Read part one of our tips featuring Aston Villa v Chelsea, QPR v Arsenal and plenty more…
Welcome to our fantasy football tips column for Gameweek 31, we hope we can help you find some gems this week.
Hands up, we got it wrong last week when we recommended Robin van Persie as captain, for him to have a rare game at home to Aston Villa where he did nothing.
So fingers crossed for this week. We start off looking at Aston Villa v Chelsea, a game both sides desperately need a win from.
Villa sprung a surprise at Stamford Bridge, winning 3-1 in December, and Chelsea will be keen to extract revenge here.
The question is will they be tired or inspired from their trip to Benfica in midweek? And do a Villa side shorn of Bent and N’Zogbia have the goals in them to trouble Chelsea?
Guessing Chelsea’s defensive line-up has been a tricky task lately, with Cahill, Luiz and Terry rotating the three central spots. Cahill helped keep a clean sheet at the weekend, and he seems to be Di Matteo’s preferred option in the Premier League, if not in Europe, and he has scored 31 points in his last 5 Premier League fixtures.
Paulo Ferreira got a surprise start in midweek and could be chosen to continue, if you want a cheap gamble he is priced at only 4.6
Up front Daniel Sturridge hasn’t scored in the league since December, Fernando Torres not since September, and Didier Drogba has only one away goal all season, so the Blues strikers are not the most appealing.
Aston Villa meanwhile have similar problems, with their attack entrusted to young Austrian Andreas Weimann who bagged the winner against Fulham who is priced at 5.0. Stephen Ireland was the man who helped tear Chelsea apart three months ago, scoring one goal and assiting another, returning 13 points. He has remained inconsistent since, but Villa will need him to be on form if they are to get anything from this game.
Everton v West Brom next, and we recommend signing Nikica Jelavic. The January signing is finding his form and is full of confidence, and now is the time to throw him in while he is priced at just 5.9.
West Brom’s defence has been stuttering lately, conceding three at home to Newcastle last week, and we’d be surprised if they can keep a clean sheet here. They could be in trouble, likely to be without James Morrison and Chris Brunt, their two most creative influences in midfield and Roy Hodgson has hinted at a recall for Somen Tchoyi (4.8).
Fulham face a Norwich side at Craven Cottage which has its work cut out. Fulham are very good at home, and we recommend putting in the big Russian, Pogrebnyak for this fixture, while Clint Dempsey will also fancy his chances of continuing his superb home form.
Fulham were surprised by Swansea here though a fortnight ago, which will give the Canaries hope- although they are missing talisman Grant Holt through suspension.
Wigan v Stoke City next, with the Latics attempting to follow up their surprise win at Anfield. Shaun Maloney (4.8) a player we tipped a fortnight ago, scored in that one, he will likely play an important role here, and is also on penalty duty.
Stoke are following up draws against Tottenham and Man City, and will not want to let their hard work go to waste with a loss, but may find that relegation threatened Wigan want it more. Peter Crouch (6.2) will be full of confidence after his wonder volley last week and will want to follow it up with more.
Wolves v Bolton is a crucial six-pointer at the bottom, but the home side have not won since February 4. Nobody could have predicted David Wheater’s 17 point haul last week, and it is fairly unlikely the defender will repeat his two goals. More likely is our favourite player, Ryo Miyaichi, who kept his productive Bolton run going by providing an assist in the 2-1 win.
He would be well fancied to have an input here. We’d love to recommend some more players to back, but there is a reason why these two sides are at the bottom of the table; inconsistency.
QPR v Arsenal up next, and what everybody wants to know is- Will Joey Barton be recalled? From a Fantasy Football point of view, the midfielder has been fairly irrelevant this season, far more pressing is- Will Robin van Persie score?
The Dutchman is experiencing a new phenomenon, two games without a goal, and he will be keen to avoid making it three. He is undroppable regardless, you should really have space in your team for him and Wayne Rooney, the question is who to captain?
Both have away fixtures at the bottom, Rooney at Blackburn on Monday night, although we predict van Persie will again come good. Theo Walcott scored 11 points last week and may also be worth a look.
QPR have Djibril Cisse suspended, so the pressure up front falls on Bobby Zamora. Zamora put Arsenal to the sword for Fulham earlier this season, scoring a late winner, and he is priced at 6.4 if you want to gamble on him doing it again, against a Gunners backline which is looking more resolute these days, but will be missing Laurent Koscielny.
Our tips in summary: Van Persie, Zamora, Miyaichi, Jelavic, Pogrebnayk, Dempsey
See part two for our tips for the rest of the weekend’s fixtures.
image: © nicksarebi
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