The Bargain Hunter - Week 17
Why Always Me?
That was the phrase that ran through my mind the moment the first piece of team news was coming out of Week 16 - Edin Dzeko is injured during warumps and winds up not playing for Manchester City after I had featured him as my bargain forward option, cover photo and all. I hope any readers who took my advice can understand that some situations go terribly wrong and no one can foresee it coming. The appeal about Dzeko was that he was Man City's only healthy striker to begin with (I'm not going to count Pozo) so to have him put up blanks for investors in that fashion has got to sting.
In my heart I am hoping that, like me, you tend to look for budget options at defense more or perhaps a cheap fifth midfielder and you didn't take the Dzeko bait. If that was true for you, perhaps then we can focus on the positive: backing Eliaquim Mangala and Ross Barkley. Mangala was a bit of a no-brainer with his price and regular starts and is now seeing his ownership rise even more. I am more happy to have put my money on Barkley, who waited until all eyes were on him Monday night to show that he was all the way back from his major injury. The talent is oozing off Barkley. He has above-average attributes in just about every facet of his game. If I were creating my own player on FIFA 15 and made him good at everything by the age of 21, then the end result would be something resembling Barkley. If you didn't scoop him up for last week or stashed him before his price went up after Monday night's performance, he went from costing 5.44m to 7.71m. Having bought him at his 5.44m price, I can now stash him as my top bench option in a tricky fixture (away to Southampton) and use him whenever I please in the future. I have a feeling 5.44m will be the lowest point his price will go this year.
As a general tip, you will want to have at least one decent bench option for your Yahoo sides as we enter the hectic festive schedule. There will be big names rested and unless you are getting a lucky stick for Christmas, you will fall victim to one or more of these scenarios. In most gameweeks during this stretch, you will ideally put out a 3-4-3 with one good midfielder option and one defender who at the very least is a regular starter and that should suffice. Basically you just want to make sure you have a backup at each position so that it doesn't require an illegal formation. You have to have at least three defenders, so just make sure when playing a 3-4-3 over the holidays to have a viable bench defender. My fingers are crossed that Jores Okore can beat out Ciaran Clark for the centerback partnership when/if Ron Vlaar returns to the XI. Okore and Clark may have done enough in Vlaar's absence that the Dutchman could be transferred in January.
But that is a whole other topic and we will be swimming in enough transfer rumors soon enough so without further ado, let's get straight to the bargains for Week 17:
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Goalkeeper
Robert Green (QPR) The keeper position is a tricky one in the Yahoo game this week, and it is best to spend on one of a handful of solid premium options instead. There are three keepers available for the minimum 1m who started last week, but none can be advised, even in a pinch, unless you are prepared for the chance of a negative return. Lukasz Fabianski is back so Gerhard Tremmel is no longer an option. That leaves Jak Alnwick and Brad Jones of Newcastle and Liverpool respectively. Alnwick is extremely inexperienced playing in the frenetic atmosphere of the Tyne-Wear derby and Jones will try to dive in the right direction to make saves against an Arsenal side who enter as favorites. No, I am afraid to say that if you want to be cheap at this position this week, you need to look in Green's direction. QPR have done well recently at home, winning three and drawing once in their last four, with the draw coming against Manchester City. They now face a West Brom side that has scored one league goal on the road since October 4th. To expect a clean sheet from QPR is a fool's errand, but it may very well come off here as Saido Berahino struggles to find the form that made the Baggies' attack so much more dangerous. However, the combination of Rangers home form and West Brom's road form makes Green at 4.22m a respectable play this week.
Other Option for Goalkeeper
Fraser Forster (4.86m, home to Everton)
Defender
Alex Bruce (Hull City) Mangala's price is still reasonable at 7.61m and represents far better value heading into Week 17 versus the super-bargains. One sneaky play that could equal Mangala's output but for a couple million less is Bruce, who is currently just 5.13m. Michael Dawson has not been ruled out of the coming weekend as of yet but the prognosis is not positive which would stand to see Bruce deputize. Perhaps another defender deserves a shot to deputize for a side in such lousy form but when your dad fills out the team sheet, you may have a bit of an advantage. In all seriousness though, the Tigers need results and they have to be looking at a home match with Swansea as an opportunity to turn things around. This is one of those gut calls where I think they are a better team than their position in the table indicates and are due for a positive outcome. Swansea's attack, particularly Wilfried Bony, is not as potent when away from home. Should news on Dawson change for the better, then skip to Steven Taylor below. It is the Tyne-Wear, crazy things can happen, but you can count on Taylor to start (as of this writing....yes, I am learning) and he is quite cheap.
Other Options for Defense
Steven Taylor (4.02m, home to Sunderland) Toby Alderweireld (6.76m, home to Everton)
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Midfielder
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) This just might be the budget mid to carry you through to the new year if Barkley costs a bit too much for you now. JWP has a big future ahead and it it weren't for injury we would have been able to witness more of his development this season. He came on as a sub in his first appearance since Week 5 over the weekend and put up eight fantasy points, then completed a full 90 minute shift in the Capital One Cup yesterday without any aggravation so the stage is set for him to be a regular in the Saints midfield going forward. When fit, he has shown glimpses of his fantasy potential, capable of stuffing the non-scoring stats which makes him useable in just about any fixture. It may take a week or two for the rust to wear off completely and do not expect him to start every league match during the busy festive period but for only 5.79m, if you are a JWP believer, the time to buy is now.
Other Options for Midfield
Ryan Mason (5.51m, home to Burnley) Jose Pozo (3.76m, home to Crystal Palace)
Forward
Andy Carroll (West Ham) At 8.95m, Carroll isn't super cheap. You would have to go back to the previous week when he was available for half the price to have bagged a true bargain. Still, at the forward position, anything under 10m is a player you are taking somewhat of a chance on because odds are every team in the overall top 5,000 in the Yahoo game, if not more, have at least two forwards who's current market price is above 10m. So, now that I've justified Carroll's inclusion, let us talk about his game. West Ham have a lovely combination of players right now with Stewart Downing crossing, Diafra Sakho's pace, Alex Song's strength, heck even Kevin Nolan is turning back the clock a bit. Now you have Carroll's size to compliment everything else and what you are left with is a well-oiled attack capable of scoring in a variety of ways. Carroll should win every battle in the air against the Foxes as the Hammers look to continue their home dominance against the club dead last in the table.
Other Option for Forward
Bobby Zamora (4.27m, home to West Brom)
Follow the RotoWorld_PL team on Twitter: Galin | Jeremy | Neal | Nik | Steve | Ben | Rob | Aaron
