Both Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers play twice this gameweek- are there any spoils to be had from either side?
It is crunch time in the world of ‘Fantasy Football’- while a few casual devotees may long have give up, those sticking with it will be looking for every which way to maximise their point haul.
There represents such a chance this week, with two teams playing twice, but first up, you may choose to plan ahead for a big game next week.
With eight teams failing to play last weekend, here are the teams who will play twice next week: Everton, Chelsea, Tottenham, Fulham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bolton, Stoke.
Two play twice this week- as mentioned in the title, Villa and Bolton.
This means Bolton have four matches in two gameweeks, giving a great potential for some good points. If only their team were not so inconsistent.
Still, as seen with Wigan, the relegation dogfight tends to inspire, so we will be hoping for some big performances.
They play Swansea at home this weekend, and Villa away, before Sunderland away and Spurs home in GW36.
Looking at those fixtures, we can’t see a great potential for any clean sheets, especially considering Bolton’s form, so forget the defenders, although if goalkeeper Bogdan is in your squad he is worth starting.
The midfielders do offers some potential returns though. We see four worth a punt, all reasonably priced.
Martin Petrov – who pulled in 15 points against Wolves and Blackburn last month costs just 5.1. Chris Eagles is the same price, has been inconsistent in 2012, but still has the ability to produce.
Ryo Miyaichi will be a popular choice. His form has slowed over the past three games, but he’s had a fortnight’s rest and should be ready to go. Priced at just 4.9. The other wildcard choice is near ever-present Mark Davies. He is a potential matchwinner and costs just 4.8.
Striker Ivan Klasnic started the season on fire but has scored just one goal since early December, and while he costs 5.5 – relatively cheap, we’ve an opposing tip for you.
Scooting over to Bolton’s relegation rivals Aston Villa, the midlands club are at home to Sunderland on Saturday and will be desperate for a win to ease the pressure for their trip to the Reebok on Tuesday night.
Their biggest hope could be young Austrian Andreas Weimann. With Darren Bent injured the club needed someone to step up and he has risen to the task so far, scoring two goals which earned the club a crucial four points.
He costs just 5.0 and he is cheaper than Klasnic and more in-form, although of course he only plays once in GW36.
Are there any other Villa players worth a look? Any defensively-minded Alex McLeish side has a clean sheet in them when it comes to crunch games, usually in the shape of a 0-0 draw, so young Eric Lichaj (4.0) who scored at Chelsea could be a super-cheap shout, while goalkeeper Shay Given is just 4.7
We feel Bolton offer better value though, Villa have been inconsistent this season and nobody has offered much from a fantasy football point of view, and somebody playing one game is just as likely to score more than any of their players with two.
See part two for our tips regarding the rest of the weekend’s fixtures
images: © Matthew Wilkinson, © Matthew Wilkinson
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