Kick-Off: Gameweek 20 Fantasy Preview

BerbaTOP: 6 goals scored in his last 3 Premier League games.

Overview
Big shocker on the last gameweek with Manchester United lost to Blackburn at Old Trafford. Berbatov is charging with red hot form though, and looks as if he will win the golden boot if he starts all the remaining league games.

Another big news is the return of the King of Highbury - Thierry Henry to Arsenal in a short 2-3 months loan spell. The French should play a big role in this period as both Gervinho and Chamakh will go to south of Europe for African Cup of Nations.

Gameweek Double
The replacement fixture of Tottenham against Everton will take place this week so remember to stock 3 Tottenham players in your team as they are playing both games this gameweek at home. The options at Everton are much less delicious though.

Game of the Week: MANCHESTER CITY  v LIVERPOOL

Soul restored for Liverpool?

Manchester City will continue to defend their top position in a tough game against Liverpool.

Thanks to Manchester United's shocking defeat City should still at top of the league despite losing to Sunderland. They will have stamina disadvantage though - Liverpool played two days earlier than them on last gameweek's fixture.

No injury problems for them so expect the likes like Silva and Aguero to be the key men of the team. Don't put too much hope on clean sheet though, as the captain of the other side - Steven Gerrard - is back and has provided significant impact against Newcastle on last game. Big man to watch.

Bellamy is on red hot form and has a point to prove to Mancini, meanwhile Carroll looks better on last game will high quality supply from Gerrard.

Tight game on hand. I'm predicting points loss for City due to their tiredness and Liverpool's tendency to play better against better sides.

Prediction: MCI 1-1 LIV
Pick: Silva, Bellamy


Fantasy Games of the Week: TOTTENHAM'S DOUBLE v WEST BROM & EVERTON

Assou-Ekkoto is one of the
silent performer at White
Hart Lane.

Well, both games are at home, so you certainly cannot afford to not have Tottenham players.

Bale is stunningly on form and thus should be your captain of the week although Adebayor could as well be one to take the armband. Van der Vaart is also a good choice but I will definitely give the priority to the former two.

I prefer a 2 (attacker) + 1 (defender) setup here so one should take either one of Benoit Assou-Ekkoto or Kyle Walker for this occasion. BAE is the more preferable one here as he's £0.6m cheaper than the latter and scores similar fantasy points.

Both West Brom and Everton have closed down their defences pretty tight lately, but 2 games on hand for a flying team is definitely enticing. All in for Tottenham players.

Prediction: TOT 2-1 WBA, TOT 1-0 EVE
Pick and Captain: Bale, Adebayor
Pick: Van der Vaart, Assou-Ekkoto, Walker


Pick and Drop
Pick:

1. Osman - The best performer of Everton for gameweek double.
2. Baines - Pretty pricey, but a good player to score from set pieces nonetheless.
3. Yakubu - On fire again.
4. S Fletcher - Will get plenty of chances in front of fragile Chelsea's defence.
5. Berbatov - In top form.

Drop:

1. STO defence - Blackburn might be on the relegation zone, but that's not the fault of offensive department.
2. BOL defence - Defence is problematic and is further complicated by Gary Cahill's almost certain departure.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Berbatov - Scored 6 goals already in the last 195 minutes he had featured.
2. Bale/ Adebayor/ Van der Vaart/ Assou-Ekkoto/ Walker - It's gameweek double folks.
3. Yakubu - Has started to become the idol of Blackburn.
4. Bellamy - Should be getting Dalglish's trust after such fantastic performance.
5. Valencia - Continues to perform consistently.

Yellow light (watch):

1. Gerrard - The heart of Liverpool is making significant impact upon his return.
2. Ireland - Led the cast for Villa's famous victory at Stamford Bridge.
3. Nani - Continues to fire blanks.

Red light (sell):

1. De Gea - Lindegaard is obviously the better keeper currently.

Gameweek 20 Dream Team

Guzan

Assou-Ekkoto -- Baines -- Samba

Bale (C) -- Osman -- Valencia -- Silva

Adebayor (VC) -- Van Persie -- Yakubu

Subs: Vorm -- Moses -- Koscielny -- Brown

Merry Christmas: Gameweek 17 & 18 Fantasy Previews

Defenders period: Hectic fixtures usually create more clean sheets.

Overview
The fast and furious Christmas fixtures will begin and results from this period will be certainly crucial to both Premier League and fantasy teams. Spend your wild card if necessary. You wouldn't want to lose over 100 points to your rivals in less than 2 weeks.

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Game of the Week (Gw 17): TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v CHELSEA

Petr Cech was partly responsible
for Wigan's equaliser last week.

The battle for third, the battle for the top team in London. Tottenham will be waiting over at their home ground to fire porous Chelsea's defence with their great attacking talents.

The Blues were surprisingly held draw by Wigan last Saturday thanks to ridiculous mistakes by the whole defensive unit of theirs. Still not the team you can trust on defensively.

Thus, Andre Villas-Boas can only rely on attack to compensate for their defensive problems. Sturridge has been in good and ultra consistent form (amazingly consistent for a youngster of his age) and will be relied upon again to earn league points for Chelsea alongside with resurgent Drogba and tricky Mata.

But Tottenham will be hopeful to bag the three points. Players such as Adebayor, Van der Vaart, Bale and Lennon are all on form and should terrorise Chelsea's defence at ease. It will be a classic victory for Spurs in my opinion.

Prediction: TOT 3-1 CHE
Pick: Adebayor, Bale, Van der Vaart, Sturridge
Drop: CHE defence


Fantasy Game of the Week (Gw 17): WIGAN v LIVERPOOL

Bellamy's second spell at
Liverpool is currently a
success.

Wigan will hope to repeat their feat against Chelsea but it won't be easy against resolute Liverpool's defence.

The Reds boast the best defence in Premier League, conceding only 13 goals. Barring the terrible 0-4 defeat against Tottenham, they had never conceded more than a goal to any opponents. With Agger and Skrtel currently forming the best CB partnership in the league, it's a big task for Wigan to score against them.

Offensively, Liverpool are doing pretty well too. Bellamy is clearly enjoying his second stint at Anfield and is combining very well with Suarez. A dangerous man in offence.

Jordi Gomez has scored 4 goals in the last 5 games, but I believe that tally will not be improved in this game.

Prediction: WIG 0-2 LIV
Pick and Captain: Bellamy, Suarez
Pick: Adam, LIV defence
Drop: WIG defence



Pick and Drop (Gw 17)
Pick and Captain:

1. Van Persie - Clearly Villa is on a slump for him to take advantage from.

Pick:

1. Ba - Played a fabulous but unlucky game last week. He should get something this time.
2. Rooney - He scored, and scored again, and should score again for three games in a row.
3. Valencia - Played very well and should start again.
4. Yakubu - Bolton looks very terrible now and he should really score one or two.
5. Holt - Find his form at the Championship.
6. Aguero/ Silva - Without Shawcross it will be less organized at Stoke's backline.

Drop:

1. AST defence - Not resolute enough to hold Gunners.
2. Shawcross - Suspended for his fifth yellow.
3. Cabaye - Also suspended for his fifth yellow.

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Game of the Week (Gw 18): SWANSEA v QUEENS PARK RANGERS

Michel Vorm is a nightmare
for every striker.

Two of the promoted teams will face each other as both teams will be looking forward to bolster their survival chances from their counterparts.

Swansea has been defensively magnificent at home and with Vorm never failed to impress with his superb reflexes. A tough challenge for Helguson and co to take on.

QPR is goalless for 2 consecutive games and I believe it will extend for yet another game. I am predicting a 0-0 score.

Prediction: SWA 0-0 QPR
Pick: SWA defence


Fantasy Game of the Week (Gw 18): LIVERPOOL v BLACKBURN

Jonjo Shelvey is only
£4.8m in fantasy.

Liverpool is treated with such kind Chirstmas games and thus they have only themselves to be blamed if they fail to get results from this one.

Blackburn still stuck deep deep within the relegation zone and it won't be helpful travelling to Anfield.

The Rovers might be able to struck a goal or two, but I believe it will be a total annihilation by the Reds.

Prediction: LIV 3-0 BLA
Pick and Captain: Bellamy, Suarez
Pick: Adam, Downing, LIV defence
Drop: BLA defence

Pick and Drop (Gw 18)

Pick and Captain:

1. Van Persie - Should really blast the Wolves.
2. Rooney/ Nani - Wigan wouldn't be able to hold in form United.
3. Silva/ Aguero - West Brom's defence is just too shaky.
4. Adebayor - Surely Norwich's backline won't be able to break all the supply points to him.

Pick:

1. Walters/ Crouch - Both are offensive pillars of Stoke.
2. Larsson - His set pieces are always a threat.
3. MUN defence - Ferdinand is showing some great form.

Drop:

1. WIG defence - It's such a problematic line to be exploited by Man Utd.
2. WBA defence  - Another problematic line like Wigan's.
3. BOL players - Out of form at the moment.

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Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):

1. Bellamy - Gained Dalglish's trust and is performing well at the moment.
2. Jones - Plays like a warrior and scores occasional goals.
3. SWA defence - A good place to search for cheap and effective fourth or fifth defender.
4. Sturridge - Incredibly consistent for his low asking price.
5. Adebayor - Ultimately influential upfront.
6. LIV defence - Great fixtures awaiting for the next two weeks.
7. MUN defence - Great fixtures awaiting too.
8. Valencia - Locking his place against competition from Ashley Young.
9. Holt - Found some superb form.

Yellow light (watch):

1. Suarez - Whether he gets suspended or not is the key of buying or selling him.
2. Agbonlahor - Losing the sharpness recently.
3. Ruiz - Broke his duck and could get some scoring streak on.

Red light (sell):

1. BOL players - In a big slump.
2. Schwarzer - Injured.

Gameweek 17 Dream Team

Krul

Enrique -- Vermaelen -- Kompany -- Simpson

Adam -- Valencia -- Silva

Bellamy -- Adebayor (VC) -- Van Persie (C)

Subs: Vorm -- Larsson -- Drenthe -- Evans

Gameweek 18 Dream Team

Vorm

Enrique -- Jones -- Vermaelen

Adam -- Nani -- Silva -- Larsson

Van Persie (C) -- Bellamy -- Rooney (VC)

Subs: Sorensen -- Walters -- Neil Taylor -- Simpson

Gameweek 14 Fantasy Preview

Gary Speed (1969-2011)

Overview
Shocking news earlier this week as one of the Premier League legends, Gary Speed, was found dead at his home following his suicide. Big loss.

Carling Cup Review
So Liverpool will meet Manchester City at the semis after killing off Chelsea twice at Stamford Bridge in just 9 days. Crazy fixtures. In the other end we will see Championship sides Cardiff and Crystal Palace facing against each other. It's surprising to not see Manchester United in the last four list.

7-Gameweek Fixture Analysis (Published Monthly)
In heaven run:

1. Everton (STO, @ARS, NOR, SWA, @SUN,  @BLA, BOL) - Pretty lenient ones in the midst of hellish calendar month. Be sure to monitor on Baines, Drenthe and supersub Vellios.
2. Liverpool (@FUL, QPR, @AST, @WIG, BLA, NEW, @MCI) - Shouldn't be too much of troubles defensively. If they can convert the chances more efficiently they should be able to slide into fourth place.
3. Man Utd (@AST, WOL, @QPR, @FUL, WIG, BLA, @NEW) - A good platform to improve their form... Hopefully they will.
4. Sunderland (@WOL, BLA, @TOT, @QPR, EVE, MCI, @WIG) - Loads of bottom team for them to earn some solid league points.
5. Swansea (@BLA, FUL, @NEW, @EVE, QPR, TOT, @AST) - A crucial period to book their survival place in the Prem.
6. Tottenham (BOL, @STO, SUN, CHE, @NOR, @SWA, WBA) - Great fixtures to lift them nearer to the league leaders.

In hell run:

1. Aston Villa (MUN, @BOL, LIV, ARS, @STO, @CHE, SWA) - Extremely tough to handle, especially when the compact festive games are coming.
2. Chelsea (@NEW, MCI, @WIG, @TOT, FUL, AST, @WOL) - The tough string of games won't help them to regain their form and confidence.
3. Fulham (LIV, @SWA, BOL, MUN, @CHE, @NOR, ARS) - All the teams they face have at least some decent attacking force, if not great.
4. Wigan (ARS, @WBA, CHE, LIV, @STO, SUN, @MCI) - Might be an early death sentence on Martinez and his team.

Game of the Week: NEWCASTLE v CHELSEA

Ben Arfa will cause big
trouble to Chelsea's defence.

It's going to be a tough month for Andre Villas-Boas as he will continue to play against tough oppositions in what that might become his job-deciding matches. St. James' Park is his first destination for Chelsea this month (hopefully not his last).

Newcastle played yet another solid game against Manchester United at Old Trafford, conceding only due to some bad luck. While the penalty was controversial, I simply wouldn't deny the fact that they deserve to take something from Old Trafford. Impressive.

The back four who started for every league games together should play together again - expect superb fortress-like defence which is further solidify with the presence of Krul. I rate the Dutch stopper now on par with Vorm and Hart as the league's toughest keeper to pass through. Up front we shall see Ben Arfa and Demba Ba creating havoc again and perhaps score a goal or two together.

On the other side, Chelsea are losing the cutting edge they have seasons before, and their results against the top sides were all but defeats this season. Losing twice at Stamford Bridge against the same side Liverpool certainly isn't a healthy sign for AVB's squad form. Terrible.

Defence has always been the fatal point of the Blues - many goals conceded were due to silly mistakes of the defenders. Attack isn't too sharp neither, with Sturridge, Mata and Lampard the only three reliable finishing points to score goals.

It's going to be close again, and I think the Magpies' work rate as a team should give AVB a worthwhile lesson.

Prediction: NEW 1-0 CHE
Pick: Ben Arfa
Drop: CHE defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: MANCHESTER CITY v NORWICH

Show time for Aguero again?

Manchester City might have lost the mighty form they had a month or two before, but at home against Norwich it's certainly too hard to resist.

Aguero and Silva are still two of the best fantasy performers - make them your captain and you will most probably get well rewarded with 10++ points. Mouth-watering picks.

Defensively it's not that formidable as before, but you shall still play your Kompany and/or Richards if you own them with them playing at home.

Should be solid win for City at least. Would be a big headline if Norwich are able to escape from Etihad.

Prediction: MCI 3-0 NOR
Pick and Captain: Aguero, Silva
Pick: MCI defence
Drop: NOR players


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

1. Adebayor - Bolton is quite easy for him I suppose.
2. Van Persie - A big yes against one of the worst side of the Premier League.

Pick:

1. Walcott/ Ramsey - Should provide big threat to Wigan
2. Agbonlahor - To take advantage against off-form Man Utd.
3. Bellamy - In great form, though not that sure to start the game.

Drop:

1. WIG defence - Never a decent pick.
2. MUN defence - Not sure how they can hold Agbonlahor and Bent.

Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):

1. Bale - Stacking up points in the speed of light.
2. Mata - Even if everyone in Chelsea is unpickable, he won't be.
3. Ben Arfa - Continues to impress me with his superior influence in Newcastle's attack.
4. Adebayor - Well supplied to score goals.
5. EVE defence - Three of the next four games at home.
6. Krul - Such a fantastic goalkeeper.

Yellow light (watch):

1. LIV defence - Surely Lucas' absence for the rest of the season is going to adversely affect them.
2. Bellamy - If he can just lock down a place from Dalglish's first XI, he will be a sure fire pick.
3. Aguero - With City's form declining, it's not that sure to own him now.

Red light (drop):

1. MUN players - Players are severely disjointed. Stay away until they regain their form.
2. Balotelli - His stupidity will hinder you from harvesting points from him.

Gameweek 14 Dream Team

Krul

Jagielka -- Richards -- Walker

Bale -- Ben Arfa -- Walcott -- Silva

Van Persie -- Aguero (C) -- Adebayor (VC)

Subs: Vorm -- Barton -- Luke Young -- Simpson