Gameweek 6 Wrapup

Another great weekend of action is in the books, and some interesting conclusions can be drawn:

1. The big four is still a big four, at least for now. The two big challengers stepped up, and were duly dispatched by their more successful neighbours, with Spurs putting up less of a fight than City. City were unfortunate to lose in the circumstances but overall their defensive frailty, particularly in the air, were exposed and they will struggle to break the big four unless this area is improved. Spurs meanwhile were easily dismissed, and again, despite being unlucky to not get a penalty for a foul on Robbie Keane, they were easily the weaker side on the day.
2. The big strikers keep on rolling. I feel somewhat vindicated for my controversial decision to drop Lampard in favour of big name strikers, as Drogba, Van Persie, Torres, Rooney and Agbonlahor all finding the net. Of the 8m+ midfielders only Cesc, Kuyt and Ballack scored for their respective sides.
   
3. The promoted sides are for real and all three notched solid wins this weekend. While not exactly fantasy goldmines, good players can be found within each, and they offer better value than those from struggling sides such as Bolton and Portsmouth.

Prediction Assessment
My clean sheet predictions were only okay with top ranked Villa and Arsenal delivering the goods while Sunderland and Fulham were very disappointing. My only defense on the horrible Sunderland pick is my caveat that Cattermole didn't play but nevertheless the pick is indefensible.

The captaincy picks fared better with Agbonlahor (2), Drogba (4) and Van Persie (5) all delivering good games. Top pick Gerrard let the side down a little with no goals but still managed to add 6 points in another solid display. The final pick - Cahill - disappointed in Everton's good win over Blackburn and only managed 3 points. Overall I am pleased with these picks and I hope they led to some good decisions for your teams this week.

Market Watch
Thomas Vermaelen - the Arsenal defenders' price is certain to rise this week, and indeed has already risen by 0.1 by Monday morning. I would expect his price to hit 7m within a few weeks based on the favourable matchups his Arsenal team have. I'm not usually a fan of buying defenders based on their attacking ability but Vermaelen is more than just headers and deflections and could genuinely be a star.

Darren Fletcher - United's midfield lacks fantasy firepower and people are dying to bring someone in. Fletcher's two goals are the exception and not a rule so I would advise staying off this bandwagon.

James Milner - Milner's penalty duties got my attention, along with 14,000 other managers. This should lead to a 0.1 price rise this week and he is good value at 6.9m. Villa get Chelsea and City in the next three weeks so I wouldn't dive all over him just yet but he is definitely worth shortlisting.

Wayne Rooney - another goal (6 in 6) and a ridiculous award of 2 bonus points will keep the attention of fantasy owners and his value could rise again this week. The fact that United have to travel to Stoke, Liverpool and Chelsea in the next 6 weeks hurt his value a bit but I reluctantly concede that Rooney in on good form right now and you could do worse than ride the wave while he's hot.

Stay tuned this week for posts on Cesc Fabregas, the promoted sides and more ramblings of an obsessive fantasy addict.