The Prophet's Profit

Gameweek 7 was quite the entertaining weekend of football, with the highlights being Everton’s unsuccessful trip to Old Trafford as well as Arsenal’s physical affair at Stamford Bridge which saw the two gaffers almost lock horns on the sidelines. There was also the return of a prolific striker who can make a case for the biggest game changer this year with strong fantasy impact moving forward. Here are the picks of the bunch when looking for trade value this week.

 

Jordan Henderson

The young Liverpool stalwart is coming off an impressive campaign last season and the signs so far are surely that he looks to replicate that form, or even better it this season. With a goal and an assist as well as taking away the ‘Man of the Match’ honours, he broke Liverpool out of jail in their 2-1 win over West Brom. ‘Hendo’ had a slow start to his career at Anfield since making the move from Sunderland in 2011, but since then has gradually improved every season and is now really looking like the complete midfielder with his speed, stamina and control on the ball making him invaluable in midfield for the Reds. With the green light from manager Brendan Rodgers to get forward too, his constant attacking runs could definitely pay dividends for his fantasy owners sooner rather than later as shown against West Brom. He hasn’t always been the most potent finisher in front of goal, but he is already one of the Premier League’s best passers of the football, featuring in the top 5 in league assists since the start of 2013/14. If you own Hendo you will want to see how good he can truly be this season, both in general and from a fantasy perspective.

Verdict: Keep

 

Mario Balotelli

‘Super Mario’ came off the bench on the weekend due to some lacklustre league form where he has yet to score a goal so far. He was also left out of the Azzurri squad in favour of Dortmund’s Ciro Immobile and Southampton’s Graziano Pelle. All things seem to be going south for Balotelli, losing his place in Liverpool’s XI to a 32 year old Rickie Lambert, who is nowhere near as talented as Balotelli but shows that the Italian’s work ethic and application is still clearly an issue that is bringing about his downfall. With Sturridge likely to return right after the international break, Balotelli is really under the pump to produce and produce quickly for Liverpool when he gets the opportunity. There are obvious question marks over Balotelli and whether he can play to his potential but his upside is unquestionable in fantasy terms. If he manages to form a successful partnership up front with the returning Daniel Sturridge then it will go a long way to Liverpool being successful this season; more so than the thought of partnering Sturridge with Lambert or just playing Sturridge as a lone striker week in week out. Balotelli is the ‘X-Factor’ for Liverpool, Rodgers knows this, so he will surely receive another opportunity to start sooner rather than later for Liverpool. The Italian is worth taking a punt on with a low-ball trade offer as you just got to hope that eventually Balotelli will pull his head in and start scoring goals for fun; if he doesn’t he is robbing himself and us all of witnessing some quality talent on the football pitch. At the age of 24 now, you’d think maturity will slowly start to creep into him to allow his full talent to be put on display.

Verdict: Buy Low

 

Christian Benteke

He's back! The prolific Belgian striker made his long awaited return over the weekend and it sure was a sight for sore eyes for all Villa fans. Benteke featured in his first match in 6 months for Villa’s first team after a suffering a serious Achilles injury back in April. It’s easy to forget how good Benteke is and has been for Villa in the past. The big Belgian scored 19 league goals in his debut season in the Premier League, and last season had 10 league goals in just 26 appearances before being struck down with his injury. He makes a big difference to Villa’s fortunes on the pitch and can definitely have the same impact for fantasy squads. It’s a good time to table a buy-low offer for him as you may not get a better chance once he gets back to full match fitness and starts hitting the back of the net regularly.

Verdict: Buy Low

 

Steven Fletcher

The Scot had a superb weekend where he scored twice and assisted fellow striker Connor Wickham for another on the way to helping Sunderland to a 3-1 win over Stoke. Fletcher has shown in years gone by that is very capable of finding the back of the net consistently but injuries and loss of form had resulted in him becoming out of favour at the Black Cats. The 27 year old has fallen behind the young 21 year old Englishman Connor Wickham in the pecking order at Sunderland and although they started together over the weekend, who knows when Fletcher will begin to rub his manager the wrong way again to get demoted and/or suffer yet another injury. If you own Fletcher because of his reputation try sell him on his performance over the weekend and previous years as a solid goalscoring threat. He did after-all manage over 10 goals in three straight seasons from 2010-2013 playing for both Wolverhampton and Sunderland.

Verdict: Sell High

 

Wojciech Szczesny

The Arsenal goalkeeper wouldn’t be too pleased with how things are panning out for the Gunners so far this season. With just the 1 clean sheet from 7 starts his fantasy form is really not living up to expectations; and with new goalkeeper signing David Ospina also breathing down his neck, Szczesny would definitely be wanting to get a few shut-outs as soon as possible to restore his and his backline’s confidence. Last season the Polish shot-stopper managed 16 clean sheets from 37 games hence a ratio of 1 clean sheet to every 2.31 games; comparing that to the ratio of 1 clean sheet every 7.00 games this year shows a massive plummet in form. Arsenal also have only managed just the 2 league wins so far, but this will surely improve sooner rather than later as they possess just too much quality not to succeed on the pitch. With Arsenal’s likely improvement in form, Szczesny will return to being a top notch fantasy goalkeeper who manages regular clean sheets. Try get Szczesny on the cheap while you still can, as his form will likely improve as soon as next Gameweek at home to Hull who obviously lack the quality of Arsenal.

Verdict: Buy Low

 

Well those are the picks of the bunch when considering who to trade away or who to trade for before Gameweek 7. Again if you have any trade related questions or just anything fantasy football related; follow me on twitter @Duane_0343 and drop me a tweet.

Article by Duane Silva, Footy Prophet
Follow Footy Prophet on twitter: @FFProphet