Kick-Off: Gameweek 23 Fantasy Preview

Both Dempsey and Zamora led the demolition of Newcastle.

Overview

The title race has reduced down to two-horse race again after Tottenham's defeat at Etihad Stadium enlarged their trail to Manchester City to eight points. Tottenham should still at least sit a comfortable third at the end of this season anyway, with Chelsea starting to secure the last spot of Champions League football.

Liverpool has knocked out both Manchester clubs out of Carling Cup (City) and FA Cup (United) respectively. Carling Cup looks to be on the hands of the Reds already and that title could be a boost for them to end their trophy drought of six years.

The transfer market is creepily silent this year. Even rumours seem to be very little and it is increasingly likely that Gary Cahill's move would be the biggest action this time compared to Torres' and Carroll's mega buck moves last year.

Game of the Week: SWANSEA v CHELSEA

How will SuperVorm fare
against Chelsea?

Interesting meet up as Chelsea will visit one of the hell arena in Premier League - Liberty Stadium.

Swansea has been incredible at home and has only lost one on their territory to Manchester United. They scored clean sheets in 6 of the 11 home games they had played this term, though they did not collect any in their last three home games. Tough task to score for Chelsea.

Drogba is still progressing with Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations so Chelsea will need to continue to rely on £50m striker Fernando Torres to apply offensive pressure. The Spaniard is on a three month goal drought and I am quite negative on his possibility of breaking the duck. Defensive wise, Gary Cahill did not feature on his first league game at Chelsea and it remains to be seen where he fits in Andre Villas-Boas' tactics.

Given that Chelsea's inconsistent away form, I believe Swansea can frustrate the Blues and make the battle for fourth more interesting.

Prediction: SWA 0-0 CHE
Pick: Vorm


Fantasy Game of the Week: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v WIGAN

It's time for Adebayor
to end his scoring
drought.

Harry Redknapp will seek to turn the tide in their title hunt as they host Wigan at White Hart Lane.

Gareth Bale is a slight doubt for this game - quoted as "75% playing" for this encounter. Adebayor is available again - a great chance to end his goal drought. Both are great captains for this gameweek.

Hugo Rodallega fired a screamer last week... Well that doesn't happen every week. My vote goes to Tottenham for a strong response after a defeat.

Prediction: TOT 3-0 WIG
Pick and Captain: Bale, Adebayor
Pick: TOT defence
Drop: WIG players


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

• Valencia - He doesn't promise you great fantasy score but he is consistent.
• Sessegnon - Plays exceptionally well since Martin O'Neill's takeover.
• Van Persie - A suspension doubt, but you should captain him if he plays.

Pick:

• Carroll - Fits into Liverpool's system finally.
• Aguero/ Silva - Still the reliable combination.
• Walcott - On form recently.
• Keane - Made a spectacular Premier League return.
• Dempsey/ Zamora - Both should combine again.
• Kompany - The captain is back to strengthen the back line.

Drop:

• NEW defence - Blackburn scores in almost every game.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

• Kompany - The captain returns (clean sheet returns too).
• Lindegaard - For sure De Gea will be benched more often after his terrible performance against Liverpool. Out in crutches during training.
• Sessegnon - His fantasy score is rocketing. Same goes to his price.
• Valencia - Nani's injury made him an even solid selection.
• Keane - His influence is obvious.

Yellow light (watch):

• Van Persie - Suspension doubt.
• Carroll - Looks to finally fits into the system but Suarez will be released from "jail" soon.
• Oxlade-Chamberlain - Played fantastically well but god knows what Wenger is thinking.

Red light (sell):

• Jones - Injured again.
• Ramires - Injured.
• Sturridge - His consistent "one game one goal" trend disappeared into nowhere.

Gameweek 23 Dream Team

Lindegaard

Kompany -- Assou-Ekkoto -- Enrique

Silva -- Sessegnon (VC) -- Valencia -- Bale

Adebayor (C) -- Van Persie -- Keane

Subs: Vorm -- Evans -- Dyer -- Tate

Happy New Year: Gameweek 19 Fantasy Preview

A fresh one-match ban for Suarez will prevent him
from facing Newcastle.

Overview
Further drama on Suarez's incident as he will be facing a one-match ban against Newcastle following the middle finger incident at Craven's Cottage. Just one thing to note: Fulham is neither fined nor warned about their fans misconduct to constantly attack Suarez through chants. Such a fair English Fools Association.

Game of the Week: LIVERPOOL v NEWCASTLE

Ben Arfa is one of the
cheapest fantasy commodity
with big gun prospects.

The battle for sixth. Two of the top tier defences across the league.

Liverpool has the worst home record among the top 7 despite being undefeated at Anfield, with draw rate as high as 66.7%. Certainly a stat that can boost Newcastle's morale. 11 home goals is also the worst of the top 7, so don't be surprised if the away team gets a clean sheet.

Suarez will not be available for this game (and perhaps the other 8 games to come) so expect at least one of Bellamy and Carroll to start upfront. The Geordie will face his old club again but it certainly won't be an easy game against the solid back four of Newcastle. Gerrard could also make it a start at Anfield - certainly the light of hope Liverpool needs.

On the other side, Demba Ba will continue to boss the front line and give Liverpool's defence a big test. Ben Arfa has played very well featuring from the bench last game and could as well start the game with Ba. Two delicious fantasy stocks.

Liverpool has historically done very well against the Magpies at home. The Reds should really end their unlucky streak already.

Prediction: LIV 2-1 NEW
Pick: Ba, Ben Arfa, Bellamy
Drop: Suarez


Fantasy Game of the Week: MANCHESTER UNITED v BLACKBURN

Valencia performs consistently
regardless of whether he is
playing as RW or RB.

Sure, Blackburn had managed to draw Liverpool, but blame Liverpool for their poor chance conversion. Against Manchester United, they have no chance.

Two straight 5-0 victories have surely rocketed the morale of fellow Red Devils sky high. Both Nani and Rooney didn't play for a full 90 minutes game against Wigan - superb captain choices. Berbatov might start too after a spectacular hat-trick, but just don't bet on him yet.

A big victory again might just send Steve Kean to execution and bring United to the summit. Sorry Blackburn.

Prediction: MUN 4-0 BLA
Pick and Captain: Nani, Rooney
Pick: Valencia, MUN defence
Drop: BLA players


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

1. Van Persie - Might be rested, but nonetheless presents great scoring opportunity against QPR.
2. Bale - Hot and unstoppable, though Michel Vorm might stand on his way.

Pick:

1. Gervinho - In good form.
2. S. Fletcher - Against poor Bolton he should be able to do it again.
3. Sturridge/ Mata - The usual performer at Chelsea.
4. Holt - Norwich will put hopes on him to rebound from a defeat.
5. STO defence - Wigan has only scored 6 goals on the road this season.

Drop:

1. QPR defence - Arsenal hardly fails to score.
2. BOL players - In confidence crisis.
3. SWA defence - Looks impossible to stop Bale, Adebayor and Van der Vaart altogether.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Bale - Fabulous and unstoppable.
2. Nani/ Rooney/ Valencia - United on fire.

Yellow light (watch):

1. Berbatov - His superb form might rekindle Ferguson's interest to start him.
2. Lindegaard - Started for 2 straight league games and kept 2 straight clean sheets.
3. Carroll - Suarez to start his suspension soon so he will get his chance.

Red light (sell):

1. BOL players - Whoever they are, sell. Second round of hellish fixtures is near for them.
2. Adam - Played terribly recently with Gerrard returning.
3. Suarez - Suspension begun.

Gameweek 19 Dream Team

Lindegaard

Shawcross -- Vermaelen -- Enrique
Nani (VC) -- Bale -- Mata -- Silva
Rooney (C) -- Van Persie -- Sturridge

Subs: Sorensen -- Hoolahan -- Walker -- R Martin

Kick-Off: Gameweek 11 Fantasy Preview

Yaya Toure got a brace in Champions League match but hardly
sparkle in Premier League, yet.

Overview
Mixed fortunes in the Champions League as the Manchester (City and United) duo won comfortably while the London duo (Chelsea and Arsenal) had to satisfy with a draw. So no English clubs will get through early.

A couple of fantasy friendly matches will be commenced in this coming gameweek so make sure that you have enough coverage of Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City players. Might be a gameweek with sky high average.

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

1. ARS (WBA, @NOR, FUL, @WIG, EVE, @MCI, @AST) - Easy enough for Van Persie to climb himself to the summit of fantasy.
2. BLA (CHE, @WIG, @STO, SWA, @SUN, WBA, BOL) - Pretty crucial for them to perform well in this coming run of fixtures to avoid relegation.
3. EVE (@NEW, WOL, @BOL, STO, @ARS, NOR, SWA) - Time for their redemption after being caught stuck at the bottom half of the table.
4. MUN (SUN, @SWA, NEW, @AST, WOL, @QPR, @FUL) - Nothing too tough for the defending champion.
5. TOT (@FUL, AST, @WBA, BOL, @STO, SUN, CHE) - Considerably easy especially when Van der Vaart is on red hot form.

In hell run:

1. CHE (@BLA, LIV, WOL, @NEW, MCI, @WIG, @TOT) - Playing against four of the top seven in the next 7 games is really a tough test for Andre Villas-Boas.
2. MCI (@QPR, NEW, @LIV, NOR, @CHE, ARS, STO) - As tough as Chelsea. Further worsened with some crucial Champions League games (especially the one against Bayern Munich) sandwiched in between.
3. FUL (TOT, @SUN, @ARS, LIV, @SWA, BOL, MUN) - Martin Jol will have to give some emphasis to defence to survive through this period.
4. NEW (EVE, @MCI, @MUN, CHE, @NOR, SWA, WBA) - Back to back games against the leading pack? They will need to play with 120% to record some impressive results.

Game of the Week: NEWCASTLE v EVERTON

With R Taylor's value rocketed
to £5m, Simpson is the only
defender at Newcastle who's
easily accessible (£4.2m).

Two interesting teams to play against each other. Newcastle, which don't look so good on paper but play extremely well at the moment; Everton, which has the quality but not the form.

The Toon Army is now on an unbelievable form, standing proudly on the third place of league standings. Resolute defence, coupled with a great striking pair - namely Demba Ba and Leon Best - are consistently bringing Alan Pardew the right results. Everton, on the other hand, didn't play as poor as their league points shown. However, poor goal poaching ability are constantly dragging them behind, as what we saw last week against Manchester United.

Newcastle defenders are certainly worthy to be considered against such poor scoring Everton, which failed to score 4 times this season. Proceed with caution though, as Newcastle will be facing the Manchesters and Chelsea for the next 3 gameweeks.

In terms of offence it will be up to Ba, Best as usual and possibly Cabaye to break through Everton's defence with tough players like Jagileka, Distin and Fellaini providing the cover.

As for the Toffees, Drenthe's speed will be one powerful weapon to penetrate the solid defensive unit of Newcastle. Players like Cahill and Saha will definitely need to improve their shooting accuracy though if they want to win at St James' Park.

I am expecting a home win anyway for the zebra stripes to maintain their third position for another week before they march into the hellish fixtures.

Prediction: NEW 2-0 EVE
Pick: NEW defence, Ba, Best, Cabaye
Drop: EVE defence




Fantasy Game of the Week: LIVERPOOL v SWANSEA

Can Carroll score two match in
a row?

Three points will be crucial for Liverpool in order for the Reds to play the next two games after this (Chelsea and Man City) with confidence.

Suarez has started to find his form, and his miraculous runs can give fantasy managers a blazing trail of points. Surely a strong captain choice this week. Adam should also take advantage of Gerrard's latest injury and become the primary set piece taker of the team.

Defensively Enrique is still the best candidate so far with the lowest price of Liverpool's back four and his ability to surge forward. Stud.

Swansea might have been pretty good defensively, but bear in mind that all of that performances were at Liberty Stadium. 14 goals in 5 away games conceded suggests that they might suffer a heavy defeat at Anfield.

Scott Sinclair might be able to take away one goal or assist from here, but I think it's all about the Reds at their home ground.

Prediction: LIV 3-0 SWA
Pick and Captain: Suarez, Adam
Pick: Enrique, Carroll
Drop: SWA defence


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

1. Robin van Persie - Ultimate form and is unstoppable.
2. Agbonlahor - Against newcomers' defence it should be easy for him.
3. Torres, Mata - Their pace and footwork should be able to slice the worst defence of the league into pieces.
4. Aguero - QPR's defence is too far away from his class.

Pick:

1. Gervinho, Ramsey - They are the main suppliers and receivers to and from RvP.
2. MUN defence - The return of Vidic should provide the stability on the back.
3. Van der Vaart, Adebayor - Solid pick for every gameweek.
4. Doyle - Looks good and should create lots of troubles inside of  Wigan's penalty box.
5. Sturridge - Severely underpriced.

Drop:

1. WBA defence - Hardly believable to a keep clean sheet.
2. NOR defence - Agbonlahor is too fast.
3. BLA defence - One of the worst league defence.
4. QPR defence - Poor coverage.
5. Gerrard - Injured.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Adam - The key playmaker and set piece taker as Gerrard continues to be sidelined.
2. Van der Vaart, Adebayor - Smooth easy fixtures coming ahead.
3. Van Persie - A no-brainer.
4. Gervinho  - From zero to hero.
5. Walters - Low price, great role.
6. Mata - Complete player who can both score and assist.

Yellow light (monitor):

1. NEW players - Hellish fixtures ahead. See how they cope.
2. Carroll - Picking up some form.
3. Bale - Gaining form or just 1 week marvel? Time will tell.
4. Sessegnon - Against Man Utd it might be wiser to hold on for another week.
5. Kompany - One week suspension. Whether it's worth to hold him or sell him instead is a pretty subjective matter.

Red light (sell):

1. Rooney, Young - Massive sell trend. Sell to preserve your team value.
2. Gerrard - Constantly plagued by injuries.
3. CHE defence - Have not kept any clean sheets after gameweek 1.

Gameweek 11 Dream Team

Given

Simpson -- Jones -- Enrique

Ramsey -- Mata -- Adam -- Van der Vaart

Van Persie (C) -- Suarez (VC) -- Agbonlahor

Subs: Krul -- Eagles -- Ward -- Knight

Wide Race for Third: Gameweek 10 Fantasy Review

Demba Ba is the first player who scored his second hat-trick in Premier
League this season.

Another frenzy Premier League weekend with 35 goals recorded. Splendid. Still the best league in the world.

Chelsea's defeat certainly made the race for third wide open with the Blues, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Newcastle all aiming for the precious Champions League ticket. Intense competition to be expected.

Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal

See here.

Pick: Van Persie, Gervinho, Mata, Lampard, Ramsey

Watch: Arteta, Lampard (overpriced)

Drop: CHE and ARS defence

Everton 0-1 Manchester United

EVE: Good play, but failed at the front as usual. Unlucky as well as Baines' free kick was close to perfect but hit the bar.

Seamus Coleman had an extraordinary game in a game which shown  that he has pace and he has skills. But he is still overpriced and is short of playing time.

MUN: Played four consecutive poor Premier League games, yet picked up 7 points from a possible of 12. But that just tells us something: Champions need not to play well every time. They just need to get the right results.

Chicharito as usual shown his extraordinary goal poaching skills. He is definitely on the course of becoming the next Inzaghi for this whole decade. Solid, solid player.

Pick: Chicharito

Watch: Coleman

Manchester City 3-1 Wolves

MCI: Struggling to get the first goal but Hennessey sent them a big gift. Aguero continued to be influential upfront. A season long hold and one must own either one of Rooney, Van Persie and him.

In the middle it's always Silva. Super consistent and leads the midfielders table. Another season long hold.

Worth mentioning is Kolarov who got ahead of Clichy for a start and bagged 11 points. Definitely more offensive oriented than the latter who is good at set piece as well.

Kompany got a red and should be banned for 3 games. A long ban and certainly should be sold. 1 game. Won't be too costly to hold him, unless you are planning to convert him to Richards who is more offensive oriented (thanks to Moe Vawda for pointing out the error).

WOL: It's just too hard to sustain bombardments from Citeh so the defeat was expected.

Defensively they had failed to keep any clean sheets since gameweek 3. Avoid.

Pick: Aguero, Silva

Watch: Kolarov

Drop: WOL defence, Kompany

West Brom 0-2 Liverpool

WBA: Harsh penalty against them but they were too contained either to win. Nothing sparkling about them.

LIV: Suarez was yet again the influential man to create one penalty for Adam and assist one for Carroll. Good to see the striking partners start to gel.

Downing hit the post once again as Liverpool accounted for 10 shots on the frame this season, averaging 1 per game. Poor luck?

Enrique's consistency both up front and at the back has earned him 1 bonus points apart from 4 clean sheet points. Cool enough as a season long hold.

Pick: Suarez, Enrique

Watch: Adam, Carroll

Stoke 1-3 Newcastle

STO: Walters scored from the spot again as he has become the ace of the team. Solid third/fourth midfielder of any fantasy team.

NEW: Demba Ba scored his second hat-trick faster than Rooney, Aguero and RvP. Incredible form in an incredible low budget team (thanks to Moe Vawda again).

Best's provided two assists for him, but fellow fantasy managers should certainly go for Ba as long as you have the money.

Defence is still solid as the goal was conceded through a penalty.

Pick: Walters, Ba, Best

Tottenham 3-1 QPR

TOT: Solid display yet again by Van der Vaart. His superb positioning will ensure that he will poach more goals and squeeze Defoe away from starting XI.

The man of the match is certainly Bale who finally bursts this season. A very volatile player to own though with 2-1-2-10 trend of gameweek scores. I will opt for VdV at any time.

Adebayor didn't score this time, but don't worry, he has class.

QPR: Never really has any stand in the game. Helguson performed in 3 successive games and is a good choice for your third forward.

Pick: Van der Vaart, Helguson

Watch: Bale

Others

Pick:

1. Sessegnon: Found the form which pundits predicted on him before the season starts.
2. Sinclair: Hogs set pieces and has some good chances upfront.

Watch:

1. Holt: Looking good since his return from bench.
2. Dempsey: Dominates for Fulham.

Lampard's Return: Gameweek 7 Fantasy Review

Three goals - the perfect way to shut doubters' mouth.

Bolton 1-5 Chelsea
BOL: Another morale sapping defeat. Bogdan had a nightmarish game with several "state-of-the-art" saves. Several sparkling attacks from Petrov and Eagles, but in general they were overwhelmed.


CHE: Cool Lampard hat-tricked in style. Just when people (including me) started to forget him, the talisman of Chelsea made himself noticeable again in the most effective way. A display of great positioning.

Sturridge was the other architect who paved way for the emphatic win, who also almost hat-tricked. Great skill, great attitude to not celebrate against his former club. Chelsea did have abundance of attacking talents.

Defensively they need to improve on set pieces - certainly the dead spot of the Blues.

Pick: Lampard, Sturridge
Drop: BOL defence


Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal
TOT: Not a very convincing display, but good enough to win a derby game. I like the way Adebayor and Van der Vaart combined - lethal. In fact VdV's lovely goal was set by Ade. Given more time, I think both of them are fantasy musts given their superb figure of shots per game. Goal machines.

Kyle Walker scored a stunner, but as a defender I can't see how is he going to get a decent number of clean sheets from offensive-minded Tottenham.

ARS: Another sad case of complete control, and lost in the end. Arteta somehow played too deeply - hardly any offensive influence. It was Ramsey who surged forward more frequently, and shot a powerful equaliser. Good lad but not convincing enough as of yet, even with such low price (£6.3m).

I like the way Song played, but he is certainly not prolific enough to gain my love for him in my fantasy squad.

Pick: Adebayor, VdV
Watch: Ramsey, Walker


Everton 0-2 Liverpool
EVE: They certainly didn't deserve to lose under such unfortunate circumstances. Bad refereeing had costed them a player named Rodwell. Not quite impressive in terms of attack though.

I like Drenthe's potential. Given more playing time, he could produce some impressive feat.

LIV: Carroll broke his duck with a nice volley - still too early to say that he will return to his Newcastle's form though. Suarez continued to provide consistency despite limited upside potential.

The most impressive man was Enrique though who popped out with 11 points thanks to his good performance at both ends. Even if Liverpool can't keep too much of clean sheets this season, his good crosses will ensure that he will still score points that match his asking price.

Pick: Enrique, Suarez
Watch: Carroll, Drenthe, Kelly


Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan
AST: Gabby. You simply need to have him. Agbonlahor at Villa is like Rooney at Manchester United - ace status, prolific scoring, English. I love (seriously love) how he raped Wigan's defenders with his fastest legs of Premier League. At £7.0m it's a very ridiculous decision to not own him.

Bent scored too, but clearly at the moment people will only talked about Agbonlahor who is more all-rounded than him. The more interesting man is Bannan though - his long range bombs are threatening.

WIG: Simply got overpowered by Aston Villa. Defensively they are hardly trustworthy anyway averaging 2.5 goals conceded per game over the last 4 games.

Pick: Agbonlahor
Watch: Bannan
Drop: WIG defence


Blackburn 0-4 Manchester City
BLA: Blasted yet again as fans were holding "Kean Out" banner throughout the game. Nothing to be positive about as I place them in the first place to relegate this season.

MCI: Aguero was injured - BIG, BAD news. Fortunately it's international break coming right up and he should feature in City's next league game. The bigger concern for fantasy managers of course, is the possibility of his price drop.

Nasri dictated the whole game after replacing Kun. 1 goal plus 2 assists certainly proved to be too much for bench midfielder. Superb.

Balotelli's should had gotten 3-4 goals if he didn't waste those chances. Great prospect if Mancini decides to bring down Dzeko as third choice striker after the Serbian's dissent with his decision to sub him off during Champions League tie against Bayern.

Pick: Nasri, MCI defence, Silva
Watch: Balotelli
Drop: BLA players


Manchester United 2-0 Norwich
MUN: One of the luckiest game of the world as United opened their season with close to perfect 19 points out of possible 21. Team was rather disjointed. If not for Norwich's unbelievably poor decision making ability the Red Devils' exposed back should had lost. Credits to Welbeck though with his impact coming from the bench. He should pose huge threat to my favourite Chicharito.

NOR: Terribly terrible. They had about 4-5 clear cut chances and yet failed to score even one because of their amateur like judgement. It's a very simple philosophy: whoever is at a better chance to score, don't hesitate to pass. They didn't follow that, and thus the defeat. Paul Lambert should prepare for a big lecture to them.

Watch: Welbeck, Pilkington


Sunderland 2-2 West Brom
SUN: Nicklas Bendtner's game. Strong presence. If not for him, they wouldn't be able to level after a shocking 2-goal trail in the first 5 minutes. Not so sure about his value of money though with so many even better forwards to choose from.

WBA: They squandered a dream start. Long continued to impress though after scoring his third goal of the season. However, just like Bendtner, there're too many talents upfront.

Watch: Bendtner, Long


Wolves 1-2 Newcastle
WOL: Played well, but just couldn't penetrate five-star Krul. Just as usual, it was Doyle, Fletcher, Jarvis and O'Hara who manipulate the attacks.

NEW: Godlike Krul. Extremely entertaining just like how Begovic held off Liverpool few weeks ago. Stunning defence.

Offensive wise, Ba scored in two consecutive matches, with Cabaye the provider. Both are revealing more potential as the season progresses.

Pick: NEW defence, Ba
Watch: Cabaye, O'Hara

Fulham 6-0 QPR
FUL: Andy Johnson! 10 out of 10 for the English as he dictated the demolition after scoring a brace at Europa League just days ago. Swift run, great positioning, and most importantly, ruthless shots. He does intrigue me why Martin Jol buy Bryan Ruiz and Orlando Sa when he got one of the best local partnership already?

Not to be forgotten is Zamora who played the layman role perfectly. And I mean perfect. He just never got selfish throughout the game and always make chances for his teammates to score. Professional. Salute.

Dempsey also scored 1, but it was really aforementioned strikers who combined and took them to cloud nine.

QPR: Sluggish defending. Paddy Kenny certainly needs to be replaced with his amateurish display.

Pick: A. Johnson, Zamora
Watch: FUL defence
Drop: QPR defence


Swansea 2-0 Stoke City
SWA: Scott Sinclair scored once again through the spot - the first one to fly in the Prem against his Championship rivals Taarabt and Holt.

Danny Graham scored too, but I still don't see his value.

STO: Unlucky day for them as they were stopped by the post and Vorm.

Pick: Sinclair
Watch: Graham, Dyer, Walters

Kick-Off: Gameweek 3 Fantasy Preview

Robin van Persie saved Arsenal from Champions League slump, but can
he lead the Gunners to conquer Old Trafford?

Overview
Several midweek games caught my eyes this week, with Arsenal qualified for the Champions League thanks to sparkling effort of Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott against Udinese at Italy. Back at England we see Suarez ultimate influence who scored one and created the other two to defeat Exeter by 3-1. Carroll scored his first goal of the season, but whether is it the opening of floodgate remains a question. Take note that Meireles injured his collarbone and should be out for a long period.

Champions League Draw
Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, Napoli
Group C: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, Otelul Galati
Group E: Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Genk
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund


Lucky draw for Manchester United. Chelsea's games are pretty tricky. Arsenal are in hell of the luck to be drawn in the group of death. Superbly tough for Manchester City too.


On Wild Card Usage
You might be tempted to use that, but I'll say NO. Do you copy? NO. Gameweek 4 will be played on 10th of September, which is two weeks from now, with international games being played after gameweek 3. You surely do not want to see your reshuffled players were injured during their international duties do you? Just wait for another gameweek if you really have to use it.

Will Dzeko score again?

Game of the Week: TOTTENHAM v MAN CITY

Man City will visit to North London in their quest to maintain a perfect start this season.

Tottenham's defence in totally exposed last game, with Friedel made a whopping 13 saves last game and still conceded 3 goals. A big thing for Harry Redknapp to consider as they face the squad who scored the most goals this season.

Meanwhile, Mancini's team is overflowed with gunpowder this season, with Silva, Dzeko and Aguero all making it two in two. Nasri's arrival will further excite City's offence, though it remains a mystery how will he be deployed.

I believe Tottenham will play better at home, but still I think Man City has too much quality to be beaten at the moment. Away win looks highly possible.

Prediction: TOT 1-2 MCI

Pick: Silva, Dzeko

Wazza Roo is hopeful to make
it three in three.

Fantasy Game of the Week: MAN UTD v ARSENAL

It will be another busy weekend at Old Trafford as Manchester United take on weakened Arsenal.

The Gunners can hardly field up a good squad following injuries and suspensions of numerous players. It will be a tough challenge for Arsene Wenger to travel to Manchester with such thin squad, especially after a midweek clash against Udinese at Italy. Fatigue will seriously affect them in my opinion.

On the other hand, the young Red Devils are on a high after a 3-0 demolition against Tottenham last week. Players such as Rooney, Cleverly, Young and Nani will all be ready to open a big wound at Arsenal's cracks. Do take note that Chicharito is back into action - this will affect Welbeck's playing time.

Expect another solid victory by Manchester United. Do captain Rooney if you own him.

Prediction: MUN 3-0 ARS
Pick and captain: Rooney
Pick: Young, Nani, Cleverly
Drop: ARS defence

Suarez is owned by over 40%
of fantasy managers.

Pick and Drop

Pick and captain:

1. Suarez - The Uruguayan is crowning himself as the emperor of Anfield.
2. Moses - A big gamble to consider but I don't see how QPR is going to escape from conceding goals if Wigan can capitalise their home advantage.

Pick:

1. Torres - Not so hype about him after a big disappointment last week, but still I think it reasonable to keep him for another game against Norwich.
2. Tim Cahill  - I am still sticking with him after seeing his potential despite Everton's 0-1 loss against QPR. Blackburn has weak defence.
3. Long - In incredible form and should score at home.

Drop:

1. BLA players - Their current squad and form simply looks to weak to convince me.
2. NOR defence - Chelsea has too much talents to score.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Suarez, Long, Jarvis, Silva - Follow the bandwagon to get some extra cash.
2. Vorm - A keeper that you can consider to keep for whole season.
3. Rooney - Arsenal is for him to crush this week.
4. R Taylor, S Taylor - A stream of moderate fixtures for them to produce some clean sheets.

Yellow light (buy/sell later):

1. Torres - Norwich is a good them to produce goals, so just give him one last chance.
2. Malouda - With Mata joining you need to see how he is going to be affected.
3. Tim Cahill - He is still playing in an advanced role so there is some good scoring prospects from him.

Red light (sell):

1. ARS players - Too much of instability in the club at the moment.

Gameweek 3 Dream Team

Hilario
Bosingwa -- R Taylor -- Smalling
Silva -- T Cahill -- Young -- Moses
Rooney(C) - Suarez(VC) -- Long

Subs: Vorm -- Sinclair - Enrique -- Figueroa

Kick-Off: Gameweek 2 Fantasy Preview

One for two: Joey Barton (right) will be hated by all Arsenal fans following his great
"performance" for making both Alex Song and Gervinho match-banned for three games.

Overview
Only three games ended with difference on gameweek 1 and that was a rather boring season opener for Premier League. It was also a very turbulent fantasy season opener as well due to the massive technical problem and also the lack of production in terms of goals.

One thing worth noting is that two Arsenal players involved in Barton's incidents will be banned for next three games, namely Song and Gervinho. Be sure to KICK THEM OUT of your squad.

Also, The Scout at FPL official website now offers some good piece of information - it is now a very helpful guide compared to past pundits which have little use. Be sure to read that apart from fantasy blogs.

And most importantly, remember that you have UNLIMITED TRANSFERS this week so utilize this to your very best.

On EA Sports Index
Still has little information about the distribution of points, but it does seem like goals have a strong weight in determining the points. My assumption is that each goal gives approximately 10 EA points or even more - otherwise Aguero won't be sitting at the top comfortably.

Is Modric suffering from a groin
injury or forcing a transfer?

Game of the Week: MAN UTD v TOTTENHAM
In any ordinary day I would put Arsenal v Liverpool as the game of the week, but I guess all of you know how much of disadvantages Arsenal is having at this time.

That's why I am more interested in Tottenham's upcoming first Premier League game of the season - a visit to Old Trafford. Spurs have been historically poor against the Red Devils, losing all 6 past meetings with the Manchester side at Old Trafford. However, following United's injury crises at the back and De Gea's dismal display, the London team starred by Van der Vaart has the chance to break the duck.

Offensively I think both sides will leak - stay away from defenders. Van der Vaart is the obvious and the safest pick from Tottenham, followed by Bale. Playmaker Luka Modric is doubtful due to groin injury - stay away from him.

As for the Red Devils, Rooney, Young and Nani are still the best selections from the team, with Cleverly the cheap access point from the defending champions. I am looking for a goals galore here, with the home side the victor.

Prediction: MUN 3-1 TOT
Pick and captain: Rooney
Pick: Young, Nani, Cleverly, Van der Vaart
Drop: Modric, ALL defence

Much expectations on Fernando
Torres after the Spaniard have a
good game finally with Chelsea.

Fantasy Game of the Week: CHELSEA v WEST BROM

After a disappointing Premier League debut at Britannia Stadium, Andre Villas-Boas is surely determined to get three points this weekend at Stamford Bridge against West Brom.

AVB made a surprising decision last week against Stoke by dropping Drogba and starting the "thought-to-be-out-of-form" Torres. More surprisingly though was the fact that Torres actually played pretty well despite not scoring any goals. If you want some fantasy differential I think he is the man for you this week. I just have a feeling that he will score.

Mikel is expected to be out following the kidnap of his father - it remains a mystery who will fill his spot. There is also a big question mark on the defending line: will AVB favour for Bosingwa for his offensive ability from the back and sacrifice Ivanovic/ David Luiz for him? I expect this to be answered this week with Ivanovic deemed to be fit (Luiz is still unavailable by the way). As for the moment, stick with Ashley Cole or Terry if you have money to splash or wait for another gameweek to determine which player has the cheapest access to Chelsea's clean sheet points. Malouda continues to be the safest selection with no competitor to challenge his LW/ LAM spot.

UPDATE: Cech injured himself during training and is expected to out for 4 weeks. Stay away from him as Hilario and Turnbull (both at £4.5m) look to be decent fantasy picks for the next few weeks.

West Brom had an okay game against Manchester United last week, but I don't think the worst defence last season can hold the marching Blues - bench the Baggies if you happen to own them.

Prediction: CHE 2-0 WBA
Pick and captain: Torres
Pick: CHE defence, Malouda
Drop: WBA players, Cech

It seems like McLeish's rather
unnatural formation is limiting
Bent's goalscoring potential.

Pick and Drop

Pick and captain:

1. Bent - Looks good on paper against Blackburn, but be wary after his disappointing first game.
2. Carroll - Yes it's at Emirates, but I found it hard to resist him due to the fact that the Gunners have been very poor in dealing with tall players.

Pick:

1. Holt - The leadscorer of the Canaries has a point to prove with traditionally poor at away Stoke City to "help" him.
2. Saha, Tim Cahill  - With QPR shadowed by a 4-goal defeat, they could add salt to their pain.
3. Larsson - A home game will help Sunderland's new ace to extend his supremacy.
4. Sinclair - If he fails to impress this game, you can drop him for the rest of the season.

Drop:

1. BLA players - Villa's defence is fundamentally solid, which is the opposite of Blackburn's.
2. ARS defence - I expect the naked Arsenal squad to be oppressed by Liverpool throughout the game. Expect leaks with Song not around as the first defensive line.

Transfer Traffic

GW 2 special: recommended squad revamp

Given -- Al-Habsi

Kompany -- De Laet -- Enrique -- Hughes -- Brown

Young -- Silva -- Larsson -- Moses -- T Cahill

Torres -- Suarez -- Holt

Budget: £100.0m

Good alternatives

GK: Hart, Vorm

DF: Luiz, Simpson, Shawcross

MF: Van der Vaart, Downing, Adam, Malouda, Sinclair, Yaya Toure

F: Aguero, Rooney, Carroll, Bent, Fletcher

Gameweek 2 Dream Team

Given

A Cole -- De Laet -- Jagielka

Malouda -- T Cahill -- Larsson -- Sinclair

Torres (C) -- Rooney (VC) -- Bent

Subs: Vorm -- Jarvis -- J Evans -- Ward

Kick-Off: Gameweek 1 Fantasy Preview

North London in chaos.

Overview
Riots were all over England as Premier League begun its new season countdown. Fortunately the situation is controlled now, with only the game at White Hart Lane (Tottenham v Everton) being postponed due to its location which is very near to the origin of the riot.

9 games are expected to play this Saturday. Are you ready yet?

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

1. Aston Villa (@FUL, BLA, WOL, @EVE, NEW, @QPR, WIG) - Apart from away game to Fulham and Everton, these are pretty easy for the Villans. Bent, N'Zogbia and Given should be a part of your team if you want a good start for the next two months.
2. Chelsea (@STO, WBA, NOR, @SUN, @MNU, SWA, BOL) - What an easy start for AVB. Apart from the visit to Old Trafford and possibly Stadium of Light as well, the rest will most probably give them easy 3 points.

In hell run:

1. Bolton (@QPR, MCI, @LIV, MNU, NOR, @ARS, CHE) - Fighting 5 of the top 6 last season in two months is definitely a crazy task for Owen Coyle. They should feel proud if they are not at the bottom of the league after these 7 games.
2. Blackburn (WOL, @AVL, EVE, @FUL, ARS, @NEW, MCI) - The opening game against Wolves is somewhat crucial for them. For the next 6 games the Rovers are either visiting tough home teams or getting visited by tough teams.
3. Tottenham ( - , @MNU, MCI, @WOL, LIV, @WIG, ARS) - Packed against title rivals in their first 7. Home games will be crucial in deciding their target for this season.
4. Stoke (CHE, @NOR, @WBA, LIV, @SUN, MNU, @SWA) - The Potters are only good at home... Their first few visitors to Britannia are damn tough.

Jordan Henderson to face
his former club this week.

Game of the Week: LIVERPOOL v SUNDERLAND
Henderson will play against his old club as Liverpool plan to make a brilliant start for their new campaign.

Both clubs have splashed significant amount of money in the transfer market. However, compared to the signings of Liverpool, it is obvious that Sunderland's newcomers are one level below of Liverpool's.

I am not seeing a clean sheet here, but at Anfield, the Reds should open their season with 3 solid points.

Carroll and Downing are the safest fantasy picks for Liverpool currently; as for Sunderland, take Larsson or Gyan if you are expecting away goals.

Prediction: LIV 3-1 SUN
Pick as captain: Carroll
Pick: Downing, Larsson, Gyan
Drop: SUN defenders


Fantasy Game of the Week: MAN CITY v SWANSEA

Goals or reds from Balotelli?

A super tough game to begin the Premier League journey. Swansea, the newcomer, will visit to Manchester to fight the best defence in the Premier League.

Compared to the mega budget City, Swansea's squad is as thin as paper. It looks like a mission impossible for them to beat City on the road.

It is obvious to start all City players you have. Aguero is still lack of match fitness, so stay away from him as for now. The only man at Swansea worthy for a fantasy start this gameweek is Scott Sinclair.

Prediction: MCI 3-0 SWA
Pick as captain: Balotelli, Silva, Yaya Toure
Pick: MCI defenders, Dzeko
Drop: SWA players


Pick and Drop

Nani should get a head start in
fantasy scoreboard.

Pick as captain:

1. Rooney, Nani, Young - Man Utd visits WBA, the poorest defence unit of last season, this week.
2. Van Persie - Confirmed to be available after all the injury doubts. Fabregas and Nasri's transfer sagas should not affect him.

Pick:

1. Malouda, Lampard - Chelsea is in spectacular form throughout pre-season.
2. Taarabt, QPR defenders  - They are facing much deteriorated Bolton at home. Wait to see Neil Warnock's preferred forward selections though.
3. Rodallega - Norwich shouldn't be too tough for him.

Drop:

1. BOL defenders - Away clean sheet seems impossible.
2. Torres - AVB is more keen to use Drogba currently.
3. David Luiz, Ivanovic - Both not fit for this week.
4. Fabregas, Nasri - Goodbye soon.
5. EVE and TOT players - How to score points with no games to play?

Transfer Traffic

GW 1 special: recommended initial squad

Given -- Al-Habsi

Kompany -- Rafael -- Enrique -- Hughes -- Gabbidon

Nani -- Yaya Toure -- N'Zogbia -- Taarabt -- Sinclair

Drogba -- Bent -- Holt

Budget: £99.0m

*It is advised to left some extra money in the bank for acquisition of expensive, on form players without taking any penaltied transfers.

Gameweek 1 Dream Team

Hart

Kompany -- Alex -- Gabbidon

Malouda -- Nani (VC) -- Downing -- Yaya Toure -- Taarabt

Carroll (C) -- Balotelli

Subs: Al-Habsi ---- Rodallega -- Samba -- Briggs

Stats Comparison for Winter Signings (Forwards Only)

Just for your reference.

Verdict: Suarez is a must for next season given his incredible influence on the field.

Maxi Rodriguez Scored Another Hat-Trick

Maxi Rodriguez
Got another match ball in just two weeks.

Unbelievable. Maxi Rodriguez, the one who's on the start-sub fence for most part of the season, explodes with an unstoppable form as he scored his second hat-trick in two weeks time with Liverpool beating Fulham 5-2 on the road.

First he eclipsed Hernandez's fastest goal of the season which was just created one day before, and then he completed his hat-trick with a long range cannon. He is definitely so so confident recently.

Can Maxi book a starting spot in the next season with his resurgence of form? Still looks negative for me with Carroll, Suarez and Kuyt standing firm on the trident front.

Gameweek 33 Fantasy Preview

Carlos Tevez
Out for up to a month, out of Golden Boot race.

Quite a number of bad news occurred in the soccer arena, including Tevez's moderate injury ahead of FA Cup tie against Manchester United and the tragedy of Drogba's family. My deep condolences to Drogba.

Back on track. Only six gameweeks left to improve your season rankings, and with Chelsea and Arsenal having a gameweek double this week, are you ready to fight till the end?

---

PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Andy Carroll
Will pose tremendous threat to Arsenal's defenders.

Arsenal v Liverpool

The Gunners will face a decisive week to their title race as they host Liverpool as the first game of their gameweek double.

The Reds just pissed Manchester City away from Anfield with a classy 3-0 victory thanks to the marvel of Andy Carroll. With the Geordie opened his account with Liverpool, you can expect huge pressure to be faced by the Koscielny and co. That is even worse with Suarez providing different dimension of attack to complement Carroll.

Meanwhile, Arsenal finally got back on track with a victory against Blackpool last week. But just as we all know, inconsistency has been a consistent problem for Arsenal. Van Persie needs to stop wasting chances if they are to continue their pressure against Manchester United on the table.

Despite having home advantage, I don't think three points are on Wenger's grasp. Carroll alone is enough to crush Lehmann (or Almunia?).

Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool

Aaron Lennon v Theo Walcott
A contest of agile wingers.

Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal*

An interesting replacement fixture as we see Arsenal battling Tottenham to continue their pressure on the leader Manchester United.

Tottenham might get demoralized after their Champions League exit with a silly goal conceded by Heurelho Gomes. But they do have stamina advantage on hand as Arsenal will get exhausted after battling Liverpool this Sunday.

Viewing on their stars, Van der Vaart and Bale are still struggling to back to their best. But they've Peter Crouch who just scored a brace last week and will be looking to do the same in this match.

On the other hand, Arsenal have almost all of their attackers available for this game and will do everything to crush Tottenham's defence.

It's a contest of determination, and I believe the Gunners have the thirst for victory.

Prediction: Tottenham 1-2 Arsenal

The Rest

• Birmingham v Sunderland (1-0) - A very vital game for Brums' survival. They simply must win.
• Blackpool v Wigan (2-1) - A win will bring Wigan above Blackpool. But with the poorest offence in Premier League, can they? I am negative about that.
• Everton v Blackburn (2-0) - The Toffees have been quite good on attack recently. Do invest on their attackers.
• West Brom v Chelsea (2-3) - Hodgson is indeed a mid-table club maestro. Chelsea will need to beware.
• West Ham v Aston Villa (2-3) - Wide areas has always been the Hammers' problems, and that's the Villans' advantage.
• Newcastle v Man Utd (1-2) - I don't expect rock solid United to slip this. But don't expect a big win either after a massive FA Cup derby.
• Chelsea v Birmingham* (2-0) - No reason for not winning this one.

*Replacement fixtures

---

PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

David Luiz
A possible captain pick for this gameweek double with his wonderful bonus magnet-ing skills.

Captain Picks

• David Luiz/Lampard/Drogba - Put your double on them on top of their double with easy fixtures.
• Van Persie - Two tough opponents. But does he ever pick his opponent to score?
• Adam - Well, he faces Wigan. Poor defenders.

Buys-In

• Carroll - Adapted to Liverpool.
• Luiz/Ivanovic - You might consider both of them. It's quite possible to get two clean sheets.

Sells-Out

• Tevez - Out for a month.

Squad of XV

GK: Foster

DF: Ridgewell, Luiz, Ivanovic, Clichy

MF: Adam, Lampard, A Young, Walcott

F: Van Persie, Bent

Subs (in order): Kingson, Carroll, Jagielka, Smalling

Captain: Luiz

ECS: Value

Andy Carroll Unleashed His True Power

Andy Carroll
Looks like £35m is worthier than £50m.

Liverpool blown Man City 3-0 at ease. What's better? Carroll scored his first for Liverpool. And his second too.

The game was indeed concluded too early, after the Geordie scored the Reds' third and his second at 36th minute. That effectively makes City's fourth place shaking, with Tottenham right behind them.

Meanwhile, Dirk Kuyt continues his outstanding form by scoring eight fantasy points. Astounding.

Gameweek 31 Fantasy Preview

Robin van Persie
Sustained an injury but the club is optimistic that he will play this Saturday.

So the international games are over and we've lost one of the best fantasy commodity - Gareth Bale. Meanwhile, Liverpool has also confirmed the loss of Martin Kelly for the rest of the season. With Van Persie, Tevez and some other big names doubtful for the game this weekend, it will be a major headache for fantasy managers.

The Dutch were obviously the strongest team this week, with Premier League stars Dirk Kuyt and Van Persie both on the score sheet. Carroll has also scored his first goal since he left Newcastle. But can they bring their form back to their clubs? We shall see.

---

PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Scott Parker
Can his form halt United's progress?

All Games

• West Ham v Man Utd (2-2) - United stumble at away. That's too usual.
• Birmingham v Bolton (1-0) - Bolton has nothing much to fight for. That's very opposite for the Brums.
• Everton v Aston Villa (2-1) - Everton has been pretty solid at Goodison Park recently.
• Newcastle v Wolves (3-1) - Big Mick will miss Kevin Doyle.
• Stoke City v Chelsea (2-3) - Carlo will certainly want to retain his chance to win the Premier League.
• West Brom v Liverpool (1-2) - The golden trio - Suarez, Carroll and Kuyt will outshine Roy Hodgson.
• Wigan v Tottenham (1-2) - Spurs must win this if they are to feature in the Champions League next season.
• Arsenal v Blackburn (3-0) - Obviously the match of the week. Unfortunately Van Persie is doubtful, and there will be a dilemma of whether or not to captain him.
• Fulham v Blackpool (2-1) - Charlie Adam has been declared fit to face Fulham, but I still expect a home win.
• Man City v Sunderland (2-1) - The Black Cats' form is too bad for Manchester City to lose.

---

PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Dirk Kuyt
Possessed by Superman recently.

Captain Picks

• Van Persie - Should bang in a couple of goals, if he features.
• Kuyt/Suarez - This partnership is in incredible form.
• Van der Vaart - Bale will out for this one, so it's all his show again.

Buys-In

• Kuyt/Suarez - Too great to miss.
• Lampard/Luiz - Easy games ahead.

Sells-Out

• Meireles - With the strikers on form, there's less reliance for his offensive service.

Squad of XV

GK: Foster

DF: Ridgewell, Coleman, Carragher

MF: Nani, Parker, Kuyt, Lampard, Van der Vaart

F: Van Persie, Suarez

Subs (in order): Almunia, Best, Jose Enrique, Aaron Hughes

Captain: Van Persie

ECS: Value

Reds Agree Carroll Fee!

Andy Carroll (again)
No more zebra stripes.

It's official! Liverpool official website has announced that Newcastle had agreed the fee for Newcastle striker Andy Carroll. Now it is subjected to player terms and medical check-up for the deal to success.

That also means that, Torres departure from Anfield is certain. £85m from two deals at the last day of transfer? Very entertaining!

It is also rumoured that Liverpool had sent a car to collect Charlie Adam. Insanely ambitious.

The Blockbuster Continues...

Andy Carroll
Clearing his zebra stripes for a red?

The transfer saga is getting crazier now with Liverpool launching two attempts already to secure the service of Andy Carroll as their replacement.

However, it is rumoured that Newcastle had rejected both of their attempts, with the second one amounting £35m plus bonuses.

How will Torres and Carroll negotiations turn out to be? I think this is the craziest transfer deadline day I had ever encountered.

ENJOY THE DRAMA!

The Sacking of Chris Hughton and The Possible Return of David Beckham to EPL

Chris Hughton
Got sacked ridiculously.

Newcastle fans are furious as their manager Chris Hughton was sacked.

Why? Because he took Newcastle back to the Premier League? Or because he took the team sitting comfortably at the middle of the league table up till now?

There is growing resentment towards the Magpies' management, with their ace striker Carroll removed from the "untouchable" list in the transfer market.

Whether his successor is Pardew, O'Neill, Shearer or others is not what really matters; the owners of the club have made themselves in a deep shit and they will have to figure out how to escape from it.

David Beckham
To return to EPL?

Meanwhile, David Beckham says that he is ready to return to EPL soon, with Tottenham his favourite destination.

The reason for that is that Beckham's deceased grandpa was a big fan of Tottenham and he wanted Beckham to play at White Hart Lane as the home team.

Does that mean Tottenham will continue to be overflown by attacking talents?

Things That You Can Do By Selling Drogba

Didier Drogba
"What's wrong? Why are we keep losing?"

Drogba has been the most terrible investments over the past two months - costing £13m but hardly contributed any. His has been goalless over the past six premier league games he was playing, with fantasy returns of 2-6-1-2-2-2, barely passing two points per game on average. What's worse? Awaiting Chelsea are seven tough games, which in order are:

• Newcastle
• Everton
• Tottenham
• Man Utd
• Arsenal
• Bolton
• Aston Villa

The Ivorian will still have a fair chance to score in the first three coming fixtures, but I'm not so positive that he will score more than one each. With the aforementioned factors, I think it's time to end the misery of owning Drogba and change him to someone else.

With £13m you can continue to hold an out of form Drogba or:

• Own the best striker partnership in the Premier League currently - K Davies and Elmander. And you can still have a small change for that.
• Change Drogba for the in form luxurious striker Fernando Torres, and spend the additional £1.1m on other areas.
• Change him for one middle price striker (Gyan, K Davies, Elmander, Carroll etc.) and upgrade one £4m defender into a £7m one. Or even two.
• Change him for one middle price striker as above and make one of your midfielder to become Fabregas.
• Buy two luxurious goalkeeper (Hart, Cech, Van der Sar, Reina).

There's so much you can do by selling Drogba. So what's your choice?

Thursday Tale

Morten Gamst Pedersen
Scores 20 fantasy points in two games.

Here's some updates on the midweek fixtures which ended just now:

• Aston Villa finally found their gunpowder after scoring only once in their last four games. Downing and Young were the main casts yesterday, scoring 23 fantasy points together.
• Essien copied Balotelli's showdown by scoring the decisive goal for Chelsea and then got sent off. Fantasy managers who had just bought him will be pretty frustrated.
• Barton and Carroll combined again to provide a goal for Newcastle, but another brilliant game by Pedersen ensure a victory for the away side. Do monitor Pedersen as he starts to show the form he once possessed in 06/07 season.
• West Ham were denied a win once again as they held draw by West Brom. Odemwingie is back and converted a penalty for the Baggies.
• Torres scored again but Wigan only allowed Liverpool to carry one point away. Roy Hodgson once again commented like a middle-low club's manager. Courageously idiot.
• Chamakh scored Arsenal's fastest premier league goal as Arsenal won 2-0. Will that secure his starting spot?
• Beckford scored his first premier league goal, finally.
• The Manchester derby was rather disappointing with no goals to share.

Sunday Sparks

Asamoah Gyan
The hero for Sunderland after Darren Bent's absence.

Here's some of my views on premier league games that have finished this week up until now:

• Kevin Davies led Bolton to victory with his 16-pointer. Tottenham just aren't strong enough to play two games a week without Van der Vaart.
• Birmingham survived with a point after trailing two goals behind West Ham. Zigic, the tallest player in EPL, is looking more and more influential in offence.
• Morten Gamst Pedersen, once known as the Norway's Beckham, scored his first goal of the season to help Blackburn to get their third league victory of the season.
• Seamus Coleman, the best fantasy defender under £5m category in my opinion, snatched a handful of eight points with his goal and bonus points. His Tim-mate Tim Cahill is also on the radar with nine points.
• A last minute goal by Hangeland has earned his manager 11 points. On the other side of the pitch Albrighton, whom I had just transferred out this week, scored 9 points.

Ji-Sung Park
"No Nani? Then let me be!"

• Superb Park played one of the best games in his life to prevent United from a draw with a brace of goals, one of which came in the final minutes.

• Asamoah Gyan scored twice to preserve an embarrassing record for Sunderland - none other than Bent and him has scored this season.
• A single goal by Andy Carroll has pulled Arsenal three points behind in the title race. I was watching the game and got impressed how "Arsenalised" Newcastle style of play is.
• Balotelli has already scored a double against West Ham, with Tevez playing.

Gameweek 4 Fantasy Preview

Jermaine Defoe
The latest addition in the injured squad. Flirts with the physios for six weeks.

As usual, the international fixtures had drawn quite an amount of star players away from EPL for weeks including Kuyt, Dawson, Walcott and the most recent one, Defoe. This will definitely spoil a lot of managers long term plan and a wildcard might be necessary to rectify the situation. Are you one of them?

Latest news for Walcott owners: you can't keep him as he will not play for up to six weeks. How unfortunate.

---

PART I: PREVIEWS

Jermaine Beckford
To slice Man Utd again in a different jersey?

Everton v Man Utd

Everton will play the earliest game this week against Manchester United at Goodison Park. Quite interesting to see:

1. The fans reaction towards Everton homegrown star Wayne Rooney after the exposure of his sex scandal (I like how the hooker compare him with C. Ronaldo);
2. Whether Jermaine Beckford will crush Man Utd again;
3. Whether Man Utd will stumble again away from home. The last away game against Fulham was a good example.

Obviously, Mikel Arteta will be the best selection from the Toffees. Everton's last fixture against Aston Villa had seen him delivered three passes whereby all were nicely received by the players and hit the post/bar. His precision has rewarded those who owned him three fantasy bonus points.

On the other side, Rooney has started to regain his form, despite disrupted by his news off the field. If you got the money, you can put him as your second striker (it's inexcusable if you don't own Drogba as your first striker). Still, Berbatov is the cheaper yet effective option.

I think Everton has the chance and while the score it's quite hard to predict, I will go for a draw.

Prediction: EVE 1-1 MANU

The Rest

• Arsenal v Bolton (3-0) - The Gunners should be invincible at home. You should get at least one of Fabregas, Arshavin or Chamakh for September fixtures.
• Fulham v Wolves (2-0) - Fulham is obviously the better team and the Cottagers will be at home.
• Man City v Blackburn (3-0) - City should convert all of their frustration into goals against Blackburn.
• Newcastle v Blackpool (4-0) - Carroll has a bright chance to lead the premier league scoreboard for at least a short period.
• West Brom v Tottenham (1-3) - Interesting to see how Van der Vaart perform. Gallas might be too slow to replace Dawson.
• West Ham v Chelsea (1-2) - I think Avram Grant will give his best to prove himself to Roman Abramovich and to ensure his job security. These motivation might be able to make Chelsea conceding their first goal.
• Wigan v Sunderland (1-0) - Two surprising victors last matchday meet this week. However, Wigan was the better team last fortnight.
• Birmingham v Liverpool (1-1) - Torres scored a brace during EURO qualifiers, but Birmingham is quite tough and the players at Liverpool are less creative than Spain.
• Stoke v Aston Villa (1-2) - Houllier became the new manager of Villa so do expect some changes in the squad. The players should be eager to prove themselves in front of their new manager so I think Villa will win.

---

PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Cesc Fabregas
Pick of the week.

Captain Picks

• Fabregas - The Gunners' skipper should score his first goal of the season this time.
• Carroll - Against Blackpool, this is a great gamble.
• Drogba - The usual captain choice.
• Bale - West Brom is another attacking team with weak defence. Just hope that Tottenham won't shock us again.

Buy-Ins

• Fabregas/Arshavin/Chamakh - Three nice fixtures oncoming. With Van Persie injured, Chamakh is a great short-term buy.

Sell-Outs

• Dawson/Defoe/Van Persie/Kuyt/Walcott - Injured.
• Blackpool players - Hellish fixtures oncoming.

Squad of XV

GK: Hart

DF: Hangeland, Williamson, Sagna

MF: Fabregas(C), Malouda, Bale, Ferguson

F: Drogba, Chamakh, Carroll

Subs (in order): Harper, Dann, Figueroa, Albrighton

Captain: Fabregas

Emergency Captain: Value

Starting XI Value: £81.9m

Total Team Value: £99.9m