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?

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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

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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

Sunday Sparks

It was an entertaining goal feast on Saturday with Manchester City and Arsenal on fire but all the games on Sunday ended with draws! Here are some highlights:

Saturday games

• Ivanovic became the top fantasy scorer of the week with his goal, assist and clean sheet. The Serb is now only five points behind his fellow team mate, who topped the fantasy defender's table for the first third of the season - Ashley Cole.
• Of course, congratulations to Chelsea for finally regaining some stability. Malouda got three bonus points but Drogba, still, in misery.

• Tevez became the hero again after scoring a fantastic goal dribbling past several defenders. A great fantasy captain this week. Dzeko had a decent start as well with one assist.
• On a side note, the Kolarov curse continues - he has never got a clean sheet since December, when City has got four.



Theo Walcott (left) and Robin Van Persie
Each got 16 points, how about you?

• Arsenal pushed Grant's nearer to execution after a marvellous performance by Walcott and Van Persie. Both are undervalued and will be fantastic bargains.
• Defender helped Stoke City to goal again. Not Huth this time, but Higginbotham.
• A goal feast happened in the clash between West Brom and Blackpool, as expected. My loyalty to Odemwingie finally pays as he scored a brace and claimed two bonus points.
• The only draw of Saturday was Wigan-Fulham encounter. A good move for those who took in Dempsey early for the forthcoming gameweek double as he scored eight fantasy points.

Sunday games

Martin Kelly
Played more solid than Glen Johnson on the right.

• Much promised by Liverpool on the first half of Merseyside derby but defensive problems once again took the team down. Kuyt was the top fantasy scorer of the game with 12 points.
• One man note watching is Martin Kelly - he has started all three games under Kenny Dalglish and looked very solid. A pretty good bargain for the coming gameweek double with his £4.2m price tag.

Rafael da Silva
Perfect plan for the next gameweek spoilt due to his red.

• The promising game between Tottenham and Manchester United turned out to be not so promising as both side were held by goalless draw. Fortunately I own Vidic though, as he earned eight points from the game.
• Those who had already bought Rafael for the coming gameweek double will be frustrated with his double yellow. Better luck next week.
• Two other games on Sunday were both ended with 1-1 draws. Gyan and Nolan scored a goal each as they continue to improve their rankings in fantasy table.

Good luck on your preparations for the next week...

Chelsea on Danger?

John Terry
Injury could sideline him for months.

Chelsea could be now in a deep, deep trouble with the injuries sustained by its two main centre back - Terry and Alex. The former is out for an unknown period - maybe weeks or months - while the latter has confirmed to out for six to eight weeks.

This means that Chelsea can only continue their games with one natural centre back - Ivanovic. I highly doubt Ferreira's ability to cover up that position.

A very good chance for Arsenal and Man Utd to steal the title away.

A Sweet Dilemma?

Chelsea got another clean sheet yesterday, and that left me a big dilemma - dilemma to pick whether Ashley Cole, Yuri Zhirkov or Jose Bosingwa as one of my fantasy defender (Yes, I'm still not exposed to any Chelsea defender until now). Now let's compare the pros and cons between them:

Ashley Cole, £8.1m
Enjoying a spectacular season at Stamford Bridge.

Pros:

• Sure starter
• Adventurous in attack
• Bonus magnet

Cons:

• Expensive
• Indifferent to your competitors

Yuri Zhirkov, £6.2m
Enjoying more playing time recently.

Pros:

• More and more playing time.
• Has been decent in attack all the while when he's playing.
• Proven in Champions League Fantasy.

Cons:

• Most susceptible to rotation.

Jose Bosingwa, £5.6m
Recovered and looking good.

Pros:

• Incredibly cheap for a Chelsea defender who can surge forward.
• Fantasy proven two years before.

Cons:

• Might be struggling to find his form.
• Might need to compete with Ivanovic when Alex recovers.

Personally I will pick Ashley Cole if I have the cash; otherwise I will stick with Bosingwa. How about you?