With three games to come against the lesser lights they thrive against, Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia is the form choice at the moment. In the J-League, meanwhile, there was big changes at the top …finally.
Gameweek 31 review
We might have scoffed at the presence of some players from the Premier League’s lower tier in the Dream Team of late, but surely nothing can compare to the surprise that many will have felt at the sight of one F Torres amongst the league’s top scorers this week.
Without a goal in the league since September, Torres finally got on the scoresheet against Villa at the weekend and with two assists added in for good measure for 13 points, he slotted in nicely alongside Emmanuel Adebayor (13) and Papiss Cisse (12) up front.
Of course, Torres’ performance owed a lot to the haplessness of a Richard Dunne-less Villa defence, which allowed the previously goal-shy Branislav Ivanovic (who hadn’t scored in the league all season) to ghost in for two goals and 16 points, the highest total this week.
Following closely behind was two-goal Sunderland man Sebastian Larsson (15) and Wigan defender Antolin Alcaraz (14), while there were notable contributions from Antonio Valencia (13), Rafael van der Vaart and Alexsandr Kolarov (both 12) and Victor Moses (11 points).
Champion J-League
After weeks and weeks of precious little change at the top, the J-League was in danger of going a little stale, but this weekend’s events prompted a major shake-up in the order of things at the summit.
With a 27-point swing, Matt Light’s Mamelodi Sundowns took the lead from Neil Kelly’s The Wet Bandits, of whom it could be safely said that only Liverpool endured a worse weekend.
For not only did Neil lose top the top spot, he’s now struggling to hold onto third place after a mammoth 81 points from Conor Sheehy’s A Great Bunch’a Lads saw him rocket into second place.
Similarly good tallies from Eoin Groarke’s Sure Now (69 points) and Brian Duffy’s Fergie’s Fledglings (66 points) means that both are in within touching distance of Neil in third place and that the identity of who will come out on top at the end of the season is anyone’s guess.
J-League Top 5:
1. Mamelodi Sundowns – Matt Light: 1,864 points
2. A Great Bunch’a Lads – Conor Sheehy: 1,847 points
3. The Wet Bandits – Neil Kelly: 1,844 points
4. Sure Now – Eoin Groarke: 1.838 points
5. Fergie’s Fledglings – Brian Duffy: 1,829 points
Awesome Antonio the form choice
We’ve made no secret for our admiration of Antonio Valencia in this column in recent weeks, but as the Ecuadorian showed on Monday night, there are plenty of good reasons for the repeated praise we send in his direction.
Valencia has performed well against the big teams – a man of the match display against Arsenal was evidence of that – but it is against the weaker opposition in the league that he really does damage.
On Monday night, Martin Olsson came in for the same treatment that Stephen Ward had a few weeks earlier and must still be having nightmares about Valencia terrorising him again and again, even if his build up play is a little bit lacking in variety despite being very effective.
United’s next three games are against QPR, Wigan and Aston Villa and if the Blackburn game is anything to go by, Valencia will be utilised as the main weapon in the United attack.
Since his return from injury three games ago, he has three goals, three assists, five bonus points and 32 points in total. For the season as a whole, he has accumulated 13 assists, one behind leading provider David Silva, who has played significantly more games than his crosstown rival.
Like United themselves, Valencia seems to have grown stronger as the season has gone on and is peaking at just the right time. At just over £8 million and with some of the big name midfielders struggling a little bit at present, he should nearly be the first man on the team sheet.
Oh and just as a heads up, due to an English holiday on Friday, the transfer deadline this week is 4pm Friday, due to the 4:30pm kick-off between Swansea and Newcastle.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Wayne Rooney (£12.9 million). We’re putting all our Easter eggs in the United basket ahead of their meeting with QPR at Old Trafford on Sunday and are quite confident that Rooney will contribute in some meaningful way to what should be a routine win.
Mid-Range: Hatem Ben Arfa (£5.7 million). He doesn’t come across as the most reliable of chaps, but he’s on fire at the moment with a goal, four assists and 26 points in his last two games. Very cheap too.
Bargain Basement: Martin Petrov (£5.1 million). Everything that happened since Fabrice Muamba’s near fatal heart attack has obviously had a galvanising effect on a Bolton side who have won their last three matches. Petrov has a goal and an assist in his last two.
Irish Pick: Jonathan Walters (£6.3 million). The burly striker is well overdue a meaningful contribution in Fantasy Football and to be quite frank, he could do with rediscovering his form with the clock ticking down to the Euros. What better time to do it then, than against a Wolves side that are as good as in the Championship already?
Captain’s Pick: Antonio Valencia (£8.2 million). The form player in the league at the moment and as he has shown of late, he has a habit of terrorising full-backs from the league’s lower reaches. QPR will be on a bit of a high having beaten Arsenal last weekend, but they could be in for an uncomfortable fall this weekend.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
