Rise of the Anfield Cat: Gameweek 24 Fantasy Review

"Pass me the ball, I am free!" spoke The Anfield Cat while waiting for the killer pass.

Chelsea 3-3 Manchester United
Howard Webb once again went into United's favour as the two penalties awarded were proven crucial to snatch one point for the Red Devils. 17% of Howard Webb's Premier League penalties were awarded in favour of Manchester United. I shall let you judge this unusually high statistic yourself.

Rooney played an okay game but his owners would be happy as long as he takes penalties when they come. On the other side, Torres made a fantastic cross but otherwise did terribly as a striker (crossing is a winger's role by the way). Mata was the star of the game obviously with yet another five-star performance.

Pick: Rooney, Mata
Watch: Sturridge, Gary Cahill


Liverpool 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Poor conversion continue to dent Liverpool's Champions League hopes. 17 shots, 0 goal. How pathetic.

Suarez returned with his usual trick but still, his shooting accuracy was far from his best. Carroll failed to shine this time, while Bale wasn't sharp enough to get one pass Reina.

Watch: Suarez, Enrique (injury)

Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn Rovers
RvP did it in the MVP way again, scoring three and made two. 23 points is by far the second best fantasy score this season (Ekkoto's 24 points in gameweek 20 is the highest but that was accomplished in a gameweek double).

Oxlade-Chamberlain was given a start again and he didn't disappoint Arsene Wenger. Equipped with speed, technique and vision, the future of England scored 14 points. His teammate Theo Walcott also played very well with a hat-trick of assists.

It's hard to be positive about Blackburn and if Samba continues to sulk, they can say goodbye to Premier League.

Pick: Van Persie, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott
Drop: BLA players


Manchester City 3-0 Fulham
It's glad to see Aguero to score finally despite the fact that it was only a penalty. Silva had a rare unproductive game but in long term, he's still the one of the best buy around. A clean sheet without the command of Kompany is pretty encouraging too.

Chris Baird proved to be a calamity in the back and it is expected that Riise will return and take that left back spot. Still, avoid Fulham's defence which failed to secure a clean sheet for eight consecutive games.

Pick: Aguero, Dzeko
Drop: FUL defence


Newcastle 2-1 Aston Villa
Say hi to the Senegalese duo. The senior, Demba Ba, scored a wonderful rebound opener; the junior, Papiss Cisse, scored a screamer to take three points for the Magpies. Such a wonderful combination. With this kind of strike force don't be surprise if Newcastle took the ticket to the Champions League.

Robbie Keane continues to impress with yet another goal. This makes me wonder why he was doing so bad during his time at Liverpool.

Pick: Ba, Papiss Cisse, Keane


Norwich 2-0 Bolton
The Canaries continue to secure their spot in Premier League next season. Russell Martin played surprisingly thanks to Daniel Ayala's injury and proved to be pivotal after providing an important assist.

Richard Surman played pretty well recently. At the price of £4.4m, you can do much worse than to pick him as your fifth midfielder.

Watch: Martin, Surman


QPR 1-2 Wolves
Djibril Cisse almost became the hero again but all turned to zero thanks to his overreaction. That red card certainly butthurted many fantasy managers to bring him in after his wonder last midweek.

Zamora scored a debut goal nevertheless, but in the end it was Jarvis and Doyle's day as both of them played very well. With O'Hara returned expect better performance from Big Mick's squad.

Watch: Zamora, Jarvis, Doyle, O'Hara


Stoke City 0-1 Sunderland
Sessegnon has collected 71 points in 11 games from the time where Martin O'Neill appointed as the new manager - impressive stats. Obviously a fantasy must own now given his unstoppable form. Youngster James McClean is even more impressive, scoring 44 points in his last 6 games. The defence has also collected 3 consecutive clean sheets. At this rate it's silly not to own any Sunderland key players.

On the other hand, The Potters became increasingly poor. 4 clean sheets only at home at this stage. Britannia Stadium has lost its fearful aura.

Pick: Sessegnon, McClean, SUN defence
Drop: STO defence


West Brom 1-2 Swansea
All is going well for Swansea's new boy Gylfi Sigurdsson. The lad has scored 25 points in just four fantasy gameweeks, making him a decent midfield pick.

West Brom is another disappointing team apart from Stoke City, and Odemwingie has not scored any goal in his last 6 Premier League matches. Where's the prolific Peter we all knew before?

Pick: Sigurdsson
Drop: Odemwingie


Wigan 1-1 Everton
Phillip Neville deflected the ball into his own net unfortunately. Thankfully, substitute Anichebe equalised. He deserves to get more playing minutes in my opinion.

Full-Time: Gameweek 2 Fantasy Review

Raul Meireles with his middle finger got excited after creating the second goal for Liverpool.

Sunderland 0-1 Newcastle
SUN: Disappointing performance at home. They were lucky to escape with a penalty when Seb Larsson blocked Barton's going-in header with his arm. Sessegnon does look to be a good fantasy bargain with his advanced position anyway.


Potential Pick: Sessegnon
Drop: Bardsley (suspended)


NEW: It's surprising to see Newcastle being able to pick up consecutive clean sheets. That makes defenders like Simpson and Ryan Taylor (both at £4.0m) superb fantasy bargains. But before the window closes at the end of August, you can't be sure whether the Ryan Taylor will lock his place at the left.

In terms of offence, Cabaye is showing more and more potential with his set pieces.


Pick: Simpson
Potential Pick: R Taylor, Cabaye


Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool
ARS: Awfully bad luck for the Gunners. They didn't play as bad as predicted. Frimpong had a good game actually if not for the red card, while Nasri had a one-man show dribbling for 70-yards before unleashing a wide shot. Both goals they conceded were arguable, but Wenger did signed one or two star players before this, they could have already won the game before Ramsey's own goal.

Nasri is expected to be a superb fantasy bargain if he stays.

Potential Pick: Nasri
Drop: Frimpong (bad gamble eh?)


LIV: Still don't look organized as a squad. It's surprising that Suarez was benched, but with Frimpong's red, his introduction from the bench along with Meireles was superbly effective. Enrique-Kelly flank defence combo is very solid. In fact, I rate Kelly higher than Glen Johnson in terms of defensive ability.

Downing continued to show great potential and I believe it will be sooner rather than later for him to harvest some good fantasy scores. As for Meireles, I hope he will start instead of Henderson for his great vision of short passing and teamwork with Suarez. Before that happens, it's hardly justified to own the Portuguese.

Pick: Suarez, Downing, Enrique
Potential Pick: Meireles, Kelly
Drop: Henderson


Aston Villa 3-1 Blackburn
AST: Looks like McLeish will stick with his current three-pronged attack - Agbonlahor, Bent and Heskey - as each of them scored once. The rusty Agbonlahor seems to have gone away after a fine display at Saturday. At £6.5m he is a superb acquisition so hopefully he doesn't have any fitness problems after being subbed off during half-time last game.

Darren Bent scored despite not looking really sharp - that's what he is anyway. You'll never be disappointed with his goal rate. What that is differing him with other premium forwards is his lack of participation in creating chances and also his lack of bonus points.

It's a shame that they didn't get a clean sheet, but that doesn't erase the fact that Aston Villa is a good team to invest in defence.

Pick: Agbonlahor
Potential Pick: Bent


BLA: A very courageous header by Gamst Pedersen, but their defence has been horrible. Salgado is increasingly a liability in Rovers' defence - look how easily Agbonlahor teased him before going for a goal. If they don't get some good additions to the squad, I can see relegation coming near towards them.

Drop: BLA defence


Everton 0-1 QPR
EVE: Another story of bad luck. They played good, yet they failed to score. Cahill had a couple of chances to equalise or even win for Everton - he still is the heart of the Toffees' attack.

Meanwhile, youngster Barkley looked very lively throughout the game and should come into your consideration should he get regular starts.

Potential Pick: Tim Cahill


QPR: Nothing much to tell here, as their first choice pair upfront - Bothroyd and DJ Campbell - were both not playing due to virus infection. Certainly needs more observations to evaluate about their defence.


Swansea 0-0 Wigan
SWA: Vroom~! Vorm is looking more and more like the next fantasy keeper of the season with his crazy number of saves. With a penalty saved, he now stands comfortably on the top of keeper's table for this gameweek.

Pick: Vorm


WIG: Moses was unlucky to get two shots on bar. Has a lot of potential with him.

Pick: Moses


Chelsea 2-1 West Brom
CHE: Long way to go for AVB. Their play was sloppy, and Torres seems to return to his last season's form after one game of brilliance.

I like the way Malouda changed the game, but it looks like he is not an absolute starter. With Mata rumoured to be joining soon, things might get worse.

Bosingwa is one of the culprit for the early surprise from Long, but he does look great with his forward runs and crosses.

Potential Pick: Bosingwa, Malouda

WBA: Long made himself famous after scoring back-to-back against Manchester United and Chelsea. Certainly a good fantasy bargain with a price tag of £6.0m. Should have no trouble in pairing up with Odemwingie as well - the latter is both good at scoring and feeding.

Pick: Long

Norwich 1-1 Stoke
NOR: De Laet scored, surprisingly. Too bad he couldn't keep the clean sheet though. Holt still fails to find his form.

Pick: De Laet

STO: Nothing really caught me up here except for Pennant's injury and Shotton's ability for long throw.

Wolves 2-0 Fulham
WOL: Jarvis is the bright star here as Wolves is now currently one of the two teams who got six points. Forward duo Fletcher and Doyle were both influential in the victory again. A much promising team than last season especially in defence which is now led by Roger Johnson.

Pick: Jarvis
Potential Pick: Doyle, Fletcher


FUL: The weak at away syndrome doesn't seem to change under Martin Jol. Senderos looks to be a steal as Fulham's defensive line remains the same as last game.

Potential Pick: Senderos


Bolton 2-3 Man City
BOL: Klasnic on fire! The Croatian continues his fine form by scoring two in two. Kevin Davies also got his first goal of the season with a fine header. Both are expected to carry Bolton to the survival bank along with Eagles and Petrov. But I would still avoid them until next month, where their extremely difficult fixtures end.

Potential Pick: K Davies, Klasnic


MCI: Solid display at offence. Silva continues to look spectacular. Surprisingly James Milner was very productive during the match. Still I don't think he will do that every week.

Dzeko continues to fire as well, and with his style relatively much unique than his teammates, I think his striker position is the safest.

Pick: Silva, Dzeko

Gameweek 34 Fantasy Preview

Gareth Bale
PFA Player of the Year. Even Dirk Kuyt has better statistics than him on the league.

Raul Meireles
PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Well deserved.

Scott Parker
Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year. What a great year for a great leader.

Congratulations to all three of them for winning their awards respectively. This season has gone pretty far isn't it? Still, there are three horses running for the title and five clubs struggling on the quicksand of relegation. Excitements continue...

Back to this gameweek. Four more teams on a double this week, with Fulham having the best fixtures among them. Will you invest heavily on double gamers given that the top clubs are having relatively easy fixtures this week? A big gamble to be honest.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Daniel Sturridge
Can he continue his magic in this gameweek double?

Double Gamers

• Stoke City (Aston Villa @ away, Wolves @ home) - Fantasy managers won't be enjoying too much from this double with two tough opponents. The Villans had regained their long lost form and will give a hard time to Bolton at their home ground. Wolves on the other hand are still distance away from survival and will again fight their best for points. Still, start your Begovic, Huth and Etherington - they are all great in collecting fantasy points. Prediction: AST 2-0 STO, STO 1-1 WOL.
• Wolves (Fulham @ home, Stoke @ away) - Interestingly both of their opponents this week are double gamers. They should at least salvage a point at Molineux given Fulham's inability to win an away league game since 2nd of February. Stoke at away is a tricky one, but with nothing else to lose, they will fight out their best. Jarvis is the best Wolf, but those who are willing to take risk may stock Ebanks-Blake or Milijas as well. Prediction: WOL 2-1 FUL, STO 1-1 WOL.
• Fulham (Wolves @ away, Bolton @ home) - The Cottagers are quite on fire now with the return of Bobby Zamora, and it's quite possible to take four points from these two games. Dempsey and Zamora are worthy for your captain armband this week. Prediction: WOL 2-1 FUL, FUL 2-1 BOL.
• Bolton (Arsenal @ home, Fulham @ away) - First, they have neither European spots to pursue for nor relegation crisis to fight for; Second, one of their opponents is Arsenal (I know the Gunners have been quite unreliable recently, but still). Don't put too much on hope for them except for one - Daniel Sturridge! Prediction: BOL 1-2 ARS, FUL 2-1 BOL.

The Rest

• Man Utd v Everton (1-0) - The Red Devils are not as slippery the Gunners, but you never know.
• Blackpool v Newcastle (2-1) - The Magpies are quite safe. Will they lend a helping hand?
• Liverpool v Birmingham (3-0) - The Reds now have more than enough weaponries to kill any team who park their buses.
• Sunderland v Wigan (2-2) - One point from last nine games for the Black Cats. I'm quite sure they will not win this time as well.
• Tottenham v West Brom (2-0) - It's VdV's time again.
• Chelsea v West Ham (3-0) - Expect complete demolition by the Blues (if Torres doesn't start).
• Blackburn v Man City (0-1) - City needs to win to protect their Champions League spot.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Didier Drogba
Another scoring spree for the Ivorian?

Captain Picks

• Drogba - On his peak currently.
• Suarez - They will be plenty of opportunities for him to strike.
• Zamora/Dempsey/Sturridge - Double gamers with fantasy excellence.

Buys-In

• Drogba/Malouda - Back to their prime.
• Van der Vaart - Starts his scoring engine again.
• Dempsey/Zamora - Fantasy proven.

Sells-Out

• Man Utd players - The toughest period of their season is coming soon.

Squad of XV

GK: Schwarzer

DF: Huth, Hangeland, Luiz

MF: Malouda, Dempsey, Etherington, Van der Vaart

F: Drogba, Suarez, Zamora

Subs (in order): Begovic, Jarvis, Flanagan, Gary Cahill

Captain: Drogba

ECS: Value