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Fantasy Football Picks: The Top 6
The world of Fantasy Football is not easy. It is laced with obstacles and distractions in every nook and corner, distracting you from your goal – predicting which players will perform against which teams on a given day.
While this could be brushed away as mere guess work, it actually requires a great deal of research and analysis. Just to save you the trouble of being stuck between deciding whether to listen to your heart or your brain, here’s a top 15 for the entire season with whom you just cannot go wrong.
Here are the Fantasy Football picks among the top 6 of English football (Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham).
The teams have been chosen on the basis of the combined Premier League table of the last 10 years, i.e. 2002-03 to 2012-13.
(Stats Courtesy: Statto.com)
I’m going for my favourite 3-4-3, as it is perfect if you are going for value-for-money acquisitions instead of the big names.
Goalkeeper:
The options: Petr Cech, Joe Hart, David de Gea, Wojciech Szczesny, Hugo Lloris, Simon Mignolet
Joe Hart started and finished all of Manchester City’s games last season (3420 minutes), and with 18 clean sheets, looks like the obvious choice. Under Pellegrini, the defence will be solid and Hart could well finish with the Golden Glove yet again.
Petr Cech with (3195 minutes) played just as much and is not far behind with 14 clean sheets.With Jose Mourinho coming in, expect a string of clean sheets for Chelsea.
David de Gea continues to impress as he enters his third season of English football. However, United’s defence doesn’t look like the impenetrable fortress it used to be till a few years ago.They conceded a lot of cheap goals last season and unless you are the adventurous kind, having de Gea isn’t the best choice, especially when there are more reliable options available.
Simon Mignolet, however, is the dark horse of this list. The cheapest of the lot, he racked up the fifth highest points last season among goalkeepers, making more saves than anyone on the list. If the Liverpool defence is decent enough this season, Mignolet could well be the man between the sticks for you.
Wojciech Szczesny and Hugo Lloris are good, but won’t get as many points as some others might.
Verdict: Choose between Joe Hart & Petr Cech, but pick Mignolet if you want to go with a cheap, reliable option.
Defence:
Quite surprisingly, despite his patchy form, Patrice Evra was the highest scorer out of all the defenders in the top 6, with 4 goals and 6 assists; though it looks unlikely that he will better or equal the haul of last season.
Equally priced Ivanovic, David Luiz, Ashley Cole and Vincent Kompany offer better prospects, with Chelsea and Manchester City expected to keep a lot of clean sheets this season.
Jan Vertonghen could well be the surprise package as he could chip in with a few goals.
Cheaper options include Gary Cahill, Per Mertesacker and Matija Nastasic.
United’s preferred defensive combination is still not clear, so one has to wait to see who lies where in David Moyes’s defence hierarchy.
Stay away from Rafael, as he’s set to miss the first three weeks of the season.
Verdict: Nastasic, Ivanovic, Agger, Vertonghen
Midfield:
Your midfield must contain two proven goal scorers if not more.
Focus on players who take free-kicks and penalties.
Pick between any one of Mata, Hazard & Bale and one of Cazorla, Walcott, Coutinho & Lampard.
One would be well advised to wait on the Bale saga, in case he decides to ply his trade on Spanish shores.
Steer clear of defensive midfielders no matter how big the name. You don’t want cards of any colour in your team.
Andre Schürrle could well be the surprise package here, but it remains to be seen what role he plays under Mourinho.
United’s new winger Wilfried Zaha has seen game time in pre-season and in the Community Shield, and it looks like he will start a few games. He could be the cheap acquisition if you have other big heavyweights and want someone to balance the books.
Manchester City’s new Spanish signing Jesus Navas could well be on top of the assists charts, so he could be an option for some Fantasy managers.
Cazorla and Walcott remain goal threats.
Verdict: Hazard, Bale, Coutinho, Holtby
Forwards:
Picking forwards is tricky as they are the most expensive and before you know it, your big money forward could be missing from 5 yards out.
Robin Van Persie is the top dog, finishing last season as the Golden Boot winner, and the Dutch forward’s prolific goal scoring justifies his price tag. However, if you don’t have enough in the bank to land Van Persie, there are other value-for-money forwards out there who could catch your eye.
Tottenham’s new signing Roberto Soldado comes with a reputation. Only two men have scored more goals than him in La Liga since 2009-10 and we all can guess who they are.Soldado could turn out to be the mid-priced forward you are looking for.
Picking Manchester City forwards is risky, as they could be victims of the rotation policy common in modern day squads. Jovetic, Negredo, Dzeko and Aguero ooze talent, but it remains to be seen which two (or three) feature more in Manuel Pellegrini’s plans.
Chelsea face a similar situation. Lukaku had a stellar last season with West Brom, and he will be looking to earn a regular starting place, staving off competition from Torres and Ba.Torres could see his game time significantly reduced with Chelsea being linked to old Mourinho favourite Samuel Eto’o.
Suarez could be an option once he completes his suspension period as Liverpool don’t look like they’re letting him go. Daniel Sturridge could well emerge as Liverpool’s goal scoring threat for the first part of the season.
Olivier Giroud & Lukas Podolski should have a better season this time around.
Verdict: Podolski, Soldado, Sturridge
There you have it – A squad from only the top 6 sides.
There were some tough choices to make, like leaving Van Persie, Cazorla, Aguero, Walcott, Lukaku, Vidic, Joe Hart and Cech out.
If you can make a better team using only the top 6 side players, feel free to share it in the comments section.
