Fantasy Premier League

Thu Jan 17 04:23PM by Neal Thurman

What a week, I managed to get five goals from my midfield and decent performances from my strikers and I still got beaten down in my group because I didn't have Tevez. The only solice I took from the weekend was that I finally got some value out of the prediction that Keiron Richardson was going to be a great value. I made the prediction at the beginning of the year and it's taken until January for anything positive to come of it so you can debate the merit in the prediction but it made me feel better. So at least I have that.

The other thing I have, and that I share with fantasy managers everywhere, is uncertainty about which transfers will be finalized in time for the weekend and whether Yahoo will get the appropriate changes made if the transfers are completed in time.

One note about transfers and the Yahoo system for those of you new to the game - if a player (say, James McFadden to pull an example that you should all care about) transfers between teams in the Premiership and Yahoo hasn't noted the change yet, they have been very good in the past about that player getting credit for whatever points he has earned for his new team. Where we would all like to see more speed is with people who transfer in to the Premiership from other leagues (including guys like Robert who have been here before but are not currently in the system). What a shame it would have been had Robert had a big weekend last weekend and none of us had the chance to pull him onto our teams for peanuts.

OK, with that said, here's the quick rundown of the transfers you should be checking on heading into the weekend.

1. James McFadden - In my opinion, a very good player who has never really gotten a chance to play regularly and establish himself. The move to Birmingham (assuming he agrees to personal terms) will be a great one for him. No worries about "adjusting to the league" and he's currently cheap.
2. David Murphy - I'm always interested in giving a chance to wingbacks who are cheap, guaranteed starters. I have to say that I like Birmingham's chances of being a mid-table team in the second half of the season. I'm not certain about this guy since I haven't seen him play but during weeks where Birmingham have good match-ups, he'll be worth monitoring.
3. Branislav Ivanovic - I assume he'll be deployed on the right side of Chelsea's defence (reports having him being capable of any position across the back line). Chelsea continue to grind out wins despite injuries and absences and if you can get in on that for cheap, this is an easy one.
4. Martin Skrtel - Certainly not a sure starter (insert Rafa rotation joke here) but worth monitoring against Agger's fitness and Hyypia's agedness.

Certainly there will be more news to follow - hopefully, involving some strikers (Podolski to Citeh? Alves to Boro? Fred somewhere?) but for now, this is what we have out there as options.

With those already in mind (I won't repeat those recommendations below) here are some thoughts about how to construct your line-up for this coming weekend:

Strikers

I will temper my excitement about Faddy moving to Brum after noting that he gets to start out his Blues career against, well, the Blues (the ones from Chelsea, that is). Not exactly the time to expect great success. My striker thoughts are going to start across the pitch with newly acquired Nicky Anelka. I have a big job in front of me to try to rearrange things to get him in my squad but it seems like it will be a worthwhile pursuit even at 15.05.

Other strikers worth considering... Owen, Benjani, and Walcott. Of course, if you have the money to burn you have to be considering Tevez and Rooney based on the form that ManYoo have been showing (of the two, Tevez is in better form and less expensive so unless you think this is Rooney's turn for a hat trick, then you know what to do). Berbs is pretty expensive right now but you can't deny his form against Sunderland either.

Midfielders

Lots to think about here - first, thanks to our readers for their heated debate on CRon. Regardless of what you think about him as a player or a person, you can't deny his fantasy value. He's having one of the all-time great years for a fantasy midfielder.

Assuming you can't afford to gut the rest of your squad to bring him in now, your best bets are Kranjcar, Malbranque, Hleb, Robert, and Bullard.

I'm still a little uncertain as to how to view Joe Cole and SWP now that Chelsea have two legitimate striking options - both had good weekends last weekend but with Anelka present I'm not certain how Chelsea will line-up. It might be back to the bench for one of the two.

Obviously, if you have CRon, Arteta, Gerrard, BFDB, or Cesc you want to stick with them. BFDB and Cesc have the best match-ups this weekend so if you're buying new, they're probably the best bets. You especially have to like Bentley carving a 17.00 point week out last week despite no goals or assists [He assisted on Samba's goal. - js] - good times.

Defenders

Still a pretty dismal situation for those throwing their money at midfield and striking options but there are a few rays of hope - Senderos, Nelsen, and a few of the guys listed above (if they come through) all offer good match-ups, decent likelihood of points, and a low price. Johnny Evans from Sunderland is a little more expensive but provided a nice 10 point return for those who bought in on him last weekend. He's probably still worth a look at just over 7.

Other interesting options include Carvalho (assuming he doesn't injure something else), Distin, and Sagna if you have a little more money to spend.

Keepers

David James and Brad Friedel top the value for the money list at keeper for me this weekend. If you're shopping bargain basement you have the option of Shay Given basically for free at home against a virtually striker-less Bolton squad. Hard to say who might feature for Spurs between the rumored to be departing Robbo and Cerny but there is also some potential there in their home clash with Sunderland. A particularly bold play would be guessing that Pompey will continue to struggle in the absence of their African attackers making Bywater an unlikely good bet [or Lewis Price, depending on which will get the start. - js].

I wish I had better options than that for you but unless you have the money to splash out on Cech or EvdS, there isn't much guaranteed value at the position right now.

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