Kick-Off: Gameweek 35 Fantasy Preview

Drogba: The man who took Barca down.

Overview
It's only 4 weeks away from the closing of the season with the battle getting more and more intense. It's five points separating the top two; the battle for fourth doesn't seem to be able to conclude before gameweek 38; 5 teams are still on a good race to escape from the relegation spots. It's just gotta be intense.

Game of the Week: Arsenal v Chelsea

Lampard continues to impress.

The team on form, Chelsea, will be looking forward to take the fourth spot for at two hours by taking down Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

The Blues are the team on form now, marching on in both cup competitions (FA Cup and UEFA CL). They defeated the unbeatable Barcelona at home, something which was quite surprising.

Drogba who scored against Barca will continue to become the team's focal point in offence, supported by Mata, Lampard and co. Defensively Terry and Cahill will have to work very hard against #1 favourite for Golden Boot, Robin Van Persie. Do not expect clean sheets.

On the other side, RvP and Walcott are expected to cause many troubles again. Don't expect clean sheet for the home side as well, as Chelsea is on a truly astonishing form.

Prediction: ARS 2-1 CHE
Pick: Van Persie, Drogba, Walcott, Mata, Lampard
Drop: Both defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City

Caveman back with
total demolition.

City will need to keep up the pace to continue to pressure against league leaders Manchester United.

The Wolves season has practically ended with more than two games difference from survival zone. This should become City's advantage, as the opposition's morale should be very low, not to mention Wolves have not won any of their last 10 league games.

Meanwhile, City seems to recover their early season form, scoring 10 goals in last two games. Ex-captain Carlos Tevez is certainly the shining man now, after scoring a whopping 19 fantasy points in City's 6-1 demolition over Norwich. Aguero and Silva have reactivated their fantasy scoring machine as well.

Should be an easy win and possibly a clean sheet as well for City.

Prediction: WOL 0-3 MCI
Pick and Captain: Aguero, Tevez
Pick: Silva, MCI defence
Drop: WOL team


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:
Yakubu - Norwich always give goals.
Dempsey - Just so good.
P. Cisse  - Extremely prolific.

Pick:
AST and BOL team - Gameweek double.
Rooney/ Valencia/ Young - Usual offensive prospects from United.
Ben Arfa - Brilliant lad.

Drop:
NOR defence - Unlikely to withstand Blackburn's offence.

Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):
Gameweek 35 double gamers - Check the fixtures.
Tevez/ Aguero/ Silva - Sensational form.
AST and BOL team - Gameweek double.

Gameweek 35 Dream Team

 Krul

Lescott -- Evans -- Collins

Silva -- Walcott -- Ben Arfa (VC) -- Dempsey

Tevez (C) -- Yakubu -- P. Cisse

Subs: Given -- M. Petrov -- A. Hughes -- Wheather

Kick-Off: Gameweek 30 Fantasy Preview

Get well soon Muamba!

Overview
Some meaningful football moments that happened in past hectic week:

• The cardiac arrest of Muamba definitely tops the list. The 23-year-old English is slowly recovering but God knows whether he will be able to get back to pitch. All the best Fabrice as you united the football arena!
• Lionel Messi becomes Barcelona's top scorer (234) after surpassing Cesar Rodriguez. The wonder man still has years to break the record again and again and at this rate, don't be surprised if he breaks the 400 goal milestone before he retires.

Game of the Week: Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur

Can Lampard push on for 150
fantasy points this season?

One of the famous London derby will take place at Stamford Bridge as struggling Tottenham tries to find a way to escape from their misery.

Tottenham has been performing very awfully since the mid of January, winning only two out of the last nine fixtures. Players have been performing very inconsistently and that makes fantasy selections from Tottenham very difficult. Adebayor could stay silent for a month or two, and then suddenly blasted a 20 point gameweek when you sold or benched him.

Meanwhile, Chelsea has regroup themselves under caretaker manager Di Matteo. The Blues' last game against Manchester City was their first ever defeat under the Italian coach. Senior players who got abandoned by Andre Villas-Boas such as Lampard and Drogba are all performing greatly ever since their manager has been changed.

Expect strong performances by the aforementioned players plus Mata at home. Torres should still be avoided despite man of the match performance at FA Cup quarter finals. Tottenham could give Chelsea a goal or two, but I think the Blues will leave the pitch happily after the game.

Prediction: CHE 2-1 TOT

Pick: Lampard, Mata, Drogba

Drop: TOT defence

Fantasy Game of the Week: Manchester United v Fulham

Valencia - the super consistent
value buy.

Liverpool might have a game against second-last placed Wigan, but we all know how unpredictable the Reds are at league. United's game against Fulham will be the safest bet.

Nani, along with Jones, is expected to be available in this game. I expect him to feature on bench, so start your Valencia, and Young, who missed out last game, with confidence. Rooney is a strong captain choice here - grab him if you can afford to.

Defensively Evans continues to be the most economic choice, though less economic now - he scored on last game and hence has a price bloom this week. Fulham has been shut for two games, but you can't ignore how threatening Dempsey and Pogrebnyak are.

Should be a comfortable win by again by United, but you never know...

Prediction: MUN 3-0 FUL
Pick and Captain: Rooney, Valencia

Drop: FUL defence

Pick and Drop

Pick and Captain:

• Van Persie  - Villa has only conceded more than two goals once this season, but Van Persie is most capable in handling tough defences.
• Suarez/ Gerrard  - Even tough they are very inconsistent, it's still a good bet to hold on to.

Pick:

• ARS defence  - I don't see Villa's sharpness.
• LIV defence - Wigan is one of the poorest converter apart from Liverpool.
• Sigurdsson  - You never know when he will score a brace again.
• Yakubu  - Bolton might not be in mood to play.

Drop:

• BOL players  - High degrees of uncertainty.
• WIG defence - Unless Liverpool hit posts and bars again.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

• Valencia - Sits on top of Ferguson's winger pecking order.
• Sigurdsson  - Best low cost buy of the season.
• Rooney  - Final quarter of the season is always United's best.

Yellow light (watch):

• A Young - You never know what will happen when Nani is fit for full game.
• Dempsey/ Pogrebnyak  - Been shut for two games.

Red light (sell):

• Silva - His production is far from promising.
• Ba - Less sharp after went for African Cup.
• Adebayor/ Bale  - The whole team has been under par.

Gameweek 30 Dream Team

Szcznesny

Skrtel -- Evans -- Taylor

Valencia -- Gerrard -- Sigurdsson -- Mata

Van Persie -- Rooney (C) -- Suarez (VC)

Subs: Vorm -- McClean -- McAuley -- Martin

Kick-Off: Gameweek 29 Fantasy Preview

Di Matteo saved Premier League's pride by progressing to
quarter finals of Champions League.

Overview
Liverpool's 3-0 victory over Everton certainly salvaged many double gameweek gamblers. Gerrard got a whopping 22 point gameweek thanks to his hat-trick, while Suarez provided 2 assists to score 14 points. Defenders like Skrtel and Enrique got a clean sheet too. Those who bought them certainly won't be disappointed, although they might expect more.

Meanwhile, Chelsea progressed through the last eight of Champions League in the expense of Napoli after extra time. Di Matteo is certainly on the run now as the new Chelsea coach, having won all games since he took over. Chelsea's players definitely should be on your radar by now.

Game of the Week: MANCHESTER CITY v CHELSEA

Frank Lampard: The
evergreen ace.

The greatest test for Di Matteo so far as they visit to Etihad Stadium to salvage their Champions League chance next season.

The former Italian international is rejuvenating the Blues at the moment, as Roman Abramovich's army won in all games under his charge. People are being reminded of Mourinho's era with him - resolute defense, strength battle and aerial advantage all reappeared under Di Matteo.

Senior players like Lampard and Drogba should lead the team again after a fantastic performance against Napoli. Huge pressure for City then, which will be without captain Kompany who is fantastic in positioning.

On the other side, City are losing grip in this concluding stage of the season, suffering two consecutive defeats at Europa League and Premier League. Aguero is unable to show us the super Aguero at the opening stage of the season, while Silva's form is also pretty woeful and has already been overtaken by Dempsey in terms of fantasy scores.

It will be a tough game to call, but as long as Chelsea continues to play Mourinho's style of football, I believe City will slip points again and hand the title to United.

Prediction: MCI 1-1 CHE
Pick: Lampard, Drogba
Drop: MCI defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: WOLVES v MANCHESTER UNITED

Rooney still has hopes
for Golden Boot.

Tottenham are facing Stoke at home but we all know how they struggled recently. Hence I will turn my head to Molineux - where league leaders Manchester United will visit to this week.

Wayne Rooney scored both goals in their victory against West Brom last week. The forward has 20 league goals now and still has chance to pressure Robin Van Persie (25 goals) in the golden boot race. Great motivation then, apart from grabbing the 20th league title for Manchester United.

Another man on form is Rooney's compatriot Ashley Young. The former Aston Villa's ace has got 26 fantasy points in his last two games and is expected to continue such fine run to demolish Wolves. Certainly a tough time for Wolves defenders to mark them both.

I am 50-50 about United's likelihood of a clean sheet, but nevertheless having at least one of the duo mentioned above is a must at this stage. Victory for Red Devils.

Prediction: WOL 0-2 MUN
Pick and Captain: Rooney, Young
Drop: WOL defence


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

• Van Persie - An automatic choice.
• Ba/ Cisse - Norwich's defensive history makes them mouth-watering choices.
• Gerrard - The captain is inspirational.
• Suarez - He will make QPR defenders look silly.
• Dempsey/ Pogrebnyak  - The partnership is impressive.

Pick:

• Bale - Still reliable, but not reliable enough to be captained.
• LIV defence - QPR's attack shouldn't be tough for them.

Drop:

• STO defence - Tottenham is not expected to disappoint their fans.
• EVE defence - No one stops RvP.
• QPR defence - To stop both Gerrard and Suarez is not easy.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

• Young/ Rooney - On their high.
• Gerrard - In his cheapest price in these few years and still has skills.
• Suarez - Points are assured with Gerrard around.

Yellow light (watch):

• Bale/ Adebayor - Lacking consistencies at the moment.
• Cleverley  - Returned finally and we shall see how he cope with in these few gameweeks.

Red light (sell):

• Silva/ Aguero - Not in form and subject to heavy rotation.
• Kompany - Injured.

Gameweek 29 Dream Team

Schwarzer

Evans -- Skrtel -- Assou-Ekkoto

Dempsey -- Gerrard (VC) -- Young -- Lampard

Rooney (C) -- Van Persie -- Suarez

Subs: Al-Habsi -- Moses -- Simpson -- Cuellar

Terrible Refereeing: Gameweek 21 Fantasy Review

Why must you @#%&ing steal the limelight every time Mr Phil Dowd?

Poor Decisions

Terrible refereeing ruined a lot of good games this gameweek. Tottenham conceded thanks to one "accused" corner kick, Jonathan Woodgate wasn't even booked for so many dangerous offences he had done, no more red card in Blackburn v Fulham game after Yakubu's despite so many more dangerous tackles than his, and most obviously, three legitimate penalty claims denied in Chelsea v Sunderland game. Three ****ing legitimate penalty claims denied, with one wrongly judged as diving. How can someone as pathetic as Phil Dowd officiate a Premier League game? So many game spoilers.

Aston Villa 1-1 Everton

Not a very surprising result, though Everton deserved more. The build up was impressive by the Toffees, but their finishing ability continues to take them down. Given was splendid too to stop them.

No strong impact from Donovan in this game, so you might wait and watch.

Watch: Donovan, Bent

Blackburn 3-1 Fulham

I feel bad for the 300,000 fantasy managers who brought in the Yak (I was almost one of them but sold him later fortunately) as he got a straight red. Bad luck. However, Blackburn somehow played better with ten men on the field. Dunn scored 13 points which almost tallied to all that he got this season (16 points) prior to the game. Great game by the ex-fantasy-goody.

And Steve Kean survives, again.

Watch: Dunn

Drop: Yakubu

Chelsea 1-0 Sunderland

Torres was spectacular. He attempted a terrific bicycle kick that hit the bar before being tapped-in by Lampard. He was brought down twice inside the penalty box but both offences were ignored and he was even being booked for "diving". Great performance this time around and he might be able to steal the place from Drogba if he continues such great play.

Gary Cahill has officially joined Chelsea and might become a  fantastic fantasy acquisition. If he can create more clean sheets at Stamford Bridge, he is a must buy.

On the other side, it was a good play by Sunderland, but the chances they had wasted made sure that they went home with nothing.

Watch: Gary Cahill, Torres, Sessegnon

Liverpool 0-0 Stoke City

The same story again at Anfield. Liverpool controlled the game but were unable to create good opportunity and unable to finish well. Certainly needs a goal poacher at the moment.

The defence was superb as usual and you must be silly to not own at least one of Enrique and Skrtel.

Pick: Enrique, Skrtel

Watch: Gerrard

Manchester United 3-0 Bolton

Should be much easier than what it was. Rooney was at fault for missing yet another penalty. He could have confidence crisis in finishing. Still, he provided two great supplies which then scored two goals for United. But seriously, if he didn't miss the penalty, he would be on a 15 point haul instead of only 6 now.

Evans racked up 6 points again with his superbly cheap price, while Scholes and Carrick's provided abnormal returns thanks to their rare goals.

It's still the same kind of crisis at Bolton anyway...

Pick: Rooney, Evans

Watch: Scholes

Drop: BOL players


Tottenham 1-1 Wolves
Great game by Hennessey to save several critical attempts. The corner was awarded by luck, but the execution was all their credit as Steven Fletcher continued to mark his importance. He has scored 6 goals in last 8 games and looks to be a direct replacement for Yakubu.

Adebayor continues to disappoint with yet another non-productive gameweek. His will not eligible against Manchester City as stated in the loan contract next week. A transfer dilemma for fantasy managers to consider.

Pick: Bale, Fletcher
Watch: Adebayor


West Brom 1-2 Norwich
Two big centre forwards Holt and Morison combined again for the winner while Surman scored a great goal. The Canaries are looking good to stay in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson fails to find a solution to victory as their side got only one point from the last four games.

Pick: Morison
Watch: Holt
Drop: WBA players


Newcastle 1-0 Queen's Park Rangers
Quite a lucky win by Newcastle to be honest. QPR had pushed well and got several great chances which either got squandered or got saved by Krul and his rearguards. You should really spend some time reassessing this team for the next few weeks to see how they perform under Mark Hughes' reign.

Leon Best scored a wonderful solo effort, but otherwise it was defence that brought them the victory.

Pick: NEW defence
Watch: Best, Wright-Phillips, Bothroyd, Helguson


Swansea 3-2 Arsenal
Fantastic game by Swansea which outplayed the Gunners' through Barca-esque possession. The ball control was superb as Wenger couldn't find any clue to anticipate the precise passes. Nathan Dyer is the man in form, scoring 23 points in the last two games.

Arsenal's defence was signalling a huge alarm as they become the side which conceded the most away goals (25). In my opinion, they would need two extra defenders which they should get in this transfer window if they are to grab that Champions' League ticket.

Pick: Dyer, Van Persie, Graham, Sinclair
Drop: ARS defence


Wigan 0-1 Manchester City
Finally a win for City after consecutive cup defeats. It was a hard fought victory though, with Silva provided the assist for Dzeko's goal. It was indeed quite surprising to see Silva played almost a full match, plus an assist.

Aguero still couldn't find the blazing feet which scored crazily earlier this season, but hopefully the upcoming easy fixtures will help him.

Pick: Silva

Kick-Off: Gameweek 15 Fantasy Preview

Shocking defeat + shocking exit for Ferguson's team in the
Champions League.

Overview
Calamitous day in football for Manchester as both representatives, namely City and United, were knocked out from the group stage. While City's exit is pretty much expected, United's elimination is a completely different story as it definitely shows how thin is Ferguson's squad currently to fight four ways. Not even half of the season, and the Red Devils are only left with two trophies to compete for. Glazer simply need to fund for new players to arrive at Old Trafford.

Game of the Week: CHELSEA v MANCHESTER CITY

Drogba: still not out of his
prime.

Two clubs which go for very different route. Chelsea, poor in Premier League but progressed through the last 16 in UEFA Champions League; Manchester City, invincible domestically but crashed out of the most prestigious cross-country league of the region. Stamford Bridge is the venue.

Andre Villas-Boas seems to have escaped from the big slump after recording three 3-0 victories against Wolves, Newcastle and Valencia respectively. His decision to relocate Drogba as his centre forward and drop Lampard from his midfield line-up were the key to the sudden shift in form.

However, the back line is as unconvincing as before. David Luiz is a big time bomb there and has caused so much of trouble to Petr Cech and Terry to handle. He will not always be lucky, so expect Mancini's side to exploit such fragile defence.

On the other side, City will surely want to unleash their anger due to Champions League exit on Chelsea. Aguero and Silva are no-brainer picks for offence as always while you can never be sure who will actually play with them among Balotelli, Nasri, Dzeko, Yaya Toure, Barry, Milner and Adam Johnson. Proceed with caution.

I believe it will be a high scoring game. A draw would be a fair result, though City should have a higher chance of victory.

Prediction: CHE 2-2 MCI
Pick: Silva, Aguero, Drogba
Drop: CHE defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: ARSENAL v EVERTON

Vermaelen is not shy to
attack from the back.

Captain Van Persie will get on fire again as the Gunners host the Toffees in this weekend's match.

Wenger's team are surely full of form now, recording 6 wins and 1 draw since 1-2 defeat to Tottenham. They scored 20 goals in total in these matches, including a 5-3 classic victory against Chelsea.

Van Persie should, or probably must, become your captain this week. Everton is in terrible form right now and at home, is all up to him who didn't play in the Champions League tie to blast Moyes' squad into pieces.

It's hard to believe how Everton is going to hold them up with such average defence and terrible offence...

Pick and Captain: Van Persie
Pick: Vermaelen, Walcott, Gervinho
Drop: EVE defence


Pick and Drop

Pick:

1. Long - Should beat Wigan with a goal or two.
2. Adam - Time to perform against QPR especially when Suarez has troubles with FA.
3. Welbeck - Needs to step up given Hernandez's absence.
4. Bale/ Lennon - Their speed will be vital to break through Stoke's tough defence.
5. Yakubu - His morale should be high after bullied Swansea with 4 goals.
6. Ba - Norwich's defence won't be too hard for him to perform.

Drop:

1. BOL defence - Gary Cahill-less and that surely matters.
2. Baines - Surely they will be no clean sheet isn't it?
3. STO defence - Tottenham's gunpowder is just too powerful.

Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):

1. Van Persie - With only 33% ownership for such incredible performance, he still has much room to grow in price.
2. Vermaelen  - Ultra offensive as a defender.
3. Long - Reinstalled his form and should continue to perform.
4. Ba - Super ace of the team with great offensive capabilities.
5. Yakubu - On  hype and is having a string of easy fixtures.
6. Sturridge - Super consistent goal-rate.

Yellow light (watch):

1. NEW defence - The unchanged defensive line-up is forced to change for the first time.
2. Suarez - Continues to be troubled by FA.
3. Drogba - Powered up again.
4. Romeu - Is very cheap and has started 3 consecutive games for Chelsea.

Red light (sell):

1. Luiz - He will bring the whole Chelsea defend line down.
2. Hernandez - Injured.
3. Vidic - Might be out for the season.
4. Santos - Injured.
5. Lampard - AVB is phasing him out.

Gameweek 15 Dream Team

Vorm

Vermaelen -- Enrique -- Jones

Walcott -- Bale -- Adam (VC) -- Brunt -- Sinclair

Van Persie (C) -- Ba

Subs: Westwood -- Yakubu -- Evans -- Russell Martin 

Yak-Trick: Gameweek 14 Fantasy Review [Express Edition]

Yakubu's quadruple has earned Steve Kean vital three points.

Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea
Well Luiz's should have been awarded a red card in the early stage of the stage, and that have changed the whole complexion of the game.

It's good to see Drogba returning with a decisive opener, while Lampard will definitely considering his future knowing that his time with the Blues is coming short.

On the other side, Demba Ba continues to be threatening. Superb. However, 2 of their back four are now injured - might be a big hit to their rock solid defence. Nonetheless, Krul will still be magnificent despite that.

Pick: Krul, Ba, Sturridge
Watch: Drogba
Drop: Lampard, Luiz


Blackburn 4-2 Swansea
No one could have expect 4 goals from Yakubu. Splendid. A great result that come at right time.

Given forthcoming fixtures, he's a good short term pick.

Pick: Yakubu


Man City 5-1 Norwich
Aguero should really did better. While his goal was a brilliant magic, the chances he squandered had frustrated a lot of fantasy managers. Maybe it's the right time to jump across the ship for Van Persie.

The points distribution are really too widespread this time around, making City players less attractive.

Watch: Aguero


QPR 1-1 West Brom
Helguson was once again the scorer for QPR. Pretty amazing given that he was only the Neil Warnock's third choice at the beginning of the season.

On the other side, Long scored again. Very prolific at such young age.

Pick: Helguson
Watch: Long


Tottenham 3-0 Bolton
The flanks are functioning fantastically for Tottenham at the moment. Bale and Lennon are simply too swift to handle. Could have won by 7-8 goals if not for Jaaskelainen's greatness.

Gary Cahill was unlucky anyway to concede such an terrible red card decision.

Pick: Bale, Lennon
Drop: Cahill


Wigan 0-4 Arsenal
Nothing too surprising. Van Persie continues to dominate the offence, and Vermaelen's offensive ability as a centre back is just supreme.

Pick: Van Persie, Vermaelen, Walcott
Watch: Gervinho, Arteta
Drop: WIG players


Aston Villa 0-1 Man Utd
Hernandez was injured - the only striker with his scoring boots on is down. Bad news.

The win was yet again unconvincing and I really wonder how possibly can they continue to pick up points with such terrible form.

Drop: MUN offence


Everton 0-1 Stoke City
Disappointing result for Moyes. It does wonder me why were Everton trying non-stop to attack via crosses when Stoke players are all so tall.

Drop: EVE players


Wolves 2-1 Sunderland
Fantastic acting by Larsson but he inability to score the penalty has brought a calamitous result to Martin O'Neill's debut.

Fletcher and Doyle played together again finally and the results? Perfect.

Pick: Fletcher


Fulham 1-0 Liverpool
Lucas out for season, two shots reflected off the frame (again), Spearing sent off, Suarez investigated for his middle finger... Nothing's really going for Liverpool.

At this stage, the Reds still didn't managed to play like a team with free-flowing passes. Pretty hard to believe they can achieve their Champions League aspirations.

Watch: Murphy
Drop: LIV offence

Gameweek 14 Fantasy Preview

Gary Speed (1969-2011)

Overview
Shocking news earlier this week as one of the Premier League legends, Gary Speed, was found dead at his home following his suicide. Big loss.

Carling Cup Review
So Liverpool will meet Manchester City at the semis after killing off Chelsea twice at Stamford Bridge in just 9 days. Crazy fixtures. In the other end we will see Championship sides Cardiff and Crystal Palace facing against each other. It's surprising to not see Manchester United in the last four list.

7-Gameweek Fixture Analysis (Published Monthly)
In heaven run:

1. Everton (STO, @ARS, NOR, SWA, @SUN,  @BLA, BOL) - Pretty lenient ones in the midst of hellish calendar month. Be sure to monitor on Baines, Drenthe and supersub Vellios.
2. Liverpool (@FUL, QPR, @AST, @WIG, BLA, NEW, @MCI) - Shouldn't be too much of troubles defensively. If they can convert the chances more efficiently they should be able to slide into fourth place.
3. Man Utd (@AST, WOL, @QPR, @FUL, WIG, BLA, @NEW) - A good platform to improve their form... Hopefully they will.
4. Sunderland (@WOL, BLA, @TOT, @QPR, EVE, MCI, @WIG) - Loads of bottom team for them to earn some solid league points.
5. Swansea (@BLA, FUL, @NEW, @EVE, QPR, TOT, @AST) - A crucial period to book their survival place in the Prem.
6. Tottenham (BOL, @STO, SUN, CHE, @NOR, @SWA, WBA) - Great fixtures to lift them nearer to the league leaders.

In hell run:

1. Aston Villa (MUN, @BOL, LIV, ARS, @STO, @CHE, SWA) - Extremely tough to handle, especially when the compact festive games are coming.
2. Chelsea (@NEW, MCI, @WIG, @TOT, FUL, AST, @WOL) - The tough string of games won't help them to regain their form and confidence.
3. Fulham (LIV, @SWA, BOL, MUN, @CHE, @NOR, ARS) - All the teams they face have at least some decent attacking force, if not great.
4. Wigan (ARS, @WBA, CHE, LIV, @STO, SUN, @MCI) - Might be an early death sentence on Martinez and his team.

Game of the Week: NEWCASTLE v CHELSEA

Ben Arfa will cause big
trouble to Chelsea's defence.

It's going to be a tough month for Andre Villas-Boas as he will continue to play against tough oppositions in what that might become his job-deciding matches. St. James' Park is his first destination for Chelsea this month (hopefully not his last).

Newcastle played yet another solid game against Manchester United at Old Trafford, conceding only due to some bad luck. While the penalty was controversial, I simply wouldn't deny the fact that they deserve to take something from Old Trafford. Impressive.

The back four who started for every league games together should play together again - expect superb fortress-like defence which is further solidify with the presence of Krul. I rate the Dutch stopper now on par with Vorm and Hart as the league's toughest keeper to pass through. Up front we shall see Ben Arfa and Demba Ba creating havoc again and perhaps score a goal or two together.

On the other side, Chelsea are losing the cutting edge they have seasons before, and their results against the top sides were all but defeats this season. Losing twice at Stamford Bridge against the same side Liverpool certainly isn't a healthy sign for AVB's squad form. Terrible.

Defence has always been the fatal point of the Blues - many goals conceded were due to silly mistakes of the defenders. Attack isn't too sharp neither, with Sturridge, Mata and Lampard the only three reliable finishing points to score goals.

It's going to be close again, and I think the Magpies' work rate as a team should give AVB a worthwhile lesson.

Prediction: NEW 1-0 CHE
Pick: Ben Arfa
Drop: CHE defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: MANCHESTER CITY v NORWICH

Show time for Aguero again?

Manchester City might have lost the mighty form they had a month or two before, but at home against Norwich it's certainly too hard to resist.

Aguero and Silva are still two of the best fantasy performers - make them your captain and you will most probably get well rewarded with 10++ points. Mouth-watering picks.

Defensively it's not that formidable as before, but you shall still play your Kompany and/or Richards if you own them with them playing at home.

Should be solid win for City at least. Would be a big headline if Norwich are able to escape from Etihad.

Prediction: MCI 3-0 NOR
Pick and Captain: Aguero, Silva
Pick: MCI defence
Drop: NOR players


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

1. Adebayor - Bolton is quite easy for him I suppose.
2. Van Persie - A big yes against one of the worst side of the Premier League.

Pick:

1. Walcott/ Ramsey - Should provide big threat to Wigan
2. Agbonlahor - To take advantage against off-form Man Utd.
3. Bellamy - In great form, though not that sure to start the game.

Drop:

1. WIG defence - Never a decent pick.
2. MUN defence - Not sure how they can hold Agbonlahor and Bent.

Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):

1. Bale - Stacking up points in the speed of light.
2. Mata - Even if everyone in Chelsea is unpickable, he won't be.
3. Ben Arfa - Continues to impress me with his superior influence in Newcastle's attack.
4. Adebayor - Well supplied to score goals.
5. EVE defence - Three of the next four games at home.
6. Krul - Such a fantastic goalkeeper.

Yellow light (watch):

1. LIV defence - Surely Lucas' absence for the rest of the season is going to adversely affect them.
2. Bellamy - If he can just lock down a place from Dalglish's first XI, he will be a sure fire pick.
3. Aguero - With City's form declining, it's not that sure to own him now.

Red light (drop):

1. MUN players - Players are severely disjointed. Stay away until they regain their form.
2. Balotelli - His stupidity will hinder you from harvesting points from him.

Gameweek 14 Dream Team

Krul

Jagielka -- Richards -- Walker

Bale -- Ben Arfa -- Walcott -- Silva

Van Persie -- Aguero (C) -- Adebayor (VC)

Subs: Vorm -- Barton -- Luke Young -- Simpson

Kick-Off: Gameweek 12 Fantasy Preview

Michael Owen to out for six weeks... Little fantasy relevance, no?

Announcements
Due to personal reasons, they will be no reviews for the next two gameweeks. Previews might be squeezed into simpler version as I try my best to make them a worthy read. A deep apology to all my fellow readers.


Overview
Congratulations to Portugal, Ireland, Czech Republic and Croatia for winning the play-offs and through the Euro 2012 Finals. With all these strong teams going through, expect a intense tournament next summer.

Back to the fantasy world, here's a list of major international casualties occurred in this recent internationals week:

1. Van der Vaart
2. Suarez
3. Aguero
4. Leon Best

Also, Suarez is now charged with racism allegations so stay away from him if you do not have him yet.

All the players above are suffering from minor injuries, so you might need to monitor again on Friday/Saturday to see whether it's necessary to make a transfer or two.

Game of the Week: CHELSEA v LIVERPOOL

Frank Lampard on fire.

The rivalry that formed in the last decade since Mourinho-Benitez era. Chelsea against Liverpool.

The Blues are suffering a bit at the moment and only managed to climbed out from back-to-back defeats with a sluggish victory against Blackburn. Defence has been a serious problem for them currently as last game was their only second clean sheet of the campaign, and that's due to Blackburn's ridiculous chance wasting ability.

Surprisingly, Lampard has started to find some extraordinary form which saw him climbing fast to the second spot of the fantasy midfielders table after a slow start in this fantasy season. Definitely one for the Reds to fear.

On the other side, Liverpool are struggling to score with 11 reflected off the goal frame already this season. Their finishing certainly needs to improve significantly if they were to snatch anything away from Stamford Bridge.

Should be a close call due to Liverpool's norm of getting stronger against stronger teams, but this time I think Andre Villas-Boas should earn his first victory against Liverpool.

Prediction: CHE 2-1 LIV

Pick: Lampard

Fantasy Game of the Week: NORWICH v ARSENAL

The return of Vermaelen has
boosted Arsenal's strength
on both ends significantly.

Well Manchester United are visiting the almighty Vorm at Liberty Stadium, while their noisy neighbours are hosting formidable Newcastle... So let's switch to Gunners, who aim to get five-in-a-row victories.

Norwich has been playing some fine football in the top-flight league and is currently standing higher than their promoting counterparts. They've been providing some great offensive sparks with Morison, Holt and Pilkington leading the casts.

But their defensive fragility is all for Arsenal to take advantage of. Captain Robin van Persie is scoring goals for fun at the moment and has collected 68 fantasy points from last 7 games. 68. Fantastic form.

With the players gelling nicely and their morale on high, Arsenal should win again and get closer to the top four.

Prediction: NOR 1-3 ARS

Pick and Captain: Van Persie

Pick: Gervinho, Vermaelen

Drop: NOR defence

Pick and Drop

Pick:

1. Bendtner/ Sessegnon - Fulham's defence is much fragile than last season.
2. STO defence - Should be strong enough to hold QPR.
3. Hoilett/ Formica - They should be able to convert something against the worst team in the league.

Drop:

1. FUL defence - Not reliable especially on the road.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Van Persie - Instills fear to any defence.
2. Eagles - On form to terrorise from the flanks.

Yellow light (watch):

1. Formica/ Hoilett - Good run of fixtures for them to take advantage from.
2. Bale - Showing some kind of consistency.

Red light (sell):

1. Bosingwa - Out of starting XI.
2. A Young - Out of form with price dipping fast.

Gameweek 12 Dream Team

Begovic

Woodgate -- Vermaelen -- Kompany

Lampard (VC) -- Brunt -- Walters -- Ramsey -- Sessegnon

Van Persie (C) -- Hoilett

Subs: Vorm -- Vellios -- Jagielka -- Brown

Fergie's Golden 25: Gameweek 11 Fantasy Review

Sir Alex Ferguson with his record 25 years of excellence. Well rewarded with a Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.

Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland
MUN: Yet another mediocre display by the Red Devils, but three points, again. Good enough to celebrate Ferguson's 25 year anniversary at Old Trafford anyway.

Lack of confidence is the situation that perfectly describes Fergie's team right now, just give them some time and they will bounce back.

SUN: Not surprising to see them struggling upfront yet again. Brown was generous enough to present his ex-manager a big gift. It should be yet another mid table finish for them, despite constant investments into the team.

Watch: Nani


Newcastle 2-1 Everton
NEW: Another good victory to make sure that they are still third place on the league. The first goal was rather lucky, but Ryan Taylor's fantastic strike was a perfect piece of beauty, both the trajectory and power of the shot.

Defensively it's still solid, but that should be the end anyway with Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea coming up next.

EVE: The same old story about finishing ability. Tim Cahill was far from his best in goal poaching form, and Saha was never sharp enough to score frequently.

Maybe an ala Chicharito forward is what Moyes needs in January.

Drop: NEW defence


Arsenal 3-0 West Brom
ARS: The Gunners surely are on full throttle now with their fourth consecutive league victory. Van Persie's greatness is certainly unmatched across the league. A must have at this stage given the easy fixtures ahead despite such scary price.

Vermaelen provided a strong return with a goal, a clean sheet and 3 points bonus. Still, wait and see if he can reorganise the defence and continue his strong presence in attack as well. Great potential as always.

WBA: Another painful defeat. Continue to play over defensively against stronger teams. Stay away at the moment.

Pick: Van Persie, Gervinho
Watch: Arteta, Brunt, Odemwingie


Aston Villa 3-2 Norwich
AST: Agbonlahor continues to terrorise defences as he provided 1 goal, 2 assist performance at Villa park. Undisputed form especially in fantasy at such low price.

Darren Bent scored two, but I don't see the value in him when Agbonlahor is cheaper and more consistent. Unless you are planning to get both of them.

NOR: Holt has finally found his old self as he continues his pivotal performance with 2 assists. Great hope for survival if he can maintain such form.

Pick: Agbonlahor
Watch: Holt, Bent


Blackburn 0-1 Chelsea
BLA: Constructed the game well but finishing is really an issue. Will need to seriously get a decent goal poacher in the winter transfer market.

CHE: Lampard scored a crucial goal for them. He is surely returning with his form but whether he can hit 10 goals again this season is still a big riddle.

Torres was very disappointing with another open goal miss.

Watch: Lampard
Drop: BLA players


Liverpool 0-0 Swansea
LIV: Their fantastic 'shot on frame' form continues as Carroll made it the eleventh time for them to hit the crossbar and post this season in a clear cut chance. Wasted.

The old problem to score goals persist and remains a big headache for Kenny Dalglish. Stay away from their attackers.

Reina need to work out much more than usual in this game to hold the team goalless. Good news for Enrique owners anyway.

NOR: Vorm made a spectacular save against Glen Johnson's hi-speed volley. Incredible shot, but even better save. Marvellous fantasy keeper.

Pick: Vorm, Enrique
Drop: LIV offence


QPR 2-3 Manchester City
QPR: Strong fighting spirit. Jay Bothroyd was magnificent and should become the focal point for Neil Warnock's team to attack. Watch him.

MCI: Tough game due to Champions League fatigue, but won eventually. Silva remains a hot commodity, playing the most minutes among the productive attackers.

Savic looked very shaky at the back, but thankfully Kompany should return the next game.

Pick: Bothroyd, Silva


Wolves 3-1 Wigan
WOL: It's all about Jamie O'Hara. He has created lots of troubles to Wigan's defence. Superb.

WIG: Al-Habsi was busy throughout the game with several double saves but being attacked continuously it's impossible to keep the goal clean.

Pick: O'Hara
Watch: Al-Habsi


Bolton 5-0 Stoke City
BOL: Sweet revenge as the early referee dispute surely helped them a lot. Eagles and Klasnic as usual are the strong bargains upfront.

STO: Begovic never really recovered from the early shockingly unfair goal.

Pick: Eagles, Klasnic


Fulham 1-3 Tottenham
FUL: Pretty unlucky as they face a very formidable Brad Friedel on that day.

TOT: Bale continued his form surprisingly with one goal and one assist. Solid.

The most impressive one is of course the 40-year-old stopper, Friedel, who made several key saves to ensure Spurs' victory.

Watch: Bale

Prince of Persia Overkilled Chelsea

He crushed Stamford Bridge with his own feet.

8 goals were recorded at Stamford Bridge as Van Persie claimed the match ball in Chelsea's humiliating defeat. Some points worth noting:

• Van Persie's hat-trick. Simply at a different level. The best striker in the world with unbeatable form. Christiano Ronaldo-esque in fantasy as mentioned before. See his third goal of the game, you'll be left stunned. Surely clubs which aim for him will need to fork out at least £60-70m if Fernando Torres worth £50m.
• On the other side we saw Mata who performed his playmaker role to the very best. Precise cross for Lampard's opener. Freaking incredible long distance shoot which saw him evade both Song's tackle and Szczesny's hands. Stylish. Pure class.
• Walcott's speed had maximum utilisation in this game where Chelsea's defensive line was highly pressed up. A power shot which saw Arsenal led for the first time in the game. Good job but his volatility will scare fantasy managers away.
• Defensively both sides were terrible, although Chelsea's defence is pretty much useless compared to Arsenal's. Walcott running like no one's guarding him for the third goal, Van Persie's hat-trick was due to Terry's ridiculous slip... Just sell Bosingwa and any other Chelsea's defenders.
• Gervinho is forming an incredible partnership with captain RvP. His unselfishness for Arsenal's first goal deserves a big applause.

Surely now the league will slowly become a two-horse race between the Manchesters, and the last two tickets to Champions League will be wide open with Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle all aiming for the hot seats.

Lampard's Return: Gameweek 7 Fantasy Review

Three goals - the perfect way to shut doubters' mouth.

Bolton 1-5 Chelsea
BOL: Another morale sapping defeat. Bogdan had a nightmarish game with several "state-of-the-art" saves. Several sparkling attacks from Petrov and Eagles, but in general they were overwhelmed.


CHE: Cool Lampard hat-tricked in style. Just when people (including me) started to forget him, the talisman of Chelsea made himself noticeable again in the most effective way. A display of great positioning.

Sturridge was the other architect who paved way for the emphatic win, who also almost hat-tricked. Great skill, great attitude to not celebrate against his former club. Chelsea did have abundance of attacking talents.

Defensively they need to improve on set pieces - certainly the dead spot of the Blues.

Pick: Lampard, Sturridge
Drop: BOL defence


Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal
TOT: Not a very convincing display, but good enough to win a derby game. I like the way Adebayor and Van der Vaart combined - lethal. In fact VdV's lovely goal was set by Ade. Given more time, I think both of them are fantasy musts given their superb figure of shots per game. Goal machines.

Kyle Walker scored a stunner, but as a defender I can't see how is he going to get a decent number of clean sheets from offensive-minded Tottenham.

ARS: Another sad case of complete control, and lost in the end. Arteta somehow played too deeply - hardly any offensive influence. It was Ramsey who surged forward more frequently, and shot a powerful equaliser. Good lad but not convincing enough as of yet, even with such low price (£6.3m).

I like the way Song played, but he is certainly not prolific enough to gain my love for him in my fantasy squad.

Pick: Adebayor, VdV
Watch: Ramsey, Walker


Everton 0-2 Liverpool
EVE: They certainly didn't deserve to lose under such unfortunate circumstances. Bad refereeing had costed them a player named Rodwell. Not quite impressive in terms of attack though.

I like Drenthe's potential. Given more playing time, he could produce some impressive feat.

LIV: Carroll broke his duck with a nice volley - still too early to say that he will return to his Newcastle's form though. Suarez continued to provide consistency despite limited upside potential.

The most impressive man was Enrique though who popped out with 11 points thanks to his good performance at both ends. Even if Liverpool can't keep too much of clean sheets this season, his good crosses will ensure that he will still score points that match his asking price.

Pick: Enrique, Suarez
Watch: Carroll, Drenthe, Kelly


Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan
AST: Gabby. You simply need to have him. Agbonlahor at Villa is like Rooney at Manchester United - ace status, prolific scoring, English. I love (seriously love) how he raped Wigan's defenders with his fastest legs of Premier League. At £7.0m it's a very ridiculous decision to not own him.

Bent scored too, but clearly at the moment people will only talked about Agbonlahor who is more all-rounded than him. The more interesting man is Bannan though - his long range bombs are threatening.

WIG: Simply got overpowered by Aston Villa. Defensively they are hardly trustworthy anyway averaging 2.5 goals conceded per game over the last 4 games.

Pick: Agbonlahor
Watch: Bannan
Drop: WIG defence


Blackburn 0-4 Manchester City
BLA: Blasted yet again as fans were holding "Kean Out" banner throughout the game. Nothing to be positive about as I place them in the first place to relegate this season.

MCI: Aguero was injured - BIG, BAD news. Fortunately it's international break coming right up and he should feature in City's next league game. The bigger concern for fantasy managers of course, is the possibility of his price drop.

Nasri dictated the whole game after replacing Kun. 1 goal plus 2 assists certainly proved to be too much for bench midfielder. Superb.

Balotelli's should had gotten 3-4 goals if he didn't waste those chances. Great prospect if Mancini decides to bring down Dzeko as third choice striker after the Serbian's dissent with his decision to sub him off during Champions League tie against Bayern.

Pick: Nasri, MCI defence, Silva
Watch: Balotelli
Drop: BLA players


Manchester United 2-0 Norwich
MUN: One of the luckiest game of the world as United opened their season with close to perfect 19 points out of possible 21. Team was rather disjointed. If not for Norwich's unbelievably poor decision making ability the Red Devils' exposed back should had lost. Credits to Welbeck though with his impact coming from the bench. He should pose huge threat to my favourite Chicharito.

NOR: Terribly terrible. They had about 4-5 clear cut chances and yet failed to score even one because of their amateur like judgement. It's a very simple philosophy: whoever is at a better chance to score, don't hesitate to pass. They didn't follow that, and thus the defeat. Paul Lambert should prepare for a big lecture to them.

Watch: Welbeck, Pilkington


Sunderland 2-2 West Brom
SUN: Nicklas Bendtner's game. Strong presence. If not for him, they wouldn't be able to level after a shocking 2-goal trail in the first 5 minutes. Not so sure about his value of money though with so many even better forwards to choose from.

WBA: They squandered a dream start. Long continued to impress though after scoring his third goal of the season. However, just like Bendtner, there're too many talents upfront.

Watch: Bendtner, Long


Wolves 1-2 Newcastle
WOL: Played well, but just couldn't penetrate five-star Krul. Just as usual, it was Doyle, Fletcher, Jarvis and O'Hara who manipulate the attacks.

NEW: Godlike Krul. Extremely entertaining just like how Begovic held off Liverpool few weeks ago. Stunning defence.

Offensive wise, Ba scored in two consecutive matches, with Cabaye the provider. Both are revealing more potential as the season progresses.

Pick: NEW defence, Ba
Watch: Cabaye, O'Hara

Fulham 6-0 QPR
FUL: Andy Johnson! 10 out of 10 for the English as he dictated the demolition after scoring a brace at Europa League just days ago. Swift run, great positioning, and most importantly, ruthless shots. He does intrigue me why Martin Jol buy Bryan Ruiz and Orlando Sa when he got one of the best local partnership already?

Not to be forgotten is Zamora who played the layman role perfectly. And I mean perfect. He just never got selfish throughout the game and always make chances for his teammates to score. Professional. Salute.

Dempsey also scored 1, but it was really aforementioned strikers who combined and took them to cloud nine.

QPR: Sluggish defending. Paddy Kenny certainly needs to be replaced with his amateurish display.

Pick: A. Johnson, Zamora
Watch: FUL defence
Drop: QPR defence


Swansea 2-0 Stoke City
SWA: Scott Sinclair scored once again through the spot - the first one to fly in the Prem against his Championship rivals Taarabt and Holt.

Danny Graham scored too, but I still don't see his value.

STO: Unlucky day for them as they were stopped by the post and Vorm.

Pick: Sinclair
Watch: Graham, Dyer, Walters

Gameweek 37 Fantasy Preview

Roberto Mancini
Job done. Congrats.

Yes. Manchester City are through to the UEFA Champions League qualification for the next season thanks to Peter Crouch's disastrous own goal. Tottenham are now on the brink of having no European fixtures next season as they are now two points behind fifth-place Liverpool, with a visit to Anfield coming on this week.

But what's most importantly this week is the almost for sure possibility that Manchester United will set a new milestone of becoming the best club in the English football history with 19 top-flight league titles. This will be a great, great moment for the Red Devils.

---

PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Luis Suarez
Becoming Anfield legend fast.

Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur
The race for fifth may come to a conclusion this week as Liverpool will host currently sixth-placed Tottenham at Anfield fortress.

The Reds has unleashed incredible offence since last month, scoring 17 goals in the last five games. Luis Suarez continuously destroy opponent's defence with his creative runs, while Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez has shown supreme goalscoring ability with the former scoring 9 goals in the past 8 games while the latter hat-tricked twice in two weeks.

Tottenham, however, in on the very opposite form. They are now on a five-match victory drought and that's the main reason why they are out of the race for fourth in a blink of an eye. Defence is now a big headache for Harry's squad as the side has conceded an average of about two goals per game since April.

It'll be hard for me to believe that Tottenham can defeat Liverpool at Anfield with the Reds already beaten Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City easily here. A victory is expected to Kenny Dalglish's side.

Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Tottenham

The Rest

• Blackburn v Man Utd (0-1) - The Red Devils are motivated to confirm their title soon.
• Blackpool v Bolton (2-0) - Blackpool desperately need the three points.
• Sunderland v Wolves (2-2) - Sunderland has found back a little bit of form recently.
• West Brom v Everton (2-1) - Expect WBA to continue their supreme form.
• Chelsea v Newcastle (3-0) - Newcastle is just too poor on the road. A win might retain the Blues' slim chances for title and also will secure their second place from Arsenal.
• Arsenal v Aston Villa (2-1) - The Gunners' homeground is still quite hard to breakthrough. The Emirates has not been conquered since November.
• Birmingham v Fulham (1-0) - Defence v defence. Expect the narrowest margin between both sides.
• Wigan v West Ham (1-2) - Relegation six pointer. If West Ham fails to win, it's a goodbye for sure, so I think they should fight out all their best.
• Man City v Stoke City (2-0) - It's City's last home game. I expect them to play nicely even though with their second string players after the FA Cup against Stoke also.

---

PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Didier Drogba
"I am the king!"

Captain Picks

• Drogba/Lampard - Newcastle comes with poor defence.
• Suarez/Kuyt - Incredible partnership.

Squad of XV

GK: Hart

DF: Ivanovic, Roger Johnson, Clichy

MF: Lampard, Adam, Kuyt, N'Zogbia

F: Drogba, Suarez, Van Persie

Subs (in order): Foster, Hitzlsperger, Fabio, Flanagan

Saturday Stage

Fernando Torres

Broke his duck with a goal and an assist from the bench.

A pretty entertaining Saturday with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all winning their games. Here's some highlights:

Maxi Rodriguez
Only the best coach can lead a second-string player to score a hat-trick.

• Liverpool won their biggest margin game of the season after demolishing Birmingham 5-0, breaking their record of nine winless games against the Brums. Maxi, surprisingly, claimed the match ball with his wonderful hat-trick. With yet another clean sheet, you really have to admire the brain and wisdom of Kenny Dalglish. As long as he stays, Liverpool have a fair chance of winning the title next season!
• Also spectacular for Liverpool are Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez. Do you know Kuyt has scored 63 fantasy points from the last six games?!! That's averaging 10 for each! Suarez was not lucky for not scoring the second goal himself, but as long as he plays, he will create enough troubles for others to score.
• The Reds' arch-rivals, Manchester United, decided the game in the final minutes again as Javier Hernandez scored the victory goal. He may had blocked Nani's shot with his butt, but then, his goal compensated that. Chicharito, too good for his age.
• Of all, Chelsea fans' should be the happiest ones yesterday as Mr 50mil finally broken his duck and scored his first goal for Chelsea. A good goal I shall say. In addition, he has also provided an assist for Malouda! But will he open his floodgate now, as what he has promised?
• Meanwhile, Malouda and Lampard were on the score sheet again as they return to their prime. It will make the title race interesting if they manage to beat United at Old Trafford.
• David Luiz almost scored a long range cannon yesterday. Still, his great display - both attack and defence - earned him another bonus point.
• West Ham has made Chelsea's day tough - unlucky for them for not scoring.
• Tottenham failed to take down West Bromwich Albion and they will suffer from the consequences. Liverpool are now only three points behind and Spurs are yet to battle Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool!
• Odemwingie is really red hot now after collecting 50 fantasy points from his last six.
• Sunderland finally got their last needed victory to safety zone as Henderson and Sessegnon starred the game.
• Wolves v Fulham, Blackpool v Newcastle and Aston Villa v Stoke all ended 1-1. The only thing that concerns me though, is that Adam has finally contributed something more than two points after three average games.

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?

---

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

---

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

Gameweek 32 Fantasy Preview

Fernando Torres
The next Shevchenko?

So Fernando Torres's goal drought has now been extended to nine games. Never expect that for a £50m striker don't you? Can he end the embarrassment this week against Wigan?

---

PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

David Silva
Looks sharp to get something at Anfield.

Liverpool v Man City
Tough problems are on Dalglish's hands currently as he has to lead his team to finish the season with an incomplete squad.

Agger, Kelly and Gerrard are all out for the rest of the season and with Johnson and Shelvey on the injury camp as well, the Reds' squad depth is definitely been wiped out - they have now only four fit first team defenders! It much worse when you know that Kyrgiakos and Wilson are the ones who join Carragher and Skrtel on defence.

Man City also has problems on their defence department but theirs are much much easier to solve compared to Liverpool's. Furthermore, their attackers such as Silva and Yaya Toure are also on form, and that will make their task to conquer Anfield much easier.

Fragile defence - this reason is convincing enough for me to go for a City victory.

Prediction: Liverpool 1-3 Man City


The Rest

• Wolves v Everton (2-1) - Always believe in those still with targets to fight for.
• Blackburn v Birmingham (2-1) - The outcome might be crucial for the fate of both clubs. Expect a big scoreline.
• Bolton v West Ham (2-2) - The Hammers will continue to fight crazily for survival.
• Chelsea v Wigan (3-0) - A golden opportunity for Torres to end his goal drought - but will he take the chance?
• Man Utd v Fulham (2-0) - No Rooney this time, but no problem still.
• Sunderland v West Brom (2-2) - I bet on form Baggies will be able to extend Black Cats' unwinning run to eight games.
• Tottenham v Stoke City (2-1) - The long missing VdV/Bale effect should be back finally.
• Blackpool v Arsenal (0-4) - It will be catastrophic if Wenger cannot take this. It will be disappointing is Van Persie cannot score more than one.
• Aston Villa v Newcastle (2-0) - Injury and suspension will prevent Newcastle from doing well in this.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Robin van Persie
Will he fail us again? Hope not.

Captain Picks

• Van Persie - Blackpool will open a lot of holes for him.
• Lampard/Drogba - Wigan are no match for them.
• Nani/Hernandez - They will share the boots left by Rooney.

Buys-In

• Van der Vaart - Domestic results will affect his chance of staying.
• Bent - He is the key for Villa's survival.

Sells-Out

• Nolan - Suspended coupled with a bad run of fixtures awaiting.

Squad of XV

GK: Van der Sar

DF: Vidic, Luiz, Dawson

MF: Lampard, Nani, Van der Vaart, Jarvis

F: Van Persie, Hernandez, Odemwingie

Subs (in order): Robinson, Parker, Walker, Samba

Captain: Van Persie

ECS: Value

Gameweek 30 Fantasy Preview

Have you done your part to help Japan?

Well before I start, I hope you guys can mourn for a minute and pray for Japan. Hope that they will get out of the shadows of earthquake soon.

Three Premier League clubs have reached the last eight of Champions League this season. Interestingly, Manchester United and Chelsea will face each other on the quarter-finals to ensure at least one English clubs reaching the semis. Unfortunately though, both Europa candidates of England were knocked out yesterday.

On a side note, Manchester United will undergo possibly their toughest period of the season during the next few weeks with an injury-plagued squad and the absence of Sir Alex Ferguson on local match-ups. Can Arsenal take this advantage and smile at the end? It'll be interesting.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Roberto Mancini (left) and Mario Balotelli
Guess he doesn't love Mario anymore after all the trouble the lad gave him.

Chelsea v Manchester City
The battle of filthy money. Chelsea will sit at home, and things doesn't look too good for Mancini.

The Eastlanders had just knocked out from Europa Cup with a silly red from Balotelli; the Blues, on the other hand, continue to march on their Champions League journey with an aggregate score of 2-0. Pretty opposite fate.

With no major injury woes for both sides, I personally will go for a win for the resurging Chelsea.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Man City

The Rest

• Tottenham v West Ham (2-2) - The Hammers will continue to attack crazily for their survival.
• Aston Villa v Wolves (1-1) - The Villans are not consistent enough to gain my trust.
• Blackburn v Blackpool (1-1) - Both are struggling to keep themselves in the Premier League. The return of Charlie Adam should help.
• Man Utd v Bolton (3-2) - There are severe injury crisis for United, but the Red Devils' offence and the power of Old Trafford should be enough to cover that.
• Stoke City v Newcastle (2-1) - The Potters are always better at Britannia.
• West Brom v Arsenal (2-3) - Things might no be easy for Arsenal. Van Persie should shine.
• Wigan v Birmingham (2-1) - Three points are just so important for Martinez's side.
• Everton v Fulham (2-0) - Cahill might be only on the bench but I think the home side should be able to win even when without him.
• Sunderland v Liverpool (1-2) - Carroll will make days a lot easier for Liverpool attackers.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Antonio Valencia
Will he steal Nani's limelight?

Captain Picks

• Van Persie - Good against leaky Baggies.
• Rooney - On great form.
• Adam - The head of the Tangerines is back.

Buys-In

• Lampard - Back to his best.
• Valencia - Back and sharp.
• Van Persie - Too good to miss.
• Bale - Returns.

Sells-Out

• Djourou - Out for season.
• Toure - Suspended indefinitely.

Squad of XV

GK: Howard

DF: Huth, Coleman, Alcaraz

MF: Nani, Lampard, Hitzlsperger, Adam, Nasri

F: Rooney, Van Persie

Subs (in order): Begovic, Walker, Smalling, Rodallega

Captain: Rooney

ECS: Value