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The News
- Thanks to the Wanderers ACL success, this round starts on a Wednesday - so make sure you are prepared for the early lock out.
- And of course the Wanderers and Roar double up this round - in addition to playing each other on Wednesday night, the Wanderers travel to Adelaide and Roar play City in Melbourne.
- Next week the Wanderers and Melbourne City have the bye, while the following week it's the Wanderers and the Roar, so prepare your sides accordingly.
- In a letter to their members, the Roar have announced Thomas Broich is out until Round 16 after having ankle surgery.
- Ali Abbas has torn his MCL and ACL, so he potentially will be out until January 2016.
- Osama Malik could be out for up to 6 weeks with a calf injury and Youssouf Hersi until next year with a hamstring problem, though it may also be a 2-3 week injury - both are unconfirmed at the time of writing.
- Kevin Muscat stated on radio on Monday that Gui Finkler would not play against the Mariners this week, and he would consider leaving players in Melbourne to spare them from playing on North Sydney Oval.
Talking Points
- With the Wanderers winless, having two byes in the next two rounds, and also rotating their squad regularly, the impact of them having two games this round is severely lessened. If you are looking to bring in any Wanderers players, make sure you have enough trades next week or cover on the bench so that you aren't going to be hurt by their 2 week absence. Some of the players to look at are Tomi Juric, Mark Bridge and Nikita Rukavytsya, all of whom could play a part in both games and potentially return a decent amount of points. You would want them to start against Brisbane rather than Adelaide though, so keep an eye out for the pre-lockout release of the team sheets on Wednesday evening.
- The Roar are also struggling, now missing their marquee player and have a bye themselves in two weeks' time, so avoid overloading on them, especially if you have players from the Wanderers and Melbourne City also. Henrique scored the equaliser and while I still think he's overachieving at the moment, he could be worth punting on for the double round. Jamie Young could be worth throwing in goals this week, and Corey Brown may provide value in defence in Shane Stefanutto's absence. And given Stef's injury struggles last season, Brown could well stay there for longer than expected.
- Sydney FC have failed to keep a clean sheet in consecutive rounds now, though crucially Sasa Ognenovski has been absent in this time. With Abbas' unfortunate injury, it seems likely Alex Gersbach will now be the first choice left back. Pedj Bojic has performed well with Seb Ryall moving to centre back to cover Ognenovski's absence; it'll be interesting to see what happens when Ognenovski is fit again. My guess is Bojic will drop out of the side, but I'd wait and see on that one. Despite not finding the net, Marc Janko had a solid game and suggested he is one to keep an eye on.
- Perth Glory face a tough test away to Sydney, so I would not be banking on a lot of points from their players this week. Nonetheless, Dino Djulbic has scored again and surely will find his way into many teams if this continues. Nebojsa Marinkovic continues to provide points at a cheaper price and Andy Keogh now leads the league by himself for shots on target (13).
- The Mariners poor season continued with a dull draw against the Jets, a result which comically propelled them into the top 6. Jacob Poscoliero returned to the defence, albeit at right back instead of centre back, while Michael Neill held his spot at left back. Matt Sim had to make do with a spot on the bench while Glen Trifiro flopped despite playing 90 minutes. Richard Vernes finally started and scored a goal, so perhaps he could be one Mariners player to consider, but we have to see a lot more from him first. Besides perhaps Mitchell Duke, there's not a lot to like at the Mariners fantasy-wise.
- Melbourne Victory may have needed 2 own goals to see off Adelaide, but their attacking pressure was simply too much for the Reds. While Besart Berisha once again failed to fire despite his strong record against Gombau's team, he (and fantasy coaches who captained him) will be furious with Kosta Barbarouses failing to square the ball to him for an easy tap in. Fahid Ben Khalfallah started again and showed that he is a cheaper alternative to Finkler, who is also a good pick (when available). And no, I still wouldn't have Leigh Broxham.
- Newcastle also remain winless and unappealing in fantasy. Aside from cheapie defenders like Adrian Madaschi and Allan Welsh, there's not much there. David Carney is not a terrible pick but there are cheaper players who should outscore him, such as Ben Khalfallah and Marinkovic.
- Wellington provided the story of the round with Nathan Burns' hat trick against a hapless Melbourne City - the first ever by a Phoenix player. While City's defensive structure certainly helped, the Nix now face two more struggling sides in the Jets and the Mariners in the next two rounds, so he could well add to his tally. Michael McGlinchey returned and contributed immediately, while both Roy Krishna and Roly Bonevacia continued their strong run of form. Krishna's spot in the team seems secure for the short term with Brockie set to be offloaded. Cheapie defender Tom Doyle appeared to come off injured, so keep an eye out for news on that - not that he's a massive scorer anyway with the Nix's poor defensive record.
- Adelaide's unbeaten run came to an end in Melbourne, however the Reds still created enough chances to win the game. Marcelo Carrusca re-affirmed his premium status with a goal on return, while Sergio Cirio's score was affected by a move into midfield. As I've noted before, Cirio is at his best when playing on the left wing, so his owners will be hoping to see him deployed there against the Wanderers on Saturday night. Craig Goodwin played there instead last week and was potentially robbed of a goal by a bad refereeing call. If you are considering him, I'd advise keeping in mind that his role in the team is normally at left back, meaning you would largely be relying on him gaining points from free kicks. On the other wing, Awer Mabil showed in that game while he is capable of being a good scorer, he lets himself down too often to be a strong option - he'll antagonise you if you pick him. Tarek Elrich returned a doughnut against Victory but he's still one of the better defenders to have, while Dylan McGowan should be starting while Malik is out.
- Despite Melbourne City being hammered by Wellington, Aaron Mooy still managed to produce points (thanks to 4 shots on target) while the erratic David Williams scored his second goal of the season from the penalty spot. Erik Paartalu's run of form ended with him being subbed out at half time, as was Mate Dugandzic. Frankly, besides Mooy there are no City players you should strongly consider at this point in time. Given that City have the bye next week, I'd not be bringing Mooy in this week either.