Kick-Off: Gameweek 31 Fantasy Preview

Kenny Dalglish: Man in pressure.

Overview
So Chelsea continued their fine run under the lead of Di Matteo. The Blues won their first leg of the Champions League quarter finals with a 1-0 win away to Benfica. Great likelihood to progress, but they are expected to face Barcelona next.

Game of the Week: NEWCASTLE v LIVERPOOL

Can Ben Arfa get consistent
starts?

Not pretty interesting in terms of the meaning of the battle, but nevertheless this is the most balanced match-up of the week.

Newcastle are back in winning ways, winning the last two games with Papiss Cisse the man. The compatriot of Ba has scored three goals in the last two games and will be the biggest threat of Liverpool's clean sheet points.

Ben Arfa is the other man where you cannot take your eyes off. The talented winger has shown supreme performance last gameweek by getting involved in all three Newcastle's goals. Coupled with Cisse and Ba, the trio has immeasurable potential against Liverpool.

On the other side, Suarez has managed to find some consistency recently, but his explosive potential is yet to be materialized. Can he unleash that against Newcastle? Seems tough when his teammates are not up to his par except Gerrard.

Should be a comprehensive Newcastle victory as Liverpool continues to drop points horribly.

Prediction: NEW 3-1 LIV
Pick: Cisse, Ben Arfa
Drop: LIV defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: MANCHESTER CITY v SUNDERLAND

Carlos Tevez to get a start?

City certainly is not ready to hand the title out as they host Sunderland in the quest of closing down the gap against United.

The Blue Moon's offensive power has been mediocre recently - they had only scored 3 goals in their last three when they had score 12 in their first three games of the season. David Silva seems to be out of magic as the team struggles to find chances.

Aguero is quoted as "75% playing" so maybe you should sell him considering how much better you can achieve via Van Persie and Rooney. Balotelli will be your main man to trust, as the wonder kid is never short of wonders - both on and off the field.

Defensive wise, Kompany is flagged as "50% playing" but given his importance in the team, I think he should start in order to break down Sunderland's offence which has return to its best after as Sessegnon returned from suspension.

City's superb home record should keep their trail within 3 points so put your City players on and hope for the best.

Prediction: MCI 2-0 SUN
Pick and Captain: Balotelli
Pick: MCI defence


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:
Dempsey/Pogrebnyak - Superb potential against Norwich.
Van Persie/Rooney - The automatic picks.

Pick:
Mata - The team are very much settled under Di Matteo.
Jelavic - Seems quite lively recently.
Bale/Adebayor - Expect them to back in form.
Valencia - Never short of magic.

Drop:
QPR defence - Too poor against Arsenal's offensive standards.
BLA defence - Nothing stops United at the moment.

Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):
Evans - 25 points in the last two games has made him super popular.
G Cahill - Performs impressively under Di Matteo's tactics.
Walcott - Starts for more than 10 consecutive league games.
P Cisse - Cheaper and in better form than Ba.

Yellow light (hold):
Sessegnon - Returned but has back to back tough games.
Jelavic - Looks settled but needs more games to make conclusion.
Suarez - Still waiting for the explosive factor to explode.

Red light (sell):
Enrique/Skrtel - Terrible form at the moment.
Ba - Overpriced compared to his teammate Cisse.
MCI forwards - Overly crowded to get consistent minutes.

Gameweek 31 Dream Team

Hart

Assou-Ekkoto -- Evans -- G Cahill

Ben Arfa -- Dempsey -- Bale -- Valencia -- Walcott

Rooney (VC) -- Van Persie (C)

Subs: Al-Habsi -- Pogrebnyak -- Gibbs -- Hibbert