With Aguero injured, Fabregas suspended, Courtois out and Di Maria injured, I think I speak on behalf of all us fantasy football managers in saying a wildcard would have been perfect this game week. At least everyone had to do something different to see the green ticks this week. In the last edition of 2 in 2 out, I recommended Rooney who was pulled out the day after which resulted in me sacrificing -4 points to bring Wilson in (who started in his place) and making him captain, it’s safe to say this didn’t pay off but A* for effort if you ask me. In my defence I did bring Rooney back in this week and put him back as captain and he found the net against Liverpool, so every cloud! I can guarantee these recommendations are safer and will definitely find you the green arrows we love to see.
IN
Yannick Bolasie (Crystal Palace, Midfielder, 5.5m)
A couple of years ago when Crystal Palace dominated the championship with Bolasie and Zaha on each wing I tweeted “Bolasie > Zaha” an uproar of people disagreeing soon came after. I could genuinely see Bolasie had “it” and although Zaha was class, Bolasie continued to impress me each week. He’s now worked his way up to the Premier League and he is relishing on this opportunity. You can see the rapid winger is enjoying every minute with each stride he takes and the showboating he’s been treating us to. I wouldn’t call Bolasie a goalscorer, but what I would say is that every time he receives the ball he wants to create problems for defenders. Bolasie has 6 assists this season so far and for a 5.5m midfielder this is worth the money. Maybe there are better midfielders out there but when you look at Crystal Palace’s upcoming fixtures you can just see the games where points can be scored; Man City (A), Southampton (H), QPR (A) and Aston Villa (A). Yes, Man City away will be tough but with Kompany out injured you can never be sure how strong they will be. After the game against the champions, Crystal Palace have; Southampton, QPR and Aston Villa which are all games that Bolasie can shine in and are all games Crystal Palace have a good shout of picking up all three points in. I genuinely think Bolasie is only in second gear at the moment and has only shown little flurries of third and fourth, he really has much more to come and much more to give and with him in only 1.9% of teams, it’s certainly worth the risk.
Eden Hazard (Chelsea, Midfielder, 10.5)
While Diego Costa and Fabregas were collecting the majority of Chelsea’s points at the start of the season we forgot about Eden Hazard. He is a world class, yes, a world class player. You have to remember this man is only 23 years old and is already showing the signs and consistency of some players that have had to take years and years to reach this level. Since Hazard chose to join Chelsea in 2012 he has scored 29 goals and has assisted 29 times in the league, that is some record considering the amount of time that players need to “settle” into the fast and physical English game. Chelsea are a dominant force this season and they are guaranteed to create goal scoring opportunities every game which makes signing Hazard a safe signing, to make him an even safer signing I will tell you that Hazard hasn’t missed a Premier League game this season…yet. Hazard is 10.5m and the only two midfielders more expensive than him are Yaya Toure and Alexis Sanchez but I feel that Hazard is well worth the risk. Fantasy football is all about the points and Eden Hazard is a player that is always looking to create, whether it be his runs inside the box or his build up play with his team mates, Hazard is guaranteed the points and he is a player that will get more and more popular as the season goes on so take your chance with him now.
OUT
Fraser Forster (Southampton, Goalkeeper, 5.4m)
Fraser Forster, 6ft 7, an absolute giant in between the sticks and has had a brilliant debut season so far for Southampton earning 7 clean sheets and only conceding 13 goals in 16 games. Impressive and while everyone has jumped onto the De Gea bandwagon, I’ll be watching this man very carefully as in my opinion he’s brilliant and will only get better with experience. Saying that, fantasy football is about POINTS and Southampton have peaked very early this season and have started to struggle recently, no clean sheet or win in 5 games. You can’t expect goalkeepers to keep clean sheets on their own and Southampton’s defence is starting to fall apart slowly and if you are one of the 12.2% of managers that has Forster, it’s probably time to take him out. Southampton have Everton (H), Crystal Palace (A) and Chelsea (H) next…so once again, it’s time to take him out!
Paul Dummett (Newcastle, Defender, 4.4m)
It was Baker last season and this season Paul Dummett is the budget player as he’s cheap and he starts for Newcastle. The reason why 14.4% of managers (including myself) has Paul Dummett is because he is 4.4m, guaranteed to get 2 points each week and a possible 6 points from a clean sheet. But after doing some research, there are much better alternatives for the same price or cheaper than Paul Dummett, which have got around the same amount of clean sheets Dummett has picked up this season (4.4m, 5 CS’s), these include; Andre Wisdom (West Brom, 4.3m, 6 CS’s), John O’Shea (Sunderland, 4.4m, 5 CS’s) and Santiago Vergini (Sunderland, 4.5, 5 CS’s). I understand why we have these budget players, they allow us to have spare money for more effective players while gaining points but you also have to pick these carefully and in my opinion Paul Dummett is certainly not the right one for you to have and I will be taking him out as soon as the wildcard comes.
For those wondering, the January wildcard comes on the 1st of January at 11:30 which is more important than Christmas for us fantasy football managers, maybe over exaggeration but you get the point. It’s good to be able to pick up as many green arrow weeks as possible on the runway down to Christmas and I believe the IN recommendations will bring you bags of points in the busy Christmas periods when the Premier League games come thick and fast. It can’t be any worse than my Wayne Rooney circus night so always look on the bright side. Good luck everyone!
Tom.
@MellorFootball
