As every fantasy manager knows, a steady
stream of goals is vital when it comes to climbing the ranks of the
public leagues and overcoming your friends in your own private leagues.
No one likes a streaky striker, and with itchy mouse fingers already
burning through transfer allowances, managers need to find individuals
whom they can rely on to find the back of the net throughout the season week in, week out.Below are four forwards to take a look at as potentially permanent fixtures to see your goal supply through to May.
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You put a striker in front of Mesut Ozil, and what do you get? Goals. Lots of them, and even when your frontman isn't scoring for himself, he's usually ready and able to offer assists to others; such is the case with Olivier Giroud.
Now, add in the extra creative inspiration of Santi Cazorla, who is currently injured but more than able to slot into Arsenal's brave new area alongside Ozil as a left-sided playmaker, linking play down the flank and through midfield.
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The Frenchman is already a sound investment for fantasy managers, considering his club's form and his own transfer value and points tally thus far, but his prowess in the area should only improve as the season continues.
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Similarly, Sturridge is a player who is likely to keep on scoring well into 2014, partly thanks to those around him.
Luis Suarez's return has seen his combination with the Englishman confirmed by the press as the new SAS, while his understanding with the currently injured Philippe Coutinho during the Uruguayan's latest ban seemed as natural as it was productive.
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Then again, of all the teams currently pushing for a title chase, Liverpool as a whole look the most likely to run out of steam as the season goes on.
With Sturridge finally looking at home after difficult stints with Manchester City and Chelsea, however, his happiness at Anfield may ensure that he keeps his team in contention and himself near the top of the fantasy-point-scorers leaderboard.
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Lukaku has become the Premier League's pre-eminent match-winner-for-hire following his turns as a loanee last year at Steve Clarke's West Bromwich Albion and now with Roberto Martinez at Everton.
Considering the Belgian is also currently his national team's first-choice striker, scoring the goals that confirmed their automatic qualification to Brazil 2014, his exploits clearly haven't been the results of some great big English football fluke or anomaly.
Expect Lukaku to continue scoring goals for Everton until the end of the season. He may not be able to keep up his current rate of one per game, but a goal every other week looks likely.
For £8 million, you can't really go wrong.
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Yet if even £8 million is too much for the cash-strapped fantasy manager, Cardiff City's summer signing from FC Copenhagen could be an interesting proposition for those willing to take a gamble.
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He is set to return to action on October 26, and should he be able to put his early fitness problems behind him and become the powerful spearhead Malky MacKay signed him to be, he could be an unexpectedly consistent and cheap goal source for any fantasy team.
Sure, there's plenty of conditions that must be met for such a bet to pay off in reality, but should you find yourself short on funds and open to getting creative in attack come early November, Cornelius could be a brilliant educated guess when it comes to finding a dependable goalscorer for the season.
