It seems an age since we last did these, mainly because the last gameweek covered all the way up to Blackburn’s victory over Fulham in midweek. We’re back to usual now, with all the teams playing once; and it has to be said, nothing jumps out. We’ve had to dig particularly deep this week, so read on to see who we’ve gone for; to predict our failure, if nothing else…

1. Jussi Jasskelainen

Bear with us. Fulham are coasting, now, and are awful away from home anyway (only three goals scored all season) so Bolton look good for a clean sheet this week. Plus, they have a relatively easy run of games coming up. And, Jussi is an excellent sht stopper, and often picks up points that way (1 point for 3 saves in FPL).

2. Leighton Baines

Everton’s defence is excellent, and you wouldn’t back against them securing another shut out against travel-sick Stoke. Also, now Arteta is injured, Baines has set piece taking duties. He’s also good value at sub £5m in the FPL games.

3. Didier Drogba

Rather less imaginative, this one… but Drogba is in red hot form, reacting brilliantly to Hiddink’s appointment. Man City are poor travellers, and its not inconcievable for Chelsea to win every remaining league fixture. Get the detestable Drogba now, clench your teeth, and keep him in to the end of the season.

It’s a tough weekend for fantasy managers, with no standout fixtures and four of the top six playing each other. We’ve trawled through the games – and this is what we’ve come up with…

1. Djibril Cisse

It’s the Tyne Wear derby this weekend, not usually a game to go into with any conviction. However, Sunderland’s average form is far eclipsed by Newcastle’s abject form – and though Sunderland are away, they’re likely to cause problems and probably score. And no-one is more likely to do that than Djibril Cisse – he also got 3 FPL bonus last time out.

2. Jimmy Bullard

Newly signed by Hull and nearly on the scoresheet in his debut substitute appearance, Bullard will be desperate to make an instant impact at home to West Brom. If Hull are ever to turn their slide around, this is the time to do it, and sheep head will be integral to that. Likely to share set piece duties with Geovanni also.

3. Craig Bellamy

Bellamy was in good form before his transfer to Man City, and scored on his debut last week. Although dangerous to have anything riding on Man City away from home the acquisitions of Bridge, De Jong and Bellamy should give them some much needed steel – and they should have too much for a Stoke side that have not won since November.

So those are our picks – but if there was ever a week to try something a bit left field, it this one!

This is the week of the double header – with both Man Utd and Wigan playing twice, the former against Chelsea (a) and the latter against Tottenham (h) (both on Sunday, bafflingly) before they meet each other on Wednesday at Old Trafford.

With 2 points for an appearence, a player from either of those sides playing in both matches will automatically gain 4 points, a solid enough week.

In preparation for this we advised you at Christmas to beat the rush and get both Vidic (who secured a clean sheet) and Wigan’s Antonio Valencia. So assuming you already have both of these, here’s the pick of the rest of the Man Utd/Wigan players who must form the backbone of your weekly transfers:

1. Patrice Evra

Evra is now back from suspension and will be raring to go. With only John O’Shea as competition for the left back spot (at least until the emergence of Fabio) Evra is virtually guaranteed to start both matches. Fresh and fit, there is always the opportunity for an assist to go with the obvious defensive points.

2. Dimitar Berbatov

If you ignore the blindingly obvious Ronaldo, as we pig-headedly continue to do, the next best (and considerably cheaper) option is Dimitar Berbatov. Yet to quite set OT alight, he still has an impressive number of assists and with two games, may even notch a goal. It must be noted that United have another double gameweek in a couple of weeks so their players simply must be acquired.

3. Ryan Taylor

Because you can only have three players from each club, our next selection comes from Wigan. Taylor has enjoyed a solid run in the side recently, coinciding with Wigan’s great run of results. He is a threat from set pieces and scores the odd goal from open play, too. Added to that the fact he is a defender on the FPL league, yet plays in midfield, increases his allure.