Week 3 Barn-Door Bonanza!
This week is significantly different to previous ones as we have the international break coming up which gives injured players the chance to get back on track and uninjured players the chance to ruin their season. Furthermore, the transfer window slams shut after the games have started – this may at first appear not to be a problem, as the new player’s prices won’t be affected by this week’s games, but Yahoo’s algorithm always changes other player’s prices when new players are added. Whilst there isn’t a great deal you can do and it’s not a huge adjustment, you should be aware so there are no surprises.
It is worth noting that already the preconceived ideas of how the premier League will play out are starting to falter; Manchester United are in turmoil (I’m being nice), Arsenal are without a frontman (although I’m sure Sanchez can suffice) and they can’t keep a clean sheet and Swansea as a team are far better value than anyone first thought. Tottenham were written off by the pundits pre-season but now stand top of the league, Hull’s defence looks to be a good investment, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, Aston Villa are 7th without conceding a goal!
It would appear that all bets are off and that you should be looking to any team in the league for valuable points (Downing with 34 points anyone?) With that thought firmly in mind, the first team I think that you should be looking to during the barn-door is….
Crystal Palace
With a game against Newcastle this week before they face off against Burnley in week four, there could be some interesting differential choices to be had, for example:
Kelly – Many of you will have him but at 1.88m he needs to be on your bench at least.
Chamakh – Less than 1% of managers hold this forward but he managed 13 points last week and although I wouldn’t go crazy on their defence, I can see loads of goals between CP and Burnley.
Manchester Utd
They’re starting to fall into that “They’re dead to me” area after two poor performances but surely they’re going to turn it around and at home against QPR looks like a good spot.
Di Maria – Who knows how this is going to go but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score on his debut and his price inflate from there.
Rojo – His work permit still isn’t expected to be through so his price shouldn’t go up but keep a watching brief – you never know.
RvP – He scored -1 for me last week but that’s just bad luck, when they start firing it could well be through him.
Hull
At home to West Ham could be a great chance for a clean sheet. I’m Only tipping good old McGregor – I can see a double digit haul coming his way…
Chelsea
With an aggregate score of 7-1 over the last three games at home against the Swans, these seem a great choice and we all know that many of them return solid fantasy points. I’d focus on:
Drogba – With Costa potentially injured he’s a great choice for £4.4m
Fabregas – at 14.58m he’s really starting to get expensive but with a quarter of managers already using him the question may well be whether you can afford not to have him.
Liverpool
This week’s game against Spurs should show you just how much weight to put behind last week’s result against Manchester City. Week 4’s game against at home to Aston Villa should be a walk over though – no real need to explain why, just focus on Sturridge, Coutinho, Sterling and of course, Balotelli!
Southampton
Southampton FC has kept a clean sheet against Newcastle during the last two home games and I haven’t seen much from Newcastle to worry me yet. Look to their defenders for some inspiration.
I also suspect that Stoke and Everton may also do well in week 4 but they have slightly harder match-ups this week which will hopefully keep their cost down.
Good luck and I’ll see you for week 5
