Kick-Off: Gameweek 4 Fantasy Preview

How long will Van Persie be out?

The Premier League was absent last week with international fixtures taking over, with fantasy favourite Robin Van Persie limping off for Netherlands. Louis Van Gaal said it was only a precautionary measure, but we shall wait and see.

GAMEWEEK 3 TOP SCORERS

1. Robin Van Persie (£13.4m, 15 pts): A dramatic hat-trick from the Dutch had helped United to turn defeat into victory. People at Old Trafford have no reason to miss Wayne Rooney (£11.7m) for the time being.
2. Carlos Tevez (£9.8m, 15 pts): 3 goals and 3 assists already so far for the Argentine. A cheaper version of Van Persie, yet as productive as him.
3. Gareth McAuley (£5.1m, 15 pts): The defender is producing RVP-esque return so far, but that is hardly sustainable in my opinion in the long run.
4. Winston Reid (£4.6m, 15 pts): 5 bonus points already this season. Perhaps he will be the Shawcross of the season — super-budget defender who is good at both ends.
5. Santi Cazorla (£9.0m, 13 pts): Superb play which finally got converted into fantasy points. Great work.
6. Matthew Taylor (£4.9m, 13 pts): Might still has the ace quality he once got at Bolton, but nonetheless it's too risky to get him now unless he can confirm a firm starting spot at West Ham.
7. Steven Fletcher (£7.0m, 13 pts): Great debut as the forward netted both goals against Swansea. Still a long way to tell though whether he can become the Papiss Cisse of this season.

FEATURED: Everton v Newcastle @ Goodison Park
Arguably the most balanced match-up of the week as in form Everton face Newcastle at home after a long international break.

The Toffees are without any injuries currently, so one would expect Nikica Jelavic (£8.5m), Steven Pienaar (£6.6m) and Marouane Fellaini (£6.9m) to continue to star in offence. I doubt Fellaini's long-term prospect though with Kevin Mirallas (£7.5m) expected to gain more playing time, pushing the Belgian backward.

On the other side, both Demba Ba (£7.7m) and Papiss Cisse (£9.4m) are struggling to find their spectacular form last season, with only one league scored by them in total currently. Hatem Ben Arfa (£7.7m) led Newcastle's scoresheet instead, with 2 goals in his bag already and is ready to give more. It does seem that the French is a better pick than the former duo at the moment. Both right-backs of the Magpies — Danny Simpson (£5.0m) and Ryan Taylor (£5.3m) — are injured, so don't be hopeful that they will get a clean sheet away from home.

Not an easy game to predict, but I think Everton have the slight advantage to get 3 points at home.

Prediction: EVE 1-0 NEW

TEAM FOCUS: Arsenal
Yes, Southampton had been scaring both Manchester City and Manchester United a big time, but that does not stop me from giving my vote of confidence to Arsenal.

Arsenal is currently the only club that are yet to concede a goal across four divisions in England, with Thomas Vermaelen (£7.0m) and Carl Jenkinson (£4.8m) both performed stunningly well. One must really own at least one of them.

On the offence, Santi Cazorla (£9.1m) and Lukas Podolski (£8.4m) are the obvious picks after both of them broke their duck on their last fixture. Olivier Giroud (£8.8m) is still struggling to find his first goal, but his poor finishing should really end sooner rather than later with so many supplies going to him.

Arsenal should really win this one and start pushing themselves to the leading pack.

Prediction: ARS 2-0 SOU

PLAYER FOCUS: Torres and Hazard
With Robin Van Persie (£13.4m) seems to have a minor injury doubt, Fernando Torres (£10.1m) and Eden Hazard (£10.1m) seems to be the safer option. Queens Park Rangers have been conceding 9 goals already, and with Mark Hughes still figuring his best XI, I do not expect leakages to end soon. You can do much worse than picking (and captaining) the duo, especially when Torres had hat-tricked against the Rangers last season.

With Manchester United at home against Wigan, one just cannot simply ignore players from Old Trafford. But with Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa (£8.6m) both having an injury, Antonio Valencia (£8.9m) seems like the safest bet at the moment.

GAMEWEEK 4 DREAM TEAM

Szczesny

Rafael — Hangeland — Jenkinson

Hazard — Valencia — Cazorla — Nolan

Torres (C) — Van Persie (VC) — Tevez

Subs: Schwarzer — Duff — Bertrand — Demel

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