There are a lot of difficult and even looking fixtures in week 5 of the Premier League, but what’s the closest thing to a banker when it comes to scoring points?
Gameweek 4 Review
Crystal Palace against Burnley may not have been the match where most fans had their eyes on last week but the performance of Eagles ‘keeper Julian Speroni was extremely impressive. A clean sheet, three saves and a penalty save saw him pick up 15 points.
The ever reliable and bankable Leighton Baines returned to his best against WBA by keeping a clean sheet and picking up an assist as he picked up 12 points. Leicester’s Paul Konchesky and Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand completed the back three with 11 points apiece.
It will come as no surprise to many to see Angel di Maria picking up the points from the midfield area, expect to see plenty of this. The Argentinian registered 14 points while Ander Herrera (13), Jack Wilshere (13), Cesc Fabregas and Christian Eriksen (both 10) complete the midfield.
Diego Costa continued his one man bulldozer routine by blowing away Swansea with a hat-trick and scoring 17 points in the process. Graziano Pelle lived up to his name with a brace against the shambolic Newcastle United
J-League
Scores were pretty high at the business end of the J-League table and not many higher than the 87 points that catapulted Terry O’Rourke’s Sporting Kilbeggan to the top of the J-League table.
The same total was enough to transport Mike Burke’s Faux Quenelle (we like what you did there Mike) from relative obscurity to fourth place, with Brent Simonis’ Baraka’s boys and Sean Gibbs’ 40272 separating Mike’s men from Terry’s charges at the top. Roughan O’Neill’s Sons of Pitches also did enough to make the top five but with as many as 20 teams within reach of the top five, we’d be surprised if it doesn’t change between now and this time next week.
J-League Top 5:
- Sporting Kilbeggan – Terry O’Rourke: 290 points
- Baraka’s boys – Brent Simonis: 279 points
- 40272 – Sean Gibbs: 275 points
- Faux Quenelle – Mike Burke: 274 points
- Sons of Pitches – Roughan O’Neill: 274 points
Jose to outfox Pellegrini… again.
A large part of the reason why many of the lads in JOE Towers are so confident that Chelsea will win the league lies in their performances against the champions from last season.
Mourinho clearly wasn’t fully happy with the squad he inherited but the full importance and value of signing Nemanja Matic was made clear in their 1-0 win at Eastlands last year. Mourinho pulled off another tactical masterclass that evening and although Pellegrini won the war, we’re sure that he still retains the battle scars from two defeats to the Special One last season.
Diego Costa has hit the ground running, scoring 7 goals in 4 games, and his physical approach could provide the Blues with the perfect outlet away from home.
The incentive of striking an early blow and going 8 points ahead of City is an enticing carrot for Chelsea who have won more times at Man City than any other team in the Premier League.
The champions have made a mixed start to the campaign and come into the game looking for their first win in three matches. A defence that looked impenetrable last season has looked stretched in recent game s against Stoke and Arsenal.
A sapping mid-week game away to Bayern Munich might take its toll on their players who really can’t afford to lose. If history has taught is anything, it’s that Jose Mourinho is seldom generous when given an advantage in the title race.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks
Some of last weeks fixtures screamed “gimme” but the upcoming round of matches are much harder to predict.
Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from a humiliating midweek defeat against an in-form Aston Villa, Brendan Rodgers will have his first taste of balancing Champions League and league duties away to West Ham. Sunday’s marque matches sees Man Utd travel to Leicester who have proven a tough nut to crack at home while Man City against Chelsea could go either way.
While there are no guarantees in football we think these players might pick up some points.
Top Dollar: Angel Di Maria (£9.7 million)
We all knew the Argentinian’s quality and ability to set up chances but what we didn’t know was how quickly he could acclimatise to life in the Premier League. The record British signing absolutely tore QPR to pieces, then again we might have done that also, but Leicester are a different proposition all together. We think it might require a sublime through ball or moment of magic to unlock Nigel Pearson’s men, enter Di Maria.
Mid Range: Nacer Chadli (£6.1 million)
Like most of Spurs’ signings last season, it took Nacer Chadli time to find his feet in the Premier League, but the Belgian is starting to show his undoubted talent on a more consistent basis this season. He didn’t feature in their draw with Partizan Belgrade and we expect Spurs to hit a WBA with both barrels. Three goals in four games indicates to us a man in form.
Bargain Basement: Steven Naismith (£5.6 million)
Not the most glamorous or sexy of striker to opt for in your dream team but the Everton striker looks like a player who has worked on his game over the pre-season and is reaping the benefits with some impressive performances this season. Everton have found scoring goals easy so far and we expect them to do so again against Crystal Palace. Mirallas is a decent shout but at this price the Scot is well worth a gamble.
Irish Pick: Seamus Coleman (£7 million)
The Killybeggs man found the back of the net against Wolfsburg in the Europa League and we don’t expect him to have too much defending to do against Palace at Goodison. He’s expected to shake off a slight knock and the PFA right-back of the year should have plenty of opportunities to get forward and put in some telling balls.
Captains Pick: Nikica Jelavic (£6 million)
We have a feeling that this match could be the final straw for Alan Pardew’s tenure at Newcastle and Nikica Jelavic could be a decent shout as a 2nd or 3rd choice striker. The Magpies defending against Southampton was absolutely shambolic and the Croatian has already netted against Villa and Stoke this year. He looks like the man most likely to put the potential final nail in Pardew’s St James’ Park coffin.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
