There are any amount of strikers in form right now, but with most managers able to afford two forwards of real quality, who should fill the third striker berth? We look at some of the options.
Gameweek 13 review
Although the most obvious captain selections – Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero – this weekend didn’t quite work out, there were still an awful lot of points up for grabs and every member of the Dream Team managed a score in double figures.
Best of the lot was Samir Nasri with 16 points after his brace against Swansea, a point better off than Aaron Ramsey after he also netted twice against Cardiff and marked both goals against his first club with two of the best examples of a player going out of his way not to celebrate you will ever see.
It’s great to report that there were two Irish players in the Dream Team this week, David Meyler and Seamus Coleman, after goals against Liverpool and Stoke respectively, with Coleman one of a trio of Everton players in the Dream Team alongside the unlikely figures of Bryan Oviedo (14) and Gareth Barry (11).
Unsurprisingly, Wayne Rooney featured up front with 13 points after his goals against Spurs and he was joined up front by Demba Ba (11), with Ba’s teammate John Terry (11) and Sunderland ‘keeper Vito Mannone (10) also making the cut.
J-League
There were few changes in the identity of the teams in the top five of the J-League after the weekend but there were a few positional changes, most importantly Stuart McGoldrick’s Champions 2013/14 usurping Barry Curran’s Gambitbeer at the top of the charts.
Brian Ruane’s Dukes of Hazard managed to stay comfortably in third place despite an unspectacular 56 points, while Paul McInaw’s Poppycock Wednesday were joined by a new addition to the top five and the most impressive performers this week, Anthony Murphy’s Sea-Dogs!!!
Sean O’Donoghue’s Celtic D’s just about managed to hang onto their place in the top five but with a full round of games taking place Tuesday and Wednesday and an extra mid-week gameweek thrown in, it could be all change once again at the business end of the J-League table over the coming days.
J-League Top 5:
- Champions 2013/14 – Stuart McGoldrick: 887 points
- Gambitbeer – Barry Curran: 881 points
- Dukes of Hazard – Brian Ruane: 858 points
- Poppycock Wednesday – Paul McInaw, Sea-Dogs!!! – Anthony Murphy: 851 points
- Celtic D’s – Sean O’Donoghue: 850 points
The third striker problem
We might be making a bold assumption here, but we would have thought that any managers that have still maintained even the slightest interest in Fantasy Football will have at least two strikers out a group of eight who are the highest scoring and most commonly selected in the league. In case you’re wondering, the strikers in question, in order of their points total so far, are: Sergio Aguero, Wayne Rooney, Olivier Giroud, Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, Loic Remy, Robin van Persie and Romelu Lukaku.
Through shrewd transfer dealings or cutting corners elsewhere, there are managers who will be lucky enough to have three from that group in their team, particularly with the likes of Remy and Lukaku, for example, both costing just a touch over £8million.
With all due respect to those two, however, you’re far more likely to get a consistent return out of *assumes Andy Townsend voice* your Agueros, your Rooneys, your Suarezes and (when he returns from injury) your Van Persies and when you’re looking to free up some cash to buy in an in-form midfielder or a defender fond of clean sheets and goals from set-pieces, it’s the third striker that’s likely to be rotated on a more regular basis.
Outside of the elite group of eight, there are decent options available and if you can get them at the right time and have a bit of luck, the five players below represent pretty good value to form a trio with the two big stars up front or to come off the bench if required.
Yoan Gouffran (£6.3 million). Very slow start to the season, but has three goals, an assist and 30 points in the last four games.
Shane Long (£6.0 million). Our Shane is a very streaky player God love him, but with three goals and an assist in his last three games, he seems to be on one of those streaks at the moment.
Jay Rodriguez (£5.8 million). Four goals and an assist in the season so far for the newly capped England international and he seems to be a mainstay in the XI while Pochettino rotates Lambert and Osvaldo up front.
Fraizer Campbell (£5.4 million). All of his three goals so far have come against Manchester City and Manchester United and while he should be scoring on a more regular basis, he’s a decent option if you’ve spent shedloads on RVP, Aguero, Suarez, Rooney etc. up front.
Gerard Deulofeu (£5.4 million). Given his first start on Saturday and responded with a goal, an assist and ten points. The Barcelona loanee is still a bit raw, but the signs are promising.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Mesut Ozil (£10.3 million). Having foolishly suggested getting rid of him on Friday, his two assists against Cardiff suggest that he is back on track and Hull might suffer at his hands at the Emirates.
Mid-Range: Samir Nasri (£8.1 million). The Frenchman doesn’t always scream reliability, but he was brilliant against Swansea and will be looking to pick up where he left off against West Brom.
Bargain Basement: Costel Pantilimon (£4.9 million). One in five managers are going to have to replace Artur Boruc after he broke his hand against Chelsea and the man currently preferred to Joe Hart represents excellent value at the moment.
Irish Pick: Seamus Coleman (£5.6 million). There are no easy games for the Irish contingent in midweek so even though Everton have to travel to Old Trafford, we’ll plump for Coleman after he became the highest scoring defender in the league with his goal against Stoke on Saturday.
Captain’s Pick: Luis Suarez (£12.3 million). The Hull game was only the second he’s played without scoring since his return and he has scored seven goals in his last three games against Norwich, who Liverpool face at Anfield on Wednesday night.
