Kick-Off: Gameweek 38 Fantasy Preview

It's all about good news for Frank Lampard (£8.4m, 14 pts) as he becomes Chelsea's all-time top scorer, wins Europa League and signs a contract extension over the week.

A lot has happened since my absence, so let's just have a brief summary:

• A year of retirements. Sir Alex Ferguson is to end his coaching career with yet another Premier League title. King of all coaches.
• David Moyes' chance to shine with a big club finally arrives as he is appointed to be the successor of SAF. Huge pressure after all that has been achieved by the Red Devils over the past 20+ years, but I am pretty sure that the current Everton coach will be able to cope with that.
• Also retiring are Paul Scholes and David Beckham, two of the United's famous five. Ryan Giggs is looking to emulate Teddy Sheringham though, let's see how far can he go yet.
• Jamie Carragher will also quit his playing career after this Sunday. You can hardly find any player more loyal than him these days. Salute.
• Manchester City crashed out of FA Cup final after a defeat to Wigan, though the Latics can't be happy neither with their relegation confirmed just days before. How often do your see an FA Cup winner being relegated?
• Chelsea won the Europa League final with a stoppage time winner. The first club with both Champions League and Europa League title in hand at the same time (CL title will only be passed to one of the two German clubs next week after the final).
• Frank Lampard couldn't be more happy with his record breaking goals last gameweek plus a one year contract extension.

After all these news attack, let's begin our finale, then.

FEATURED: Newcastle v Arsenal @ Sports Direct Arena
The battle for fourth is the only remaining piece of puzzle this season, so let's see how the incumbent fourth place holder defends their position.

After going through all the troubles and turbulence, Arsenal now sit on fourth — holding the ticket to Champions League qualification — leading with only a point. Their fate is on their hands now — a win will permit them to participate in the European top-flight competition for another season.

And thus, they have all the reason to go all out. Santi Cazorla (£9.6, 16 pts) is the first player to contribute 4 assists in a single game this season after such a masterful performance which sent Wigan down to Championship. Lukas Podolski (£8.2m, 13 pts) was no mediocre either, scoring 2 goals for the first time in a single game for the Gunners. Adding in the ever consistent Theo Walcott (£9.2m, 8 pts), the trio are the must picks for this gameweek.

The Magpies have little to fight for except to improve their ranking and their share of prizes, neither do they have any deep rivalry with Arsenal. Incumbent fourth remains the incumbent, I think.

Prediction: NEW 1-2 ARS

TEAM FOCUS: Liverpool
Queens Park Rangers will be hoping for a sweet goodbye from the Premier League, but I don't think Liverpool will be showing them any mercy.

Luis Suarez-less Liverpool has become a tougher team to guard — which makes sense as the marking the Uruguayan is equivalent to stopping the whole team when he's around. Daniel Sturridge (£7.4m, 17 pts) has been a beast in his absence, producing his first hat-trick for Liverpool in the last game.

Phillipe Coutinho (£7.0m, 9 pts) has been magical with his passes, and I truly expect the duo to become the big pillars of the team in the next few years to come.

Big win to end the not so big season for the Reds.

Prediction: LIV 5-0 QPR

PLAYER FOCUS: Bale
He is the one who have all the reason to go full throttle, so let's cast your captain armband to the PFA Player and Young Player of the year, Gareth Bale (£11.0m, 2 pts).

GAMEWEEK 38 DREAM TEAM

Reina

Luiz — Dawson — Zabaleta

Bale (C) — Coutinho — Cazorla — Yaya Toure

Sturridge (VC) — Podolski — Adebayor

Subs: Jaaskelainen — Michu — Demel — Rangel

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Announcements: No Preview for Gameweek 37

Dear readers

Please take note that there will be no Fantasy Preview for Gameweek 37 as I will on vacation.

Rest assured, I will give you the grand finale of this fantasy season when I return.

Meanwhile, you can try using alternative fantasy sites such as NeverCaptainNickyButt or PLFantasy.

Regards

J (Peacemaker-J)

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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

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 35 Fantasy Preview

Number 20! Robin Van Persie scored a wonderful hat-trick which secured the title for Manchester United.

A big week has passed. I mean really BIG.

• Manchester United secured their 20th top-flight league title. It's their 13th in 21 Premier League seasons. What an astounding achievement.
• Meanwhile, Luis Suarez's (£10.8m, 212 season pts) crave for Branislav Ivanovic's (£6.9m, 130 season pts) meat have earned him a ten-match ban, which he opted not to appeal. Thank you Luis for such a wonderful performance, both in reality and fantasy.
• This effectively means that Robin Van Persie's (£13.8m, 236 season pts) claim on the Golden Boot is almost certain, which his nearest possible contender Gareth Bale (£10.5m, 213 season pts) 6 goals shy from the Dutch's 24.
• On Europe, we saw the downfall of Spanish giants — Barcelona and Real Madrid — with a combined score of 1-8 against the rising Germans — Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

FEATURED: Arsenal v Manchester United @ Emirates
Van Persie has proven how correct is his decision to jump ship from London to Manchester, but die-hard Gunners' supporters will not approve his betrayal definitely. And they will put all their hopes on the current crop of Arsenal players to give him the punishment.

Olivier Giroud (£7.6m, -1 pt) will begin his 3-game punishment after a red-card against Fulham so it'll up to either Lukas Podolski (£8.1m, 1 pt) or Theo Walcott (£8.8m, 5 pts) to lead the line. You can't be sure, but the one who step up will definitely try to benefit from that and achieve something.

On the other side, the Red Devils may go complacent after securing the title — unless they are going for Premier League record of 96 points or somehow fears that Van Persie will still possibly lose his almost-Golden Boot. With that taken into account, I am going for a home win — Arsenal need points more than United anyway.

Prediction: ARS 2-1 MUN

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester City
Their second place is for them to lose. Not much to play, but they are the much better team than their opponent, so let's go for them anyway.

Carlos Tevez (£9.1m, 2 pts) is the obvious replacement for Luis Suarez and has played 90 minutes or more in each of his last five Premier League fixtures. It's now two weeks away from FA Cup final and Mancini for sure would want Carlito to shift into his best condition by playing him in an effective way.

David Silva (£9.1m, - pts) and Sergio Aguero (£10.9m) are expected to return, though we will need to guess whether will them start. The duo, together with their current replacements Samir Nasri (£8.0m, 7 pts) and Edin Dzeko (£6.8m, 2 pts), will be quite some risky picks.

Andy Carroll (£8.2m, 2 pts) is in quite some form recently, but I doubt he can bang City's defence this time.

Prediction: MCI 3-0 WHU

PLAYER FOCUS: Bale
Though Wigan are on relegation crisis, I don't see how they are going to contain the almighty Gareth Bale and get their much needed three points. Prepare for some Bale-icious stride.

GAMEWEEK 35 DREAM TEAM

Cech

Baines — Shawcross — Zabaleta

Bale (VC) — Fellaini — Mata — Yaya Toure

Van Persie — Tevez (C) — Sturridge

Subs: Begovic — Sessegnon — Cuellar — Samba

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 34 Fantasy Preview

Meet the nominees for PFA player of the year. From left to right, top before bottom: Gareth Bale, Michael Carrick, Juan Mata, Luis Suarez, Robin Van Persie and Eden Hazard.

Hope that you have gone through a smooth double gameweek. For those who didn't, don't give up as there are still five gameweek to go!

FEATURED: Tottenham v Manchester City @ White Hart Lane
Of course Rafael Benitez's return to Anfield as an opposition manager is a big one, but the battle at White Hart Lane has definitely a better reason not to miss.

Gareth Bale (£10.5m, 200 season pts) is not expected to return as of yet — Andre Villas-Boas simply has to be patient and wait for his full recovery instead of risking the Welsh to preserve Tottenham's chances to finish within top four.

That means Emmanuel Adebayor (£9.0m, - pts) will have to bear the burden of scoring on his shoulder. The Togolese has only 3 league goals so far, he a goal and an assist in his last Premier League game certainly indicated a better him. And playing against his former club, he will definitely be more motivated to score.

As for the visitors, Manchester City have close to zero possibility to defend their title by now, neither do they feel threatened at second with Chelsea trailing them by 7 points. David Silva (£9.2m, - pts) is a slight doubt but is expected to play nonetheless, while Carlos Tevez (£8.7m, 8 pts) is having a great run recently (4 goals in his last 6 games) and will definitely pose some threat to Spurs' defence.

City are at a comfortable second, but I think they have too much class for Bale-less Tottenham.

Prediction: TOT 1-2 MCI

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester United
This could be the coronation day for the Red Devils, and they are definitely ready for that.

Robin Van Persie (£13.7m, 16 pts) has officially ended his scoring drought with 2 goals in his last 2 games. With his return in form, you can confidently pass your captain armband to him and hope for the best.

Shinji Kagawa (£8.0m, 11 pts) could be the provider again after setting up two goals at Upton Park on Wednesday, while Wayne Rooney (£12.1m, 4 pts) will hope to be the star of the pitch instead of transfer headlines.

A clean sheet is very likely at the back too, so you may want to get one of their members.

Prediction: MUN 2-0 AST

PLAYER FOCUS: Michu
The Swans are well rested, and against defensively poor Southampton, it's really Michu's (£8.1m, 173 season pts) opportunity to shine.

GAMEWEEK 34 DREAM TEAM

De Gea

Samba — Turner — Sagna

Kagawa — Walcott — Michu (VC) — Fellaini

Tevez — Van Persie (C) — Remy

Subs: Cesar — Snodgrass — Demel — O'Shea

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 33 Fantasy Preview

One goal per game in this double gameweek?

It's the much anticipated double gameweek craze! Are you ready for this do or die moment? Teams with two games in hand this week include:

• Manchester United
• West Ham
• Arsenal
• Everton
• Fulham

FEATURED: Arsenal v Everton @ Emirates
With just four points separate this two teams apart, this direct match-up could proved to be decisive at the end of the season.

The Gunners will face Norwich at home before facing the Toffees at the same venue again, so it presents a great chance to harvest from their players. Santi Cazorla (£10.1m, 2 pts) is the obvious pick undoubtedly as he carries the team forward with Theo Walcott (£8.6m, - pts) still not returning to his full fitness. At the back Lukasz Fabianski (£4.3m, 3 pts) represents great value with his alluringly low price.

On the other side, Everton are facing Queens Park Rangers before this touch encounter so their players are worth your investment this week too. Marouane Fellaini (£7.4m, - pts) is definitely what you should be getting, though it gives no harm to give Leighton Baines (£7.7m, 4 pts) and Leon Osman (£6.5m, 2 pts) their chances too.

I think Cazorla will shine in this one and Arsenal will take over Tottenham's fourth place at the end of this gameweek.

Prediction: ARS 2-1 EVE

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester United
The title could well been decided but I see no reason why the Red Devils won't go into full throttle in this double gameweek with no other trophies to hunt.

Robin Van Persie (£13.6m, 2 pts) looks to have used up his quota of excellence at the moment but a 13-14 mil fantasy striker surely has the quality of bouncing back. It could be this gameweek and you never know.

But until then, Wayne Rooney (£12.0m, 1 pts) looks to be the safer and more consistent option currently for you to reap the rewards in this double gameweek.

At the back, all are prone to some degree of rotation except David De Gea (£5.8m, 1 pt) — if United can get two clean sheets he is the one who is most possible to max the points out.

Prediction: STO 1-2 MUN, WHU 0-2MUN


PLAYER FOCUS: Berbatov
Keep calm and pass your fantasy scoring burden to Dimitar Berbatov (£7.4m, form: 8) — he is so in form at the moment and such double gameweek can really only help his cause.

GAMEWEEK 33 DREAM TEAM

Fabianski

Baines — Ferdinand — Sagna

Silva — Gerrard — Cazorla (C) — Fellaini

Berbatov — Rooney — Carroll

Subs: Schwarzer — Osman — Riether — Demel

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 32 Fantasy Preview

Gareth Bale is out!

I believe a big group of fantasy managers have their plans spoiled with the injury of Gareth Bale (£10.9m, 13 pts) a.k.a. the most in-form player in the Premier League. The Welsh should be out at least for the next two gameweeks (Tottenham don't play in Gameweek 33 anyway), so let's see where we can find a replacement for the winger.

FEATURED: Manchester United v Manchester City @ Old Trafford
So the defending champions, who have only mere theoretical possibilities of retaining their title, will visit their arch-rivals, who are 99% certain to clinch their 20th top-flight league title. Certainly won't affect the league standings much, but this should still be a wonderful match-up for the pride of both teams.

The Red Devils' star striker Robin Van Persie (£13.6m, 7 pts) — who now only leads the FPL scoreboard by a mere 1 point — has gone goalless for his last four Premier League games. Certainly not the type of return his investors expect, and he should really break the duck this time to repay his fantasy managers' faith. The good news is of course, the return of Wayne Rooney (£12.0m, - pts) to support the Dutch after suffering from groin injury for England.

On the other side David Silva (£9.2m, 11 pts), while not having the same unstoppable form he had last season, seems to have found his peak as the season ends with two double-digit scores in the last four games. He should continue to pull strings for the team to allow his teammates such as Carlos Tevez (£8.7m, 6 pts) — who is in equally good form with 3 goals in the last 4 games — to finish.

While Manchester United have more than enough cushion to clinch the title already, their early exits in Champions League and FA Cup means they can give out 100% on this game. At Old Trafford, their counterpart should be unable to stop them to speed up their crowning moment.

Prediction: MUN 2-1 MCI

TEAM FOCUS: Liverpool
Anfield should be turned into goals arena as the Reds await the visit by the Hammers.

Liverpool have won four of their last five league fixtures, scoring 15 goals in the process. Luis Suarez (£11.2m, 6 pts) continues to be fantasy managers favourite and with only four points behind the fantasy leader Van Persie, he might as well surpass overtake the Dutch to lead the scoreboard after this game.

Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard (£9.6m, 9 pts) continues to hit his high in years, and is set to play for more minutes than any of his last five seasons this term. An evergreen figure?

Phillippe Coutinho (£6.9m, 5 pts) is the cheaper alternative to Gerrard, with the youngster linking impressively well upfront ever since his arrival. Daniel Sturridge (£7.2m, - pts) could start upfront and score some goals too.

Prediction: LIV 3-1 WHU

PLAYER FOCUS: Michu
Michu (£8.3m, 6 pts), the most impactful Premier League buy of the season, has been pretty quiet recently. But with Norwich as their opposition, it's pretty hopeful for him to score and gain some form for end-season rush isn't it?

GAMEWEEK 32 DREAM TEAM

Begovic

Monreal — Azpilicueta — Enrique

Michu — Gerrard — Cazorla (VC) — Hazard

Suarez (C) — Remy — Lambert

Subs: Cesar — Gervinho — Wilson — Davies

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