Fantasy Premier League

The Barn Door Report

Sat Feb 23 02:27AM by Neal Thurman

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard

Alert!! Alert!! We have some two-gamers coming up the first weekend in March.  The schedule has left Liverpool and West Ham with an extra match on Wednesday the 5th so the Barn Door Report will focus on those teams and the massive quandry that is Sunderland's visit to Pride Park.

Sadly, West Ham's two-game week is greatly devalued by their opposition.  You may get two games but it's much less exciting when you realize that those two games are vs. CHE and @ LIV.  It might be worth tracking Carlton Cole and Dean Ashton on the off chance that two matches with modest returns are better than the alternatives for a low price but I'm sure there will be more interesting options out there.

From the Liverpool side, there's actually a lot to talk about.  With Daniel Agger on the road to fitness (and cheap), you probably want to spend your weekend trying to figure out how to work Torres, Gerrard, Agger, and Reina into your line-up without giving up CRon.  If you have to prioritize, I'd go Gerrard, Torres, Reina, and then Agger.  That said, Agger is great value after being out for an extended spell.

Recently, we've been buying players almost without question if they fit into one of two categories...playing Derby (anywhere) or hosting Sunderland.  The blog is now faced with the riddle of what to do when Derby hosts Sunderland.  One way of looking at following those rules is to load up on players from both sides and the other way of looking at it is staying away from both.  My suggestion is to look for value here (Bardsley and Reid would be my advice).

The other team to watch seriously is Man Citeh.  They've been very good at home and should be even better as Benjani continues to settle in.  Add a visit from Wigan to the mix and I'll be looking at Benjani, MPet, Elano, and Corluka.  Maybe Sturridge as well if he continues to start (he's cheap and has looked good).

Finally, Boro are at least a decent bet next weekend home to Reading.  Schwarzer and Alves are particularly interesting and if he's healthy then Tuncay is as well.

So, hopefully that helps you plot out your weekend...

(10 user comments)

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User comments

  • (1)

    Prica is an interesting possiblity vs. Derby. Ditto Murphy... Noble/Hammers also makes sense, in a 2game week, regardless of the competition. Bowyer is another (cheap) option. MPet vs. Wigan is also mouth-watering. Benayoun, anyone?

    Posted by: donegal08 on Sat Feb 23 02:51AM | Report abuse
  • (2)

    So the West Ham/Liverpool game is NOT on March 19th?

    Posted by: owen1981 on Sat Feb 23 04:06AM | Report abuse
  • (3)

    (2)Good point. I see Hammers/Liverpool on the 19th, as well. Wednesday 19 Mar, 20:00 Liverpool v West Ham Anfield, Liverpool... ManU/Fulham. Good matchup for ManU, obviously. Do not overlook Spurs visiting BRM. Spurs are in good form, of late.

    Posted by: donegal08 on Sat Feb 23 04:16AM | Report abuse
  • (4)

    The very last place to look for an accurate fixture list is Yahoo. The LIV-WHU match is on 5 March, as listed on both the Liverpool and West Ham official sites. I expect two 1-0 Pool wins and two 0-1 Hammer losses that week. Bolton at home and West Ham in general both defend fairly well, so Reina and Pool defenders look to be value (good luck guessing which defenders will start in addition to Carragher tho). Agger will definitely not start both games - Rafa has stated Agger will be brought back slowly. I don't expect West Ham players or Liverpool forwards to score well (remember Pool strikers in double-game weeks in past seasons?) ...

    Posted by: reverendike on Sat Feb 23 05:44AM | Report abuse
  • (5)

    (4) Spot on - should have looked at both team sites. And, these games will not produce many goals. Noble makes sense. Rafa tough to predict, as you note. Benayoun is affordable, if he plays. Reina, as well.

    Posted by: donegal08 on Sat Feb 23 12:31PM | Report abuse
  • (6)

    Of course Gerrard is a no-brainer.

    Posted by: donegal08 on Sat Feb 23 01:06PM | Report abuse
  • (7)

    im not gonna buy reina now shipped 2 goals against middlesborough, and they had 2 disallowed. MIDDLESBOROUGH?!?

    Posted by: joshtottenham on Sun Feb 24 01:36AM | Report abuse
  • (8)

    nice tips (all of you), but it will be very hard 2 guess who will start both games 4 LIV, unless there are some injured...

    Posted by: daniel_menezes on Mon Feb 25 12:41PM | Report abuse
  • (9)

    nice tips (all of you), but it will be very hard 2 guess who will start both games 4 LIV, unless there are some injured...

    Posted by: daniel_menezes on Mon Feb 25 12:45PM | Report abuse
  • (10)

    ps - NEAL & JEREMY - "the barn door report" was a grrrreat idea. The tips when the usual fans of you needs more. Keep it & improve it! It would be awesome

    Posted by: daniel_menezes on Wed Feb 27 02:49AM | Report abuse
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