Midweek update and Gameweek 7 player picks

The weekend is upon us! Are you ready?

Key midweek happenings

Euro-watch: Midweek saw Lewandowski notch up 5 goals in 9 minutes. Congratulations if you had him (legally of course). Messi and Ronaldo both failed to turn-up. So much for the Euro double week.

Costa banned: Just when you’ve started to consider Chelsea attacking assets again, their key player up top gets handed a 3 match ban. Will this impact on the productivity of players like Hazard?

League Cup: I made a mistake in my last article, Bournemouth was actually involved in the third round. Anyway, the Premier League teams that got knocked out in the third round were Swansea, West Ham, Newcastle, Tottenham, Sunderland and West Brom. These teams will be free to concentrate on the league when the next round comes, so something to bear in mind. I’ll discuss this more when the fourth round arrives.

Onto the player picks for Gameweek 7!

Striker Picks

With many teams fielding two Euro strikers, the remaining two slots are really at a premium. Who should fill those spots?

Is anyone NOT eyeing Martial? He comes into the spotlight after scoring 4 goals in 4 games in all competitions. It’s almost a foregone conclusion that he’ll do well against Sunderland at home. He is now listed as the most purchased player in the Stadium Astro game. Having said that, even Depay might finally open his account this weekend.

Sakho should be a direct beneficiary of West Ham’s strong form and he should continue to do well at home against Norwich. Ighalo will hope to continue his run of goals against Crystal Palace, a team set up with less emphasis on defense. Look for the Chelsea starting line-up before you put in either Remy or Falcao (with Costa suspended), although a better bet would probably be Pedro, who is listed as a striker in the Stadium Astro game.

Wilson continues to deserve a mention by virtue of his strong away goal record. He failed to notch against Norwich last week, but Stoke haven’t kept a clean sheet yet, so he’s still a good bet.

Aguero has not returned much lately, and the Spurs defense has been solid but the game against Spurs has historically been a high-scoring one, so don’t discount him lightly.

Dark horse: Bojan’s return last week saw him make a goal-scoring comeback. This week Stoke face Bournemouth at home. Bournemouth have not been able to keep a clean sheet playing away, so the omens are good!

Midfielder picks

Mahrez, Payet, Mata, Sanchez, Ozil, Silva (if fit), Moses, Hazard, there are a lot of good options this week.

Shaqiri is an interesting option, with the in-form Diouf returning and Bojan back as well. Stoke have a lot of individual quality in their side, Mark Hughes just needs to find the winning combination. Against Bournemouth, we could finally see the start.

Bakary Sako is my dark horse tip for the week. Crystal Palace have not scored in two consecutive matches, while Watford have yet to concede at home, but Sako’s underlying attacking stats are amazing, his work-rate is exceptional and constantly with numerous shots on target, it’s only a matter of time before he scores again.

Defender picks

The defenders are a bit tricky in comparison. Chelsea are the best bets for a clean sheet against Newcastle, but the only one I’d recommend picking at the moment is Azpicueletta, who’s starting spot seems assured long-term. And while Watford have the most clean sheets at home, none of their defenders appears to have solid attacking potential to be worth considering.

With Manchester United’s left side looking flaky, I wouldn’t recommend anyone from there. I still have Darmian, but I wish I didn’t, what with his tendency to get carded. I predict Sunderland will score.

Winston Reid could be a good differential defender pick, with a clean sheet chance and goal-scoring possibility. Monreal and Bellerin from Arsenal could offer good attacking potential as well, if you’re not bothered about the clean sheet.

Goalkeeper picks

Jack Butland, Begovic and Simon Mignolet are the only ones I see keeping a clean sheet this week. Don’t expect to get lucky like Butland did last week though, you can’t really plan for those to happen.

My team as it stands:

As you can see I have issues with Benteke and Firmino injured. I will most likely bring in Martial and Sako to replace them, and use my third transfer for a Chelsea player (haven’t decided who yet).

Currently, I am ranked 330 overall. With my double injuries, I don’t expect to break the Top 300 this weekend, but hopefully I can at least get closer.

All the best!