Window Shopping

Fear not, this is not another sports story trying to glorify what was, in reality, a pretty boring transfer window. I do, however, have a couple of players who I am interested in who might be worth a thought as differentiators as the season goes into its final stages.

Amr Zaki (5m)
Last year Zaki was a big reason for many teams' early season success and he enjoyed a period of must own status on his way to 10 goals in his first 16 games. However, the Egyptain big man couldn't deal with the British winter and fell out with Steve Bruce who said that "I can honestly say that in all my time in football I have never worked with someone as unprofessional". Well, lucky for us we don't have to manage our players on a daily basis so Zaki becomes an intriguing prospect. He has alot to prove and the final 10 games of the season will serve as an audition for a future return to the big leagues. While I don't think he can replicate the form of last year, I do think he might be able to contribute to a successful fantasy side and for 5m and no one owning him, he could prove to be a very cheap differentiator for anyone brave enough to roll the dice. My issue is that I really want to spend big up front (Rooney, Drogba and one more) so its tough to squeeze him in. If however, you'd prefer to splash your cash on the likes of Lampard, Gerrard and Fabregas then Zaki could be a very useful squad player. It's also worth considering that if Zaki starts to score, managers will sense a return to last year's heights and will jump all over him causing a sharp rise in his price.

Eidur Gudjohnsen (6m)
My all time favorite Bolton player returns to the Premier League but unfortunately his status as a first team regular is uncertain. In the game he has been classified as a midfielder which does give potential value given he is probably Spurs' 3rd pick to play up front (with the departure of Keane) but Crouch and Defoe will play most weeks and Eidur could be limited to mop up duty. The midfield (where Gudjohnsen can be equally well deployed) also looks crowded with Jenas, Huddlestone, Palacios and Kranjcar all competing for two central spots. I therefore - with some regret - find it hard to fully recommend Gudjohnsen but I will be tracking his progress and if he breaks into the first team then at 6m he looks very good value.

Jack Wilshere (4.3m)
If you need a bargain midfielder then the Arsenal prospect Wilshere might be your best bet. Bolton have a few decent midfield options but Owen Coyle is a fan of Arsenal's system and I think he will be keen to add another passer to his side. Wilshere has excellent skill and pace and should be able to contribute some assists and the odd goal, which would be a great value for such a cheap player. I'm not saying you want to rely on him every week but if you want to load up elsewhere, Wilshere might free up enough cash to let you get a Drogba instead of an Anelka or a Milner instead of a Wright Phillips.

Landon Donovan (6m)
Donovan has had a few games to settle in now and so far its so good for the American international. A goal, an assist and 2 bonus points from 4 games that included Arsenal, City and a tricky trip to Wigan is a very good return for a budget forward like Donovan. I'm a bit concerned about squad rotation with the return of Yakubu but I think Donovan should feature enough to justify fantasy consideration and is a good potential differentiator.

Asmir Begovic (4m)
Sorensen owners beware. Stoke pursued David James pretty hard and then landed his backup Asmir Begovic. Considering they already had a decent backup in Simonsen we could read into this move that Pulis expects to start Begovic at some point. If that happens then he becomes the obvious replacement for Sorensen, which would actually be a bonus as we keep our access to the solid Stoke defense and save 0.5m in the process. Sorensen has been a loyal servant for many teams this year but if there's money to be saved, he has to go.

Check back tomorrow for the weekly preview including captain and defensive rankings along with the latest injury news. As always, thanks for reading and why not post your comments below or @plfantasy.

League Links

Apologies for the lack of in depth analysis this week, I am working on a few pieces to give you some final tips on the final weekend before the start of the season. In the meantime here are some fantasy relevant snippets from around the league:

Van der Sar to miss 8 weeks - Not sure what to do with this one as it isn't clear who will replace the Dutchman until his return. This wasn't helped by the fact that Foster started the game against Valencia, only to be replaced at half time by Kuszczak. Ferguson has previously endorsed Foster as England's number one, and challenged him to take Van der Sar's number one jersey. If I had to pick I would go for Foster but definitely keep an eye on the Community Shield if you are in the market for a 5m 'keeper.

Bent joins Sunderland for 10m - Everyone's favourite Twitter fan has finally joined the Mackems which calls into question the value of Frazier Campbell (6m). Jones (7m) and Bent (7m) looks like an appealing strikeforce and the former United fan will struggle to get fantasy worthy minutes behind them. Bent and Jones both have 12 goal potential and there are worse strategies than picking one of them with a couple of 6-7m strikers and rotating based on matchup.

Altidore to join the Tigers - I am genuinely excited about this one and if the American youngster is added to the fantasy game for 6.5m or less I am in. One of the best overall athletes I have ever seen on the football field, he definitely has the pace and power to cope with the English game. If he plays are scores early on, other players will be all over him and his price could rocket. I'd be happier if he had more support in Hull but this could be a great addition to the league.

Aquilani headed to Anfield - the Italian midfielder looks to be heading to Anfield to replace the departed Alonso, who has joined Real Madrid. Goal.com aren't impressed though and have already dubbed him the 'new Dossena' in reference to the flop left back brought in last season by Benitez. I don't see too much fantasy value initially as Aquilani could take a while to get fully fit and adapt to the English game. Nevertheless he is technically sound player who could offer Carrick like value at the right price (max 7m).

Zaki to get return to the Premier League? - As someone who was lucky (skilled?) enough to get Zaki early last year, I have somewhat of a soft spot for the moody Egyptian. With Nugent in the doghouse (and possibly on his way to Stoke), Pompey are providing precisely zero fantasy options up front, and Zaki would certainly change that at the right price. When he was on form (and the weather was warm) Zaki was unstoppable last term, combining power with a bit of guile and craft, earning himself 9 goals in his first 11 games. For 6.5m or less I am officially adding Zaki to my shortlist.

Pirlo to stay at Milan - I am very disappointed to hear this as I was really looking forward to seeing the man I regard as the best deep lying playmaker of my generation in the Premier League. It does however make the Chelsea team less complicated and should assure Lampard and Essien of 35+ appearances each barring injury.

As always, you can keep up to date on all the daily transfer and injury news on my Twitter feed.

Adjusted Price Per Million Spent (APPMS)

I'm a big fan of looking for ways to use statistics to give us clues as to players' performances. While this is very hard for an actual football team, (as you cannot quantity desire, leadership and passion) for fantasy sports stats work brilliantly.

Below I have looked at the top scorers so far in relation to their value (as is done by the 'value' tap on the premierleague.com website). I've then adjusted this based on the fixtures they've played so far to account for players who have played easy/hard fixtures so far. The results are pretty interesting and may give a few clues as to bargains that are still to be found:

Goalkeepers
Given is atop the GK rankings despite only having kept one clean sheet due to his penalty save and multiple save bonuses. His relative low cost (5.1) have made him great value so far. David James has been the best of the big names after 4 games with an adjusted PPMS of 0.929. Almunia is a big loser in the system due to Arsenal's easy run of games. This would suggest his best is behind him and maybe to avoid drafting him in at this stage. Kirkland has been the hidden gem so far, though anyone who had him at the end of last season will be well aware of his point scoring ability.

Defenders
Michael Ball is the shock leader in the defender category notching an excellent 1.169 APPMS. I didn't even expect him to play every game with the arrival of Ben Haim but Ball has done a great job playing in a decent City back four notching 2 clean sheets in 3 games despite a harder than average fixture list. At 5m Ball isn't a steal but if he continues to figure in Mark Hughes' first team plans he appears to be the pick of City's defenders.
The list contains three Arsenal defenders due to their three clean sheets in four games this season. Their APPMS is hurt by their easy strength of schedule and their high cost (6.5m each). Figueroa looks to be great value and may be worth getting if, like me, you have Melchiot already. At 0.5m less he has scored two extra points thanks to an assist last week.

Midfielders
The midfield leaderboard is dominated by mid-price acquisitions which will throw further doubt on Ronaldo's ability to give value for money. The likes of Ireland and Delap are currently twice the value of Gerrard and Fabregas though their ability to continue this for a season is of course questionable. Bentley is included here because he is in my team and not on merit. His paltry 0.277 APPMS shows how much of a disappointment he has been so far.

ForwardsUnsurprisingly Zaki, who leads the league in points, is atop the forwards list due his average strength of schedule and low cost (6.4m and rising). Defoe's attractiveness increases when you look at his strength at schedule, which at 2.25 is one of the highest in the league. To score 31 points in these games is impressive and at 8.1m he represents great value at the moment. Torres and Rooney have been included for reference and there are many more strikers above them in the value charts. Both have had a difficult start to the season, with Rooney yet to find the net in 3 games and who's position is actually inflated by the inexplicable 3 bonus points he received against Portsmouth (several players performed better on the night, most notably Evra). Adebayour is the only one of the big four (the final player being Drogba) to have made an impact this year and at an APPMS of 0.542 he represents a decent investment if you fancy a pricey front man.
I am loathed to recommend Drogba on a blog whose purpose is to focus on fact rather than gut feeling, but I do feel he's in for a big year when he's fully fit. The game against Liverpool last season sticks in the mind where he was simply unplayable and he's the kind of player to rack up the bonus points due to his marauding style.
I am starting to become intrigued by Carlton Cole who is ahead of my man Dean Ashton in the charts, scoring two more points despite costing 1.2m less. The pundits seem to love him too as he's taken home 6 bonus points, behind just Frank lampard and level with the celebrated Zaki, Defoe and Deco. In fact, I may have just persuaded myself to make the move.

Let me know what you think or if you have any other ways of measuring performance that you want to share.