AM's Week 30 Player Picks

Welcome to Week 30 of my player picks for the Yahoo Fantasy Premier League game. Before I begin, I need to express my anger at the person who stole my iPad mini from my bag on the way home from London tonight. Seriously, who does that? I hope your fantasy team has a terrible week, you nasty bit of work.

Anyway, the 2015 Rotoworld PL Cup 4th Round Results were published earlier in the week, so click here to check whether you made it through to the Quarter Finals in Week 32.

Week 29 was a another decent one for AM FC, hitting a nice round 100 points which was enough to move up to 772nd in the overall rankings. My main point-scorers were Matt Upson, Jores Okore and Romelu Lukaku, with some minor contributions from Julian Speroni, Riyad Mahrez and Eden Hazard. It could've been so much better had I stuck with Tim Howard and Matt Phillips (Saturday morning trades, yuk), but things are continuing to move in the right direction as we enter the home straight so I can't complain too much.

Week 30 Fixtures
Aston Villa v Swansea
Hull City v Chelsea
Liverpool v Man Utd
Man City v West Brom
Newcastle v Arsenal
QPR v Everton
Southampton v Burnley
Stoke v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v Leicester City
West Ham v Sunderland

Tottenham at home to bottom side Leicester look to be the pick of the bunch with Mauricio Pochettino's side keen to bounce back from their Week 29 humiliation, closely followed by Southampton at home to poor travellers Burnley and leaders Chelsea at struggling Hull City. Despite questionable form over the past month we know Manchester City will be heavy favourites to beat West Brom at the Etihad, while Arsenal should be able to overcome injury-hit Newcastle at St James Park as they attempt to take out their Champions League frustrations after come so close to turning things around on Tuesday night.

The biggest match of the weekend is clearly Liverpool v Manchester United and it should be a cracker, but it's difficult to predict which way it'll go. Brendan Rodgers' men are the form team in the league but Man United were sensational against Spurs and will cause the home side problems if they can carry that energy to Anfield. The sensible money would be on an entertaining draw, so attacking players from both sides could worth considering. I'm tipping West Ham to beat Sunderland at Upton Park and wouldn't be surprised to see Everton to inflict more misery on QPR, while Aston Villa v Swansea and Stoke v Crystal Palace look like score draws.

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KEEPERS
Hugo Lloris - The Spurs stopper had a nightmare against Man United, conceeding three goals and not making a save, but that makes his price extremely reasonable for the home game with Leicester.
Fraser Forster - Southampton have looked a lot better in the past couple of weeks and Burnley have an appalling away record, so Forster looks a fairly safe bet for a clean sheet.
Adrian - West Ham's keeper played against Arsenal despite dislocating his finger and was in fine form despite his side losing 3-0. Adrian's price is right for a home games against Sunderland.

DEFENDERS
Aaron Cresswell - Cresswell has had an outstanding debut season and rarely disappoints on the fantasy front when West Ham are playing at Upton Park. A top pick for the clash with Sunderland.
John Terry - There are games where you just get a hunch a player is going to score. Last week it was Romelu Lukaku, this week I can't help but lean towards Terry. Chelsea also have an excellent chance of a clean sheet.
Ryan Bertrand - Bertrand hasn't quite hit his early-season fantasy numbers since returning from suspension but there will be opportunities for the Saints left back to get forward against Burnley plus a clean sheet is a possibilty.
Ryan Taylor - Newcastle have a defensive injury crisis so don't expect a clean sheet against Arsenal, but as a set piece taking defender Taylor can be fantasy gold.
Jores Okore - Althougn Ron Vlaar could return it would seem harsh of Tim Sherwood to dump Okore given his recent performances and so I would expect him to get another start for the home match with Swansea. 18 fantasy point last week make him a tempting option.
Vincent Kompany - As always, the cheapest way to cover the potential Manchester City clean sheet, as West Brom visit the Etihad. Kompany doesn't usually return big points but for £6million he still feels like value.
Gabriel Paulista - Fit enough for the Gunners' bench in midweek after picking up an injury in Week 28, Gabriel should get a start against Newcastle and is priced at a frankly ludacrious £4.30million. We await team news on Friday for confirmation this assumption.
Eric Dier - He had an absolute nightmare at Old Trafford but Dier has been excellent considering it's his debut season in the top flight and it would seem Pochettino is unlikely to drop him with Leicester heading to White Hart Lane. Again, if we get confirmation, the young man is dirt cheap.
Martin Kelly - He's just reliable, isn't he?

MIDFIELDERS
Aaron Ramsey - An in-form Ramsey is one of the most productive fantasy performers in the league and we've seen signs of a return to his best with goals and assists against West Ham and Monaco. The latter of those performances was off the bench so he's fresh and should get the start at Newcastle.
Eden Hazard - When in doubt, go with the guarenteed points scorer. As the likes of Fabregas and Matic have started showing signs of fatigue it has been left to Hazard to provide the spark and he's capable of tearing Hull apart this weekend.
Sadio Mane - Mane is fast becoming one of my favourite Premier League players. Pace, power, energy and regular moments of quality are the norm for the Saints midfielder and he returned 11 points at Stamford Bridge without an assist. Burnley beware.
Charles N'Zogbia - One of many players showing signs of life under Sherwood. N'Zogbia was famed for his trickery and creativity during his Wigan days before those qualities were blunted by Paul Lambert, but the winger has been excellent recently and can trouble Swansea.
Stewart Downing - Perhaps it's no surprise that Downing's dip in productivity has coincided with West Ham's own descent down to 10th, but there's no better side to face right now than Sunderland and the England hopeful will be looking to play himself back in to form.
Wilfried Zaha - With Jason Puncheon sidelined with a hamstring injury it should ensure an extended run in the first team for Zaha and the winger was electric against QPR, picking up brave goal and assist. Tthe propsect of facing Zaha in full flight will be giving the Stoke full-backs nightmares ahead of the weekend.
Philippe Coutinho - On numerous occasions this season Coutinho has scored the important goal in the big games and the stage is set for him again as Man United visit Anfield.
Yaya Toure - This is last chance saloon time for Yaya after a number of lacklusture displays in February and March. He's still cheap enough to justify taking the risk given the home fixture, but another poor fantasy score and he'll be thrown on the scrapheap behind my house.
Matt Phillips - As mentioned earlier I dropped Phillips around 20 minutes before last week's deadline to bring in Mahrez and was therefore devastated as he cracked in the goal of the season on his way to 20 fantasy points. I grabbed him back before his price shot up and will likely be fielding him for the Everton game.
Christian Eriksen - Eriksen has struggled to make an impact over the past couple of months with opposing teams often putting a defensive midfielder on the Dane to mark him out of the game. If he's going to break out his slump, Leicester at home would seem a likely occasion.
Gylfi Sigurdsson - Siggy is going to score against Villa; I can feel it in my bones.

STRIKERS
Harry Kane - Like all Tottenham players, Kane found the going tough at Old Trafford, but he'll get a better supply at White Hart Lane and should be boosted by his first England call up.
Alexis Sanchez - It's been an up and down couple of months for Sanchez but the Chiliean's pace and movement can cause the makeshift Newcastle defence endless problems.
Sergio Aguero - We'll never know what may have happened if Aguero had converted that penalty against Barcelona, but we can be certain the striker will want to make amends against West Brom.
Diego Costa - Costa has definitely gone off the boil recently and it's not helped by his fiery temper, conceeding too many fouls and picking up too many yellow card. However, he's the focal point of Chelsea's attack and will get chances against Hull.
Christian Benteke - It's taken Sherwood just five games to get a reaction from Benteke, and the partnership with Gabby Agbonlahor looks especially promising. Benteke gets the nod over Gabby due to penalty duty.
Diafra Sakho - West Ham's (and Downing's) poor form has meant less chances created and this had led to Sakho struggling to find the net, but Sunderland are the opponents this week and the Senegal forward should get some joy from a calamitous defence.
Romelu Lukaku - For the first time ever I was rewarded when picking Lukaku as the Belgian returned 24 points in Week 29. He'll be full of confidence for the trip to QPR.
Charlie Austin - Everton have been anything but secure in defence this season and I so would expect Austin to find the net (or at least tot up some points from shots on target) despite QPR looking set for another defeat.
Wayne Rooney - Given the host of options above with better fixtures it would take a brave manager to go with Rooney at Anfield, but the England captain is playing very well now he's back in his best position.

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So those are the players I'm considering for my Week 30 Yahoo team. Please make sure you check back here on Friday for Ben Dinnery's team and injury update where he'll run through all the important news ahead of Saturday's deadline.

I'm yet to work on my own team, so follow @nikarg and I'll tweet a potential line-up on Friday.

How's your Week 30 team looking?