fantasy premier league – “the Geek detective”- 10 things I’ll be looking out for in DGW31 – THE ANSWERS PART 1

1.  The Arsenal attacking 3

Arsenal have reasonably difficult fixtures to the end of the season but the number of injuries does give some value to be found. Last week the Ox lined up next to Arteta with Podolski Cazorla and Rosicky the attacking 3.  Rosicky and the Ox are the value at £5.5m and £6.6m respectively.  Do they both start or does Flamini take the place of one of them.  This will give us some assistance going forward in picking the Ox or Rosicky both and especially the Ox are in great form

Rosicky was fit and Wenger decided to put the same midfield out as last week with The Ox and Arteta in the supposedly defensive 2 and the attacking 3 being Podolski, Rosicky and Carorla.  I’m not quite sure why Flamini didn’t start as surely this would have been better defensively. Arsenal continually got caught in possession and the Chelsea counter attack killed them.  This was  compounded by the fullbacks being so far up the pitch. As an aside it will be interesting to see if the red card is transferred to the Ox.  However to compound the confusion the ball was going wide so surely it was a yellow card not a red anyway?  The reaction at home to Swansea will be interesting and will show us more about future selection than this game which was effectively over after 10 minutes.  Ramsey is supposedly fit for GW32 which is another confusion for selection.

2.  Sterling vs Coutinho vs Allen

2 of these 3 will probably line up in the Liverpool midfield.  Sterling is the attacking value at £5.9m in the Liverpool  side and although he’s started 16 of the 17 games previous to this, the diamond formation if continued puts him in competition with Coutinho.  Going back to 4-2-3-1 could see Allen drop out and both Sterling and Coutinho play flanking Suarez behind Sturridge.

Rodgers continued with the diamond and Coutinho took the position at the tip rather than Sterling.  A major blow for those fanatsy premier league managers who own him.  Coutinho had a reasonably effective game with 2 assists although they were related to set pieces rather than creativity associated with the position.  On this basis it looks like Rodgers will continue with the formation as it allows 2 central strikers and 3 in midfield. Although I’ve only seen the highlights, the real disturbing aspect of the game was seeing Coutnho take corners rather than Gerrard and to make it worse 2 assists coming from those corners.  A definite watchout for the future as Gerrard without set pieces is of no use.

3.  Sturridge and the diamond effect

Does the fact that Sturridge has only 1 assist in the last 2 games with the diamond formation coincidental or is there some issue with Sturridge and it.  Will Rodgers use it all?  Southampton and United are two of the higher ranking sides in the league.  Will he really need to do it against Cardiff and Sunderland.  Reverting to 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 has suited him more to date

Sturridge scored a goal and had an assist plus his underlying stats were very good.  Doesn’t seem an issue to me and the formation allows Suarez and Sturridge to remain in advanced central positions rather than one being wide or behind the other as 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 would necessitate

4.  Lukaku

With a DGW34 coming up for Everton the form of Lukaku will be paramount.  He is probably the most secure attacking option at the moment and although a City player will be the likely captain, Evertoin coverage will be  important to maximise returns. I thought he was unlucky last week and his consistency if not quantity of returns is not in question.  He definitely needs monitoring though.

Lukaku scored although it was a fairly quiet game that was dominated possession and shot wise by Swansea.  It maintained him as being fairly consistent returner if not someone who scores big.  As I’ve said before his game relies on movement and getting behind the defence rather than being a dominant possession focus.  He is still a useful  striking addition given Evertons fixtures and a DGW34 but people will be reluctant to hand him the armband.

5.  Mirallas and Deulofeu gametime.

There will be many hoping that Pienaars injury extends to after GW34 so Mirallas and Duelofeu continue to after the Everton DGW34.  Either of them not starting will be a major negative going towards DGW34.

Martinez kept to his rotation word benching or resting (whatever you want to call it) Osman and Deulofeu for Barkley.  Barkley was a major surprise as prior to this he had only started 2 games in the last 8.  Conversley Osman had started 7 of the last 8.  Deulofeu came on for the worst outcome of all of 1 minute.  Mirallas did start and was very effective with 2 assists which were the results of creating more chances than anyone in the match.  What this means for the future is that nothing is certain apart from uncertainty with the attacking midfield 3

6.  Chester vs Bruce

Hull have a DGW37 so it’s worth checking if Chester continues over Bruce in the Hull defence.

£3.8m Chester did start in a 4-4-2 which is a very good sign going forward.  The defence could have had better stats but it was a return to the partnership that kept so many home clean sheets at the beginning of the season.  As an aside Figueroa was benched and Rosenior played LB with Elmo RB instead of RM.  Add this to Figueroa being subbed at half time against Man City plus his woeful performance against Newcastle where he was at fault for 2 goals and you have someone who’s future gametime looks seriously at risk.

7.  Dzeko and YYT

Does Dzeko start and if he does will YYT be supporting him or will Negredo start as well.  If Pellegrini goes to 1 striker and YYT supporting him at home to a side as poor as Fulham then that will be the end of any striker apart from Aguero when he returns.  If YYT does play behind the striker against Fulham then thats an excellent sign for him to the end of the season.

Dzeko ended up sick at home and missed the game through injury so the position as to whether Pellegrini has abandoned the 2 striker position isn’t clear.  He could have started with Jovetic and Negredo but instead played Silva behind Negredo with Milner right and Nasri left.  YYT played in his customary role beside Fernandinho.  Hard to believe Pellegrini will play 2 strikers at United.  For the moment it seems any City striker apart from Aguero, when fit, will come with gametime risk with the situation unresloved.  As for YYT we have to be satisfied with penalties until Aguero returns and long range shots rather than a permanent advanced position.  Thats still working out pretty well though! 

8.  Ince

Will Ince continue his starts?  With a DGW34 coming up for Palace, Ince offers a relatively cheap alternative with some attacking possibilities as opposed to Jedinak who will just offer a safe 4 points (no YCs permitting)

Ince was benched for Puncheon.  This is even with Chamakh injured and Ince looking like a ready made replacement behind the striker.  He didn’t even get on as a sub.  Gametime looks very uncertain

9. Welbeck and Rooney

Will Welbeck lead the line with Rooney behind or will Rooney lead the line with Welbeck behind?  Or will Rooney lead the line with Mata behind and Welbeck on the flank.  All will be revealed for 2 games at least.

The worst outcome of all for Welbeck punters with Rooney leading the line and Mata behind with Kagawa on the flank and Welbeck on the bench.  This is after Welbecks pace on the flank against Olympiacos made such an impression.  I’ve said that Rooneys best position if RVP is injured is leading the line as the most advanced forward and yesterday he was fantastic.  2 goals and a generally excellent game and had far more shooting opportunities than when RVP plays.

10.  The West Ham defence

West Ham have one of the better defences with a total of clean sheets equalling Chelsea and Arsenal.  McCartney is the value at £4.0m  and seems to have his place sorted.  He has little attackingpotential and competition from Armero who made his first sub appearance.  All 3 CBs though have good attacking potential it’s just who will play.  Reid was introduced in front of the bandwagon Collins and has excellent attacking potential as does Collins and Tomkins.  Hopefully the DGW will settle it once and for all

Collins and Tomkins were restored to the CB partnership at the expense of Reid after the Stoke debacle but it didn’t stop the West Ham defence being as vulnerable as it has been against the top sides at Upton Park.  It was a fairly mediocre defensive performance and  it will be interesting to see if Big Sam keeps it or changes at home to Hull.  The FBs by the way were Demel at RB and McCartney (£4.0m) at LB.

Hope you found that useful if you’re planning on any transfers before the gameweek finishes

Thats it enjoy the game week

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