Apologies.......and Week 22

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, I've been on a short vacation in Las Vegas (it was awesome). I barely managed to get my week 21 line-up - I was forced to use both the hotel internet access station at a extortionate price of $0.70 a minute (!!!) and an internet cafe. This did not permit much time for match preview and injury news surfing. But my choices did not suffer too badly as a result as the first part of the week went reasonably well, with Ronaldo and Benni McCarthy doing the business for me. C-Ron had a monster game (2G, 1A, 4SOT, 5CW, 3SC!!!), but he's been a no-brainer pick for pretty much all season long. Downing was a let-down and it figures that the very first time I select Ashley Young, his game gets abandoned due to a water-logged pitch. Hopefully the second batch of games turns out a little better.

[Also note that in Week 23, Watford face Blackburn in a midweek game, giving them a double week...Young, McCarthy, Bentley, Friedel should be in your reckoning. But more on that later...]

Looking ahead to the week 21:
Though there is a break before the next Yahoo slate of fixtures, it's never too early to begin thinking about match-ups. At first glance, a few games stand out -

Chelsea v. Wigan
ManU v. Villa
Spurs v. Newcastle
--> all three of these games feature stronger teams facing mid-table opposition that have been struggling lately. By no means will these games be easy wins, but they should favour the home sides against teams that have gone off the boil lately. You're out of luck if you don't have Ronaldo in your side cheaply, as his explosive form has caused his price to skyrocket (25 units !!!!). Solskjaer has been hot upon his return to the side, and Saha has spent some time on the bench. Vidic is still reasonably priced. Berbatov, Chimbonda and Huddlestone are about the only Spurs I would consider, though NUFC has been giving up goals lately. And all the desirable Chelsea players (Lamps, Drog) are pricy. Ash Cole or even a dirt cheap Boulahrouz (sub-4 units) may be worth a punt, though Chelski haven't been even close to a clean sheet since Terry went out 4 games ago.

Liverpool @ Watford
Fulham @ West Ham
--> picks from the away teams are a little more hit-or-miss. It would seem like an ideal chance for Gerrard or Kuyt to really break out offensively, but they've been off the pace lately. Garcia, the match winner of the past weekend, is nicely priced at a pre-update of 8.xx, but he is always subject to a rotation or poor outing. However, Reina would seem like a decent bet for a CS & win, but be warned - in typical Liverpool style, they don't give up many shots, so if he concedes, there won't be many saves to counter it (esp. against shot-shy Watford). Unfortunately, there's no "sure thing" for YFF points in the Fulham roster, as even McBride is inconsistent and has really down weeks between the good scoring ones. Volz has been playing MF lately (listed as a defender, though costly at 10+), and Routledge has been the primary set-piece taker in the stead of injured Claus Jensen.