Fletcher vs Berbatov vs Ba

roryc

Practically every team will have one of these three players in their team, filling up the 'third striker' spot. With most people playing 3 up front this is a much more important slot than previous seasons.

RVP is the lone 'super striker' at 13.7m, regardless of whether managers think he's worth this pricetag or not. I'll be keeping him in my team unless he gets injured or really loses form.

Tevez, Suarez, Torres and Aguero fill up most peoples 'mid-range' striker option, with people that don't have RVP usually having two of these.

Then on to the final 'cheap' striker option, mainly consisting of one of the following three.

Fletcher
Berbatov
Ba

With players like Defoe, Lambert, Podolski, Jelavic and Long also appearing in some teams. I've had all three choices at one stage or another, and it's difficult to gauge which is actually the better option at the moment.

Price
Fletcher 7.0m
Berbatov 7.6m
Ba 8.3m

Fletcher clearly the cheapest option here after dropping 0.3 last week.

Points per game
Berbatov 6.6
Fletcher 6.0
Ba 5.8

An accurate analysis as nobody has played 15-20 minutes in any game to skew the figures. Berbs has only played 7.5 games though, compared to Fletcher (10) and Ba (11.5)

Ownership (Differential Ratio)
Fletcher 5.2%
Berbatov 17.3%
Ba 27.5%

Fletcher clearly the best 'differential' of the three.

Goals/Assists
Ba 8/1
Berbatov 5/3
Fletcher 6/1

Ba leading the way here, although the same happened last season before Cisse arrived after which he went very quiet. Berbatov getting involved in assists which are only 1 point less than a goal for a striker, although count for less towards BP's

Upcoming Fixtures
Fletcher - West Brom (H), QPR (H), Norwich (A), Chelsea (H) + Reading (H)
Ba - Southampton (A), Stoke City (A), Wigan (H), Fulham (A)
Berbatov - Stoke City (A), Chelsea (A), Tottenham (H), Newcastle (H)

Fletcher easily the best run of fixtures + Double GW. Berbs fixtures not great at all, although he has proven in the past he can perform in the big games.

Form (last 3 games)
Berbatov 31 points
Ba 20 points
Fletcher 19 points

Berbatov clearly the most reliable of the three so far this season.


Personally I think it's between Fletcher and Berbs. Fletcher has the better fixtures, Berbs the better form. Let the poll decide

dahat

Berbatov

Berbatov has 2 of his creative influences injured for 3 weeks or so and that alone makes Fletcher the choice but Sunderland were toothless till Hangeland was sent off the other day.
Sunderland havent had 20 shots on target all season i reckon but they will improve and Fletcher does seem to grab the 3BP's when he does score.

From this week on i have RVP,Suarez and Tevez up top so hopefully i wont need these lads!!

SlickRic

i have Ba and Berbatov at the moment.

i must be doing it wrong.

Ace0x9

Berbatov

Hmm, as the current situation stands, I'd prefer Fletcher. Berbatov might have enough class to knock in 5 goals at the back of the net in a given gameweek but Fletcher seems like he could run away with a few points in the next few gameweeks (and maybe outscore Berba/Ba in the next 6 gameweeks)

Long term, I think Ba's a good option. Short-term, I'd pick Fletcher.

Amirani

Other

Great post OP, exactly the sort of thread this forum could do with more of.

Fwiw, I switched Fletcher to Ba 2 weeks ago and captained Ba last weekend. Sunderland just look to poor to me to consider sticking with Fletcher. If they start playing though, he's the best out-and-out goalscorer of the 3.

I think Berbatov is the form player of the 3 though his fixtures negate that somewhat. Throw in the couple of injuries that Fulham have as another negative.

Ba has a good balance between fixtures and form though and his extra price doesn't bother me too much. I would like to perhaps replace him with Berbatov at some point however.

roryc

Berbatov

The low ownership ratio of Fletcher is quite appealing.

Had his two disallowed goals in recent games stood we would not even be having this debate.

OneColdHand

One point I noticed recently is the amount of BPs Fletcher has: 15. Tied 2nd highest in the game. He's gotten all 3 BPs 5 times. I have him, and was about to dump him, but after last weekend might hang on now until after the DGW.

Also have Ba, but very much on the fench about him. He has decent fixtures so will give him a few more weeks.

Swiper the fox

Ba

I'd be a big fan of Berbatov from his Spurs days so I may be slightly biased but I really don't see the other two as being in the same league at all. From what I know of him Fletcher is a form player who has scored goals consistently enough but without ever being really prolific, he seems to average a goal every 3 games as his teams focus up front, Ba would have potential for more goals in my opinion with his strength and finishing and also the fact that he plays with a far better team.
Berbatov is a world class player who had a hard time at utd but still scored an awful lot of goals when he was used, with Fulham he is like a conductor, he's back to his best, if he stays fit he could be the bargain of the season in FF,

roryc

Berbatov

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I'd be a big fan of Berbatov from his Spurs days so I may be slightly biased but I really don't see the other two as being in the same league at all. From what I know of him Fletcher is a form player who has scored goals consistently enough but without ever being really prolific, he seems to average a goal every 3 games as his teams focus up front, Ba would have potential for more goals in my opinion with his strength and finishing and also the fact that he plays with a far better team.
Berbatov is a world class player who had a hard time at utd but still scored an awful lot of goals when he was used, with Fulham he is like a conductor, he's back to his best, if he stays fit he could be the bargain of the season in FF,

Fletchers next 4 fixtures are significantly better than Berbs though, including a DGW.

Can't be ignored...

Ace0x9

Berbatov

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I'd be a big fan of Berbatov from his Spurs days so I may be slightly biased but I really don't see the other two as being in the same league at all. From what I know of him Fletcher is a form player who has scored goals consistently enough but without ever being really prolific, he seems to average a goal every 3 games as his teams focus up front, Ba would have potential for more goals in my opinion with his strength and finishing and also the fact that he plays with a far better team.
Berbatov is a world class player who had a hard time at utd but still scored an awful lot of goals when he was used, with Fulham he is like a conductor, he's back to his best, if he stays fit he could be the bargain of the season in FF,

The question is: "What are the odds of him being fit for 80%-90% of whatever's left of the season?"

He ain't getting any younger. The old warhorse has to take a few breaks every now and then even during the match and there's no guarantee that he won't get a knock on him before the end of the season (as is the case with most ageing footballers, wouldn't particularly point him out for that).

His age is a definite factor here. He might be experienced and classy but you can't deny that Ba and Fletcher have more stamina and hence can create more goal-scoring chances within the same time-slot.

Berba is a potential bargain but then again, the same can be said about Fletcher.

Swiper the fox

Ba

roryc wrote: »

Fletchers next 4 fixtures are significantly better than Berbs though, including a DGW.

Can't be ignored...

I'd be of the opinion that Berbatov can score against anybody, I wouldn't agree either with some people who have said that Kacelniclik's and Ruiz's absence will affect him, Berbatov can score his own goals and Fulham as a team have shown that they are well capable of creating chances.
When you are only allowed 1 transfer a week I wouldn't be rushing into buying Sunderland players, I could well be wrong about Fletcher but I don't see him scoring more than 15 goals this year and very few assists.

roryc

Berbatov

Fletchers next 3 games are West Ham (H), QPR (H) and Norwich (A).

If he scores twice in these three games I guarantee you will see people rushing to bring him in for the DGW, with many giving him the armband.

machiavellianme

RVP, Suarez and Tevez ftw!

Iused2likebusts

berba fletcher ba for me in that order. Berba just shading it as he is on pens. Dont think fletch took pens at his previous clubs. Next four weeks though fletch looks like being the best option.

CSF

Berbatov

Brought in Fletcher for the week just gone. I think he is about to hit a major boom.

Thecon21

Chicarito Suarez Ba up top.

Beast of a midfield all the same, Yaya, Hazard, Valencia, Cazorla going in to name a few.

Think Suarez might nab another goal this week. I'll leave him as captain.

Mr.Prodston

Ba

roryc wrote: »

Fletchers next 3 games are West Ham (H), QPR (H) and Norwich (A).

If he scores twice in these three games I guarantee you will see people rushing to bring him in for the DGW, with many giving him the armband.

West Ham have only conceded 11, so no guarantee of goals and Norwich have had 5 clean sheets this season too. Also if Mark Hughes gets the sack then perhaps QPR will be on an up.

I have RVP, Suarez and Berbatov so clearly hope the Berb will fare the best. Replaced Ba with Suarez last week too. and got rid of Ben Arfa for James Morrison to help fund it.

S.M.B.

I've been singing the praise of Berbatov all season but if money wasn't an option I'd have Ba in my team for the next few weeks but alas I'll have to make do with Dimitar.

donglen

Berbatov

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I'd be of the opinion that Berbatov can score against anybody, I wouldn't agree either with some people who have said that Kacelniclik's and Ruiz's absence will affect him, Berbatov can score his own goals and Fulham as a team have shown that they are well capable of creating chances.
When you are only allowed 1 transfer a week I wouldn't be rushing into buying Sunderland players, I could well be wrong about Fletcher but I don't see him scoring more than 15 goals this year and very few assists.

But it's not about having Fletcher for the whole season, if you're rotating your third striker then looking at the fixtures he's the man to bring in for the short-term.

massdebater

Berbatov

2 goals and 1 assist for Ba in his last 6 plus his pricetag pretty much rule him out for me. Three away games in the next four don't help either.

For me it's Fletcher from now until after the double then switch to Berba. Fletcher's next four gameweeks fixtures compared to Berba's are too difficult to ignore. Berba's fixtures get significantly better from GW17 so it'll be a straight swap with Fletcher then.

Lemlin

machiavellianme wrote: »

RVP, Suarez and Tevez ftw!

I could easily work Suarez, RVP and Aguero into my team if I drop Rafael for someone cheaper.