Gameweek 26 Preview

After another disappointing 41 point week, I have finally pulled the trigger and made a risky play - I am putting my faith in the Mancini's frustratingly inconsistent City side. I have brought in Adebayor to play alongside Tevez in time for their double gameweek this week. I can then add N'Zogbia, Sorensen and Huth to this pair to give me 5 double gameweeks. Do I really trust this City side? No. However, as another Rooney goal hit the back of the net with me not owning him, it was time to make a move before it is too late. United have a double gameweek of their own next week and so Rooney will be a must, so I'm hoping to gain some ground this week on those who can't/won't sell him by hitching my cart to the Adebayor bandwagon.

Clean sheets were fairly easy to come by last week with no less than 8 teams keeping the opposition at bay. Six of these ranked in my top 10 and four of my top six were able to keep a clean sheet. Playing the numbers, only Fulham (15th) and Villa (14th) were surprises based on my rankings. I also feel somewhat pleased with my captain rankings as many top line players struggled to hit the big scores this week. Rooney (1st) , of course, delivered once again while Drogba (4th) was even better than I thought he would be. Adebayor (8th), Lampard (7th), Evra (6th) and Gerrard (2nd) would all have delivered double digits if handed the arm band while only Anelka, Bent and Tevez failed to register any extra points. This week's rankings will be slightly skewed by the double gameweeks but without too many premium players in action, you will face the tough choice between a good player in two games and a premium player in one game.

Clean Sheet Rankings
  1. Stoke
  2. Wigan
  3. Fulham
  4. Man City
  5. Blackburn
  6. Tottenham
  7. Arsenal
  8. Aston Villa
  9. Chelsea
  10. Man United
  11. Portsmouth
  12. Bolton
  13. Birmingham
  14. West Ham
  15. Wolves
  16. Everton
  17. Sunderland
  18. Hull
  19. Liverpool
  20. Burnley
Stoke, Wigan and City all look like good defensive bets on their double gameweek as all three units have been okay in parts this year and get at least one opponent who rank towards the bottom of the scoring charts. The bigger name teams are not so good plays with the top two teams travelling to Goodison and Villa Park in what will likely prove to be tough games. In fact, if either United or Chelsea keep a clean sheet, I think that would be a good sign that both have really got their defensive units back on track and would become must own players going into the final few weeks of the season.

Captain Rankings
  1. Emmanuel Adebayor
  2. Carlos Tevez
  3. Didier Drogba
  4. Wayne Rooney
  5. Frank Lampard
  6. Cesc Fabregas
  7. Andrei Arshavin
  8. Ryan Shawcross
  9. Hugo Rodallega
  10. Charles N'Zogbia
As you can see I am going all out on City this week based on the 2.1 GPG Bolton are shipping away from the Reebok along with the fact that their best defender Gary Cahill is now out for the season. Their other game at Stoke is not as appealing (1.08 GPG) but regardless Adebayor and Tevez are both in good form and with Rooney facing his toughest game for a while, I like the Blue side of Manchester to reign supreme this week. Of the other double gameweekers I like the Wigan pair of N'Zogbia and Rodallega to continue their good fantasy form, while Shawcross is a legitimate quadruple threat, earning points from goals, assists, bonus points and clean sheets this year.

With four games tomorrow evening the deadline is 19:30 GMT on Tuesday evening so don't forget to get your transfers in before then. Until then why not post your thoughts, comments and transfer/lineup issues below or @plfantasy.

Comments

goke313 said…
http://i50.tinypic.com/294qqsk.jpg

my team for next week....this looks my strongest line up eva
agincourt said…
BBC Sports doesn't list Shawcross in the team list Feb 8th. What's going on there?
Unknown said…
howzit guys, been a while.

with

Robinson (Hart)
Hangeland, RJohnson, Zabaleta, Richards (GCahill)
Lee, Fab, Milner, Modric (Valencia)
Rooney, Drogba (Piquionne)

Really considering zabaleta for captain. No-one stands out in my team this week and I need to catch up in my league.

thoughts?
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
@David

That's a tough one. I'd go Drogba as captain.

skip
Unknown said…
Hey guys.

Any idea on whether Ab Faye will play for the DGW?

Which is better for my starting team – Milner or Valencia? Diminishing returns from Milner of late but risk of Valencia not starting even though IMO he's a better pick for SAF than Nani.

Thanks.
Unknown said…
@skip, Thanks I'm probably gonna go with Drogba seeing as Zabaleta/Richards aren't guaranteed to play twice.

as for ur question, I have the same call to make and it's valencia for teh bench, keeping him for the double and then he goes. I wish SAF would just sell nani already.
agincourt said…
Do you think they are leaving Shawcross out of the line up to keep him fresh for The Cup match? Hope he plays next week as he is on my team!
agincourt said…
Now Shawcross is listed, hooray
Chris said…
Shawcross is in.

David - I'd probably stick with Drogba as City's defense is a bit unreliable. As you say though, Zabaleta would probably be better if you need to make points up.

Faye is out.
Ryan said…
Does anyone know why the bonus points for the Everton-Chelsea match have not been allocated yet?
A Cole is out for 3 months, would you rather have Song or Ivanovic in as a replacment?

Also did you know your blog has its own google suggestion now

"chris glover premier league"

congratulations haha.
Chris said…
There is some question over Song so of the two Ivanovic looks safer:

http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2171/premier-league/2010/02/11/1786653/arsene-wenger-admits-concern-over-injuries-to-arsenal-stars-alex-

I think Evra is the best bet for the week due to the double gameweek while Zhirkov becomes an intriguing differentiator for the remainder of the season. Personally, I have just brought in Evra.
Steven said…
Ryan,

Looks like the points are there now. They gave Donovan 2 points. 1 for good play and another for hurting Cole for 3 months prior to the USA v UK match in June!

I'm American ftw. :)
Craig B said…
Quick question on differentiation. I currently sit 10th in my mini-league and all but one of the teams in front of me own Evra. With the dgw coming on do I pray that he comes up small (sorry Chris) or is he a must own just to keep up? I have been looking at Evans too. Gives me the exposure to the cleanies (at 1.9m less) and some differentiation at the same time.
Ryan said…
Steven - Yeah it's as if the fantasy team read our post and awarded the bonus points several hours later. LOL Donovan's a frikkin tank!!

Craig B - I really love your whole differentiation and exposure theory but I just have a funny feeling MU might only get a cleanie against West Ham in GW 27 as Everton are in a bit of a purple patch at the moment. Purely for argument's sake, let's say Evans plays the 180 minutes but does nothing. So if you're happy with Evans scoring 2+6=8 points in GW 27 and ZERO in GW 28 (no match), then go ahead and buy him.

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