Kick-Off: Gameweek 9 Fantasy Preview

Another early goodbye for Joe Hart and co?

Only Manchester United managed to win in Champions League among Premier League clubs this midweek as Manchester City are on the verge of group stage elimination for 2 seasons in a row after scoring only 1 point in 3 games. A big humiliation for the Premier League champions, I suppose.

GAMEWEEK 8 TOP SCORERS

1. Juan Mata (£9.1m, 18 pts): Clearly the unstoppable man at the moment. You might want to consider swapping him with Eden Hazard (£10.3m, 9 pts) as he is much cheaper.
2. Mark Noble (£4.8m, 15 pts): Definitely a decent footballer who can provide occasional goals and assists, but such a high scoring gameweek will be a "once in a blue moon" event in my opinion.
3. Chris Baird (£4.4m, 15 pts): Started for 5 straight games already in Premier League. Could be a decent pick, though you shouldn't hope for much offensive points like last gameweek.
4. Wayne Rooney (£11.8m, 14 pts): The birthday boy is on fire. Seems to be more valuable than Robin Van Persie (£13.4m, 11 pts) who provide similar production at cheaper price.
5. Kevin Nolan (£6.5m, 12 pts): A solid season-long pick who can provide consistent production plus good upside potential. Grab him before he becomes too expensive to own.

FEATURED: Chelsea v Manchester United @ Stamford Bridge
The 6-point brawl in the title race will commence this Sunday as league leaders Chelsea face second-placed Manchester United at their homeground.

The Blues conceded their first defeat of the season in Champions League encounter against Shaktar Donetsk. A shocking one, but things are quite different as Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United definitely have a very leaky defence, being conceded first in 8 of their 11 matches this season. Unfamiliar trait from the Red Devils, with Chelsea looking forward to exploit.

Juan Mata and Eden Hazard are your best bet as always, with Fernando Torres (£10.0m, 2 pts) a slight risk with his unpredictable form. Frank Lampard (£8.6m, 1 pt) is a doubt after limping off with an injury in Champions League fixture — Hazard should be the primary penalty taker then.

On the other side Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie continue to be the main pillars of the club. Unfortunately Shinji Kagawa (£8.3m, 0 pt) is doubtful with a knee injury, which means that the formation identical to the last match — Rooney playing along with Van Persie and Danny Welbeck (£8.0m, 10 pts) in a three-pronged set-up — could be adopted again.

Tough one to call, but I think Chelsea elites should be able to take advantage of United's defensive crisis.

Prediction: CHE 2-1 MUN

TEAM FOCUS: Arsenal
Arsenal have lost both of their last two games and scored none in both, but I think that will end this weekend as they host Queens Park Rangers who lay deep bottom of the table.

Santi Cazorla (£9.5m, 2 pts) continues to top my list of Arsenal players — a goal plus an assist is highly probable for the Spaniard this gameweek. Lukas Podolski (£8.6m, 2 pts) meanwhile is the man you can trust up front, with Olivier Giroud (£8.4m, 2 pts) and Yao Gervinho (£7.6m, 2 pts) the less popular options.

Defensive wise a clean sheet is quite possible so there's no wrong investing on the likes such as Carl Jenkinson (£5.2m, 2 pts) and Vito Mannone (£4.6m, 2 pts).

Prediction: ARS 3-0 QPR

PLAYER FOCUS: Bale
A very delicious fantasy cuisine for this gameweek, definitely. Gareth Bale (£9.5m, - pt), who just became a father last week, will definitely be looking forward to bombard Southampton's defence to embrace his child. Solid, solid captain pick of the week.

Dimitar Berbatov (£7.0m, 2 pts) will face Reading this week, and I have no reason to believe that why he won't score.

GAMEWEEK 9 DREAM TEAM

Manonne

Riise — Coloccini — Baines

Cazorla (VC) — Nolan — Hazard — Bale (C)

Tevez —  Podolski — Berbatov

Subs: Guzan — Duff —  McCartney — Wisdom

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