Christmas fixture congestion, be damned.
With the halfway point of the Premier League season fast approaching, the table looks like it’s been drawn up by a four-year old as Leicester stand defiantly atop the mountain but Chelsea languish one point above the bottom three.
There are some tasty ties this gameweek and as topsy-turvy as the first few months have been, we’re confident in claiming a couple of points in the final fixtures before Santa comes.
Three players to sign
Steve McClaren has finally swayed us and we’ve done the unthinkable, a Newcastle player has made his way into our team.
The Magpies have won two games in a row for the first time since football was invented and we’re jumping aboard Stevie Mac’s Mega Funbus.
One player who has shone for Newcastle in recent weeks is Georginio Wijnaldum. The Dutchman was the stand-out player when Newcastle shocked Liverpool a fortnight ago and he is an absolute powerhouse of an attacking midfielder.
Unstoppable while counter-attacking, deadly from set-piece deliveries and an all-round reliable player, Wijnaldum can punish Aston Villa who are doing their damn best to be worse than that Derby side.
We told you to ditch Wijnaldum a mere two weeks ago but we’re holding our hands up and apologetically inviting him back.
One side is effortlessly entertaining, the other is dully efficient.
But we think Tony Pulis’ defensive organisation trumps Eddie Howe’s fearless pursuit of attacking football at all costs so we’re foreseeing a clean sheet for the home side at the Hawthorns this weekend.
While we weren’t paying attention, Craig Dawson became one of the must-have defenders in Fantasy Football as he’s been racking up the points in recent weeks. .
He also offers an energetic attacking threat and has racked up 59 points since opening day, more than popular choices Vincent Kompany, Martin Skrtel and Jan Verthongen.
If ever West Brom were going to keep a spotlessly clean sheet, it’s going to be against the likes of a Bournemouth so we’re jumping all over the good, old-fashioned defender.
Aguero returned to full training and that’s enough for us to empty our pockets on the most talented striker in the Premier League whose name doesn’t rhyme with Vamie Jardy.
While there’s no guarantee that he’ll start and this is a massive risk, there’s no harm in bringing the Argentine in early in the festive season as he’s definitely going to net a few in the coming weeks on his way back up the goalscoring ranks.
He’s just as potent coming off the bench and should get some gametime against an Arsenal side who struggle for defensive solidity when Francis Coquelin is out.
Don’t think about it, just get Aguero in this week and think of it as an early Christmas gift to yourself.
Three players to sell
Yes, we know Leicester are the greatest team of all time so don’t murder us for taking a key component out but for all the Foxes’ ruthless maulings up front, they’ve looked rather sheepish in defence.
They score an awful lot but they also concede an awful lot so we’re not confident of keeping Schmeichel in our team as Leicester enter that stage of the season where everybody drops points, even Clauido Ranieri sides.
When you look at the goals against column in the league table, you’ll see that table-topping Leicester have actually conceded more goals this season than any of the other top 13 teams.
Against Romelu Lukaku and without the suspended Robert Huth, we see Leicester conceding a couple at Goodison Park this weekend.
Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez. That is all.
High-scoring draw written all over this fixture and that leaves no place for silly defenders and goalkeepers.
Welcome to Off the Boil and here’s your host… Graziano Pelle!
The Saints striker was among the Vardys, Ighalos and Lukakus early on this season as a must-have in most Fantasy Football sides but his record in recent weeks proves that he should have been ditched ages ago.
No goals since the first day of November and a maximum of two points per gameweek in that same period.
We’re certain that Mauricio Pochettino will have his Spurs team set out to perfectly handle the Southampton side with whom he’s very well acquainted and Spurs have the ability to play some wonderful stuff.
There’s not a real weakness anywhere in the Tottenham team and we think they’re just too good for Pelle to flourish against them.
Arrivederci for now, young Graziano.
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