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Santi delivers

Image: Santi Cazorla: Top scorer in Sky Sports Fantasy Football

Our Sky Sports Fantasy Football guru looks at who will pick up points during the festive period.

Our Sky Sports Fantasy Football guru looks at who will pick up points during the festive period.

Santi Cazorla and Robin van Persie may have stolen the show last weekend, but Sky Sports Fantasy Football bosses are advised to show faith in Manchester City's stuttering stars for the festive period. Top points scorer Cazorla pulled well clear of the chasing pack with a season-high haul thanks to his hat-trick heroics at Reading, while Van Persie moved second as he joined Michu at the top of the goalscoring charts with a brace against Sunderland. The double gameweek sees City face those who fell victim to the game's leading stars, with the Royals visiting the Eithad on Saturday before Roberto Mancini takes his side to the Stadium of Light on Wednesday. Yaya Toure, who has scored two goals in his last two games, is City's top points scorer so far this season with four goals, two assists, two Sky Sports man-of-the-match awards and 24 bonus points seeing him rack up 92 in total. Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez are the two obvious options with their starting spots surely finally assured following recent experimental failures from Mancini, with the latter offering slightly better value at £9.4m, £0.5m less than his compatriot. At the back, Matija Nastasic seems to have consolidated himself as a first-choice pick and offers superb value at £5m, especially given he has been involved in five of City's six clean sheets from his nine starts. Touching back on Cazorla, who racked up an incredible 27 points on Monday night, he should be expected to add to his impressive tally of 138 points when Arsenal travel to Wigan in Saturday's early game. But those who plan to set-up their side before slipping into a festive coma might want to look elsewhere for their captain. The playmaker only plays once in the double gameweek due to the Gunners' clash with West Ham being postponed due to the Boxing Day tube strike. While transfers can be made between the matches, the armband will remain in place from 12.45pm on Saturday, making Cazorla a questionable candidate. Van Persie, on the other hand, should be backed to add to his 12-goal tally when Manchester United travel to Swansea before hosting Newcastle. Tottenham began a relatively favourable run of fixtures with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Swansea last weekend and welcome back Gareth Bale for the visit of Stoke and a trip to Aston Villa. The winger has been directly involved in 10 goals this season, a tally only bettered at White Hart Lane by Jermain Defoe (£7.8m). However, it was Jan Vertonghen (£7.2m) who scored the all-important goal against the Swans, picking up 12 points as Spurs kept only their third clean sheet of the season. Christian Benteke, who is currently in 0.5 per cent of sides, might tempt a few after his stunning display at Liverpool, but it might be worth waiting until after the festive period with Villa facing Chelsea and Tottenham. Like Spurs, the Blues enjoy a relatively favourable couple of fixtures with a trip to Norwich to follow, making Juan Mata, who has scored four in five in all competitions, look appealing, although he is the second most expensive midfielder in the game. Looking for cheaper options, Adel Taarabt (£5.2m), who bagged a brace last weekend, seems to be playing a leading at QPR role under Harry Redknapp, while ever-improving defender Winston Reid (£4m) helped West Ham keep their sixth clean sheet of the season on Sunday. For the 24 per cent of bosses who have Marouane Fellaini on board, it is time to transfer out as he begins a three-match ban.

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