Who To Bench 18/19

[paddles]

AWB (TOT) or Hojberg (WAT)?

[carver]

If richarlison doesn't make it

Play 2 from Mitrovic (liv) Doherty (ars) Wan Bissaka (TOT)

[Highlander12]

Play one from

Success (sou)
Doherty (ars)
Hjojberg (WAT)
Wan-Bissaka (TOT)

Already playing Patricio of that matters.

[Hotstepper]

Play one from

Success (sou)
Doherty (ars)
Hjojberg (WAT)
Wan-Bissaka (TOT)

Already playing Patricio of that matters.

I'd play Success. Unlikely to get a CS from either of the defenders. Watford capable of winning at Southampton and reasonable chance of Success contributing.

[Highlander12]

Play one from

Success (sou)
Doherty (ars)
Hjojberg (WAT)
Wan-Bissaka (TOT)

Already playing Patricio of that matters.

I'd play Success. Unlikely to get a CS from either of the defenders. Watford capable of winning at Southampton and reasonable chance of Success contributing.

Just concerned he won’t start because of Deeney

[MoSe]

Just concerned he won’t start because of Deeney

d'ya mean he'll be Deeneyed a start?

[The Royal BlueNose]

Want some Brighton coverage and have the bench 2 of

Fraser (New), Pererya (Sou), Kayal (Car), Duffy (Car), Alonso (Eve), Trippier (Cry)

Thinking Fraser and Kayal but not sure... any advice will be appreciated!

[Thyer64]

Which 2 to start?

- Perriera (BUR)
- Jiminez (ars)
- Richarlison - (che)

[The Real Slim Shady]

Who to bench out of

Fraser/Jiminez/Arnie

[raoul]

can't see the point of having Jimenez if he is bench potential for HUD. Might as well get rid and have Kamara and some cash.

OK if the other 2 had amazing fixtures then I get the point, but Arnie has MC who concede almost nothing. So to me it has to be Arnie.

Btw I also have Arnie and Jimenez, plus another 6 forwards who will all probably play and some juicy fixtures. I suspect my solution is to play them all and use that pesky Bench Boost.

[Sutter Kane]

Who to bench out of

Fraser/Jiminez/Arnie

Yep 100% agree with Raoul. Despite Arnautovic being able to produce magic against anyone, it's one of those where you have to play the odds and check out what he's up against. How much will West Ham actaully have the ball? Arsenal are leaky, Bouremouth will probably score at least one goal. Jimenez has a great fixture - he may even be in a few 'dream xi' teams for this week!

[Ruth_NZ]

I so disagree about Jimenez, he's a mediocre goalscorer at best, that's why Benfica were happy to loan him out. His record there - and remember that the vast majority of Benfica's league games are against way inferior opponents - is 18 goals in 80 games. That's really poor, as a comparison Jonas has 101 league goals in 115 games for the same team.

Wolves use Jimenez as a target man so he has some possibility of the odd assist but expecting him to haul is quite wishful in my view. I'd certainly not think of benching Arnie to play Jimenez but then I wouldn't have Jimenez in my squad in the first place.

[Sutter Kane]

He has been unlucky not to haul already though, at least once. He has an average history but that's not what I've seen from the eye test. This looks like the perfect team for him, especially to assist as he does, as you say, hold the ball up well. 4.7ppg is superb for his price and I would surmise the manager/playing style/whatever did not suit him at Benfica at all - he didn't fit in.

Jimenez at home to Huddersfield vs Arnie home to Man C. Interesting...would be great to hear some more opinions on this one for sure. And other situations like it.

And there you have some very differing opinions!

[Sutter Kane]

Quickly checking his shots per game he is indeed well under what you'd want. 0.33 shots per game in his career. It's worth noting that he's quite a long way above that this season however so again, I would conclude that goal/assist involvement is just so much better at Wolves, and he is potentially, at the age of 27, at his absolute peak. Just guessing really as I don't know.

[Vincent Black Shadow]

I will be bending Arnie this week. He could score vs City at home but, it doesn't seem likely.

[Ruth_NZ]

Quickly checking his shots per game he is indeed well under what you'd want. 0.33 shots per game in his career. It's worth noting that he's quite a long way above that this season however...

Yes, his underlying numbers are OK for his price this season, maybe even slightly better than OK. But that 18 goals in 80 games for Benfica says one thing to me: poor finisher. Strikers there get chances laid on a plate and a good finisher will for sure score more than 18 in 80. What I have seen of him this season doesn't dispel that idea either, to be honest. But who knows, Huddersfield aren't always the best defence although they seem to have become more solid over recent weeks. Maybe this week is his week.

[IceCreamFirm]

First real benching dilemma I’ve had this season.

Bench one of Wilson (Arsenal), Fraser (Arsenal), Alonso (Tottenham), Shaqiri (Watford).

One of the Bournemouth two seems the likeliest choice but I’m sure I’ll bench the wrong one. Alonso you’d be banking on attacking returns if you start him but may be worth it.

Currently benching Fraser so on this:

Ryan (Hamer)
Alonso / Robertson / Laporte / Bennett / (Wan B)
Salah / Hazard / Richarlison / Shaqiri / (Fraser)
Aguero / Wilson / (Kamara)

[raoul]

Quickly checking his shots per game he is indeed well under what you'd want. 0.33 shots per game in his career. It's worth noting that he's quite a long way above that this season however...

Yes, his underlying numbers are OK for his price this season, maybe even slightly better than OK. But that 18 goals in 80 games for Benfica says one thing to me: poor finisher. Strikers there get chances laid on a plate and a good finisher will for sure score more than 18 in 80. What I have seen of him this season doesn't dispel that idea either, to be honest. But who knows, Huddersfield aren't always the best defence although they seem to have become more solid over recent weeks. Maybe this week is his week.

I do not hold Jimenez with a view to him ever scoring a hat trick. He is my cheap forward and if anything his insistence on scoring points is causing me a benching dilemma each week. Nice problem to have I suppose. However, I cannot take past performance at a different team in a different league as anything more than an indicator. The way he is being played at Wolves makes him very involved in everything they do going forward, and he is clearly enjoying getting involved. Plenty of players have either peaked or troughed as a result of changing teams (Torres the most obvious I suppose) and Jimenez has found his almost perfect role. Also worth noting that he seems to be the only actual striker, so doesn't have to share the spoils so much.

It is also the case that the reason he is a decent starter this week is in comparison to others - Arnie has a hard fixture. I doubt he will see much of the ball, but as others have said I may be wrong and his class means he may well score even if he only gets a solitary chance.

[tarkens]

First real benching dilemma I’ve had this season.

Bench one of Wilson (Arsenal), Fraser (Arsenal), Alonso (Tottenham), Shaqiri (Watford).

One of the Bournemouth two seems the likeliest choice but I’m sure I’ll bench the wrong one. Alonso you’d be banking on attacking returns if you start him but may be worth it.

Currently benching Fraser so on this:

Ryan (Hamer)
Alonso / Robertson / Laporte / Bennett / (Wan B)
Salah / Hazard / Richarlison / Shaqiri / (Fraser)
Aguero / Wilson / (Kamara)

I'd bench Shaqiri unless you are 100% sure he'll start on Saturday

My benching dillema:

Anderson (MCI), Success (LIV), Arnautovic (MCI), Brooks (ARS), Luiz (tot)

I need to bench two of them and currently am benching Success and Luiz, but thinking maybe it'd be best to drop one of WHU boys and play Success?

[Spreadsheet]

Due to injury, needing to play one of my two cheapies: do I bench Kayal (LEI) or Kenedy (Bur)?

[Ruth_NZ]

I do not hold Jimenez with a view to him ever scoring a hat trick. He is my cheap forward and if anything his insistence on scoring points is causing me a benching dilemma each week. Nice problem to have I suppose. However, I cannot take past performance at a different team in a different league as anything more than an indicator.

Who said anything about a hat-trick? He was fortunate to be allowed to take a penalty against Spurs (Neves had already scored one) and that has inflated both his points and his xG. If Wolves get one this weekend it will be Neves taking it. Take that oddity out and his performance looks very mediocre (and is persuading you that you have a benching dilemma when you don't).

All past performance is only an indicator. Jimenez' record at Benfica (and at Wolves) suggests that he is a poor finisher and unless he gets penalties on a permanent basis (no reason to expect that) then he's a waste of 5.8m in my very firm opinion.

[alexmj]

I do not hold Jimenez with a view to him ever scoring a hat trick. He is my cheap forward and if anything his insistence on scoring points is causing me a benching dilemma each week. Nice problem to have I suppose. However, I cannot take past performance at a different team in a different league as anything more than an indicator.

Who said anything about a hat-trick? He was fortunate to be allowed to take a penalty against Spurs (Neves had already scored one) and that has inflated both his points and his xG. If Wolves get one this weekend it will be Neves taking it. Take that oddity out and his performance looks very mediocre (and is persuading you that you have a benching dilemma when you don't).

All past performance is only an indicator. Jimenez' record at Benfica (and at Wolves) suggests that he is a poor finisher and unless he gets penalties on a permanent basis (no reason to expect that) then he's a waste of 5.8m in my very firm opinion.

If you have Ings though who else would you swap to in that bracket? I've made the switch considering he's got Cardiff Huddersfield next. Ings won't play this week.

[Jason Bourne]

Need to bench one of the following:

Doherty (HUD)
Luiz (tot)
Arnautovic (MCI)
Fraser (ARS)
Wilson (ARS)

Leaning towards Fraser then Arnie. Wilson and Arnies PK duty and heavy goal involvement % weighing heavily here. Thoughts anyone?

[Ruth_NZ]

Luiz. Chelsea unlikely to keep a CS this weekend.

[Ruth_NZ]

If you have Ings though who else would you swap to in that bracket? I've made the switch considering he's got Cardiff Huddersfield next. Ings won't play this week.

Rondon. Or downgrade to Success and re-structure. I am considering both options at the moment. It's a shame, though, because I only have a cheap 3rd forward because of Ings, there's no-one comparable really.

[FBorges]

All past performance is only an indicator. Jimenez' record at Benfica (and at Wolves) suggests that he is a poor finisher and unless he gets penalties on a permanent basis (no reason to expect that) then he's a waste of 5.8m in my very firm opinion.

Jimenez was basically a super sub in Benfica so take his stats per match with a grain of salt because he was playng very reduced minutes in most of his spell here in Portugal. If you look at his goals/90, he actually averaged a pretty decent return of 0,61 goals/90. This number might be a bit exaggerated because he usually was subbed in when Benfica was chasing or already winning confortably but i think it paints a better picture than his goals/game...

He was also a bit of talisman and scored some very important goals including a title winner 3 seasons ago. My impression of him is that hes a decent but not great striker and he had no chance of getting into Benfica's first team simply because Jonas is amazing.

btw Good luck with everything Ruth, i always enjoy reading your posts

[Ruth_NZ]

Jimenez was basically a super sub in Benfica so take his stats per match with a grain of salt because he was playing very reduced minutes in most of his spell here in Portugal. My impression of him is that hes a decent but not great striker and he had no chance of getting into Benfica's first team simply because Jonas is amazing.

Thanks. To complete the picture, 3 of his 18 league goals for Benfica were penalties. But having had a close look at his history it does seem that his reduced gametime at Benfica has to be taken into account. Maybe I have therefore been a bit too dismissive.

[raoul]

Jimenez was basically a super sub in Benfica so take his stats per match with a grain of salt because he was playing very reduced minutes in most of his spell here in Portugal. My impression of him is that hes a decent but not great striker and he had no chance of getting into Benfica's first team simply because Jonas is amazing.

Thanks. To complete the picture, 3 of his 18 league goals for Benfica were penalties. But having had a close look at his history it does seem that his reduced gametime at Benfica has to be taken into account. Maybe I have therefore been a bit too dismissive.

There are two separate questions here.

To have Jimenez or not - as with all players a matter of opinion. I prefer to have at least one cheap forward and right now that seems to be a choice between Ings, Jimenez and Rondon at the moment. If Newcastle can just get going and score a bit more then Rondon is perhaps the winner, but at present Wolves look more likely to compete in any game they play and that activity (for want of something more stats based) makes me hold Jimenez for now. And Jimenez is my 10th or 11th outfielder so not a priority issue for my squad.

If you have him, do you bench him? Obviously depends on who else you have, but his next 2 matches are about as good as they are going to get, so if you have him in your squad he is surely worthy of contention to play. Otherwise why have him? Make it spot 14 and have Kamara + 1.5 (especially as Kamara might perhaps have a chance of game time now a new manager is in).

My point about hauls is that I doubt anyone has Jimenez with a view to captaincy. He has proved a useful and surprising source of points for little cash. Agree he got lucky to get a penalty (or good management to give your main man a sight of the net perhaps). Agree stats are in the past (as for all players you are only as good as your last performance). But 58pts over 12 weeks does not say flash in the pan to me.

[Hotstepper]

Play one from Laporte, Deulofeu and Arnautovic? Currently going with Arnie. Deulofeu bothering me a bit

[Libero]

Bench Arnie (MCI, around 4.0 to score anytime) or Pereira (bha, around 2.8 to keep a clean sheet) ???