In what is likely to be the tightest relegation battle in years, JOE looks at the players from the struggling sides that could have a big impact between now and the end of the season.
Fantasy Football (In association with Champion Sports)
Gameweek 31 review
There has been only one man making the headlines all week for good and bad reasons and if like me, you took Wayne Rooney out of your fantasy football team last week, you’ll have been forgiven for a foul mouthed tirade towards whatever camera, or unfortunate person, came your way.
After a shocking first half, Rooney turned on the style at Upton Park and rattled in a second half hat-trick, which allied to the three bonus points he received, earned him 17 points and 34 if you happened to pick him as captain.
Rooney: Did you f*ckin’ pick me as captain?
One of Rooney’s goals was from the spot in a weekend where there were penalties aplenty in the Premier League. Chris Brunt and Mark Noble tucked away two apiece to earn 15 and 14 points respectively and although there were no penalties involved, Bobby Zamora and Darren Bent also scored twice for 13-point hauls.
We were convinced that Arsenal would have their way with Blackburn at the Emirates at the weekend and certainly could never have envisaged two Blackburn defenders, Christopher Samba (9)and Ryan Nelsen (8) finding their way on to the dream team. They were joined in that XI by Manchester City duo Joleon Lescott (12) and Yaya Toure (12), Zamora’s Fulham team-mate Dickson Etuhu (10) and another unlikely candidate, Wigan ‘keeper Ali Al-Habsi (7).
Champion J-League
Finally, there’s a hint of a challenge towards the top of the Champion J-League after yet another poor showing from Shane Halligan’s Hal’s Allstars last week. Stephen Fox’s Makin Up D Numbers* are making a late charge for glory and are now within 50 points of the previously unstoppable Allstars after scoring 17 points higher than the league leaders in Gameweek 31.
Kieran Ryan’s Premier FC occupy the unfamiliar environment of joint fifth place with only seven gameweeks to go alongside top five regulars Keith Donnelly’s UpDown FC, Donal Barrett’s Sinking like a stone and John Murphy’s Team of Gary Breens.
With Emmet Purcell back in tow, Joe’s Journeymen jumped a respectable seven places to 19th in the table over the weekend. It’s his baby from now until the end of the season, although we’re talking miracles if the top ten finish we hoped for in the league’s inaugural season will become a reality.
Champion J-League Top 5:
1. Hal’s Allstars – Shane Halligan: 1778 points
2. Makin Up D Numbers* – Stephen Fox: 1738 points
3. UpDown FC – Keith Donnelly: 1703 points
4. Sinking like a stone – Donal Barrett: 1693 points
5. Team of Gary Breens – John Murphy: 1683 points
Premier FC – Kieran Ryan: 1683 points
What to look out for this week and JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks
What to look out for this week
After last weekend, a title race that once looked as if it might go down to the wire now looks to be drawing to an inevitable conclusion. Manchester United are scoring their regular supply of last-gasp winners, Arsenal seem to be suffering their annual Easter collapse, while both Chelsea and Manchester City have probably left it a little too late to mount a serious challenge.
It seems then, as if the most exciting thing about the rest of the Premier League season will be determining which three in the long list of relegation candidates will actually face the drop. It’s anyone’s guess at this stage, but what is certain is that the teams that do survive will be indebted to a few individuals who will do more than most to ensure Premier League survival.
We’ve picked out a few of those individuals who could have a big say in whether or not their team is playing Championship football next season.
Candidates
In goals, you can’t go too far wrong with Birmingham’s Ben Foster (£5.3 million). The ex-Manchester United man is still partial to the odd clanger or two, but he has made 144 saves this season, 17 more than his nearest challenger Robert Green and a whopping 38 more than the next man in line, Blackburn’s Paul Robinson.
Granted, that may be more of a commentary on how poor Birmingham’s defence is, but ‘keepers get points for saves and it is no coincidence that Foster is the third highest scoring netminder this season, behind Joe Hart and Petr Cech.
At the back, we’ve been very impressed with West Ham’s Manuel Da Costa (£4.7 million) in recent weeks. The Portuguese defender was magnificent prior to the Hammers’ second half collapse against Manchester United last weekend and has started four of the last five games for Avram Grant’s side. In that time, he’s scored 22 points thanks to a goal, two clean sheets and three bonus points.
The prospect of Aston Villa going down would have been dismissed at the start of the season, but the Villains are only two points clear of the relegation zone with only seven games left and must prepare themselves for the prospect of losing half their squad should they end up dropping a division.
If Villa go down, Stewart Downing will be one of the first out the door at Villa Park
At the front of the queue of players heading out the door would be winger Stewart Downing (£7.4 million), who is often maligned for his supposed ordinariness, but has been one of Villa’s best players this season. Downing has failed to provide either a goal or an assist in only two of the last seven games and with six goals and eight assists all season, has been equally as productive as his much sought after team-mate Ashley Young.
Finally, West Brom seemed to have steadied dramatically since the arrival of Roy Hodgson at the Hawthorns, and while ‘Woy’ has worked wonders at the back, he has also provided the catalyst for a return to form of striker Peter Odemwingie, who caused the Liverpool defence all sorts of problems last weekend and is easily affordable at only £5 million.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks
Top Dollar: Nani (£10.0 million). Having been omitted from the starting line-up against Chelsea during the week, expect Nani to start against Fulham at Old Trafford at the weekend. With none in the last five, he’s due a goal, but even if he doesn’t hit the net, the man is an assists machine with 16 already this season.
Mid Range: Darren Bent (£8.9 million). Bent’s switch to Aston Villa hasn’t been as spectacular as some suggested it might, but three goals in his last three games, as well as a goal for England against Wales, would suggest that he is hitting form in the nick of time for Gerard Houllier’s side at such a crucial stage in the season.
Bargain Basement: Gary Cahill (£5.5 million). The Bolton defender is destined for bigger and better things and is a significant goal threat in the opposition box at set-pieces.
Irish Pick: Jonathan Walters (£5.5 million). Walters was magnificent against Chelsea last weekend and has registered 22 points in his last two games with two goals, an assist and five bonus points. He will relish the chance to test a vulnerable Spurs defence at White Hart Lane this weekend.
Captain’s Pick: Javier Hernandez (£6.7 million). An extremely tough choice this week. Had he not been given a ridiculous two-match ban for swearing, Wayne Rooney would have been the obvious choice, while I am extremely reluctant to recommend an Arsenal player after the Van Persie experiment failed last week.
After their inspired comeback against West Ham last weekend, United have the look of champions about them and with Rooney absent, it will more than likely be up to the ‘Little Pea’ to step up to the plate against Fulham at Old Trafford.
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