Cazorla to be the main man for Arsenal this weekend

Arsenal's title challenge goes on the line this weekend as they face the considerable barrier that is Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have dropped just two points all season in front of their home fans and after wins over fellow challengers Manchester City and Liverpool will fancy their chances of picking up three points against another rival.

The Gunners hopes have been dealt a blow by the absence of Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil, however there is one man, one who has failed to hit the impressive heights of last season that could be a game changer this weekend, Santi Cazorla.

With Ozil out, the play-making responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the Spanish International.

The former Malaga man weighted in 12 goals and 11 assists however his tally this time round a more meager 4 of each.

Cazorla has not struggled for game time, as evidenced by 22 league starts however, while according to whoscored.com he has outperformed Ozil and Wilshere, his average score is 7.32 versus the 7.19 and 7.02 boasted by his midfield partners.

The major difference this time round is unlike last season this time round the Spaniard is not the main man

Ozil is the £42.5 million miracle man, Aaron Ramsey the new kid on the block finally showing his potential and Jack Wilshere, well he is English, all of which has pushed Cazorla down the rankings.

On Saturday however Wenger will turn to the 29 year old to help the Gunners improve of their record of just three wins at Stamford Bridge since 2004.

Cazorla is Arsenal's third top scoring midfielder in fantasy league points and again is just behind Ramsey when it comes to whoscored.com average per game on the road.

His only goal away from home this season came in the 2-2 draw with Southampton but he has claimed two assists on his travels, both against London teams, Fulham and West Ham United.

With an average of 2.3 shots per game and 1.5 key passes Cazorla could be the key to unlocking the Chelsea defence, he needs to be, a defeat this weekend could all but end Arsenal’s title hopes while it would enforce Deloitte’s, I mean, Chelsea fans belief that Jose Mourinho is wrong and the club can win the title this season.

Will Cazorla be in your team? Play single game fantasy football at www.fantasy5live.com  - free to enter with guaranteed prizes every game.

#FlyBuy - GW25

I knew who I wanted to pick this week. I planned it 4 weeks ago. In all honesty he was supposed to be my pick for GW23 for the derby game. But Manchester United signed Juan Mata, and well, y'know, he absolutely HAD to be my choice for that week. After all, the parameters I get to play with are a player who perhaps used to be an FPL necessity, who has gone off the boil for one reason or another, but who I predict will "fly" again. So, Mata was a no-brainer. And it paid off.

Last week (GW24) I seized on a closing window of opportunity to pick another United player. Why do I say closing window? Well, my parameters mean my pick has to come from a team who are between 5th and 15th in the Premier League. I truly believe United are in a false position and will be overtaking Spurs, Everton and Liverpool in due course. I never expected them to lose to Stoke though. The return of RVP saw him as my FlyBuy pick last week, and he repaid me with a goal.

But this is where it gets difficult. The guy I had lined up for GW23 but left on the back-burner has gone nuclear. To the point where I can no longer use him as a FlyBuy pick. Why? Because he is already flying high again so it would be viewed as a pick with the benefit of hindsight.

To whom do I refer? The human tank that is Christian Benteke. 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 games tells you all you need to know about the big Belgian. If I didn't have J-Rod occupying my 3rd Striker spot in my own team, Benteke would be in there in a flash.

But I can't pick him with all good integrity. So who should I go for? Well, in all honesty, I'm struggling. Nobody is an immediate choice, and those names I am considering I personally don't really believe are capable of going on a run. Except one. In all honesty he's not "my" kind of player, but I guess that's irrelevant and I should go with what I see.

I see a player who is going to have to lead the line for his club in the absence of the (so called) main man. The club itself are in decent form and the guy loading the bullets at the moment is THE in form FPL player (I refer of course to Adam Johnson).

So without further ado, I reveal to you my FlyBuy pick for GW25; Fabio Borini

It's a long shot, and it may backfire - we shall have to wait and see...

FLY

@meet_the_gadfly