AM's Week 20 Fantasy Player Picks

I'm with family for much of the next few days and football must take a back seat so this is a quick summary of Week 19 and what you can expect for Week 20.

1) Week 19 was a total disaster for me and has undone all of the good work and all the ground I'd made up over the previous 4 weeks. No Dzeko, Shorey, De Guzman or Cazorla and a measly 37 points has dropped me back to 2000th overall. I also missed the barndoors, although I did have time to quickly grab Gareth Bale seconds before his price shot up.
2) The Week 20 deadline is a normal Saturday 12:00 GMT deadline and all 20 teams play once over the weekend.
3) Week 20 is the 5th Round of The Blog Cup but I don't expect to get the chance to calculate the results until early in the new year.

There aren't any real stand-out fixtures, but there should / could be some value in the following:

ARSENAL v Newcastle
MAN UTD v West Brom
LIVERPOOL @ QPR
STOKE v Southampton
TOTTENHAM @ Sunderland
WEST HAM @ Reading

The players I'm considering are ...

KEEPERS
Jaaskalainen - Having a great season, winnable game at bottom side Reading.
Lloris - A long term hold for many of us, Spurs are looking more solid and Sunderland don't score many.
Reina - I'm positive Liverpool will bounce back at QPR and Reina's price has dropped after the Stoke defeat.

DEFENDERS
Gibbs - Pricey but the pick of the top-bracket defenders, with his raiding runs down to left sure to cause Newcastle problems
Vidic - Should come back in after United shipped 3 without him and remains at a bargain price.
Vertonghen - The points keep on rolling in.
Luiz - Playing midfield and shooting from everywhere so I'm probably going to keep hold of him (despite a very tough fixture at Everton) if he's set to start again.
Wilkinson - Seems to have taken the full-back slot back from Shotton and played very well against Liverpool. With Shawcross suspended Matthew Upson is another option.
Demel - The most affordable Hammers defender should be fit to return for the trip to Reading.
Fabio - QPR's cheap filler should continue at full back and is likely to return his value,
Bennett - I'm not expecting a clean sheet from Villa but Bennett is another who can return his value against Wigan.

MIDFIELDERS
Bale - I wouldn't advocate paying 30.00+ for Bale but if you grabbed him between 21.00 - 23.00 then he's impossible to drop in his current form.
Cazorla - Leaky Newcastle are coming to town with a threadbare midfield so I expect Arsenal's creative attackers to have a field day.
Gerrard - Showing signs of his best form in recent games, Gerrard is at his best level of fitness for 2 seasons and the fantasy points are building up as a result.
Walcott - Could be moved back to the wing and his pace is going to be a big problem for both Newcastle fullbacks.
Lampard - On the bench at Norwich but Chelsea will need his experience at Everton and he's a relative bargain given his point scoring potential.
Sterling - Another man given a rest in Week 19, he should be back in the starting line-up for Liverpool's match at QPR.
Nolan - He's had a few quiet weeks but Kevin Nolan will enjoy feeding off the scraps left by Reading's nervous defence.
Adam - Stoke's set piece taker has missed a few games after the sad and unexpected passing of his father but was on the bench against Liverpool and could return in Week 20.
Cleverley - Should start after a rest against Newcastle and I have a sneaky feeling that we could see a goal from young Thomas.

STRIKERS
van Persie - With Rooney out for 3 weeks and Welbeck suffering from illness I can't see any chance of RvP getting rested and he should be on penalties.
Giroud/Podolski - If Giroud is back from the sickness that kept him out at Wigan then I think he'll start but if not I may look at Podolski.
Hernandez - See RvP, I think he'll start again after his match-winning goal and with Ferguson's options limited.
Suarez - Disappointing at Stoke but his pace and trickery could destroy a QPR side badly struggling defensively.
Walters - Two cracking goals this week and the fact he's remains on penalty duty means Jonathan Walters is worth a look for the home game against Southampton.
Defoe - Back on the score-sheet ahead of the trip to Sunderland he seems more likely to keep his spot than Adebayor who was poor at Villa despite the 4-0 scoreline.
C.Cole - We await the decision of his appeal but if he's not suspended then he's worth a look at Reading.
Benteke - If Villa are going to bounce back then you imagine this man will be the catalyst and Wigan at home isn't the worst fixture.

That's it for the players.

As I mentioned I missed almost all barndoors so I'll be paying full price for the likes of Hernandez and Walters. I've brought Bale in, I'll be dropping Nicky Shorey as he appears to have lost his place, while Giroud, Sterling and Vidic are likely to end up in my team if news suggests they start. We'll get an injury and suspensions post up tomorrow to make sure you have all the info you need.

How's your team looking?