Gameweek 3 Preview

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This week's preview is going to be a bit condensed as my internet access has been limited while still on my travels. After the long rambling piece from GW2 was done I had enough time to throw together the below rankings which will hopefully help with lineup and transfer questions for the week:

Clean Sheet Rankings
  1. Chelsea (0.27)
  2. Man United (0.36)
  3. Tottenham (0.40)
  4. Liverpool (0.55)
  5. Blackpool (0.63)
  6. Aston Villa (0.70)
  7. Wolves (0.79)
  8. Newcastle (0.81)
  9. Blackburn (1.13)
  10. Bolton (1.13)
  11. Sunderland (1.17)
  12. Arsenal (1.36)
  13. Fulham (1.44)
  14. Man City (1.48)
  15. Everton (1.61)
  16. Birmingham (1.63)
  17. West Brom (3.39)
  18. Stoke (3.73)
  19. West Ham (3.83)
  20. Wigan (4.03)
Aside from the usual candidates, Blackpool stand out as a top pick for the week but I am cautious about this ranking due to the lack of data we have for them at home in the EPL. That said, Fulham were awful away last season (12 goals) and so Blackpool might just be worth a shot if you need a budget option this week. The top four picks are all worth consideration for doubling up if you can afford them given their great fixtures this week. For reference, I have United defenders ranked 3rd overall as buy prospects based on their value in the next 6 weeks, so they make the most sense if you want to bring one of these boys in this week.

Captain Rankings
  1. Gareth Bale
  2. Didier Drogba
  3. Fernando Torres
  4. Ashley Cole 
  5. Florent Malouda
  6. Steve Gerrard
  7. Wayne Rooney
  8. Aaron Lennon
  9. Nemanja Vidic
  10. John Terry
I like the top players this week and would be more than happy captaining anyone in the top 7 here. Spurs, United and Liverpool have outstanding fixtures while Chelsea are in irrepressibly good form and deserve consideration. I can't decide between the top picks here and this will be a decision made at the very last minute. I am currently leaning towards Bale as Spurs could destroy Blackpool having spanked Young Boys last night while Stoke are usually pretty solid defensively and their road defense ranked alongside Arsenal and Villa last year. This might change though such is the form of Drogba, who is the closest thing we have had to a must captain player since Ronaldo left for Madrid.

Apologies for this being a bit short this week but I wanted to get it up quickly rather than writing too much and posting it on Friday night. As always thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your comments and questions below or @plfantasy.

Comments

Manamongst said…
I have:
Malouda (c)
Walcott
Chamakh
Tevez

I'm not buying the Stoke City holding strong at home defense theory, they will crumble, to the scoring mid-fielders trying to stop Drogba and Anelka. I'm tempted to put the armband on Walcott but there's no way he can follow that hattrick up with anything remotely close to that.
August 26, 2010 at 11:51 AM
Unknown said…
Well I was a little surprised to see Bale as the top captain pick because I figured it would be Drogba by default. However, I like that pick and will consider captaining him this week, especially after his 4 assists yesterday.

And as always, thanks for the write up
August 26, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Chris said…
manamongst - from those players I would definately go with Malouda who is a strong choice this week. Arsenal travel to Blackburn who only conceded 18 goals at home last year and while they didn't play particularly well against Everton in GW1 they again kept the oppositon scoreless.

Auburn - I'm as surprised as you! I have twisted an ankle fro jumping on the Bale bandwagon so fast. Drogba is probably the safer pick and I might get spooked into giving him back him armband but Bale's fixture is just too delicious to not pay attention to.
August 26, 2010 at 9:58 PM
Ryan said…
Does anyone know if Micah Richards will continue as a regular starter even after Jerome Boateng returns from injury? Kolo is definitely a safer bet but unfortunately I'm cash-strapped.
August 27, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Chris said…
Ryan - you have to think that Boateng is going to be the long term solution given his high price tag. However, he is only expected to be in training at the end of Sep and these freak injuries have a history of taking longer to heal than expected so he might not feature until mid-Oct. Richards is therefore a somewhat safe option in the medium term though Zabaleta is also a risk to take his minutes.

http://bit.ly/crLY26
August 27, 2010 at 9:45 AM
kurbalija said…
what do you think of gallas?
August 27, 2010 at 12:21 PM
Ryan said…
Thanks Chris! I'll monitor City's lineup and results to decide who to buy next. I'm ok with medium-term solutions as long as they yield decent returns.

And yes, also having trouble deciding between captaining the Drog or Bale. On one hand, Stoke's away defence is crap and Spurs are on form and have a home game. On the other hand, Sorensen may only concede 2-3 goals max (I might be wrong here) and Bale might not score as much as 15 points again - Bale might have the volatility of last season's Malouda.

Anyone's thoughts welcome!
August 27, 2010 at 1:14 PM
Thommas said…
I think I'm gonna gamble on Bale. He had 4 assist in his last match! It's a risk but, no pain, no gain ;)
August 27, 2010 at 6:30 PM
Unknown said…
Bale is up against Wigan not Blackpool this week Chris. Same difference i guess!
August 27, 2010 at 7:48 PM
Unknown said…
Hey Chris, what's your feeling on Chamakh? Hasn't really delivered yet, will he still feature once VanP gets going? I can imagine Wenger going one up front.
August 27, 2010 at 8:09 PM
Chris said…
Looks like the great Bale debate is the hot topic for the week. I am currently on Bale but Drogba is becoming more tempting as I am having nightmares of Spurs having a continental hangover and Bale struggling to a 2 point week.

I think Chamakh has done well fantasy wise without being great on the field but I think he will continue to play most games up front with RvP and Arshavin off him. Arsenal do have alot of depth though and the likes of Bendtner up top and Nasri/Rosicky/Walcott behind can all steal minutes and mess up fantasy fixtures. I guess the same is the case with alot of players this year so this shouldn't put you off Chamakh and co altogether but you should be bargaining on 30 games worth of production rather than 38.

On a medium term note, Arsenal's fixtures are great for the next 10 weeks with only @Che and @MNC looking like a real problem for Wenger's men. This whole group aside from RvP and a fit Fabregas are risky and could cause you headaches throughout the season.
August 27, 2010 at 8:40 PM
Unknown said…
Thanks Chris for the advice.

Another question for you. Do you think it's worth sticking in Adam and benching Arteta for this gameweek? I fancy Blackpool at home against Fulham much more that Everton away to Villa.
August 27, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Unknown said…
I'm not convinced that Bale is consistent enough for the armband. I've brought him in to my team, but I just don't think it's worth the risk when I've got Drogba in my side as well.
August 27, 2010 at 11:59 PM
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