If you had Robin van Persie on your team and you didn’t captain him, it might be time to get another hobby. The top scorer was at home against one of the worst defensive clubs in the Premier League. RVP finished with three goals, two assists and full bonus points as the Gunners smashed Blackburn 7-1. On the season, he has scored six more goals than the next highest player. If Arsenal has a favorable matchup, RVP is a must-captain.
A few other notable forwards on the weekend were Sergio Aguero, Demba Ba and Wayne Rooney. All three slide in behind RVP as the top forwards, albeit by about 50 Fantasy Points. Even though Ba has missed the last three games, he’s still up top with 16 goals and is a lot cheaper than all of them as well.
The hottest club and goalkeeper deserve a mention. Sunderland and Simon Mignolet now have three straight wins and three straight clean sheets. Going back, the club has seven wins in 11 games since Martin O’Neill took over as manager.
TRANSFER DEADLINE
Transfer rumors are thrown around like bean bags at a tailgate in the Premier League. It seems like every day a new rumor pops up about where a player could be headed. With the January transfer window closing, we finally know who went where. Unfortunately, nothing big really happened. But per usual, it’s not always the big names that make the big difference.
Up first are the boys from MLS (Major League Soccer). They all have provided some kind of spark for their clubs during their short two-month stay. Landon Donovan has a couple assists, Robbie Keane has a few goals and Thierry Henry has a game-winner in the FA Cup. Each of them only has a couple games left for their clubs (although Henry’s could be extended). Because of this, it would be wise not to pick any of them up. It would be a waste of a transfer because there’s no point in using two transfers for a game or two.
A change in scene could help Bobby Zamora. Photo Credit: Nick
As for the rest, I believe the player that could make the biggest impact is Bobby Zamora. While he will be QPR’s most expensive Fantasy player, he becomes their hands down No. 1 striker. He made an immediate impact with a start and goal against Wolves last weekend. Zamora will get plenty of chances on QPR and should be able to notch at least double-digit goals this season (currently has six).
Let’s stay on QPR as they made the most transfers of any club again. On the defensive end they brought in Taye Taiwo on loan from AC Milan and Nedum Onuoha from Man City. Both of these defenders are cheap and may be able to help as QPR hasn’t been very good defensively all campaign. Taiwo already has an assist and should be the better option as he gets up the field a lot.
Also at QPR, Djibril Cisse was brought in from Lazio. He isn’t new to the Premier League though having played for Sunderland and Liverpool earlier in his career. The exciting forward got a goal in his first game and a red card in his second. When he returns from suspension, Cisse and Zamora could make a surprisingly good combo up front with for QPR.
Tottenham also made a couple moves, but their impact will be minimal. Defender Ryan Nelsen was brought in to provide depth on defense while Louis Saha was brought in from Everton to replace Roman Pavlyuchenko as the team’s third striker.
Going back to Sunderland, they added Wayne Bridge and Sotirios Kyrgiakos on their back line. They will provide plenty of depth as Sunderland has dealt with constant injuries to defenders Wes Brown and Titus Bramble. If Bridge and Kyrgiakos can break into consistent time, they will be worthy as cheap options.
Gary Cahill got his first start for Chelsea this past weekend and should continue to be an option above David Luiz on the Blues backline… West Brom picked up Liam Ridgewell from Birmingham. He shouldn’t have much impact on a struggling squad… Newcastle added Papiss Cisse from the Bundesliga, although he’s priced at 7.0m which may be a little too much for Demba Ba’s attacking mate. Steven Pienaar returned to Everton along with Darron Gibson. Gibson already has a goal and could be a possibility for a fourth or fifth midfielder as he will find time with Everton.
YOU’RE THE CAPTAIN
RVP is great and all, but he’s not going to be my No. 1 captain option this weekend. Arsenal will be going on the road to face the hottest club in the league in Sunderland. He falls all the way to my fifth best option.
It’s been long-awaited, but Gareth Bale is starting to take David Silva’s spot as the top Fantasy midfielder. Both of them are consistent, Bale is just a bigger goal scorer with 10 on the year while Silva only has five. Spurs are at home against Newcastle and should find the back of the net at least a couple times.
Silva is on the road but plays a questionable back line at Aston Villa. He hasn’t found the score sheet in his past two matches and will look to be a difference maker on the road for City.
Clint Dempsey snuck onto the list. He’s getting a lot of shots lately and should be able to do something with them at home against Stoke City, a club that gives up close to two goals per game on the road.
Finally, a forward makes the rankings. Sergio Aguero gets the nod above RVP because of a better matchup. Aguero has more starts than any other City forward which is reason enough to look at him.
Last but not least is Robin van Persie.
- Gareth Bale, Tottenham
- David Silva, Manchester City
- Clint Dempsey, Fulham
- Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
- Robin van Persie, Arsenal
WEEKLY RANKINGS
Goalkeepers
- Brad Friedel, Tottenham, 5.7m, vs. Newcastle
- Michel Vorm, Swansea, 5.3m, vs. Norwich
- Mark Schwarzer, Fulham, 4.8m, vs. Stoke City
- Petr Cech, Chelsea, 6.8m, at Everton
- Joe Hart, Manchester City, 6.8m, at Aston Villa
Defenders
- Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal, 6.7m, at Sunderland
- Patrice Evra, Manchester United, 7.1m, vs. Liverpool
- Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Tottenham, 5.9m, vs. Newcastle
- Gary Cahill, Chelsea, 5.2m, at Everton
- Brede Hangeland, Fulham, 6.0m vs. Stoke City
- Joleon Lescott, Manchester City, 6.1m, at Aston Villa
- Ashley Williams, Swansea, 5.0m, vs. Norwich
- Jose Bosingwa, Chelsea, 5.5m, at Everton
- Kyle Walker, Tottenham, 6.0m, vs. Newcastle
- Leighton Baines, Everton, 7.7m, vs. Chelsea
Midfielder
- Gareth Bale, Tottenham, 9.6m, vs. Newcastle
- David Silva, Manchester City, 10.5m, at Aston Villa
- Clint Dempsey, Fulham, 8.9m, vs. Stoke City
- Antonio Valencia, Manchester United, 8.3m, vs. Liverpool
- Stephane Sessegnon, Sunderland, 7.1m, vs. Arsenal
- Juan Mata, Chelsea, 9.6m, at Everton
- Chris Eagles, Bolton, 5.3m, vs. Wigan
- Joey Barton, QPR, 5.8m, at Blackburn
- Theo Walcott, Arsenal, 8.8m, at Sunderland
- Scott Sinclair, Swansea 6.5m, vs. Norwich
Forwards
- Sergio Aguero, Manchester City, 11.2m, at Aston Villa
- Robin van Persie, Arsenal, 13.3m, at Sunderland
- Emmanuel Adebayor, Tottenham, 9.3m, vs. Newcastle
- Daniel Sturridge, Chelsea, 7.2m, at Everton
- Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, 11.9m, vs. Liverpool
- Luis Suarez, Liverpool, 9.2m, at Manchester United
- Demba Ba, Newcastle, 7.6m, at Tottenham
- Bobby Zamora, QPR, 6.8m, at Blackburn
Don’t forget to check out our latest podcast of Premier League Plus. Each Monday, Matt Mariconi aka FootiePhantom and Adam Zdroik of RotoExperts review and preview every Fantasy situation you can think of from Barclays Premier League.
*Stats up-to-date as of 02/06/12
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Had RVP as my initial captain, but Wenger made comments hinting that he would rest RVP against Blackburn so I switched to Sergio Aguero.
Also, very surprised that RVP wasn’t rested in the 2nd half of the game with Blackburn when the game was pretty much decided.
Very true. If that is the case, I usually rely on my vice-captain since you can’t really trust anything managers say. Especially Wenger and Sir Alex.
Don’t know why he wasn’t at least subbed in a 7-1 game though.