By Oliver Walker-Peel (@olliewalkerpeel)
The A-League Men’s competition is accelerating.
After recently emerging from the everlasting offseason, two rounds of Australia’s top flight are already done and dusted, and some of the football on display has been spectacular.
On Friday night, Melbourne City travelled to take on the Roar, and it was a happy return to Suncorp Stadium for Jamie Maclaren, the former home favourite booed as his brace gave the visitors a 2-0 win.
Popular Fantasy owner Beka Mitelkadze rewarded his managers with a stoppage-time winner to sink the Glory, while defender Tomislav Mrčela sent the travelling Wanderers fans into raptures with the only goal against the Victory on Saturday.
Wellington and Central Coast played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in New Zealand on Sunday, Macarthur saluted 2-0 against Adelaide, while Western United’s horror start to the campaign continued as they lost 3-1 against Sydney FC to round out the weekend.
While the real-world football did more than enough to whet the appetite, Fantasy pulses were sent racing over the weekend too, with a number of players pressing their case for selection for our teams.
Oliver Walker-Peel from the FPL Addicts Podcast is here to make sense of it all, picking out three players to look at bringing in and two to ignore.
WATCHLIST
Daniel Arzani (MAC, FWD)
Price: $329,000; Points: 24, Next three: WUN (a), SYD (h), WEL (a)
A dazzling performance over the weekend against Adelaide United showed the brilliant best of Daniel Arzani.
The tricky attacker broke the game open against the Reds, scoring one and supplying another in the Bulls’ win at Campbelltown Stadium.
His 19-point performance had many asking if Graham Arnold should take the former Melbourne City man to Qatar, while Fantasy managers across the country should look to get them into their sides.
After scoring his first A-Leagues goal since 2018, his confidence will be sky-high, and with a faltering Western United next on Macarthur’s agenda, there may not be a better time to give Arzani a go in your sides.
Jason Cummings (CCM, FWD)
Price: $386,000; Points: 11, Next three: PER (h), WUN (h), WEL (a)
Just as Daniel Arzani was putting his best foot forward to push into Australia’s World Cup travelling party, Jason Cummings was doing likewise.
In the same country where he made his first foray into international football last month, he announced his return to New Zealand rather spectacularly, scoring one and having another cruelly disallowed for offside.
After his Round One F3 derby fell victim to the weather, Cummings has only played one game in the league this campaign, but failing to keep tabs on the Scottish-born marksman may well be to your detriment.
With the bottom two clubs on the A-League Men table to entertain the Mariners in the next fortnight, the man known as the Cumdog will be hoping for a handful, and that only bodes well from a Fantasy perspective.
Tomislav Mrčela (WSW, DEF)
Price: $233,600, Next three: BRI (h), NEW (h), CCM (h)
While Mrčela’s inclusion may at first seem only due to the fact he was the highest-scoring player across the weekend, there is more than meets the eye here.
While his goal at the weekend shows an evident ability to get forward as he finished the good work he started, it is the defensive side of things that shows his worth as an asset.
While not the cheapest way into the Wanderers’ backline, he is a reliable part of the Rudan rearguard, looking under no threat to be moved out of that back four.
With two clean sheets including one against a star-studded Melbourne Victory attack, the time to bring in a Western Sydney defender may be here, and Mrčela may be the right man.
ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
Léo Lacroix (WUN, DEF)
Price: $344,500; Points: -8; Next three: MAC (h), CCM (a), ADE (h)
An inclusion here last week, Léo Lacroix’s dreadful start to the season continued on Sunday.
The Swiss defender was booked after bringing down Adam Le Fondre in the box, with that passage of play alone deducting six points from his score against the Sky Blues
Five players in the league currently have a negative total of points in 2022-23, but Lacroix’s -8 has him the worst in the league, three points behind Yan Sasse, who was red-carded in Round One.
With in-form attackers Lachie Rose and Daniel Arzani set to push the Western defence to its limits on Friday night for Macarthur, cutting your losses with Lacroix now seems like your best option.
Ulises Dávila (MAC, MID)
Price: $385,100; Points: 4; Next three: WUN (a), SYD (h), WEL (a)
While Rose and Arzani will be part of the Bulls’ attacking options attempting to terrorise John Aloisi’s defenders, Dávila will be sidelined.
A hamstring injury picked up early in the win over Adelaide United will see the former Mexican youth international miss out against the defending league champions, as Dwight Yorke will have to look elsewhere on Friday night.
The plethora of managers that have the former Phoenix man will have to do likewise, as his rather expensive price point means there is little point in keeping him on your bench.
The silver lining from a Fantasy point-of-view is there is only a handful of midfielders priced higher than Dàvila, so there are plenty of options to go to when replacing the 2019-20 Johnny Warren Medallist.
Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images
