Fantasy Premier League

Thu Dec 27 01:58PM by Neal Thurman

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Now THAT was a Boxing Day.  Apparently those charged with defending the Premier League's goals celebrated a little too much with their families while the attackers managed to moderate the amount of food they consumed.  Eight goals in the Chelsea/Villa match, 4 for ManYoo, and 5 for Spurs - that's a pretty exciting day.  So exciting apparently, that there were no goals left for Arsenal and Pompey in the late match.  (NOTE: As much as Gallas has been a stud in Arsenal's biggest matches with goals against Chelsea and ManYoo, he has no excuse for not even hitting the target late on).

It's a little difficult to start talking about next week when it's already Thursday and there's still another league match to be played today.  Even more so when it involves the team with the best match-ups over New Years weekend.  Blackburn travel to Derby before hosting Sunderland.  Bolton joins Rovers with a reverse of those two fixtures (@SUN and then DER) but it's hard to tell who exactly that benefits.  Other teams with great match-ups over New Years are Chelsea (NUFC and @FUL) and Pompey (MID and @RED). 

If you're looking for guys to stay away from, look to Upton Park where West Ham get the ManYoo/Arsenal double - Happy New Years Hammers!

Strikers
As you might imagine, I'm off the Dean Ashton bandwagon just as quickly as I jumped off it given West Ham's schedule.  Much more attractive are (in order of cost)...Anelka (17.36), Santa Cruz (13.00), Diouf (12.73), Benjani (11.49), Kalou (10.44), and Kanu (8.34).

Two guys who are difficult to figure for this week are Sheva (who manages not to look good even when he is scoring - but he has been doing that and the match-ups are good) and Benni McCarthy (has anyone ever gone from rumored Big 4 target to the bench faster without an injury?).  I'm going to ignore Sheva given his current valuation.  I'm going to watch the Citeh/Rovers match today to see whether Benni gets a start.  If he does, I will likely risk it.  If not, I'll probably shift that money to Kanu who has a pretty solid schedule and is due for one of his crazy runs of form.

Midfielders
A Christmas Miracle?  What else can you call Michael Ballack not only coming back for an injured Frank Lampard but matching his entire production from last season (OK, maybe I'm exagerating a little bit but not by THAT much).  This morning's reports weren't specific on Lampard's prognosis so if you got Ballack before his price went up, hold on to him until the news comes out.  Otherwise, I'd suggest spending your money elsewhere.

Where you ask? The obvious spot is David Bentley.  Jeremy and I were texting last night about the pros and cons of BFDB vs. Cesc next week.  If you aren't invested in either of them, I'd pick Bentley for this weekend.  If you have Cesc at a discount, I'd keep him through some difficult match-ups because Arsenal's schedule gets significantly easier in the New Year.  Jeremy is in the former boat so I'm guessing he'll end up with Bentley while I'm in the latter boat and am likely to stick with Cesc and hope he matches Bentley's production.

So I can avoid typing it for the rest of the year, you can assume that I recommend getting CRon in your squad for the rest of the year unless he gets injured or suspended for more than a match.

Now that you're finished with your expensive midfielders, you'll probably be looking at screen 2 or 3 of the midfielders list.  Of interest in these lower price brackets are Muntari (10.46), Kranjcar (9.60), Hleb (7.67), Nolan (6.65), and O'Hara (6.00) (assuming that Jenas is not ready to return).

Defenders
Well, my pick of Tal Ben Haim was completely useless as Carvalho came back to partner Alex - apparently I was a week ahead on this one.  With Carvalho suspended for a two-footed tackle on Gabby Agbonlahor Ben Haim should finally find his way to the field again.

Other defenders who should have you thinking about including them...Andy O'Brien, Warnock, Bridge (assuming Ashley Cole's suspension isn't reversed), and the fit-again Ledley King.  Here's something to think about...when King has been fit Spurs' defence has been very good and Robbo has actually looked like a Top 5 goalkeeper in the Premier League.  Not saying it will definitely happen again but it's worth watching if you're looking for an affordable keeper/defender combo.

And speaking of...

Keepers
Hard to recommend anyone at the bottom end of the price scale with Robbo being the best bet but a visit to Villa Park isn't particularly attractive to fantasy owners.

Jussi is worth at least a few thoughts given Bolton's match-ups and his relatively low price (6.86).  If you have the money to spend, Brad Friedel is probably a better bet than Jussi at 8.26.  Rovers haven't been great at the back recently but with some low level competition upcoming, a return to form isn't an unreasonable expectation.

If you're planning on spending for a premium keeper, I suppose Petr Cech, coming off the Villa goal-fest, is a reasonable bet.  With no first choice defenders available, you may be spending more than he's worth.

The big question in net is whether Kuszczak will continue to deputize for EvdS.  If so, he's a huge bargain at 8.18.  If not, it's a little harder to swallow EvdS's 15.26 price...

Good luck and enjoy the Rovers/Citeh match and look for more tomorrow.

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