This weekend brought a couple of hat-tricks, while players from the big clubs all enjoyed healthy wins putting smiles on plenty of fantasy coaches’ faces.
Star Players
Robin van Persie – Arsenal – striker – 21.3m; 14 points The Dutchman scored his first ever Arsenal hat-trick in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic. Van Persie’s treble made it six goals in three games for him so he’s in wonderful form and re-paying those fantasy coaches who kept the faith during his injury spell earlier in the season. Had he not missed a second-half penalty and had a shot hit the post it could’ve been really special.
Dimitar Berbatov – Manchester United – striker – 20.5m; 14 points Manchester United’s Bulgarian striker scored his third hat-trick of the season to fire his side to a 5-0 win over Wolverhampton on Saturday. Berbatov’s form is impossible to ignore and he is almost a must-have in the fantasy world now. Yet only 4 per cent of fantasy coaches own him. Get on.
Clint Dempsey – Fulham – midfielder – 14m; 13 points The American midfielder grabbed a brace for the Cottagers in their 2-0 win over Stoke City. The first was a nice finish and the second was a penalty he had won himself. Always a crafty player and a regular scorer, he’s worth the 14m. Decent.
Disappointments
Carlos Tevez – Manchester City – striker – 21m; 2 points Manchester City’s main man had a bit of an off-day as the Sky Blues stumbled to a shock 1-0 loss at Aston Villa. After last week’s heroics with a double against Wolves, Tevez’s score of 2 would’ve disappointed the 9 per cent of fantasy coaches who own him. Stick with him though.
Frederic Piquionne – West Ham United> – striker – 13m; 1 point The French striker looked to have won the Hammers the game when he netted late on at Everton to put his side 2-1. But having already picked up a booking it wasn’t advisable to celebrate by taking his shirt off and jumping into the fans. He copped a red, his team ended up drawing and his fantasy score was severely weakened.
Gary Cahill – Bolton – defender – 4.9m; -2 points The surprisingly popular Trotters defender saw Chelsea fire four goals in Monday’s clash at the Reebok Stadium. Cahill, owned by 5 per cent of Fantasy League coaches, was torn apart by the rampant Blues and copped a fair whack with a -2 score.
Special mentions
Goalkeepers
David Stockdale – Fulham – 6.3m; 7 points (youngster doing well, but won’t play when Mark Schwarzer returns)
Paul Robinson – Blackburn – 7.8m; 7 points (one of the finer keepers in the EPL, solid)
Edwin van der Sar – Manchester United – 10.7m; 7 points (consistent, good player to have, but expensive)
Defenders
Fabricio Coloccini – Newcastle – 5.1m; 7 points (goal and clean sheet, but has had tough season)
Jon Spector – West Ham United – 4.3m; 6 points (scoring a few goals lately)
Ashley Cole – Chelsea – 7.5m; 6 points (rewarding the faith, good news for the 18% of coaches who own him)
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