Sunday Aftermath: The 12th Man

Mark Halsey: The game spoiler.

Poor officiating had once again spoiled the game as Manchester United won controversially at Anfield. Here are some highlights:

• If Mark Halsey is listed in Fantasy, he should have gotten all the points that Robin Van Persie (£13.5m, 6pts) and Antonio Valencia (£8.8m, 5 pts) got this gameweek. Controversial judgement by him in my opinion as he awarded United for such a soft penalty but denied Liverpool's more legitimate penalty claim earlier.
• Rafael da Silva (£5.6m, 11 pts) scored a unbeatable goal at Anfield and is the man you should closely monitor from the Red Devils as he scored a sky high 6.75 points per game.
• Anders Lindegaard (£5.4m, 3 pts) performed superbly well yesterday and with that kind of performance, expect David de Gea (£5.8m, 0 pts) to rot longer on the bench.
• Steven Gerrard (£9.4m, 9 pts) scored the only goal for Liverpool but  I still don't see any value from Liverpool players yet, though the next few fixtures can be the time for them to start performing.
• Meanwhile at Etihad Stadium, Manchester City squandered their lead to share a point with Arsenal. Defenders Joleon Lescott (£6.4m, 11 pts) and Laurent Koscielny (£5.4m, 9 pts) scored one each for respective teams.
• Santi Cazorla (£9.2m, 7 pts) delivered yet another assist as he shows that he is really not far away from Eden Hazard (£10.3m) in terms of class.
• Sergio Aguero (£11.0m, 2 pts) made his return and pushed Carlos Tevez (£9.9m, 1 pt) back on the bench. Tevez's potential could get severely dented as Mario Balotelli (£8.8m, 1 pt) is also back in action to compete for a starting spot.
• At Sports Direct Arena Demba Ba (£7.8m, 9 pts) combined with Hatem Ben Arfa (£7.8m, 8 pts) to score the only goal of the game. Ba is definitely on fire and is one of the best forward to get in £7-8m band.
• On the contrary, Ba's compatriot, Papiss Cisse (£9.2m, 0 pts), missed a penalty and is out of form at the moment. Stay away from him indefinitely.
• Gareth Bale (£9.3m, 8 pts) carried forward his stunning form as Tottenham won at home against Queens Park Rangers. The same applies on Jermaine Defoe (£7.7m, 8 pts), who scored yet another goal to extend his fine goal run.
• Steven Fletcher (£7.2m, 9 pts) scored in all games he had played for Sunderland this season after yet another goal against West Ham this time. Scoring on the other end is Kevin Nolan (£6.2m, 7 pts) as both represent good offensive acquisitions from respective teams.
• Dimitar Berbatov (£7.2m, 8 pts) is unstoppable at the moment as he delivered a 1 assist plus 3 bonus points performance in Fulham's victory over Wigan. Damien Duff (£6.2m, 8 pts) is doing pretty well currently with 33 points already this season.
• Romelu Lukaku (£6.5m, 9 pts) scored as expected as West Brom recorded a narrow win against Reading. A man to monitor.
• Southampton recorded their first victory of the season as Rickie Lambert (£6.1m, 13 pts) scored  2 goals. One superb striker in the budget category.
• At Stamford Bridge Chelsea almost lost 2 points to Stoke City but Ashley Cole (£6.5m, 15 pts) prevented that with a last minute goal. Finally he is responding to Branislav Ivanovic's (£7.0m, 6 pts) dominance on the right.
• Marouane Fellaini (£7.1m, 12 pts) and Leighton Baines (£7.2m, 11 pts) led the show at Liberty Stadium as Swansea sufferred a terrible 0-3 defeat to the Toffees.

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FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City players showing off their new kit in style.

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

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

Last Season: Dramatic Finish
It was such a exciting finale last season, and City should be grateful to be at the right end of it. Sitting at the summit of English top-flight league since 1967/68 season is definitely a wonderful achievement for the Citizens. They should improve on their consistency nonetheless, as clubs like Manchester United do not usually slip an 8-point lead.

This Summer: Strangely Quiet
The sheikhs at Etihad Stadium are somehow obeying the FIFA Financial Fair Play currently, signing no one so far. Out are fringe players Owen Hargreaves and Wayne Bridge (on loan). Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie was linked with the club before, but Mancini has played down the chance to get the Dutch's service.

Upcoming Season: Title Defence
The stress level will be higher for Roberto Mancini following his success in getting the league title. Expectations will be higher as well definitely, especially in UEFA Champions League where City got knocked out embarrassingly in group stage last term. Tougher task awaits for the Italian.

Aguero's score
distribution.

Untouchable: Aguero (FI: 0.738)
No matter how Mancini rotate his set of forwards last season, there was one player who always remained as his primary pick, and that was Sergio Aguero (£11.5m).

Mancini's faith was not a blind one - the forward scored 23 goals and 9 assists in his debut Premier League season which ranked him third in FPL. With everything remains almost the same at Etihad Stadium, fantasy managers can expect Kun to deliver the same level of performance in this coming season.

Silva's score
distribution.

Consistent: Silva (FI: 0.468)
It is quite a surprise to see David Silva (£10.0m) ranks only at number 10 in terms of FI among Manchester City's players, but that was mainly due to this superb consistency - the lack of score fluctuations has made his CI very low.

Silva might not be a good captain candidate (his upside potential is relatively low), but he is definitely a good season long pick. I cannot recall any player who was more consistent than him last season.

Pricey: Kompany (FI: 0.578)
Sure, Vincent Kompany (£7.5m) is the key man in City's defence, but does he worth as much as £7.5m in FPL? Sounds negative to me.

City's defence was always one class lower when the skipper was not around, but given the fact that defence works as a unit rather than an individual, I would prefer to seek for other alternatives at City. Joleon Lescott (£6.5m), Kompany's partner in central defence, is £1m cheaper than the Belgian, yet he was only 13 poitns shy from Kompany's 145 points last season.

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