Gameweek 29 Fantasy Preview

Martin Kelly
Guess that he's not lonely with so many players such as Van Persie, Fabregas, Cahill etc. accompanying him on the sidelines.

Thank you for staying loyal with FPLZ as we now enter the decisive period of the season. The following weeks will be very crucial in determining your fantasy excellence.

February has been a fantastic fantasy month for me as I am scoring a hefty 338 points in this single month, resulting a February rank of 548. My overall ranking has also rocketed from 218,183 to 27,445. It must be the best fantasy position I have ever achieved ever since I played FPL.

But there will be hell lots of headaches in managing my fantasy team in March, with the number of injuries and suspensions. And I believe it will cause a lot of trouble to you as well. Now let's see some of the best fantasy commodities who are with the red cross army currently:

• Van Persie (six weeks)
• Kelly (three weeks)
• Tim Cahill (three weeks)

Combined with the suspension of Adam and Vidic, those who own plenty of them must be feeling the pressure of doing multiple transfers. Do remember that Everton and Birmingham are playing twice this week. Good luck.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Dimitar Berbatov
Will he score goals start?

Liverpool v Manchester United

Kenny Dalglish will like to seek for a revenge for the defeat his suffered from his debut return as Liverpool manager this week against Manchester United.

Numerous big stars will miss out on this grand fixture including Kelly, Agger, Ferdinand and Vidic. Carroll is expected to feature on this game and it is sure that he will capitalise on the absence of United's best centre backs if he does feature.

Meanwhile, the one and only player who has hat-tricked Liverpool this season - Berbatov is doubted to get a spot to play against Liverpool. United is expected to play with five midfielders and if that's the case, I have to say that Rooney who's in better form should start.

In the absence of Vidic and Rio, I think it's hard for United to get away from Anfield with any points. Neither Smalling/O'Shea nor Smalling/Brown combination makes me feel confident.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Man Utd

The Rest

• Birmingham v West Brom (2-1) - The Brums to win. A solid one.
• Arsenal v Sunderland (3-1) - With Bendtner on form, the Gunners can forget about Van Persie now.
• Bolton v Aston Villa (2-2) - The Villans clearly have better form, but remember that Bolton is fighting for a Europa spot currently.
• Fulham v Blackburn (1-0) - Time to escape from draw streaks for the Cottagers.
• Newcastle v Everton (1-0) - Somehow I feel that Everton will fall on this one.
• West Ham v Stoke City (3-0) - Demba Ba and Hitzlsperger are too strong at the moment.
• Man City v Wigan (4-0) - Clearly the most fantasy friendly match of the week. But it's still unsure who will lead the line.
• Wolves v Tottenham (1-2) - It will not be easy for Tottenham against a team that fights for survival.
• Blackpool v Chelsea (2-3) - The win against United will give the Blues a lot of confidence to win this one.
• Everton v Birmingham (1-1) - It's expected to be a narrow scoreline.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Nikola Zigic
The tower is on red hot form.

Captain Picks

• Tevez/Balotelli - Obvious choices this week. Of course, Tevez is always the safest bet.
• Bendtner - Arsenal's supply will focus on him.
• Zigic - Huge potential with a gameweek double.

Buys-In

• Everton players - Good run of fixtures ahead.
• Birmingham players - Same reason as Everton.
• Bendtner - Leading the line for Gunners.
• Hitzlsperger/Demba Ba - On their highs.

Sells-Out

• Van Persie/Kelly/Tim Cahill - Injured.
• Kolo Toure - Suspended due to drug violation.

Squad of XV

GK: Foster

DF: R Johnson, Baines, Zabaleta

MF: Arteta, Hitzlsperger, Lampard, Nasri

F: Zigic, Tevez, Bendtner

Subs (in order): Szczesny, Coleman, Dempsey, Djourou

Captain: Tevez

ECS: Value

Headlines Over the Past Week

Gary Neville
Wish him all the best in his post-football career.

• Gary Neville retired. He cannot be compared to Giggs or Scholes, but still, he's a legend.
• Old fantasy big names, Lampard and Rooney, finally scored some fantasy points which match their price tag.
• It only took 17 minutes for Luis Suarez to score his debut goal for Liverpool. Meanwhile, Meireles scored his third goal from four games and Martin Kelly continued to provide marvellous fantasy returns in such a cheap price.
• Liverpool actually played a weird 3-4-2-1 formation against Stoke. And it worked effectively.
• Two other new signings also scored on Gw25 - Robbie Keane for West Ham and Daniel Sturridge for Bolton.
• Obinna surely impressed fantasy managers with five goals on his recent two games.
• Darren Bent continued his fine scoring record against top sides of the Premier League.
• Fabianski out for the rest of the season. Will Szczesny become a fantasy hot cake?

Liverpool II: The Return of The King

Fernando Torres
Averaged five shots per game under Dalglish when he could only make it slightly over once per game under Hodgson.

Liverpool have finally found back their spirit as recorded back to back league wins for the second time this season.

They're obviously the team to be considered now for your fantasy team. Since the return of King Kenny, the Reds are slowly regaining their confidence.

This gameweek double has obviously shown that. Torres has found back his motivation to run and shoot; Meireles claimed full six bonus points from two games; Kelly becomes the highest scoring fantasy defender of the week with two clean sheets.

Clearly these three will continue to dominate plenty of fantasy points - at least for the points scored by Liverpool Football Club.

Interestingly, this gameweek's lead scorer scored 182 points! Will that be surpassed in Gw 27 which has lots of gameweek doubles as well?

Gameweek 24 Fantasy Preview

Ryan Babel
The EPL flop may escape from sinking Liverpool with a price of £6m.

The transfer window starts to heat up David Wheather (Middlesbrough to Bolton, £2.3m) the latest deal confirmed. Meanwhile, Luis "Hand of God II" Suarez possible move to Liverpool continues to top the transfer rumours.

Back to Fantasy. There will be three replacement fixtures this week, so do try to stock up double gamers whenever possible. The winter transfer wildcard can do you a lot of good this week, but I still believe try using it as late as possible.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Darren Bent
Faces gameweek double on his debut gameweek for Aston Villa.

Teams with Gameweek Double

• Liverpool (Wolves@away, Fulham@home) - Kenny Dalglish is still waiting for his first victory in charge and it seems very possible in this gameweek. Wolves is weak at defence and adding a game against Fulham at home, attackers such as Torres and Kuyt remain the most attractive option from the Reds. Martin Kelly is the only defender I would recommend from Liverpool with such a mouth-watering price.
• Wigan (Arsenal@away, Aston Villa@home) - Not so sure about Latics. Arsenal is in an upbeat form at the moment and it will be hard for Martinez's side to win against the team who has kept three consecutive premier league clean sheets. It won't be easy as well against Villa since they have recruited Darren Bent who will ultimately solve their finishing weakness. N'Zogbia and Rodallega might score one or two, but don't expect much.
• Blackpool (Sunderland@home, Man Utd@home) - It's ridiculous if you still don't have Charlie Adam at your squad. The skipper has already scored 31 bonus points and there will be another gameweek double for him at gameweek 27. DJ Campbell is the second pick as always. As for the defence, I don't think they can guard Gyan of Sunderland and Berbatov, Rooney and Nani of United.
• Fulham (Stoke City@home, Liverpool@away) - I am not surprised to see Fulham score four points this week. Clinton Dempsey remains your Fulham's fantasy ace and may rack up a goal or assist and also bonuses. Hangeland can grab a clean sheet against Stoke. Fulham players won't be good long term buys though as they will face Chelsea and Man City on gameweek 27 and 28.
• Manchester United (Birmingham@home, Blackpool@away) - Six points are on Fergie's hands. Blackpool is the worst home player of the league, so no worries for United's woeful away performance. I expect one clean sheet out of the two, with Nani the most potential candidate for captain. You might want to bet on Berbatov - he can burst any time as long as he partners with Rooney.
• Aston Villa (Man City@home, Wigan@away) - I would have swapped for Bent directly right after his transfer was confirmed, but a game against Man City cancelled my plan. Bent will still be the most tempting bargain of the team since the likes such as Downing, Young and Albrighton will promise unlimited supplies for him to score. It's almost certain that Bent will get his first goal this gameweek.

All Games

• Wolves v Liverpool (1-1) - Rome was not built in one day so I don't expect Dalglish to recover the Reds' away confidence so fast.
• Arsenal v Wigan (3-0) - Captain Van Persie if you own him.
• Blackpool v Sunderland (1-1) - Holloway may sneak home with points as Sunderland is now in post-Bent transition period.
• Everton v West Ham (2-1) - Just deploy every single Everton player you have.
• Fulham v Stoke City (2-0) - The cottagers are in fine form and I expect that to continue against mid-table opposition.
• Man Utd v Birmingham (2-0) - Sir Alex to maintain his great record against his ex-players.
• Newcastle v Tottenham (2-2) - I expect tough challenge from Magpies.
• Aston Villa v Man City (2-3) - Darren Bent will add the dimension that Villa lacks but Man City is still too strong for them.
• Blackburn v West Brom (2-2) - Should be an entertaining match.
• Bolton v Chelsea (1-2) - Bolton's form has been lacklustre recently so I think Chelsea can complete the double.
• Blackpool v Man Utd (2-3) - One is poor at home while the other is poor at away. Victory should be on the side which has better class.
• Wigan v Aston Villa (1-2) - You just simply cannot ignore the effect of Darren Bent.
• Liverpool v Fulham (2-1) - Dalglish simply has to win to repay his fans' support.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Clinton Dempsey
The man that you should get from Fulham this week.

Captain Picks

• Nani/Berbatov/Rooney - Good games for them to rack up plenty of fantasy points.
• Dempsey - Major goal scorer + bonus pointer for two games.
• Van Persie - Wigan's a cake for him.
• Torres - Both opponents' defences aren't strong so he should have plenty of chance to score.

Buy-Ins

• Nani/Vidic - Most reliable Man Utd players in offence and defence each. Gameweek doubles at Gw 24 and 28.
• Downing/Young/Albrighton - Bent will help them to record more assists.
• Kelly - Amazingly cheap for a full back.
• Van Persie - Has been showing spectacular form recently.

Sell-Outs

• Bolton players - they're experiencing a sharp decline in form.

Squad of XV

GK: Van der Sar

DF: Vidic, Kelly, Hangeland

MF: Meireles, Adam, Dempsey, N'Zogbia, Nani(C)

F: Torres, Van Persie

Subs (in order): Kingson, Rodallega, Evatt, Alcaraz

Captain: Nani

Emergency Captain: 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...