FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Aston Villa F.C.

ASTON VILLA F.C.

The Villans with their new kit for 2012/13 season.

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

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

Last Season: Poor Enough
It was really out of my imagination that Aston Villa, a major contender for Europa League qualification for most of the previous seasons, was officially safe from relegation only on the last few gameweeks of last term. Failure in offence was the main reason for such terrible performance, having only scored 37 goals in 38 matches. The season was even worsened with skipper Stiliyan Petrov being diagnosed with leukemia on March, which keeps him away from the pitch indefinitely.


This Summer: Lambert at the Helm
The first big move that Randy Lerner, Aston Villa's owner, made this season was to appoint Paul Lambert as the new manager of the club. The Scottish coach led Norwich for a great season last term, sitting at a comfortable 12th spot as newcomers.

In terms of players, the Villans have captured former Feyenoord captain Ron Vlaar, his teammate from Feyenoord Karim El-Ahmadi, former Sheffield United defender Matthew Lowton and Australian international Brett Holman; out are all seniors of the team who include James Collins, Carlos Cuellar and Emile Heskey.

Upcoming Season: Big Redemption
The Villans will definitely try to avoid another dismal season. Darren Bent, who played only about 50% of possible playing time last season, should be the club's key in delivering goals. Meanwhile, Given and Dunne have to keep the back tighter to make this season a good one for them.

Bent's historical P90.

Restored Potential: Darren Bent (FI: 0.307)
Last season was one of the trough in Darren Bent's (£8.5m) career, having featuring the least minutes in Premier League since 2007/08 season. His P90 has also hit the lowest of past 5 seasons, and that was consequently reflected in his price drop of £8.5m this season. Such drop is not a bad thing nonetheless, as his price was taken back to a level which may make him worth his value this season, provided that if he can provide what his standard suggests.


Old Time Favourite: Agbonlahor (FI:0.407)
Gone were the days where Gabriel Agbonlahor (£7.0m) was one of the hot picks in Fantasy Premier League. Scoring an average of about 150 points per fantasy season in 2006/07 to 2009/10 campaigns, the forward was then fell into a big slump in his career, scoring only 55 points in 2010/11 season.

The situation was improved last season with 112 points and with his price still stagnant at £7.0m, whether or not the forward can restore his prime will be the key factor in his fantasy popularity.

Agbonlahor will not be available for the first few gameweeks though, after suffering an injury during his pre-season tour at the United States.

N'Zogbia's
historical points.

Hoping for A New Dawn: N'Zogbia (FI: 0.270)
The decision to join Villa has somehow become a disastrous move for Charles N'Zogbia (£6.5m), where he was forced to play much deeper than what he was used to, consequently limiting his offensive opportunities.

The French definitely hopes that the arrival of Paul Lambert will change the whole situation, allowing him to explore more opportunities upfront. If such a hope turns out to be true, you can expect the lad to deliver more than what he was doing last season.

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Fergie's Golden 25: Gameweek 11 Fantasy Review

Sir Alex Ferguson with his record 25 years of excellence. Well rewarded with a Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.

Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland
MUN: Yet another mediocre display by the Red Devils, but three points, again. Good enough to celebrate Ferguson's 25 year anniversary at Old Trafford anyway.

Lack of confidence is the situation that perfectly describes Fergie's team right now, just give them some time and they will bounce back.

SUN: Not surprising to see them struggling upfront yet again. Brown was generous enough to present his ex-manager a big gift. It should be yet another mid table finish for them, despite constant investments into the team.

Watch: Nani


Newcastle 2-1 Everton
NEW: Another good victory to make sure that they are still third place on the league. The first goal was rather lucky, but Ryan Taylor's fantastic strike was a perfect piece of beauty, both the trajectory and power of the shot.

Defensively it's still solid, but that should be the end anyway with Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea coming up next.

EVE: The same old story about finishing ability. Tim Cahill was far from his best in goal poaching form, and Saha was never sharp enough to score frequently.

Maybe an ala Chicharito forward is what Moyes needs in January.

Drop: NEW defence


Arsenal 3-0 West Brom
ARS: The Gunners surely are on full throttle now with their fourth consecutive league victory. Van Persie's greatness is certainly unmatched across the league. A must have at this stage given the easy fixtures ahead despite such scary price.

Vermaelen provided a strong return with a goal, a clean sheet and 3 points bonus. Still, wait and see if he can reorganise the defence and continue his strong presence in attack as well. Great potential as always.

WBA: Another painful defeat. Continue to play over defensively against stronger teams. Stay away at the moment.

Pick: Van Persie, Gervinho
Watch: Arteta, Brunt, Odemwingie


Aston Villa 3-2 Norwich
AST: Agbonlahor continues to terrorise defences as he provided 1 goal, 2 assist performance at Villa park. Undisputed form especially in fantasy at such low price.

Darren Bent scored two, but I don't see the value in him when Agbonlahor is cheaper and more consistent. Unless you are planning to get both of them.

NOR: Holt has finally found his old self as he continues his pivotal performance with 2 assists. Great hope for survival if he can maintain such form.

Pick: Agbonlahor
Watch: Holt, Bent


Blackburn 0-1 Chelsea
BLA: Constructed the game well but finishing is really an issue. Will need to seriously get a decent goal poacher in the winter transfer market.

CHE: Lampard scored a crucial goal for them. He is surely returning with his form but whether he can hit 10 goals again this season is still a big riddle.

Torres was very disappointing with another open goal miss.

Watch: Lampard
Drop: BLA players


Liverpool 0-0 Swansea
LIV: Their fantastic 'shot on frame' form continues as Carroll made it the eleventh time for them to hit the crossbar and post this season in a clear cut chance. Wasted.

The old problem to score goals persist and remains a big headache for Kenny Dalglish. Stay away from their attackers.

Reina need to work out much more than usual in this game to hold the team goalless. Good news for Enrique owners anyway.

NOR: Vorm made a spectacular save against Glen Johnson's hi-speed volley. Incredible shot, but even better save. Marvellous fantasy keeper.

Pick: Vorm, Enrique
Drop: LIV offence


QPR 2-3 Manchester City
QPR: Strong fighting spirit. Jay Bothroyd was magnificent and should become the focal point for Neil Warnock's team to attack. Watch him.

MCI: Tough game due to Champions League fatigue, but won eventually. Silva remains a hot commodity, playing the most minutes among the productive attackers.

Savic looked very shaky at the back, but thankfully Kompany should return the next game.

Pick: Bothroyd, Silva


Wolves 3-1 Wigan
WOL: It's all about Jamie O'Hara. He has created lots of troubles to Wigan's defence. Superb.

WIG: Al-Habsi was busy throughout the game with several double saves but being attacked continuously it's impossible to keep the goal clean.

Pick: O'Hara
Watch: Al-Habsi


Bolton 5-0 Stoke City
BOL: Sweet revenge as the early referee dispute surely helped them a lot. Eagles and Klasnic as usual are the strong bargains upfront.

STO: Begovic never really recovered from the early shockingly unfair goal.

Pick: Eagles, Klasnic


Fulham 1-3 Tottenham
FUL: Pretty unlucky as they face a very formidable Brad Friedel on that day.

TOT: Bale continued his form surprisingly with one goal and one assist. Solid.

The most impressive one is of course the 40-year-old stopper, Friedel, who made several key saves to ensure Spurs' victory.

Watch: Bale

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

Villa Welcomes Charles N'Zogbia - Darren Bent Need Not Worry About Short of Supplies

Charles N'Zogbia
The solution for post-Young/Downing era.

Yes, quite a big news to fantasy managers. French international, Charles N'Zogbia joins Aston Villa with an estimated fee of £9.5m.

We all know how good the lad is as a fantasy player. The change of club will not change much of his fantasy value; in fact it might make him even more valuable given Darren Bent's goal efficiency. His arrival ensures Darren Bent will continue to receive good amount of supplies after Downing and Young's departure.

Hope that this is not the last signing of Villa this summer. They still need to strengthen their squad to challenge for a better position.

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.

Gameweek 32 Fantasy Preview

Fernando Torres
The next Shevchenko?

So Fernando Torres's goal drought has now been extended to nine games. Never expect that for a £50m striker don't you? Can he end the embarrassment this week against Wigan?

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

David Silva
Looks sharp to get something at Anfield.

Liverpool v Man City
Tough problems are on Dalglish's hands currently as he has to lead his team to finish the season with an incomplete squad.

Agger, Kelly and Gerrard are all out for the rest of the season and with Johnson and Shelvey on the injury camp as well, the Reds' squad depth is definitely been wiped out - they have now only four fit first team defenders! It much worse when you know that Kyrgiakos and Wilson are the ones who join Carragher and Skrtel on defence.

Man City also has problems on their defence department but theirs are much much easier to solve compared to Liverpool's. Furthermore, their attackers such as Silva and Yaya Toure are also on form, and that will make their task to conquer Anfield much easier.

Fragile defence - this reason is convincing enough for me to go for a City victory.

Prediction: Liverpool 1-3 Man City


The Rest

• Wolves v Everton (2-1) - Always believe in those still with targets to fight for.
• Blackburn v Birmingham (2-1) - The outcome might be crucial for the fate of both clubs. Expect a big scoreline.
• Bolton v West Ham (2-2) - The Hammers will continue to fight crazily for survival.
• Chelsea v Wigan (3-0) - A golden opportunity for Torres to end his goal drought - but will he take the chance?
• Man Utd v Fulham (2-0) - No Rooney this time, but no problem still.
• Sunderland v West Brom (2-2) - I bet on form Baggies will be able to extend Black Cats' unwinning run to eight games.
• Tottenham v Stoke City (2-1) - The long missing VdV/Bale effect should be back finally.
• Blackpool v Arsenal (0-4) - It will be catastrophic if Wenger cannot take this. It will be disappointing is Van Persie cannot score more than one.
• Aston Villa v Newcastle (2-0) - Injury and suspension will prevent Newcastle from doing well in this.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Robin van Persie
Will he fail us again? Hope not.

Captain Picks

• Van Persie - Blackpool will open a lot of holes for him.
• Lampard/Drogba - Wigan are no match for them.
• Nani/Hernandez - They will share the boots left by Rooney.

Buys-In

• Van der Vaart - Domestic results will affect his chance of staying.
• Bent - He is the key for Villa's survival.

Sells-Out

• Nolan - Suspended coupled with a bad run of fixtures awaiting.

Squad of XV

GK: Van der Sar

DF: Vidic, Luiz, Dawson

MF: Lampard, Nani, Van der Vaart, Jarvis

F: Van Persie, Hernandez, Odemwingie

Subs (in order): Robinson, Parker, Walker, Samba

Captain: Van Persie

ECS: Value

Sunday Sparks

Daniel Sturridge
Made it three out of three at Bolton.

A not so crazy weekend as compared to last week's record-breaker 43 goals, but a couple of amazing goals made this week a memorable one. Here are some highlights:

• As mentioned on my last post, Rooney's fantastic overhead kick is really too enjoyable. Could be easily the goal of the season.
• Nani continued his show his consistency on the Manchester derby victory with a goal and an assist. That makes my decision to bench him a very awful one.
• Van Persie! Ten goals in seven games, he is really the most terrorising striker in premier league currently.
• Walcott and Fabregas are also on good points this week. It should be a great gameweek for those who invest heavily on Arsenal players.
• Birmingham got a clean sheet and I am more than happy about it. Labelled as flop for so long, Zigic's towering existence finally shows great importance.
• 0-0 between Blackburn and Newscastle was the last thing I expected.
• Aston Villa failed to take down Bloomfield Road as they shared a draw with Blackpool. Bent once again was pivotal; a quick and clean pass and he sent Agbonlahor to a one-on-one and scored a goal.
• Liverpool failed to make it five wins out of five, as opposed to what I expected. Meireles made it five goals out of six games with yet another stylish volley. Luis Suarez was pretty unlucky with one shot on bar and another on post, but two bonus points has justified his hard work.
• West Ham made a superb comeback after trailing for three goals to earn a point from West Brom. Worth noticing is Demba Ba who scored two goals.
• Niko Kranjcar gained my respect as he scored yet another victorious goal to make Tottenham escaping from two draws.
• And of course, Sturridge remains incredible at Bolton as he scored his third goal for Bolton in as many number of matches.

Headlines Over the Past Week

Gary Neville
Wish him all the best in his post-football career.

• Gary Neville retired. He cannot be compared to Giggs or Scholes, but still, he's a legend.
• Old fantasy big names, Lampard and Rooney, finally scored some fantasy points which match their price tag.
• It only took 17 minutes for Luis Suarez to score his debut goal for Liverpool. Meanwhile, Meireles scored his third goal from four games and Martin Kelly continued to provide marvellous fantasy returns in such a cheap price.
• Liverpool actually played a weird 3-4-2-1 formation against Stoke. And it worked effectively.
• Two other new signings also scored on Gw25 - Robbie Keane for West Ham and Daniel Sturridge for Bolton.
• Obinna surely impressed fantasy managers with five goals on his recent two games.
• Darren Bent continued his fine scoring record against top sides of the Premier League.
• Fabianski out for the rest of the season. Will Szczesny become a fantasy hot cake?

Gameweek 26 Fantasy Preview

Fernando Torres
A Blue now.

Too fast for the next preview? Sorry but I've to since I'm going back to my hometown (without Internet) for festive seasons. Hope you don't mind.

So the conclusion of the transfer window is pretty much detailed in my last few posts. Since everything is settled, let's move on to our gameweek 26 fantasy preview.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Steven Gerrard v Frank Lampard
The battle between two pivotal figures of English football continues.

Chelsea v Liverpool
The Blues are hopeful for a revenge at Stamford Bridge, but they know that it will not be easy against the side which is now led by the legendary King Kenny.

Both sides have done some major signings in their squad, with the move of Torres from one to another the hottest news during the transfer window. El Nino will have to face his former club which he just departed in such a short time.

On the other side, Liverpool have signed two strikers - Suarez and Carroll. However, it's still doubtful that Carroll will recover just in time to help the Reds to teach some lesson to their former idol Torres. 4-5-1 will be a very possible line-up for the Reds.

Honestly, I don't think Liverpool's defence can hold both Drogba and Torres off, and added with home advantage, victory should be in the Blues' grasp.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool

The Rest

• Stoke v Sunderland (2-2) - Both have strengthened their squads during the transfer window and it should be a close fight.
• Aston Villa v Fulham (3-1) - Trust Bent.
• Everton v Blackpool (2-1) - Tim Cahill is back and so does Everton's aerial advantage.
• Man City v West Brom (4-0) - Tevez is expected to demolish Di Matteo's squad.
• Newcastle v Arsenal (0-2) - Carroll went away, just like Newcastle's goals.
• Tottenham v Bolton (1-0) - Bolton sinks again.
• Wigan v Blackburn (2-1) - Hard guess, but Wigan should be desperate to end their victoryless streak.
• Wolves v Man Utd (1-2) - The Red Devils certainly look better in away recently.
• West Ham v Birmingham (2-1) - Robbie Keane effect will do the job.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Carlos Tevez
Takes the armband again.

Captain Picks

• Tevez - West Brom's defence has never been good.
• Bent - Simply prolific.
• Van Persie - More influential than Fabregas.

Buys-In

• Keane - Cheap and proven.

Squad of XV

GK: Hart

DF: Warnock, Hutton, Coleman
MF: Nani, Van der Vaart, Young, N'Zogbia
F: Tevez(C), Bent, Van Persie

Subs (in order): Green, Etherington, Rafael, Alcaraz
Captain: Tevez
Emergency Captain: Value

Gameweek 25 Fantasy Preview

Carlos Vela
An interesting fantasy bargain after his loan move to West Brom.

The transfer market is finally heated in these final days as several deals are confirmed, including:

• Demba Ba (Hoffenheim to West Ham)
• Sulley Muntari (Inter to Sunderland, loan)
• John Carew (Aston Villa to Stoke, loan)
• Carlos Vela (Arsenal to West Brom, loan)

Among them, I believe Vela should perform well in the club with same attacking tendency and become fantasy studs.

Anyway, there's still 48 hours before the transfer market closes and we shall wait and see for the grand finale - Torres transfer saga. It is understood that Dalglish is willing to let the Spaniard go with a fee of £42m plus Anelka.

As a reminder, there will be four gameweek doubles in Gw27 and one each in Gw28 and Gw29. Plan your transfers nicely.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

His presence greatly boosts Villa's damage to the opponents.

Manchester United v Aston Villa
Aston Villa has drawn Man Utd in the reverse tie this season, and they will have enough confidence to repeat it again in the presence of Darren Bent.

As soon as the Englishman arrived Villa has got two consecutive victories which shot them away from relegation zone. Bent simply attracts defenders and that means that Villa attackers like Downing and Ashley Young will have more space to attack. Smart bargain from Houllier.

However a trip to Old Trafford has never been easy. Sir Alex Ferguson will most likely welcome the return of his best back four, with Ferdinand back from injury and Rafael back from suspension. This will double the difficulty for the Villans to score.

Although Villa is now stronger than ever this season, but with Berbatov hitting top form, I still believe that United can win this one. Either a narrow victory or draw for them.

Prediction: Man Utd 2-1 Aston Villa

The Rest

• Arsenal v Everton (1-0) - Tough game for the Gunners, but they should win it if they want to be remained in contention for the title.
• Sunderland v Chelsea (2-2) - The Black Cats have beaten City and held up Man Utd and Arsenal at home, so why not against the Blues?
• West Brom v Wigan (3-2) - Attack attack attack! I'm in favour of home side which had just recruited Vela.
• Birmingham v Man City (0-2) - Same as Arsenal, they simply need to win to at least maintain the gap against Man Utd.
• Blackburn v Tottenham (1-2) - Bale will absent, but Pienaar is there to replace him.
• Blackpool v West Ham (2-1) - A good chance for the Tangerines to improve their awful home record.
• Bolton v Wolves (1-1) - Bolton has been hitting lows recently, and I'm not so sure that they can bounce back against fine-form Wolves.
• Fulham v Newcastle (2-1) - It seems that Mark Hughes has found his winning formula.
• Liverpool v Stoke City (2-0) - Pass and move, and Liverpool beats Stoke.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Peter Odemwingie
One goal in each half?

Captain Picks

• Odemwingie - Great opportunity to get a brace against Wigan.
• Dempsey - Serves ultimate importance for Fulham.
• Meireles - His form bursts as fast as a burning volcano.

Buys-In

• Vela - Should make it through to the Baggies' starting XI.

Sells-Out

• Bale - May need a surgery for his injury.

Squad of XV

GK: Hart

DF: Kelly, Hangeland, Rafael

MF: Van der Vaart, Dempsey, Meireles, Adam, Malouda

F: Van Persie, Odemwingie(C)

Subs (in order): Szczesny, Gyan, Djourou, Kolarov

Captain: Odemwingie

Emergency Captain: Value

Gameweek 24 Fantasy Preview

Ryan Babel
The EPL flop may escape from sinking Liverpool with a price of £6m.

The transfer window starts to heat up David Wheather (Middlesbrough to Bolton, £2.3m) the latest deal confirmed. Meanwhile, Luis "Hand of God II" Suarez possible move to Liverpool continues to top the transfer rumours.

Back to Fantasy. There will be three replacement fixtures this week, so do try to stock up double gamers whenever possible. The winter transfer wildcard can do you a lot of good this week, but I still believe try using it as late as possible.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Darren Bent
Faces gameweek double on his debut gameweek for Aston Villa.

Teams with Gameweek Double

• Liverpool (Wolves@away, Fulham@home) - Kenny Dalglish is still waiting for his first victory in charge and it seems very possible in this gameweek. Wolves is weak at defence and adding a game against Fulham at home, attackers such as Torres and Kuyt remain the most attractive option from the Reds. Martin Kelly is the only defender I would recommend from Liverpool with such a mouth-watering price.
• Wigan (Arsenal@away, Aston Villa@home) - Not so sure about Latics. Arsenal is in an upbeat form at the moment and it will be hard for Martinez's side to win against the team who has kept three consecutive premier league clean sheets. It won't be easy as well against Villa since they have recruited Darren Bent who will ultimately solve their finishing weakness. N'Zogbia and Rodallega might score one or two, but don't expect much.
• Blackpool (Sunderland@home, Man Utd@home) - It's ridiculous if you still don't have Charlie Adam at your squad. The skipper has already scored 31 bonus points and there will be another gameweek double for him at gameweek 27. DJ Campbell is the second pick as always. As for the defence, I don't think they can guard Gyan of Sunderland and Berbatov, Rooney and Nani of United.
• Fulham (Stoke City@home, Liverpool@away) - I am not surprised to see Fulham score four points this week. Clinton Dempsey remains your Fulham's fantasy ace and may rack up a goal or assist and also bonuses. Hangeland can grab a clean sheet against Stoke. Fulham players won't be good long term buys though as they will face Chelsea and Man City on gameweek 27 and 28.
• Manchester United (Birmingham@home, Blackpool@away) - Six points are on Fergie's hands. Blackpool is the worst home player of the league, so no worries for United's woeful away performance. I expect one clean sheet out of the two, with Nani the most potential candidate for captain. You might want to bet on Berbatov - he can burst any time as long as he partners with Rooney.
• Aston Villa (Man City@home, Wigan@away) - I would have swapped for Bent directly right after his transfer was confirmed, but a game against Man City cancelled my plan. Bent will still be the most tempting bargain of the team since the likes such as Downing, Young and Albrighton will promise unlimited supplies for him to score. It's almost certain that Bent will get his first goal this gameweek.

All Games

• Wolves v Liverpool (1-1) - Rome was not built in one day so I don't expect Dalglish to recover the Reds' away confidence so fast.
• Arsenal v Wigan (3-0) - Captain Van Persie if you own him.
• Blackpool v Sunderland (1-1) - Holloway may sneak home with points as Sunderland is now in post-Bent transition period.
• Everton v West Ham (2-1) - Just deploy every single Everton player you have.
• Fulham v Stoke City (2-0) - The cottagers are in fine form and I expect that to continue against mid-table opposition.
• Man Utd v Birmingham (2-0) - Sir Alex to maintain his great record against his ex-players.
• Newcastle v Tottenham (2-2) - I expect tough challenge from Magpies.
• Aston Villa v Man City (2-3) - Darren Bent will add the dimension that Villa lacks but Man City is still too strong for them.
• Blackburn v West Brom (2-2) - Should be an entertaining match.
• Bolton v Chelsea (1-2) - Bolton's form has been lacklustre recently so I think Chelsea can complete the double.
• Blackpool v Man Utd (2-3) - One is poor at home while the other is poor at away. Victory should be on the side which has better class.
• Wigan v Aston Villa (1-2) - You just simply cannot ignore the effect of Darren Bent.
• Liverpool v Fulham (2-1) - Dalglish simply has to win to repay his fans' support.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Clinton Dempsey
The man that you should get from Fulham this week.

Captain Picks

• Nani/Berbatov/Rooney - Good games for them to rack up plenty of fantasy points.
• Dempsey - Major goal scorer + bonus pointer for two games.
• Van Persie - Wigan's a cake for him.
• Torres - Both opponents' defences aren't strong so he should have plenty of chance to score.

Buy-Ins

• Nani/Vidic - Most reliable Man Utd players in offence and defence each. Gameweek doubles at Gw 24 and 28.
• Downing/Young/Albrighton - Bent will help them to record more assists.
• Kelly - Amazingly cheap for a full back.
• Van Persie - Has been showing spectacular form recently.

Sell-Outs

• Bolton players - they're experiencing a sharp decline in form.

Squad of XV

GK: Van der Sar

DF: Vidic, Kelly, Hangeland

MF: Meireles, Adam, Dempsey, N'Zogbia, Nani(C)

F: Torres, Van Persie

Subs (in order): Kingson, Rodallega, Evatt, Alcaraz

Captain: Nani

Emergency Captain: Value

Tottenham Won the Battle for Pienaar as Bent Joined Villa

Steven Pienaar
Tottenham edged over Chelsea to get him surprisingly.

The transfer market finally got heated up a bit with two famous names on the tabloid - Everton's Steven Pienaar and Sunderland's Darren Bent.

Pienaar has joined Tottenham Hotspur for a fee around £3m. This deal kind of surprised me as I thought that Chelsea was the one closer to the South African hero of World Cup 2010. A good deal for Harry Redknapp for such a low price.

Meanwhile, Sunderland's star Darren Bent is now hired by Aston Villa to solve their finishing problems. Bent, who sold for initially £16m and potentially racking up to £24m, is expected to improve Houllier's report book at Villa.

Interestingly, Bent's exit from Sunderland will make Gyan become the main target in fantasy transfer market. Don't you agree?

The Crazy Premier League Weekend and El Clasico

Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid
Ronaldo will regret for what he said before the game.

Unbelievable. The strongest ever Real Madrid in history under the hands of Jose Mourinho still couldn't handle Barcelona. Goals from Xavi, Pedro, Villa (2) and Suarez ensured a perfect victory for the Catalans.

Meanwhile, the Premier League weekend is as entertaining as El Clasico with all 20 teams scored for the first time in the Premier League history. Here are the highlights:

• Arshavin finally found some great form with a stunning display against Aston Villa. On the other side, Clarke almost made himself the man of the match as he led the Villans to reduce the three goal deficit into one.
• Big disappointment towards Elmander and Davies as they failed to scored against Blackpool at Reebok Stadium. M. Davies should really pass all his fantasy points to K. Davies since there are only 0.1% of managers benefiting from his 10 points.
• Everton gave us a big shock to lose 1-4 against West Brom at home. Disgrace. Tim Cahill however continued his consistency with his header goal.
• Dempsey and Larsson scored one for each side as Fulham and Birmingham held draw at Craven Cottage.

Luis Nani and Dimitar Berbatov
The Bulgarian scored a whopping 25 fantasy points while the Portuguese contributed 12.

• Who else can be the star of the week other than the five-goal-Berbatov? He became the fourth player and also the first foreign player to score five goals in one game. Fantastic display after a nine match goal drought. Anyway, Blackburn playing style has been awful this season against superior oppositions.
• Congratulations to Manchester United as this win cemented them two points above Chelsea and also wrote off all the goal difference deficits against the defending champion.
• Manchester City painfully lost two points after a last-gasp equaliser by Stoke City.
• West Ham finally escaped from the curse of draws, beating Wigan 3-1. Piquionne, Parker and Obinna were the heroes, as usual.
• I had correctly predicted one goal each for Bent and Welbeck but Sunderland lost 2-3 to Wolves.
• Snow didn't manage to halt Chelsea's game against Newcastle but the Blue Lions' lost their lead after another disappointing offensive display by them. Drogba has now goalless for 10 hours and 36 minutes on the pitch - the second worst record of his career.
• Liverpool got punished for their failure to capitalise golden chances before Lennon scored a stoppage time goal. Johnson did well to control Bale, but Konchesky is just no match for Lennon in terms of speed. Tottenham had once again recovered three points from losing position, accounting for a total of 16 this season.
• Van der Vaart is injured once again. He will be sidelined for longer this time with his hamstring problem.

Gameweek 7 Fantasy Preview

Darren Bent
Can he score against Manchester United?

A pretty low average score last gameweek due to all the unexpected results. Another decent gameweek for me. Great, great September ranking in my opinion.

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PART I: PREVIEWS

Rafael Van der Vaart
The best weapon of Harry Redknapp.

Tottenham v Aston Villa

Tottenham will face Aston Villa this Saturday with a tired squad after the Champions League match against FC Twente.

The Spurs might had a 4-1 win against the Dutch side, but things will not be the same in the Premier League as Tottenham had paid all of their attention on European games and as a result of that, their league performance is sacrificed.

Van der Vaart is still the best player to pick from Tottenham, and I won't be surprised if he does score. However, as the team with best away performance last season, I think Aston Villa will sneak away with a win under the new manager effect of Gerard Houllier.

Prediction: TOT 1-2 AST

Didier Drogba
The top killer of Arsenal.

Chelsea v Arsenal
A biggest London derby will take place this Sunday where defending champion Chelsea will face Arsenal at home.

Drogba has a wonderful scoring record against Chelsea so he will be the biggest threat of the Gunners alongside on-form Malouda.

On the other hand, Arsenal has great phobia against physical teams like Chelsea and with various stars injured, this game will be very tough for Wenger.

It is pretty obvious don't you think?

Prediction: CHE 3-1 ARS

The Rest

• Wigan v Wolves (1-0) - The Latics had pretty much settled their internal problems so they should be able to play a good game and earn three points.
• Birmingham v Everton (1-2) - Time to rebound for Everton.
• Stoke City v Blackburn (1-1) - Unpredictable.
• Sunderland v Man Utd (2-2) - The tired United squad will again lose points at away.
• West Brom v Bolton (2-1) - Odemwingie is hot!
• West Ham v Fulham (1-2) - Fulham's teamwork should be able to outscore West Ham.
• Man City v Newcastle (3-0) - It's pretty hard to believe that Joe Hart's rectangle will be pierced.
• Liverpool v Blackpool (3-0) - A perfect platform for Liverpool to strike back. Torres is the man.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Fernando Torres

Playing against Blackpool this week.

Captain Picks

• Torres - Blackpool!
• Tevez - On red hot form.

Sell-Outs

• Tottenham players - Awful run of fixtures.

Squad of XV

GK: Hart

DF: Gohouri, Skrtel, Toure

MF: Gerrard, Henderson, Nani, N'Zogbia

F: Torres(C), Tevez, Odemwingie

Subs (in order): Sorensen, Brunt, Shawcross, Hangeland

Captain: Torres

Emergency Captain: Value

Starting XI Value: £80.6m

Total Team Value: £101.4m

Shocks (Saturday Quick Review)

Steven Gerrard feat. Fernando Torres
Two men is certainly not enough.

Certainly a bad day for all the big teams as none of them managed to snatch three points other than Manchester City which played Chelsea which is a bigger team. Here are the highlights:

• Samir Nasri caught the spotlight but nonetheless he was firing too late and Arsenal lost 2-3 at home to West Brom. Those who captained him should be more than happy though.
• Hodgson played some ****ing formation again as Liverpool held draw by Sunderland. Darren Bent provided two goals for the Black Cats, but look at Gerrard and Torres. Both are in form and you should certainly get one of them if you can afford to.
• Tottenham gave West Ham its first victory of the season, and I was furious about that. A fun fact - 39 shots throughout the game and only one goal scored!
• Blackburn won Blackpool, as expected. Unfortunate for Charlie Adam's owner though as he own goaled in the expense of -2 points.
• Both Birmingham v Wigan and Fulham v Everton ended goalless. Those who own Birmingham's and Fulham's defensive line should be happy enough.

News Updates: Martin O'Neill RESIGNED while Darren Bent INJURED

What is he thinking?

What a shocking day at Aston Villa as Martin O'Neill resigned without any hint for that.

It might be caused of the war of James Milner between MON and the board. Milner is said to be very close to the deal with Manchester City with a fee of £18m plus Stephen Ireland. Pretty tempting don't you think?

The only riddle now is where will he go. Scottish League again?

To be replaced by a balloon.

Meanwhile, our fellow fantasy favourite Darren Bent was injured during his training his England international squad.

This news pains my ass pretty much as I will have to make a big change to my fantasy squad in order to account for this loss. Take note that Darren Bent is a super value striker at a price of £8.5m. He can easily score at least 15 goals a season at Sunderland.