Sunday, February 6, 2011

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!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

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?

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

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.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

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.



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.



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!