PLFantasy

As we all know, getting too bogged down in data analysis at this stage of this season can be dangerous, as the sample sizes on hand lead to one anomaly having a material impact on our conclusions (whether or not that changes after just 8-10 weeks is an argument for another day, but we can agree that three of four games isn't enough to make too many concrete claims). One factor, however, that is equally essentially to fantasy success that can be discussed now is playing time. Regular playing time at this stage of the season doesn't guarantee a future spot in the side, but it is indicative that a given player sits atop the depth chart at his position and is at least in a position of privilege for the coming weeks. One of the charts I included in the recently released e-book showed the defenders for every team for each week of the season, assigning them a status based on whether they were rotated by choice or unavailable for selection. The idea being, that we can deal with i...

Aston Villa Guzan, Lowton, Clark, Vlaar, Baker, Weimann, Bannan, Westwood, Sylla, Agbonlahor, Benteke Subs: Given, N'Zogbia, Holman, Bowery, Dawkins, Bennett, Carruthers After a couple of promising outings, N'Zogbia once again found himself back on the bench which only serves to underline that unless your squad is very deep, he's a luxury that can't really be afforded at this stage of the season, even if Villa have been better in the second half of the season. The rest of this team is fairly predictable with Sylla the only odd name here, though obviously not one to cause too many fantasy waves despite a promising first full game. Bent's miserable season continues, though he looks like he could be fit in the next week or so, which mind dent any meagre value offered by Weimann or Agbonlahor. Liverpool Jones, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Jose Enrique, Lucas, Gerrard, Downing, Suarez, Coutinho, Sturridge Subs: Gulacsi, Skrtel, Shelvey, Allen, Henderson, Sterling,...

Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Coquelin, Diaby, Walcott, Wilshere, Cazorla, Giroud Subs: Mannone, Koscielny, Andre Santos, Ramsey, Arshavin, Jenkinson, Frimpong Podolski and Oxlade Chamberlain picked up an illness towards the end of the week and so weren't available for this one. That left very few options for Wenger so this team pretty much picked itself. The one area of note was Mertesacker retaining his place at the expense of Koscielny, who flirted with the first team before his red card last week. Saying that, as discussed earlier in the week, Sagna seems to make by far the most sense in this back line so the Mertesacker drama shouldn't be a major factor anyway. Aston Villa Guzan, Vlaar, Clark, Baker, Lowton, Westwood, Delph, N'Zogbia, Bennett, Agbonlahor, Benteke Subs: Marshall, Ireland, Bent, Holman, Bowery, Bannan, Lichaj As expected, Vlaar came back into the team this week, though with 21 goals shipped in the last seven games, I...

Goalscorers are highlighted in bold , players with an assist are underlined Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Diaby, Wilshere, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Podolski, Walcott Subs: Mannone, Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Giroud, Ramsey, Coquelin, Jenkinson We had a potentially tricky situation to deal with at the back here with Koscielny getting the start ahead of Mertesacker, but with the Frenchman seeing red, normal service should be resumed next week. Saying that - and as I'll touch on later in the week - Sagna is the clear pick in this back line for me and presents a solid way to save a few hundred thousand if you're wildcarding or have a spare transfers to use on Mertesacker (or Gibbs in my opinion). Walcott got the start up front on his own and (from an admittedly distracted viewing) he seemed to be somewhat cut off from his teammates. Still, better players than he have suffered at the hands of this City defense so I wouldn't expect drastic shi...

Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Podolski, Walcott Subs: Martinez, Mertesacker, Rosicky, Giroud, Ramsey, Coquelin, Gervinho Nothing really to note here in terms of lineup issues with Mertesacker apparently struggling for fitness rather than being benched. The ineffectiveness of the team going forward could well lead to changes next game, though Wenger is one of the managers who tends to stick his plans more than most so I wouldn't be expecting anything too drastic. I'm still a touch concerned that Giroud comes into this side and Walcott slides back into midfield, but given the fact he'd still have significant value in that role too, it wouldn't put me off pulling the trigger Walcott during this gameweek. Aston Villa Guzan, Lowton, Clark,  Stevens,  Herd,  Bennett, Delph, Westwood, Albrighton, Benteke , Weimann Subs: Given, Ireland, Holman, Bowery, Bannan, Lichaj, Carruthers ...

Goalscorers are highlighted in bold , players with an assist are underlined Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs , Arteta, Wilshere , Cazorla , Oxlade-Chamberlain , Podolski , Walcott Subs: Mannone, Rosicky, Giroud , Ramsey, Djourou, Coquelin, Gervinho Pretty standard lineup here from Arsene Wenger, with Walcott once again given the chance to shine up top. While I was somewhat hesitant to crown Walcott as the next Thierry Henry after his garbage time goal at Reading, he's racked up 10 shots over his last two games and looked very comfortable this week, taking up advanced positions rather than drifting out wide and only looking to feed off balls put behind the defense, which can sometimes make Arsenal a bit blunt going forward. At 8.6m he isn't a steal and I still believe that Giroud will get some  minutes up top, but Walcott is certainly a very viable option and I'd be happy to grab him from GW23 onwards after which Arsenal enjoy a very favourable fi...