Gameweek 7 is right around the corner and after the shocks of gameweek 6, 7 promises to be just as interesting as ever. There are many questions to be answered, will the Mahrez bubble finally burst? Will Martial’s value stop increasing? Will Newcastle win a game? or will Wayne Rooney score a goal? among others. Gameweek 7 and beyond is where the law of averages starts to kick in, and all of those things that you have been waiting to happen will eventually start happening. There are 3 teams yet to win in the Premier League and I will go on record and say at least one of those teams will score their first win with it most likely being Stoke, however Newcastle as poor as they have been do have a decent record against Chelsea and in the highly unlikely situation the magpies beat the champions it would not be all that surprising. That leaves Sunderland who have just also been tonked by Manchester City in midweek in the League Cup and I fully expect them to get beat again at Old Trafford as the Mackems just look totally abject under Advocaat. But what we are concerned with is player’s scoring fantasy football points, so let us analyse the bankers and the gambles.

Bankers

Manchester United’s defence is surely the best chance at clean sheet points this week as they play Sunderland who cannot buy a win, Luis Van Gaal’s men must be one of the bankers of the week. With United’s defence a good bet for points it will be there attack which will be the hard choice to pick, with seemingly Martial proving to be the popular choice as his price continues to be on the rise, Martial has in fact this week hit the maximum price increase. You also have two players in that attack yet to score league goals in Depay and Rooney and it is only a matter of time before either breaks their league duck. Cautionary warning on United though they have tough fixtures after this weeks game so going all in on United players could be counter productive.

Another banker for points all round has to be Chelsea, they play Newcastle at St James Park but you would still fancy Chelsea to win comfortably. Newcastle have been totally abject this season and capitulated again last night against at home to Sheffield Wednesday and you would expect much the same against the champions, even without the suspended Diego Costa. I will be advising you to all get on Zouma again as I expect he will be starting, attack wise is a difficult one as I do not know if Jose will go Remy or Falcao, but many will be safe if they have Hazard I suspect. Unlike United Chelsea’s next few matches are relatively easier which is something else to consider. The final thing I will say on this match is that Jose Mourinho has never won a game at St James Park make of that what you will.

Another one that is more of a cautious Banker is West Ham vs Norwich, fully expect West Ham to overcome the Canaries and also that Dimitri Payet will yet again be amongst the points, however when you look at the West Ham results they have now beaten Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle and City but have also lost at home to Leicester and Bournemouth, West Ham also have some difficult fixtures coming up so if you bring someone in look to be shipping them out soon.

Goals Galore

Leicester are in cracking form and they face an Arsenal side who simply are not firing yet, Vardy and especially Mahrez are in scintillating form with the latter one of the top picks in nearly 50 percent of teams in the league. It is hard to pick a winner here because the gunners may just spring into life all I will say about this match is abandon your defenders, I expect goals here from both teams although it will probably be a 0-0 now I have said that. Bournemouth are away at Stoke and this is another game where I think the goals will flow as Stoke are no longer that tough nut to crack, also Bournemouth like to get forward and look to be on the front foot. I also fancy both teams to score in this one too, For Bournemouth it will be Wilson or Ritchie who will be the main goal threat and for Stoke you wold have to probably go with Bojan or Walters if Diouf is still out, it is also worth noting that Stoke have a fairly decent fixture list coming up so if they manage to sort out their form at least 1 player from the Potters could be a good differential.

Best of the rest

Manchester City are away to Spurs and it is a team that they always seem to bet and beat well, off the top of my head I can remember a 6-0 and a 5-1 among others so will this be the same? Well City did stutter against West Ham last week but they were straight back to business against Sunderland and as Harry Kane is still yet to find the back of the net in the league you would have to go with another City win. There are plenty of expensive options to pick from for the Citizens but De Bruyne is in great form and has hit the ground running since his mega money move from Wolfsburg. I am going with the old faithful Kun Aguero to bag some goals, and also Raheem Sterling to put in a performance but all depends on the team sheet as City have a must win UCL game next week.

Everton have West Brom and they face a team that is finally bearing the fruit of having Tony Pulis in charge in becoming a very stubborn team to break down and as a consequence Boaz Myhill is scoring a ridiculous amount of points. They will look to hold the Toffees and it is a difficult one to call after being held by Swansea but Lukaku will be looking to put a performance in on his own stomping ground so I will say this one will be tight with potential for clean sheets on both sides. May also be worth having a gamble on Ross Barkley as he is starting to become the main man at Goodison, however the Toffees have some very tough fixtures in the next 5 matches so just be careful.

Southampton face a Swansea team that started the season well but have recently started to stutter and the Saints will be looking to bounce straight back from losing to Manchester United and hit 6 past MK Dons last week, with Mane in great form for that match, also the man who seems to have his mojo back is Graziano Pelle, if you had him last season in his purple patch you will know all about his goal instincts. The only big problem here with Saints is the Fixture list after this match is probably one of the hardest in the league.

Watford vs Palace is another hard one to call, Palace can look frightening going forward when it all clicks as they have pace to burn but Watford have looked defensively resilient and also have Ighalo scoring goals at the other end, Myself I will be avoiding this game but if I was forced to pick it would possibly be Bolasie or Zaha although again this could be a match with potential clean sheet points on either side.

Liverpool are having a nightmare and the writing is seemingly on the wall for Brendan Rodgers another thing to consider is that Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last four visits to Anfield winning 2 and drawing 2 so could be a bit of a bogey team. But Liverpool are in woeful form and to me it looks like they have no gameplan at all, I have totally got rid of all of my Pool players until they turn a corner or Rodgers is sacked. Gestede may be a decent pick but in all honesty probably best to avoid this match all together.

Team of the week

Fancy these players to score points this week, very solid defence with Chelsea and United both playing weak teams and Saints playing a Swansea team that has started to misfire. In the midfield you have Mahrez don’t really need to mention why he is picked, Mane is looking to be back to last seasons form, and de Bruyne has hit the ground running. You may roll your eyes at Depay but he has to score sometime and why not against Sunderland? Up front play safe with Aguero and Martial is pcked for much the same reasons as Depay only that he is scoring, Bojan is picked because he will get chances against Bournemouth and also because of Stoke’s relatively easier fixtures in coming weeks.

The Notepad

Southamptons next 5 Swansea (h) Chelsea (a) Leicester (h) Liverpool (a) Bournemouth (h)

Stokes next 5 Bournemouth (h) Villa (a) Swansea (a) Watford (h) Newcastle (a)

Man City next 5 Spurs (a) Newcastle (h) Bournemouth (h) Man United (a) Norwich (h)

Spurs play first this week and last next week

Palace play second to last this week and first next week

Manchester United have Arsenal, Everton away then Man City at home in the next 3 this may see Martials value fall in the coming weeks

October is usually when the first sackings happen in the Premier League last season being an exception, next few fixtures can go a long way to deciding that be prepared if one happens at a struggling club i.e. Liverpool

Champions League next week so teams may rotate or sub early be aware of that

Mahrez is owned by nearly half of managers it could be time to bet against him scoring in the coming weeks, Remember never stay on a bandwagon once the bubble bursts