It’s not the last gameweek, but if you’re going to make any significant moves, the last double gameweek of the season is the time to do it.
Gameweek 36 review
This weekend could yet prove to be one of the most crucial in terms of its impact on various Fantasy Football leagues but the one just gone threw up a few surprises and an awful lot of points if you played your cards right.
Red was the dominant colour in Gameweek 36 as three players from Manchester United, two from Arsenal and one apiece from Southampton and Sunderland made it into the Dream Team and it was the latter who provided the top scorer as in-form Connor Wickham pounced for 16 points against Cardiff.
He was joined on that tally by Swansea’s Jonjo Shelvey after the former Liverpool man scored an outrageous goal and laid on two assists in the Swans’ victory over Aston Villa, with Yaya Toure and Mesut Ozil not far off after picking up 14 points apiece.
Juan Mata didn’t start for Manchester United against Norwich, but he managed to come on and nick two goals for 13 points, the same total as his colleague Wayne Rooney and Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny after his goal against Newcastle.
Wilfried Bony maintained his excellent form of late with two goals and 12 points against Aston Villa, with Chelsea’s Mark Schwarzer (11), Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne (11) and Manchester United’s Phil Jones (10) making up the highest-scoring XI this week.
J-League
The chasing pack are as well as well off raising the white flag and subsequently placing it at the feet of Barry Curran, because for all intents and purposes, the J-League is over with two weeks to play.
In fairness the writing has been on the wall for some time now as Barry’s charges, Gambitbeer, have been going from strength to strength and with 75 points separating them from Michael Roche’s Hyperloopin’ Away in second place, even a miracle won’t stop Barry from claiming the J-League crown for the 2013/14 season.
To put Barry’s achievements in context, he is currently ranked 6th in the world and first in Ireland so there is no shame in finishing somebody ranked as loftily as he is and no doubt if Barry is reading he’ll agree that the pressure put on him by the chasing pack in the J-League (as well as reading this column every week, of course) went a long way towards helping him get to where he is today.
Anyway, there’s still a lot up for grabs as far as what we’ll call the European places are concerned, with James Curran’s Out of Luck only seven points adrift of second, Emmet Masterson’s Hamsterdam a further point back in fourth and Adrian Marnane’s Michu at De Gea Bar propping up the big hitters in fifth place.
J-League Top 5:
- Gambitbeer – Barry Curran: 2,472 points
- Hyperloopin’ Away – Michael Roche: 2,397 points
- Out of Luck – James Curran: 2,390 points
- Hamsterdam – Emmet Masterson: 2,389 points
- Michu at De Gea Bar – Adrian Marnane: 2,386 points
One last shot at the title
This is it folks, time to go all-in, time to cut loose, time to put all your eggs in one basket, time to get rich or die tryin’, time to… actually that’s quite enough of the analogies for now thank you very much.
For many of you, the last double gameweek of the season will provide you with your last chance to make up the ground in your respective leagues and that leaves managers with a delicate balancing act.
If you happen to be at the top a private league, should you play conservatively and not cost yourself too many points for fear of losing it all? If you’re behind and still in sight of the top how much of a risk are you willing to take to make up the ground? After all, there’s not too many wildcards going spare at this stage of the season and every transfer is a four-point hit.
The decision to cut loose or hold back is one you’ll have to make yourself; all we can do is lay down what exactly is at stake and recommend some of the many players that will be in action twice this week, with Manchester United, Manchester City, Hull City, Aston Villa, Sunderland and West Brom all playing two games in the next few days.
Managers will instantly gravitate towards Manchester City players, understandably so, but even if the hype over Manchester United’s display in Ryan Giggs’ first game in charge was a tad overblown, they might represent a better option with two home games and lacking the pressure that City will be under because of the title race. As far as we can see it, Phil Jones (£5.9 million), Antonio Valencia (£7.0 million) and Juan Mata (£9.8 million) are the best choices from the soon to be dethroned champions.
As for City, if you don’t already have Sergio Aguero (£12.7 million) it will be very tempting to get rid of Luis Suarez for possibly the first time all season, Yaya Toure (£10.3 million) is practically a must-pick after his showing against Crystal Palace and don’t rule out big-game player David Silva (£9.4 million) at such a crucial stage in the season.
As for the rest of the sides, some players we think worth keeping an eye on are Morgan Amalfitano (£4.3 million), Connor Wickham (£4.7 million), Nikica Jelavic (£6.5 million) and if you had to push us to pick an Aston Villa player while they’re fighting for their lives, we’d reluctantly plump for Gabby Agbonlahor at just under seven million quid.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Juan Mata (£9.8 million). There hasn’t been much noise made about it but Mata has scored five goals in United’s last four games and accumulated 46 points in the process. With Wayne Rooney a huge doubt, we don’t see him being dropped to the bench by Ryan Giggs as he was last weekend.
Mid-Range: Wilfried Bony (£7.3 million). He doesn’t have two games this week but Bony does have four goals in his last two games and six in his last seven for a Swansea side finishing the season in encouraging fashion.
Bargain Basement: Connor Wickham (£4.7 million). Five goals, one assist, eight bonus points and 37 points in total in his last three games, the Sunderland striker is on fire and has two games to add to all of those tallies in this gameweek.
Irish Pick: Shane Long (£5.5 million). He was due a goal and he got one in an impressive showing against Fulham last Saturday and is one of the many players who will be in action twice over the coming days.
Captain’s Pick: Yaya Toure (£10.3 million). The Ivorian was simply majestic against Crystal Palace and is likely to be the most popular choice as skipper this week, with games against Everton and West Brom to prop up his already impressive points haul.
