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Bagging Bale

Our Sky Sports Fantasy Football runs his eye over this weekend's Premier League action, picking out the players set to rack up points aplenty

Image: Gareth Bale: Unsurprisingly popular among Fantasy Football bosses

Sky Sports Fantasy Football bosses are scrambling to secure the services of Gareth Bale for this weekend

Sky Sports Fantasy Football bosses are scrambling to secure the services of Gareth Bale as the Premier League returns this weekend. The Tottenham winger is the game's in-form man right now with 36 points from the last four game weeks, prompting over 16 per cent of managers to splash out the £8.8m necessary to secure his services. Bale travels to West Ham on Monday night with four goals from his last three league games, having thrived in a more central role in the absence of Jermain Defoe. Robin van Persie remains the Premier League's most popular player but has only scored once in his last five appearances in all competitions. You would expect the Dutchman to rediscover his free-scoring ways when Manchester United travel to basement side QPR on Saturday. United's backline, which has leaked just two goals in four, also holds appeal, with the Hoops scoring a meagre eight goals at Loftus Road this season. Rafael represents the best value of the regular starters at £6.6m, having racked up 80 points this season, with 17 from his last four games. Luis Suarez remains the game's leading scorer with 197 points but will not reach his double ton this weekend, as the Reds' scheduled clash was played last weekend as Swansea face Bradford in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday. In the weekend's other headline game, Manchester City host Chelsea with two players catching the eye. Edin Dzeko has scored six goals in his last seven league games, while Frank Lampard will be looking to net in a fifth successive fixture. Elsewhere, Moussa Sissoko is considered the second most in-form player ahead of Newcastle's hosting of Southampton, having racked up 30 points from the last four game weeks, but the majority of them came when he bagged a brace against Chelsea at the start of the month. Having only previously netted once for Toulouse this season before moving to St James' Park, it is difficult to foresee such form being repeated against the Saints, especially on the back of a long trip to Ukraine for Thursday night's Europa League clash. Arsenal are considered the shortest-priced favourites with Sky Bet this weekend but are difficult to trust following a wretched week. The goals have dried up for leading scorers Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott this month, with neither finding the net. Santi Cazorla does, however, remain one of the game's best options at a modest price tag of £6.7m, having racked up 181 points to date. Despite the mauling by Bayern Munich, their backline had looked more assured of late, with back-to-back clean sheets in the league. However, they will have to stop in-form Christian Benteke, who is looking to net for a fifth successive time. On the injury front, Wayne Rooney, Tim Krul and Vincent Kompany are all doubts for the weekend.

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