Even with FA Cup fixtures dominating this weekend, your SoB Fantasy Fixis back to cover the midweek matches that make up Gameweek 23.  And what a huge grin your not so very humble writer is wearing after those picks from last week.  It is just good to see that the “Special One” is back after we thought he was gone…but enough about me.

Some housekeeping first.  I’ve had some requests to look in at our league & I am waiting to hear back from the game providers on how best to do that.  The search function in the game does not work for individual teams or leagues either.  But in the meantime, the easiest way to look at our league is to join it, see what you want to see, stick around if you’d like or then quickly leave the league if that is your choice. 

So to facilitate that; our league code is 694916-134116 to join our private league.  Select “leagues” under your Fantasy Menu and then enter the code and you are good to go.

In the Premier League Fantasy Cup all 3 teams that were alive from the SoB Fantasy Zolo successfully moved on now to the 5^th round.  So all the best to The Pecan Sandies (Mike), Nittany Rebels (Andrew), and a team near and dear to your writer, SoBphillyHarchester*.  Only 65,536 teams are left in the competition as over 93% of the original field has been eliminated thus far.  It will only get tougher in the next few rounds.

Thoughts on last week

Scoring returned to the Premiership, without the benefit of good weather, as 4 teams notched 3 goals.  Defense didn’t completely disappear while Blackburn, West Brom, Man City, & ManU made use of their detergent defenses as all kept clean sheets.  Now to the source of my grins, last week’s picks. 

Although Kenwyne Jones disappointed with only 2 points, he did play the full 90.  The focus should really be on the home runs I hit out of the park like Carlton Cole & Jason Roberts.  Blackburn’s Roberts was a bit of a diamond in the rough but he came through in a big way.  12 pts for the week on the strength of his 2 goals and a full 3 bonus pts made him an excellent choice if I do say so myself.  Oh that’s right—I already did. 

And the best I save for last.  West Ham’s Cole racked up 12 pts in his 90 minutes including a full 3 pt bonus to go with his goal and assist.  If you followed my lead and picked him up last week, you would also be benefitting from a .2£m increase in just one week.  After tips like that what should you say to me other than…thank you “Special One”.

This week (Gameweek 23)

You have to bear in mind that this weekend features 8 FA Cup matches with many Premiership teams involved.  They will have to turn their focus back to the league and Gameweek 23 in less than 72 hours so fatigue may be a factor.  There surely could be some surprise results if not outright upsets due to fixture congestion.

Players to watch:

Let’s focus on bargain priced defenders this week

• Gary Neville: With the injuries in United’s back line, he is due to get his playing time in the near future.  At 5.5£m you get the quality of ManU’s defense at a price 2.2£m cheaper than teammate Vidic. 
• Wigan: Pick a defender, any defender.  Taylor, Figueroa, & Melchiott all are 4.3£m or under and have been playing solid defense in front of the Latics’ keeper Kirkland.  Wigan gets to host Liverpool3 days after the Reds face the hated blue half of Merseyside in the FA Cup.  Liverpool is due for a letdown by the time they face Wiganafter playing Everton twice in one week.  For value this week, I think you’ll do well with any of these Wigan players in your back line.
• Herita Ilunga: Just on a hunch, I think this WestHam defender may surprise for value this week based solely on their opponent.  Hull City is punching way above their weight & will be putting their focus squarely on the FA Cup match.  Also Hull City’s away form has been the worst in the premiership of late.

Players to drop:

Maybe that is a bit harsh to say drop

·        Michael Turner: Maybe the bloom is off the rose for the Hull City defender as his performance has dropped along with that of his club.  More importantly, his value has dropped again this week.  Still 11% of the game has selected him but you don’t want to be left holding the bag with Turner.

·        Jose Bosingwa: I know he has the second most points of any defender but the Chelsea back liner has underperformed for the last 4 weeks.  Maybe it is time to profit from his huge price rise during the season & add some needed cash to your bank.

·        Wayne Rooney: I know he is not a defender, even though that is the theme for the week, and that I suggested this last week but I really think he will be out longer than expected for ManU and his price continues to drop.  If you didn’t drop him last week, what are you waiting for now? 

My Moves:

My team is SoBphillyHarchester*. You can search for my team and take a look at it, I don’t mind, and see if you can find some ideas that may help your club.

• I was lucky to get some breathing space with my success last week (waitaminute…that almost sounded humble) but now is not the time to rest.  With his recent red card suspension in my mind, I sold off Villa’s Ashley Young since he needs to sit for the next couple of matches.  Also his price seems to have peaked & by selling now at 9.0£m, I lock in a .2£m gain.  His replacement is a case of “if you can’t beat them, join them” as I pickup everyone’s favorite Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.  I am tired of watching him score a ton of points, collecting all the bonuses, all while his price continues to rise.  He will combine with Gerrard for me in the midfield.  I know that many great minds say that Lampard & Gerrard can never play together.  But I say… what manager better to make that pairing work than…the “Special One”?  But of course.
• As requested, –Cech, Bosingwa Jagielka Clichy Konchesky, Gerrard Arteta Lampard(C) Cattermole, Agbonglahor & Cole make up my starting XI:  

Next week:

We hope to settle back into to regular Premiership fixture schedule but beware of the possibility of the dreaded 5^th round FA Cup replay matches that would upset many teams form as well as add some gray hairs to managers’ heads.  Thanks for reading…Be good.