Kick-Off: Gameweek 21 Fantasy Preview

Theo Walcott claimed the match ball after such a heroic hat-trick against Newcastle.

It's fast and furious as the players have only two days of rest as they continue the hectic Christmas and New Year fixtures! Happy New Year to all fantasy managers!

GAMEWEEK 20 HIGHLIGHTS

• Theo Walcott (£8.7m, 26 pts) made his intention to play as centre forward clear after such a sublime hat-trick against Newcastle. His third goal was particularly exquisite, as he dribbled past several defenders and woke up despite being knocked down before tricking the keeper to the other way as he chipped the ball into the back of the net.
• Carrow Road was as happening as Emirates as Manchester City battled out a close game with Norwich before winning them 4-3. Edin Dzeko (£7.3m, 16 pts) almost got a hat-trick but the third goal turned out to be deflected by Mark Bunn (£4.1m, -1 pt) and was counted as an own goal instead.
• Meanwhile, it was pretty flat at Old Trafford as Manchester United maintained their lead by 7 points with a 2-0 victory over West Brom. Robin Van Persie (£14.0m, 6 pts) continued to fire despite only 26 minutes of action coming on from bench.
• Luis Suarez (£10.2m, 13 pts) fired twice as Queens Park Rangers ended 2012 deep down on the table with a comprehensive 0-3 defeat.
• It's now 0-15 for Aston Villa in the last 3 games as Paul Lambert draws himself nearer to job termination.

GAMEWEEK 20 TOP SCORERS

1. Theo Walcott (£8.7m, 26 pts): Incredible form. Hopefully he can repeat such feat again against Southampton.
2. Edin Dzeko (£7.3m, 16 pts): Superbly effective as always but always has such limited playing time.
3. Frank Lampard (£8.4m, 15 pts): It's sickening to know that Roman Abramovich doesn't plan to allow him to retire at Stamford Bridge after such a great performance by the lad.
4. Rickie Lambert (£6.1m, 15 pts): Did all he can up front despite failing to win it for Southampton. Looking good.
5. Ivan Ramis (£4.4m, 15 pts): The traditional goal plus clean sheet game for a defender. Great return from the injury.

FEATURED: Newcastle v Everton @ Sports Direct Arena
Frustrated Magpies will want to end their unlucky defeat streak as they await the challenge of Everton at home.

Newcastle have undergone a terrible week, having squandered a three-time lead to lose against Manchester United before seeing their three-time comeback a wasted effort, conceding 7 goals from Arsenal.

I don't know whether Demba Ba (£8.3m, 10 pts) is too tired to go on after playing 3 games in 8 days or is he busy on a negotiation with Chelsea, but if he does start again he should be the primary threat in offence as usual. Sylvain Marveaux (£4.2m, 11 pts) is doing his supportive role very well, and could earn a start again if he does not suffer from stamina issue.

As for the Toffees, Marouane Fellaini (£7.4m, - pts) has finally ended his suspension and will be full of energy to crush Newcastle's defence. A big, big threat for the Magpies along with Steven Pienaar (£6.8m, 7 pts), who has now delivered 37 points in the last 5 games.

A close one, but I think Newcastle will start 2013 in frustration just like how they ended 2012.

Prediction: NEW 2-2 EVE

TEAM FOCUS: Chelsea
The Blues are on fire, and against Queens Park Rangers, it's a no-brainer.

The Rangers now sat rock bottom of the table with only 10 points so far, and would have no chance of survival at all by any logic if it is not a manager of the calibre of Harry Redknapp who is on the seat currently.

But with 3 consecutive defeats it's hard to not go for Chelsea who have already won each and every of their last 4 Premier League games. Juan Mata (£9.8m, 7 pts) could be rested but nevertheless those who own him should play him with confidence — he had scored 39 points in his last 5 games. Eden Hazard (£9.5m, 2 pts) was quiet in the last game but should at least do some damage to the fragile defence of QPR this time along with the erratic Fernando Torres (£9.8m, 2 pts) who struggles to find some degree of consistency.

The defence could be able to keep it tight as well so you should consider to go for their defenders with Cesar Azpilicueta (£5.6m, 2 pts) a mouth-watering acquisition due to his low price.

Prediction: CHE 4-0 QPR

PLAYER FOCUS: Walcott
Theo Walcott has been performing exceptionally well in the role of striker, so one would expect him to continue to fire in front of fragile Southampton's defence.

GAMEWEEK 21 DREAM TEAM

Lloris

Vidic — Zabaleta — Azpilicueta

 Gerrard — Walcott (C) — Mata  — Lennon

Suarez (VC) — Van Persie — Torres

Subs: Foster — Dyer —  Naughton — Monk

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

Kick-Off: Gameweek 9 Fantasy Preview

Another early goodbye for Joe Hart and co?

Only Manchester United managed to win in Champions League among Premier League clubs this midweek as Manchester City are on the verge of group stage elimination for 2 seasons in a row after scoring only 1 point in 3 games. A big humiliation for the Premier League champions, I suppose.

GAMEWEEK 8 TOP SCORERS

1. Juan Mata (£9.1m, 18 pts): Clearly the unstoppable man at the moment. You might want to consider swapping him with Eden Hazard (£10.3m, 9 pts) as he is much cheaper.
2. Mark Noble (£4.8m, 15 pts): Definitely a decent footballer who can provide occasional goals and assists, but such a high scoring gameweek will be a "once in a blue moon" event in my opinion.
3. Chris Baird (£4.4m, 15 pts): Started for 5 straight games already in Premier League. Could be a decent pick, though you shouldn't hope for much offensive points like last gameweek.
4. Wayne Rooney (£11.8m, 14 pts): The birthday boy is on fire. Seems to be more valuable than Robin Van Persie (£13.4m, 11 pts) who provide similar production at cheaper price.
5. Kevin Nolan (£6.5m, 12 pts): A solid season-long pick who can provide consistent production plus good upside potential. Grab him before he becomes too expensive to own.

FEATURED: Chelsea v Manchester United @ Stamford Bridge
The 6-point brawl in the title race will commence this Sunday as league leaders Chelsea face second-placed Manchester United at their homeground.

The Blues conceded their first defeat of the season in Champions League encounter against Shaktar Donetsk. A shocking one, but things are quite different as Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United definitely have a very leaky defence, being conceded first in 8 of their 11 matches this season. Unfamiliar trait from the Red Devils, with Chelsea looking forward to exploit.

Juan Mata and Eden Hazard are your best bet as always, with Fernando Torres (£10.0m, 2 pts) a slight risk with his unpredictable form. Frank Lampard (£8.6m, 1 pt) is a doubt after limping off with an injury in Champions League fixture — Hazard should be the primary penalty taker then.

On the other side Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie continue to be the main pillars of the club. Unfortunately Shinji Kagawa (£8.3m, 0 pt) is doubtful with a knee injury, which means that the formation identical to the last match — Rooney playing along with Van Persie and Danny Welbeck (£8.0m, 10 pts) in a three-pronged set-up — could be adopted again.

Tough one to call, but I think Chelsea elites should be able to take advantage of United's defensive crisis.

Prediction: CHE 2-1 MUN

TEAM FOCUS: Arsenal
Arsenal have lost both of their last two games and scored none in both, but I think that will end this weekend as they host Queens Park Rangers who lay deep bottom of the table.

Santi Cazorla (£9.5m, 2 pts) continues to top my list of Arsenal players — a goal plus an assist is highly probable for the Spaniard this gameweek. Lukas Podolski (£8.6m, 2 pts) meanwhile is the man you can trust up front, with Olivier Giroud (£8.4m, 2 pts) and Yao Gervinho (£7.6m, 2 pts) the less popular options.

Defensive wise a clean sheet is quite possible so there's no wrong investing on the likes such as Carl Jenkinson (£5.2m, 2 pts) and Vito Mannone (£4.6m, 2 pts).

Prediction: ARS 3-0 QPR

PLAYER FOCUS: Bale
A very delicious fantasy cuisine for this gameweek, definitely. Gareth Bale (£9.5m, - pt), who just became a father last week, will definitely be looking forward to bombard Southampton's defence to embrace his child. Solid, solid captain pick of the week.

Dimitar Berbatov (£7.0m, 2 pts) will face Reading this week, and I have no reason to believe that why he won't score.

GAMEWEEK 9 DREAM TEAM

Manonne

Riise — Coloccini — Baines

Cazorla (VC) — Nolan — Hazard — Bale (C)

Tevez —  Podolski — Berbatov

Subs: Guzan — Duff —  McCartney — Wisdom

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

Sunday Aftermath: Aguero Injury Woes

The most vice-captained fantasy player, Sergio Aguero, ended up with only 1 point.

After such a fascinating Saturday matchday, Sunday games came with equal excitements as well. Here are some big scenes:

• Sergio Aguero (£11.5m) went injured with only 11 minutes of action against Southampton (1 point). Big, bad news for about 30% of fantasy managers as they will need to make a forced transfer following his injury. A wildcard may as well ready to be used for some of the managers.
• Also failing to deliver was David Silva (£10.0m), who missed a penalty in a terrible fashion. He scored nothing for this gameweek, which is definitely a big butthurt to his owners.
• Meanwhile, Aguero's teammate and compatriot Carlos Tevez (£9.0m) proved to be as pivotal as before at Manchester City. He scored the opener goal against the Saints and with Aguero injured, his starting spot is pretty much secured for the next few weeks.
• Samir Nasri (£8.5m) was the star performer with 12 fantasy points (which include 3 bonus points). He might as well lock a place in Mancini's starting XI with such performance.
• I am greatly impressed by Nigel Adkins - he brought in 2 substitutes who brought immediate goals. Almost beaten the Premier League Champions last year. Splendid. Rickie Lambert (£6.0m) did not start, which surprised me, but scored a goal nonetheless.
• On the other game we saw Eden Hazard (£9.5m) provided all 2 assists in Chelsea's victory over Wigan. It's Hazard 1-0 Mata (£9.5m) then.
• Branislav Ivanovic (£6.5m) got 15 points thanks to his opening goal, while Frank Lampard (£9.0m) scored from the spot - he is still an important player for the Blues.
• As for the late Saturday game, Andre Villas-Boas had a poor start as Demba Ba (£7.5m) and Hatem Ben Arfa (£7.0m) combined to send Tottenham Hotspur in misery.
• Jermaine Defoe (£7.5m) scored only goal for the visitors though, and that is an encouraging sign to own him.

FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea with their trademark blue home kit.

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

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

Last Season: Champion of the Champions
Being gone through a disappointing Premier League season, Roman Abramovich somehow got the grand prize he has thirsted long - the Champions League trophy. Nonetheless, the Blues should really strengthen their domestic performance, as a sixth in Premier League will not land them the Champions League ticket, and it is absurd to expect themselves to win Champions League two times in a row.

This Summer: Hazard-ous Threat
Abramovich is forking a lot of money this summer, with Eden Hazard £32m purchase the biggest move in Premier League so far. Joining the boat is his brother Thorgan Hazard, Werder Bremen winger Marko Marin and Brazil's Olympic participant Oscar. Meanwhile, Jose Bosingwa, Salomon Kalou and the Blues legend Didier Drogba were all released for free.

Upcoming Season: Di Matteo's Showtime
While Roberto Di Matteo brought the Champions League trophy to London for the first time, we must not forget the fact that Chelsea's Premier League winning percentage was actually worsened under him than his predecessor, Andre Villas-Boas. With generous support from the Russian owner, Di Matteo simply have no excuses to fail this time around. He must do all he can to avoid the fate of Liverpool's Kenny Dalglish, who succeeded as a caretaker manager but failed considerably when he led Liverpool again for one full season.

The Aces: Mata (FI: 0.536) vs Hazard (FI: N/A)

Mata and Hazard: In comparison.

It is expected that Eden Hazard's (£9.5m) arrival will change the whole complexion in Chelsea's formation. The new Belgian winger will definitely challenge the ace position of Juan Mata (£9.5m), which the Spaniard took away from the club's vice captain, Frank Lampard, last season.
While both are attacking midfielder-winger hybrid type of players, they do have some distinct differences. Mata is more Silva-esque - calm, silky and is a natural playmaker; Hazard, meanwhile, is more C. Ronaldo-esque - explosive, speedy and is a great at finishing.

With both players being priced at £9.5m this season, it will be a great dilemma for fantasy managers to choose between a proven fantasy player or a next superstar in the making.

Torres' FPL historical data.

Resurrection: Torres (FI:0.273)
Has the old Fernando Torres (£10.0m) really returned? This season should provide the clear cut answer.

Being an old-time fantasy favourite at Liverpool, the Spaniard failed to impress fantasy managers ever since he joined Chelsea, scoring only 7 goals in total out of 46 appearances.

Nevertheless, El Nino has shown signs of resurrection in the end of last season, which include a killer goal against Barcelona in the Champions League and a hat-trick against QPR in the Premier League. His return of form was further supported with a goal and an assist in EURO 2012 final, where he only featured as a sub.

With Daniel Sturridge being his only contender in the forward line currently, Torres should be able to grab more opportunity to perform this season. Hopefully the clinical and explosive Torres will be back finally.

Ageing Legend: Lampard (FI: 0.479)
It seems like the fantasy committee are negative about the prospect of Frank Lampard (£9.0m) in this coming season - he is priced at £9.0m, a £3.0m discount from this very same time of last term.

Has Fat Frank really lost the competitive edge to fight for a fruitful fantasy season? Though he might not get his tenth consecutive double-digit goal season this time, I still believe that the vice captain have the potential to deliver a solid 150+ points fantasy season, provided that he don't get benched that often this season.

Tough Battle Ahead: Sturridge (FI: 0.521)
Unsurprisingly Daniel Sturridge (£8.0m) placed second at Chelsea in terms of FPLZ Index, thanks to his consistent goal poaching and his cheap price.

His price has inevitably risen to £8.0m thanks to Drogba's departure and also his continuous improvement in terms of performance and reputation. That does not spoil his value though, as I am pretty confident that he can perform consistently as usual (P90: 5.12, third at Chelsea), provided that he wins a forward spot and gain the required playing minutes to perform.

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Fernando Torres: What Do the Two Goals Against Ireland Indicate?

Can we expect a better season ahead?

Spain completed its redemption after much skepticism by demolishing Ireland with a score of 4-0. Much to our surprise, striker Fernando Torres, who has been so poor for his country over the past two years, is showing signs of revival in the national football arena as he slotted two of the four goals Spain has scored. This surely arouses fantasy managers' interest whether FT9 will rise to become a fantasy superstar again in 2012/13 season, and FPLZ will analyze on this.

£50m Move to Chelsea: The Beginning of Nightmare?
It's not a secret that Torres' successful spell in the Premier League for his first few years was partly credited to Liverpool's tactical reliance on him and the skipper, Steven Gerrard. Together, the duo had produced the best chemistry in the Premier League over the decade and recorded fantastic goal scoring figures over the years. However, when El Nino felt unhappy and decided for a change in winter of 2010/11 season, things became very different.

Chelsea, unlike Liverpool, wasn't a two-man team. They had plenty of reliable offensive points which included Malouda, Drogba, Lampard, Anelka, and to some extent, Kalou. Unfortunatley, Torres couldn't merge well with his new teammates. While it took some time for Carlo Ancelotti, manager at that moment, to decide, he had no choice but to bench the Spaniard as the season came close to the end. At that half of a season, Torres scored only one goal - a big humiliation for a striker of his calibre.

Such phenomena didn't change with the arrival of Andre Villas-Boas, whom actually deteriorated the Blue's attacking prowess and made Drogba and him took turns playing on the field. However, as AVB got sacked  on 4 March 2012 and Roberto Di Matteo took over his helm, things started to change.

Roberto Di Matteo: El Nino's Saviour?
For some reason, unlike his predecessors Di Matteo seems to know the better way to utilize Torres. Torres ended his goal drought of 24 games on 18 March 2012 by scoring two and setting up another two in Chelsea's 5-0 victory against Leicester City in an FA Cup encounter. In the same month, El Nino scored a Premier League goal against Aston Villa, as his resurgence has started to make its surface.

It took almost another month for the Spaniard to score, but this one, for me, was a pivotal moment for him. The last minute goal against Barcelona in Champions League semi-final had effectively wrapped up the game and sent the Blues to Munich. More importantly to Torres though was the fact that he scored against what majority called "the best club in the world".

It was indeed a great morale booster for Torres, as he scored a hat-trick on 29th April, five days after he scored against Barcelona. That was a long awaited moment for his fans, as confidence slowly regrew in the striker's mind. Despite not starting the Champions League final, El Nino featured as a sub in that game, and earned a corner which Drogba scored to bring the game into the extra time.

With Torres getting back his goalscoring confidence in the national team as well, we can be hopeful that the once lethal Fernando Torres will return soon.

2012/13 Season: The Prospect
The coming season certainly looks bright for Torres, with Di Matteo continues to be in charge at Chelsea. He is currently uncontested at the forward position (that may change if Chelsea managed to land Porto's ace player, Hulk). Not only that, the current Chelsea also has much more "pacey" players such as Mata, Hazard and the latest signing, Marko Marin to complement his explosive style of play. If he can continue to improve and pick up his lost form, FT9 will surely become a hot fantasy commodity again, just like what he did seasons ago with Liverpool.