Kick-Off: Gameweek 36 Fantasy Preview

Awardsss: Gareth Bale is the winner of PFA Player of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.

Gareth Bale (£10.7m, 12 pts) was all over the headlines after clinching a hat-trick of awards. Astounding. In the European football we saw Bayern completed a 7-0 sweep against Barcelona. The end of an era?

Let's back to our fantasy business anyway with another double gameweek awaiting us...

FEATURED: Manchester United v Chelsea @ Old Trafford
Reigning champions Manchester United will welcome the challenge of Chelsea at the Theater of Dreams.

With nothing else to compete for, the Red Devils will go all out against their new rivals since Roman Abramovich purchased the London club last decade. Robin Van Persie (£13.8m, 8 pts) continues to be the biggest threat and the player of the year of every Manchester United fans. Nonetheless, fantasy managers should take into account of the possibility of "experiments" by Sir Alex Ferguson as he prepares the team for the next season — rotations can possibly harm your fantasy returns from this team.

On the other side, Fernando Torres (£9.3m, - pts) led his side to reach the final of Europa League, and may give United's defence a tough run. Rotations are also a heavy downside here with such compact fixtures for the Blues, but at least Rafa Benitez's side have two games this gameweek to earn fantasy points.

David Luiz (£6.6m, 6 pts) is one good investment to consider, with his defence greatly improved compared to when he was initially at Stamford Bridge and his threatening long range efforts.

There are a lot of uncertainties in this game so let's just stick with a scoring draw.

Prediction: MUN 2-2 CHE

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester City
Sure, Tottenham have better reason to go all out, but City's fixtures are relatively much easier and they need to warm up for their FA Cup final too.

Carlos Tevez (£9.3m, 2 pts) is the obvious pick upfront despite scoring none in the last two games. Yaya Toure (£8.2m, 10 pts) will provide support from the back, and is also a good option for you in this double gameweek.

Defensively it seems rather negative for me against West Brom who have in-form Romelu Lukaku (£6.7m, 15 pts), though Swansea's rather weak offence recently presents the Citizens the chance to clinch a clean sheet.

Prediction: SWA 1-2 MCI, MCI 3-1 WBA

PLAYER FOCUS: Bale
Of course you have to go for Super-Bale, who still has all the reasons to fight for this season. His halo of glories will make his days tougher in front of his opponents, but nonetheless these should not be a problem for him.

GAMEWEEK 36 DREAM TEAM

Robles

Luiz — Dawson — Zabaleta

Bale (C) — Coutinho — Mata — Yaya Toure

Defoe — Tevez (VC) — Lukaku

Subs: Vorm — Walcott — Boyce — Azpilicueta

Can't wait to get more? Like FPLZ official Facebook page to get the latest updates regularly!

Kick-Off: Gameweek 15 Fantasy Preview

Shocking defeat + shocking exit for Ferguson's team in the
Champions League.

Overview
Calamitous day in football for Manchester as both representatives, namely City and United, were knocked out from the group stage. While City's exit is pretty much expected, United's elimination is a completely different story as it definitely shows how thin is Ferguson's squad currently to fight four ways. Not even half of the season, and the Red Devils are only left with two trophies to compete for. Glazer simply need to fund for new players to arrive at Old Trafford.

Game of the Week: CHELSEA v MANCHESTER CITY

Drogba: still not out of his
prime.

Two clubs which go for very different route. Chelsea, poor in Premier League but progressed through the last 16 in UEFA Champions League; Manchester City, invincible domestically but crashed out of the most prestigious cross-country league of the region. Stamford Bridge is the venue.

Andre Villas-Boas seems to have escaped from the big slump after recording three 3-0 victories against Wolves, Newcastle and Valencia respectively. His decision to relocate Drogba as his centre forward and drop Lampard from his midfield line-up were the key to the sudden shift in form.

However, the back line is as unconvincing as before. David Luiz is a big time bomb there and has caused so much of trouble to Petr Cech and Terry to handle. He will not always be lucky, so expect Mancini's side to exploit such fragile defence.

On the other side, City will surely want to unleash their anger due to Champions League exit on Chelsea. Aguero and Silva are no-brainer picks for offence as always while you can never be sure who will actually play with them among Balotelli, Nasri, Dzeko, Yaya Toure, Barry, Milner and Adam Johnson. Proceed with caution.

I believe it will be a high scoring game. A draw would be a fair result, though City should have a higher chance of victory.

Prediction: CHE 2-2 MCI
Pick: Silva, Aguero, Drogba
Drop: CHE defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: ARSENAL v EVERTON

Vermaelen is not shy to
attack from the back.

Captain Van Persie will get on fire again as the Gunners host the Toffees in this weekend's match.

Wenger's team are surely full of form now, recording 6 wins and 1 draw since 1-2 defeat to Tottenham. They scored 20 goals in total in these matches, including a 5-3 classic victory against Chelsea.

Van Persie should, or probably must, become your captain this week. Everton is in terrible form right now and at home, is all up to him who didn't play in the Champions League tie to blast Moyes' squad into pieces.

It's hard to believe how Everton is going to hold them up with such average defence and terrible offence...

Pick and Captain: Van Persie
Pick: Vermaelen, Walcott, Gervinho
Drop: EVE defence


Pick and Drop

Pick:

1. Long - Should beat Wigan with a goal or two.
2. Adam - Time to perform against QPR especially when Suarez has troubles with FA.
3. Welbeck - Needs to step up given Hernandez's absence.
4. Bale/ Lennon - Their speed will be vital to break through Stoke's tough defence.
5. Yakubu - His morale should be high after bullied Swansea with 4 goals.
6. Ba - Norwich's defence won't be too hard for him to perform.

Drop:

1. BOL defence - Gary Cahill-less and that surely matters.
2. Baines - Surely they will be no clean sheet isn't it?
3. STO defence - Tottenham's gunpowder is just too powerful.

Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):

1. Van Persie - With only 33% ownership for such incredible performance, he still has much room to grow in price.
2. Vermaelen  - Ultra offensive as a defender.
3. Long - Reinstalled his form and should continue to perform.
4. Ba - Super ace of the team with great offensive capabilities.
5. Yakubu - On  hype and is having a string of easy fixtures.
6. Sturridge - Super consistent goal-rate.

Yellow light (watch):

1. NEW defence - The unchanged defensive line-up is forced to change for the first time.
2. Suarez - Continues to be troubled by FA.
3. Drogba - Powered up again.
4. Romeu - Is very cheap and has started 3 consecutive games for Chelsea.

Red light (sell):

1. Luiz - He will bring the whole Chelsea defend line down.
2. Hernandez - Injured.
3. Vidic - Might be out for the season.
4. Santos - Injured.
5. Lampard - AVB is phasing him out.

Gameweek 15 Dream Team

Vorm

Vermaelen -- Enrique -- Jones

Walcott -- Bale -- Adam (VC) -- Brunt -- Sinclair

Van Persie (C) -- Ba

Subs: Westwood -- Yakubu -- Evans -- Russell Martin 

Man Utd Cruise to the 19th

Wayne Rooney v David Luiz
The one below is actually above.

Congratulations, Manchester United. Unless somethings as dramatic as Arsenal v Liverpool happens later, the Red Devils will be six points clear from Chelsea - which resembles 99% chance of surpassing Liverpool and becoming the greatest club in England, at least in terms of trophies.

Chelsea was playing so awful in the first half and they really deserve to trail by two goals. Great job again by Chicharito and Rooney. They will continue to play the leading role in United's next season.

Saturday Stage

Fernando Torres

Broke his duck with a goal and an assist from the bench.

A pretty entertaining Saturday with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all winning their games. Here's some highlights:

Maxi Rodriguez
Only the best coach can lead a second-string player to score a hat-trick.

• Liverpool won their biggest margin game of the season after demolishing Birmingham 5-0, breaking their record of nine winless games against the Brums. Maxi, surprisingly, claimed the match ball with his wonderful hat-trick. With yet another clean sheet, you really have to admire the brain and wisdom of Kenny Dalglish. As long as he stays, Liverpool have a fair chance of winning the title next season!
• Also spectacular for Liverpool are Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez. Do you know Kuyt has scored 63 fantasy points from the last six games?!! That's averaging 10 for each! Suarez was not lucky for not scoring the second goal himself, but as long as he plays, he will create enough troubles for others to score.
• The Reds' arch-rivals, Manchester United, decided the game in the final minutes again as Javier Hernandez scored the victory goal. He may had blocked Nani's shot with his butt, but then, his goal compensated that. Chicharito, too good for his age.
• Of all, Chelsea fans' should be the happiest ones yesterday as Mr 50mil finally broken his duck and scored his first goal for Chelsea. A good goal I shall say. In addition, he has also provided an assist for Malouda! But will he open his floodgate now, as what he has promised?
• Meanwhile, Malouda and Lampard were on the score sheet again as they return to their prime. It will make the title race interesting if they manage to beat United at Old Trafford.
• David Luiz almost scored a long range cannon yesterday. Still, his great display - both attack and defence - earned him another bonus point.
• West Ham has made Chelsea's day tough - unlucky for them for not scoring.
• Tottenham failed to take down West Bromwich Albion and they will suffer from the consequences. Liverpool are now only three points behind and Spurs are yet to battle Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool!
• Odemwingie is really red hot now after collecting 50 fantasy points from his last six.
• Sunderland finally got their last needed victory to safety zone as Henderson and Sessegnon starred the game.
• Wolves v Fulham, Blackpool v Newcastle and Aston Villa v Stoke all ended 1-1. The only thing that concerns me though, is that Adam has finally contributed something more than two points after three average games.

Gameweek 33 Fantasy Preview

Carlos Tevez
Out for up to a month, out of Golden Boot race.

Quite a number of bad news occurred in the soccer arena, including Tevez's moderate injury ahead of FA Cup tie against Manchester United and the tragedy of Drogba's family. My deep condolences to Drogba.

Back on track. Only six gameweeks left to improve your season rankings, and with Chelsea and Arsenal having a gameweek double this week, are you ready to fight till the end?

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Andy Carroll
Will pose tremendous threat to Arsenal's defenders.

Arsenal v Liverpool

The Gunners will face a decisive week to their title race as they host Liverpool as the first game of their gameweek double.

The Reds just pissed Manchester City away from Anfield with a classy 3-0 victory thanks to the marvel of Andy Carroll. With the Geordie opened his account with Liverpool, you can expect huge pressure to be faced by the Koscielny and co. That is even worse with Suarez providing different dimension of attack to complement Carroll.

Meanwhile, Arsenal finally got back on track with a victory against Blackpool last week. But just as we all know, inconsistency has been a consistent problem for Arsenal. Van Persie needs to stop wasting chances if they are to continue their pressure against Manchester United on the table.

Despite having home advantage, I don't think three points are on Wenger's grasp. Carroll alone is enough to crush Lehmann (or Almunia?).

Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool

Aaron Lennon v Theo Walcott
A contest of agile wingers.

Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal*

An interesting replacement fixture as we see Arsenal battling Tottenham to continue their pressure on the leader Manchester United.

Tottenham might get demoralized after their Champions League exit with a silly goal conceded by Heurelho Gomes. But they do have stamina advantage on hand as Arsenal will get exhausted after battling Liverpool this Sunday.

Viewing on their stars, Van der Vaart and Bale are still struggling to back to their best. But they've Peter Crouch who just scored a brace last week and will be looking to do the same in this match.

On the other hand, Arsenal have almost all of their attackers available for this game and will do everything to crush Tottenham's defence.

It's a contest of determination, and I believe the Gunners have the thirst for victory.

Prediction: Tottenham 1-2 Arsenal

The Rest

• Birmingham v Sunderland (1-0) - A very vital game for Brums' survival. They simply must win.
• Blackpool v Wigan (2-1) - A win will bring Wigan above Blackpool. But with the poorest offence in Premier League, can they? I am negative about that.
• Everton v Blackburn (2-0) - The Toffees have been quite good on attack recently. Do invest on their attackers.
• West Brom v Chelsea (2-3) - Hodgson is indeed a mid-table club maestro. Chelsea will need to beware.
• West Ham v Aston Villa (2-3) - Wide areas has always been the Hammers' problems, and that's the Villans' advantage.
• Newcastle v Man Utd (1-2) - I don't expect rock solid United to slip this. But don't expect a big win either after a massive FA Cup derby.
• Chelsea v Birmingham* (2-0) - No reason for not winning this one.

*Replacement fixtures

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

David Luiz
A possible captain pick for this gameweek double with his wonderful bonus magnet-ing skills.

Captain Picks

• David Luiz/Lampard/Drogba - Put your double on them on top of their double with easy fixtures.
• Van Persie - Two tough opponents. But does he ever pick his opponent to score?
• Adam - Well, he faces Wigan. Poor defenders.

Buys-In

• Carroll - Adapted to Liverpool.
• Luiz/Ivanovic - You might consider both of them. It's quite possible to get two clean sheets.

Sells-Out

• Tevez - Out for a month.

Squad of XV

GK: Foster

DF: Ridgewell, Luiz, Ivanovic, Clichy

MF: Adam, Lampard, A Young, Walcott

F: Van Persie, Bent

Subs (in order): Kingson, Carroll, Jagielka, Smalling

Captain: Luiz

ECS: Value

Gameweek 32 Fantasy Preview

Fernando Torres
The next Shevchenko?

So Fernando Torres's goal drought has now been extended to nine games. Never expect that for a £50m striker don't you? Can he end the embarrassment this week against Wigan?

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

David Silva
Looks sharp to get something at Anfield.

Liverpool v Man City
Tough problems are on Dalglish's hands currently as he has to lead his team to finish the season with an incomplete squad.

Agger, Kelly and Gerrard are all out for the rest of the season and with Johnson and Shelvey on the injury camp as well, the Reds' squad depth is definitely been wiped out - they have now only four fit first team defenders! It much worse when you know that Kyrgiakos and Wilson are the ones who join Carragher and Skrtel on defence.

Man City also has problems on their defence department but theirs are much much easier to solve compared to Liverpool's. Furthermore, their attackers such as Silva and Yaya Toure are also on form, and that will make their task to conquer Anfield much easier.

Fragile defence - this reason is convincing enough for me to go for a City victory.

Prediction: Liverpool 1-3 Man City


The Rest

• Wolves v Everton (2-1) - Always believe in those still with targets to fight for.
• Blackburn v Birmingham (2-1) - The outcome might be crucial for the fate of both clubs. Expect a big scoreline.
• Bolton v West Ham (2-2) - The Hammers will continue to fight crazily for survival.
• Chelsea v Wigan (3-0) - A golden opportunity for Torres to end his goal drought - but will he take the chance?
• Man Utd v Fulham (2-0) - No Rooney this time, but no problem still.
• Sunderland v West Brom (2-2) - I bet on form Baggies will be able to extend Black Cats' unwinning run to eight games.
• Tottenham v Stoke City (2-1) - The long missing VdV/Bale effect should be back finally.
• Blackpool v Arsenal (0-4) - It will be catastrophic if Wenger cannot take this. It will be disappointing is Van Persie cannot score more than one.
• Aston Villa v Newcastle (2-0) - Injury and suspension will prevent Newcastle from doing well in this.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Robin van Persie
Will he fail us again? Hope not.

Captain Picks

• Van Persie - Blackpool will open a lot of holes for him.
• Lampard/Drogba - Wigan are no match for them.
• Nani/Hernandez - They will share the boots left by Rooney.

Buys-In

• Van der Vaart - Domestic results will affect his chance of staying.
• Bent - He is the key for Villa's survival.

Sells-Out

• Nolan - Suspended coupled with a bad run of fixtures awaiting.

Squad of XV

GK: Van der Sar

DF: Vidic, Luiz, Dawson

MF: Lampard, Nani, Van der Vaart, Jarvis

F: Van Persie, Hernandez, Odemwingie

Subs (in order): Robinson, Parker, Walker, Samba

Captain: Van Persie

ECS: Value

Gameweek 31 Fantasy Preview

Robin van Persie
Sustained an injury but the club is optimistic that he will play this Saturday.

So the international games are over and we've lost one of the best fantasy commodity - Gareth Bale. Meanwhile, Liverpool has also confirmed the loss of Martin Kelly for the rest of the season. With Van Persie, Tevez and some other big names doubtful for the game this weekend, it will be a major headache for fantasy managers.

The Dutch were obviously the strongest team this week, with Premier League stars Dirk Kuyt and Van Persie both on the score sheet. Carroll has also scored his first goal since he left Newcastle. But can they bring their form back to their clubs? We shall see.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Scott Parker
Can his form halt United's progress?

All Games

• West Ham v Man Utd (2-2) - United stumble at away. That's too usual.
• Birmingham v Bolton (1-0) - Bolton has nothing much to fight for. That's very opposite for the Brums.
• Everton v Aston Villa (2-1) - Everton has been pretty solid at Goodison Park recently.
• Newcastle v Wolves (3-1) - Big Mick will miss Kevin Doyle.
• Stoke City v Chelsea (2-3) - Carlo will certainly want to retain his chance to win the Premier League.
• West Brom v Liverpool (1-2) - The golden trio - Suarez, Carroll and Kuyt will outshine Roy Hodgson.
• Wigan v Tottenham (1-2) - Spurs must win this if they are to feature in the Champions League next season.
• Arsenal v Blackburn (3-0) - Obviously the match of the week. Unfortunately Van Persie is doubtful, and there will be a dilemma of whether or not to captain him.
• Fulham v Blackpool (2-1) - Charlie Adam has been declared fit to face Fulham, but I still expect a home win.
• Man City v Sunderland (2-1) - The Black Cats' form is too bad for Manchester City to lose.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Dirk Kuyt
Possessed by Superman recently.

Captain Picks

• Van Persie - Should bang in a couple of goals, if he features.
• Kuyt/Suarez - This partnership is in incredible form.
• Van der Vaart - Bale will out for this one, so it's all his show again.

Buys-In

• Kuyt/Suarez - Too great to miss.
• Lampard/Luiz - Easy games ahead.

Sells-Out

• Meireles - With the strikers on form, there's less reliance for his offensive service.

Squad of XV

GK: Foster

DF: Ridgewell, Coleman, Carragher

MF: Nani, Parker, Kuyt, Lampard, Van der Vaart

F: Van Persie, Suarez

Subs (in order): Almunia, Best, Jose Enrique, Aaron Hughes

Captain: Van Persie

ECS: Value

Fantasy Pit Stop 2: End-Season Deciders

Honour or humiliation, which path do you choose?

Taking the chance of this international break, let's have a look on the must-haves so that you can end your fantasy season in style...

In reversed order of importance,

5. Marinho David Luiz

Obviously has great future with Blues.

Simply amazing. He joined Chelsea on the same day with £50m Fernando Torres, and the results? Torres is still waiting for his first goal, but this defender has already scored two!

Still not convinced? Of all four Premier League games he has started with the Blues, he scored two goals, grabbed two man of the match and took full three-points bonus twice. Incredible statistics for a newcomer, honestly.

Solid at the back yet sharp up front. He deserves to be your primary defender to finish the remainder of this fantasy season. Marinho David Luiz.

4. Luis Suarez

Establishing himself as the legend of Anfield in the speed of light.

For your information, Liverpool's league performance in 2011 is the second best - trailing behind leaders Manchester United. If Kenny Dalglish is the one who gets the biggest share of credits, then Suarez must be the second.

Started four and came from the bench once, his performance is even more superior than David Luiz's: two goals, three assists and a total of 32 fantasy points - averaging 6.4 points per game. A great figure especially when he is still yet to produce unproductive fantasy points of two and below.

What's more? His reality performance on the field suggests that he can actually do more than what he is doing in fantasy currently. Just from these five games, he has already committed several goal attempts on posts/bars, completed a world class dribbling skill against Manchester United, and scored a zero angle goal!

Here you have it. Luis Suarez, the Hand of God II.

3. Charlie Adam

Blackpool must have already been relegated by now if not for his presence.

Just returned from suspension, and 15 points is what he rewarded to those who keep him. Who else if not Adam?

In fact, there's no ace in Premier League teams who is more influential than the Tangerine's skipper. Adam is the joint top goalscorer and also top assister of Blackpool. The more incredible statistics? His whopping 43-point bonus - which leaves Tevez (29 bonus points) and others far behind! And with Blackpool still struggling for survival, you can only expect to get more from this Scottish.

A game decider, a set-piece taker, a commander with great vision, an incredibly cheap fantasy midfielder who provides great fantasy returns. Take Charlie Adam in and you will never regret about it.

2. Luis Nani

Too consistent to drop.

56% of fantasy managers do not own Luis Nani, and I wonder why.

Out of 26 matches he played, he has contributed an insurmountable figure of 16 assists. Added with his goals tally of nine, it means that the Portuguese is providing about either a goal or an assist on the average per game! His 23 bonus points don't seem too bad as well.

He might be restricted to play the football that he wants to play by Ferguson, but with so many clinical strikers upfront and a strong back line behind, you can hardly find someone who is more important than Nani in your fantasy team.

Luis Nani - strong and consistent, as Manchester United does.

1. Robin van Persie

Nobody is fearful as him in the Premier League currently.

He only ranked sixth in points per game figure, but that's not quite a good reference. Out of 16 games he played only nine of them exceeded 70 minutes, and if we calculate his points per game based on those nine (where he scored 82 fantasy points), it's a great score of 9.1! Now you understand why I put him first don't you?

The Dutch has been far more influential than skipper Cesc Fabregas since 2011, scoring 11 league goals and 5 assists in only eight league games! Not only that, the Robin Hood of Emirates has also grabbed five three-point bonuses - something that's only matched by Charlie Adam in 2011.

Soccernet described him as "With pace and skill in abundance, this forward can change a game in an instant with his ability to achieve the improbable. He is technically excellent with the vision to unlock a defence too." His fragility has always been the downside of owning him, but with such excellent form, it is a risk that we cannot afford to forgo.

Robin van Persie, the best player in Premier League in the second half of 10/11 season.

Chelsea Eased Arsenal for Their Title Hunt

David Luiz
Scored his first goal for Chelsea faster than Fernando Torres.

The title race just got more interesting as Manchester United was beaten by Chelsea 1-2 at Stamford Bridge.

Rooney opened the game with a fantastic goal but it was later equalised by David Luiz. The Blues then surpassed United with Lampard's penalty.

This means the Red Devils remain four points above Arsenal, with the latter having played less one game. Exciting championship battle waiting ahead.

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.