The Bargain Hunter - Week 13
With today being the heaviest travel day of the year, I suspect I would not have had many readers of this column were it twenty years ago. Thank you technology! Now as you make your way to grandma's house, you can still sit back in comfort while on the road and peruse some potential bargains for your fantasy XI -- assuming you are not the one driving. If that is the case, please, wait until your destination to digest these pearls of wisdom. Besides, after all the hugging and answering all the "So what have you been up to lately?" questions, you will likely want a chance to escape for five minutes, go hide in the garage, and THEN finish up here.
Last week's Bargain Hunter, as most are, wasn't perfect. Mame Diouf made sure of that by returning a negative score in the Yahoo game and doing next to nothing in other formats. But why harp on the negative, especially on the eve of a holiday? What needs to be focused on were my sizzling picks at the keeper and defender position. Costel Pantilimon and Massadio Haidara returned a whopping 18 and 16 points respectively, becoming two of the three highest risers in price once the week was over. In fact, Pantilimon ridiculously jumped to 9.19m, so he now costs nearly a million more than Thibaut Courtois who kept a clean sheet himself and has been producing all season. I catch myself sometimes trying to make sense out of the prices in Yahoo, but one just has to roll with it. Even if you did invest in Pantilimon, it was always going to be short term, unless you are brave enough to use him against Chelsea this weekend.
Meanwhile, Haidara turned out not only to produce, he was the highest scoring defender amongst his teammates, so investment in him really paid off. Considering there were only four clean sheets in Week 12, to nail two of them with bargain players (especially one as brave as a Black Cat keeper on the road) shows that your usually humble writer is in superb analytical form right now. If it weren't for the forward pick making me look like a Diouf-us, I would be as dependable as Gray's Sports Almanac. All I ask is that you don't create an alternate Biff Tannen-like reality should you strike it rich because of my advice.
Right, so everyone make sure to wear their belts with the extra notch in it tomorrow but for now, here are the bargains for Week 13:
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Goalkeeper
Tom Heaton (Burnley) I backed him for the first time a few weeks back and I am prepared to do so again this week as the Clarets have a home clash with Aston Villa. Burnley have been a quietly solid defense at Turf Moor. They have only allowed goals to two opponents at home so far, and with one of them being Chelsea, it is really like they have only conceded to one team. The appeal this week is that Christian Benteke is still suspended for one more match, making Villa's attack only a fraction as effective without his presence. The Villans have also gone four straight on the road without a goal. They are not very good at scoring at home by any means, but on the road, they are clueless. At 5.16m in Yahoo, you are not going to find a better bargain below the 8m range.
Other Option for Goalkeeper
Simon Mignolet (6.31m, home to Stoke City)
Defender
Jores Okore (Aston Villa) An injury crisis at center back has created another "Bargain Hunter Special" - which is an active player with a decent matchup...going for just 1m. Technically, Okore is 1.01m in Yahoo, but if .01 is the difference between you coming under budget or not, than you have the kind of luck not conducive to getting much enjoyment out of fantasy sports. So with Ron Vlaar, Nathan Baker and Phillipe Senderos all on the shelf (if not, extremely likely on the shelf) for the weekend, take a chance on Okore who should have the rust shaken off from his first league start in quite some time. Perhaps you may have noticed that my two featured picks where clean sheets are the big prize, I have opted for players from two clubs facing each other, so let me spell it out for you - I see a 0-0 affair between Burnley and Villa. If I had to pick a team to break the cleanie, it would be Burnley simply due to the current form of Danny Ings. But that is why you get a Claret keeper who has a smaller chance of getting a loss, and then go with the Villan defender for 1m, where any points north of "1" are a bonus. I feature Okore for his super low price, a true bargain. As far as points per pound go, he will be hard to beat this week. But I do have a couple of more expensive budget options who I feel will score higher below.
Other Options for Defense
Kyle Bartley (6.28m, home to Crystal Palace) Patrick McNair (3.35m, home to Hull City)
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Midfielder
Willian (Chelsea) The Blues absolutely clobbered FC Schalke yesterday scoring five times and Willian looked sharp, grabbing one of the goals himself. Admittedly, I like to present options in the Bargain Hunter that are as nailed on as possible, because if nothing else, I at least want your investment to make the starting eleven. Far be it from me to ever attempt to read the mind of Jose Mourinho but Willian should be playing regularly now alongside Eden Hazard and Oscar as the three attacking mids playing behind Diego Costa. Only on rare occasions will Willian outscore the likes of Hazard. But I think more often than not, he can achieve half of Hazard's production and yet he only costs a third of the price (6.29m v 18.15m) so you do the math. If you can't afford Hazard or you missed the train on Fabregas when he was 5.0, here is a nice differential to try as the undefeated Sky Blues look to beat up on Sunderland this weekend. I think Mourinho will be looking to exact some revenge here. The last time a Black Cat crossed his path, his unbeaten Stamford Bridge record was shattered.
Other Options for Midfield
Ross Barkley (6.75m, home to Tottenham) Stephane Sessegnon (6.74m, home to Arsenal)
Forward
Bobby Zamora (QPR) If word comes out that either one of Enner Valencia or Diafra Sakho have been passed fit for the weekend before the deadline, then I would go for my bargain third forward out of that group with Valencia the favorite of the two should both be deemed fit. But with injury tags still floating and being absent from last weekend, I cannot in good faith make that determination on Wednesday and advise you to invest. But keep your eye on the news, as best you can over a busy holiday week, and if they look fit, go for it. I just see Newcastle's streak ending this week if West Ham field a strong side. Andy Carroll is still cheap too and if Valencia or Sakho are ruled out, I would consider him as well. Otherwise, there is Zamora, who can provide help if you are only playing two up top but need a viable cheap bench option or if you just have a really expensive side everywhere else on the pitch and you want a leap of faith. Zamora has been starting regularly which is good. He has gotten some negative scores including last week - not good, but for his price, very good...he is only a meager 2.31m. And this week, Rangers host Leicester City. They need points, they need goals, Zamora is due to pop up with one. Not for the faint of heart, but like Okore, one must temper expectations for such an inexpensive player.
Other Option for Forward
West Hammers - Valencia, Sakho, Carroll...follow injury news heading into deadline.
And Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Follow the RotoWorld_PL team on Twitter: Galin | Jeremy | Neal | Nik | Steve | Ben | Rob | Aaron
