If you have any questions on something not covered here, or just want some specific advice for your team, join me in the weekly Zeebox Live Fantasy A-League chat on Friday at 2pm Eastern, so click the link at the appropriate time and join the discussion! Otherwise you can use the comments section at the bottom of the page or contact me on Twitter. You can find the full list of squads for this round here.
Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners
Mariners unavailable: Marcos Flores, Michael Neill, Adam Kwasnik (injured), Michael McGlinchey (out on loan), Matt Sim (omitted)
Captaincy options: Fabio Ferreira
Adelaide bounced back from their disappointing defeat to Wellington with a 3-0 win over Sydney; Fabio Ferreira was particularly impressive, scoring 12 points - his biggest haul since the 14 he produced against Perth in Round 1. Back at Hindmarsh, Ferreira comes into captaincy calculations - his goal last weekend was the first scored away from the Reds' home this season, and he's score on his last two starts there - one coming against the Mariners in the 4-0 rout. Michael Zullo was again played on the left wing to provide a sniff of out of position goodness, however Gombau may opt to shift him to left back again if Cirio is fit enough to start, especially with Tarek Elrich suspended. Jeronimo scored his second goal away from Hindmarsh, however he did so coming off the bench; he's not much good to us if he's playing limited minutes from now on, with Bruce Djite clearly the preferred option for Gombau to lead the attack.
At the time of writing the Mariners still have not received international clearance for Kim Seung-yong to play, so until this is confirmed you should not have him in your calculations. Granted, once he does play the Mariners will be relying on him to provide some creative spark, however be wary of the Mariners' ACL involvement leaving him with limited minutes in the A-League. Eddy Bosnar - nicely priced at $150k - gave us a couple of glimpses of his potential to score from dead balls; perhaps owners of Storm Roux or Zac Anderson might be considering a switch? Bernie Ibini started for the first time, on the right of midfield, and scored, so it might be time to start looking at him as another mid-priced option in midfield - though don't expect him to get an easier chance than that this season. Anthony Caceres seems to be preferred as a holding midfielder by Moss, so that's no good for fantasy coaches.
SYdney FC v Perth Glory
Glory unavailable: Scott Jamieson, Travis Dodd (injured)
Captaincy options: Alessandro Del Piero, Ranko Despotovic, Shane Smeltz
Just two weeks after carving up the Victory in Melbourne, Sydney are facing something of a crisis, with the fans in open revolt. The players will however get another opportunity to turn things around against a Perth side that has not won in four games. Both Alessandro Del Piero and Ranko Despotovic failed to produce against the Reds and the Heart, but they nonetheless remain the key men for Sydney. Sasa Ognenovski - awkwardly priced at $175k - is the man the Sky Blues will look to in order to right things at the back, however he was not ready to play against Adelaide. He is however in the squad for this weekend, as is Terry Antonis after a long absence through injury. When he does play, expect him to take Matthew Jurman's spot, so he's someone to put on the chopping block if you have him.
Despite playing 90 minutes for the 3rd consecutive game, Shane Smeltz failed to find the net in Albury. Perth needed a scrappy goal from Steven McGarry, filling in for Nebosa Marinkovic at #10, to keep them in the game. Perth will certainly need Smeltz to fire if they are to challenge for a top 6 spot, and he may not get a better chance than a Sydney side under fire. Riley Woodcock was reinstated at left back, with Jack Clisby making way. William Gallas is expected to play so it will be interesting to see what happens this weekend. Should the left back position be rotated, I'd definitely trade out Clisby; Woodcock is cheap enough to consider as bench cover, even though that cover may only come once every other week. Sidnei, Darvydas Sernas and Chris Harold all failed to produce from the wide areas, and with potential rotations you should probably steer clear of them for the time being. Indeed, Sidnei has not produced anything since exploding against Wellington in Round 9. Rostyn Griffiths has been added to the game at $150k, which is far too much for a holding midfielder who won't be much use to you.
Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Heart
Heart unavailable: (none)
Captaincy options: Carlos Hernandez, Stein Huysegems, Kenny Cunningham
With scores of 17, 12 and 15 in his last 3, there is no man hotter in the A-League at the moment than Carlos Hernandez. My major complaint about him - or rather, his price tag - was that he lacked goals open play. Now that he has added that to his arsenal, there's probably no reason not to have him. The Phoenix have some pretty tasty fixtures coming up, starting with the Heart this weekend, followed by a trip to face the out-of-sorts Mariners, an Adelaide side they controlled 2 weeks ago, and then a home game against Perth. With 7 goals in his last 8 games (and 2 assists), Stein Huysegems is pretty much a must have as well. I'd be wary of overloading on players of any side on the same line in your team, though if you are looking for a cheaper forward, Kenny Cunningham has scored in his last 3 games. Some of you may have noticed that New Zealand are playing a friendly against Japan on March 5th; this probably won't affect Wellington's New Zealand players given the Nix play Adelaide on February 27th and Perth on March 9th. That said - owners of Huysegems, Cunningham and Hernandez need not worry regardless! Michael Boxall is back from suspension, and those of you who think the Phoenix are a good chance of a clean sheet might consider playing him on the field.
The Heart travel to Wellington unbeaten in their last four and with a win outside of Victoria under their belts. however this is arguably their biggest test. The Heart have hardly been solid defensively either, with only 2 clean sheets this season; and neither of them in their undefeated run. So it's a safe bet that the Nix will find the back of the Heart net, but can the Heart reply? Surprisingly, defender Patrick Kisnorbo has scored 2 in the last 3 games - but I would not be looking at him given the Heart don't know how to keep clean sheets. David Williams has been the hero for the red and whites in the last 2, scoring late winners off the bench in both games. As I've said many times before, he's really too erratic to rely on for points. Likewise Iain Ramsay (who has nonetheless scored 5, 9, 2 and 5 in his last 4) and Michael Mifsud. Perhaps we could say the same about Mate Dugandzic also, who again failed to make the most of his chances. Jonatan Germano played deeper in midfield against the Glory, though he may return to a more advanced position when Orlando Engelaar is in the line-up.
Brisbane Roar v Newcastle Jets
Jets unavailable: Joel Griffiths, Andrew Hoole (suspended), Nick Ward, Mitch Cooper, Scott Neville, Ben Kantarovski (injured)
Captaincy options: Besart Berisha, Thomas Broich, Ivan Franjic
Against the Wanderers, Brisbane sprung a surprise by having Thomas Broich play as a #10, while Besart Berisha acted as a false #9 - as Doug Kors noted in his analysis, both players struggled with the changes. Berisha, being Berisha, still managed to score however. If you don't own him, you should be trying everything to fit him into your side. If you have Broich, I would not blame you for considering a trade to Hernandez, especially given Mulvey likes to play him in different positions, which impacts his scoring potential. Broich is a crucial part of the Brisbane machine but it does not always show in his fantasy scoring; nonetheless, he is one of the more expensive midfielders to consider. Ivan Franjic returned to the side and interestingly was used on the left, where Broich usually plays. It was certainly a welcome sight for those who have held onto him that he is playing in a more advanced role; should he revert to right back, consider trading him out as he's far too expensive for a full back. With both Liam Miller and Matt McKay out, Franjic may well find himself in central midfield. Jean Carlos Solorzano has been added at $150k - but I would not be expecting him to get starts or have a significant scoring impact at this stage. Likewise Steven Lustica.
Unsurprisingly, Adam Taggart failed to back up his brace from the previous round against the Nix. The 'hot and cold' type players are not really the ones you want - we should be looking at players that can score consistently across a large number of games. Should you opt for Taggart, it could pay off if that is the round he fires, but it's a massive risk and at $225k he's hardly a bargain buy. He also has to worry about competition from Emile Heskey (when fit) and Joel Griffiths (when not suspended). The interesting thing to come out of Newcastle's last game was a brace, but this this time from Craig Goodwin. Goodwin has been a massive let down this season, though perhaps under a new manager he has been given a new lease of life. While it was great to see the former fantasy favourite spring to life, he really needs to back it up before we start thinking about throwing $240k at him. Especially when considering the Jets have not kept a clean sheet since their last visit to Suncorp, back in Round 11. Andrew Hoole is a much cheaper out of position option at the Jets, though it's hard to see him exploding like Goodwin might. He's also suspended this week after picking up his 5th yellow card. The lack of clean sheets has killed the fantasy viability of Sam Gallaway as a cheap defender - if you have him, consider dumping him for Hoole (once his suspension ends). David Carney is yet to be added to the game at the time of writing - despite being named in the extended squad it's unlikely he'd have an impact this week anyway, given he has not played since last year.