Sunday Aftermath: Mata's Madness

After a disappointing start this season, Juan Mata is just 7 points away from FPL leader Eden Hazard (60 pts).

So Juan Mata (£9.0m, 18 pts) continued his scintillating form at White Hart Lane! Here are some highlights:

• Gareth Bale (£9.5m, - pts) missed the game to witness the delivery of his first child. Unfortunate timing, otherwise Tottenham should have a fair chance to win it.
• Eden Hazard (£10.3m, 9 pts) continued to deliver consistency with 2 assists, though at the moment Mata is definitely the better of the two with both greater form and cheaper price.
• Two defenders — namely Chris Baird (£4.4m, 15 pts) and John Arne Riise (£5.5m, 10 pts) — combined to help Fulham to win against Aston Villa. Riise has 4 assists already this season, which is not bad for his mid-range price.
• Raheem Sterling (£4.9m, 11 pts) delivered his first goal of the season, and was well rewarded with 3 bonus points as Liverpool won their first home game of the season. Luis Suarez (£9.5m, 5 pts) was the contributor, but wasted tons of chances in the game against Reading.
• Interestingly, Liverpool have collected 2 consecutive clean sheets. Not quite expected, really.
• Else at Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney (£11.7m, 14 pts) scored a "hat-trick" (2 goals plus an own goal) as he completed his 200 Premier League goal milestone and Manchester United won 4-2 against Stoke City. His strike partners Robin Van Persie (£13.4m, 11 pts) and Danny Welbeck (£8.0m, 10 pts) also scored double digit points — all three are great buys if Sir Alex Ferguson sticks with the current formation.
• At Liberty Stadium we saw Miguel Michu (£7.2m, 8 pts) back with his magic feet as Swansea recorded their first league victory since August. Pablo Hernandez (£6.1m, 9 pts) showed his class with a goal as well, but Jonathan de Guzman (£5.7m, 11 pts) was the true hero, having provided the assists for both goals of the Swans.
• James Milner's (£6.1m, -2 pts) red card almost costed City some league points but Edin Dzeko (£7.5m, 11 pts) made sure that it's 3 points in City's hands in just 11 minutes of action. Another frustrating story in FPL — superbly effective yet having his talent wasted on bench.
• Carlos Tevez (£9.4m, 7 pts) continued to provide, but can that stop his sale bandwagon?
• West Ham hammered Southampton 4-1 with club captain Kevin Nolan (£6.4m, 12 pts) continued to deliver super value performance with a goal and an assist. The man of the match was Mark Noble (£4.8m, 15 pts) though, scoring 2 goals.
• At Carrow Road we saw Arsenal getting a shock defeat as Grant Holt (£6.0m, 8 pts) scored in 3 consecutive league games. A man to monitor.
• Demba Ba (£8.3m, 3 pts) assisted for Yohan Cabaye's (£6.8m, 9 pts) but scored an own goal later as Newcastle have to satisfy with a draw at Stadium of Light against Sunderland.
• Junior Hoilett (£5.8m, 10 pts) was lively throughout the game but QPR have to satisfy with a draw after yet another sloppy defensive performance, despite playing with one man more for half an hour.
• Steven Pienaar (£7.0m, -1 pt) was the victim of harsh officiating, and will miss the Merseyside derby next week.

Can't wait to get more? Like FPLZ official Facebook page to get the latest updates regularly!

FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United players wearing the famous "picnic kit".

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

Password: http://p-fplz.blogspot.com/

Last Season: Close But Not Enough
So Sir Alex Ferguson almost made a miracle by taking one of his weakest United to almost win the Premier League title. It was only almost though, as the Red Devils somehow stumbled their 8-point lead over local rivals Manchester City during the last few matches of Premier League last season, as their central midfield crisis penalized them.

This Summer: An Asian for An Asian
The Red Devils acquired yet another Asian after landing Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund in their attempt to further dominate the Asian market. Nonetheless, Park Ji-Sung was picked up by QPR soon enough, and the count of Asians in Manchester United remains to be one.

Nick Powell is the only other signing that arrived at Old Trafford, while Tomasz Kuszczak, Michael Owen, Ritchie De Laet and Paul Pogba are all leaving. Fabio da Silva meanwhile has parted way with his twin brother to join QPR on loan.

Upcoming Season: The Charge for 20th
Manchester United continue to be one of the favourites to win the Premier League title, especially when they have gotten themselves a world class midfielder which they have wanted for a long time. They will still be Manchester City's biggest obstacle to become the champion once more in my opinion.

Rooney's stats last
season.

Key Man: Rooney (FI: 0.778)
Hail Wazza Roo. Despite not winning the Premiership, Wayne Rooney (£12.0m) has recorded his best Premier League season so far, scoring 27 goals. It was also his best fantasy season as well, though it is only 6 points better than his previous best (2009/10).

With 230 points already it is hard to expect him to break the record again this term. Nonetheless, with United's rock solid offensive lineup which is now further enhanced with Kagawa's arrival, to match last year's standard of performance is a reasonable expectation on the English ace. Van Persie's possibility of joining Manchester United may hurt his fantasy points though.

Complicated Battle: Nani (FI: 0.617), Valencia (FI: 0.631), Young (FI: 0.528)

The Red Devils' wingers in comparison.

Manchester United has the best wingers across the Premier League, but that is not really a good news in fantasy terms - they have three equally excellent players competing for two spots!

Luis Nani (£9.0m), Antonio Valencia (£9.0m) and Ashley Young (£8.5m) represent the sweetest dilemma for Sir Alex Ferguson, but my advice for fantasy managers is simple - stay away. Unless any of them starts consistently, it is really not a wise decision to fund about 9% of your initial £100.0m transfer kitty on a player that you are not even certain that he will start.

Good Potential: Kagawa (FI: N/A)
The next Asian football legend is here at Old Trafford, and I see no reason why he cannot achieve success at Manchester.

Shinji Kagawa (£8.5m) is bought to resolve the lack of creativity in midfield and thus fantasy managers can expect him to be one of the Red Devils' focal points in offence. It might be a tough journey for him initially, but once he click with his new teammates he really has a huge fantasy potential.

Nonetheless, rotation might be an issue for him as well, with Danny Welbeck (£8.5m) and Javier Hernandez (£8.0m) both allowing Fergie to line a 4-4-2 formation instead of playing Kagawa in the hole.

Can't wait to get more? Like FPLZ official Facebook page to get the latest updates regularly!