Saturday 28 September 2013

Fantasy Friday: Who are the Premier League outcasts, flops and casualties you need to axe... and who's been surprisingly good?


Welcome to Stunt's weekly Fantasy Football column which will try to help you get the edge on your friends, family and Jamie Redknapp.

Here, Rik Sharma considers the key issues in the game, from the men to bring in or avoid, through to which teams have a tasty looking run of fixtures.

Ship 'em out

You might have seen your team slipping down the league recently. You might be wondering how to turn the tide.

I've rounded up a few of the main disappointments this season - the players you need to boot out of your team as soon as you can.

It might be because they're out of favour, it might be because they're not cutting the mustard this season. It might be because they've been injured or unfit. But whatever the reason, if you have these men in your squad, it's time to let go.

The Outcasts

Picking Juan Mata seems like a good Fantasy Football move. He lives to create goals, scoring and assisting with abandon over the past two years.

He's been Chelsea's player of the season twice, and their most creative player since he arrived in 2011. But Jose Mourinho has marginalised him this season, instead preferring Oscar to play in the No 10 role.

Whatever you think about it tactically, one thing's for sure - it's not good for you if Mata's in your team. Mata at £11million is the most expensive player in the game and he has just five points to his name. To put that into context, so does David Vaughan. At £4.1m. And he plays for Sunderland.

It might turn out that Mata nails down the right wing spot and begins to contribute again, but don't put him in the side until that's started to happen.

#FreeShinji is the name of the campaign by Dortmund fans to bring Shinji Kagawa back from Manchester United, where he doesn't seem to be part of David Moyes' first team.

His situation is reminiscent of Mata's, although the Japan star wasn't as impressive last season. When he gets a run of games he could be a good option but at £7.2m you're better off leaving him out for now.



Playmakers: Both Juan Mata and Shinji Kagawa have been sitting on the bench a lot this season

But coming in from the cold...

Jermain Defoe (£8.8m) only has seven points to his name to date. The Tottenham striker has only three substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, with Roberto Soldado holding the current striker's spot.

However, in his other three games he's netted an incredible SIX goals. That's four in the Europa League and two in the Capital One Cup. It's not inconceivable that Villas-Boas will re-instate him to Spurs' Premier League side, given that Soldado hasn't scored in his last three.



How long? Jermain Defoe is worth keeping an eye on as he's in fine scoring form in the cups

The Flops

Ashley Young has received much derision so far this season for his diving and general poor play. And it's no surprise he's not been pulling his weight in Fantasy Football either. He's featured in four league games for Manchester United this season, picking up two yellow cards and just one assist.

He's unlikely to feature as much in the near future if he continues in this vein. At £6.3m he's not that expensive for a starter in a title-contending team, but there's no point buying something just because the packaging's nice.

Young has Fantasy pedigree, being a useful points scorer while at Aston Villa, but right now he is not the one.

Eden Hazard meanwhile, hasn't been awful. And with 22 points he doesn't have a pitiable haul. But at £10.3m you expect big things from the Belgian - especially as he seems to have cemented his place in the side.

He's yet to really get going with either goals (0) or assists (2), but he has created a fair few openings for his team-mates. One problem is that the strikers he's been feeding aren't really at the races. Samuel Eto'o might turn out to be a solid front-man but so far he's goalless - not to mention Fernando Torres and Demba Ba.



Time to raise your game: Eden Hazard and Ashley Young have not been hugely impressive this term

Proving us wrong

Samir Nasri, rated at only £6.5m, has started this season in fine fettle. Capitalising on an injury to David Silva, the Frenchman has three assists and two goals.

He might not be someone you want in your side for the whole season - because Silva will be back and Jesus Navas looks good too - but he's definitely worth a spin while the going's good.



Loving it: Samir Nasri has been in excellent form and has filled the hole that David Silva's injury created

Walking wounded
Picking Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho (£8m) or Arsenal's Santi Cazorla (£10m) was a good idea back in August, but both of them have been/or will be out for a while. Here's a list of a few players that you might have selected, but who are out because of injury.



Down and out: Philippe Coutinho (right) is out for around a month with his injury

Arsenal: Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski

Aston Villa: Christian Benteke, Jonas Okore

Cardiff: Andreas Cornelius

Chelsea: Marco van Ginkel

Crystal Palace: Yannick Bolasie, Glenn Murray

Everton: Antolin Alcaraz

Fulham: Maarten Stekelenburg

Hull: James Chester

Liverpool: Philippe Coutinho, Glen Johnson

Man City: Martin Demischelis

Newcastle: Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor

Norwich: Sebastien Bassong

Sunderland: Steven Fletcher, Aaron Lennon

West Brom: Chris Brunt, Matej Vydra

West Ham: Guy Demel, Andy Carroll


Sneak in Suarez

Liverpool's controversial striker was back in action on Wednesday night. He did everything but score against Man United in the Capital One Cup and it won't be long before Luis Suarez (£11.5m) is terrorising defences again.

He might flourish in a free role behind Daniel Sturridge and this might be someone to bring in before the rush, to get a little edge on your league rivals. While they're waiting to see if he gets back among the goals immediately, you can profit instantly by bringing him in for someone like the injured Benteke, or Soldado.



Strike early: Luis Suarez is someone you could bring in immediately as it could be a rewarding move

Spurs are shut-out kings

Tottenham have only conceded ONE goal in the first five games of the season. That's impressive stuff. Olivier Giroud is the only plaer to have breached their defence in the Premier League (and indeed, in all competitions).

Andre Villas-Boas has really tightened things up at the back. Although they may concede at home against Chelsea on Saturday, Spurs defenders could be valuable in forthcoming weeks.

Jan Vertonghen is the man to pick if you can afford him at £6.2m, but for most Michael Dawson is a better choice. He costs £5.2m and has been a mainstay - despite being the worst defender in the backline. When Younes Kaboul is fit he might replace the Englishman, but for now I'd take Dawson.

Try Hugo Lloris too. The goalkeeper costs £5.4m and is the top scoring player for his position, with 35 points. Simon Mignolet is behind on 34 and Petr Cech resides on 30.



A touch of class: Jan Vertonghen is helping Spurs at the back and isn't bad going forward either

Remy's on a roll

It's important in this game to pick up players just as they hit form - but also being careful not to be too knee-jerk with your transfers.

That's a difficult balance, but I think bringing in Loic Remy would be a reasonable investment. At £7.9m he's not unfairly priced and he's the most potent forward Newcastle have. With Hatem Ben Arfa providing the ammunition, he will get the chances.

Remy bagged two against Hull and looked good, but the Toon army have a mixed bag of fixtures ahead (Liverpool H, Sunderland A, Chelsea H, Tottenham A, Norwich H).

He's not a guaranteed points scorer but if you need to make up ground, it's the right sort of time to be looking for differentials. We'll have more on that subject in upcoming Fantasy Friday columns.



Eye for goal: You could move swiftly for Loic Remy, but beware of his fixtures


Most popular first XI in the game

GK: Simon Mignolet (Liverpool) 27.69%

DF: Leighton Baines (Everton) 36.78%

DF: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) 23.62%

DF: Pablo Zabaleta (Man City) 16.59%

DF: Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham) 15.84%

MF: Coutinho (Liverpool) 20.46%

MF: Eden Hazard (Chelsea) 21.51%

MF: Theo Walcott (Arsenal) 19.5%

ST: Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) 19.89%

ST: Robin van Persie (Man United) 54.02%

ST: Wilfried Bony (Swansea) 20.04%





New entry: In-form Daniel Sturridge has made it into the game's most selected XI


Jamie Redknapp's team for this weekend...




Jamie's team


Jamie Redknapp transfers:

Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) IN Theo Walcott (Arsenal) OUT (26/09/13)


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