The Offside Fantasy League: High Fives All Around

By: Daryl | September 27th, 2007

Cafu high fives Fred We’re a few weeks into The Offside Fantasy League now, and things are starting to settle down. Unlike earlier weeks, where Antoine Sibierski was the best player in the Premier League, we now have a more accurate understanding of who’s hot and who’s not in the thinly veiled form of internet gambling we call fantasy football. After the jump you’ll find a quick run down of the top five players in each position (Goalie, Defender, Midfielder, Forward) and we’ll see if it’s the usual (and therefore expensive) suspects or some more affordable guys who some would have struggled to pick out of a line up before the season started.

Goalkeepers

1. Jose Reina, Liverpool, £10.5m, 122 points
2. Edwin van der Sar, Man Utd, £9.5m, 117 points
3. Robert Green, West Ham, £5.5m, 89 points
4. Scott Carson, Aston Villa, £7m, 77 points
5. Kaspar Schmeichel, Man City, £5m, 71 points

Reina and Van der Sar are to be expected, but if anyone had the foresight to snap up the next three they deserve all the points they get. No one except his dad and Football Manager enthusiasts had even heard of Kaspar Schmeichel at the start of the season, and at best he was expected to warm the Citeh bench while first choice Andreas Isaksson did all the work. But an injury to Sven’s fellow Swede saw Schmeichel get his chance, and he hasn’t looked back.

Defenders

1. Nemanja Vidic, Man Utd, £10m, 114 points
2. Rio Ferdinand, Man Utd, £11.5m, 101 points
3. Gael Clichy, Arsenal, £8.2m, 99 points
4. Alvaro Arbeloa, Liverpool, £8.3m, 98 points
5. Patrice Evra, Man Utd, £8.3m, 97 points

Vidic is pure gold. With United’s attack not quite firing, he’s kept them strong at the back and weighed in with the odd goal. He’s not exactly a bargain at £10m, but he’s cheaper than his slightly more lackadaisical partner Rio who’ll cost you £11.5m. The next three are all good value, as attacking fullbacks in teams with good defensive records tend to be. But after his performance on Sunday I’m banking on Wes Brown. At a cool £7m he won’t break the bank, plus you get all the benefits of Man Utd’s miserly defence.

Midfielders

1. Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal, £12.5m, 179 points
2. Charles N’Zogbia, Newcastle Utd, £6.4m, 106 points
3. Paul Scholes, Man Utd, £10.2m, 92 points
4. Frank Lampard, Chelsea, £15m, 90 points
5. Clint Dempsey, Fulham, £5.5m, 88 points

Frank Lampard’s set to plummet out of the top five. He’s got a nasty thigh tear that will keep him out of action for a while, plus his no.1 fan has been given the boot at Stamford Bridge. Fabregas and Scholes were always good bets to score points, but the boy they call Cesc has become a man this year by scoring on a regular basis. Meanwhile N’Zogbia and Dempsey are two absolute steals that not many saw coming. Can you afford not to get those two in your eleven?

Strikers

1. Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal, £10m, 140 points
2. Nicolas “Smiley Face” Anelka, Bolton, £11.5m, 107 points
3. Fernando Torres, Liverpool, £12.5m, 83 points
4. Nwankwo Kanu, Portsmouth, £6m, 81 points
5. John Utaka, Portsmouth, £8.4m, 77 points

As I argued last week, strikers are mostly a big waste of money. But you have to have at least two of them, so choose wisely. Freed from the rather long shadow of Thierry Henry, Emmanuel Adebayor is flying. He’s even relieved poor Robin van Persie of Arsenal penalty taking duties, which can only bolster his point tally. Nic Anelka seems like good value to keep scoring the odd goal here and there on a consistent basis, even more so if Bolton ever get their act together. And if Torres is the third best forward now then imagine how good he’ll be when Benitez actually lets him play. But the value for money seems to be at Fratton Park, where Utaka and Kanu will get you plenty of points on a very nice budget.

Fixtures

It’s becoming increasingly clear that wise Fantasy League managers tailor their squads according to who’s playing who. Ideally you want your strikers going up against Derby County and you’re defenders going up against… well, Derby County again. Unless your strikers and defenders play for Newcastle that is. Here are the match ups for this weekend:

Manchester City v Newcastle United
Portsmouth v Reading
Wigan Athletic v Liverpool
Chelsea v Fulham
Derby County v Bolton Wanderers
Sunderland v Blackburn Rovers
West Ham United v Arsenal
Birmingham City v Manchester United
Everton v Middlesbrough
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa

This week’s visitors to the fantasy league points ATM that is Derby County are Bolton Wanderers. Sammy Lee’s squad aren’t looking too good themselves, but I’d still back The Incredible Sulk himself, Nicolas Anelka, to make like Fernando Torres and Emmanuel Adebayor before him and use Derby County as target practice.

It’s possible that Chelsea supporter’s nightmare could get worse when Fulham make the short trip to Stamford Bridge. Clint Dempsey could be the man to ruin Avram Grant’s day. Alternatively it could all come good for the Blues, with Shevchenko finally earning the insanely overenthusiastic applause he got from Roman Abramovich on Sunday.

West Ham’s surprisingly decent defence could frustrate Arsenal at Upton Park, Yakubu could repeat Mark Viduka’s trick of reminding Middlesbrough what they’re missing if he scores for Everton, while Man Utd’s goakeeper and defenders should continue their fine form with a clean sheet at St Andrews, unless Birmingham City have signed up some of the local Sunday league talent like Ronaldinho, Kaka and Gerrard.