Fantasy Preview – Match Week 11

There were plenty of big losses in the Capital One Cup fixtures this past week.

Not only did Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Crystal Palace lose their matches, but many fantasy relevant players as well. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked to be set for a Premier League start only to get hurt, and be replaced by Theo Walcott, who then got hurt himself. Diego Costa will reportedly try to play through a serious rib injury which likely illustrates how dire Chelsea’s situation is at present. Yohan Cabaye, Pape Souare and Yannick Bolasie join Connor Wickham and Marouane Chamakh on the injury list for Crystal Palace.

With all these injuries you may well be looking to bring in or drop some other players so let us just jump straight into my recommendations as we head into MW11.

13

Sell: Sergio Aguero – Forward, Manchester City, 13.1

Aguero is expected to be back just after the international break, but I would still hold off on him until it has been confirmed he is back in training.

11

Buy: Alexis Sanchez – Midfielder, Arsenal, 11.6

Despite a disappointing showing last week Sanchez continues to be a must own for me. He currently sits 3rd in goals, shots on target, and successful dribbles and faces just one top 8 defense in his next 6 (Swansea, Tottenham, West Brom, Sunderland, Norwich, and Villa).

10

Buy: David Silva – Midfielder, Manchester City, 10.0

This is largely based on the expectation that he will be available for selection on Saturday. That having been said, I think Silva will immediately reclaim his number ten role from Kevin de Bruyne and should pick up where he left off. Raheem Sterling may be the only player in the City attack to suffer a decrease in role with the return of Silva.

Sell: Wayne Rooney – Forward,Manchester United, 10.2

I need to start a Rooney support group. Every few weeks I think it is time to buy back in on him and it never really is. They have a very favourable schedule through to MW19 but, and this is a big no-no in fantasy world, Rooney is dead to me.

9

Buy: Harry Kane – Forward, Tottenham 9.3

I was high on him last week, but I certainly did not expect a hat-trick. I was originally tentative about Kane as a buy with three consecutive London derbies soon impending only to realise he scored five goals in his matches against Arsenal, West Ham United and Chelsea last season. Oh, and Aston Villa are awful. All aboard the hype train!

Sell: Pedro – Midfielder, Chelsea, 9.0

Allegedly he regrets his move to Chelsea almost as much as every fantasy owner regrets rostering just about any Chelsea player. Pedro has suffered a bit due to the terrific form of Willian, but surely he knew what he was getting into upon heading to Stamford Bridge. There has been previous – Mata, de Bruyne, Schurrle, Salah, Cuadrado and others. If he does turn it around I would expect it to be in the Champions League.

8

Buy: Christian Eriksen – Midfielder, Tottenham, 8.4

Eriksen, otherwise known as The Great Dane, has notched two goals and three assists in his last five, with nine chances created in just his last two matches. Now he gets to face twentieth placed Aston Villa, without a manager. The very same Aston Villa that brought Ayew and Sigurdsson back from the fantasy grave just last week.

Sell: Philippe Coutinho – Midfielder, Liverpool, 8.1

I was a big believer in Coutinho heading into the season and unfortunately I just cannot wait on him any longer. His nine chances created is good for third best at Liverpool and four of those came against Aston Villa. Will he turn it around under Jurgen Klopp? Hopefully, but 8.1 is too much to pay for hopefully.

7

Buy: Dusan Tadic, Midfielder, Swansea, 7.0

In case you somehow missed it, Bournemouth have conceded ten goals in just their last two matches. Sadio Mane gets a lot of the love and defensive attention, but Tadic is fifth in chances created and second in successful crosses which should start bouncing in off Pelle’s head with more frequency soon.

Sell: Falcao/Loic Remy, Forward, Chelsea, 7.0/7.1

I know picking one of them up is the easy answer to fill in for Diego Costa, but they earned a combined five points during Costa’s last absence and now we are hearing Costa may try to play despite having a serious rib injury.

6

Buy: Diafra Sakho – Forward, West Ham, 6.6

This is a bit of a gut call as West Ham face a stingy Watford defense. Sakho has been a bit more of a creator lately with his shots on target dropping the past few weeks while notching three chances created in his last two matches. The return of both Mauro Zarate and Andy Carroll to the fold should allow him a little more freedom on the pitch and Dimitri Payet may just point some of those pinpoint passes Sakho’s way this week.

Sell: Bafetimbi Gomis- Forward, Swansea, 6.9

This pains me. A lot. I went on record many places saying I thought Gomis will score fifteen goals this season, but it is time to cut bait now. The last time he scored more than two fantasy points was MW4 despite getting starts every week since. I think Andre Ayew is legit and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s form can only improve, I am just not sure Gomis will follow in turn.

5

Buy: Odion Ighalo – Forward, Watford, 5.4

He has played a role in seven of Watford’s sight goals and I do not see why that would stop anytime soon. Despite having the money to bring in Pelle or Lukaku, I have just brought Ighalo into my team as I trust him more than everyone but Vardy at the moment. West Ham are not the most stout of defenses having conceded seven goals in their last five matches.

Sell: Hugo Lloris, Goalkeeper, Tottenham, 5.1

Lloris got his first bump of the season, but 5.1 seems to high for a clean sheet gamble, even if it is a gamble with decent odds. He is not notching a particularly high amount of saves as the defense in front of him has improved and Spurs have three consecutive London derbies after this week (Arsenal, West Ham, Chelsea).

4

Buy: Joel Ward – Defender, Crystal Palace, 4.4

Ward got some minutes on Wednesday and seems to have recovered from the leg injury that has kept him out for over a month. He had 21 points in his first four matches of the season and Crystal Palace’s defense has looked a little more assured since switching to Hennessey as their number one. Manchester United looks a tough ask but with Rooney’s struggles they could just eek out a clean sheet in this one.

Sell: Boaz Myhill – Goalkeeper, West Brom, 4.8

He has literally been the best fantasy keeper so far this season, but unfortunately that was largely down to a fairly easy schedule. His next six matches are far from easy as he faces Leicester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool making Myhill, and most Albion players, droppable at this point.

TEB Fantasy Football League Table after MW10 (top 25 of 257)

	#	Team	Manager	GW	TOT
	1	E Pluribus Anus	Rory Jackson	41	566
	2	fifty-fifty	Ramchandra Ram	50	564
	3	Cabaye-Bye-Bye	Matthew Freeman	39	564
	4	Money Cabaye Success	Matt Jones	40	550
	5	Best Weston	Asher Weston	34	533
	6	Wilfried Zahaha	Michael Bellairs	42	532
	7	Chelsea Dagger	David Gilbert	41	530
	8	Cabaye’ my lover..	Greg Ross	50	528
	9	Crystal Phallus FC	Simon Dixon	42	524
	10	Dynamo Dan Dan	Daniel Bright	40	522
	11	HXB	Joe Lipski	56	521
	12	khabarmantra	Asif Naim	38	516
	12	How The Mighty Rise	Clive Mitchell	45	516
	14	Mané Kurian FC	James Kearney	51	514
	15	Los Bosteros	David Walsh	43	512
	16	The Eagle has landed	gary ward	51	512
	17	Prairie Wind	Graeme Wiseman	40	512
	17	MurderOnZidanesFloor	Tom Harding	40	512
	19	Wheddsta	Harvey Wheddon	48	511
	20	TPOSL	Eric Terwilliger	68	510
	21	Irish eagles	tony quinn	39	510
	22	Mighty Eagles	Alex Sherer	37	510
	22	Creme Egg Army	Dan Lazar	47	510
	24	Eglwysbach FC	Joe Roberts	52	509
	25	best of best	Anamika singh	45	508