The Week Ahead

Within every season, there is a tipping point at which the big story concerning both the action on the pitch and fantasy team selection is injuries.  This particular season, this seems to be that week.  Sure there have been big injuries to Rooney, Torres, Lampard, and a few others for weeks now (along with the usual long list of Arsenal attackers and Spurs central defenders) but this week we push beyond those one-off injuries to each team to additional key injuries to each "big" team that could radically impact their ability to perform as we've come to expect.  This injuries also open up opportunities for less expensive players to step up onto the big fantasy stage and either make risk-loving fantasy managers very happy or ready to rip out their hair.



I know we usually don't start cataloging the injuries until Friday but here is a list of at least some of the key injuries that will be first and foremost on the minds of fantasy managers:

• Malouda/Lampard - With Chelsea's midfield in flux what we know is that Malouda is out for this weekend and that Lamps is questionable.  Essien should be back after missing the mid-week Champions League match with a toe injury meaning that Anceloti will basically be choosing between Kalou and Zhirkov if Lamps is back or selecting both Lamps requires one more week or is only fit to be a substitute.  
• Cesc - With Theo and Bendtner starting against Shaktar, I'm guessing that the real question here is what formation Wenger will use.  Will he go 4-4-2 with a more defensive-oriented player like Denilson partnering Cesc/Wilshere or will he play Walcott a second match in a row after a long trip and go Song, Cesc/Wilshere, Nasri, Arsh, Chamakh, Theo? 
• VDV - As has been well-documented in this space, I'm not much of a Modric fan so the real question here is the one Jeremy posed earlier in the week.  If VDV plays, then Bale remains less valuable because unlike Inter, Premier League teams have realized that double-teaming him is sort of important.  If VDV is absent, then Bale will likely take kicks and revert to being a great fantasy play, even at 15 (especially if you're selling Nani and/or Malouda)
• Rooney/Nani - With their best two attackers sidelined, the question is "where is the value in the United attack?" The popular answer I've seen is with Oberton and Chicharito but this may be the time where Berbs has to step up as both facilitator and goal scorer so think long and hard about him too even though he's more expensive.
• Citeh - With Tevez out, Citeh took a more attacking posture with Balotelli and K2 both playing.  Neither grabbed hold of the opportunity with K2 getting some points from a PK make and Balotelli actually going negative.  Balotelli is certainly the value play here.

With so many key players up in the air, I'm going to do an abbreviated TWA posting today in favor of an expanded version of I&S tomorrow that will spend more time once we know a little more about the above key players (and hopefully, Chelsea will pre-announce their line-up as they've done for most of this season).

Schedule
Just a reminder for those of you who only read TWA and not all of our other posts, please note...there is no such thing as a double week in Yahoo fantasy this season so THIS IS NOT A DOUBLE WEEK despite the presence of mid-week matches next week.  OK, on to the weekend schedule.

The two most interesting teams for me are Birmingham and ManYoo.  Birmingham should be able to take advantage of last place West Ham while ManYoo should improve upon the fate of their Manchester neighbors and dominate the visit by 19th place Wolves despite fielding a side weakened by injury.

Slightly less interesting but still giving some advantage will be Arsenal who host up and down NUFC (who are due for a tremendous let-down after delivering a thumping to Sunderland in a high-intensity derby match) and Chelsea traveling to Liverpool who are playing better but in no way seem up to the challenge of the leaders.  Otherwise, the balance of the match-ups are close enough that you shouldn't be elevating or downgrading players significantly based on their match-up.

Forwards

• Drogba - He's been off of his best but with the options thinning in the Chelsea attack, look for a rebound against suspect defenders.
• Anelka - He's been scoring a ton overall but only 3 have come in the Premier League (vs. 5 in Champions League and 2 in Carling Cup).  Be ware of getting too excited as his production hasn't come close to justifying his price in the Prem this season.
• Zigic - He's cheap and the match-up seems like a good one.  If ever you're getting on the Zigic bandwagon, this is the week.
• Chamakh - Rested for most of the mid-week Champions League clash, he should be back for NUFC and a reasonable bet at what is still a reasonable price
• Chicharito - His price has gone up but he's still solid value vs. Wolves
• Berbs - Less solid value but with so many expensive players potentially out he might fit into your budget more easily than usual - especially if Malouda, Cesc and Nani are all out.
• Balotelli - Not sold that he's going to start but WBA does give up goals so not a bad value pick at all. I like him over K2 because he's being held out of the starting line-up in Europa Cup.
• Bebe - Do you have the b@lls if it looks like he's going to start?
• Kalou? - We'll have more tomorrow on what we think of him at just over 10.00.

Midfielders

• Nasri - He's taking kicks for Arsenal which would be nicer if they were better in the air but still a solid bet vs. mediocre competition
• Adam - He just keeps producing, although it would have been nice to see more with B'pool up 2 men for most of the match on Monday
• Oberton - He seems very likely to start which would make him nice value vs. Wolves
• Brunt - Still solid value at under 9 and playing at home.
• Scholes - If you want to be a bit contrary, Scholes is a very inexpensive option who could be even more critical to United's fortunes with so many young players featuring.  It'll only take an assist to pay back your investment (assuming there isn't a YC for a terrible "tackle")
• Arteta - Perhaps the only "premium" midfielder available and the match-up certainly isn't a bad one
• Cleverly - Not sure about Wigan on the road but he played well last weekend and @Rovers isn't as tough as you might think if you're frame of reference is the average "Big Sam" clutch and grab defensive team - Rovers aren't THAT stingy thus far this season.
• Lamps/Cesc/VDV/Wilshere/Walcott? - more tomorrow on this mess

Defenders

• Rafael - If he's starting again, he represents some solid value under 7.00
• Bosingwa - I haven't seen anything indicating that he's hurt again but he hasn't featured since his exceptional return performance. If he plays and you have him cheap, then start him.
• Koscielny/Squilaci -  Value playing at home, I'd tend toward Koscielny.
• Salcido - Keep him if you have him cheap but probably not a week to buy as his price has gone up significantly
• Dann - A little pricey for a defender who doesn't get attacking points but seems ideally situated to get a clean sheet for a reasonable price.  If he gets a few defending points to boot, he'll be a solid buy
• Bardsley -  His price is way down and Stoke are reluctant scorers at best this season.  Bardsley could be a cheap path to some decent points as a result.
• Boateng - He's only had one decent fantasy week so far but the price is right and it seems like Citeh should start a string of clean sheets here soon.
• Bale? - He'll be a major topic of tomorrow's post, hopefully we'll know more on VDV so we can decide intelligently
• Zhirkov? - Check back tomorrow

Keepers

• Fab21 - I confused Jeremy yesterday by referring to Fabianski as Fab yesterday when discussing starting line-ups so I've decided to differentiate him from Cesc (Fab4) by calling him Fab21 (his jersey number).  I'm not 100% convinced on this one but I still have him cheap so I'm sticking with it.
• Hart - See Boateng and Hart's price is creeping back down
• Foster - His price is up on the heels of a nice effort last weekend vs. Villa but he may still be worth it given the opposition. 
• Mignolet - Hard to imagine that Sunderland will be as bad as they were last weekend again and at home vs. goal-shy Stoke could make Mignolet's reduced price (<6) work for you.

Back with more tomorrow when we know more about the key injuries.