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Saturday, November 17, 2012

Picks of the Week - Week 14

For Picks of the Week, I'll look into the gameweek's matches & form a team using £55mil budget. This can be a useful guide for those who are looking for a short-term transfer, or for captaincy choices.


Note: This picks are only for this gameweek & may not represent good value in the long-run.
Even though Aston Villa nearly shocked Man Utd with a 2 goal lead, they only managed to score 3 away goals in 6 games so far. Next up for them will be Man City, who's custodian Joe Hart created a great assist for Zlatan wonderful bicycle kick goal in the international friendly this week. Despite the boo-boo, he's still the safest bet in the City's backline, who only conceded 5 goals in 6 home games.

Everton's Leighton Baines have yet to provide any clean sheet bonus for the past 6 games, and have yet to provide any attacking returns in the past 4. However, taking a look at OPTA stats, he created 23 chances in the past 6 weeks, highest among ALL players. With clean sheets being a rarity, Baines present the greatest chance of receiving attacking returns from a defender.

Liverpool has yet to defeat Wigan since 2009, but the Reds have a slight edge on form, going into the match unbeaten in past 6 league games. Glen Johnson wasn't much of an attacking threat against Chelsea, but he is likely to find more space against a more-adventurous Wigan side, who only managed 4 away goals so far.

West Ham entertains Stoke this week, which has a 0-0 bore draw written all over it. While Winston Reid might be the Hammers' defender most fantasy managers have in mind, he has only attempted 2 shots in 11 games. This pales in comparison to his partner James Tomkins, who have 7 goal attempts in 10 appearances, thus making him a better selection for this gameweek.

John Arne Riise is a better Fulham defender to select for their match against Sunderland, who might be missing Steven Fletcher. However, Agger and Skrtel are doubtful too, hence I went with a Liverpool fullback and a Fulham centerback in the form of Brede Hangeland.

David Silva was left out of the Spain squad in their friendly against Panama, which makes him a likely selection in Man City's matchup against Aston Villa. His comeback last week saw him pick apart Tottenham in the closing minutes of the game, and last year's top fantasy midfielder will be a crucial attacking catalyst for the Sky Blues.

Yet again, Marouane Fellaini is the most transferred in player for the week, due to his attacking outputs for the past 3 weeks. The "in the hole" midfielder faces a Reading side who managed only 1 clean sheet this season, and he looks to wreck more havoc for Everton's attack, which have made 11 away goals so far, 3rd highest in the league.

Southampton's Adam Lallana has been the main creator for the Saints, with 4 assist in the season so far. Against a similar-woeful QPR who has leaked 20 goals so far, Southampton is likely to continue attacking as their best form of defending, and their captain is likely to be highly involved in the setup.

The strikeforce features 3 of the top 4 strikers in TFL. Luis Suarez continued his amazing form in the internationals, scoring a goal and creating 2 others in Uruguay's 3-1 win against Poland. The striker has been invaluable to Liverpool, being involved in 11 of 14 league goals this season, and he will be looking to continue this streak against Wigan at Anfield.

Dimitar Berbatov brace against Arsenal marks his 3rd consecutive week with attacking returns. Fulham has scored 24 goals so far, 2nd highest goalscoring team in Premier League. It'll be an interesting battle as they face Sunderland, who managed 2 CS in 6 away fixtures, but with Fulham's home & Sunderland's away form, Berbatov is one of the popular choices for captaincy this weekend.

Compared to the other 2, Demba Ba is on a cold streak, failing to score in the past 2 matches. A home match against Swansea, whose manager hinted of a injury crisis and has failed to keep a CS since August, could be the likely tonic for the Senegalese to get back on the scoring sheet. 

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