Diving in the Box: Fantasy Premiership Week 9

"Maybe next year." That's what the fellas in Brooklyn say whenever their beloved Dodgers fall short and that's what yours truly says now that his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers are out of the running for the World Series. As others in Los Angeles say to some effect, "At least Laker season starts soon" and yours truly says, "There's also plenty of Manchester United football to be played" and what a time to reflect on that thought just as United visit Anfield for a big clash against Liverpool. It could be a game without the big guns Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, and Wayne Rooney, however, and I'll present a few workarounds on how best to build your fantasy team this week without having to rely on the late fitness tests of those three. But first a rant on a Dodger season of what could have been...

First thing is first, my apologies for not writing anything over the past three weeks or so. As you might recall, I fell under the weather after I returned from Las Vegas at the end of last month and in fact, I wrote my last Diving in the Box with a really sore throat, a day or so removed from a mild fever. It had been ages since I got sick (a year and a half prior) and on the odd occasion, I tend to ride these things out without medication. Well, you see the following week, my throat started to clear but I had a really coarse cough and I had to give in and go see the doctor for medication. It had been a very, very long time since I had to take cough syrup and an antibiotic to remedy the common sore throat. The last time I recall, it was back when I was in junior high, about 13-14 years ago. Yes, eons ago. Anyway, I underestimated the impact of the medication and when I wrote that week's DITB, I was in this groggy dreamlike state and as it turned out, I fell asleep in my armchair for 5-6 hours. So, then, I said "F*** it" and didn't write anything. How convenient that the following week was an international break, right? I'm all good now, thanks.

So, my other excuse for not writing DITB for the past week has to do with me being distracted with the Dodgers' postseason run. Often times, I interject any baseball writeups with a football analogy or random football blurb, and well, it's just fitting if for once I did so vice versa. Some of you across the pond probably know the Dodgers were eliminated from the National League Championship Series a couple of days back, at the hands of the defending World Series champion Phillies, 4-1 for the second year in a row. This makes it 21 years in a row since there has been a World Series in Los Angeles (and no, I'm not counting that Fall Classic seven years ago in Anaheim, Orange County, California, USA, Planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, and so on...) and it leaves more frustration for the Dodger fans who tune into the Chavez Ravine circus year in and year out.

Let me give you a little rundown on what our basic history has been like to be a Dodger fan from my eyes, since 1988. Back in the 80's, Los Angeles was considered a Dodger town first, and Laker Land second. That changed some when the glorious Showtime era of the Lakers took center stage with five NBA championships in the decade and of course, the mighty Lakers-Celtics rivalry was ratcheted up a few notches from where it was in the 60's and 70's (which was quite tense for the standard in that day). The Lakers also played their games in the Forum down in Inglewood (about less than 10 miles south of Downtown L.A.) and as a South Bay lad, born and bred, the Lakers weren't just the pride of Los Angeles, the South Bay took greater pride in the Lakers while Inglewood declared itself "The City of Champions". Those were the days, really, because when I was a wee tyke, my father and I frequented the Costco (then called Price Club) on the lot adjacent to that of the Forum. Of course, it was a blast to take in some Laker games in the venerable Forum in those days. Anyway, I digress, but also, as far back as I can remember, we also religiously attended Dodger games and there was quite a magical charm that Dodger Stadium possessed in those days (and to a smaller extent, it still does) and the same can be said about the Forum, which had a mystique all its own. At any rate, I was six years old when the Dodgers won the '88 World Series title from the heavily favored Oakland Athletics, most famous for that mythical walkoff homerun slugged by Kirk Gibson and "Super Dodger" Orel Hershiser cutting down opposing batters, lifting a bunch of scrappy underdogs to World Series glory. Of course, when you're a little one, you take moments like this for granted until you're much older and grow nostalgic for them when you realize nothing could be quite as good as it was back then. Then again, you expect a team with an illustrious history as the Dodgers and an extremely high standard for championships as the city of Los Angeles tends to harbor, one would expect the Dodgers to relive World Series glory sooner than later.

If it's possible to make an analogy of the Dodgers to an English football club, I'd say the Dodgers are a cross between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United. The Dodgers are like Spurs because they usually have some pure talent in their ranks, mixed in with a few scrappy veterans beyond their pomp, but they always fell short. The Dodgers are somewhat like Newcastle because the front office has generally been run by either headless chickens or those chimps from the CareerBuilder.com commercials. It wasn't always like this, however, especially in the early 90's, which proved to be my personal favorite era of the Dodgers, where we had five straight NL rookies of the year: Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth. The heartbreak from such loaded teams wasn't massive, except for the '95 exit sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, which was quite a bitter pill to swallow especially when the seemingly unhittable Hideo Nomo with his tornado windup at its finest, was touched up. It wasn't until the late 90's and NewsCorp (owners of Fox TV in the States) bought the team, Piazza was dealt in a controversial trade to get Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Jimmy Eisenreich, and Charles Johnson, and Kevin Malone's reign of terror as Dodger general manager took hold. From then on, the Dodgers fielded a team that wasn't really quality, teased like they were good (or were going to do something good), only to fall well short of the postseason. The Dodgers had their moments but for the most part, you felt like this was a franchise that was knocked well off its axis in a matter of a few years time. Then, there was the short-lived Dan Evans regime and the failed moneyball experiment of Paul DePodesta, which had good intentions but was destined for doom from the off when much of the season hinged on J.D. Drew's inability to stay healthy and to produce at Dodger Stadium.

Anyhow, flash forward to this season's team and I'll compare the 2009 Dodgers to what England did in Euro 96. Some tend to think this was the best team the Dodgers fielded since 1988 (I tend to like the '93-95 teams better), but surely this was a more talented squad than the 1988 team, not taking into account that beast Orel Hershiser once was (and really they could have used him). Much like England had its highlights like Gazza's wonder goal against Scotland or that thrashing of Holland, the Dodgers had their own moments like Andre Ethier's walk-off hits, Matt Kemp's emergence as a star, and Manny Ramirez's pinch-hit grand slam on Manny Ramirez Bobblehead Giveaway Night. Now, personally, the older I've become, the more realistic (cynical, even) I had become about life in general, but when it came to the Dodgers, I was and am cynical to a fault. Even then, I couldn't help but think this was the season the Dodgers could get over the hump, even against the same Phillies team they fell well short of 4-1. As fate would have it, the Dodgers got throttled in Games 3 and 5, left too many runners on base in Game 1 to make up for slack pitching, and of course, Jonathan Broxton having his Tom Niedenfuer moment again (and at the heart of it was bloody Matt Stairs again) in another pivotal Game 4. The Dodgers lost, 4-1, and like they said back when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn, "Maybe next year." Throughout the series, Dodger fans wouldn't stop with saying, referring to, or singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" as the Dodgers' unofficial theme song of the season, but I'd say the Three Lions song would have been more apt here and actually captures the spirit very well on what it's like to be a loyal Dodger fan.

I'm over the disappointment of the Dodgers' 2009 season, even though it's easy to think what might have been if Broxton actually pitched to Matt Stairs. However, I'm still mad that I actually paid for Dodger tickets, which means some residuals of what I paid went to that slob of an owner named Frank McCourt. You see, since McCourt bought the Dodgers in 2004, I have boycotted the team. That's right, for more than five years, I didn't pay for Dodger tickets and no, I didn't spend a penny on Dodger merchandise. I'm pretty sure even the most hardcore United fans have paid up to see the Reds play and to buy the year's kit(s). "Love United, Hate Glazer" and well, I respond to that with "Love Dodgers, Hate McCourt". Well, what's so bad about Frank McCourt to deserve my ire? Alright, Frank McCourt is from Boston. You're saying, big deal, right? As a native Angeleno, I'd believe it's a travesty that a Bostonian own anything in Los Angeles, especially an institution like the Dodgers. That's like a fella who was a Celtics fan, buy out the Lakers. Think of it another way: that's like a Liverpudlian who was at one time a Liverpool fan, buy Manchester United. We're just scratching the surface here though. Second, McCourt wanted to buy the Boston Red Sox initially, but when he couldn't, he turned his eyes to buying the Dodgers. Sounds like a guy who is in it for a profit, not to buy the team for the sake and well-being of the team. Since McCourt became owner, he's raised ticket prices, concessions ($12 for a beer, what!?), and worse of all, parking. OK, it's worse enough to park at Dodger Stadium, getting in and especially out of the stadium lot, which is practically bedlam. Here you have McCourt, who was a parking lot owner in a past life, do what he does bet: take a parking hike to the point it's an absurd $15 to park there. The third and worst reason why I absolutely dislike Frank McCourt is when he bought the team, he took out a 9-digit loan to buy the team AND use Dodger Stadium as collateral. So, you see, United have Malcolm Glazer, the same fat cat who didn't quite have deep pockets, bury United in debt to use whatever extra residual margins to pay off such outstanding debt. We, here in L.A., have the direct equivalent in Frank McCourt owning our beloved Boys in Blue. As if there isn't any more reason to hate McCourt, he made his wife, Jamie McCourt, CEO with a minority ownership stake, and blows have come to blows recently now that they're divorced (and Jamie is fired). This means a dogfight for ownership of the team, threats of buyouts left and right, and perhaps the sale of the team (I'm pulling for Man City's moneybags owner Sheikh Mansour, actually). I'm rooting for the latter, just because the Dodgers will have money to sign some really good players, which has been a major obstacle in the last decade or so. What we're stuck with is big fat contracts on either injured players or players that don't quite fill a need here. However, like they say, be careful for what you wish for.

On that note, I have a few pics of what $1,200+ can get you over two NLCS games at Dodger Stadium. Thanks to pulling a few strings and knowing people in the right places, for the last 5 years, I've either attended Dodger games by the help of a friend (I'd rather pay him back than McCourt) or by getting free tickets in the luxury suites. For three years now, I've been doing the latter. Because my best buddy and I have been repeat customers of a certain company that provides us high-end Oracle database products and services, we get free tickets in their corporate booth on occasion. I've had a tradition of going to at least 15-20 Dodger home games a season, stemming from when I was a wee tyke, and the perfect foil to McCourt has been the luxury suite where I can stuff myself crazy for free, get a mighty fine skybox view of everything on the field, and even the parking is free! I was fortunate to go to NLDS Game 3 in the sweep of the Chicago Cubs in 2008, as well as Games 1 and 2 of the 2009 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals. Now, I didn't get to go to last year's NLCS because a few more folks from the office were going to attend and well, I don't quite have that priority or pull. It was the same story this year. Feeling somewhat optimistic, I bought some baseline box tickets, which included club access, a complimentary buffet, and some pretty good seats. I took my father to both games and he was taken aback that I would spend that much on individual Dodger games, but somehow, I felt like one-upping the old man here. For what it's worth, I've sat anywhere and everywhere in Dodger Stadium from every vantage point, but this was my first couple of times in the baseline boxes since they were built about three years ago. Now, the last thing on my checklist is the Dugout Club and to have a few martinis sitting next to Alyssa Milano.

Check out the sweet seats. Granted, they're good seats, although I would have preferred Baseline VIP tickets in the first two rows. I only bothered taking my camera to the ballgame for Game 1 because all I wanted to do was fill the very last of my memory card. Enjoy:

Forwards

Must-haves:

• Didier Drogba, Chelsea (v Blackburn)
• Darren Bent, Sunderland (at Birmingham)
• Robin van Persie, Arsenal (at West Ham)

Start:

• Gabriel Agbonlahor, Aston Villa (at Wolverhampton)
• Emmanuel Adebayor, Manchester City (v Fulham)
• Hugo Rodallega, Wigan (at Burnley)
• Peter Crouch, Tottenham (v Stoke)
• Robbie Keane, Tottenham (v Stoke)
• Dimitar Berbatov, Manchester United (at Liverpool)
• Louis Saha, Everton (at Bolton)

Risky business:

• Wayne Rooney, Manchester United (at Liverpool)
• Fernando Torres, Liverpool (v Manchester United)
• Craig Bellamy, Manchester City (v Fulham)
• Carlos Tevez, Manchester City (v Fulham)
• James Beattie, Stoke (at Tottenham)

Toss out:

• Jermain Defoe, Tottenham (v Stoke)
• Robinho, Manchester City (v Fulham)

It's academic you should start Didier Drogba every week. Fantasy player of the year by far with an average of 18.39 points per week over the first nine fixtures in the Yahoo league game and he doesn't figure to slow down until he's shipping off for the African Cup of Nations. It'll be a "Roll Over, Rover" kind of day at the Bridge this weekend for Drogba, surely. The other elite-priced striker I'd go with this weekend is Arsenal's Robin van Persie, who has enjoyed a solid season at this point and should have a favorable matchup at dire, overmatched relegation battlers West Ham. However, I'd rather go with his Arsenal mate in the midfield, Cesc Fabregas, who is racking up a superior points per game average to RVP in both the Yahoo and EPL games and is priced more or less the same as RVP in both league formats, making Cesc the steadier bet to score points. My favorite value striker of the year is Sunderland's Darren Bent, who has pitched in eight goals and three assists so far this season, albeit on his last game, he had help from a Liverpool beach ball to deceive Pepe Reina. Regardless, that's tremendous output for the price tag and he'll be looking to make it six consecutive goals on the term against a Birmingham side that is known to play rather stringent defense, but don't quite have the quality to keep opposing sides out of the net. Start DBent with confidence, as always.

There are some tasty matchups for a number of forwards in the offing, but none that really screams "pick me". My advice is to go with Drogba, DBent, and if you'd like to spend on a third striker for the weekend, then you're basically cooking with gas. I'd take a slight chance with my top play in Gabriel Agbonlahor heading to Molineux against a Wolves side that can generally leave some gaps open with the help of some blistering pace. Fulham could be a bit knackered after drawing 1-1 to Roma in the Europa League when they head to Eastlands to face Manchester City, which might make this match ripe for the picking for Emmanuel Adebayor to have that first big game since serving a three-game ban. Like DBent, to a certain extent, Hugo Rodallega has been in a rich vein of fantasy form, averaging about 10 points a week, fair value for his 10m price tag in Yahoo. Granted, the fixture away to Burnley is somewhat daunting, given that the Clarets have won all four of their contests at Turf Moor and have conceded just two home goals, but Rodallega has a fair shot at cracking the net in this one.

In Jermain Defoe's absence for being red carded at Portsmouth last weekend, this opens a spot for Peter Crouch in Spurs' starting XI, just as Stoke roll into town, and he might be the value striker of the week with a price tag a few pennies north of 9m in Yahoo. For under 3m more, you can fetch his likely striker partner Robbie Keane, who has been pedestrian outside of that humongous 4-goal exhibition against Burnley, with just a goal scored outside of that big scorefest. Not particularly the best value for Keane, but I'll recommend him for the sake of recommending him and because his ability to create his own goal, relative to Crouch, gives him an edge. Just make sure the extra margin is worth it.

Personally, I'm not too thrilled about advising Dimitar Berbatov for a rather steep price tag in the low 13's, but if you have Wayne Rooney and sweating his fitness until the rosters lock down on Saturday, switching Rooney to Berba for about 3-5m less might be a worthy gamble. Berba is owned in just under 6% of Yahoo teams and around 2.5% of EPL teams, but if it's one thing Liverpool don't do quite well of is marking in their box. Leave it to Rafa's stubbornness to sticking with zonal marking. At any rate, Berba can get you a fair return if he can net in a header off a set piece or on the receiving end of a Ryan Giggs cross. However, Rooney has the higher payoff, of course, and if he was fully fit, he would have been at the top of my must-start list despite the fickleness of Liverpool-United matches. My last recommendation is Everton's Louis Saha and methinks he'll get the nod at Bolton, seeing how Yakubu muffed the start in an embarrassing 5-nil loss at Benfica in the Europa League and Saha was a substitute in that match. Bolton tend to bleed goals, although not to the epic extent as the likes of Hull, Blackburn, and Burnley, but Saha has been the one with the golden boot for the Toffees this campaign and can find his good form against the Trotters.

Fernando Torres' outlook for Sunday looks to be a bit more bullish and figures to be a questionable start for the United game. I probably wouldn't chance it with Torres' hefty price tag, but there are two things in his favor if he proves to be 75-80% fit: one, it's a massive game for Rafa in the midst of this horrid run of form for Liverpool and he'd want at least one of Torres or Steven Gerrard available for a statement match, a possible season-saving match, and a rivalry game all rolled into one. Second, Torres had proven to be quite a handful for the United centerbacks, notably against Nemanja Vidic in last term's return fixture at Old Trafford, and can thrive against a United rearguard that's strapped for clean sheets, but has only conceded twice away from home thus far. Craig Bellamy's fitness is up in the air, but the signs are pointing at a return. At any rate, I'm not mulling over either Bellamy or Carlos Tevez, making Adebayor the only must-start among the City forwards while Robinho had another injury setback and is expected to miss another couple of weeks. I also don't like the buy-in on James Beattie at the moment with a rather lousy matchup against Spurs.

Midfielders

Must-haves:

• Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal (at West Ham)
• Andrei Arshavin, Arsenal (at West Ham)

Start:

• Ryan Giggs, Manchester United (at Liverpool)
• Niko Kranjcar, Tottenham (v Stoke)
• Matthew Taylor, Bolton (v Everton)
• Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Everton (at Bolton)
• James Milner, Aston Villa (at Wolverhampton)
• Aaron Lennon, Tottenham (v Stoke)
• Andy Reid, Sunderland (at Birmingham)
• Kevin-Prince Boateng, Portsmouth (at Hull)

Risky business:

• Frank Lampard, Chelsea (v Blackburn)
• Martin Petrov, Manchester City (v Fulham)
• Antonio Valencia, Manchester United (at Liverpool)
• Yossi Benayoun, Liverpool (v Manchester United)
• Ashley Young, Aston Villa (at Wolverhampton)
• David Dunn, Blackburn (at Chelsea)

Take a punt on:

• Jimmy Bullard, Hull (v Portsmouth)
• Geovanni, Hull (v Portsmouth)
• Stephen Hunt, Hull (v Portsmouth)
• Michael Ballack, Chelsea (v Blackburn)
• Tamir Cohen, Bolton (v Everton)
• Chris Eagles, Burnley (v Wigan)
• Jordi Gomez, Wigan (at Burnley)

Toss out:

• Steven Gerrard, Liverpool (v Manchester United)

In the running with Didier Drogba as fantasy's MVP through nine matches is Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, who along with Blackburn's David Dunn, leads all midfielders with four goals and a whopping nine assists on the campaign. We're seeing the Cesc that ran off to a flier in the first half of 07/08, a true fantasy force, and with Arsenal getting goals from all sides of the pitch and in a number of ways, Fabregas' stock has soared as a result. Stringing together three straight matches with an assist - including four against Blackburn - Fabregas is a must-start versus hapless West Ham at Upton Park. It has been a disappointing start for Arsenal wing/forward Andrei Arshavin, but he has come through with a goal in each of his last two games, which can signal one of those beastly fantasy runs for the diminutive Russian. Arshavin's price is significantly lower of that of Cesc, which means if you're squeezing in one elite matchup while spreading the wealth around across your team, consider Arshavin as a bargain relative to Cesc and is in greater control to score from his own boot. It's a formality that Arshavin starts with Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky nursing knocks.

I know what you're thinking, I'd be daft to put Ryan Giggs at the top of my start list, but indeed the ageless winger wizard is playing truly superb football. Not quite to the level of his prime, say 10 years ago, but nonetheless, Good 'ol Giggsy has continued to play at an awe-inspiring level. The Manchester Derby provided a massive showcase of Giggs' passing skills, leading to three assists on four goals against Man City, as well as two more assists the following game at Stoke. Giggs is the more attractive play in the Yahoo game because there's a greater reward for successful crosses (he has 35 for the season thus far) and in five of the six matches Giggsy has featured in, he has nabbed double digits in each of them. If you have doubts about Rooney or Berbatov producing anything of value, consider allocating the money to Giggs for the reliable crossing stats and the odd shot he strikes against Liverpool. Hey, I wouldn't think of anything more appropriate aside from Michael Owen scoring a match-winner in front of the same Kop that once adored him.

Getting settled at White Hart Lane is Niko Kranjcar and he's basically been everything that bust David Bentley couldn't be, namely a decent set-piece taker. Niko has come on of late with two straight weeks of double-digit production and like Giggs, he could be a steady double-digit point producer for a mid-tier price without having to strike the onion bag per se. I'd take Kranjcar over Aaron Lennon personally, only because Stoke will want to keep organized and try to outmuscle Lennon off the ball. Elsewhere, I like Matthew Taylor against Everton although the Toffees have seemed to be more composed of late. Matty's weekly points average is fourth best among all midfielders (only Fabregas, Giggs, and Steven Gerrard have done better) and if you have him for a discount, he's still worth hanging onto although I'd try to spare a couple of bucks for Fabregas or save a bit in buying Arshavin. If you're buying in, you're purchasing Taylor for 17.17m at market price and once again, you're either better sparing a few bucks in change for Cesc or discounting with Arshavin, Giggs, et. al. However, Taylor is still an attractive play just because of the imprint he has on the Bolton attack. I like his opposite number for Everton, newly acquired Russian mid Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who scored the equalizer in a home draw against Wolves last time out. Like Kranjcar, Billy Bob takes those all-important set pieces for the Toffees and like Bolton, they're reliant on set pieces for their goal scoring opportunities. Good chance of a goal/assist here and the buy-in on Billy Bob is quite reasonable in the 9's, but we're also talking about a guy who could have been had at 4-5m if you bought in on the Yahoo transfer discount price. To round this up, I like James Milner of Aston Villa, who is essentially a cheaper, more cost-effective version of Ashley Young even though their roles are a bit different, but fantasy points don't distinguish usually and it's been Milner squeezing the best output of the two. Now that Sunderland's Andy Reid's price tag has cooled down, as it should, in the 9's, it's a fine and dandy time to buy in, as he's been feeding a Darren Bent-Kenwyne Jones monster up front and figures to have a more than fair shot of nabbing an assist against Brum, as well as some crossing points. Finally, if you stashed Pompey's Kevin-Prince Boateng for 6-7m, he's as good as a must-start against the worst-defending side in the Premier League, Hull, who have let a whopping 22 goals by. If you have KPB for 4m, well, even better; you're practically getting 11.5 points per game in the five games he featured for more than half of his price tag. KPB is only ranked this low because his market price is in the low 10's, which makes him a bit of a steep buy-in no matter how appetizing the matchup.

Before you point out Frank Lampard's performance against Atletico Madrid in last Wednesday's Champions League group stage game, keep in mind that Lamps had more freedom to work with in Carlo Ancelotti's diamond because one Didier Drogba was suspended. Sure, you look at Frank's numbers and see he's averaging ten points a match, has five assists and one goal to his name, and you're perhaps thinking why is Lamps a risky play, especially against a Rovers side that has surrendered 17 goals in total. For one thing, you're forking up 18m on a guy who can't produce nearly as much value for his price tag. Keeping things in perspective, Cesc Fabregas is priced a trace under 20m, but he's also bagging 17-plus points a game per week. Ryan Giggs can be had for 13.75m and he's giving you more than a point for every pound spent a week (14.29 PPG), granted that he's also doing so with an off-day or late-game substitution thrown in. Right now, Aaron Lennon is giving you the same kind of raw weekly average production as Lampard for a mid-12's price. Then, there's the stark reality of Lampard dropping deeper, not quite in his comfort zone, in favor of Drogba being the beast in this formation. Again, spend Lampard's money on Drogba and spend elsewhere on the midfield.

I've already mentioned how iffy I feel about starting Ashley Not Cashley Young, but here are a few others that I believe carry buyer beware tags. I'll start off with Man City winger Martin Petrov, who has benefited from a bit of an injury rash for City (i.e. Robinho, Bellamy) and has proven to be productive in his last two starts, tallying two goals and two assists from these two games put together. Although Robinho is ruled out for the next two weeks, Bellamy being reinserted in the City starting XI, might jeopardize Petrov's starting place. That's a shame, really, because Petrov was a fantasy favorite of mine as a borderline elite/mid-tier midfielder in Yahoo's La Liga game back in Petrov's stint with Atletico and two years ago when he finished as a top ten fantasy midfielder that season. Sparky doesn't think much of his decent two-way play down the flank, but whatever, that's City being City. If you want to take a chance on Petrov starting (especially if you have him at a sub-7 discount), go for it, but the mid-12 buy-in is harsh. Antonio Valencia has struck in back-to-back matches for United, including Wednesday evening's Champions League game against CSKA Moscow, but he's also getting them within point-blank range with a bit more assertiveness going forward for possible rebounds. The lad hasn't displayed a great shot thus far and besides, I believe the safer money is with Giggs when Valencia's crossing skill hasn't fully shown yet. I'm not one to advise on starting Yossi Benayoun, in light of Gerrard, possibly Torres, or possibly both missing out on the United clash, but for a discounted price, he might be worth hanging onto although the United rearguard will have to cut down on mental mistakes if they want to avenge last season's double at the hands of Liverpool. David Dunn, when fit, can boast a fairly high points average, and surely he's been a value mid, but I'd stay away from the mid-11 buy-in especially with Chelsea on deck, although the Blues have proven to be a bit suspect at the back in the last couple of matches, especially on those poorly marked couple of set-piece goals gifted to Aston Villa.

Punting on the Thames, shall we? Alright, we're parked at Kingston-on-Hull because that's we're taking a few punts for the week in the forms of Jimmy Bullard, Geovanni, and Stephen Hunt. Hunt was Hull's best fantasy scorer up until Geovanni snuck in to take that little prize. Geovanni was a bargain freak of nature a year ago at this time, but the deal with he and Hunt is you can expect a relatively pedestrian shot on target rate, which makes either one really hit-or-miss. Then, there's Jimmy Bullard and as you might remember, he suffered a torn ACL within his first game or so since making the transfer from Fulham to Hull, but prior to that unfortunate injury, Bullard was a lot like Giggs: a lad that could get you effort points on crosses, fouls won, etc. when he wasn't grabbing a goal or an assist. That made Bullard a steady bet to score double digits or something really close to that per week. If Bullard is cleared to start against Portsmouth, I can't see how he's a bad play here. He's priced to move at 12.30m, a fine price to be purchasing on a player who was priced in the 15-16m range consistently last season.

Elsewhere, I'd take a chance on Michael Ballack on scoring with the odd header, especially when his price sits at 9.3ish. If you're skittish about buying Matty Taylor at a premium price, then I'll suggest a Trotter who can be had for 9-10m cheaper and has provided good bang for the buck and that's Tamir Cohen, who has bagged three goals and an assist in six matches this season. The best part? Cohen can be had for 7.64m and has produced just under 10 points per game without much variance from week to week. Consider Cohen as the bargain tip of the week. Another possible bargain is Burnley's Chris Eagles for roughly the same price and on the flip side of the coin, Wigan's Jordi Gomez, whose point total has regressed recently just as the Latics are incorporating Jason Scotland down the middle (which can explain the dropoff in shots on target).

Defenders

Must-haves:

• Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal (at West Ham)
• James Collins, Aston Villa (at Wolverhampton)
• Richard Dunne, Aston Villa (at Wolverhampton)

Start:

• Sebastien Bassong, Tottenham (v Stoke)
• Michael Turner, Sunderland (at Birmingham)
• Wayne Bridge, Manchester City (v Fulham)
• Micah Richards, Manchester City (v Fulham)
• Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea (v Blackburn)
• Johnny Heitinga, Everton (at Bolton)
• Roger Johnson, Birmingham (v Sunderland)
• Steve Finnan, Portsmouth (at Hull)

Risky business:

• Any Liverpool/Man United defender

Toss out:

• Ashley Cole, Chelsea (v Blackburn)
• Jose Bosingwa, Chelsea (v Blackburn)

Moving up to the tier of must-haves this week are the Villa center-half pairing of Richard Dunne and James Collins. Although I don't anticipate either of the two getting an easy header goal as they did against Chelsea, they're a fine shot of recording a clean sheet for a suddenly shored up Villa rearguard. Collins is the cheaper of the two in the EPL game while he's about 3m pounds more expensive in Yahoo over Dunne. I tend to go with the cheapies of course. Thomas Vermaelen is the Rolls Royce of fantasy defenders this year, in my book, especially if you have him on the Yahoo new transfer discount.

I'd try my darndest to fit in Spurs' Sebastien Bassong, the most affordable defender from that lot, seeing how they're home to relatively lukewarm Stoke; we're talking mid-5's here. Just as inexpensive as Bassong is City's Micah Richards, who should get the nod to start and can be had for in the high-5's. The good thing with Richards is he'll also pitch in with some attacking points as he moves up the pitch. Remember that Fulham played mid-week and aren't generally too sharp away from Craven Cottage. For a bit more than Richards is Wayne Bridge and what you're getting out of the former Chelsea man is a bit more job security in the starting XI. If you can afford the extra money, Sunderland's Michael Turner has a fair shot at snagging a clean sheet against offensively challenged Birmingham, although the big injury to Lee Cattermole could also mean a bit less steel at the heart of the park for the Black Cats.

Besides Bassong, the best speculative add is Branislav Ivanovic, who figures to start as Jose Bosingwa will be kept out with a knee problem and could miss two games at the least. Fine chance of a cheap clean sheet against Rovers. Other cheap clean sheet buys could be Everton's Johnny Heitinga and Pompey's Steve Finnan. On the record, I don't really see either getting a clean sheet despite the opposition seeming a bit toothless for a scoring edge, but I do see Heitinga and Finnan making it up with little attacking contributions as well. If you've held on to Birmingham's Roger Johnson, you should keep him on your squad, as he's producing about a point per game and even the difficult matchup to Sunderland shouldn't deter you.

As always, Liverpool-Man United matches tend to be unpredictable, like any rivalry match or derby really, and while I get the feeling this has the makings for a cagey, tight encounter, you're simply paying for sunken money in my opinion (I'm seeing a scoring draw). The only one of the lot I'd consider is Liverpool's Glen Johnson, who seems to be fit enough but again, too rich for my blood, especially if Gerrard is a massive doubt (more so than Torres). You're also running the bigger risk of Johnson not passing the late fitness test.

Goalkeepers

Must-haves:

• Brad Friedel, Aston Villa (at Wolverhampton)
• Petr Cech, Chelsea (v Blackburn)

Start:

• Vito Mannone, Arsenal (at West Ham)
• Shay Given, Manchester City (v Fulham)
• Craig Gordon, Sunderland (at Birmingham)
• Brian Jensen, Burnley (v Wigan)
• Carlo Cudicini, Tottenham (v Stoke)

Risky business:

• Edwin van der Sar, Manchester United (at Liverpool)
• Jose Reina, Liverpool (v Manchester United)
• Thomas Sorensen, Stoke (at Tottenham)
• Joe Hart, Birmingham (v Sunderland)
• Chris Kirkland, Wigan (at Burnley)
• Jussi Jaaskelainen, Bolton (v Everton)
• Boaz Myhill, Hull (v Portsmouth)
• Tim Howard, Everton (at Bolton)
• Brad Hennessey, Wolverhampton (v Aston Villa)

Toss out:

• Robert Green, West Ham (v Arsenal)
• Paul Robinson, Blackburn (at Chelsea)
• Mark Schwarzer, Fulham (at Manchester City)
• David James, Portsmouth (at Hull)

If you absolutely, positively need to splash the cash for an elite keeper, only Brad Friedel and Petr Cech jump out to me. Both have terrific matchups, but I'll give the edge to Friedel with Petr Cech's mix-ups becoming all too familiar, it seems.

Coming close to the ranks of the elite is Arsenal's Vito Mannone, this term's surprise keeper and has been perhaps the best discounted value among keepers, granted if you happened to poach him off his first start where he came away with the clean sheet and Yahoo's top keeper for the week. The buy-in at market price has Mannone at just under 10m and just for about a pound less is City's Shay Given with an appetizing matchup against Fulham. For those of you like me, who have inexplicably hung onto Craig Gordon for very cheap (talking about 2.65m), it paid off quite nicely with an unexpected 18 point week over Liverpool. This week figures to be a brighter start at St. Andrew's against Birmingham, for reasons stated before. Also on the bargain basement side of things is Burnley's Brian Jensen, who has been a welcome surprise with the Clarets holding fort at Turf Moor for only two goals allowed in the young season there while one can expect to pay Mannone/Given prices for Carlo Cudicini's services to poach a potential clean sheet.

Pretty self-explanatory why I'd say Edwin van der Sar and Jose Reina are potential sunken money because of the nature of these Liverpool/United matches. If you've been plugging in Thomas Sorensen, Joe Hart, Brad Hennessey, and Chris Kirkland for discounts, you probably should keep at it if you're trying to fit a keeper within budget while preferably going top-heavy with attackers. However, I'd say they carry some measurable risk, given that the matchups present a lukewarm reward on paper. No use if you're buying in of course. Tim Howard is normally rich for my blood and for some reason, I see Bolton breaching the Everton net while I can't be all too confident on his less expensive opposite number, Jussi Jaaskelainen. Hull's Boaz Myhill may have a favorable matchup against Portsmouth, but Hull's rearguard don't seem to do the fundamentals well and as a result, they're conceding a league-high in goals. Pompey have also been able to find the net by hook and crook, which makes Myhill a mirage for even as an appetizingly cheap price tag.

Easy to toss out Robert Green of West Ham and Paul Robinson of Blackburn for a prospective beatdown whereas Mark Schwarzer and David James are more than likely to produce well below their paygrade.

That's all the time I have for now. Check back next Monday for the Week 9 recap and Friday (I swear) for the next Diving in the Box. Until then, keep your clothes on.

-Ray