Matchday Insight : Week 9

We saw some good performances by midfielders in Week 8, with the likes of Nolan, Sterling, Michu and co. scoring and producing double digit scores. It was not a very productive week for defenders or keepers as most of the games were deprived of a clean sheet. 

Week 9 has a lot of potentially high scoring encounters. Arsenal host QPR at the Emirates, City host Swansea, Reading host Fulham and Tottenham are away to Southampton. All these fixtures seem to be high scoring and I would be looking to load most of the players from these teams.

Big one in Week 9 is Chelsea vs Manchester United. With Chelsea is prime form and coming off a loss against Shakhtar in midweek ( their first loss of the season ) are up against a team who are conceding and scoring goals. Man Utd cant afford to be 7 pts behind the leaders and I see this is game as a must win or draw for the visitors.

Well, lets get straight to matchups and picks for Week 9 

Arsenal vs Qpr

Man City vs Swansea

Reading vs Fulham

Southampton vs Tottenham

Forwards :

1.       Defoe  

With 5 goals in 8 games and first choice striker makes Defoe our top striker for Week 9. We do understand that Adebayor has not travelled with the spurs team for their Europa league game due to a back problem.

2.       Ba

Having been is super form this season, Ba is the joint highest goal scorer along with Van Persie. Newcastle play at home against West Brom who have been is good form as well. However we fancy Ba to do well and continue to be a threat for the opposition.

3.       Aguero

Swansea have been letting in a lot of goals lately and their defense is all over the place at the moment. Man City will want to bounce back after their terrible performance against Ajax in midweek. In the same fixture last year Aguero came off the bench and scored 2 goals.

Options :

Berbatov : We didn’t see much from him last week as he came back after 3 weeks being out due to injury. However he will be eager to show up against Reading this week. I would like to have a player like Berba in my team just for the fact that there is a lot of upside in terms of fantasy points.

Midfielders :

4.       Cazorla

Has an easy matchup and stands out as the best player in this Arsenal side. They will be looking at him to get them out of a bad run. With 2 losses in 2 games, I do expect Arsenal to give back to their supporters this weekend. Do expect some good stuff from him against QPR.

5.       Bale

Missed out last week as his better half went into labour just moments before their game against Chelsea. However he is expected to be back in the side this week.  Southamptom look to be conceding goals at home and Spurs seem to be looking threatening. There is definitely lot of goals in this game.

6.       Nolan

With lots of folks looking to replace Michu as he faces some tough opponents in the coming weeks, Nolan looks to be the best bet for a place in the midfield. He has been is good nick this season and playing just behind Carroll , he is getting lots of opportunity. I would suggest you keep him in case you already have him.

7.       Yaya Toure    DOUBTFUL

Nailed on in City’s midfield and definitely worth a look when they host Swansea at home. He has been quiet lately but without a doubt a good option as your fourth midfielder.

Option :

Ben Arfa  , like Yaya, has been quiet for a few weeks now but have a good fixture at home and is expected to be back in the points. Quality player and needs to get back to the way he started the season. In case you don’t have Sterling as your 4^th midfielder, he could provide a good option.

Defenders :

8.        Vertonghen

He is living up to the hype that was created before we kicked off this season. Its good to see him getting involved offensively. He is a good fantasy asset and must have this week.

9.       Vermaelen

Didn’t show up last week, but we are testing our patience once again with the man from Belgium. The matchup couldn’t get easier and this is show up time for the gunners.

10.   Cameron

Stoke have been a surprise package this season and really have been the spoilers as they are well know as. Cameron is a good pick and reasonably priced. He seems to be averaging above 7 pts per game which is pretty decent. Still cheap at around 7.

Option :

Lowton  seems to be the pick of the Aston Villa defenders. A home game against Norwich would have been the pick of the game if Villa had shown some kind of form. But unfortunately things have not gone their way till now. However Lowton has been good for them and been their best defender by far.

Goal keepers :

11.   Mannone

Just like Vermaelen , we will stick with an Arsenal goal keeper for this week. Just sense that gunners need to show up as they are 9^th in the table and play the bottom most side. Seems to be a good pick for the price.

Option :

Krul is back from injury and is reasonably priced at around 8. They are at home against West Brom and seems like a good game for a home keeper.

Well that’s all we have for Week 9. Im looking forward to it as a united supporter, it’s a must win match for us against Chelsea. Both the bloggers here ( Rohit and myself ) will be going head to head for that one as Ro has been a Chelsea supporter for the longest of time.

Lets hear from you all about your teams and get the comments coming in.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers,

AM