Forget about Christmas parties, last-minute shopping and the like, there’s a sneaky extra fantasy football gameweek to worry about today and you better not get caught out.
One of the things you have to love about Christmas is the sheer abundance of Premier League football that comes our way. While players across the continent are putting their feet up and recharging the batteries ahead of the New Year, the Premier League are ensuring that the English national team will almost certainly never do well in a major tournament by flogging them silly in harsh conditions only months before.
But hey, we’re not going to complain because there’s plenty for us to feast our eyes upon. Just when you’re starting to run out of energy between Christmas and New Year, along comes a big game on an otherwise mundane Tuesday or Wednesday night and you have an excuse to head down the pub once again. Just make sure to change your fantasy team before you do because it’s easy to get caught out. Very easy, in fact.
I’ll be giving you a more comprehensive guide to how to cope with the Christmas period (in fantasy football terms – hangovers and such are not my prerogative) later in the week, so here are a few quick tips for the games taking place between Tuesday and Thursday this week. You have until 7.30pm this evening to decide whether you want to follow my advice or not.
Keep an eye on Gareth Bale: One in three managers have picked the would be heir to Lionel Messi’s throne as the greatest in the world, but an ankle problem threatens to rule him out of Thursday’s clash with Chelsea and beyond. Getting rid of him would be a risk, but would also free up funds if you wanted to, for example, get Wayne Rooney back in.
Have the Magpies run out luck? Many a good start to the season was based on having a couple of Newcastle defenders in the team, but they are beginning to look a little fragile at the back, so change could be necessary.
They may have kept a clean sheet against Swansea at the weekend, but conceded 11 in four prior to that and have Liverpool and Man United in two of their next four games.
Want a goalscoring defender? Vermaelen’s your man. A quite astonishing statistic that had slipped our attention a few weeks back was that Thomas Vermaelen’s goal tally for Arsenal had reached double figures before he’s even played 50 games for the Gunners, a sensational return for a defender.
He nearly hit the net twice against City on Sunday and with Wenger’s men in the form they’re in, it could be worth splashing out on the Belgian. Providing he can stay fit, of course.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks
Top Dollar: Sergio Aguero (£11.1 million). The Argentine did everything but score against Arsenal at the weekend and crucially, played his first 90 minutes of the season. With the depth in City’s squad rotation over the Christmas is always a worry, but if he starts, we fancy him to score against Stoke.
Mid-Range: Jose Enrique (£5.9 million). Liverpool’s defence has been the greediest in the league and that’s thanks in no small part to the Spaniard, who has been one of the signings of the summer. He’s played every minute so far and has popped up with a couple of assists as well, even though that figure would be far greater if Liverpool were a bit more clinical in attack.
Bargain Basement: Michel Vorm (£5.0 million). We might have mentioned this guy a few times before, but that’s no excuse for not doing so again because of his consistent excellence. He makes shedloads of saves every game, has kept an impressive eight clean sheets and his influence can be measured by the fact that he is by 17 points the best performing goalkeeper in the league.
Irish Pick: Stephen Hunt (£5.8 million). He’s not consistent enough to be relied upon in the long term, but if it’s a quick fix you’re after, Hunt has three goals in his last seven games and is nearly always involved in their set-pieces.
Captain’s Pick: Wayne Rooney (£11.9 million). He only scored seven points against QPR, but he was immense overall and involved in everything good that United did. Has now got three goals in his last two games and looks good for another one or two against Fulham.
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