FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Post-Updates

Lucas Leiva may uplift Liverpool players' fantasy scoring potential to the next level.

This post serves as a complement to our FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview Series and updates the latest fantasy relevant news to you until the season starts.

Arsenal
Santi Cazorla (£9.0m) joins the Gunners from Malaga CF. Extraordinary move by Arsene Wenger whereby he spent as much as £16.5m on a senior player. Cazorla should become a decent fantasy player, and is expected to hurt Mikel Arteta's (£8.0m) fantasy value a lot by stealing his set pieces.

On the other hand, Robin Van Persie's (£13.0m) move to Manchester United is a  done deal as the Red Devils offerred £24m for the Dutch forward. Olivier Giroud (£9.0m) and Lukas Podolski (£8.5m) should become great fantasy stocks then.

Thomas Vermaelen (£7.0m) meanwhile has been promoted as the Gunners' new captain. Hopefully no more captain curse for them.

Liverpool
So Joe Allen (£5.5m) says goodbye to Liberty Stadium and goes to Anfield. A very interesting move which can make the young English a big fantasy hit, thanks to his fantasy price of £5.5m, though he is expected to play a little deeper - somewhere between Lucas Leiva and the skipper Steven Gerrard.

Also going to Anfield is Moroccan winger Oussama Assaidi from Dutch side Heerenveen. He is still not listed in FPL so we will need to wait and see before we can evaluate on his value.

Manchester City
Mancini finally got his first player this summer in the name of Jack Rodwell (£5.0m). Not much of fantasy relevance though, as Rodwell plays deep in the midfield - a very unpopular position in fantasy world.

Interestingly, it seems like Carlos Tevez (£9.0m) has gained back Mancini's trust and has now become the manager's primary choice upfront. With his calibre, his fantasy valuation of £9.0m is a steal.

Manchester United
As Van Persie goes to Old Trafford, things become very unsettled at Manchester United. Will RVP and Wayne Rooney (£12.0m) complement each other well and produce even better fantasy points or hurt each other fantasy potential instead? One thing for sure is that Danny Welbeck (£8.5m) and Javi Hernandez (£8.0m) are useless in fantasy terms now, unless either of the two aforementioned big guns suffer an injury. Shinji Kagawa's (£8.0m) value hurts as well with more bench time to be expected.

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FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Swansea A.F.C.

SWANSEA A.F.C.

The Swans on fire with their new away kit.

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.
Password: http://p-fplz.blogspot.com/

Last Season: Fantastic Debut
Swansea are the first Welsh team to play in the Premier League, and they did not disappoint. Superb tiki-taka play, wonderfully acrobatic Michel Vorm and great loanee Glyfi Sigurdsson have all made the season at Liberty Stadium a happening one. An 11th placed finish have certainly far beaten out fans' expectations.

This Summer: Few Additions
Michael Laudrup has marked his takeover with three new players currently - former Genoa defender Jose Manuel Flores, youngster Jonathan de Guzman from Villareal (loan) and attacking midfielder Michu from Roya Vallecano. Decent players.

Joe Allen meanwhile has gone to Liverpool recently, bringing £15m to the Swans. Great, great business.

Upcoming Season: Continuation of Tiki-Taka?
Clearly the club owners do not hope to disrupt much of the current system inherited from Brendan Rodgers, and the appointment of Michael Laudrup proves that. Laudrup has gained a lot of Spanish football experience during his time at Getafe and Mallorca, and is a big admirer of one-two passing. But can he maintain or even escalate the Swans' tiki-taka to the next level? Time will tell.

Sinclair's FPL stats
last season.

Good Value: Sinclair (FI: 0.548) 
Scott Sinclair (£7.0m) resembles a good value to fantasy managers last season, thanks to outstanding offensive ability, and most importantly, his role in taking set pieces.

The lad played over 3000 minutes last season - no issue of rotation - and was the primary penalty taker of the team. Unless these change, I see Sinclair as a value buy who can deliver consistency to your team.

Flying Man: Vorm (FI: 0.674)
I think Michel Vorm (£5.5m) is the first ever fantasy goalkeeper who tops the team's scoring table, and he deserves it thoroughly after recording a whopping 143 saves last season.

The Dutch was one of the excitement of Premier League last season, thanks to his wonderful reflexes and exhilarating flying saves (click here to watch some of his best saves last season). He is one of the greatest goalkeeper in the making.

Nonetheless, spending £5.5m on him when Swansea have just changed their manager is a risky move, so I suggest to wait at least 2-3 gameweeks and see Swansea's defensive performance before you decide whether to get the superman.

Budget Pick: Dyer (FI: 0.611)
Nathan Dyer (£5.5m) was one of the hit at Liberty Stadium last season, as he hit his career high with 5 goals and 4 assists.

Given his price of £5.5m, you can hardly find any better fantasy midfielder than him. Definitely a good pick for your fourth or fifth midfielder.

Next Sigurdsson?: Michu (FI: N/A)
Michu (£6.5m) went through a successful season last term with Rayo Vallecano, scoring 15 La Liga goals in the process and got Laudrup's attention to sign him.

He is yet to prove himself in the Premier League, but given his stats, don't be surprised if he becomes the next Sigurdsson of the team.

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