The Matchday Insight : Week 20

Firstly, a very Happy New Year 2012 to all and wish you all the very best in this new year.

With the way week 18 and 19 have been for most, im sure we could start this new year on a good note with a double match week to begin with in Week 20.There were a number of reasons for such  a low scoring matchday as we witnessed in the last two weeks which i could address as under :

• High amount of rotation in squads due to such a congested period where games come thick and fast.
• Sticking with high discounts and therefore not being able to swich to better picks for that week.
• Over dependence on one particular team for eg Ddg,Nani, Valencia and Rooney from Man Utd
• Quiet affair on top of the league table with low margin victories or draws
• Unexpected heros such as Berbatov,Bellamy etc who have till now been away from the limelight.

So what can we do with these factors which have got our ranks down ? Similar to the questions we face regarding the economy in todays time when we need to get out of recession and head to the recovery mode.

Well first and foremost we need to take full advantage of the double match where Tottenham and Everton play 2 matches this week where as other teams just play 1 match. It may require you to think out of the box and give up on "some" discounted players in order to get 2 match players.Who are these players worth picking from these teams , lets find out :

Forwards: Adebayor ( Well Ade is a must have in your team as he will score and in 2 matches you could be in for a lots of points and goals from him)  , Defoe ( He is fit and did get some playing time against Swansea. He may not start both the games but how much ever time he gets , he capitalizes on it and if Vdv is unable to play full 180 minutes, Defoe could benefit from that). Saha ( Has just scored 1 goal this season, would prefer Everton Midfielders to any of their forwards)

Midfielders : Bale ( Good for the folks who didnt have him in week 19 as his value did come down a bit from 24.xx . He has to be the pick of the midfielders playing 2 matches)  Vdv ( He did take a knock against Swansea but i do see him fit to face Wba, We could have some team news regarding that by tomorrow morning, till then he got to be in your side.) Modric ( In case you cant afford both Bale and Vdv , Modric could fit in perfectly as he does take corners and plays well on the left hand side of the midfield.) Osman( Everton is one team which depends totally on their midfielders and the only inform player i see in that side is Osman and he has been playing really well in the last couple of matches) , Drenthe( At 10 you could have a decent Everton midfielders but not so dependable to score plenty in both the matches ) Sandro( Good enabler at 7 to fit in your team and with Parker injured, Sandro could have his place cemented for the next 2 games ) , Cahill ( Last but not the least , Tim Cahill at 6.62 , mind you has not scored this season.If you believe that his first goal would come in these 2 games , well he could be worth a gamble)

Landon Donovan is available for Everton from Week 20 but we have to wait for Yahoo to incorporate him in the system.

Defenders : Any of the Spurs defenders are a big asset this week as they play both the games at home.Any of Walker(12.18), Kaboul(9.86), Gallas(7.90), B Assou-Ekotto(10.27) would be sure starters with King and Dawson getting some playing time as well
From the Everton camp i would prefer a maximum of 1 defender as i know Tottenham will score against them.Depending on your budget you could either pick Baines (19.32), Jagielka(10.28) or Heitinga(6.77)

Keepers : Howard is cheap and reasonable for 2 matches. I would expect him to get good points from the game against Bolton at home and how he does against Tottenham will depend on his own abilites of making saves from all that will come towards him from Bale, Vdv and Adebayor. I think he will do a good job to stop Spurs scoring too many. If you want to play it safe you could invest 14.68 of Friedel

Note : In case you have DDG , you need to be sure of your strategy for a keeper. Be rest assured that if you are sticking by him , he needs to play and not be rotated with Lindegaard the way its been for the last few weeks. I have swiched from Ddg to Howard to make the most of 2 matches than take a possible Zero.

Rest of the Lot:

Forwards       : Aguero,Yakubu,Bellamy
Midfielders   : Valencia,Gerrard,Silva,Ireland ( at 2.xx, before his price went up)
Defenders     : Brown,Clark,Rafael
Goalkeepers : Bunn,Guzan,Szczesny

Note : The picks from the "Rest of the Lot" must only be considered if you have them on a big discounts. I wouldnt suggest you to pick them on retail as the picks from Tottenham and Everton look more attractive.

We will be back for any important team news or injury concern.You could also follow us on twitter @iFantasyEPL for updates on injuries, suspensions etc.

Wish you have a great week end and im sure youll do well with your team.
Good Luck.Cheers.
Akhill (AMunited)