AS NINA SIMONE once sang, it’s a new dawn it’s a new day it’s a new Fantasy Premier League.
Well, not quite, but after last week’s unexpected outage, the makers of the popular game have given its participants a chance to essentially start again.
So, Fantasy Football Blog is here to make sure you use your all-important unlimited free transfers wisely.
Two players to pick this week:
Richard Dunne - Villa put in an excellent defensive display against Fulham last week, and Dunne was at the heart of all that was good about the side. Birmingham were more often than not defensively sound during McLeish’s reign at the club, while Dunne was named in the Premier League team of the season the year before Houllier took over. Therefore, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the club pick up more than a few clean sheets this season, continuing with this week’s game against Blackburn.
Wayne Rooney - There is an unusual dearth of reliable centre forwards to choose from at the moment, owing to a mixture of loss of form in front of goal (Torres) and uncertainty over their futures (Tevez). However, Rooney will almost certainly continue banging in the goals throughout the season. While Sergio Aguero costs £1million less than Rooney and perhaps represents the more adventurous choice, the ex-Everton man has proven – unlike Aguero – that he can score goals week-in week-out in the Premier League.
Two players to avoid this week:
Heurelho Gomes - With some of the big clubs playing each other this week, picking a goalkeeper is arguably the most difficult decision of the week. Tottenham’s eccentric Brazilian is certainly a player to avoid, not only for his unpredictable antics, but also because he is competing with Brad Friedel for the no.1 jersey, and my money’s on Friedel to start. And even if Gomes does play, he will be involved in what is probably Tottenham’s trickiest fixture of the season – away to Man United.
Gary Cahill - Despite being the top scoring defender last week, owing partially to his stunning strike in Bolton’s 4-0 victory over QPR, his side are unlikely to be as rampant when they play Man City at home. While they may not win at Bolton in as comfortable a manner as they did against Swansea, I can see City emerging from the Reebok Stadium having registered at least two goals on the scoresheet.
Predictions for the week:
Sunderland 1-1 NewcastleArsenal 2-2 Liverpool
Aston Villa 2-0 Blackburn
Everton 3-0 QPR
Swansea 1-1 Wigan
Chelsea 3-0 West Brom
Norwich 1-1 Stoke City
Wolves 1-1 Fulham
Bolton 1-2 Man City
Man United 2-1 Tottenham
How my team got on this week: In a word: disastrously. They must be content with playing catch-up already, after receiving a measly 32 points in Gameweek 1. Like everyone else who performed disappointingly, I’m blaming the outage, which left me unable to alter a team that contained several last-minute injuries/Tottenham players.
Who do you think will perform well/badly this week? Let us know in the comments section below.
