GK

 Begovic )£1.5m) Jaask (£1.0m)  Cesar (£1.0m)

There seems little point in spending alot here given the lack of star man awards and points scored for GKs generally so save it for elsewhere in your team.  The trick is to pick  the defensive mined teams which is why my first 2 picks have gone for of the 2 most defensive caches in the league in Pulis and big Sam.  Cesar is the exception with a number of fantastic performances which have given clean sheets in negative home performances and some outstanding shot stopping.

DEF

 Azpilicueta £3.0m  Baines (£5.5m) Nacho (£3.0m) Agger (£4.0m) Zabaleta (£4.0m) Rafael £4.0m) Vertonghen (£4.5m)

With points being deducted for goals conceded above the first one then you need to put players from the best defensive teams in the league.  Above are the best from the title and top 4 chasing teams

I’ve gone for Azpilicueta due to the value differential of him over the others who will still suffer some rotation.  Ivanovic has been left out a few times now and the CB’s have all been rotated.  Azplicueta should get the easier games when attacking is required.  Luiz at £4.5m is the next best bet if you want more certainty of gametime

No one has a secure position in the Arsenal defence at the moment so Ive again gone for the value option of Nacho.  Arsenal have a good run in and although he has competition from Gibbs he does have the potential to play further forward,  Its not an easy one to pick though

Everton have barely had a clean sheet until recently but Baines is practically a winger and takes free kicks and pens and is a proven Sun Dream Team performer.    Everton have good defensive stats and clean sheets will come.

Speaking of practically a winger, Rafael  remains the best Utd choice with everyone being rotated except Evra who’s just not worth the extra £2m . With Vidic back the clean sheets have returned and like Azpilicueta Rafael should get the games when attack is required

The defensive stats are very good for  Spurs and the Sun Dream Team loves Vertonghen so he’s the Spurs player of choice and the most consistently selected.  Walker and BAE have better game time security but the Sun Dream team love affair with Vertonghen is too good to ignore.  AVB wants to win the Europa league so he will be consistently selected.

Liverpool have reasonable fixtures and  Agger has taken over from Johnson as the best attacking player

City are still a great defensive team in my book although the absence of Kompany has affected them and there will be many clean sheets to come before the end of the season.  All the defence except the over priced Kompany will be rotated Zabaleta will face competition but such is his form its hard to see Mancini risking the tile chase/defensive of 2nd without him.

 Huth (£2.0m) Clyne (£1.0m) Reid (£1.0m) S Taylor (£2.5m) 

 Huth is good value in the early season performing Stoke defence and historically has a strong eye for goal. With Stoke not performing defensively at the moment I think spending less money on Huth over Shawcross at £3.5m is advisable.  Clyne is an attacking force in an improving Southampton defence which have reasonable fixtures.  Reid  has similar attributes and West Ham have a reasonable set of fixtures.  I’m not a particular fan of the Newcastle defence but they have the extra games if you want to gamble and S Taylor is the best bet.  I personally wont be.

Midfield

Mata (£5.5m)   Hazard (£4.0m) Cazorla(£4.0m)   Walcott (£5.0m) Bale (£5.0m)  Gerrard (£6.0m)

Heres the first tier in my mind:

Mata – The number 1 scoring midfielder.  Directs the team around the pitch and heavily involved in the game.  The sort of player Sun Dream Team loves and this is shown with the most Star Man awards.  Its worth having Chelsea coverage in your team and he’s the best pick.

Hazard – in fantastic form and with the extra games definitely worth considering.  Could even be a double up with Mata

Cazorla –  Great value.  Runs the Arsenal team. You just need to choose between him and Walcott for your team

Walcott –  Has dropped off in the last few matches but and has an injury doubt but still producing the underlying stats before that to make him worthy of your faith.

Bale –   Possibly the star midfielder of the premier league with his driving runs.  An eye catching player who should get the Sun Dream Team awards.  the Europa League is a big bonus as well.

Gerrard –  has shown great form recently and is a player heavily involved in Liverpools play.  They’re also in the Europa league

In my mind this is really where your midfield choices should come from.  I don’t really see any other bargains coming to the fore.

However if you want to gamble on a few players here’s some options

Sissoko (£1.5m) Snodgrass (£2.0m)  Lallana (£2.5m)  Maloney (£2.0m)

Cabaye is probably the more Sun Dream Team type player heavily involved in the play and with set pieces but the driving play and goal scoring of Sissoko has definitely impressed the assessors.  he’s also an absolute bargain if youre pushed in to the need to raise funds for elsewhere

Snodgrass has some of the better fixtures of the non elite teams and dominates set pieces but is disadvantaged by being on the flank and doesn’t have the involvement of some of the other players

Lallana a quality player with good fixtures to finish who is part of a rejuvenated attacking force.  Expect him to get some star man awards in the games to finish

Maloney should get in the points in the FA Cup semi but this really would be a leap of faith

Strikers

RVP (£8.0m)  Tevez (£6.5m) Suarez (£6.0m) Rooney (£7.5m) Berbatov (£4.0m) 

RVP and Rooney if you want Utd coverage are probably the best options.  RVP has been out of the underlying stats but has continued to produce assists if not goals.  It is questionable how he will finish the league as he hasnt shown the underlying stats of last season.  Rooney has produced recently but again on pretty thin underlying stats.  However lets not forget their quality and the ability of United to score .  RVP and Rooney though will be the mainstays of the attack.  RVP is my choice though merely because he plays further up the field and I still believe will score more.  There is a case for selling  RVP and Rooney especially RVP though as if Utd win the league early players could be rotated.  It all depends on how much SAF wants RVP to win the golden boot.

Tevez is the heavily involved in the game striker the the Sun Dream Team assessors like and with good fixtures to the end of the season he’s a good bet.  Aguero is supposedly back this week which could reduce his game time but such have his recent performances  I think he will be heavily involved in the run in.

Suarez  hasnt been affected by the Sturridge entrance as much as people thought.  he still producing fantastic stats and I’m keeping the faith in him such overall contribution to play with goals and assists.

Berbatov has great fixtures to finish and the sort of heavily involved player that the Sun Dream team love.  Expect a big finish from the Bulgarian.

Here’s a few punts:

 Lambert (£2.5m) Benteke (£2.0m)    Lukaku (£2.5m)  

Lambert is heavily involved in Southamptons play and also has penalty duties but seems to have missed out on Sun Dream Team star man awards inexplicably.  It is a punt but there are worse options

Benteke is heavily involved in Villas play and in great form.  Fixtures are difficult which is the only negative.

Lukakau is amazingly only 19 and will be one of the worlds best strikers in the coming years.  Seems to have nailed down the striker position after being heavily rotated.  The fixtures are horrible though but if anyone has the talent to overcome this its him.

OK hope that gives some food for thought.  Remember the window closes on the 30th before the first game.  Leave your transfers as late as possible to avoid injuries after you’ve done your transfer.  Stay here as there are more articles to come on transfer window 4.