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 17 Fantasy Preview

Samir Nasri
The man of December?

After scoring two incredible goals against Fulham, Nasri continues his fantastic form to take Arsenal to the next round of the Champions League. Van Persie was also on action in the 3-1 victory against Partizan and might pose some form of threat to Chamakh's or Arshavin's position.

On the other hand, Chelsea's awful form was brought into the Champions League as the Blues succumbed to a defeat against Drogba's ex-club Marseille; while on the day before both Manchester United and Tottenham were drawn by their opposition as all four English clubs proceeded to the round of 16 in the European's most prestigious league.

On a side note, all three luxurious fantasy midfielders - Gerrard, Lampard and Fabregas - are set to return to action this week or next. Their past experiences in the cold December may return you with hefty fantasy points.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Petr Cech
Clean sheet-less for six consecutive matches.

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea
London's Sunday will not be cold as Tottenham looks set to take down Chelsea in this red hot derby.

Tottenham may welcome a quick return of Rafael Van der Vaart after continuously injured his hamstring. His presence will definitely add more threat to Chelsea's defence alongside with the offensive suspects of Bale, Lennon and Defoe.

On the other side, the Blues' form are still far from convincing. They have now lost 10 points from the last four premier league games, conceding at least a goal from each of these. The crazy December fixtures for them - Tottenham, Arsenal, Man Utd and Bolton in order - certainly doesn't help.

I think confidence crisis will once again took Chelsea down and Tottenham can at least retain a point at White Hart Lane.

Prediction: TOT 1-1 CHE

Wayne Rooney
The key to take down Arsenal?

Manchester United v Arsenal
The battle for first remains intense this week as Manchester United awaits Arsenal at the Theatre of Dreams.

The Red Devils had just gone to the summit two weeks ago but that was quickly overtaken by Arsenal due to the delay of United's game against Blackpool. But now they will have the chance to regain their position should they win the Gunners this coming Monday.

Wayne Rooney, who has scored in both meetings against Arsenal last season, will be Arsenal's biggest threat. His recent form has been fine, with only goals lacking from him. More importantly, his presence also relieves defenders' pressure against Berbatov, allowing him to attack more freely.

Meanwhile, Wenger's side will have enough confidence to break United's unbeaten spell this season. Samir Nasri has been in an incredible form while Andrei Arshavin finds perfect cohesion with the French. Both of them are winning factor for Arsenal currently in the absence of captain Cesc Fabregas - who will most probably return only on the next match.

Manchester United usually wins important matches at home, and judging Arsenal's poor record in their last 10 games against United and Chelsea - W0 D1 L9 - things should be working for Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Prediction: MANU 2-0 ARS


The Rest

• Aston Villa v West Brom (2-1) - A good chance for Villa to snatch three points with both Odemwingie and Brunt doubtful for this game.
• Everton v Wigan (2-1) - Both Tim Cahill and Charles N'Zogbia should be on the list of goalscorers.
• Fulham v Sunderland (1-1) - The draw specialist to draw again?
• Stoke City v Blackpool (2-2) - The Seasiders to preserve their good away record in the premiership.
• West Ham v Man City (1-0) - The Hammers to grab the chance to punish City in the absence of their captain Carlos Tevez.
• Newcastle v Liverpool (0-3) - Torres will want to open a big scoring feast to celebrate for the birth of his son. Newcastle's internal disputes will only make things worse for them.
• Bolton v Blackburn (2-1) - Bolton to back on track after a miserable week.
• Wolves v Birmingham (1-2) - Gardner showed some good form last week and I expect that to continue.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Fernando Torres
Newcastle in a big trouble this week.

Captain Picks

• Torres - Motivated to score and that becomes much easier with Newcastle's managerial problems.
• Rooney - Good record against Arsenal.
• Agbonlahor - Time to wake up from his long silence.

Buys-In

• Torres - With happy feelings comes happy form.

Sells-Out

• Chelsea's players - Bad fixtures ahead.
• Newcastle's players - Massive uncertainties at St. James' Park.

Squad of XV

GK: Friedel

DF: Kyrgiakos, Baines, Vidic

MF: Maxi, Bale, Nani, Etherington, Cahill

F: Torres(C), Elmander

Subs (in order): Jaaskelainen, Ridgewell, Albrigton, Luke Young

Captain: Torres

Emergency Captain: Value

Starting XI Value: £82.5m

Total Team Value: £102.6m

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?

Onuoha Scored A Messi Style Goal

Nedum Onuoha
How the hell did he do that?

Splendid. Onuoha dribbled past several players before shooting comfortably past Cech. A very classic Messi like attempt.

Chelsea are now trailing in the end of first half, conceding for the first time in Stamford Bridge this season. Take note that if Cech wasn't the man protecting the square, the Blues would have trailed by more than one goal.