Kick-Off: Gameweek 14 Fantasy Preview

"I rule!"

It'll be a short one, as I'm short of time in weekdays. So let's begin!

GAMEWEEK 13 HIGHLIGHTS

• West Brom went third in the league standings after a 4-2 away win against Sunderland. Not showy, but definitely effective in delivering results.
• The Manchesters swapped places again as City failed to win at Stamford Bridge.
• After a strong start, Everton now only got 1 victory in their last 5 league games after being frustrated at home by Norwich.
• 8 teams on clean sheet this gameweek, possibly hinting the beginning of the "winter effect" in the Premier League. You may want to shift some budget to defence to capitalise on the usually weaker offence during the next one to two months.

GAMEWEEK 13 TOP SCORERS

1. Jordi Gomez (£5.2m, 20 pts): Unbelievable hat-trick. Only scored 6 fantasy points prior to this, and thus doesn't seem to be a good choice.
2. Stephane Sessegnon (£7.3m, 13 pts): He now scored 20 points in his last 2 games. He has shown us what he is capable last season, and this might just be the indicator of better things to come.
3. Jermaine Defoe (£7.8m, 12 pts): As good as usual this season, which will continue to frustrate Emmanuel Adebayor's (£9.0m, - pts) chances at this team.
4. Gaston Ramirez (£6.0m, 12 pts): It might took too long for the most expensive signing of Southampton of all time to deliver his value, but to be late it's better than to not come at all.
5. Adam Lallana (£6.1m, 11 pts): Have been pretty consistent and is considered one of the best mid-budget midfielder around.
6. Jonny Evans (£5.8m, 11 pts): Exposed to a lot of bench time and so does not seem to be a good pick yet.

FEATURED: Everton v Arsenal @ Goodison Park
Everton will like to escape their point dropping frustration as Arsenal pay a visit to Goodison Park in a head-to-head battle for fifth.

Marouane Fellaini (£7.6m, - pts) will return from suspension and provide the much needed strength to dominate the Gunners. Can the quartet of Arsenal — Santi Cazorla (£9.5m, 3 pts), Lukas Podolski (£8.2m, 2 pts), Olivier Giroud (£8.4m, 2 pts) and Theo Walcott (£8.7m, - pts) — break the duck this time?

Prediction: EVE 2-1 ARS

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester City
Yes, Wigan have just recorded a sensational victory last Saturday, but I don't think City are ready to slip here when they are trailing against Manchester United already. Carlos Tevez (£9.5m, 1 pt) and Sergio Aguero (£11.0m, 2 pts) are as usual the best pick.

Prediction: WIG 0-3 MCI

PLAYER FOCUS: Sessegnon
It might take some time for Queens Park Rangers to recover from their misery, so Sessegnon may be able to capitalise on that and make it three in a row (3 goals in 3 games).

GAMEWEEK 14 DREAM TEAM

Begovic

Kompany — Shawcross — Rafael

Sessegnon (VC) — Fellaini — Lallana — Bale

Tevez (C) — Van Persie — Suarez

Subs: Gazzaniga — Adam —  Clark — Garrido

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

FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

Gareth McAuley with West Brom's 2012/13 season home kit.

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

Password: http://p-fplz.blogspot.com/

Last Season: Impressive
Being a team who go through the promotion and relegation cycle regularly, West Brom managed to change the situation this time, finishing at glorious tenth place last season. A big part of the credit goes to ex-manager Roy Hodgson though, and with him left the club for England international team, it is a doubt whether they can reach the same height again this season.

This Summer: Clarke's Debut
Steve Clarke has been appointed as the new manager of the Baggies. A risky move as this is Steve Clarke's first stint as a club's head coach.

As for players, Ben Foster's move to the Hawthorns become a permanent one, with midfielder Claudio Yacob, young Belgian Yassine El Ghanassy (loan), free agent Markus Rosenberg and Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku (loan) joining the team. Five players were being released, namely Keith Andrews, Marton Fulop, Paul Scharner, Nicky Shorey and Somen Tchoyi.

Upcoming Season: Uncertain
As mentioned this will be Steve Clarke's first time as a manager - things can go everywhere honestly. The pre-season record is neither good nor bad at the moment. Maybe the first few gameweeks will reveal Clarke's ability to mange a club.

Odemwingie's fantasy stats.

Wet Gun?: Odemwingie (FI: 0.454)

Peter Odemwingie (£7.0m) was an instant fantasy hit during his first season at the Hawthorns, but his performance somehow declined to an unappealing level last season.

Still, the Nigerian forward managed to score double figure goals last season. The lad does have good fantasy potential, so do keep an eye on him and get him when the right time comes.

Ridgewell's fantasy
indices last season.

Great Return: Ridgewell (FI: 0.924)
It really caught me when I saw Liam Ridgewell (£5.0m) scored such a high FPLZ Index last season, which aroused my curiousity to analyze him further.

The defender scored 61 points in just 1170 minutes of action, which he managed to score one goal, one assist, and six clean sheets. Impressive.

He now costs £0.5m more than last season, but nonetheless he should be the first man to consider among West Brom defenders, if Steve Clarke can keep the back as tight as when it was during Hodgson's era, or even tighter.

Tough Battle: Long (FI: 0.344), Rosenberg (FI: N/A), Lukaku (FI: N/A)
Interesting competition upfront for West Brom where we will have three equally good candidate to fight for the second forward spot alongside Odemwingie - Shane Long (£6.0m), Markus Rosenberg (£6.5m) and Romelu Lukaku (£6.5m).

All of them are priced in the same band, so it really takes time to observe and see which player actually plays more and brings good value to fantasy managers.

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