Sunday Shockers

Robin Van Persie
Wenger lost what seemed to be a free trophy. The worse part is, he might even have to lose the Dutchman again for some period of time.

Not an anticipated Sunday as all teams who looked better on paper lost. The focus of course is on the League Cup final. Arsenal, who was set to break their six year title drought, continues to wait for another chance to end the embarrassment as they was sentenced to death by Obafemi Martins injury time winner. Humiliation.

Thomas Hitzlsperger
Just came back from injury, but his impact for the team is obvious.

West Ham won comfortably against Liverpool. The Reds weren't at their best in my opinion, but the Hammers deserved the credit. Hitzlsperger's return continues to provide the fluency in midfield that West Ham lacks, and new signing Demba Ba continues to dominate the front line of Hammers. Survival in Premier League shouldn't be a problem to Avram Grant's side with them around.

Damien Duff
Equalised.

On the other hand, Manchester City can only earn a draw against Fulham at home. Balotelli provided a fantastic strike for the lead, but that was later cancelled with Duff's quick goal in the second half. Their solid third place certainly don't look solid now.

A strange Premier League Sunday, after all.

Saturday Stage

Ashley Young
Starred Gw28 with 15 pre-bonus fantasy points.

A dream start for my Gw28 as six of my players had played, and the player with the least points is six! It's just fantastic. Anyway, let's see who's been sparkling just now:

• Ashley Young. One penalty, one assist and another goal. Finally provided me great returns after weeks keeping him.
• Young's teammate, Downing, is the fantasy runner-up of Saturday with 10 pre-bonus points. Also scoring 10 is Beckford who scored both goals for Everton.
• Rooney was doing great just now with one goal and one assist. Chicharito was even better for his two opening goals.
• Nani was a bit disappointing with just one assist, but six points with another game coming on isn't too bad for a captain.
• Wolves shocked me with extremely comfortable win over Blackpool. They are currently one place above relegation after the victory.
• Smalling and Coleman continue to be cheap fantasy studs as they grab points from clean sheet again.

Gameweek 28 Fantasy Preview

Wayne Rooney
Fantasy managers will struggle to pick between Berbatov and him.

Van Persie's injury in the midway of Gw27 was a bad news for most fantasy managers. In fact, I missed my chance to score three digits for the first time this season due to that.

Now let's look ahead. A weird gameweek coming on with three teams (Arsenal, Birmingham and Tottenham) not playing and Manchester United playing twice. Don't be so convince to get United players though, as both are away and one of them is Chelsea! Not to be mentioned the Red Devils will also face Liverpool away on gameweek 29.

Now let's prepare to plan your moves for Gw28 with a little help of mine...

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Fernando Torres
Still not scoring his first goal for Chelsea.

Chelsea v Manchester United
Chelsea might have lose their chance to defend their title, but they have all the chance to frustrate leader Manchester United next Tuesday at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have just won 2-0 against Copenhagen in Champions League, with Anelka scoring twice. However, consistency will continue to be an issue for Ancelotti's team as they have only scored 10 points from their last six Premier League matches. Fernando Torres's performance continues to be magnified as he is still short of his first goal for Chelsea.

On the other hand, United had to settle for a draw at Marseilles in their Champions League encounter. Smalling looked really good on the game and should again provide resolute defending to the away side. The bigger problem for fantasy managers is who should we put our chips on? Berbatov or Rooney?

A game that looks tough to be predicted on paper, but I will go for a draw.

Prediction: Chelsea 0-0 Manchester United

The Rest

• Aston Villa v Blackburn (2-1) - Darren Bent will continue to pilot Villa's offence.
• Everton v Sunderland (1-1) - Tim Cahill out injured. I'm not so sure that somebody will step up.
• Newcastle v Bolton (2-1) - The Magpies are indeed better than what I expected without Carroll.
• Wigan v Man Utd (1-2) - A game that United should not lose.
• Wolves v Blackpool (1-1) - No Adam. It might be tough.
• West Ham v Liverpool (1-2) - Suarez should start to pick up goals.
• Man City v Fulham (2-1) - Mark Hughes will go back to City of Manchester Stadium once again, but I don't think he will walk out happily.
• Stoke City v West Brom (2-1) - Stoke bullied West Brom 3-0 at away, so why not at home?

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Luis Suarez
One of the possible captain alternatives apart from Man Utd double-gamers.

Captain Picks

• Nani/Rooney/Berbatov - Obvious choices.
• Suarez/Tevez - If you seriously think that the above three will fail.

Sells-Out

• Van Persie/Walcott - If you want to retain part of their risen values permanently.

Squad of XV

GK: Begovic

DF: Baines, Huth, Smalling

MF: Nani, Meireles, A Young, Etherington

F: Rooney, Suarez, Tevez

Subs (in order): Hennessey, Barton, Kelly, Clark

Captain: Nani

ECS: Value

Thursday's Tragic?

Cesc Fabregas
Persie was out, and now Walcott and him too?

A short summary of football news happened these days:

• Inter lost to Bayern at San Siro, again. A big day for Italian football as all three of their representatives at Champions League lost at home in the first leg. Four CL spots for Germany clubs next year for sure.
• Arsenal won to close the gap between Manchester United to a point. Unfortunately, two big guns - Fabregas and Walcott - were out before the end of the match with injuries.
• 0-0 draw from Manchester United against Marseille. Not too bad in my opinion.
• Tottenham lost to Blackpool - fallen from the sky after a win against Milan.
• Adam will be suspended for two games after getting his tenth yellow. And it's two games.

Stay tuned for Gameweek 28 Fantasy Preview.

Surprises

Robin Van Persie

Flying like a god.

Sorry for the lack of updates as I am having problems with my PC. Anyway, there's lots of surprising results happening over the past few days:

• Tottenham crushed Milan at San Siro. Can you believe it? The London club has actually won two Milan giants in the same season! Fantastic job by Lennon and Gomes.
• Newcastle scored two away clean sheets at this gameweek double. Unbelievable. Smart move for those who stocked Newcastle defenders.
• Arsenal finally won Barca. Not so surprising for me though. Van Persie scored from an unbelievable angle, but Valdes should have done better with his positioning. Nasri wasn't at his best, but his vision is still lethal.

Premier League. Still the best.

Sunday Sparks

Daniel Sturridge
Made it three out of three at Bolton.

A not so crazy weekend as compared to last week's record-breaker 43 goals, but a couple of amazing goals made this week a memorable one. Here are some highlights:

• As mentioned on my last post, Rooney's fantastic overhead kick is really too enjoyable. Could be easily the goal of the season.
• Nani continued his show his consistency on the Manchester derby victory with a goal and an assist. That makes my decision to bench him a very awful one.
• Van Persie! Ten goals in seven games, he is really the most terrorising striker in premier league currently.
• Walcott and Fabregas are also on good points this week. It should be a great gameweek for those who invest heavily on Arsenal players.
• Birmingham got a clean sheet and I am more than happy about it. Labelled as flop for so long, Zigic's towering existence finally shows great importance.
• 0-0 between Blackburn and Newscastle was the last thing I expected.
• Aston Villa failed to take down Bloomfield Road as they shared a draw with Blackpool. Bent once again was pivotal; a quick and clean pass and he sent Agbonlahor to a one-on-one and scored a goal.
• Liverpool failed to make it five wins out of five, as opposed to what I expected. Meireles made it five goals out of six games with yet another stylish volley. Luis Suarez was pretty unlucky with one shot on bar and another on post, but two bonus points has justified his hard work.
• West Ham made a superb comeback after trailing for three goals to earn a point from West Brom. Worth noticing is Demba Ba who scored two goals.
• Niko Kranjcar gained my respect as he scored yet another victorious goal to make Tottenham escaping from two draws.
• And of course, Sturridge remains incredible at Bolton as he scored his third goal for Bolton in as many number of matches.

Rooney's Fantastic Overhead Kick

Simply unbelievable. Similar to Berbatov, same stadium, same intensity of rivalry, same importance, and same class. Enjoy.

Gameweek 27 Fantasy Preview

Michael Appleton

The new West Brom manager faces gameweek double on his first game in charge.

A very cinematic Gw 26 saw West Brom manager Robert Di Matteo sacked and the game between Arsenal and Newcastle subjected to possible matchmaking claim. That's Premier League by the way.

Eights teams playing twice this gameweek, are you ready for the heat? Congratulations for those who still have their wildcard, don't forget to use it!

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Carlos Tevez

"None of my teammates love the blue shirt more than I," I doubt.

Manchester United v Manchester City

A very interesting derby at such interesting times.

The Red Devils just have their unbeaten record broken at 29 games. That's a double-edged sword - either their players are relieved of their stress and play better or they loss their confidence and collapse.

On the other hand, City finally secured a clean sheet after a month with Carlos Tevez scoring his 47th, 48th and 49th goals for the Eastlands. The 50th milestone will be good enough to motivate him to score.

A quite even match-up, but since United have to prepare for their Champions League fixtures, I think they won't be able to focus too much on this game. Draw should be very possible for Tevez's side.

Prediction: Man Utd 1-1 Man City

The Rest

• Arsenal v Wolves (3-0) - The Gunners should be wary of Wolves strength. Care though, as the big names might be rotated to prepare for Champions League.
• Birmingham v Stoke City (1-0) - Huth might be superb, but the Brums' defence are capable to guard him.
• Blackburn v Newcastle (1-2) - The 4-4 draw should be a boost for the Magpies.
• Blackpool v Aston Villa (2-3) - Expect another entertaining high scoring match.
• Liverpool v Wigan (3-0) - Five consecutive clean-sheeted victories. That's what I foresee.
• West Brom v West Ham (2-2) - Unpredictable. But goals should fly.
• Sunderland v Tottenham (2-1) - Spurs might got torn between Premier League and Champions League.
• Bolton v Everton (1-2) - In form Saha should provide the edge for the Toffees.
• Fulham v Chelsea (1-2) - Tough game for the Blues with possibility to slip points.
• Birmingham v Newcastle (1-1) - Tough and close.
• West Brom v Wolves (2-2) - Another high scoring match-up.
• Blackpool v Tottenham (2-3) - Goals continue to fly at Bloomfield Road.
• Arsenal v Stoke City (2-2) - Somehow I think the Potters will bring some pain to Wenger's side.

*Important: Teams like Tottenham, Arsenal and Birmingham are not playing on Gw28. So plan your transfers well.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Robin van Persie
To continue his unstoppable form?

Captain Picks

• Van Persie/Walcott/Fabregas - Good picks, but you'll bear the risk of rotation.
• Odemwingie - Two teams with weak defences awaiting.
• Adam - Always a wise choice during the doubles.

Buy-Ins

• Arsenal players - Good time to invest on some, if you still don't have any.
• Villa players - Smooth and easy fixtures on its way.
• Liverpool players - King Kenny makes Liverpool a different team.

Squad of XV

GK: Foster*

DF: Dann, Clichy, Huth

MF: Meireles, Walcott, Adam, Brunt, Van der Vaart*

F: Van Persie, Odemwingie(C)

Subs (in order): Szczesny, Skrtel, Best, Evatt

Captain: Odemwingie

Emergency Captain: Value

*Subject to fitness.

King Kenny Wins Again

Fernando Torres
How embarrassing.

Liverpool completed the double against Chelsea after Raul Meireles completed his fourth goal from five games.

Fernando Torres was the focus of the camera throughout the game. While he did have some interesting dribbles, but all his moves were tightly marked by Liverpool's 3-4-2-1 formation. The only memorable scene about him was actually the elbow by Agger.

On the other hand, Luis Suarez didn't feature at all. That will give the Reds' fans a lot of bragging rights.

Kenny Dalglish is simply a genius.

Saturday Stage

Carlos Tevez
Birthday boy celebrated his day with three goals.

An extremely crazy premier league Saturday weekend with 41 goals produced from eight games - any single game scored on Sunday will break the goal record of a single round of premier league. Here are some highlights:

• Two penalties plus one stunning goal, and Carlos Tevez embraced his birthday stylishly. Kolarov is the other man who's marvellous throughout the game.
• Robert Huth excitingly led Stoke City for a stunning comeback with two goals and one assist, totalling him 19 fantasy points this gameweek.
• McCarthy scored 15 points this week as Wigan won 4-3. He only managed to score a total of 30 points prior to this.

Louis Saha
Doesn't want people to forget him.

• Saha scored four goals as he dictated a 5-3 victory over Blackpool. That's interesting to see as Everton is notorious for his awful striker efficiency this season but all five goals were scored by strikers on this game.
• Tottenham won Bolton thanks to Kranjcar's last minute strike of beauty. Van der Vaart should have helped them led earlier though, but his second penalty was forced to retook by the ref and he missed.

Joey Barton
Banged the Gunners.

• Incredible game. Arsenal were up 4-0 in the first 30 minutes, but surrendered all of them in the last 30! In fact, Newcastle could have won with just a little bit more luck.
• Manchester United's unbeaten run finally comes to an end after a shocking defeat to the team standing last in the table - Wolves. That's such a big relief to Arsenal after their slip.

Chelsea v Liverpool coming soon! Prepare to enjoy the fun!

Headlines Over the Past Week

Gary Neville
Wish him all the best in his post-football career.

• Gary Neville retired. He cannot be compared to Giggs or Scholes, but still, he's a legend.
• Old fantasy big names, Lampard and Rooney, finally scored some fantasy points which match their price tag.
• It only took 17 minutes for Luis Suarez to score his debut goal for Liverpool. Meanwhile, Meireles scored his third goal from four games and Martin Kelly continued to provide marvellous fantasy returns in such a cheap price.
• Liverpool actually played a weird 3-4-2-1 formation against Stoke. And it worked effectively.
• Two other new signings also scored on Gw25 - Robbie Keane for West Ham and Daniel Sturridge for Bolton.
• Obinna surely impressed fantasy managers with five goals on his recent two games.
• Darren Bent continued his fine scoring record against top sides of the Premier League.
• Fabianski out for the rest of the season. Will Szczesny become a fantasy hot cake?

FPLZ Comes With A New Header

Since Torres is now a Blue, my previous blog header is now outdated and I have to replace it with a new one.

This time, I picked Bale. Hope you like it.

Gameweek 26 Fantasy Preview

Fernando Torres
A Blue now.

Too fast for the next preview? Sorry but I've to since I'm going back to my hometown (without Internet) for festive seasons. Hope you don't mind.

So the conclusion of the transfer window is pretty much detailed in my last few posts. Since everything is settled, let's move on to our gameweek 26 fantasy preview.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Steven Gerrard v Frank Lampard
The battle between two pivotal figures of English football continues.

Chelsea v Liverpool
The Blues are hopeful for a revenge at Stamford Bridge, but they know that it will not be easy against the side which is now led by the legendary King Kenny.

Both sides have done some major signings in their squad, with the move of Torres from one to another the hottest news during the transfer window. El Nino will have to face his former club which he just departed in such a short time.

On the other side, Liverpool have signed two strikers - Suarez and Carroll. However, it's still doubtful that Carroll will recover just in time to help the Reds to teach some lesson to their former idol Torres. 4-5-1 will be a very possible line-up for the Reds.

Honestly, I don't think Liverpool's defence can hold both Drogba and Torres off, and added with home advantage, victory should be in the Blues' grasp.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool

The Rest

• Stoke v Sunderland (2-2) - Both have strengthened their squads during the transfer window and it should be a close fight.
• Aston Villa v Fulham (3-1) - Trust Bent.
• Everton v Blackpool (2-1) - Tim Cahill is back and so does Everton's aerial advantage.
• Man City v West Brom (4-0) - Tevez is expected to demolish Di Matteo's squad.
• Newcastle v Arsenal (0-2) - Carroll went away, just like Newcastle's goals.
• Tottenham v Bolton (1-0) - Bolton sinks again.
• Wigan v Blackburn (2-1) - Hard guess, but Wigan should be desperate to end their victoryless streak.
• Wolves v Man Utd (1-2) - The Red Devils certainly look better in away recently.
• West Ham v Birmingham (2-1) - Robbie Keane effect will do the job.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Carlos Tevez
Takes the armband again.

Captain Picks

• Tevez - West Brom's defence has never been good.
• Bent - Simply prolific.
• Van Persie - More influential than Fabregas.

Buys-In

• Keane - Cheap and proven.

Squad of XV

GK: Hart

DF: Warnock, Hutton, Coleman
MF: Nani, Van der Vaart, Young, N'Zogbia
F: Tevez(C), Bent, Van Persie

Subs (in order): Green, Etherington, Rafael, Alcaraz
Captain: Tevez
Emergency Captain: Value

Chelsea's Double Swoop

David Luiz
The next Coloccini?

Chelsea becomes the biggest spender in the transfer deadline day as they completed the deal for Fernando Torres and also defender David Luiz.

Torres is hot enough already, so let's share a bit about the defender.

The Brazilian is just 23 years old and will become the long term solution for Chelsea's central defense.

He doesn't come in cheap though. Coming from Benfica, he costed Chelsea £21.3m plus youth player Nemanja Matic.

Reds Agree Carroll Fee!

Andy Carroll (again)
No more zebra stripes.

It's official! Liverpool official website has announced that Newcastle had agreed the fee for Newcastle striker Andy Carroll. Now it is subjected to player terms and medical check-up for the deal to success.

That also means that, Torres departure from Anfield is certain. £85m from two deals at the last day of transfer? Very entertaining!

It is also rumoured that Liverpool had sent a car to collect Charlie Adam. Insanely ambitious.

The Blockbuster Continues...

Andy Carroll
Clearing his zebra stripes for a red?

The transfer saga is getting crazier now with Liverpool launching two attempts already to secure the service of Andy Carroll as their replacement.

However, it is rumoured that Newcastle had rejected both of their attempts, with the second one amounting £35m plus bonuses.

How will Torres and Carroll negotiations turn out to be? I think this is the craziest transfer deadline day I had ever encountered.

ENJOY THE DRAMA!