Kick-Off: Gameweek 10 Fantasy Preview

Suarez with a wonderful curl in Carling Cup against Stoke.

Overview
A very exciting League Cup should be expected as five of the Premier League giant clubs, namely Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have all progressed to the last eight of the tournament. With so many clubs capable of challenging titles in Premier League, surely every cup counts - expect intense competition even if this is just Carling Cup.

Game of the Week: CHELSEA v ARSENAL

Will there an immediate
impact by El Nino?

Timed to perfection? Chelsea, who seemed to struggle with their form recently, will station at Stamford Bridge to await the challenge from fellow neighbours Arsenal, who are slowly rebounding from their catastrophic season start.

The Blues will be without Drogba who was suspended on last game, but will welcome the return of £50mil Fernando Torres, Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa who are all released from suspension. Surely FT9 will pair up with red hot Sturridge to shatter the Gunners' fragile defence.

Defensive wise, Chelsea are obviously struggling at the moment and playing against on form Van Persie certainly would not help them. Van Persie's 30 goals in last 36 games for Arsenal surely is something, and he's got better record on the road as well. Big trouble surely for Terry and co.

At the middle of the field Chelsea will have some slight edge with Lampard, Mata, Ramires (doubtful) and Meireles all available to crush the Gunners defence. It does wonder me whether the midfield composed of Arteta, Ramsey, Song and possibly Benayoun will be able level them.

On the back of Arsenal only Szczesny can be counted, so I am really looking forward for a big scoreline by both sides. A big scoring draw, if not a narrow victory by Chelsea.

Prediction: CHE 3-2 ARS
Pick: Torres, Sturridge, Van Persie, Mata, Meireles
Avoid: Defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: MANCHESTER CITY v WOLVES

David Silva is simply unstoppable.

When one team is capable of winning 6-1 at Old Trafford, surely it's irresistible to feature it almost every week in this column. And that's Manchester City.

The Blue Moon have just demolished their forthcoming visitors 5-2 in Carling Cup encounter with their team B, and you can only expect team A which composed of Silva, Aguero and Balotelli to do even better.

Mick McCarthy will probably try to hold them off with "park the bus" tactic, but with a very different team to face compared to days ago, it probably will be too hard to them to sustain all the attacks especially when there Silva and Aguero are both very good in dribbling across stubborn defences.

The points ceiling for the players might be low with Mancini's mind surely on for the coming Champions League encounter, but still it's a risk worth taking. Captain Silva, Aguero or Balotelli if you have any.

Prediction: MCI 4-0 WOL
Pick and Captain: Silva, Aguero, Balotelli
Pick: MCI defence, Milner
Avoid: WOL defence


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

1. Van der Vaart/ Adebayor - Hosting against QPR without goalssssss? Hard to imagine.

Pick:

1. Suarez - The floodgate opened? Well he just scored over one goal in a single game for the first time this season, good sign.
2. Pilkington/ Morison - One thing that Blackburn never fails to do is leaking goals.
3. Rooney - Surely he wanted a rebound from slump even if it's against his mother club.

Avoid:

1. BLA defence - Never trust them. And I mean NEVER.
2. EVE defence - Man Utd are surely finding a sandbag.
3. QPR defence - Leaked 6 goals last time on the road.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Adebayor/ Van der Vaart - Two of them will take up over 60% of Tottenham's goals.
2. Aguero/ Silva/ Balotelli - All on form.
3. Cleverley - With Fletcher and Anderson doing poorly last week he is set for an immediate start in the centre of the park.
4. Walters - Very very influential in the attack of Stoke.
5. Graham - Ultra cheap 3rd forward with form at the moment.

Yellow light (watch):

1. Torres - Still not trustworthy until he proves consistency and discipline.
2. A Young/ Nani - Losing some form currently.
3. Best - Offensive influence has been taken over by Ba.

Red light (sell):

1. Long - Injured.
2. Drogba - Suspended.
3. Bannan - Suspended by club following his drink-drive incident.
4. Rio Ferdinand/ Evans - Terrible defensive form.

Gameweek 10 Dream Team

Begovic

Kompany -- Walker -- Enrique

Silva -- Van der Vaart (VC) -- Sinclair -- Pilkington

Suarez -- Aguero (C) -- Adebayor

Subs: Vorm -- Cleverley -- Barnett -- Brown

Sunday Shockers

Robin Van Persie
Wenger lost what seemed to be a free trophy. The worse part is, he might even have to lose the Dutchman again for some period of time.

Not an anticipated Sunday as all teams who looked better on paper lost. The focus of course is on the League Cup final. Arsenal, who was set to break their six year title drought, continues to wait for another chance to end the embarrassment as they was sentenced to death by Obafemi Martins injury time winner. Humiliation.

Thomas Hitzlsperger
Just came back from injury, but his impact for the team is obvious.

West Ham won comfortably against Liverpool. The Reds weren't at their best in my opinion, but the Hammers deserved the credit. Hitzlsperger's return continues to provide the fluency in midfield that West Ham lacks, and new signing Demba Ba continues to dominate the front line of Hammers. Survival in Premier League shouldn't be a problem to Avram Grant's side with them around.

Damien Duff
Equalised.

On the other hand, Manchester City can only earn a draw against Fulham at home. Balotelli provided a fantastic strike for the lead, but that was later cancelled with Duff's quick goal in the second half. Their solid third place certainly don't look solid now.

A strange Premier League Sunday, after all.

Gameweek 16 Fantasy Preview

Victor Obinna
Made four for his team mate on a stylish 4-0 victory against Man Utd.

Arsenal is on the driving seat to claim Carling Cup trophy following Manchester United's surprise defeat against West  Ham. Luck has finally on the Hammers side and fellow fantasy managers should be well alerted to start to look for Avram Grant's players - Parker, Obinna, Piquionne, Carlton Cole etc..

Meanwhile, on Europa League we see Manchester City edging Red Bull Salzburg at ease with Mario Balotelli providing two goals. Liverpool on the other hand secured a draw to ensure both English clubs getting through the next round.

Expect more snows to come.

The more important news for fantasy managers, however, is the weather condition in United Kingdom. Santa Claus is coming soon, with snow his first gift. Games may be postponed at last minute so do drag your transfer decisions to the final minutes. Good luck.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Tim Cahill
To rub salt into Chelsea's wound?

Chelsea v Everton
Chelsea will want to end their torment of winless streak at Stamford Bridge but that won't be easy with Everton visiting this weekend.

The Blue Lions are suffering from possibly the worst form since Roman Abramovich's reign. The condition further worsened by its chain reaction which causes the players like Drogba and Kalou to lose their touch of confidence. They certainly looked awful in finishing despite creating numerous chances.

But Everton isn't in a good shape as well. A 1-4 defeat to West Brom at Goodison Park wasn't something that I had imagined. Nevertheless, Tim Cahill continued his fantastic form to score in three consecutive league games.

Despite Chelsea's poor form, I will have to back them to win this as a victory is much needed to prepare them to face the next three league opponents - Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal. Essien is back, and that makes the difference.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Everton

Raul Meireles
Should have score more fantasy points with his kind of performance.

Liverpool v Aston Villa
Injury-plagued Liverpool will be hoping to snatch three points against under-par Aston Villa at Anfield.

The Reds lost their last game against Tottenham despite being the better side. What's worse? They had also lost their vice captain Jamie Carragher. Kyrgiakos is set to take up his position until Carra's return and he is the best bargain in Liverpool's defence.

The bigger question though is whether Joe Cole (4-2-3-1) or David N'gog (4-4-2) will partner Torres. The former is still struggling to find his form at Anfield while the latter might had his confidence stripped after conceding a penalty during his last league game.

On the other side, the Villans were knocked out from the League Cup by their derby rivals Birmingham. Contrary to Liverpool, they are escaping from the injury crises with Gabriel Agbonlahor finally found his boots to score against Birmingham during the tourney. His speed alongside with Ashley Young's and Downing's will give a lot of trouble to Liverpool's slow defenders.

Houllier will be eager to prove himself in front of his former club, but I think the Reds' at home with stamina advantage will stop him to do so.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Aston Villa

The Rest

• Arsenal v Fulham (3-0) - No reason to lose.
• Birmingham v Tottenham (0-2) - I don't think Birmingham has the stamina to hold up Bale, Defoe and Lennon after a Carling Cup fixture.
• Blackburn v Wolves (2-0) - The Rovers to get tough at home and send Wolves home.
• Man City v Bolton (3-1) - City on form with Balotelli leading the strike.
• Wigan v Stoke City (1-2) - The tougher side wins.
• Blackpool v Man Utd (1-5) - Blackpool is poor at home. Expect the trio of Berbatov, Nani and Rooney to shine.
• West Brom v Newcastle (2-2) - Pretty tight match-up but it should be a leaky one.
• Sunderland v West Ham (2-2) - The Black Cats are still unbeaten at home but on-from Hammers should be able to get something away.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Maruonne Chamakh
Gets a captain tick.

Captain Picks

• Nani/Berbatov/Rooney - Ready to open up a big score line against Blackpool.
• Chamakh - Strong home advantage against the Cottagers.

Buy-Ins

• Liverpool players - Solid fixtures ahead.
• Gamst Pedersen - Nice fixtures as well. Check his injury status first anyway.

Sell-Outs

• Nolan - Tough games oncoming.
• Van der Vaart - Injured.
• Arteta - Suspended.
• Chelsea players - Hellish fixtures ahead. You might want to delay until the next gameweek though.

Squad of XV

GK: Fabianski

DF: Kyrgiakos, Samba, Richards, Vidic

MF: Bale, Nasri*, Nani(C), Brunt

F: Berbatov, Chamakh

Subs (in order): Robinson, Carroll, Etherington, Shawcross

Captain: Nani

Emergency Captain: Value

Starting XI Value: £75.5m

Total Team Value: £96.6m

*Latest news: Nasri is doubtful. Replace him with Arshavin when necessary.

Gameweek 10 Fantasy Preview

Theo Walcott
Will he run to the top spot in FPL?

My life is getting busy recently and I would like to apologize for the reduced number of posts in the coming month. Anyway, let's review the recent League Cup tourney:

• Theo Walcott scored a brace which will certainly draw plenty of managers into the fantasy bandwagon.
• Javier Hernandez scored in three consecutive matches as Manchester United marched forward.
• West Ham progressed through the next round thanks to Obinna and co.
• Downing scored an extra time winner for Aston Villa.

Also remember that Carlos Tevez will out for the next one or two gameweeks so hold on before you buy in.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez
Will his scoring streak end?

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur
This match-up at Old Trafford often ends with a total domination by the home side, but things may get different this time as Tottenham reaches a new level in offence piloted by Bale and Van der Vaart.

There are a lot of negative factors of United to be exploited by Tottenham, particularly:

• United played a Carling Cup fixture during this midweek whilst Tottenham had a full week of rest.
• Nani will have more difficulty guarding Bale than the other way round.
• Modric-Huddlestone CM combination is as solid as, if not better, than Scholes-Fletcher partnership.

However, I don't think that's enough for Tottenham to make up a victory at Manchester. United's defence is unarguably one level higher than Tottenham and Berbatov-Chicharito combination will possibly destroy away's defence. Crouch will need to double up his accuracy if they are to grab points from Manchester United, in my opinion.

Prediction: Man Utd 3-1 Tottenham

The Rest

• Arsenal v West Ham (3-1) - Captain Fabregas, captain Nasri, captain Chamakh.
• Blackburn v Chelsea (0-2) - Samba is back, but that won't change the outcome much.
• Everton v Stoke City (2-0) - The Toffees are back on track and shouldn't lose this one.
• Fulham v Wigan (1-1) - The cottagers are losing themselves and Wigan should be able to sneak in.
• Wolves v Man City (0-2) - No Tevez but does that matter? No.
• Aston Villa v Birmingham (2-1) - Zigic starts to find his form but Birmingham can't be trusted at away, yet.
• Newcastle v Sunderland (2-2) - Newcastle are still short of home wins other than the 6-0 demolition of Villa.
• Bolton v Liverpool (1-2) - Victory shouldn't be a problem for the Reds if they can play like how they play against Blackburn.
• Blackpool v West Brom (2-3) - The Baggies are quite familiar with their former Championship opponent and should be able to outplay the Seasiders again.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Marouane Chamakh
A good chance for goals.

Captain Picks

• Fabregas/Nasri/Chamakh - It's quite hard to guess who will cast the main character, but he should be one of them.
• Brunt - A good gambling pick.

Buy-Ins

• Bosingwa - His price should rocket the next 2-3 weeks.

Sell-Outs

• Tevez - Keep if you believe that he'll only out for one week; otherwise sell.

Squad of XV

GK: Howard

DF: A Cole, Coleman, Warnock
MF: Nasri, Fabregas, Brunt, N'Zogbia, Nolan
F: Chamakh(C), Torres

Subs (in order): Friedel, Richards, Bosingwa, Carroll
Captain: Chamakh
Emergency Captain: Value
Starting XI Value: £80.2m
Total Team Value: £103.0m

The League Cup Miseries

Roy Hodgson wonders what's wrong with his team.

League Cup was in action on the last two days and quite a lot of Premier League teams were left out on their first game. Pretty unusual for me. Here are some of the big ones:

• Chelsea got knocked out by the old time giant Newcastle. The Blue Lions were forced to play with 10 men in the last 20 minutes because of Benayoun's injury and there were no more substitutions available. Pretty sarcastic though, as Drogba had just released the statement of aiming quadruple a day before.
• What's worse than got sliced by a team three leagues below of you? Northampton finished off Liverpool in penalty shootout. This is such a humiliation when there were half of the first team playing. Disgrace.
• Accompanying Liverpool on the exit is their Merseyside counterpart Everton. The defeat leaves Moyes on big pressure, as his best result so far were only two draws.
• Manchester City is another who got kicked out of the Mickey Mouse tournament. Interestingly they have only three fit defenders currently to face Chelsea this week.
• On a different fate with them is Manchester United. Despite Ferguson's absence, their side was able to win comfortably against Scunthorpe. Joining them are the Gunners who had swept Tottenham with the same three goals margin.