasy players will face neither the rigors of travel nor playing.  Gerrard was left out entirely and Torres is on the bench so the only player that you might be a little interested in for fantasy purposes (Jovanovic) is the only one who might be a little tired come the weekend.  No real factor here for your fantasy selections.
• Citeh away to Timisoara - In contrast to Villa, Citeh have rolled out the presumed starting XI for their first Europa Cup match of the season.  While they certainly have the depth to change things up in the league one wonders how Mancini will approach another critical league encounter with a team that will challenge for a spot in Europe.  If Mancini plays the same line-up this weekend you have to think they'll be a bit worn down from their travels.  I'd call this a modest advantage to Liverpool for the weekend match.

OK, on to the actual schedule and where fantasy managers can find advantage:

• Chelsea must be licking their chops at the prospect of seeing Wigan who got crushed at home by a team with barely a hundredth the talent of Chelsea's first team.  If you have the money, probably a good idea to load up on Chelsea even on the road as they've shown themselves to be exceptional at crushing opponents who show even the slightest weakness;
• Arsenal are home to Blackpool and you have to expect that all of last weekend's frustrations will be taken out on this weekend's opponents who will certainly be over-matched;

There are slight advantages to be found elsewhere - I hate Sunderland on the road which makes WBA a little more interesting than usual - but otherwise, I think that most of the match-ups are pretty even with the players involved being worth about what they should be valued in an average week.  With that, we're on to the players.

Forwards

• Didier Drogba - What can you say, he just scores and scores - especially when the opposition is weak;
• RvP & Marouane Chamakh - This is one of the critical questions of the week - is RvP ready to start? And what impact will that have, if any, on Chamakh? We'll have to watch tomorrow's team news for answers on this one;
• Nikola Kalinic - a starting striker for less than 5.00 who is starting against a team with an overrated defense - yes, he's on the road and yes, you'd be happier about him if you'd gotten him before his price went up but he's your best bet for enabling as many expensive Chelsea/Arsenal players as you can;
• Johan Elmander & Kevin Davies - I didn't mention the Bolton match-up with West Ham in the discussion above because Bolton are on the road and I'm not sure how confident I am in that overall but after what we saw last weekend, I'm also finding it hard to believe that those guys will keep a clean sheet against anyone so Elmander and Davies are solid options with Elmander being my preference;
• Louis Saha - Not exactly cheap but certainly not expensive at 8.87 and playing at home against less than intimidating opposition (sorry Wolves fans, I am on board this season but not irrationally so);
• Frazier Campbell - While I don't love Sunderland on the road, I also don't love the WBA defense so getting in cheap here isn't a bad idea.  Bent is too expensive for my blood Campbell is among the options if you're looking cheap;
• Marlon Harewood - With Yahoo! apparently having a continuing technical glitch that has changed the prices for Wigan and Blackpool players from last weekend, Harewood is at a reasonable 6.25 and you can't be entirely convinced by Arsenal's backline, can you? They did let David Ngog score. If his price goes back up before you're choosing your team, ignore this item and Harewood;

 Midfielders

• Florent Malouda - I've written twice now about the fact that he's becoming Chelsea's dominant attacking midfielder over Lampard and even after last weekend's brace, he's still cheaper by 5.5 as well.  I'm sure Lamps will score well @Wigan but FloMa will give you more bang for the buck;
• Cesc Fabregas/Tomas Rosicky/Jack Wilshere - Oh, to know what Wenger will do.  With Nasri out and Denilson short on fitness, you have to think that Rosicky will get a start after a strong showing off the bench last weekend.  That said, with modest opposition Wenger might opt for Wilshere and Cesc with Rosicky again providing back-up if Wilshere is similarly ineffective.
• Andrei Arshavin/Theo Walcott - The other question for the Arsenal match is who will start in the purely attacking roles.  RvP? Chamakh? Arshavin? Theo? Who knows? But these guys are solid values if we get the sense that one or both will start.  Arshavin is probably more likely to start despite his crap performance against Liverpool.
• Stuart Holden - A former MLS fantasy favorite who appears to be getting a shot at starting for Bolton "in the hole" - solid value play.
• Martin Petrov - You didn't think we'd give up on one of our faves after one bad week did you? With cheaper alternatives he might be a bit of a luxury purchase but I would be surprised at as 12 point weekend.
• Charlie Adam - Would have liked to see more than 12 points from 4 goals but you can never argue with 12 points for under 6.00.
• Marc Albrighton - Our only reservation is that he might not start with Ireland coming in and having started on the road in Europa Cup action on Thursday.
• Graham Dorrans -I like the match-up for the WBA attack and I am going to keep the faith that he may be a fantasy stud despite a weak debut.
• Pablo Barrera - He only got a substitute appearance but he looked bright in the time he got and he should be recovered from his midweek international last week.
• Steven N'Zonzi - With Dunn possibly breaking the record for fastest injury in a new season N'Zonzi seems like he'll get a bit of a run for not too much money.  Dunn could make a recovery so check in first with the injury report before taking this one on.

Defenders

• Gareth Bale - He... is... a... stud. PERIOD.
• Thomas Vermaelen - He still looks strong going forward with a better chance at a CS this weekend - probably won't be a regular recommendation but this week seems like a solid one to make the commitment.
• Johan Djourou - Good value if he recovers sufficiently to start against Blackpool.
• John O'Shea - Was great value last weekend and in solid position to repeat it.
• Paulo Ferreira - He managed to get nothing out of Chelsea's destruction of WBA but he's cheap and is the likely starter against equally poor Wigan and as such represents a solid value play.
• Phil Jones -Playing holding midfielder - well - while listed as a defender - not incredible value but Rovers are likely to pile up the clean sheets as they continue to take on the tendencies of Allardyce teams.  Probably won't ever have huge upside but will likely be a solid point producer if you get him in the 5 to 6 range.
• Ciaran Clark -With Davies having played in mid-week there's a solid chance that Clark will keep his place in the league since Davies is just coming back from injury and Collins and Cuellar are still listed as "doubtful" for the weekend.

Goalkeepers

• Cech - he wasn't spectacular last weekend but he was solid and it seems likely that he will be again this weekend.
• Almunia - the mid-priced option after a lousy first week but seems hard to believe that Blackpool will fare as well against Arsenal.
• Foster - Not exactly a super-cheap option but solid option against a Rovers team that is unlikely to be high scoring even at home and they're on the road this weekend.
• Carson - if you need a cheap option then at least he's playing at home against mediocre opposition. Not a great weekend for cheap options.