Background

Options

Rooney

2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games with a consistency return % of 75%.  Very good reading.  Assuming that RVP is out he should also take pens and a decent share of set pieces.  I’m not sure if he will play the most furthest forward striker with say Welbeck or should Moyes even go crazy and use Kagawa in his best position behind him or whether he plays Rooney behind Hernandez like he did in the Cap 1.  From a fantasy premier league perspective in some ways its a trade off.  Rooney furthest forward should see him having   more goal scoring positions but only if someone can create them.  Playing behind Hernandez will mean a deeper position and less shooting but he will also create chances.  The only black cloud is his shooting stats.  In terms of shots in the box per minute he is sitting in the same place as Vaz Te and Danny Graham.  That’s not necessarily an issue as last year his returns were pretty good and he also had a shots in the box per minute rate way worse than say RVP or Suarez.  They just weren’t quite this bad.

WBA have conceded 4 goals in 5 games with 2 clean sheets.  That’s pretty good.   Stats wise overall I’ve rated them 9th.  Again pretty good.  There is a however though, The only game that they’ve played against a top 4 challenging team though is Everton A.  That was a 0-0 but if you remember the game it was an Everton siege.  Personally I think with or without RVP it will be the same this gameweek and Utd will score a few goals

Rooney is definitely an option

Giroud

Ozil

Has returned 4 assists in 2 games and has heavy set piece involvement.  also has a good position playing just behind giroud.  Doesnt really shoot that much and its all about assists.

The comments for Giroud also apply regarding Swansea and given the fact that there will be goals in my view and Ozil will be the main creative force then he is an option for me

Sturridge

Suarez

Lukaku

Last but definitely not least the Everton striker on loan from Chelsea totally transformed the game to score the winner last week against West Ham last week. Lukaku absolutely has it all and last year his returns and underlying stats were nothing short of fantastic.  I can only see him starting this week after that performance.

The Newcastle defence were at their worse at home to City in GW1 but have tightened up against pretty limited attacking opposition with clean sheets against West Ham and Fulham.  Its still 8 goals conceded in 5 games although only 4 in their last 4.  I’ve rated them the 13th best defence and even without Pienaar I expect Everton to score a few goals

Summary:

Yes in order to:

1.  Rooney

2.  Suarez

3.  Giroud

4.  Sturridge

5.  Lukaku

6.  Ozil

William Hill check

Here’s how William Hill see the anytime goal scorer odds market with all players at £2.00 or better

1.  Rooney £1.73

2.  Lambert – £1.80

3.  Suarez  – £1.91

4.  Lukaku- £1.91

5.  Sturridge – £2.00

Welbeck – £2.00

Hernadez (Utd) – £2.00

Aguero £2.00

Interestingly they have Giroud at £2.20 so they have far less faith than me.  Obviousy Ozil not being a goal scorer he doesn’t feature

So my summary has covered everyone except:

Lambert:  With only a penalty in the opening game against WBA and struggles to play with Osvaldo at the moment I’m not even sure he will start however crazy that may sound and with that form I struggle to give him the armband

Welbeck and Hernandez:  Both of these have selection issues so in my mind should be discounted.

Aguero:  You would think he would  be selected given Jovetic and Dzeko played mid week but with City home to Bayern in the Champions league midweek who knows who will start.  This uncertainty is why I’ve dismissed City players generally for the captain position

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