Monday, January 3, 2011

Gameweek 22 Fantasy Preview

Drogba v Terry
Both clashed as the former contributed one goal and one assist but the latter  leaked three goals.
Chelsea once again disappoint us with a 3-3 draw against out of form Aston Villa. Once a leader, Chelsea now sit on fifth, behind Tottenham Hotspur after their derby rival secured a 1-0 win against Fulham.

On the other hand, two fantasy stars missed a penalty each this week - Tevez and Odemwingie - and I owned them both! Such a catastrophe for me since December as each and every transfer I made were disastrous. This was further worsen by Kolarov - who played 58 minutes when Man City got a clean sheet!

Finally, congratulations to Rooney - who scored his first goal from open play after so many months. But now, lets have an overview for the next gameweek...



PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES
Cesc Fabregas
Mr Fab on fire.
Arsenal v Man City
Manchester Blues are set to revenge after a humiliating defeat at home earlier this season.

This time the showdown will be much more exciting as both teams are on red hot form. The Manchester side collected 15 points from their last six games, with the London side two points less.

Compact fixtures is not a problem for both sides as they have ample talents to substitute. Arsenal have all their attackers on fire including Walcott, Arshavin, Bendtner, Van Persie, Nasri, Song, and most importantly, captain Cesc. The skipper scored 23 fantasy points from the last two games he had played. A good lead by example.

However City is by no means weaker than Arsenal. Silva has been very influential nowadays, playing a role similar to Modric at Tottenham despite lacking statistical returns. Meanwhile, Balotelli's outstanding form is a constant threat for Tevez - which will motivate the latter to give more effort on the pitch. Not to be forgotten are City's defensive midfielders who will not hesitate to play ugly tackles for the sake of victory.

A draw will not help both sides so this match should have a winner. I will lean towards the away side, as the Gunners usually fear brutal midfielders and City has a good record at away.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-3 Man City


The Rest
  • Blackpool v Birmingham (2-2) - Tight and close as Birmingham strive to get away from bottom three.
  • Fulham v West Brom (1-1) - Fulham is still lack of defensive resolution so I think the Baggies will sneak away with a result.
  • Man Utd v Stoke City (2-0) - It's the Theatre of Dreams where United win all but one. Nani is expected to be ready for this game.
  • Aston Villa v Sunderland (2-2) - Pretty unpredictable but it looks like Villans will once again get frustrated by another draw.
  • Newcastle v West Ham (1-1) - Carroll might still be doubtful for this one so the Hammers has a strong chance to push themselves further away from relegation zone.
  • Wolves v Chelsea (1-3) - With the attackers back on track, victory is expected for the Blues.
  • Blackburn v Liverpool (3-3) - Steve Kean won't park the bus like Big Sam so expect big leakages for both sides.
  • Bolton v Wigan (2-1) - N'Zogbia continues his suspension so put your chips on Elmander and co.
  • Everton v Tottenham (1-3) - No more Tim Cahill, no more power.
  • Blackpool v Liverpool* (1-2) - The Reds will like to pay a revenge against the Seasiders for both killing them at home and making their January fixtures ultimately compact.
*Gameweek double



PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS
D.J. Campbell
The best time to benefit from his service?
Captain Picks
  • Gerrard/Torres - At least you won't get a two this time.
  • Adam - One three points bonus is suffice to benefit from his captaincy.
  • Drogba/Malouda - Wolves is always Lions' food.
Buys-In
  • Drogba/Malouda - Chelsea's offence is reactivated.
  • Adam/DJ Campbell - Compact fixtures. One always score bonus while the other is on form.
Sells-Out
  • Wolves - Their next series of games - Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Bolton, Man Utd, Arsenal!
  • Chamakh - Totally overpowered by Van Persie.
  • Asian Cup participants (Park, Lee, Cahill etc) - They won't contribute anything to you this month, in any way.
Squad of XV
GK: Van der Sar
DF: Skrtel, Vidic, A Cole
MF: Gerrard(C), Fabregas, Adam, Van der Vaart
F: Torres, Drogba, DJ Campbell

Subs (in order): Jaaskelainen, Barton, Knight, Hughes

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