Blog Archives

FPL: Statistical round up – by @shots_on_target

 

 

If you haven’t already check out @shots_on_target on twitter and visit his site www.shotsontarget.co.uk/

 

He is spoiling you with individual team statistics for all Premier League clubs.

You can click the team names below for an in-depth statistical round up by

  • Visual representation of each player’s appearances in the last 6 weeks and their fantasy form (F.SCORE).
  • Key Player Stats: shots, shots in box, shots on target, key passes, assists, minutes and goals
  • Key Player Info:   FPL price, points scored and % ownership
  • Projected Points for the next 6 fixtures(note:  Pts x 10)
  • Star Player indicators – to 15 F.SCORE and top 15 Value players indicated
  • Latest injury news from Physioroom.com

 

Team Pages:

NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS GW 8

Gameweek 8
20 Oct 12:45 Tottenham Tottenham 2 – 4 Chelsea Chelsea
20 Oct 15:00 Fulham Fulham 1 – 0 Aston Villa Aston Villa
20 Oct 15:00 Liverpool Liverpool 1 – 0 Reading Reading
20 Oct 15:00 Man Utd Man Utd 4 – 2 Stoke City Stoke City
20 Oct 15:00 Swansea Swansea 2 – 1 Wigan Wigan
20 Oct 15:00 West Brom West Brom 1 – 2 Man City Man City
20 Oct 15:00 West Ham West Ham 4 – 1 Southampton Southampton
20 Oct 17:30 Norwich Norwich 1 – 0 Arsenal Arsenal
21 Oct 13:30 Sunderland Sunderland 1 – 1 Newcastle Newcastle
Bonus

O’Shea (2)
Larsson (2)
Bonus
Cabaye (3)
21 Oct 16:00 QPR QPR 1 – 1 Everton Everton

Gameweek 8 preview: The case for the defence

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As Fantasy managers we’re all guilty of paying too much attention to the goalscorers and the Fancy Dans – or rather the Fancy Edens, Santis and Shinjis – but what about the case for the defence?

After a Gameweek 7 which saw goals for Leighton Baines (£7.5m), Aleksandar Kolarov (£5.7m), Branislav Ivanovic (£7.2m), Steven Caulker (£4.7m), Jonny Evans (£5.8m), Patrice Evra (£6.8m) and two from Jose Fonte (£4.0m) – not to mention the large amount of clean sheet and bonus points handed out to defenders – perhaps it’s about time to appreciate the men at the back as much as those further forward.

A solid back line can make or break Fantasy seasons in the same way that a Polish roof can determine whether a game goes ahead or not, and we start our celebration of the often underappreciated with the man at the top.

Baines is the most expensive defender in Fantasy Premier League, yet there aren’t many better ways of spending imaginary money outside a game of Monopoly.

With two goals and two assists so far this season, Baines might be behind Chelsea’s three-goal Ivanovic in terms of points at the moment, but the Everton man’s penalty taking prowess suggests that it won’t be long before he bypasses the Serb at the top of the defenders’ table.

He scored a penalty in Everton’s last match away at Wigan, but it is Baines’ frequent forward runs and regular chance creation which make him worth the admittedly expensive punt. Money doesn’t so much talk as shout in the case of Baines, but with the Blues no doubt confident of taking something from their trip to Loftus Road to face QPR on Sunday, he could be a man to bank on again and in the weeks and months to come.

Whilst Baines’s price indicates that most would have predicted him to be a defensive star throughout the campaign, there are cheaper options who have also muscled their way towards the top.

At the start of the season the odds of Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson (£5.1m) being a hit amongst Fantasy bosses would have been as high as Felix Baumgartner was at one point on Sunday evening, but a series of consistent displays have seen the Gunners full-back find himself in more than a fifth of teams.

Having played every minute of all seven of Arsenal’s league games this season – and seen his Fantasy price rise by almost £0.1m per game as a result – Jenkinson appears to have matured as a player from the Bambi roller-skating on ice tribute act he often resembled during his debut Arsenal campaign, and with a potential England call-up on the horizon he’ll be in a mood to impress when Arsenal go to Norwich on Saturday evening. A clean sheet looks on that horizon too.

Manchester United and Liverpool will also be confident of keeping their own sheets spotless as they host Stoke and Reading respectively, and whilst Rafael (£5.9m) and Glen Johnson (£6.4m) are perhaps the best long-term defensive options from both sides, Liverpool’s Andre Wisdom (£4.5m) presents an interesting choice after starting the Reds’ last two league games. The 19-year-old has slotted into the team at right-back, and picked up three bonus points in Liverpool’s last match against Stoke.

It is to a man who has long left Liverpool behind that we turn to for our third main defensive choice though, as John Arne Riise (£5.5m) looks to help build on Fulham’s reasonably optimistic start to the season.

The Norwegian – who has over 100 caps for his country – has yet to score for the west Londoners, but he has contributed three assists so far this season, and will be hoping to add to that total when Aston Villa head to Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon. Paul Lambert’s side haven’t exactly been prolific this season, and so the potential for clean sheet points cannot be ruled out.

They might not be as glamorous as the ones you get from your big name attackers but they all count the same in the end.

The Fancy Leightons, Carls and Johns deserve their moment in the spotlight.

@Mark_Jones86

To Know The Game: The Story So Far (Part 3)

Having already looked at the best signings of the summer and the top three surprises of the Premier League season so far, the guys from To Know The Game are back with the third and final part of their trilogy for Yirma.

Here, they look at who they believe are the contenders for both a top four finish and for the Premier League title.

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The Race for 4th

4 wins in a row for Spurs;  an impressive defensive start for Arsenal; a team from Merseyside that usually finishes strong has started brightly (Everton) and the chance that Newcastle will build on their impressive finish from last year – the race for 4th spot already looks like it will be a close call.

Fans of all 4 teams can truly say that their team will only get better.

Spurs will look forward to Adebayor regaining full fitness and competing with Defoe while the new signings of Dempsey, Sigurdsson and Dembele will settle in and get better. Ekotto should return soon meaning Vertonghen can play in his preferred role as CB and the team will adapt to AVB’s methods. TKTG has already covered Spurs chances for success this season and fans can be excited about their chances to finish in the top 4.

Arsenal will point to the fact that they look a better defensive unit this season – their biggest issue last year. Against Chelsea (their first loss) they conceded 2 set piece goals against an attacking unit (Torres, Mata, Hazard, Oscar) that was assembled at a cost of over £100 million. Szczesny and Sagna will return soon adding more defensive steel and of course there is the return of Jack Wilshere. A decent defence; a midfield of Santi, Arteta, Wilshere and Podolski, Giroud, Gervinhio, Walcott and The Ox…. top 4 or higher?

Everton are notoriously slow starters. Not this season! With 4 wins in 7, Everton seem like an outside bet for the top 4. Usually lacking a decent, fit striker, this year David Moyes has 3 attackers to share the load – Jelavic, Mirallas and Naismith and along with their impressive midfield and solid defenders they can certainly make a run for the top 4. Also, they usually finish strong….

Newcastle finished in 5th spot last year and their fans will be thinking “Why not one better?”. Players should be more familiar with the premiership and their team mates and they have stability with their coach who signed an 8 year deal.  If they can put forward a solid run of results in the next 3 months they could be looking to improve on last years’ position. Just don’t mention Mike Ashley to any of their fans.

Current odds make Arsenal favourites at 1/2; followed by Spurs 2/1, Everton 11/2 and then Liverpool 15/2. Newcastle are 25/1 finish in the top 4. (Odds taken from Bet365.com)

 

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Who will be Champions?

Chelsea have collected 19 points from a possible 21. Not only are they the best defensive team in the premiership so far (only 4 goals conceded) but as we have written in the past their forward line looks very promising. 

Their biggest problem besides John Terry and Ashley Cole will be their lack of squad depth in the striker department. How will they cope with a suspension (or worse an injury) to Fernando Toress? Sturridge and the unproven Lucas Piazon are the only options or perhaps play the Spanish formation of 4-6-0? Can Sturridge really be the main man of a Premiership winning team? Expect them to buy in the January window but by then it may be too late…

Manchester United’s problems in midfield are well documented. Could Wayne Rooney playing in midfield solve their problems? Along with their injury plagued defenders and lack of defensive cover, can United aim to win another title or are 2 defeats in the league already an issue? Money seems to be short at United so don’t expect any major signings in Jan – United fans hope that we are wrong and that they can acquire a world class CB, LB and CM soon! Is Rooney the answer to United’s midfield and 20th title?

Manchester City were champions last year but this time around they look slightly confused. It’s never easy winning back-to-back titles and not having a settled 11 does not help. Supporters may say that flexibility is key to City this year which in theory seems great but it is not translating to results. Currently on 15 points (same as United), City seem to have another issue – Is Mario Balotelli this year’s Tevez? Seven games into the season and “Super” Mario has already thrown a tantrum – a few more and will Tevez join in as well?

We have the rest of the season to find out… In the meantime, share your thoughts with us

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For more great articles like this one visit the guys at toknowthegame.com, whilst you can follow them on Twitter at @toknowthegame.

To Know The Game: The Story So Far (Part 2)

The guys over at To Know The Game have provided Yirma with their look at the Premier League season so far.

After a look at their top three summer signings on Friday, here’s their take on the season’s three biggest surprises.

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3 BIG SURPRISES

 

QPR in last place: All those signings and bottom of the table! 2 points from a possible 21! A team comprising of Cesar (GK), Park Ji-Sung, Zamora, Anton Ferdinand, Granero, Nelson, Wright-Phillips, Faurlin, Fabio, Bosingwa, Hoillet, Cisse, Taarabt should do much better. They might have played Spurs, Chelsea and City in the first 7 games but they have also played West Ham, WBA, Swansea and Norwich. QPR fans should be worried as the next 6 fixtures see them play Arsenal, United and Everton.

Hopefully the team can gel together and climb to a mid-table position; such is the talent that is available to the club. However, Mark Hughes is the same manager who spent over £250 million at Man City without much success so let’s see how the next 3 months turn out for him.

Defensive issues in Manchester: United’s troubles were somewhat expected as Ferdinand and Vidic are worn down with age and injuries and Smalling and Jones are not yet ready. That being said, it’s not just the fault of the defenders; with a lack of a decent defensive minded midfield player and no first choice goal-keeper – Man U’s back line does not inspire much confidence. The attitude seems to be of the Brazilian teams of old: we’ll score more than you! Worked @Newcastle; not so vs Spurs.

Man City on the other hand had a rock solid defence… till last year. So far this year, Joe Hart is still amongst the best goalies in the league but just 1 clean sheet in 11 matches (EPL, UEFA CL and Capital One Cup) is a big issue. Their only clean sheet came last week at home to Sunderland; which hopefully will give them some confidence after the international break.

Criticized last year for being too defensive; Mancini seems to have become more attacking but at a cost. At the moment selling De Jong looks like a wrong decision but City fans are hopeful that Garcia, Rodwell, Toure and Barry will help shut out their opponents in future matches.

Role reversal on Merseyside: An 8 point gap in just 7 games. One club in 4th place the other in 14th – you could be forgiven for thinking that Liverpool are winning the race (they’re not) BUT with over seven months to go, is this the year Everton will cement their place over their Mersyside rivals or can Liverpool restore the status quo and finish ahead of Everton?

Liverpool are the club in transition with unproven players in the EPL (Borini, Sahin) and a host of youngsters coming through (Sterling, Suso, Shelvey) while Everton have a stable solid squad with a few minor tweaks (Mirallas, Naismith). The respective starts by both clubs seems to indicate that Everton will finish in front of Liverpool in consecutive seasons.

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For more great articles like this one visit the guys at toknowthegame.com, whilst you can follow them on Twitter at @toknowthegame.

GW7: NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS

 

06 Oct 12:45 Man City Man City 3 – 0 Sunderland Sunderland
06 Oct 15:00 Chelsea Chelsea 4 – 1 Norwich Norwich
Bonus
Ivanovic
Hazard (2)
Torres (3)
06 Oct 15:00 Swansea Swansea 2 – 2 Reading Reading
Bonus
Routledge (3)
Bonus
Hunt
Pogrebnyak (2)
06 Oct 15:00 West Brom West Brom 3 – 2 QPR QPR
Bonus
Morrison (2)
Gera (3)
Bonus
Taarabt
06 Oct 15:00 Wigan Wigan 2 – 2 Everton Everton
Bonus

Di Santo
Kone (2)
Bonus
Pienaar (3)
06 Oct 17:30 West Ham West Ham 1 – 3 Arsenal Arsenal
07 Oct 13:30 Southampton Southampton 2 – 2 Fulham Fulham
Bonus
Fox
Fonte (3)
Bonus
Hughes (2)
07 Oct 15:00 Liverpool Liverpool 0 – 0 Stoke City Stoke City
Bonus
Wisdom (3)
Gerrard
Bonus
Begovic (2)
07 Oct 15:00 Tottenham Tottenham 2 – 0 Aston Villa Aston Villa
07 Oct 16:00 Newcastle Newcastle 0 – 3 Man Utd Man Utd

Everton: Whatever you do, don’t look down

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There’s a curious phenomenon which involves not thinking about something, because if you do then you automatically lose.

I won’t go any further into it for fear that you’ll all join me amongst the ranks of the defeated, but the frankly quite annoying craze does raise the question of just how far you could go if you managed to keep the negatives and their consequences out of sight and out of mind.

Death, taxes and the continued popularity of Justin Bieber can’t be avoided whatever you do of course, but sometimes it is better just to not think about where your actions are taking you because of the added pressure that they create. Success breeds success, but it also breeds expectation.

Everton’s fine start to the season has got some of their supporters thinking about a Champions League place already, just weeks after those same fans were facing the prospect of potentially losing manager David Moyes to Tottenham – one of at least half of the clubs in the Premier League who are better financially equipped for a top four place than the Blues.

That’s not to say that there are at least 10 better teams than Everton in the league at the moment, because clearly there are a lot less.

Second at the start of October is a superb and deserved position for Moyes’ side to be in, with the club’s success a testament to the fine signings made by the manager in the last two transfer windows and his ability to keep hold of his key players.

Outsiders may have seen the summer sale of Jack Rodwell to Manchester City as a severe weakening of Everton’s playing resources, but offer any Goodison Park regular the choice of selling him, Marouane Fellaini, Leighton Baines or Nikica Jelavic and they’d have driven Rodwell down the East Lancs Road to Manchester themselves.

That one of those players probably needed to be sold is due to the still curiously unreported financial situation at a club which, despite the progress on the pitch, is standing still off it under the ownership of Bill Kenwright.

The theatre impresario made a cameo appearance on Coronation Street earlier this year, and the majority of Everton supporters have long since come to view his insistence that there isn’t a suitable party out there to buy the club and invest in it as a tired old act.

It is for this reason and not for anything that they are doing on the pitch that Everton should just try to keep things ticking over at the moment. Getting up to the higher reaches of the table has been one thing, but staying there will be another once the might of the usual suspects kicks in.

Of course this would be the perfect time for investment to arrive at a club with a talented playing squad, passionate fans and a committed manager determined to succeed for both, but those supporters have long since grown tired of Kenwright’s caution and aren’t expecting radical changes any time soon. In the meantime they can just enjoy the fine football their team are playing.

And they could well go on playing it.

Visits to Wigan and QPR in their next two matches either side of the international break are unlikely to faze this Everton side, and neither will the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park at the end of the month – although the Blues do seem to have a knack of coming up short against Liverpool when many consider them favourites.

That is a negative thought though, and such things should be banned from entering Everton heads. Right now they are one of the big boys of the Premier League and they should go on thinking like that.

‘Taking each game as it comes’ is one of the oldest and most useless phrases in the football handbook, but as long as those games are approached positively then there’s no reason why good runs can’t be extended to be become good seasons.

Just try not to think about what’ll happen to Moyes, the players and the club if it doesn’t though.

@Mark_Jones86

The GAMEWEEK 6 REVIEW (by @shots_on_target)

Here’s the round up of the 9 games played so far in GW6. Many thanks to our regular guest post writer @shots_on_target for some great analysis. You can read more of his articles at http://www.shotsontarget.co.uk/

We will have a Yirma Twitter takeover this evening from 7.30PM with football pundit @mark_jones86 taking over the @fantasyyirma account to cover the #QPR V#WESTHAM game. So contact us at fantasyyirma@hotmail.com today with any #FPL questions you have or leave a question in the comments section below.

@ryano83

ARSENAL 1-2 CHELSEA


Arsenal dominated the attacking play in this game, trebling the number of shooting opportunities in the box to that of Chelsea, but failing to hit the target with any regularity.  Chelsea on the other other proved to be very ruthless when presented with a chance in the box, particularly scorer of the first goal, Fernando Torres.  Arsenal continue to struggle to finish off their creative play.  Chelsea are a tough nut to crack though (ask Messi) and owners of Cazorla should remain confident with him creating 4 Key Passes and getting himself into the box for 4 shots.  For Chelsea, Hazard, despite his obvious quality, did sweet f.a. in this game from a fantasy point of view, whilst Mata stepped to finally replicate some of last season’s FPL form.

READING2- 2 NEWCASTLE


Demba Ba will grab the fantasy headlines from this one.  He represents a clear threat in comparison to team mate Cisse, and is a great player to own in FPL.  The rest of the magpies are falling to produce on a reliable basis.  Sure, Ben Arfa still has the odd moment of magic in him but on this evidence he is overpriced, he didn’t even take a shot in this game.  For Reading, this was their best game so far from both an offensive and defensive point of view, creating more chances this 90 minutes in their previous 2 games put together and limiting Newcastle to just a handful of chances.  Unfortunately for the Royals though, the fell to Ba.

EVERTON 3- 1 SOUTHAMPTON

Despite an early scare Everton racked up the chances and the goals they deserved.  15 shots in the box, and 8 on target is really what you’d expect of United or City, and in Nikica Jelavic they have a man to score them.  Fellaini continued in his up-front role supported by the impressive Mirallas, who is really hitting the ground running after his summer move from Olympiakos. Both were unlucky not to get more than an assist between them.  Not so for Pienaar who did very little in FPL terms, despite such a dominant Everton display.  For the Saints, Lambert was kept pretty quiet with just one shot but it was Gaston Ramirez who stood out, not just for his goal, but for his overall involvement in the visitor’s attacking play.  They created a fair amount of chances too, there are goals in both these teams.

NORWICH 2 – 5 LIVERPOOL

This was the Luis Suarez show.  The Uruguayan absolutely dominates Liverpool’s forward play and has always had the quality to find the back of the net.  With some juicy fixtures on the horizon FPL interest in Suarez is rightly set to explode.  Elsewhere, Sahin showed what he’s about playing in the support role in Shelvey’s absence.  If he can make this position his own he could be a great fantasy asset.  Norwich were almost as creative as Liverpool in this game, and the scoreline flatters Liverpool a little.  They are yet to settle on a front man but if Holt or perhaps Snodgrass can find their shooting boots they could start to pick up both real and fantasy points.

STOKE 2-0 SWANSEA

This was exactly the scoreline that many people expected.  Swansea’s bubble has burst up against the drilled quality of teams like Everton and now Stoke.  To be fair, Laudrup’s men are not built for a day out in Staffodshire and have plenty to offer the fantasy manager over the next couple of fixtures.  Stoke were impressive in their game plan and Tony Pulis knows exactly how to play the way he does.  Peter Crouch is a  threat in the box and players like Adam know how to find him.

MAN UTD 2 – TOTTENHAM 3

This game was everything that the Premiership is about.  Under-pressure Villas-Boas got his early game tactics spot on as Spurs went straight for the jugular at Old Trafford, leaving the likes of Giggs a mere spectator.  Gareth Bale was a geniune menace and his form is key to Tottenham, and he is in some great form right now.  United piled the pressure late on, with Spurs forced to drop deep and defend.  Van Persie, Nani, and Rooney all stood out for the Red Devils despite Rooney just getting a 45 minute run out.

FULHAM 1-2 MAN CITY


Fulham’s recent results have gotten people talking but they came up against a solid City side here who controlled the game well and really limited the attacking nous of the home team.  Berbatov’s unfortunate injury means he will miss up to 3 games and he will be missed, although the front Ruiz and Petric did well as the the focal point up front.  For City, Tevez place in the starting XI settled the biggest fantasy question of the day but he did not do all that much and was predictably subbed off just over the hour mark.  Aguero played the full 90, as did Silva, and these two are the real starts of City’s attack.

SUNDERLAND 1-0 WIGAN


Steven Fletcher and Sunderland do it again, score from their only shot on target.  Can they continue to do this for much longer.  To be frank, if Steven Fletcher was capable of scoring with every shot he takes he would not have been playing for Wolves last year and Sunderland this, no offence Mackams!  He is a quality finisher though, no doubt about it, but he’s not Superman, Wigan should feel hard done by, they probably did enough to score, but O’Neil has his Black Cats as well-drilled as his reputation.

ASTON VILLA 1- 1 WEST BROM

 

Two surprising omissions in the starting line-ups here, with Bent and Lukaku both missing out.  Shane Long was the main threat for the Baggies early on a grabbed a goal with Gera providing most of the threat from midfield.  For Villa, Benteke was plenty involved but is still adjusting to the style and pace of the Premiership and failed to find the target with any of his 6 efforts.  Bent and Lukaku’s introductions from the bench livened up the encounter with both heavily involved as the game opened up, with Holman also impressing for the Villains.

GW6 NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS!!

Due to the fact that Carlos Tevez is still in my team, I’m not going to even try and work out how he got two bonus points this week… but he did and this pleases me – as it will please a large percentage of #FPL players!

Anyway.. here are the Bonus points in Full.

@ryano83

Gameweek 6
29 Sep 12:45 Arsenal Arsenal 1 – 2 Chelsea Chelsea
Bonus
Gervinho
Bonus
Mata (3)
Torres (2)
29 Sep 15:00 Everton Everton 3 – 1 Southampton Southampton
29 Sep 15:00 Fulham Fulham 1 – 2 Man City Man City
29 Sep 15:00 Norwich Norwich 2 – 5 Liverpool Liverpool
29 Sep 15:00 Reading Reading 2 – 2 Newcastle Newcastle
Bonus
Kebe
Hunt (2)
Bonus
Ba (3)
29 Sep 15:00 Stoke City Stoke City 2 – 0 Swansea Swansea
29 Sep 15:00 Sunderland Sunderland 1 – 0 Wigan Wigan
29 Sep 17:30 Man Utd Man Utd 2 – 3 Tottenham Tottenham
Bonus
Nani
Bonus
Vertonghen (2)
Bale (3)
30 Sep 16:00 Aston Villa Aston Villa 1 – 1 West Brom West Brom
Bonus
Clark
Bonus
Olsson (3)
Long (3)
01 Oct 20:00TBC QPR QPR v West Ham West Ham

Gameweek 6 preview: Hair today, goals tomorrow?

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The trouble with pesky competitions like the Capital One Cup – which still sounds like an employee of the month award – is that they can easily get in the way of your Fantasy Premier League team’s progress.

They can affect the mood of teams in the real thing too, and as such Everton’s week suddenly doesn’t look as rosy as it did when Marouane Fellaini (£7.2m) headed in the third of their three goals in the convincing win at Swansea last Saturday.

The cup loss to Leeds in midweek saw the chances of David Moyes making this the season that he picks up a first trophy at Everton effectively reduced by 50%, and the question now has to be whether or not that’ll affect the Blues’ fine league form which has taken them to third in the table after five games.

All eyes will be on Goodison Park on Saturday then, as Everton seek to bounce back at the first time of asking by welcoming Southampton.

As fixtures go it is a pretty decent one to make your recovery from midweek misery, and if you can see them getting over the Elland Road loss quickly then expect the Blues to be flying come Saturday afternoon. With fixtures against Wigan and QPR to come in the immediate future too, it could be a good time to put your faith in Moyes’s boys to earn you points, with Fellaini the man most likely.

That said, Nikica Jelavic (£8.4m) is also primed to return here after missing the Swansea game and only appearing as a substitute against Leeds, whilst those who can afford Leighton Baines (£7.2m) will be getting a severely underrated defender who has already contributed a goal, two assists and two clean sheets this season. He could well be set to add to that tally at the weekend.

Across Stanley Park at Liverpool, things could just be about to change for the better.

Last weekend’s unfortunate loss to Manchester United brought an end to a tricky run of fixtures for Brendan Rodgers’ side, and although the midweek Capital One Cup win at West Bromwich Albion was achieved with a smattering of youngsters, it might just have restored somewhat of a feelgood factor amongst those at the club.

Norwich await in the Premier League at Carrow Road on Saturday, and with the Canaries having only found the net twice in their five league games this season – plus with winnable home games against Stoke and Reading on the horizon – it might just be the time to put your faith in Rodgers’ rearguard.

Injury and rotation issues mean that the only two defenders certain to start for Liverpool at the weekend are Glen Johnson (£6.4m) and Martin Skrtel (£6.0m), and with the pair offering the potential for assist and goal points respectively then either could be good additions. It is further forward where Liverpool could make their mark this weekend though, with Raheem Sterling (£4.6m) still an astute cheap choice and Luis Suarez (£9.4m) ready to fire back at a ground where he scored a hat-trick last season. Those now debating whether or not to stick with Carlos Tevez (£9.9m) could decide to switch to the Uruguayan.

Tevez and his Manchester City team-mates go to Fulham on Saturday, and with City far from certain to get a result there and clashes between Arsenal and Chelsea and Manchester United and Tottenham proving somewhat unpredictable, it might pay to look elsewhere for some points.

With apologies to Steven Fletcher (£7.2m) his goalscoring run has become impossible to ignore, and whilst climbing on board the Fletcher bandwagon has to come with the warning that Sunderland face City away next, this weekend’s fixture at home to Wigan could be the perfect one to see the Scot continue his scoring run.

@Mark_Jones86