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The News
- A reminder that Round 9 will start on a Wednesday night, with the catch-up game between the Wanderers and the Roar to be played then - so both of these teams have double fixtures next week.
- After doubling up next week, the Wanderers will then have a bye in Round 10 and Round 11. This is due to their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup. Melbourne City also have a bye in Round 10, while Brisbane Roar have the bye in Round 11.
- The re-arranged fixtures from the above rounds will now be played at the end of Round 20 (Wanderers v City) and the end of Round 22 (Roar v Wanderers) - meaning these teams will have double fixtures in those rounds.
- The big news of course is that Mike Mulvey is no longer the coach of Brisbane Roar - for how this could affect fantasy teams, check out the 'Talking Points' below.
Talking Points
- After 7 rounds it's probably no surprise that Victory's top 2 point scorers are Besart Berisha and Gui Finkler. Neither are cheap, however they reliably provide points - whether through goals, assists, shots on target and shot assists weekly. Should he continue to get starts and significant game time, expect the much cheaper Fahid Ben Khalfallah to keep pace with them. Victory also provide us with some decent defensive cheapie in Adrian Leijer, Daniel Georgievski and Scott Galloway, while Nathan Coe is one of the better keeper choices.
- Likewise it may be no surprise Marcelo Carrusca and Sergio Cirio lead Adelaide's point scoring, though the fact that Tarek Elrich is only 1 point behind them is something that would not have been predicted. Word is that Elrich was being monitored earlier in the week after suffering a glute injury, so consider him to be under an injury cloud for Friday night's game. Despite his brace against the Mariners, I would not be rushing Pablo Sanchez in - expect him to make way for Bruce Djite once he is fit enough to start, which could be this week.
- Despite Mulvey's departure, it seems fantasy coaches won't be immediately affected with interim boss Frans Thijssen set to keep the same starting XI (besides the injured Shane Stefanutto) for the visit of Perth on Saturday. However, the statement that Brisbane will look to play out from the back again probably spells the end for keeper Jamie Young, given his tendency to hit long passes. Henrique leads Brisbane's scoring, however 23 of his 44 points came in the win at Newcastle and 12 against Perth in Round 2 - showing that he is not a consistent scorer. Thomas Broich continues to struggle despite a positional shift, with only 28 points so far - yet he's still Roar's 3rd best scorer, behind Henrique and Luke Brattan.
- If you held onto Andy Keogh through his barren run you were rewarded with a goal, 2 shots on target and bonus points last round. So long as he keeps getting shots on target - a stat he (and Duke from the Mariners, who only has scored once) currently lead the league in on 11 - more goals will come. Besides Keogh the league leaders don't really provide us with any premium options, however Nebojsa Marinkovic is a good cheap midfield option and Josh Risdon, Dino Djulbic and Scott Jamieson are decent value in defence. Interestingly, the only defender with more shots on target than Djulbic (4) is the out-of-position Matt Sim (5). Sidnei Sciola is yet to appear this season due to injury however he is included in the squad this week.
- With the Wanderers struggling and also constantly changing their line up it is difficult to recommend picking their players. Add to this that rotations will negate the advantage of double fixtures next week, and then they have two byes in the following two rounds. Nonetheless, Nikita Rukavytsya could be a solid option - he leads the Wanderers forwards in scoring after 4 games, and all Wanderers in shots on target with 4, though 3 came against the Jets. As he was a late arrival, it is likely he will continue to have restricted game time in the short term. Expect the more expensive Tomi Juric to start justifying his price with more consistent game time, though that may not come until later in the season.
- Sydney lost their clean sheet streak last week, however top scorer Sasa Ognenovski missed with a hip problem. Vedran Janjetovic is Sydney's next top point earner, and seems a must have in goals at the moment. After a couple of quieter weeks, Milos Dimitrijevic was sent off late against City and will miss this week - perhaps if you aren't convinced (I'm not) this is an opportunity to move him on. Marc Janko finally stepped up with 2 goals, though again it remains to be seen how prolific he will actually be - only the Jets have a defence leakier than Melbourne City's.
- Nathan Burns has hit a wall in the last two rounds, however a game at home against a leaky Melbourne City may provide the ideal opportunity to bounce back. Cheapie attacker Roy Krishna is on a decent run in the last three rounds, however previously he has struggled for points in his A-League career - so I'd not be rushing to get him into my side. Tom Doyle returned to the starting XI against Perth and I'd expect him to stay there.
- Melbourne City are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, and this excellent piece from Kate Cohen shows why they are struggling defensively. So in terms of defenders and goalkeepers, I'd look elsewhere. Erik Paartalu has exploded in the last three weeks with 28 points to lead City's scoring. However, two goals and an assist is outside the norm for a defensive midfielder, so do not expect this run to continue. The man to have in City's midfield at the moment is Aaron Mooy - at least until Robi Koren is fit, as Mooy's role may change to accommodate the as yet unsighted City marquee. A lot of coaches jumped on Mate Dugandzic after a bright couple of weeks, but he failed to fire against Sydney. He's a decent cheaper option, but not someone who can be trusted to provide regular points.
- The Jets rebounded well from their dismal performance against the Roar to take a point away to the Wanderers. Marcos Flores - allowed too much space by the Wanderers defenders - scored a goal and hit the crossbar. I think it's too early to say Flores is 'back,' but he's certainly someone to keep an eye on if the Jets can improve. In a more attacking role David Carney can be considered as well, while the likes of Adrian Madaschi and Allan Welsh can be cheap defenders to keep on your bench as cover.
- Like the Roar the Mariners also appear to be in a bit of turmoil, and despite a couple of promising performances they were brought back down to earth by a 2-0 loss at home to Adelaide United - notable because they typically dominate United on their own pitch. Despite his lack of goals Mitchell Duke is by far the Mariners top scorer with 38, owing largely to getting shots on target and shot assists, plus 8 bonus points. However he was dragged by Moss at half time last week and I'd suggest would need to start turning those shots on target into goals to not only maintain his place but also become a must have in fantasy. Eddy Bosnar can't even get back into the team with Jacob Poscoliero out, so it's clear if you have him he needs to be moved on. For fans of Michael Neill, it was a promising sign for his chances that Josh Rose was moved to centre-back to accommodate him - or perhaps it was just to keep Bosnar out of the team; we'll have to wait to see what happens with Poscoliero back in the squad this week. Meanwhile the talented Glen Trifiro remains starved of game time - he's a strong cheap option if Moss starts him.