AM's Week 19 Player Picks
The game weeks are coming thick and fast so this is going to be a fairly brief look at Week 19, as myself and the rest of the Rotoworld team are juggling Premier League watching and writing with family commitments over the holidays.
Week 18 was an excellent one again for my Yahoo team, as an above average 138 points moved AM FC up to 649th position in the overall standings. Selling Aaron Ramsey for Theo Walcott proved key, while Wayne Rooney, Alvaro Negredo, Yohan Cabaye, Ross Barkley and Bryan Oviedo all put up double figures. Luis Suarez (C), Branislav Ivanovic, Adel Taarabt and Wojciech Szczesny also made handy contributions.
For more information on Week 18, read Galin's Wrap Up
As I've written previously, if you get it right over the busy Christmas and New Year period you can move up the rankings very quickly and there's still time to take advantage of this busy time by keeping yourself up to date with the information we're posting here on Rotoworld PL, with the Week 19 deadline tomorrow (Saturday 28th December) at 12:00GMT, followed by another deadline on New Years Day. There is a massive possibility of squad rotation this weekend as some teams will be playing a second game within 48 hours of their last game, so it's vital you check the team news post which will be up here later today.
The Week 19 fixtures are as follows:
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Week 19 Fixtures
Aston Villa v Swansea
Cardiff City v Sunderland
Chelsea v Liverpool
Everton v Southampton
Hull City v Fulham
Man City v Crystal Palace
Newcastle v Arsenal
Norwich v Man Utd
Tottenham v Stoke
West Ham v West Brom
Not a whole lot to get excited about aside from Manchester City at home to Crystal Palace. Manuel Pellegrini will probably try to rest a few players so as mentioned we'll need to check team news later, but I reckon you'll want at least three City representatives in your Week 19 fantasy team.
Manchester United looked shaky against Hull but still ground-out a victory, and David Moyes' men should be able to do something similar at Norwich, while I'm feeling Tottenham can beat Stoke at White Hart Lane, despite a disappointing draw against West Brom in Week 18, with the away side missing key players through suspension.
Chelsea v Liverpool, Newcastle v Arsenal and Everton v Southampton look like they could be cracking games, with goals likely in all three fixtures, so including attacking players from the six sides involved could prove worthwhile, although I'm personally avoiding Chelsea because of the vast squad options available to Jose Mourinho.
I'm less excited about Aston Villa v Swansea, Cardiff v Sunderland, Hull v Fulham and West Ham v West Brom, which could all be low scoring, but that does mean there may be some value in defensive picks.
The Week 19 player recommendations follow on the next page ...
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KEEPERS
Joe Hart - He has his City number 1 spot back and is the pick of the keepers for Week 19, playing at home to Crystal Palace
Hugo Lloris - Unfortunately I can't afford Hart so the next best choice looks to be Tottenham's keeper at home to a Stoke side missing a few key players.
David Marshall - If you don't fancy either option above then I'm recommending Cardiff's keeper Marshall, who is good value for a home match against Sunderland.
DEFENDERS
Gael Clichy - Rested against Liverpool so should come back in to the side in place of Kolarov, Clichy should get forward and has a clean sheet chance against Palace.
Bryan Oviedo - Lots of people dropped him for Week 18 as they thought Leighton Baines would be back, but Baines wasn't even on the Everton bench. This suggests he's not quite ready yet, so unless we hear otherwise I'm sticking with Oviedo against Southampton.
Vincent Kompany - The City captain is looking at the top of his form since returning from his latest injury lay-off, even knocking in a couple of goals (not including that hilarious own goal), so I expect him to start to allow him to continue building up match sharpness. Provided we don't get any surprise team news later he's an excellent pick against Palace.
Mathieu Debuchy - Don't expect a clean sheet against Arsenal, but this should be an open game so do expect Debuchy to pick up some attacking points along with his usual tackles won and interceptions.
Chris Smalling - Played well at Hull and scored a nice header, so with Phil Jones and Rafael injured he will almost certainly start at Norwich. At less than 10million Smalling is good value.
Curtis Davies - The big defender has a chance of a clean sheet at home to Fulham and is always a goal threat from set pieces, coming close to hitting the back of the net a couple of times against Manchester United.
Steven Caulker - Cardiff had a defensive horror show against Southampton and Caulker has had a few poor games, but I'm expecting that to improve at home to Sunderland this weekend.
Phil Bardsley - The full-back has been Mr Consistent and continues to average double digits. Worth considering despite an away game, as Bardsley doesn't rely on clean sheets to produce points.
MIDFIELDERS
Theo Walcott - As mentioned, owning the winger was key to my Week 18 success as he struck twice to help Arsenal defeat West Ham. The game at Newcastle will be wide open, and this will suit Walcott to perfection, so he must be in your team.
Yaya Toure - The big midfielder is currently in my side and he's capable of a massive points haul against Palace, but I am concerned as he will eventually get a rest having played in every game this season. We await team news.
Yohan Cabaye - A tough game for Newcastle but Cabaye is playing very well indeed, picking up attacking and defensive fantasy points. He's still in my team from Week 18 and I'm finding it very difficult to justify dropping him.
David Silva - The little man has already missed ten games this season due to injury, but he looks fit and sharp now, and should be reasonably fresh, so I expect him to start and do well against Palace.
Adam Lallana - Excellent again at Cardiff, I really am so impressed with him this season, and he remains a good choice despite Southampton's tough trip to Goodison. Tim Howard is suspended so some Lallana long-range shots against the stand-in keeper could be in order.
Mesut Ozil - I'm sure Arsene Wenger is planning to rest Ozil soon, but Aaron Ramsey's injury is likely to delay that as Arsenal will need his creativity from midfield. Can thrive in an end-to-end game at St James Park.
Ross Barkley - The Week 17 match-winner came off the bench against Sunderland and accumulated ten fantasy points very quickly, highlighting his rising value in the Yahoo game. With Gareth Barry suspended Barkley will definitely start against Southampton and is in my team at the moment.
Adnan Januzaj - On as an early substitute, he changed the game for Manchester United with a mature display against Hull and will almost certainly feature from the start against Norwich, as Antonio Valencia is suspended.
Christian Eriksen - Scored a wonderful free-kick against West Brom and appears to be taking the majority of corners, so he's a fine option for Tottenham's home game against Stoke.
Adel Taarabt - I'm probably dropping Taarabt for Week 19 as I want to load of up on Manchester City players, but it's making me slightly nervous as he's playing very well could return big points against Hull. Maybe I should keep him?
STRIKERS
Alvaro Negredo - Withdrawn 15 minutes from time against Liverpool, Negredo looked to be limping slightly but early reports suggest it was just precautionary and he should be fine to face Palace. Unless we hear otherwise he sits alongside Walcott as the must-have pick of Week 19.
Edin Dzeko - If team news suggests Negredo doesn't make it then it's a straight swap for the Dzeko, who will be keen to impress in a rare opportunity to start.
Wayne Rooney - A wonderful goal and fine assist against Hull, he's carrying the Manchester United attack on his shoulders during Robin van Persie's absence and will remain in my team for the trip Norwich.
Luis Suarez - I can see him causing John Terry a few problems this weekend, and so he will remain my captain.
Jay Rodriguez - The England striker looks a class act and added a further two goals at Cardiff to make it eight for the season already. Everton are tough but they'll be without two key players including their number one keeper, so Rodriguez could profit.
Loic Remy - After a mini goal-drought Remy returned with two goals against Stoke and he'll come up against an Arsenal defence that definitely don't look as solid without Laurent Koscielny.
Romelu Lukaku - The big man has looked a little bit off the pace in recent weeks, but Everton don't really have another option so he'll continue. Southampton have also been a bit shaky in defence so perhaps it's an opportunity for Lukaku to get back on track.
Roberto Soldado - I'm not picking him, but have a hunch he'll score against Stoke this weekend. There are better options above, but Soldado could be for you if you're looking to do something different.
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So those are the players I'm considering for my Week 19 Yahoo team. It wasn't all that brief after all, was it?
For now I have the following on my own team page:
Starting XI: Lloris, Debuchy, Oviedo, Kompany, Barkley, Cabaye, Y.Toure, Walcott, Rooney, Negredo, Suarez (C)
Subs: Ozil, Bardsley, Spence, Harper
It's a work-in-progress as I'm undecided whether it'll be Yaya or Silva in midfield, I'm monitoring Negredo news and I may bring Hart in for Lloris if I end up with any spare cash. There are some rotation risks, but I have Ozil and Bardsley to come in from the bench if required. Taarabt is still in my team at discount behind-the-scenes but I think I'll have to let him go.
Check back here on Rotoworld later today for the team, injury and suspension news. As I mentioned repeatedly, there is a likelihood of squad rotation this weekend so it's vital you're picking your team armed with as much knowledge as possible. It's also important you spend money on a couple of substitutes for your bench in case players in your starting XI miss out.
How's your Week 19 team looking?
