JERMAINE DEFOE BACK TO RELEVANCY

We don’t have much time, so make sure you set your rosters now. Yes, now. There is just one day between matches in the Premier League from Gameweek 13 to 14. Going further, there are only two days between Gameweeks 14 and 15 at the end of the week. That means tired legs, which makes rosters harder to predict and paying attention to press conferences even more important.

Before I get into the rankings, it’s also good to review who’s been doing what.

As expected, the highest scoring match of the weekend was Sunderland vs. West Brom. No, just kidding. No one expected that. To make matters worse, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City were all shut out. If you didn’t have a very good week, you’re not alone. Manchester United scored three goals, yet, the most popular player in Fantasy soccer was not involved in any of the goals (Robin van Persie).

Seriously, don’t worry about it, move on. Who was the leading Fantasy scorer of the weekend? Wigan midfielder, Jordi Gomez, who notched a hat trick. They were his first goals of the campaign, in his first start in more than two months. He’s on 0.4 percent of squads at the premierleague.com game. Next up in scoring was Stephane Sessegnon who scored and assisted. He’s had a very slow start to the season, but looks like he’s coming around. The next best midfielders came from Southampton, Gaston Ramirez and Adam Lallana. These guys are not widely owned.

One player that has been impressive this year and had another brace is Jermaine Defoe. He led all forwards in scoring with two goals. He already has seven goals and four assists after totaling 11 goals and two assists all of last season.

The West Brom strikers continue to wreak havoc on opponents. Romelu Lukaku, Shane Long, Peter Odemwingie and even Marc-Antoine Fortune, scored or assisted at Sunderland. The Baggies are playing out of their minds at the moment, sitting in third place on the table.

Defoe was given another chance and he’s taking it. Photo Credit: James Boyes

On the defensive side of things, Swansea netminder Gerhard Tremmel recorded his first ever Premier League clean sheet. He started his fourth straight match in place of the injured Michel Vorm. A Norwich defender was once again at the top of the rankings. They didn’t get a clean sheet, but Sebastien Bassong still saved a point for the Canaries at Everton with a nice header. Norwich has only allowed two goals in their last six games. That’s what you call value.

Enough of review, you only have so much time to set your lineups (probably less than a day).

WEEKLY RANKINGS

Goalkeepers

1. Mark Schwarzer, Sunderland, 5.1m, vs. QPR
2. Asmir Begovic, Stoke City, 5.1m, vs. Newcastle
3. Anders Lindegaard, Manchester United, 5.4m, vs. West Ham
4. Joe Hart, Man City, 6.9m, at Wigan
5. Tim Howard, Everton, 5.6m, vs. Arsenal

Defenders

1. Patrice Evra, Man United, 6.8m, vs. West Ham
2. Carlos Cuellar, Sunderland, 4.5m, vs. QPR
3. Rafael, Man United, 6.5m, vs. West Ham
4. Leighton Baines, Everton, 7.6m, vs. Arsenal
5. Ryan Shawcross, Stoke City, 5.3m, vs. Newcastle
6. Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea, 7.2m, vs. Fulham
7. Jose Enrique, Liverpool, 5.8m, at Tottenham
8. Jose Fonte, Southampton, 4.1m, vs. Norwich
9. Matthew Lawton, Aston Villa, 4.5m, vs. Reading
10. Kaspars Gorkss, Reading, 4.0m, at Aston Villa

Midfielders

1. Juan Mata, Chelsea, 9.6m, vs. Fulham
2. Eden Hazard, Chelsea, 10.1m, vs. Fulham
3. David Silva, Man City, 9.4m, at Wigan
4. Gareth Bale, Tottenham, 9.7m, vs. Liverpool
5. Santi Cazorla, Arsenal, 9.5m, at Everton
6. Pablo Hernandez, Swansea, 6.1m, vs. West Brom
7. Kevin Nolan, West Ham, 6.9m, at Man United
8. Charlie Adam, Stoke City, 6.6m, vs. Newcastle
9. Marouane Fellaini, Everton, 7.6m, vs. Arsenal
10. Stephane Sessegnon, Sunderland, 7.3m, vs. QPR

Forwards

1. Robin van Persie, Man United, 13.7m, vs. West Ham
2. Luis Suarez, Liverpool, 10.4m, at Tottenham
3. Carlos Tevez, Man City, 9.4m, at Wigan
4. Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, 11.7m, vs. West Ham
5. Rickie Lambert, Southampton, 6.0m, vs. Newcastle
6. Demba Ba, Newcastle, 8.3m, at Stoke City
7. Sergio Aguero, Man City, 11.0m, at Wigan
8. Olivier Giroud, Arsenal, 8.4m, at Everton
9. Jermaine Defoe, Tottenham, 7.8m, vs. Liverpool
10. Peter Crouch, Stoke City, 6.8m, vs. Newcastle

YOU’RE THE CAPTAIN 

1. Robin van Persie, Man United
2. Luis Suarez, Liverpool
3. Juan Mata/Eden Hazard, Chelsea
4. Carlos Tevez, Man City
5. Wayne Rooney, Man United

With zero goals in two straight matches, is it time to shy away from RVP? Heck no. West Ham is getting two days rest after a Tottenham beat down. United will get a few goals in this one.

Suarez was shut out last match, but so was his opponent. That probably won’t happen again. If Spurs don’t score, they will give up goals.

Fulham’s defense has disappeared lately and Chelsea will capitalize, even though they are struggling. Mata gets the edge over Hazard if you have both of them.

Wigan is a feisty team, but Tevez is a feistier player. City won’t get shutout in two straight league matches.

United will score, there’s no doubt about it. They are using a ton of forwards, but it’s a good sign that both RVP and Rooney still played 90 minutes last weekend.

*Stats up-to-date as of Nov. 26

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