Asia Cup

We all know the impact the African Nations can have on fantasy teams with the likes of Drogba, Adebayor and Kalou disappearing to warmer climates every two years. We are probably less aware of the Asian Cup given the relative lack of top Premier League prospects who represent these nations. The impact this year is minimal though a couple of key players will be leaving the EPL and this needs to be considered while setting your transfer strategy. The impacted players are:

• Tim Cahill
• Mark Schwarzer
• Lee Chung-Yong
• Brett Emerton
• Park Ji Sung

Nothing to get too excited about, though Cahill is a big blow and Schwarzer and Lee each have holdings of over 3% right now. The biggest impact might be the players staying home who stand to benefit from their teammates departure. With a player from a winning team set to miss at least GW 22, 23, 24 and probably 25, players filling in might have some limited value.

Two players who might enjoy some improved value are David Stockdale and Jermaine Beckford. Fulham have a very nice set of defensive fixtures and for anyone needing a short term plug or wanting to make a change with their second wildcard, Stockdale might deliver good bang for your buck.

Beckford is obviously more risky but he has been showing good signs off the bench this year and started in place of Cahill in GW5. Everton's fixtures are up and down over the period Cahill will be missing so this would be a big gamble but if you want a unique budget option I suppose he might be worth a look. In reality though this is probably getting too cute but we're getting to the stage of the season where consistent points are hard to come by and managers need to make up points in their leagues so don't dismiss him just yet.