Kick-Off: Gameweek 15 Fantasy Preview

Harry Redknapp got his first point as a QPR manager on his first game in charge.

No time for break as gameweek 15 will begin shortly! Let's start!

GAMEWEEK 14 HIGHLIGHTS

• Premier League celebrates its 250 millionth spectators this gameweek (link to Ryan Giggs' interview) since its establishment 20 years ago. What a great milestone.
• Both Manchester clubs won as they sit firmly on the top 2 position.
• Chelsea returned to third place despite only earning only a point against Fulham thanks to Swansea who ended West Brom's winning streak.
• Gareth Bale (£9.7m, 10 pts) was involved in all three goals at White Hart Lane as Tottenham won Liverpool 2-1.
• Points were shared at Goodison Park as both Everton and Arsenal went one down in league standings.

GAMEWEEK 14 TOP SCORERS

1. Wayne Routledge (£5.4m, 15 pts): Certainly a very volatile players, with 6 three-points-or-less gameweeks sandwiched in between 2 double digit gameweeks. Proceed with caution is my advice.
2. Cameron Jerome (£5.0m, 11 pts): A surprising performance from the sub. Doesn't look ownable yet with such limited playing time.
3. Gareth Bale (£9.7m, 10 pts): One of the most in form midfielder at the moment, though notably more expensive than the highest scoring fantasy midfielder at the moment...
4. Marouane Fellaini (£7.6m, 10 pts): ... and you know who he is. His fifth double digit gameweek already. What a fantastic season for him.
5. Gareth Barry (£5.3m, 10 pts): Contributed both assists in City's win over Wigan. His gameweek history doesn't look like he will produce a lot more though.
6. Robert Snodgrass (£5.8m, 10 pts): Don't look worthy with his high price tag among the players from mid-bottom-table clubs.

FEATURED: Manchester City v Everton @ Etihad
Fierce battle continues for Everton as they travel to Manchester in an attempt to stop the duopoly of the Manchesters.

Fellaini continues to be the man in form for the Toffees after scoring his seventh goal of the season against Arsenal yesterday. The Belgian is expected to play pivotal part again in the game at Etihad.

Carlos Tevez (£9.5m, - pts) was given a driving ban by Lancaster magistrates but that shouldn't stop him from travelling to City's home stadium and play for the team. He should really start after featuring only 22 minutes in the past 2 gameweeks.

An intense battle is anticipated, but City are in a very good form to lose now.

Prediction: MCI 2-0 EVE

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester United
The Red Devils are struggling to win comfortably recently, but against Reading it should be easier.

Robin Van Persie (£13.7m, 9 pts) continues to be the man to trust as he scored the only goal against West Ham to help United to stay at the summit. But let's not underestimate the impact Wayne Rooney (£11.7m, 2 pts) and Javier Hernandez (£7.6m, 2 pts) can bring too.

Should be a comfortable win.

Prediction: RDG 1-3 MUN

PLAYER FOCUS: Suarez
Southampton have only kept one clean sheet this season, so it is really one of the best opportunity for Luis Suarez (£10.4m, 2 pts) to score a couple of goals and extend his advantage in the pursuit of Golden Boot.

GAMEWEEK 15 DREAM TEAM

Cesar

Enrique — Ivanovic — Rafael — Garrido

 Silva — Walcott — Bale

Suarez (C) — Van Persie (VC) — Ba

Subs: Gazzaniga — Pablo Hernandez —  Jordi Gomez — Nelsen 

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 13 Fantasy Preview

Roman Abramovich certainly loves the personnel from Merseyside.

A week of sackings as Roberto Di Matteo became the first Premier League manager to be discharged from his job this season following a 0-3 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League. Shocking. Replacing him is ex-Liverpool gaffer Rafael Benitez, until the end of the season.

The Blues of London certainly need a miracle to progress to the next round now, while the Blues of Manchester — Manchester City — are officially out of the tournament. Both Manchester United and Arsenal have secured their progress though.

Also being sacked is Queen Park Rangers' ex-manager Mark Hughes, after such a horrible season with only 4 points despite having a more than decent squad. He is then quickly replaced by Harry Redknapp, one of the best manager since Premier League's establishment 20 years ago.

Let's see how these sides respond in the Premier League as we head into the 13th gameweek of the season.

GAMEWEEK 12 TOP SCORERS

1. Carlos Tevez (£9.4m, 19 pts): Explosive. The Argentine is now leading the fantasy scoreboard and looks set to become the first player to break the 100-point milestone.
2. Jose Enrique (£5.7m, 18 pts): Looks superb to play out of position. If he can lock down the left wing spot he could be the next fantasy hot cake.
3. David Silva (£9.3m, 16 pts): And finally the Spaniard scored something which tallies with his price. Needs a few more of such performance to regain fantasy managers' confidence though.
4. Santi Cazorla (£9.4m, 13 pts): The expected one to perform when Arsenal perform.
5. Adam Le Fondre (£4.8m, 13 pts): A good, low-cost benchwarmer in your fantasy team considering his penalty duties.

FEATURED: Chelsea v Manchester City @ Stamford Bridge
Rafa Benitez will have a tough start at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea face league leaders Manchester City.

The Blues have gone four matches without a win and will definitely hope for a change under the new gaffer. Fernando Torres (£9.5m, 2 pts) is the man on the radar now as he had flourished well under the leadership of Benitez and will hope to replicate the same thing again.

Frank Lampard (£8.4m, - pts) and John Terry (£6.6m, - pts) will continue to spend time with the physios, and thus offensive burden will continue to lay heavily on Juan Mata (£9.6m, 1 pt) and Eden Hazard (£10.1m, 7 pts) while defensively it will continue to leak in my opinion.

Roberto Mancini certainly has huge pressure after witnessing the sack of Roberto Di Matteo and will go all out to deliver the necessary result to avoid following Di Matteo's footsteps. Carlos Tevez (£9.4m, 19 pts), David Silva (£9.4m, 16 pts) and Sergio Aguero (£11.0m, 11 pts) will continue be Mancini's main weapon to rely on if they are to get something from London this Sunday.

Tough one to call given the uncertainty that new manager gives, but I believe City should be able to knock down unsettled Chelsea.

Prediction: CHE 1-2 MCI

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester United
A managerial change at Queens Park Rangers, but I don't think that will change Manchester United status as the most fantasy friendly team this week.

United went for a full rotation in Champions League defeat against Galatasaray and will have their elites fully prepared for a full scale demolition. Wayne Rooney (£11.7m, - pts) will be fit for the clash, though Robin Van Persie (£13.7m, 2 pts) remains the best pick of the team and perhaps across the league as well for this week's FPL captain.

The Rangers don't score a lot of goals, so it's likely for Rafael Da Silva (£6.4m, 1 pt) and co to get some good returns.

Prediction: MUN 3-0 QPR

PLAYER FOCUS: Kone
Wigan will host Reading who have only kept one clean sheet so far this season, so I think Arouna Kone (£6.5m, 2 pts) has quite the chance to get something from the game and become a decent pick for this gameweek.

Luis Suarez (£10.3m, 11 pts) continues to get popularity among fantasy managers as well as with his unstoppable form, scoring 5 goals in last 4 Premier League games.

GAMEWEEK 13 DREAM TEAM

Al-Habsi

Rafael — Shawcross — Enrique

Adam Johnson — Cazorla — Sterling — Bale

Tevez (VC) — Van Persie (C) — Suarez

Subs: Begovic — Pablo Hernandez —  Mertesacker — Cuellar

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FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Team Data Summary

Are you the next champion (fantasy) manager?

After a long introduction on the glossaries I will be using in my FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview, let us first begin to analyse the overall team data first before we go on team by team. Below is the table of top fantasy scorers of respective teams last season, with relegated teams (Bolton, Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers) being excluded:

Table 1: List of Fantasy Top Scorers by Team.

Team	Top Scorer	Points	Team %
Arsenal	Van Persie	269	16.5%
Man Utd	Rooney	230	12.7%
Man City	Aguero	211	11.0%
Fulham	Dempsey	209	15.5%
Tottenham	Bale	195	11.4%
Newcastle	Ba	165	11.0%
Chelsea	Mata	162	10.8%
Sunderland	Sessegnon	161	12.2%
Swansea	Vorm	158	10.5%
Everton	Howard	151	11.2%
Stoke City	Walters	140	11.3%
Wigan	Moses	140	11.0%
West Brom	Foster	140	10.7%
Norwich	Holt	138	11.9%
Liverpool	Suarez	136	9.9%
Aston Villa	Agbonlahor	112	10.0%
QPR	Kenny	102	10.0%

For your information, Bobby Zamora, who scored 119 points last season, was not credited as the top fantasy scorer of Queens Park Rangers because he scored more points for Fulham than for QPR last season. The team percentages are calculated by dividing the top scorers' points (for example Van Persie) over their respective teams' top 15 highest fantasy scorers.

Unsurprisingly, Robin Van Persie topped the list with 269 points which was 16.5% of his team's best 15, much higher than the rest of the pack apart from Fulham's Clinton Dempsey (209 points, 15.5%). Liverpool, which have gone through a poor season last term, have their best fantasy scorer (Suarez, 136 points) only managed to get 9.9% of the team's aggregate share. Can Brendan Rodgers turn that around? God knows.

And now let's go through the more useful statistics, which are the aggregate scores of the top 3 scorers of each team and their aggregate team percentages:

Table 2: List of Top 3 Fantasy Scorers by Team

Team	Top 1	Top 2	Top 3	Total Pts	Team %
Arsenal	Van Persie	Walcott	Szczesny	577	35.3%
Man City	Aguero	D. Silva	Hart	561	29.3%
Tottenham	Bale	Adebayor	Van der Vaart	556	32.6%
Man Utd	Rooney	Evra	Nani	546	30.1%
Newcastle	Ba	Krul	Cabaye	450	30.0%
Swansea	Vorm	Sinclair	Graham	447	29.8%
Fulham	Dempsey	Zamora	J. Riise	445	32.9%
Chelsea	Mata	Terry	Lampard	438	29.1%
Sunderland	Sessegnon	Larsson	Mignolet	410	31.1%
Everton	Howard	Baines	Heitinga	400	29.7%
Stoke City	Walters	Crouch	Etherington	391	31.6%
Wigan	Moses	Al-Habsi	Caldwell	381	29.9%
Liverpool	Suarez	Reina	J. Enrique	374	27.1%
West Brom	Foster	Odemwingie	McAuley	364	27.9%
Norwich	Holt	Pilkington	Morrison	359	31.0%
Aston Villa	Agbonlahor	Warnock	Given	306	27.3%
QPR	Kenny	Mackie	Barton	297	29.0%

The reason to measure the top 3 scorers of each team is due to the fact that you can only pick at most 3 players from the same team. This will approximately show you the maximum scoring potential of each teams.

Based on the results, you can clearly split the teams into 4 tiers. The first tier consists of the super productive fantasy teams, namely Arsenal, Manchester duo (City and United), and Tottenham Hotspur. Not really surprising though, as all of the tier 1 teams have been so prolific in offence last season.

Tier 2 meanwhile consists of Newcastle, Swansea, Fulham, and Chelsea. Newcastle and Swansea have some great crop of value to money fantasy players anyway, so that was not surprising. Chelsea's performance weren't up to par given their players' fantasy price, while Fulham's position in tier 2 was largely driven by Dempsey's astounding season.

The third tier has Sunderland, Everton, Stoke City, Wigan, Liverpool, West Brom and Norwich within. All lacked of productive and consistent fantasy scorers, though Liverpool have again disappointed fantasy managers the most with numerous big names but poor scores.

Tier 4, the super unproductive teams, has Aston Villa and QPR accompanying each other. Not even any considerable fantasy assets here last season. Your season must have been pretty miserable if you have these players for quite some gameweeks last term.

The more important question: will the trend continues to be the same this term? In general, it should be more or less the same, except for those teams which have undergone some big operations this summer. At Arsenal, Van Persie's desire to leave the Emirates will be pivotal to the Gunners fantasy potential this season; at White Hart Lane, the managerial change from Harry Redknapp to Andre Villas-Boas will certainly give rise to a lot of uncertainties; at Liverpool, the same can be said under the coaching of Brendan Rodgers; at Loftus Road, QPR's continuous effort in transfers can mean a very different season for them.

Nonetheless, I believe the fluctuations will not be very dramatic from one season to another. We can expect some of the teams to move one tier above and others one tier below, but I am certainly not so fancy about the possibility of a major ranking reshuffling next season.

Hope this little piece of information has provided you something and do stay tuned for the upcoming team by team previews!

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