Fantasy Football Insider – Gameweek 32: Berba – A man for when the pressure’s-ov

Fulham are one of the few teams with little to play for between now and the end of the season, which might just suit a certain mercurial Bulgarian striker.

Gameweek 31 review

The Dream Team had more of a familiar look than it has in recent weeks, with over half of the XI (seven players) coming from teams currently in the top five.

Those seven players came from just three teams in fact, Manchester City trio Vincent Kompany (12 points), Gael Clichy (11) and David Silva (11), Tottenham duo Jan Vertonghen and Gareth Bale (both 13) and Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla (12) and a rather unlikely entry as highest scorer this week, his teammate Gervinho, who scored 14 points after a goal, two assists and a bonus point.

Elsewhere, Andy Carroll and Dimitar Berbatov both scored 13 points to form a strike partnership that will never, ever actually take the field in real life, Carroll’s West Ham teammate Gary O’Neil claimed a goal and an assist for 12 points and Wigan’s Joel Robles is between the sticks after keeping a clean sheet against Norwich.

J-League:

Much like the Premier League itself, it is the battle for the places below the top spot that are proving the most interesting, simply because unflappable leaders Dazzleros, marshalled by Darren McCann, have been building up a lead that is becoming more unassailable by the week.

With 76 points this week, Darren increased his lead over second placed Shawn Michaels Babes – managed by Mickey Hanrahan – to 51 points but it is after that that things really begin to get interesting.

Martin Hanway’s Marty’s Muppets are only four points behind Shawn Michaels Babes in third place, while Neil McNicholas’ 123 and Andy Twomey’s Athtrasna, in fourth and fifth place respectively, are still well in the hunt.

J-League Top 5:

1. Dazzleros – Darren McCann: 1,963 points
2. Shawn Michaels Babes – Mickey Hanrahan: 1,912 points
3. Marty’s Muppets – Martin Hanway: 1,908 points
4. 123 – Neill McNicholas: 1,901 points
5. Athtrasna – Andy Twomey: 1,889 points

Berba – A man for when the pressure’s-ov

After what he did against QPR on Monday night, it would be bordering on sacrilegious to question Dimitar Berbatov’s abilities.

The Bulgarian has a touch that can make grown men swoon and a demeanour that can be frustrating at the worst at times but that we all secretly admire when he’s at the top of his game. One shouldn’t forget, meanwhile, that he was the top scorer in the Premier League the season before last.

Saying that, it’s hard to get away from the fact that when Berbatov signed for Fulham in the summer, he was practically cashing in his chips career-wise.

Sure, he wasn’t getting any younger and he wasn’t going to get many opportunities with Manchester United if he hung around but in joining the Cottagers he joined the ultimate sunshine team.

Now Fulham have a lot of qualities but you can pretty much guarantee that in nine seasons out of ten Fulham will be neither competing for trophies or battling relegation when the spring rolls around and at this stage of the season they can often appear to be playing as if they’re on holidays already.

Fortunately for them, that approach suits a lot of players and judging by his record in recent weeks, Dimitar Berbatov is one of them.

Between November 18 and February 9, Berbatov started 14 games for Fulham and scored only three goals but in the time since he has scored five goals in four starts and in an additional boost for managers who picked him on their Fantasy teams, he has collected 11 bonus points in that time.

Only five players have scored more than Berbatov’s 13 goals so far this season and with Fulham’s fixture list not looking that tough between now and the end of end of the campaign – including games against Newcastle, Aston Villa and Reading – there’s every chance he’ll go close to matching his highest ever Premier League goals tally of 21 or at least go better than his next highest season tally of 15.

Managers looking for another reason to include the mercurial Bulgarian should know that Fulham are one of a number of teams who have a double gameweek the weekend after this one and when Berbatov is fit he starts so he’ll have 180 minutes to add to a points total that has been rapidly moving up the gears in recent weeks.

£7.2 million almost seems like an insulting price for a man with as much gravitas and footy chops as Berbatov, but it could prove to be money very well spent for Fantasy managers.

JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:

Top Dollar: Santi Cazorla (£9.6 million). With five wins in their last six games, the Gunners are finishing the season strongly and the little Spaniard is in good form with three goals and 32 points in total in his last four games.

Mid-Range: Dimitar Berbatov (£7.2 million). Having waxed lyrical about him above, we’re hoping Berbatov can vindicate our faith in him with a goal or two against Newcastle this weekend.

Bargain Basement: Jay Rodriguez (£5.1 million). Rickie Lambert is hogging all the headlines for the Saints but alongside him Rodriguez has two goals and an assist in his last two games and may come back to haunt old boss Nigel Adkins on Saturday.

Irish Pick: Jonathan Walters (£6.3 million). When in doubt, go with Walters, who Stoke will be looking towards to give them a much-needed shot in the arm against Aston Villa this weekend.

Captain’s Pick: Luis Suarez (£11.2 million). Gareth Bale had been our original choice until his nasty-looking ankle injury last night so in his stead we're going for Luis Suarez to end what for him this season is a drought (two games without a goal) at home to the Hammers.