Sunday Aftermath: Chicharito's Fury

Javier Hernandez celebrated Saturday with an "indirect" hat-trick.

It was another great weekend for Manchester United as they extended their lead in Premier League to two points. Here are some key points:

• It's such a waste to allow Javier Hernandez (£7.5m, 15 pts) to warm the bench, and he just proved it again. The impact sub scored 2 and made 1 own goal for the opponent in just 45 minutes of action against Aston Villa, which was an reiteration of his unmatched positioning and poaching skill.
• On the other side, it was second consecutive start for youngster Andreas Weimann (£5.2m, 12 pts). The lad has now scored 4 bonus points in 2 games, and is showing some good potential for his cheap price.
• Meanwhile, Arsenal made their worst start in their Premier League history as they lost another 2 points to Fulham. There's good news though, as Olivier Giroud (£8.4m, 12 pts) is starting to show his value and scored a brace for the home side.
• Manchester United will be glad to sell Dimitar Berbatov (£7.4m, 16 pts) to Craven's Cottage as the Bulgarian was the big hero in the game, having directly involved in all 3 goals to halt the progress of the Gunners. Another man who performed nicely in fantasy terms for Fulham was Alex Kacaniklic (£4.7m, 9 pts).
• Marouane Fellaini (£7.6m, 13 pts) was the man at Goodison Park again as he scored 28 fantasy points in the last 2 games. Unbelievably consistent and is one of the season man to own for me.
• A goalless draw between Reading and Norwich made sure that they continue to stuck at bottom half of the table.
• It was also a draw at St Mary's, with Nathan Dyer (£5.4m, 9 pts) finally scored after a long silence.
• Charlie Adam (£6.6m, 10 pts) scored his first goal for a very long time as Stoke City defeated Queens Park Rangers who remained last in league standings.
• Wigan succumbed to a home defeat against West Bromwich Albion, but Arouna Kone (£6.5m, 6 pts) is definitely having a fine time there with his fourth goal of the season. Could turn out to be a good acquisition in some part of the season.
• Early Sunday showdown saw Manchester City recovered from Tottenham's first-half goal to stay within 1 game gap against derby rivals Manchester United. Edin Dzeko (£7.5m, 5 pts) was the super-sub again with a game-killing goal, but will never become a fantasy force with his limited playing time.
• Kevin Nolan's (£6.8m, 11 pts) fame as a goalscoring midfielder continues to flourish as he netted his fifth in league this season to record a good victory against Newcastle. Another clean sheet suggests that Jussi Jaaskelainen (£5.0m, 8 pts) is a must in your goalie set-up.
• Else at Stamford Bridge Chelsea could made it 3 or 4 up in first half but ended up with only one instead as they ended the game with a draw thanks to a second-half equaliser from Luis Suarez (£9.9m), who is in rich vein of form.

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Deadline Day Deals

Gaston Ramirez doubled Southampton's record transfer fee.

The transfer window has officially closed and numerous deadline day signings are made. Here are some of the moves that can shake up the fantasy game:

• Andy Carroll (Liverpool to West Ham, loan): This deal was done on the night before deadline day actually. Perhaps the pony-tail can reignite his form there, but I don't really think he can score over 15 goals and justify his high price tag.
• Charlie Adam (Liverpool to Stoke): I don't know how he can fit into Stoke's system. The lad is too bad to function as a defensive/holding midfielder, while Jonathan Walters should continue to take the offensive midfielder spot.
• Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea to West Ham, loan): The Israeli returns to his former club after five years. His addition complicates the Hammers midfield line-up, reducing the value of the whole midfield unit due to rotation fears.
• Christian Benteke (Genk to Aston Villa): Scored 19 goals in 37 games for Genk last season. Not too bad and should be a good back-up forward for the Villans. He has little value fantasy wise unless Paul Lambert decides to play 4-4-2 and the forward duo — Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent — injure more often than not.
• Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United to Fulham): Great business. He is unlikely to become a sub, so Mladen Petric's playing time could be sacrificed.
• Clint Dempsey (Fulham to Tottenham): Surprise it is. Liverpool were unwilling to add £2m to their £4m valuation to get the striker's service, which subsequently sent the American to White Hart Lane. Poor decision by Liverpool, though it isn't a good move by Tottenham either by sending out Van der Vaart and getting a less impressive replacement.
• Ashkan Dejagah (Wolfsburg to Fulham): A replacement for Dempsey. He had once scored 8 league goals in one season, but that was five seasons ago.
• Javi Garcia (Benfica to Manchester City): A replacement for Nigel de Jong. Not much fantasy value here though, despite his high transfer fee.
• Pablo Hernandez (Valencia to Swansea): This could be interesting. Bought as a replacement for Scott Sinclair, the lad has consistent goal and assist records at Valencia.
• Hugo Lloris (Lyon to Tottenham): Great capture which effectively means the end of Brad Friedel's fantasy usefulness.
• Maicon (Inter Milan to Manchester City): An experienced right-back they've gotten. If he's price £6.5m or below he would be the best place to look at City's defence.
• Stephane M'bia (Marseille to QPR): Can play both as a defender and midfielder. Perhaps he can strengthen the Rangers' porous defence.
• Bryan Oviedo (Copenhagen to Everton): A young guy with little productiveness on offence. Will become a benchwarmer most likely.
• Gaston Ramirez (Bologna to Southampton): The Saints are going all in by doubling their transfer record fee on him. Definitely will lead the attacking line-up, but it remains to be seen how effective can he become in a club with limited talents to feed him the supplies.
• Scott Sinclair (Swansea to Manchester City): Do not see his value here yet, unless Roberto Mancini somehow believes he is better than Samir Nasri or David Silva.

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Man Utd's Season Begins: Gameweek 17 & 18 Fantasy Reviews

Ashley Young is expected to out until late January... Time to get
Valencia the super duper real deal guys.

Manchester United has scored 10 massive goals in just to games to close down the gap against Manchester City to just 5 goal difference. The real test for Mancini begins as the United's engine is officially ignited...

Team by Team Round-Up

• MCI: Failed to score for the first time this season against one of the worst defence of the league. Big shock. Three straight clean sheets nonetheless suggests that they're still one of the most reliable defence in England. Kompany remains the best bargain of all given Richards' absence due to injury. Offensively they're less consistent nowadays so don't put your shoes in yet if you haven't.
• MUN: 5-0 followed by another 5-0. The real season begins for them as Berbatov scored 4 goals in 2 games. A guy of pure class but certainly needs more playing time to gain a place in any fantasy team. Valencia is the real deal of the team given Young's absence and his ability to play as both winger and full back. One to watch. Evans is out due to injury as the cheapest access point to United's clean sheets is gone. Both Evra and Jones are pretty expensive while the rest are just so uncertain about their playing time.
• TOT: Speedy speed boy Gareth Bale crushed Norwich while Adebayor continued to show consistency scoring 6-5-7-5 over the last four games. Both are great buys.
• CHE: The fantasy points are still pretty widespread across players. Sturridge and Mata remain the "good but not great" buys, while Torres continues to be gloomy on the final third. Stay away from their shabby defenders.
• ARS: Van Persie is still the ace of the team, while Gervinho is starting to get some serious form when he is just days away from playing African Cup of Nations. Not so good. I like Benayoun's creativity but it looks like he's not fit enough to play 90 minutes.
• LIV: Charlie Adam single-handedly handed four league points away after failing to score a penalty against Wigan but scored an own goal against Blackburn. Two bottom three clubs. Great. Chance conversion is still terrible for the team. Lots of silly attempts going wide, lots of shots going too straight to the keeper, and when it's on target, opponents' keeper went into godlike mode. From De Gea to Hart, from Hart to Vorm, Ruddy and Bunn. Great keepers were all born at Anfield.
• NEW: It's great to see Ben Arfa scored his second goal for Newcastle after more than one year. The Magpies have now a second ace to rely on apart from Ba. I can see better attacking display from them.
• STO: Failed to score in both games but defensively it's still solid as long as they're playing with Shawcross. Nothing really sparkling to comment about.
• WBA: Hodgson's defensive tactics worked against City despite such a poor group of defenders. Odemwingie looks to rediscover his fantastic form. Certainly a man to watch.
• EVE: Saha and Cahill continues to stuck deep within scoring drought. Deep frustration. Osman is the only man who functions properly in offence.
• NOR: The results they got is just so predictable with the same usual bunch of players who perform.
• AST: Agbonlahor has lost his hot foot and we wouldn't know whether he will return to the Agbonlahor of last season.
• FUL: Dempsey is showing some consistency at the moment and is a good option for a mid-price midfielder.
• SWA: Nothing much to catch my eye except that Danny Graham has a nice footwork.
• SUN: A pretty much resurrected team under Martin O'Neill. It's still not so convincing offensively anyway.
• QPR: Mackie scored two games in a row. A man to match as we see how his partnership with Helguson develops.
• WOL: It's all about Steven Fletcher offensively. Best budget striker at the moment.
• WIG: Still the same old story of defeats and defeats. Poor sent off of Sammon though.
• BOL: Only 3 goals in last 6 league games as Owen Coyle's position is surely insecure now.
• BLA: Yakubu has gotten his tenth goal of the season but Blackburn is still rocking at the bottom of the league.

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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

Unbeaten Got Beaten: Gameweek 15 Fantasy Review

Both Nani and Rooney returns with 2 fine goals each.

Chelsea 2-1 Man City
Well, no more unbeaten teams in the league after this game. Pretty shocking to see how fast and easy Balotelli scored the opener. Silva should had got a penalty but wasn't awarded. Big decision that turned the game around.

The king of all volleys a.k.a. Raul Meireles returned with a jumping tap-in. Great goal. Lampard was brave enough to take the penalty but nonetheless is still a fantasy player to be avoided with his little playing time.

Sturridge once again stole the limelight with a brilliant assist for Meireles' goal. Superb fantasy acquisitions.

Pick: Sturridge
Drop: Clichy


Man Utd 4-1 Wolves
Perfect response by United after a shocking Champions League exit. Both Nani and Rooney scored a brace to prove the fact that they are not fantasy flops, they are just out of form. And now they have found the form. Beware.

Interestingly, Valencia started ahead of Young and got 3 delicious assists. Let's see how the competition for place between Valencia and Young develop and if the former wins, he will become a great fantasy stock costing only £7.8m currently.

Encouragingly for Wolves despite the defeat is the fact that Fletcher scored yet another goal. Superb form. Mick McCarthy's ace.

Pick: Rooney, Nani, Fletcher
Watch: Valencia


Arsenal 1-0 Everton
The gunners had a hard time testing Everton's defence but Van Persie's fantastic volley made sure they took three points in front of their seniors such as Henry and Pires to celebrate the club's 125th anniversary. It certainly is RvP's era now and I can imagine the next statue to land at Emirates would be his.

I am fascinated with Walcott's growth and you can seriously see how much more he has now other than his speed. I am really in love with his vision and unselfishness.

Amazingly, the four centre backs of Arsenal, namely Vermaelen, Koscielny, Djourou and Mertesacker combined to give their club a clean sheet. Not bad.

Pick: Van Persie, Arteta, Walcott
Watch: ARS defence


Liverpool 1-0 QPR
For some reason Liverpool tend to make their oppositions keeper in godlike mode. Cerny certainly is far away from Krul and Vorm's class but somehow he made sure the result was respectable for QPR. Jinx?

Suarez played a fine game as usual but his selfishness at times didn't impress me. Good goal anyway.

Meanwhile, Maxi continues to attract my attention with his poaching instinct and I for one hope that he can start all the remaining league games for Liverpool.

And Adam, as predicted, was pivotal as he assisted for Suarez's header. His fantasy scores over the past weeks are consistent as well, making him a quite decent pick for your squad.

Pick: Adam, Maxi
Watch: Suarez


Bolton 1-2 Aston Villa
Guzan played a solid game with 7 saves. A good keeper to consider for rotation strategy if Given is out for a prolonged period.

Offensive wise, Agbonlahor provided an assist but will be suspended for the next game after accumulating five yellow cards. Might just be the right time to jump across Ba's bandwagon.

As for Bolton, Klasnic scored his seventh goal of the season. A good figure.

Watch: Guzan, Klasnic, Agbonlahor


Norwich 4-2 Newcastle
Great formation by Paul Lambert as he totally capitalised Newcastle's aerial weaknesses without Coloccini and Steven Taylor in the middle of the defence. 3 goals of Norwich were scored through direct headers and another through a rebound after a header - that explains all.

While the likes like Holt, Morison and Hoolahan all got home with good fantasy points, it's quite surprising to see Crofts with double digit scores. He has never failed to record 1-2-2-1-2-2 kind of scores for all previous gameweeks he had played. Certainly needs more observations to see whether that's a fluke or a sudden burst in form.

On the other side, Demba Ba showed some great first touches to score a brace. Truly incredible.

Pick: Ba, Morison
Watch: Holt, Crofts
Drop: NEW defence


West Brom 1-2 Wigan
So the best performer of Wigan during pre-season finally broke his goal drought after attempting his 46th shot of the season. Great present to his birthday and I believe the floodgate will be lifted soon. Be aware of his performance.

I thought West Brom played horribly at home. The penalty was unnecessary and Long wasted a seriously good chance.

Pick: Moses


Swansea 2-0 Fulham
Dempsey is the man in black as his deflection caused a goal for Sinclair and his equalising penalty well saved by Vorm. Formless poor lad.

Vorm mind games certainly worked for the penalty. 1 yellow card point for 5 save points... Worth it.

Pick: Vorm
Watch: Sinclair
Drop: Dempsey


Stoke 2-1 Tottenham
Two fine goals by Etherington has notified fantasy managers that it's not only about Walters at Stoke's offence. In fact, Crouch has also been pretty consistent over the weeks, though Walters will still be my first pick of Stoke's offensive department.

The ref has pretty much gone against Tottenham and it so ridiculous to see how Adebayor's equaliser was ruled off side. The Togolese had been magnificent in the second half and it was a shame that his brilliant work wasn't fairly rewarded.

Pick: Walters, Adebayor
Watch: Etherington, Crouch


Sunderland 2-1 Blackburn
A good comeback by Sunderland to get a sweet victory for O'Neill's first game in charge for the Black Cats. Two superb goals that came from Vaughan and Larsson. The latter's set piece dominance has once again shown its value following a wonderful free kick goal which hit the post before bouncing into the net. Great one from a great player.

Vukcevic earned two 8 points in a row and is only owned by close to 0% of fantasy managers. Certainly a gamble that wouldn't cause a drop in team value at the moment.

Pick: Larsson
Watch: Vukcevic

Gameweek 13 Fantasy Preview

The man in deep shit: Andre Villas-Boas

Overview
Arsenal was the only team that has made it through the knock-out stage this week in the Champions League, with the other three still on doubt of progressing the group stage especially for Manchester City. Bad year for English clubs on the European tournament?

Gameweek 12 Mini Review on the Top 7
Manchester City: Still unmatched upfront, but defence has slightly deteriorated.
Manchester United: Earned 3 points in ugly style. Either they wake up or expect poor run of results coming in.
Tottenham: As long as Adebayor and Van der Vaart take turns to hit form, Champions League is highly probable.
Newcastle: Hatem Ben Arfa should be a major fantasy force soon after a great performance against City.
Chelsea: Get rid of them. Terrible defence. Not looking sharp upfront neither.
Liverpool: Hard to pick them as they are not consistent enough. Defence is reliable though.
Arsenal: You can never go wrong with Van Persie.


Game of the Week: LIVERPOOL v MANCHESTER CITY

Charlie Adam has shown
great vision on the game
against Chelsea.

Wealthy City will travel to neighbouring city Liverpool as they try to demolish Anfield with Sheikh's money.

With annual losses of  £194.9m, City owns one of the highest wage bill across Europe with the likes of Silva, Aguero, Nasri and more. With that kind of money, City has the ability to challenge for titles this season, and has topped the Premier League table currently with a comfortable 5-point lead. Massive, massive season for them.

The Blues travelled to Naples for a Champions League tie against Napoli and that definitely took away some of their fitness, so do not be surprised by rotation. Silva should start though, as he had only played for 30 minutes in the game against Newcastle and less than 45 minutes for two international games before that - might be a strategy that Mancini prepares to play him against both Napoli and Liverpool.

On the other side, Liverpool will have no fitness problems when they host City, and Dalglish had clearly stated that Premier League is their top priority despite having a League Cup tie with Chelsea two days after that. However, Suarez trouble over racism allegations will make their chances of winning this game gloomy, especially if his match ban penalty starts from that game. Big doubts.

Manchester City might just be too tough for the Reds so I'll go for an away win. A narrow one though.

Prediction: LIV 1-2 MCI
Pick: Silva, Aguero


Fantasy Game of the Week: NORWICH v QUEEN'S PARK RANGERS

Heidar Helguson has picked
up 39 fantasy points from
his last 5 games.

With all the big clubs having European tie and League Cup tie before and after this week's game, let's focus on the battle between two promoters of the league.

Both teams are poor in defence, so offensively I can see a big scoreline.

Expect the likes like Pilkington, Holt and Morison to battle all out against Helguson, Barton, Wright-Phillips and Taarabt to grab three points from the tie.

Helguson might be worthy for your captain armband with his spectacular run of form currently.


Prediction: NOR 3-2 QPR
Pick and Captain: Helguson
Pick: Pilkington, Holt, Morison, Barton, SWP, Taarabt
Drop: NOR and QPR defence

Pick and Drop
Pick and captain:

1. Van Persie - Might play only half of the game, but still too good to refuse.
2. Walters - Blackburn should be leaky enough for him to perform.
3. Van der Vaart/ Adebayor - West Brom's defensive qualities won't be enough to stop them.

Pick:

1. MUN defence - Should be formidable with captain Vidic leading the line.
2. SUN defence - Solid and cheap. Against Wigan it's highly possible for another clean sheet.
3. Agbonlahor - If he can get enough chances, he should defeat Vorm.

Drop:

1. NEW defence - A clean sheet at Old Trafford? Negative for me.
2. FUL defence - RvP is unstoppable.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Van Persie - Simply too good.
2. Hoilett - Cheap. Solid.
3. Walters - Ultimate influence.
4. Richards - Seems to outperform Kompany at the moment.
5. SUN defence - Some good fixtures ahead.
6. MUN defence - Showing great resolution.
7. Ben Arfa - Extremely threatening.

Yellow light (hold):

1. Ramsey/ Arteta - See if something develops to make one of them more superior than the other.

Red light (sell):

1. Suarez - Should be match banned soon.
2. MUN offence - Shaping into a 1-0 team.
3. NEW defence - Collapsing against big teams.

Gameweek 13 Dream Team

De Gea

Shawcross -- Brown -- Walker

Van der Vaart -- Walters -- Pilkington -- Barton

Helguson -- Van Persie (C) -- Holt

Subs: Vorm -- Taarabt -- Hutton -- Weather

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

Kick-Off: Gameweek 9 Fantasy Preview

Aguero returns wonderfully.

Overview
Both Manchester clubs have finally earned themselves their first victory in Champions League group stage respectively as they set for the first grand match of the season at Old Trafford in this coming Sunday. A pretty good Champions League midweek for Premier League clubs in fact as all four participants won. Rooney, Aguero, Ramsey and Torres (still not available) were the big man from respective teams.

Game of the Week: MANCHESTER UNITED v MANCHESTER CITY

Can De Gea pass the second
test after passing the first one
against Liverpool?

The first decisive game that can alter the direction where the Premier League trophy will go at May next year. Manchester United will take on the challenge against league leader and also their "noisy neighbours" Manchester City at Old Trafford.

City are really cementing themselves as a giant club currently, sealing 22 from possible 24 league points so far. The money spent by the Sheikhs has really given them incredible squad depth - players like Balotelli and Adam Johnson can easily make it through the starting XI of any other Premier League clubs, but yet they sit on City's bench frequently.

Silva and Nasri will continue to act as the dual-core processor at City - their supplies will be the very crucial factor in determining the outcome for City at Old Trafford. Aguero, who just scored the winning goal for City coming on through bench, shall give some hard time to United's defence.

The host Manchester United are doing fine too this season, but their form has dipped a bit recently. A lucky win against Norwich plus a difficult draw against Liverpool clearly shown that they are starting to struggle as the fixtures get more compact for them.

Rooney will lead the line as usual with Nani and Young providing the width. But will they play 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 against the ever threatening City? Hard to tell.

Vidic will really have to be in 100% focus if he starts. He has bad discipline history in big games (remember the red card hat-trick against Liverpool) so he simply has to be more alert about that.

I would have gone for a home victory a week ago, but the recent performance by United simply doesn't give me the confidence for that. Mancini has quite a chance to break United's 100% Premier League home record.

Prediction: MUN 1-1 MCI
Pick: Rooney, Aguero


Fantasy Game of the Week: QPR v CHELSEA

Meireles surely hopes to lock in
a first team place at Chelsea.

Sure, Liverpool are at home against Norwich, but with Norwich on form and Liverpool not so solid on the back so far, I'll rather go with Chelsea who just won 5-0 in the Champions League.

Torres scored more than one goal for the first time for Chelsea but is still unavailable for this week's Premier League action. No worries though, as both Sturridge and Drogba are more than ready to fill the Spaniard's boots, with on form Meireles providing the supplies behind them.

Lampard and Mata are perhaps the most safe player to start, but you do need to pay some good premiums for them (Lampard is super expensive and Mata don't seem to have a high ceiling yet). Ramires' injury has certainly paved a way to Meireles for a sure-starter, so you should really consider him who comes at a much cheaper price.

Defensively I still don't trust Terry and co, so it's really the Blues' attackers who matter.

Prediction: QPR 1-3 CHE
Pick and Captain: Sturridge, Meireles, Lampard
Pick: Mata
Drop: QPR defence, Ramires


Pick and Avoid
Pick and Captain:

1. Suarez/Adam/Gerrard - Against Norwich it's always a good choice to pass the armband any one of them.
2. Adebayor/Van der Vaart - They are against one of the worst defence of the league.
3. Van Persie - A no-brainer for his form.
4. Demba Ba - Scored 5 goals in 3 games and should score again against Wigan.

Pick:

1. Ramsey - Good form.
2. Best - Form is not as good as Ba.
3. Agbonlahor - Never fails to shine.
4. NEW defence - Rock solid.

Avoid:

1. NOR defence - Don't think they can escape from Anfield with no damages on the back.
2. BLA players - Awful all the way.

Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):

1. Van der Vaart/Adebayor - Both are dictating Tottenham's offence.
2. Ba - Newcastle are playing extremely fine with him the key player upfront.
3. Ramsey - Cheap and productive.

Yellow light (watch):

1. Pilkington - Not really a good time to bring him in despite the form.
2. Adam - Watch whether he will be sacrificed to make way for Gerrard.
3. Arteta - Playing too deep.

Red light (sell):

1. Dzeko - Out of favour.
2. Downing - Played decently but somehow failed to contribute anything up till now.

Gameweek 9 Dream Team

Krul

Enrique -- Warnock -- R Taylor

Adam -- Van der Vaart -- Ramsey -- Meireles(VC)

Suarez -- Adebayor(C) -- Ba

Subs: Vorm -- Eagles -- Assou-Ekkoto -- Boyata

Full-Time: "THE CRAZY" Gameweek 3 Fantasy Review

Wayne Rooney killed the match with 3 set pieces. Ultimate performance at
Old Trafford.

CRAZY! With just 11 goals produced from 6 matches at Saturday, the game between Manchester United and Arsenal alone produced 10 goals (MUN 8-2 ARS)!!! Prior to that Manchester City also thrashed Tottenham 5-1 at White Hart Lane! A super duper unbelievably insane Premier League Sunday. Supreme feast for fans.

Man Utd 8-2 Arsenal
MUN: Complete dominance by the Red Devils as they thrashed the Gunners perhaps too easily. Defence was too easy to pass through as Rooney and co fully capitalised the spaces available to them. Ruthless.

Rooney is spectacular. 2 easy free kicks plus another penalty ensures that Dzeko will not distant himself away in his pursuit of golden boot. Ashley Young is even more productive in fantasy, providing 2 cheap assists by setting up both Rooney's free kicks before completing his third to Park beside scoring 2 entertaining goals. Nani also broke his duck with 1 goal and 1 assist in this reaping game.

Welbeck scored the opener but was unfortunate to get injured during the first half. Anderson and Cleverly continues to boss the midfield and are both cheap and decent picks from the team. Still I would put Rooney and Young plus a defender (Jones, Evans, Smalling) from United as the wisest fantasy picks from United.

De Gea saved a penalty but was at fault for letting Walcott's attempt went in - still not convincing.

Pick: Rooney, Young, MUN defence
Potential Pick: Nani, Cleverly, Anderson


ARS: Horrendous display throughout the game. Midfield was non-existent, defensive positioning was even worse than relegation candidates, and chances were wasted as if they came for free.

Ramsey was perhaps one of the worst players on field - he only knew how to hold the ball and turn around as he received them instead of making some penetrative passes. Jenkinson got yet another red as Wenger perhaps has broken his career record of conceding red cards in 3 straight league games. The way Arshavin wasted a one-on-one effort was also terrible - how did he managed to score 4 at Anfield years ago with this kind of performance?

To sum it up it's probably all Wenger's fault for not altering his tactics with the absence of Fabregas and Nasri. They looked even worse than a League One team when defending against Manchester United.

Drop: ARS players


Tottenham 1-5 Man City
TOT: The team looked totally not on form despite the fact that Modric started the game. They got some good chances but several of them were denied by the woodwork. Rather unfortunate but yet they still don't deserve to win this one.

I would say wait for one or two gameweeks to reassess them when the fixtures are slightly easier.

MCI: Dzeko is simply incredible. Four goals which clearly illustrated how all-rounded he are - left tap, right tap, difficult header of pure class and long-range shoot. He's bringing the best of him after he left Wolfsburg.

Nasri performed a hat-trick of assists on his debut game for City, suggesting that Wenger's tactics are limiting his potential. With so many talent upfront he could as well bang in a lot of fantasy points through his beautiful assists.

Other players like Aguero, Yaya Toure, Barry and Silva all performed well as well in this most expensive offensive package, and it will be difficult to choose who to lead your line.

Pick: Dzeko, Nasri, Silva, Aguero, Yaya Toure


Liverpool 3-1 Bolton
LIV: A masterclass display by Liverpool with all those free-flowing passes. Suarez continues to carry the team forward with all his creativity but he will need to improve his one-on-one skills after missing two golden chances. Still one of the must own fantasy player despite that.

Henderson was a completely different person than the first two games as he blended perfectly with others and definitely owned the first half of the game. His opener was very important and he is fairly rewarded with 3 bonus points.

Adam also scored after assisted the corner for Skrtel and is looking more and more deserved to be price £9.0m in fantasy. Skrtel's introduction was a "perfect accident" for me and he played really well as right back.

Carragher made a silly mistake which costed 4 points from each of the defenders (especially Enrique). It does wonder me whether Coates will push the vice-captain out of starting XI.

Pick: Suarez, Adam
Potential Pick: Henderson, Downing, Skrtel

BOL: Owen Coyle's squad were completely outmatched. Nothing much to say but Klasnic's third goals in three games certainly suggest that he's the king of all third-choice strikers.

Pick: Klasnic


Aston Villa 0-0 Wolves
AST: They were wasting quite an amount of chances here and there against the disciplined Wolves. Something for them to reflect.

WOL: Another solid display by them suggesting that you can trust on Wolves defence now with R Johnson leading the line.

Potential Pick: WOL defence


Wigan 2-0 QPR
WIG: Two medium-range strike by Di Santo suggest that he can outshine Rodallega this season. Moses failed to deliver fantasy points yet again. It's testing your patience.

Potential Pick: Di Santo


QPR: The defeat is rather expected. Hopefully Joey Barton will pull them up a level in next game.

Blackburn 0-1 Everton
BLA: Offensive productivity is a concern as they failed to score any after committed around 20 shots and 2 penalties. That was bitterly penalized through Arteta's penalty.

A strong relegation candidate in my opinion.

Drop: BLA players


EVE: Not very convincing on the field. They'll need to play better against oppositions like Blackburn to fetch a better ranking. Baines collected 3 bonus points - an encouraging sign to own him.

Potential Pick: Baines


Chelsea 3-1 Norwich
CHE: Not really convincing for the win, but AVB won't be unhappy as long as his side claimed 3 points. Drogba fall was the fall of the century anyway. Bosingwa should sit firmly as AVB's first choice right back after yet another fantastic display especially the opening goal.

Mata was the difference between 1 point and 3 points with his good footwork. Something Chelsea's had been missing since the departure of Arjen Robben.

And finally, drop Torres until he broke his duck.

Pick: Bosingwa, Mata
Potential Pick: Lampard
Drop: Torres


NOR: Brave display by the Canaries. Holt finally scored but was at my bench (unfortunately). Didn't look shy to attack. Good game.

Potential Pick: Holt


Swansea 0-0 Sunderland
SWA: Sinclair hit the woodwork once with his thunderous shot - bad news. Not too bad although they failed to register their first goal in the Premier League.

Potential Pick: Sinclair


SUN: Mediocre. Wes Brown claimed 2 bonus points apart from clean sheet points, and is a great £4.5m defender to pick.

Pick: Brown


Newcastle 2-1 Fulham
NEW: The best day for Best to score two impressive goals. Cabaye is showing more and more significance through his midfield leadership and set pieces. It's just a matter of time to see a fantasy boom from him.

Potential Pick: Cabaye, Best


FUL: Senderos was dropped this time for Briggs - he's not that sure as a starter. Dempsey scored his first goal, but it remains to be seen whether he fits his price tag.

West Brom 0-1 Stoke City
WBA: Been dominated for the whole game and yet lost due to one silly mistake by Foster. Long could have make it 3 goals in 3 games but was prevented to do so by Begovic. Brunt continues to look solid in the offensive department.

Potential Pick: Long, Brunt
Drop: Foster


STO: Easy goal by Shotton but it was Walters who deserve more attention in fantasy with his assist.

Potential Pick: Walters

Full-Time: Gameweek 1 Fantasy Review

Sebastian Larsson (no. 7) punished Liverpool's chance wastages with a wonderful  bicycle kick.

Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland
LIV: A lot of upside potential, as we can see from first half. Suarez's superb interception and run to earn a penalty (he missed it!), Adam's £10m worth of set piece which helped Suarez to score Premier League's first goal of the season, and Downing's fantastic 40-50 yards run before finding his shot rattling the bar have all shown how dynamic and unstoppable Liverpool's attack can become.

Unfortunately, Dalglish have gone all wrong about his tactics in this game. Henderson is awful playing at the right side. With Flanagan playing, Kuyt should play at the right to provide defensive cover for the young right back. Because of that mistake, 2 points gone.


Pick: Suarez, Downing, Adam, Enrique
Potential Pick: Carroll
Drop: Henderson (if you somehow picked him)


SUN: The Black Cats are pretty shaky in the first half, but fortunately Steve Bruce fixed the problem during half-time. Brown had done a good job in locking Carroll, making the latter hardly able to make a good shot.

Offensively it's all about the almighty Seb Larsson. A very, very solid performance by the ex-Birmingham player. A good direct replacement for Taarabt if you are fed up about the latter's performance against Bolton.


Pick: Larsson, Brown


Blackburn 1-2 Wolves
BLA: Debutant Formica scored a good first goal for the Rovers, but that was not enough for them to claim any points. The defeat is quite a good indication for them - they will be roaming at the bottom third of the league for most part of the season.

Potential Pick: Roberts, Formica, Dunn


WOL: Doyle missed a penalty which in no way was good. Ward's goal was brilliant, but you don't expect a defender to score beautiful goal week-in and week-out.

Potential Pick: Fletcher


Fulham 0-0 Aston Villa
FUL: Pretty football by Martin Jol. Good stream of passes and chance creations makes Fulham players good fantasy options upfront. Still look solid in back despite more offensive approach. Could have won if not for Given's great performance.

Pick: Andy Johnson, Hughes
Potential Pick: John Riise


AVL: Created some good chances but failed to capitalise any. Was surprised to see Hesky start by sacrificing Albrighton. N'Zogbia and Bent didn't look too impressive. Given was superb - pick him.

Pick: Given


QPR 0-4 Bolton
QPR: Nightmare start for them. The Rs pretty much lost themselves after conceding the first goal. Nevertheless, it's better to lose 4-0 in your first game and realise how tough Premier League is rather than later when the season goes into the decisive part.

Drop: QPR defenders


BOL: Klasnic looks incredible in his first game of the season. He is more like a playmaker rather than a striker. Gary Cahill scored a goal, but you shouldn't be fooled to buy him - look at Bolton's fixtures!

Potential Pick: Klasnic (fixtures are too bad to consider)


Wigan 1-1 Norwich
WIG: The departure of N'Zogbia has given rise to two players - Watson and Moses. Both are decent picks considering the next two games Wigan are playing.

Pick: Moses, Watson


NOR: Good rebound by Hoolahan. They didn't look too bad at this game, but it's still too early to conclude about them.

Potential Pick: Hoolahan


Newcastle 0-0 Arsenal
NEW: Barton is easily my man of the match for taking Gervinho off the match. Doesn't have too much to comment about their game - it's so dull.

ARS: With no engines at the middle, they look like a mid-table team. Wenger better get this solved soon, or they might even fall behind of teams like Aston Villa and Everton.

Potential Pick: Ramsey
Drop: GERVINHO

Stoke 0-0 Chelsea
STO: Superb saves by Asmir Begovic. Easily the man of the match. Credits went to referee as well as he denied two penalty appeal from Chelsea. Unfortunate for Matt Etherington however for injuring his shoulder.

Pick: Begovic
Drop: Etherington

CHE: Not quite a good decision by AVB to start Torres instead of Drogba. The Spaniard looked much better than before, but still a distance away from Drogba's ultimate influence and is too expensive to hold unless his form starts to get hot. Held drawn due to some bad fortune sincerely.

West Brom 1-2 Manchester United
WBA: Great debut by Shane Long to score an equaliser as West Brom gave some hard time to Fergie's squad. Almost held United up until a moment of brilliance by Ashley Young.

Potential Pick: Long


MUN: A costly victory with Vidic and Ferdinand gone injured. Young was the decisive man, having scored one and set up another. De Gea almost costed United three points with his slow save against Long's attempt. The young team still look shaky, but fortunately the winners' mentality saved them this time.

Avoid United's defence as for now until De Gea starts to show some sharpness.

Pick: Young, Rooney
Potential Pick: Cleverly
Drop: MUN defence

Charlie Adam Set to Join Liverpool

Charlie Adam
"Anfield here I come!"

After such a prolonged war between two Pools, the deal for Charlie Adam has finally been agreed.

It is rumoured that the former Tangerines skipper has to write a transfer request in order to push the deal through - in a fee of around £9m.

The deal will definitely further congest Liverpool's list of central midfielders which consist of Gerrard, Meireles, Lucas, Aquilani, Spearing, Henderson and more.

Gameweek 35 Fantasy Preview

Wayne Rooney
Wazza on fire.

Congratulations to Manchester United to step one of their feet into the Champions League finale after a 2-0 away win at Gelsenkirchen against Schalke. Despite Neuer's godlike performance, Die Knappen were unable to stop Rooney's fantastic performance. Thumbs up.

On the other hand, Messi outstanding performance outshone the whole team of Real Madrid, only to be shadowed by *you know who* ridiculously exaggerated post-tackle actings. Pepe's sent off was unjustified honestly. Still, Barca deserved the victory and it's like a mission impossible now to Jose Mourinho.

Now, let's depart away from UEFA Champions League and step into the world of Barclays Premier League as the season reaching its finale...

---

PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Arsene Wenger
"Should I help Man Utd or Chelsea?"

Arsenal v Manchester United
All the rest of Premier League fans except the Red Devils' will hope Arsenal to defeat Manchester United to make the Premier League challenge more interesting.

The Red Devils are only one step away from the title. Should they beat the Gunners, it's only the matter of time to get their 19th. With Champions League final almost in Ferguson's grasp, it's likely that the Scot will deploy his best squad to face Wenger's.

On the other hand, the Gunners had hardly something to cheer for, after losing eight points from the last Premier League games. Defence has been a constant problem for the London club as they conceded so many silly goals. That's the reason why Arsenal has collapsed once again in the final part of the season in my opinion.

Things should go pretty even this time given Arsenal's all-time low morale and Manchester United's stamina disadvantages. I should be pretty narrow, and I'll vote for a draw as it's enough to satisfy Sir Alex Ferguson in pursuing United's 19th glory.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Manchester United

Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba
Both to start together?

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur
There are fighting for different reason, but they will fight with the same thirst.

All of a sudden the Blues are now only six points from leader Manchester United, and should the Red Devils lost at Emirates Stadium, Chelsea will have all the chance to surpass them on the week after.

On the other hand, Tottenham still has the chance to qualify for Champions League for another year. But more importantly, they will have to defend their fifth place against Liverpool for Europa qualification.

Torres and Drogba may join forces but their effectiveness when combined together remains a question. But since the former has broken his duck and the latter is on his prime, there should be no problem for Chelsea's offence especially when there are also in form Lampard, Kalou and Malouda on service.

Meanwhile, Tottenham continues its horrible form, finding themselves only one win from last six. Another draw or defeat will give them extreme pressure from Liverpool, especially when Spurs have fixtures disadvantages.

It's an intense London derby, but at Stamford Bridge, I can hardly believe Redknapp to outmuscle Ancelotti...

Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham

The Rest

• Blackburn v Bolton (1-1) - The former has more reason to fight on.
• Blackpool v Stoke City (2-0) - Will Mr Charlie Adam finally create something spectacular? I will have to have faith on him.
• Sunderland v Fulham (1-1) - Both are safe, so results do not matter much to them.
• West Brom v Aston Villa (2-1) - My vote goes to Roy Hodgson and Odemwingie who's on much better form than Hollier-less Villa.
• Wigan v Everton (2-2) - Wigan are really pathetic throughout the season. Not much of confidence on them.
• Birmingham v Wolves (2-1) - It will be interesting to see whether the Wolves are hungry enough to bite the Brums.
• Liverpool v Newcastle (3-0) - Fantasy game of the week. Captain Suarez or Kuyt.
• Man City v West Ham (2-1) - Premier League survival quest looks hopeless for Avram Grant.

---

PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Luis Suarez
Will lady luck finally give him the permission to score a double digit fantasy score?

Captain Picks

• Suarez/Kuyt - Newcastle are known to be awful on the road.
• Drogba - Tottenham don't have good defence to stop him.
• Odemwingie - If you are adventurous enough.

Buys-In

• Kuyt - Seriously on form, seriously underrated by me before.
• Odemwingie - The remaining fixtures are quite easy.

Squad of XV

GK: Hart

DF: Flanagan, Luiz, R Johnson

MF: Kuyt, Lampard, Adam, Silva

F: Suarez, Drogba, Odemwingie

Subs (in order): Foster, Sessegnon, Tamas, Samba

Saturday Stage

Fernando Torres

Broke his duck with a goal and an assist from the bench.

A pretty entertaining Saturday with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all winning their games. Here's some highlights:

Maxi Rodriguez
Only the best coach can lead a second-string player to score a hat-trick.

• Liverpool won their biggest margin game of the season after demolishing Birmingham 5-0, breaking their record of nine winless games against the Brums. Maxi, surprisingly, claimed the match ball with his wonderful hat-trick. With yet another clean sheet, you really have to admire the brain and wisdom of Kenny Dalglish. As long as he stays, Liverpool have a fair chance of winning the title next season!
• Also spectacular for Liverpool are Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez. Do you know Kuyt has scored 63 fantasy points from the last six games?!! That's averaging 10 for each! Suarez was not lucky for not scoring the second goal himself, but as long as he plays, he will create enough troubles for others to score.
• The Reds' arch-rivals, Manchester United, decided the game in the final minutes again as Javier Hernandez scored the victory goal. He may had blocked Nani's shot with his butt, but then, his goal compensated that. Chicharito, too good for his age.
• Of all, Chelsea fans' should be the happiest ones yesterday as Mr 50mil finally broken his duck and scored his first goal for Chelsea. A good goal I shall say. In addition, he has also provided an assist for Malouda! But will he open his floodgate now, as what he has promised?
• Meanwhile, Malouda and Lampard were on the score sheet again as they return to their prime. It will make the title race interesting if they manage to beat United at Old Trafford.
• David Luiz almost scored a long range cannon yesterday. Still, his great display - both attack and defence - earned him another bonus point.
• West Ham has made Chelsea's day tough - unlucky for them for not scoring.
• Tottenham failed to take down West Bromwich Albion and they will suffer from the consequences. Liverpool are now only three points behind and Spurs are yet to battle Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool!
• Odemwingie is really red hot now after collecting 50 fantasy points from his last six.
• Sunderland finally got their last needed victory to safety zone as Henderson and Sessegnon starred the game.
• Wolves v Fulham, Blackpool v Newcastle and Aston Villa v Stoke all ended 1-1. The only thing that concerns me though, is that Adam has finally contributed something more than two points after three average games.

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

Fantasy Pit Stop 2: End-Season Deciders

Honour or humiliation, which path do you choose?

Taking the chance of this international break, let's have a look on the must-haves so that you can end your fantasy season in style...

In reversed order of importance,

5. Marinho David Luiz

Obviously has great future with Blues.

Simply amazing. He joined Chelsea on the same day with £50m Fernando Torres, and the results? Torres is still waiting for his first goal, but this defender has already scored two!

Still not convinced? Of all four Premier League games he has started with the Blues, he scored two goals, grabbed two man of the match and took full three-points bonus twice. Incredible statistics for a newcomer, honestly.

Solid at the back yet sharp up front. He deserves to be your primary defender to finish the remainder of this fantasy season. Marinho David Luiz.

4. Luis Suarez

Establishing himself as the legend of Anfield in the speed of light.

For your information, Liverpool's league performance in 2011 is the second best - trailing behind leaders Manchester United. If Kenny Dalglish is the one who gets the biggest share of credits, then Suarez must be the second.

Started four and came from the bench once, his performance is even more superior than David Luiz's: two goals, three assists and a total of 32 fantasy points - averaging 6.4 points per game. A great figure especially when he is still yet to produce unproductive fantasy points of two and below.

What's more? His reality performance on the field suggests that he can actually do more than what he is doing in fantasy currently. Just from these five games, he has already committed several goal attempts on posts/bars, completed a world class dribbling skill against Manchester United, and scored a zero angle goal!

Here you have it. Luis Suarez, the Hand of God II.

3. Charlie Adam

Blackpool must have already been relegated by now if not for his presence.

Just returned from suspension, and 15 points is what he rewarded to those who keep him. Who else if not Adam?

In fact, there's no ace in Premier League teams who is more influential than the Tangerine's skipper. Adam is the joint top goalscorer and also top assister of Blackpool. The more incredible statistics? His whopping 43-point bonus - which leaves Tevez (29 bonus points) and others far behind! And with Blackpool still struggling for survival, you can only expect to get more from this Scottish.

A game decider, a set-piece taker, a commander with great vision, an incredibly cheap fantasy midfielder who provides great fantasy returns. Take Charlie Adam in and you will never regret about it.

2. Luis Nani

Too consistent to drop.

56% of fantasy managers do not own Luis Nani, and I wonder why.

Out of 26 matches he played, he has contributed an insurmountable figure of 16 assists. Added with his goals tally of nine, it means that the Portuguese is providing about either a goal or an assist on the average per game! His 23 bonus points don't seem too bad as well.

He might be restricted to play the football that he wants to play by Ferguson, but with so many clinical strikers upfront and a strong back line behind, you can hardly find someone who is more important than Nani in your fantasy team.

Luis Nani - strong and consistent, as Manchester United does.

1. Robin van Persie

Nobody is fearful as him in the Premier League currently.

He only ranked sixth in points per game figure, but that's not quite a good reference. Out of 16 games he played only nine of them exceeded 70 minutes, and if we calculate his points per game based on those nine (where he scored 82 fantasy points), it's a great score of 9.1! Now you understand why I put him first don't you?

The Dutch has been far more influential than skipper Cesc Fabregas since 2011, scoring 11 league goals and 5 assists in only eight league games! Not only that, the Robin Hood of Emirates has also grabbed five three-point bonuses - something that's only matched by Charlie Adam in 2011.

Soccernet described him as "With pace and skill in abundance, this forward can change a game in an instant with his ability to achieve the improbable. He is technically excellent with the vision to unlock a defence too." His fragility has always been the downside of owning him, but with such excellent form, it is a risk that we cannot afford to forgo.

Robin van Persie, the best player in Premier League in the second half of 10/11 season.