In this week’s insider, JOE advises managers to opt for players from Man City and Spurs in order to take full advantage of the last double gameweek of the season.
Fantasy Football (in association with Champion Sports)
Gameweek 35 review
For the second week in succession, the dream team for Gameweek 35 is a rag tag bunch of misfits with nary a superstar of the likes of Rooney, Van Persie or Drogba in sight.
Thankfully as far as the reputation of this column is concerned, our captain’s choice for last week, Dirk Kuyt, came through with flying colours with 13 points, one better than spiky Uruguyan striker Luis Suarez as Liverpool made hay against Newcastle at Anfield.
Kuyt was trumped as top scorer by Fulham’s Simon Davies, however, thanks to the Welshman’s 16-point haul against Sunderland, while teammate Gael Kakuta got in on the act thanks to his first goal for the club against a misfiring Black Cats outfit.
Hey you guys! Sloth lookalike Dirk Kuyt came through for us in Gameweek 35
Blackburn are very rarely represented in the league’s highest scoring XI week on week, but both Michel Salgado (9) and Martin Olsson (10) made the cut after the weekend win over Bolton, while Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey (10 points) was a welcome addition after the midfielder marked his prolonged comeback from an horrific leg injury with the winner against Man United at the Emirates.
Champion J-League
Three points. That’s all that separates the top two teams in the Champion J-League this week as Stephen Fox’s Makin Up D Numbers continue their late charge for glory.
After dominating the league all through winter and spring, Shane Halligan’s Hal’s Allstars are in danger of reverting into the shade at the onset of summer and if both sides stay true to form next weekend, the once-untouchable leaders will surrender a lead that they have held since the middle of October.
John Murphy’s Team of Gary Breens, Keith Donnelly’s UpDown FC and Niall O’Sullivan’s Wet Dream Team are competing merely for pride at this late stage in the game, but all credit to them for lasting the distance in a league ranked an impressive 443 out of more than 223,000 overall.
What’s more, they’re well out of sight of Joe’s Journeymen, who are 143 points adrift of the leaders and already plotting a change in management and personnel ahead of next season.
Champion J-League Top 5
1. Hal’s Allstars – Shane Halligan: 2028 points
2. Makin Up D Numbers* – Stephen Fox: 2025 points
3. Team of Gary Breens – John Murphy: 1963 points
4. UpDown FC – Keith Donnelly: 1961 points
5. Wet Dream Team – Niall O’Sullivan: 1946 points
What to look out for this week
It’s the last double gameweek of the season, so you might as well make the most of it while you can. Champions League rivals Manchester City and Tottenham are the teams with two games, although with City being unpredictable at the best of times and Spurs suffering an alarming slump in form, it’s hard to know who from each team might do the business over the next few days.
City – with four wins in their last six, are in far better form, but an away game to Everton and a home game with Spurs doesn’t exactly mean there are easy points at stake. Carlos Tevez is the one City player you can always bank on, but he may not feature again this season and new boys Balotelli and Dzeko have hardly been models of consistency in his absence.
Elsewhere, Joe Hart (£6.8 million) is the highest scoring ‘keeper in the league this season thanks to 15 clean sheets and more than 100 saves, but whether you can afford nearly £7 million to spend on a goalkeeper is another matter entirely.
The younger of the Toure brothers should be a near-automatic selection in Gameweek 36
We do, however, recommend long-legged midfielder Yaya Toure, who has chipped in with five goals and six assists and is easily affordable at just £6 million. His midfield colleague David Silva is a tad pricier at £8.5 million, but he has contributed 37 points in his last six games and on the evidence of Sunday’s game with West Ham, is in fine form at present.
Demise
For some reason, Spurs’ demise has been given far less coverage than that of their bitter North London rivals Arsenal, but eight points in eight games is crap in any man’s language. Nothing like a home game against Blackpool to restore the confidence, however, and ‘Arry’s boys should have plenty of target practise before heading to Eastlands in the middle of next week.
After a mid-season slump, 25 points in his last three games would suggest Rafael van der Vaart (£9.0 million) is back on top form, but the flying Dutchman aside, there aren’t many players showing enough form to merit fantasy football selection.
Call it a hunch, but we have a feeling that despite his abysmal form this season (three league goals), Jermain Defoe (£8.3 million) might run riot if given the chance against a leaky Blackpool defence.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks
Top Dollar: Rafael van der Vaart (£9.0 million). Arguably Spurs’ real player of the year, the Dutchman has two games to add to his 12 goals and nine assists in this gameweek.
Mid Range: Yaya Toure (£6.0 million). Another man with a double gameweek ahead, Toure has been a regular fixture in numerous fantasy football teams because of his consistency, goal threat and low price.
Bargain Basement: Daniel Sturridge (£5.4 million). European contenders earlier in the season, Sunderland are in freefall and their once sturdy defence has been leaking goals at an average of three per game of late. If the impressive Sturridge can overcome a niggling ankle knock, he could prove a handful for the Black Cats.
Irish Pick: Robbie Keane (£4.6 million). If ever West Ham needed something from the Irish captain, it’s against fellow relegation rivals Blackburn in an absolute must-win encounter at Upton Park this weekend.
Captain’s Pick: Rafael van der Vaart (£9.0 million). Seemingly the only Spurs player fighting against their current demise.
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