Weekly Picks: Fuzzy Logic: Week 22 Rankings
The stars look very different today.
We have a quick turnaround for Week 22, so between that short amount of time and the weather that I am firmly under at the moment, this edition of the Player Rankings will be short and sweet, much like the version for Week 19 which took place 48 hours after the Boxing Day round.
What can I say about Week 21? For me, it was another miserable score in FPL. However, it appears many managers had a terrible round with scores in the 30s and 40s. Unless you have an undying trust in Wayne Rooney or you were clever enough to use your transfer on bringing in the likes of Dimitri Payet, odds are your week wasn’t very memorable either. Sure, there were other big hauls from players across the league, but I doubt too many have the names Aleksandar Mitrovic and Jermain Defoe in their forward lines. Perhaps that will change over the course of the next round or two of transfers, because the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Sergio Aguero, Odion Ighalo, Jamie Vardy and Diego Costa all came up empty.
I suppose I should feel a bit more positive about my week than I actually do. I had and used two free transfers before the Week 21 deadlne and both new toys outscored the players cast aside. Out went Chris Smalling, as United would concede three times to Newcastle, and Gerard Deulofeu, who came up empty along with the rest of Everton’s attack at the Etihad. In came Toby Alderweireld, who was a few minutes away from a clean sheet (heart still broken) and Willian, who grabbed an assist on what was a Gareth McAuley own goal. The problem is, my transfer plan the entire time was to bring Payet in for Deulofeu. However, I didn’t anticipate the spike in transfers in following his 1 point cameo apperance on his return from injury that saw his price go up only two days after Week 20. I may have pulled the trigger on that transfer earlier, but I felt there was increased risk in doing so with the third round of the FA Cup still to be played before we got to Week 21. Boy, I sure would have liked to have those points. In a move that was classic kneejerk, I spent four points to ditch Willian for Payet by downgrading Jamie Vardy to Odion Ighalo. I felt at this point Ighalo is as good a bet in a given week as Vardy is for less money, but of course both are now in a stretch without goals.
Enough about all this fantasy football jibber-jabber. I want to commit a paragraph to recognize the brilliant talent that we lost a few days ago in David Bowie, aka Ziggy Stardust, aka Starman, aka the Goblin King. A legend in life, he is surely a legend for all time. I thank him for his music and, perhaps more importantly, for his message. For me, the central message that he projected throughout his career was to discover your identity and to embrace whatever that identity is. I remember in my teenage years, I had a tough time balancing the identity that I now have no problem projecting – a sports nerd. It was tough in high school. Who do you sit with at lunch, those whose priority was academics or those whose priority was athletics? I felt that I did not really like the concept of choosing, so I would usually scarf my lunch down quickly in a neutral territory, then spend a bit of time talking to friends at each table. If I wanted to talk about the Baltimore Orioles, I would sit here. If I wanted to talk about Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, I would sit there. Thank the stars above that fantasy sports spread like wildfire as I got into college. When I took to it, I took to it passionately and I never looked back. I know it seemes like a stretch, but it is a handful of people in the arts like David Bowie that guided me to the place I am today. So, thank you Starman for helping me in my youth and allowing me to embrace the ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes along the way.
Right, let’s get to the fixtures now, shall we…
Week 22 Fixtures
Tottenham v Sunderland
AFC Bournemouth v Norwich City
Chelsea v Everton
Manchester City v Crystal Palace
Newcastle United v West Ham United
Southampton v West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa v Leicester City
Liverpool v Manchester United
Stoke City v Arsenal
Swansea v Watford
With the short turnaround, expect there to be a few surprise inclusions and omissions from managers around the PL. Manuel Pellegrini let David Silva sit out City’s goalless draw midweek, I would imagine he would be re-inserted for the Palace match. The same will probably be true of Juan Mata when United travel to Anfield. One name that will certainly be included is Jermaine Defoe, as he travels back to White Hart Lane in sizzling form, having scored five goals over the last two games. More magic from him and a good showing from a solid West Ham side against Newcastle could find the Hammers in the top four by Saturday evening. It would be nice to have Xherdan Shaqiri available for Stoke’s hosting of Arsenal, but perhaps Jack Butland can come up big against a tough attack, as he has done many times this season. Not sure what to think about Chelsea v Everton but I will say that the Toffees are so much better defensively with the return of Phil Jageilka. I really see no fixture here where one side is clearly a lock for three points based on how things played out a few days ago.
Follow the RotoWorld_PL team on Twitter: Galin | Jeremy | Neal | Nik | Steve | Ben | Rob | Matt | Andrew
What follows are my top picks at each position. It doesn’t matter what format you play, these rankings will help you figure out how players at each position compare with one another, and can help you on transfer decisions in the FPL.com game, who to start or bench in draft leagues, and who is worth putting up the cash for in salary-based leagues. You will also see how I have begun to highlight prospects that are especially valuable in formats like Playtogga, Fantrax and DFS, so that they are given the credit they deserve. At the end of the day though, nothing gets the points flowing more than goals, assists and clean sheets. So without further ado, let’s get cracking…
GOALKEEPERS
DEFENDERS
Toby Alderweireld
Patrick van Aanholt
MIDFIELDERS
Kevin de Bruyne
Andre Ayew
Dele Alli
Roberto Firmino
Willian
Oscar
Follow the RotoWorld_PL team on Twitter: Galin | Jeremy | Neal | Nik | Steve | Ben | Rob | Matt | Andrew
FORWARDS
Sergio Aguero
Odion Ighalo
Jermain Defoe
Benik Afobe
So there you have it. The best of the best to consider for Week 22. Check in throughout Friday here at Rotoworld for the latest injury information and other news pertinent to your decision-making, such as the latest transfer deals and rumors.
Good luck fellow managers, may your arrows be green.
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