The Matchday Insight : Week 18

The midweek has come to a close with the Manchester clubs showing off their dominance during the festive periods. Overall the week was a mixed one with largely players giving in performances that were expected of them and a few not so. You wouldn't have seen too much movement in your rank this week but be prepared for a roller coaster ride for this coming matchday that seems to be a recipe for managers losing their heads as we'd all be spoilt for choices. lets take a look.

Ok, now the matchups of interest are Man Utd. Vs Wigan, Arsenal vs Wolves and Liverpool vs Blackburn. The following players should definitely be in the mix for a solid week.

Forwards: Rooney(He had a quiet game grabbing a goal in the dying minutes of the game, At a discount is a diamond, At full price is still considerable), Welbeck/Hernandez(Welback gave a good performance but was it enough too keep Chicarito on the bench for this week, we'll keep a look out for that one), RVP(Now here's a guy even if gives an 18.5 managers would still be dissapointed and you should be. It is an easy decision at 20.47 holders, for 26-28 its a matters of putting all eggs in one basket, though the basket doesn't get any stronger than this), Gervinho(His outputs have steadily declined in the last 4 weeks, this matchup could change it all), Suarez(My personal hunch and feels most tempting. He seems primed to do big number and have Steve Kean looking for a new job as teaching "positivity in ......."), Bellamy(Started on the bench against wigan only to come on and get booked. He will start as Liverpool look to be banking on his creativity for goals.)

Midfielders: Nani(He gave 21 points but the way things were going it seemed it would be more. He is a great asset at 17.** and a few would have barn doored him at 21.56 which i'm not very sure about. He tends to have a good match every other week but this matchup could have me eating my words.), Valencia(Everyone around him is injured and thats great news for the ones holding him at 6.** as he's a good shout at even his market price, the poor mans Nani).Walcott/Arteta(At 15 an 13 respec. these players are not capable of matching their value on week to week basis, but for this week you can consider them. The United middies are a better option in my opinion). Adam(His penalty saved caused his output to fall to a 9.5 which is avg. but shows he could have been amongst the top players last week. Will he take penalties again? I'm not sure but he could be fired up to make amends otherwise.)

Defenders:  Vermaelen(He scored 1 but is a season long player so hold tight and don't let go. At Market price is a heavy investment but as hes playing wings with a 10+ avg. and can be picked). 

Keepers: DDG(He'll start. Don't worry. Don't buy at market price though).

Rest Of The Lot:

Forwards:

Aguero: He's owned by 56% teams, For the rest 44% hope some of you grabbed him before his price rise.

Adebayor: Keeps on Scoring so no reason to drop. Decent matchup too.

Sturridge: Officially the best chelsea player. Great value at 9.**,11.** and 14.00 & 14.68. Good matchup.

Ba: Loved his performance last time out. He's still good with the matchup but I strongly feel only if on a discount at 16.88. Otherwise tons of options. He faces Liverpool and Man. utd next so not worth holding if thinking of capitalizing on the discount for future. 

Midfielders:

Silva: He gave a 0, but you have to take those if you hold him at 8.**. Season long pick. At Market price can be overlooked.

Bale: VDV is out, again. This guy will benefit, again.

Larsson: He has a good matchup and has seen his price drop so is a affordable expensive pick.

Drenthe: Two 10 point + matchdays, is another one possible. Surely.

Cabaye: Back after his suspension best below 10 midfielder available if u take value and matchup in consideration. (Ramires is suspended)

Ben Arfa: Now what to make of his 6 points performance? Well Newcastle have not won in their last six. Best has started the last two and done next to nothing. Ba needs support. Ameobi is not really backing up is managers confidence in him. Rise of the ultimate enabler?? If not now then never.

Defenders:

Brown: The rush of a 3.** defender scoring is immense. Just for that I'm going to tell all to hold this gem till he cracks or the season ends. Not at Market price but.

Romeu: Sure to start with the suspensions and the knocks chelsea midfield suffered. At 5.94 with good matchups along the way is worth the money. Almost scored too.

Woodgate: For 1.97 he is a good hold. Just have to make sure he's starting.

Rangel: Back from injury and priced dropped to 7.17 and a part of the best home defence in the league (only 2 goals conceded in 8 matches) facing QPR.

Keepers:

Vorm: Expensive choice but its Vorm playing home. If ever you feel the urge to pick a 10+ keepers this week you can satisfy it.

Sorensen: At 7.27 can be picked playing a team that that has won only once away from home.

Westwood/Krul: Cheap options with no guarantees.

Lots of choices, lots of combinations but as long as you stay around the ones mentioned above you should be ok. 

Apart from the above there are some choices for eg. Al habsi, Surman, Richardson and Welbeck from last week, Osman last 2 weeks who have done well but its very hard to include such picks in our previews. I very strongly urge my fellow Managers(and myself) to sometimes think outside the box and take a risk or 2 sometimes and see how it works out. Not that I'm suggesting you take Al Habsi this week but to some extent a calculated risk. All you need is one or 2 such choices to really go up the ranking table so when its worth it go for it.

Let me see if I can do a little exercise. Let me just name 5 players from all categories that I think can cross the 20 point mark and they should be a lesser fantasy name for this week. so here goes:

My Hunch Players: Graham,Abgonlahor, Meireles, Modric, Guzan.
I'm not suggesting you pick these players but to have ur own 5 as this can be too unpredictable. See how they perform and try and practice this concept every matchday. See how you do if you reduce to 4 or 3 choices. Obviously I can't guarantee this but just maybe you get better at making these hunches. Practice makes perfect.


Alright, thats about all I have.
Have a good holiday and Merry Christmas from me and AMUnited!!