AM's Week 34 Player Picks

Welcome to Week 34 of my player picks for the Yahoo Fantasy game. Before I begin please be aware that The 2015 Rotoworld PL Cup quarter final results were published earlier in the week. Click here to check whether you made it through to semi-finals which are coming up in Week 35.

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I decided to take a big risk in Week 33 and went without Harry Kane at the last minute to bring in Romelu Lukaku, which freed up the funds for my late-week hunch Aleksander Kolarov. Kolarov did well with 16 points but Lukaku's benching and -1 return combined with Kane's injury-time goal meant the switch did not work and AM FC ended the week on 90 points. This was enough to remain in the Top 300 overall so it was far from a disaster.

Week 34 brings us a double week for four teams - Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester City and Hull City, while all other teams play once. You know the drill by now - I'll be advising you to load up on as many "double gamers" as possible.

Week 34 Fixtures
Arsenal v Chelsea
Burnley v Leicester City
Crystal Palace v Hull City
Everton v Man Utd
Man City v Aston Villa
Newcastle v Swansea
QPR v West Ham
Southampton v Tottenham
Stoke v Sunderland
West Brom v Liverpool
Hull City v Liverpool
Leicester City v Chelsea

From the teams with one match you'd fancy Manchester City at home to Aston Villa, Crystal Palace hosting Hull, Stoke at home to Sunderland and Swansea away at Newcastle. QPR attackers may even be worth a look against West Ham. However - just to reiterate - your focus should be the "two match" teams.

The breakdown for those four clubs:

Chelsea - @Arsenal, @Leicester
Liverpool - @West Brom, @Hull
Leicester - @Burnley, Chelsea
Hull - @Crystal Palace, Liverpool

There isn't really a stand-out fixture from that lot, so a smattering of players from Chelsea, Liverpool and in-form Leicester may prove a sensible approach, with perhaps one or two Hull players thrown in as wildcards.

With that in mind, click over to the next page to view my Week 34 recommendations.

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KEEPERS
Thibaut Courtois or Simon Mignolet - If you're holding either Courtois or Mignolet at a big discount then obviously you start them, but I don't advise investing in either keeper at full price given they both play two away fixtures.
Kasper Schmeichel - If you're lucky enough to hold Schmeichel at £1million then it's pretty much a no brainer that you include him in your starting XI. Leicester are playing well, their keeper is playing well and it's unlikely he'll go negative across two games with the number of saves being made. Even at cost price (£7million) he's not the worst option in the world.
Julian Speroni - If you don't fancy any of the double week keepers then Speroni is an affordable alternative at less than £5million for Crystal Palace's home games against Hull.
Asmir Begovic - As above, you could go with Begovic as Stoke host rancid Sunderland, with the Bosnian costing £6.5million.

DEFENDERS
Branislav Ivanovic - Long-time readers of this column will know Ivanovic is my go-to Chelsea defender whenever the Champions-elect have a good fixture. Defensive solidity (blocks, tackles, interceptions) combined with a genuine goal threat put him top of the list for the double week.
Jeff Schlupp - A midfielder listed as a defender is always an attractive proposition, and it helps that Schlupp has been outstanding for much of the season. The winger is averaging 8 fantasy points per game, which puts him on course for an impressive 16 points across the double week.
Martin Skrtel - The stalwart of the Liverpool defence will cost you £10million, but for that you'll get similar to Ivanovic - defensive solidity, blocks and tackles won, and we know Skrtel is always capable of popping up with a goal from a set piece.
Gary Cahill - The cheapest way to get involved in the Chelsea defence. I'm unable to afford Ivanovic right now so Cahill is in my team.
Alberto Moreno - Like Cahill vs Ivanovic for Chelsea, Liverpool full-back Moreno can be brought in for a few million less than Skrtel and the Spaniard also offers an attacking threat down the flank.
Robert Huth - I could pretty much copy the same Ivanovic / Skrtel advice for Leicester's Huth. The giant German puts his body on the line for every team is plays for and can be a real handful for opposition defender's at set pieces.
Michael Dawson - The only real option from the Hull defence is Dawson, who will start both matches and costs just £6million. The ex-Tottenham man's lack of pace often causes him problems but like many of the defender's above he will pick up fantasy points from tackles, blocks and interceptions.
Philipp Wollscheid - Wollscheid is dirt cheap and Stoke are at home to Sunderland - clean sheet ahoy!
Jordi Amat - It seems Amat will fill in at left back during the absence of Neil Taylor and he can fill a spot in your side for less than £3million as Swansea travel to Newcastle.

MIDFIELDERS
Eden Hazard - The player of the season for me and the top scoring midfielder in the Yahoo game, Hazard is in scintillating form, is on penalty duty and is playing two matches. He must be in your Week 34 team.
Raheem Sterling - If Daniel Sturridge remains out then Sterling should continue in a striking role in at least one of Liverpool's matches, which makes the 20-year old a no brainer for Week 34.
Philippe Coutinho - After a poor start to the season Coutinho has been at his very best since January and the form has been enough to get him on to the player of season shortlist. The Brazilian should join Sterling in your Week 34 fantasy midfield.
Cesc Fabregas - There was going to come a time when I suddenly really regretted dropping Fabregas at £5million, and that time is now. With Oscar out of favour the ex-Arsenal midfielder has been pushed further forward by Jose Mourinho and he should do very well over the double week.
Esteban Cambiasso - When Nigel Pearson snapped up Cambiasso at the start of the season there was much surprise that such a big name had chosen Leicester, but the veteran has looked right at home. Quietly effective throughout the campaign, the Argentine is using all of his experience to conduct an astonishing survival push, and his all-round fantasy contributions make him a terrific option for the double week. If I could find a way to fit him in to my team I would.
Marc Albrighton - Back in the team and doing what he does best - getting to the byline and delivering dangerous crosses. Albrighton caused the Swansea defence constant problems last weekend to make it three impressive performances in a row. Another excellent Leicester option.
Jordan Henderson - An alternative to the obvious selection of Sterling and Coutinho, and Henderson would remain on penalty duty if Sturridge is still out.
Ahmed Elmohamady - I had to include a Hull midfielder, and Elmohamady really is the only one worth considering for the double week.
Nemanja Matic - It's rare for me to recommend a defensive midfielder in this column, but Matic averages 5 points per game which could equate to 10 points across the week for a cost of £5million. Plus you never know, he could "Pull a Mason."* (* this refers to Ryan Mason's shock 35 points in Week 29.)
Mile Jedinak - Captain Jedinak has been Palace's most consistent fantasy performer throughout the season so if you reckon Alan Pardew's men will bounce back at home to Hull then the Aussie would be the midfielder I'd go with.
Jesus Navas - No David Silva, no Samir Nasri and half a Yaya Toure leaves City short of midfield creativity, so Navas looks like the smart play here if you fancy another Etihad home win over Aston Villa.
Charlie Adam - Adam has been far from a regular under Mark Hughes but his recent run of form was much needed in the absence of the usual creative sparks, Bojan and Victor Moses, with the ex-Liverpool man pushed in to an advanced role. Sunderland beware.
Gylfi Sigurdsson - Siggy comes up against a Newcastle side on an atrocious run of six defeats in a row and will be looking to get himself a goal having not scored since Week 28.
Matt Phillips - If you hold Matt Phillips at discount you may want to throw him in for the game against struggling West Ham, but don't bring him in at full price.

STRIKERS
Jamie Vardy - With neither Chelsea or Liverpool having a recognised forward certain to be fit this weekend, it has led to some unlikely names topping the strikers list. Vardy is the best option given his recent form and certainty to start both matches ... barring injury or suspension of course.
Dame N'Doye - The only bright spark in a miserable 2015 for Hull, N'Doye has scored well when presented opportunities and will start both games with Nikica Jelavic out for the season. At £6million he needs just two shots on target across two matches to return his values so is a low risk option.
Leonardo Ulloa - Slightly less likely to start both games than Vardy because of the presence of David Nugent, but the latter missed the last game due to an injury picked up in the warm-up and Ulloa stepped in and scored, so the Uruguayan may well have secured his place back in the side.
Daniel Sturridge - If fit then Liverpool's Sturridge should be in your Week 34 team, but this is far from a guarantee given his record over the course of the season. We await Ben Dinnery's injury update on Friday.
Loic Remy or Didier Drogba - If we get any sort of confirmation that one of these men are fit prior to deadline than you can begin to consider getting that individual in to your team, but until then they should both be put to the back of your mind.
Sergio Aguero - Personally I'm dropping Aguero @15 this week to concentrate on double gamers, but I wouldn't argue with anyone keeping the Argentine who is on a run of three goals in two matches.
Glenn Murray - Disappointed against West Brom with little service provided, but Hull are really struggling and I expect Palace to bounce back and win by a couple of goals.
Mame Biram Diouf - The lead striker for any team facing Sunderland has to be considered and Stoke's Diouf will fancy his chances of making it to 10 Premier League goals for the season against the Black Cats this weekend.
Charlie Austin - I think he'll score, but you'd need to feel confident of a 20 points+ fantasy week to put Austin in over any of the strikers above.

So those are the players I'm considering for my Week 34 Yahoo team. Please make sure you check back here on Friday for Ben Dinnery's wonderful team and injury news column where he'll run through all the important info ahead of Saturday's deadline.

My own team page currently looks like this ...

XI: Schmeichel, Huth, Cahill, Moreno, Matic, Albrighton, Sterling, Coutinho, Hazard, Ulloa, N'Doye
Subs: Cresswell, Wollscheid, Emnes, Alnwich

You'll see I've managed to shoe-horn 11 double gamers in to my team and I actually really like it as a starting point. As always, follow me on @nikarg and I'll tweet an updated line-up on Friday.

I'm on holiday from Monday so Steve Rothgeb and Galin Dragiev will be covering Player Picks for Week 35 and Wek 36. I'll see you back here in Week 37 - good luck!