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The weekend’s team finished just one point outside the money which is disappointing, however. it shows that we’re on the right lines. What’s more, there’s a great reason to play Totel Football in future. Starting now, the season-long games have been subject to a small charge (£0.80 or €1.00) per team.
The good news is that this fee has been scrapped, so at no extra cost you can take a share of the €11,000 or £8,800 on offer come the season’s end!
Of course some of you may have already paid to enter a team into a seasonal pool; those of you that have can start celebrating because TotelFootball have refunded all bets placed on seasonal pools this season!
Asmir Begovic
Stoke have continued their solid home form with a 1-0 win over Fulham on Saturday and Asmir Begovic recorded his sixth clean sheet of the season and showed some fine shot-stopping skills to rack up 11 points. On Wednesday, Tony Pulis’ men host a Newcastle side, who seem to have lost some of their cutting edge in recent weeks, so Begovic is the pick between the sticks.
Nathaniel Clyne
Southampton managed to keep their first clean sheet of the Premier League season against Newcastle on Sunday and host Norwich in their next game. The Canaries are far less prolific away from home than at Carrow Road and Nigel Adkins will hope his side can build upon their last win.
Nathaniel Clyne offers plenty of threat going forward, the full-back scored in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa, add to this the fact he’s only been booked once this season and he’s got plenty of point-scoring potential.
Robert Huth
I’m including Huth for the same reason as Begovic really, he consistently scores points because of Stoke’s strong home record and has only been booked twice this season. It’s a bit of a gamble putting a defender and goalkeeper in from the same team but it offers twice the reward if the Potters can keep out Newcastle at Britannia Stadium.
Matija Nastasic
The 19-year-old Serbia international looked perfectly at home in the centre of Manchester City’s defence at Stamford Bridge and a midweek game against Wigan should be another opportunity for him to show what he can do.
He’s yet to score for Roberto Mancini’s side but he’s not been booked either so he gets the nod over Vincent Kompany, who performed admirably on Sunday but still doesn’t look 100 per cent fit.
Cesar Azpilicueta
Rafael Benitez’s arrival at Stamford Bridge should mean Chelsea are a bit more organised at the back and Cesar Azpilicueta looks to have a bright future with the Blues.
He’s obviously a player who likes to get forward and has been deployed in a more attacking role for Chelsea in the past, although that might not be the case now Benitez is in place, a clash with Fulham means a decent chance of a clean sheet for Azpilicueta.
Santi Cazorla
Four goals and three assists is a solid return for Arsenal’s new signing but Wednesday’s game against an Everton side struggling to keep clean sheets looks a good opportunity to increase those totals. Arsene Wenger will demand more from his team after Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Aston Villa and Cazorla will shoulder a lot of that responsibility.
Steven Gerrard
An average of 6 points per game may not be anything to shout about for Liverpool’s captain but a clash with Tottenham provides ample opportunity for the England international to provide plenty of points.
Spurs have kept one clean sheet at White Hart Lane in the Premier League this season so the Reds will get chances; let’s just hope Gerrard can get an assist or a goal to his name.
Gaston Ramirez
Nigel Adkins smashed Southampton’s transfer record to bring Gaston Ramirez to the south coast and to me it looks like money well spent. Although he missed the whole of October with an injury, Sunday’s clash with Newcastle was a perfect example of what he can do.
An assist and a goal meant he scored 11 points and with another home game against Norwich on the horizon, i’ll back the Uruguay international to be in the points again.
Gareth Bale
Another week, another double-figure score for one of the hottest properties in the Premier League.
Gareth Bale has the pace and skill to terrify the Liverpool defence on Wednesday and, although he has only contributed one assist, the five goals he’s scored more than make up for that.
Bale completes a midfield with a wealth of point-scoring potential.
Jermain Defoe
Thanks to Emmanuel Adebayor’s red card against Arsenal, Jermain Defoe knows he’s got a couple more games to impress manager Andre Villas-Boas and, after hitting two goals against West Ham, he’ll be high on confidence ahead of the clash with Liverpool. Seven goals and two assists in his season so far means he gets one of the two striker spots in my team for the midweek Premier League games.
Robin van Persie
After starting with a bang, it’s all gone a bit quiet for Robin van Persie but with a game against West Ham to look forward to, the former Arsenal man should be able to get back on the score-sheet after three games without a goal.
His quality is unquestionable and although three games isn’t the longest dry spell in the world, there’s plenty of competition for places with Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez both keen for more time on the pitch. Wayne Rooney is being deployed in a deeper role these days, so van Persie gets the nod to accompany Defoe up front.
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Jim’s starting XI
Asmir Begovic, Robert Huth, Cesar Azpilicueta, Matija Nastasic, Nathaniel Clyne, Santi Cazorla, Steven Gerrard, Gaston Ramirez, Gareth Bale, Jermain Defoe, Robin van Persie.
Substitutes
Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Sunderland), Patrice Evra (Manchester United).
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