Fantasy coaches stacked with Manchester United players had a poor weekend, but Chelsea’s Frank Lampard finally delivered on the faith paid in him with a brace in their 3-1 win at Blackpool.
Star Players
Frank Lampard – Chelsea – midfielder – 19m; 16 points The Fantasy Football favourite is finally finding form for Chelsea after an out-of-sorts start to the season. Lampard banged in a double in Chelsea’s 3-1 win at Blackpool on Monday, following on from a strike in the midweek win over Manchester United. Four per cent of coaches have patiently hung onto Lampard and they are finally getting re-paid.
Dirk Kuyt – Liverpool – striker – 20.3m; 14 points A hat-trick against Manchester United is no simple feat, so full credit to Kuyt for that, even if all three goals came from inside the six-yard box. He showed predatory instinct and ultimately it doesn’t matter how they go in Fantasy football. Pretty decent value.
Gary Cahill – Bolton – defender – 4.9m; 13 points The Bolton defender represents fine value at 4.9m, and his two goals on Saturday gave him a fine return. But it’s not only when Cahill scores goals does he score points, with an impressive total of 57 points for the season, meaning he’s owned by four per cent of coaches. Top value.
Disappointments
Wayne Rooney – Manchester United – striker – 22m; 2 points Three goals in three games had people jumping back on the Wayne Rooney bandwagon and travelling to his home town of Liverpool to face his rivals, some might’ve expected the England star to shine. He didn’t, nor did United.
Nani – Manchester United – midfielder – 17.8m; 1 point An injury before half-time hardly helped the Portuguese midfielder’s cause but nobody will know what he was thinking when he headed into Dirk Kuyt’s path for Liverpool second goal in the 3-1 defeat over United. Fourteen per cent of Fantasy coaches own Nani and they’ll all be disappointed by this return.
Gareth Bale – Tottenham – defender – 7.1m; -1 points The Welsh full-back finally returned to Premier League action after a back injury, much to the delight of the 23% of Fantasy coaches who own him. But he hardly delivered with a score of minus 1 as Spurs conceded three goals to draw 3-3 with Wolverhampton. To be fair, he only made a 20-odd minute substitute appearance and you’d fancy the points will come, with time.
Special mentions
Goalkeepers
Robert Green – West Ham – 5.5m; 7 points (West Ham finding form, improving defensively)
Joe Hart – Manchester City – 9.5m; 7 points (probably the best goalkeeper option)
Defenders
Manuel da Costa – West Ham – 4.3m; 11 points (rare goal and clean sheet)
John Terry – Chelsea – 7.3m; 9 points (goal against Blackpool, provides good return)
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