I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays.  I had a fantastic time being back home for Christmas and I’m happy to start getting you ready for Week 19.  Before I get to the Best XI this week I’d like to take a minute and look at a few of the injuries that happened in today’s matches.  There is very little time from now until the next matchday (Sunday) and it’s very unlikely these players recover by then.  These are only injuries suffered today that I think may have a fantasy impact; for a complete review of all injuries ahead of Week 19, check out Ben Dinnery’s injury column tomorrow.

We’ll have both player picks and an injury column tomorrow to make sure you are ready for Sunday, so make sure to tune in!

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Tim Howard – The American goalkeeper left at halftime and didn’t return.  He has a calf problem and will likely miss the match against Newcastle.

Brad Jones – The Liverpool goalkeeper picked up an injury and was replaced by Simon Mignolet.  Expect Mignolet to start Sunday.

James Chester – The defender scored but also picked up a yellow and will be suspended on Sunday.

Samir Nasri – He suffered a knock and was down holding his face during the match but continued on and seems OK.   Should be fine for GW19.

Angel di Maria – di Maria didn’t even feature in what was a surprise for fantasy managers and it’s not known if he’ll make it for Sunday.  Louis van Gaal said he doesn’t think it’s serious but that could mean a lot of things with only two days until Sunday.

Jefferson Montero – Montero limped off with a hamstring injury and will have a scan to figure out the extent of the problem.  He is likely out for the remainder of the holiday period.

Phil Jagielka – Jagielka has an ankle problem and is likely out on Sunday.

Olivier Giroud – the striker picked up a red card that’s VERY unlikely to be overturned.  He’s suspended for three matches.

Gabby Agbonlahor – The Aston Villa forward had his red card overturned to be able to feature in today’s game but will be out against Sunderland due to an accumulation of yellows.

Best XI

We only had to drop Harry Kane from this week’s Best XI due to price.  He was replaced by Adam Johnson.  There were a number of possible replacements, all with 16 points apiece, but Johnson was inserted due to having the lowest price.  Overall a fairly cheap, defensive minded Best XI.

Points

218 points this week.  That is a bit low but it was a short recovery time and we didn’t have a lot of clean sheets to bump defenders’ values.

Cost

This week the BEST XI cost £ 95.3M*.  The new price of our Best XI (if you were to try to create this team now after the price changes) is £ 122.21M.  That’s a 26.91% increase in price.

*Keep in mind the cost does NOT include any substitutes and is thus 96M instead of 100M.

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MVP

This week’s MVP is Wayne Rooney.  The Manchester United forward is playing as an attacking midfielder but told the media today that he is very comfortable with that position and it’s one he’s used to.  We believe him.  The United attack continues to be lethal and Rooney, Robin van Persie, and Falcao are all great options.

Formation

We’ve had a trend towards a more defensive lineup in recent weeks and I think that is the result of a forwards/midfielders getting a lot more expensive.  If you don’t have many players at discounts, it may be time to reconsider what formation you are playing.  I’ll go into more detail in the next Best XI.

Formation Count

Repeat Offenders

Alexis Sanchez joins the top spot with four appearances.  He continues his hot form and despite missing a penalty, he had a Best XI worthy performance.  Is there anyone better at the moment?

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Team Rankings

Welcome to the top, Arsenal.  You are now in sole possession of the number one spot.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t earn you a place in the Champions League.

How did your team do this week?