Christian Benteke is already proving his worth to Aston Villa and Fantasy managers alike, while the bar has been set very high indeed in the J-League after just one week.
Gameweek 1 Review
So, how was it for you? At around 3.30pm on Saturday evening, countless managers were either cursing themselves for last minute changes in which they got rid of some high scorers or congratulating themselves for doing something resembling the opposite.
At the end of it all, however, the Dream Team, barring a couple of surprises, is packed with players you would have expected to perform well on the opening day and there was an awful lot of points at stake for those who selected wisely and won’t be reaching for the wildcard already.
Top of the pile was Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, who scored three goals, scored 18 points, generally wreaked havoc amongst the Arsenal and Chelsea defences and reminded Villa fans how lucky they were to hold onto him during the summer.
Like Villa, Chelsea also had a double gameweek and the Blues are represented by Branislav Ivanovic (15), Frank Lampard and Oscar (both 13), with all three getting on the scoresheet over the past few days.
The top scorer from the teams who didn’t have a double gameweek was Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet (15) after a penalty save on his league debut against Sunderland, while Danny Welbeck and our own Seamus Coleman also featured prominently with 13 points apiece.
Elsewhere, Manchester City were represented with Argentinean duo Pablo Zabaleta (10) and Sergio Aguero (12), with Southampton’s Luke Shaw (12), Norwich’s Steven Whittaker (11) and Joe Cole (11) of West Ham making up the starting XI.
J-League
For the last couple of years, managers in the J-League have set the bar very high indeed and that’s the case again this year, with Brian Emmet’s Dutch Rudders emerging from a pile of thousands to lead the J-League after gameweek one with a very impressive 124 points.
Hot on his heels are Adam Ryan’s Carnage FC with 120 points, while Eanna Scully’s Seeious Utd, Mikey Wall’s Sticky Fingers and Frances Shannon’s Robben’s right foot can’t be separated on 118 points apiece.
Making up the top five are Stuart Heenan’s < Funny name here > on 116 points and Michael Cunningham’s Tipp All-Stars a point further back so the chasing pack know that they have a lot of work to do to make up the ground even though there’s only week gone.
It’s going to be a looonnng season alright.
J-League Top 5:
- The Dutch Rudders – Brian Emmet: 124 points
- Carnage FC – Adam Ryan: 120 points
- Seeious Utd – Eanna Scully, Sticky Fingers – Mikey Wall, Robben’s right foot – Frances Shannon: 118 points
- < Funny name here > – Stuart Heenan: 116 points
- Tipp All-Stars – Michael Cunningham: 115 points
Hard to beat Benteke the beast
They say that he has four ears, a retractable tail, no mouth and four arses and a tremendous fear of stamps…
OK, so that might be the Beast of Craggy Island as opposed to Aston Villa’s very own beast Christian Benteke, but such is the amount of chatter about the Belgian striker at the moment that he could soon be spoken of with the same fear that Dougal spoke of the mythical beast in one of the all-time classic Father Ted episodes. And there will be no need for the BBC Sound Effects Volume Four this time to accentuate the myth this time around.
Forget about what might happen with Bale, with Suarez and with Rooney and forget anyone who might have arrived in the Premier League over the summer, it could be argued that the best piece of business was Aston Villa managing to hang onto Christian Benteke after he had originally expressed a desire to leave.
It was hard not to be impressed by the Belgian in away fixtures against two of the top sides in the league in Arsenal and Chelsea, but probably the most impressive stat regarding his effectiveness for Villa this year is that in 2013 to date, nobody, not even RVP, has scored more than the 17 Premier League goals that Benteke has managed in claret and blue.
It sounds even better when you consider that in the top five European leagues, only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have scored more league goals than Benteke and they weren’t playing for a club fighting for survival in the top flight until the bitter end last season.
Despite missing a penalty against the Gunners and getting a yellow card in both games, Benteke still managed 18 points and was the top scorer in the league this week having deservedly claimed maximum bonus points in both games to add to his three goals.
Still only 22, there’s not a lot Benteke can’t do. He’s freakishly strong, he’s quick, he can score off both feet, he can play up top on his own or with a partner and he’s very good in the air too. On the evidence of the tail end of last season and in two games so far in this campaign, Villa will only get better this year and Benteke will be a figurehead in Paul Lambert’s plans.
At £9.0 million he’s not cheap but he still represents value for money and on current form, he won’t remain at that price for much longer.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Robin van Persie (£14.0 million). Plenty of managers were left rueing the decision not to pick him last weekend after he again illustrated his sheer class with two goals against Swansea. Chelsea will prove tougher opposition on Monday but on this form, RVP will feel he can score against anyone.
Mid-Range: Olivier Giroud (£8.5 million). Arsenal’s bad start to the season was pretty well documented last weekend but on the back of a good pre-season, he has two goals in two games and will fancy his chances of hitting the net again against Fulham on Saturday.
Bargain Basement: Luke Shaw (£4.6 million). The young defender is one of England’s brightest prospects and he seems as comfortable attacking at the top end of the pitch as he does defending in his own half. With one assist and one set of maximum bonus points to his name already, he could be in for a big season.
Irish Pick: Seamus Coleman (£5.1 million). Picked up on last season’s form with a brilliant display against Norwich and as he’s classed as a defender, his instinct to go forward could bring plenty of reward in terms of goals and assists, as they did last weekend.
Captain’s Pick: Sergio Aguero (£11.0 million). Cardiff won’t relish the prospect of taking on City after their destruction of Newcastle on Monday, nor will they relish the thought of having to nullify Aguero, who looked back to his best against the Magpies.
