Fantasy Premier League

Matchday Open Thread

Sat Jan 19 02:55PM by Jeremy

Sophie Ross poses with her new shirt outside the ground before the FA Cup 3rd round replay football match between Newcastle United and Stoke City at St James' Park in Newcastle, northern England January 16, 2008.

The King is dead.  Long live the King. 

So King Kev is back on Tyneside.  The days of wine and roses are here again.  It's great that his appointment has brought such good feelings to the club and its supporters.  We'll see today if that emotion can be translated into points.  Beating Luton Town was important... no wait, that was important for Liverpool.  Beating Stoke was important but a result against Bolton would really help.

Bolton have brought in Matty Taylor and we expect him to be in an advanced midfield role.  But withouth Diouf and Anelka, Bolton could be toothless.  Especially on the road.

Certainly I'm hoping that's the case.  Like I'm sure a lot of you are, I'm betting on Given and hoping he at least gives me some positive points.  I'm not convinced that the cheap keeper du jour is a winning strategy this season, but until the new transfers enter the system and the ones that are there show their true nature - Robert, are you for real this time around? -what seem to me to be the better bets are the more expensive players.

So I'm sticking with EdS against Fulham who won't have their new defender in and are missing Konchesky - insert your own joke about how much they'll miss him here - and Tevez, whom I expect to hold all season, against a struggling Reading side.  Dropping from Cesc to MPet (home to WHU then @DER next weekend) gives me the money to move from AJ, who killed me last week with a late injury, to the Elk.  He's pricey at 15, but the ceiling is high.  He'll probably drift through the game without making an impact, but if he goes off and puts a goal or two past BRM I want to be on the bandwagon.

The same can be said for SWP whom I brought into the midfield for the other of last week's missing men, Harry Kewell.  I'm hoping SWP continues to play at the top of CHE's diamond and can dovetail well with the Elk, his old Citeh teamate.  

CRon and KRich complete the midfield.  The rest of the team is cobbled together from scraps - Sagna, Mok, Nelsen, and Given.  That's 4 players for 11 units with Sagna almost half the total.  Rovers play Boro who may be on a down after playing up against Liverpool last weekend but matchup, smatchup they're cheap!  And the Mok is the ultimage DNH (do no harm) defender at the moment.

Whom are you betting on this weekend?  Whether they live up to your wildest expectations or play down to your worst fears, consider this your matchday open thread to talk about it. 

(61 user comments)

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  • (11)

    Last season, at some point of the season, there was some uproar about the messages in the forum concerning selection advice. I can only see that it got worse. People actually putting up their whole selection and then ask for advice to others. I understand fully when people have doubts about suspensions, injuries and rotation fears, but I can just not understand there are so many people who do take the trouble of writing messages, but apparently can not take the trouble of just picking their own squad based on their guts and knowledge. In fact it kind irritates me!

    Posted by: vriesjan on Sat Jan 19 11:40AM | Report abuse
  • (12)

    Forwards Opp Action Price Chg GP G A MWG SPG SOT SC FW CW PKM AVG PTS C. Tevez (MAN - F) @RED [SELL] 19.54 4.62 20 10 5 5 0 29 5 24 16 0 11.25 225.00 D. Nugent (POR - F) DER [SELL] 4.32 0.00 10 0 1 0 0 3 0 6 3 0 1.85 18.50 N. Anelka (CHE - F) @BIR [SELL] 15.05 0.63 19 10 1 1 1 26 13 24 20 1 10.21 194.00 Players Value Season: Attacking Stats | Defending Stats Fantasy Points Midfielders Opp Action Price Chg GP G A MWG SPG SOT SC FW CW PKM AVG PTS D. Duff (NUF - M) BOL [SELL] 6.03 0.00 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 0 1.50 7.50 M. Petrov (MAC - M) WHU [SELL] 13.07 2.29 22 4 5 0 0 26 43 25 28 0 9.59 211.00 K. Richardson (SUN - M) @TOT [SELL] 10.97 7.10 7 3 1 1 0 4 6 9 2 0 7.07 49.50 C. Ronaldo (MAN - M) @RED [SELL] 31.48 5.20 18 16 1 5 2 42 15 43 26 1 16.97 305.50 Players Value Season: Attacking Stats | Defending Stats Fantasy Points Defenders Opp Action Price Chg GP G A MWG SPG SOT SC FW CW PKM CS AVG PTS B. Sagna (ARS - D) @FUL [SELL] 7.44 2.07 20 0 3 0 0 0 12 32 10 0 7 4.58 91.50 A. Mokoena (BLA - D) MID [SELL] 2.90 1.48 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 2 1.23 16.00 P. Senderos (ARS - D) @FUL [SELL] 6.10 1.23 6 1 0 0 0 3 0 4 1 0 2 3.92 23.50 Players Value Season: Attacking Stats | Defending Stats Fantasy Points Goalkeepers Opp Action Price Chg W L T SV PKS CS GA AVG PTS B. Friedel (BLA - G) MID [SELL] 11.86 4.30 10 6 6 69 2 4 29 5.61 123.50

    Posted by: adeem991 on Sat Jan 19 11:52AM | Report abuse
  • (13)

    (12) ur wasting YFF bandwidth!!! Elk hattrick...no more no less

    Posted by: farah_shazana on Sat Jan 19 12:28PM | Report abuse
  • (14)

    I've got to keep Torres and Tevez for the season now, MPet as well... +15 between the three of them... Bought in Given on a cheapy so I could upgrade Koumas for BFDB as well. Need a good week!

    Posted by: peterransom on Sat Jan 19 12:59PM | Report abuse
  • (15)

    come on men one of my league matenHAS OWEN AS HIS MIDFI,WHAT IS GOIN ONNN???

    Posted by: shunshetzbhoy_10128 on Sat Jan 19 12:59PM | Report abuse
  • (16)

    re(12): d'ya lost your brain? think again b4 post that such of rubbish......... anelka, nugent / cr7, BFDB, cesc, robert / senderos, ball, konchesky, nelsen / given... hope 100+.......

    Posted by: atrofu on Sat Jan 19 01:10PM | Report abuse
  • (17)

    Kieron Richardson not in the Sunderland squad for today - pulled hamstring.

    Posted by: nikargiropoulos on Sat Jan 19 02:12PM | Report abuse
  • (18)

    Robbie Keane on the bench for Spurs - Defoe starts and is captain...how odd!

    Posted by: nikargiropoulos on Sat Jan 19 02:30PM | Report abuse
  • (19)

    No Mcfadden in the starting line up. No doubt he'll be on later but still a little disappointing if you gambled on him and I nearly did.

    Posted by: alanhansan717 on Sat Jan 19 02:33PM | Report abuse
  • (20)

    Keiran out, Keane on the bench... Unbelievable! I have both... Perhaps Man U will start Saha over Tevez to totally dessimate my weekend?!

    Posted by: donegal08 on Sat Jan 19 02:50PM | Report abuse