Fantasy Football Insider – Gameweek 13

In this week’s fantasy football insider, JOE stresses the importance of getting an in-form striker into your side while he’s on a hot streak.

By Conor Heneghan

The phrase ‘couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo’ or other such alternatives are bandied about freely when referring to strikers on a bit of a barren run, when everyone including the Gods seem to be plotting against the out-of-form forward to prevent them from finding the net.

With strikers, though, the opposite is also true. A striker on a hot streak will find that everything they touch seems to turn to gold, every borderline offside decision will go their way and the scruffiest of shots will find their way to the net via two or three deflections.

Just look at Wayne Rooney, for example. The man scored 26 Premier League goals last season, but since an ankle injury, a disastrous World Cup, ill-advised contract shenanigans and some embarrassing revelations surrounding his private life, Rooney has been a shadow of a man that lit up the Premier League last season.

At some stage this season, however, fantasy managers will be rushing to get Rooney back into their side. He’s too good of a player not to return to form at some stage and he has a history of being somewhat of a ‘streaky’ goalscorer, the type of man who will score for ten games in succession and then go five games without a goal.

In fairness to Rooney, however, there aren’t many ultra-consistent goalscorers out there. Darren Bent is probably one, while of the top sides, Didier Drogba and Carlos Tevez feature on the scoresheet pretty regularly. Apart from those three, the importance of recognising a striker that’s on top of his game and getting him in at the right time is crucial for getting the maximum amount of points possible.

Fernando Torres (£11.8 million) is the best example of a striker on a hot streak with three expertly taken goals against Chelsea and Wigan in the last week. Liverpool are finally getting back on the right track and the Spaniard is by far their biggest goal threat. Torres, though, is top dollar, but there are others at the other end of the scale worth considering.

Having finally been given his chance to shine for Sunderland, Asamoah Gyan (£7.1 million) has been in super form of late with, like Torres, three goals in his last two games. He looked a great prospect at the World Cup and if he can continue in the sort of form he’s in at the moment, he will be well worth the substantial amount of money Steve Bruce paid for him.

Newcastle’s Andy Carroll (£5.8 million) is another man bang in form with two goals in his last two games against Arsenal and Blackburn. After a good start to the season, we doubted Carroll’s ability to be consistent at the highest level, but it seems he has proved us wrong and has been a thorn in the side of every rearguard he has come up against.

What to look out for this week

This weekend, top of the table Chelsea play host to a Sunderland side who have shown in their last two away games how unpredictable they can be away from the Stadium of Light. A calamitous performance against Newcastle saw them concede five goals at St. James in the Tyne-Wear derby, while on Tuesday night they delivered a disciplined display to earn a point against Spurs at White Hart Lane.

Despite topping the table by four points, the Blues have faltered slightly of late with defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool, but they have been faultless at Stamford Bridge so far this season, having yet to concede a goal on their own turf.

Yuri Zhirkov has seen plenty of action in recent weeks

With leading lights Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda off the boil of late, it could be worth keeping in mind some of the watertight Blues defence. Outside of the expensive Ashley Cole (£8.3 million) and John Terry (£7.3 million), Branislav Ivanovic (£6.9 million) has started all but one of Chelsea’s games and is a threat at set-pieces, while Yuri Zhirkov (£6.2 million) has started the champions’ last four games and often plays in a more advanced midfield position.

Elsewhere, despite an insipid showing against Manchester United in a dull-as-dishwater derby meeting on Wednesday night, Manchester City’s galaxy of expensive stars have the potential to score highly at home to Birmingham City this weekend.

JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks

Top Dollar: Fernando Torres (£11.8 million). ‘El Nino’ is back in form with three goals in his last two games and 29 fantasy points in his last four games. With Liverpool enjoying a bit of a mini-revival, it could be worth getting the Spaniard into your side. If you can afford him, of course.

Mid Range: Asamoah Gyan (£7.1 million). The Ghanaian is on a hot streak at the moment, with three goals in his last two games. He has a decent chance of being the first player from an away team to score at Stamford Bridge this season.

Bargain Basement: Andy Carroll (£5.8 million). Carroll is teetering on the edge of the mid-range category, but £5.8 million will hardly break the bank. The Toon striker is in a rich vein of form with four goals in his last five games and despite the issues in his private life, continues to deliver impressive performances for Chris Hughton’s side. Carroll’s value has increased by £0.8 million since the start of the season, a sign of just how good he has been so far this campaign.

Irish pick: Kevin Foley (£3.9 million). With only 20 points so far, it seems a bit ridiculous to be recommending Foley, but frankly, we’ve exhausted this category already and we’re only 12 games into the season. That’s because most Irish players are either injured (James McCarthy), constantly warming the bench (Robbie Keane) or out of form (Richard Dunne). Besides, Foley has played all but 18 minutes for Wolves so far this season, he’s really cheap and after a shaky start, Mick McCarthy’s side have been showing signs of recovery of late.

Captain’s pick: Rafael van der Vaart (£8.1 million). The Dutchman is our recommendation as captain this weekend for the simple reason that when Spurs play at home, Van der Vaart scores. Five goals in four Premier League games at White Hart Lane, as well as strikes against Inter Milan and FC Twente in the Champions League tell their own story.