Fantasy Football Insider – Gameweek 37: Get on Villa for some last-minute value

They once looked destined for the drop but thanks to a blistering run of form individually and collectively, Villa are finishing the season in style and offering great value in Fantasy Football too.

Gameweek 36 Review

Two Reading players and a strikeforce of Emmanuel Adebayor, Gabby Agbonlahor and Bryan Ruiz? Yeah, it’s safe to say that the representatives of this week’s Dream Team are as motley crew a bunch as Fantasy Football has seen for some time, a sure sign that the season is winding to a close, we guess.

Not many would have picked out Swansea’s Angel Rangel (16) as the top scorer either, but as well as benefitting from some comical Wigan defending at the DW on Tuesday night, he also was helped by having two games in a few days.

Rangel was joined in the Dream Team by Swansea team-mate Pablo Hernandez (13), the same total as the aforementioned Adebayor and Agbonlahor, Reading midfielder Jem Karacan and the seemingly tireless Oscar, who has played something like a gazillion games for Chelsea this season having featured in the Olympics for Brazil before it even started.

Ruiz, Hal Robson-Kanu and Kyle Walker all registered 12-point totals, two clean sheets helped Man City’s Joe Hart to a tidy 15 points, while last but by no means least was our own John O’Shea with 11 points thanks to his crucial goal against Stoke on Monday night.

J-League

There’s no end of season snoozing going on as far as the J-League is concerned with only one member of the top five failing to break the 80-point barrier this week and that was only by a single point.

Darren McCann’s unflinching outfit Dazzleros maintained their stranglehold on the top spot but their lead isn’t as ominous looking as it once was and, unlikely though it is, with a couple of strong weeks, Mickey Hanrahan’s Shawn Michaels Babes could well make up the 42-point gap that currently separates first from second.

Behind them, Martin Hanway’s Marty Muppets are still well in the hunt in third place and although Neil Farragher’s Smallville Crowes and Andy Twomey’s Athtrasna are probably too far behind to challenge for the lead, they’re looking in decent shape to finish in the top five, which would be no mean feat whatsoever.

J-League Top 5:

1. Dazzleros – Darren McCann: 2,269 points
2. Shawn Michaels Babes – Mickey Hanrahan: 2,227 points
3. Marty’s Muppets – Martin Hanway: 2,221 points
4. Smallville Crowes – Neil Farragher: 2,210 points
5. Athtrasna – Andy Twomey: 2,197 points

Get on Villa for some last-minute value

Go back in time to a few weeks ago and Aston Villa fans, including a fairly large Irish continent, were fearing the worst. Paul Lambert’s young side obviously had talent but looked a little naive for the top flight and mistakes were costing them badly, so badly in fact that relegation looked not just a possibility, but a probability.

Now? Well now they’re level on points with Fulham, are sitting pretty in 13th place and although they’re not yet mathematically safe it would be a miracle if they didn’t stay up given the fact that there are only two games remaining, they are five points ahead of Wigan and they are in the best form of all the teams in the bottom half of the table. In fact, they’re better than that, as far as the form table goes, only the four teams competing for Champions League places are in better nick than the Villains at the moment.

That form constitutes five wins in the last eight games, a run that has been punctuated only by defeats to Liverpool and a Man United side who were about to seal the title. In that eight-game run they’ve scored 18 goals and some of the individuals in their ranks are playing their best football of the season.

As far as Fantasy Football is concerned, the value with Villa is to be had from midfield onwards because, simply, they haven’t had a clean sheet in the league since December 8, although Matthew Lowton (£4.5 million) is having a storming end to a season in which he has scored two goals and provided four assists.

Ahead of him Ashley Westwood (£4.9 million) is one to keep an eye on having been responsible for four assists in the last two games, creativity which has earned him 18 points.

It is up front though that Villa’s performers really come into their own with three Villa forwards scoring in excess of 100 points. Who needs Darren Bent after all? Everyone knows about what Christian Benteke (£7.7 million) has to offer and he has scored seven goals in his last eight games but his thunder has been stolen somewhat of late by Gabby Agbonlahor (£6.8 million), who has three goals, two assists and 27 points in the last two games and six goals in his last eight.

The other man, Andreas Weimann (£5.1 million), has been playing a little bit further back of late but has still managed a respectable two goals and three assists in the last eight games.

JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:

Top Dollar: Theo Walcott (£9.0 million). Whether they win or not Wigan will probably be vulnerable following the FA Cup Final on Saturday and with two goals, five bonus points and 18 points in total in the last two games, Walcott could do damage against the Latics early next week.

Mid-Range: Gabriel Agbonlahor (£6.8 million). As elaborated upon above, Gabby is on fire at the moment and will be determined to sign off in style in Villa’s last home game of the season.

Bargain Basement: Jordan Henderson (£4.7 million). He's not the most popular amongst Fantasy Football managers but the former Sunderland man is playing regularly and has three goals and an assist in his last six games for the Reds.

Irish Pick: John O’Shea (£5.0 million). Barring a disastrous experience away to Villa, O’Shea has been in fine form for the Black Cats in recent weeks and marked that good spell with a crucial goal against Stoke on Monday night.

Captain’s Pick: Robin van Persie (£13.7 million). The Man United lads will be keen to give Fergie a fitting send-off at Old Trafford on Sunday and no better man to do it than the man Fergie pulled out all the stops to sign last summer.