Sunday Aftermath: Chicharito's Fury

Javier Hernandez celebrated Saturday with an "indirect" hat-trick.

It was another great weekend for Manchester United as they extended their lead in Premier League to two points. Here are some key points:

• It's such a waste to allow Javier Hernandez (£7.5m, 15 pts) to warm the bench, and he just proved it again. The impact sub scored 2 and made 1 own goal for the opponent in just 45 minutes of action against Aston Villa, which was an reiteration of his unmatched positioning and poaching skill.
• On the other side, it was second consecutive start for youngster Andreas Weimann (£5.2m, 12 pts). The lad has now scored 4 bonus points in 2 games, and is showing some good potential for his cheap price.
• Meanwhile, Arsenal made their worst start in their Premier League history as they lost another 2 points to Fulham. There's good news though, as Olivier Giroud (£8.4m, 12 pts) is starting to show his value and scored a brace for the home side.
• Manchester United will be glad to sell Dimitar Berbatov (£7.4m, 16 pts) to Craven's Cottage as the Bulgarian was the big hero in the game, having directly involved in all 3 goals to halt the progress of the Gunners. Another man who performed nicely in fantasy terms for Fulham was Alex Kacaniklic (£4.7m, 9 pts).
• Marouane Fellaini (£7.6m, 13 pts) was the man at Goodison Park again as he scored 28 fantasy points in the last 2 games. Unbelievably consistent and is one of the season man to own for me.
• A goalless draw between Reading and Norwich made sure that they continue to stuck at bottom half of the table.
• It was also a draw at St Mary's, with Nathan Dyer (£5.4m, 9 pts) finally scored after a long silence.
• Charlie Adam (£6.6m, 10 pts) scored his first goal for a very long time as Stoke City defeated Queens Park Rangers who remained last in league standings.
• Wigan succumbed to a home defeat against West Bromwich Albion, but Arouna Kone (£6.5m, 6 pts) is definitely having a fine time there with his fourth goal of the season. Could turn out to be a good acquisition in some part of the season.
• Early Sunday showdown saw Manchester City recovered from Tottenham's first-half goal to stay within 1 game gap against derby rivals Manchester United. Edin Dzeko (£7.5m, 5 pts) was the super-sub again with a game-killing goal, but will never become a fantasy force with his limited playing time.
• Kevin Nolan's (£6.8m, 11 pts) fame as a goalscoring midfielder continues to flourish as he netted his fifth in league this season to record a good victory against Newcastle. Another clean sheet suggests that Jussi Jaaskelainen (£5.0m, 8 pts) is a must in your goalie set-up.
• Else at Stamford Bridge Chelsea could made it 3 or 4 up in first half but ended up with only one instead as they ended the game with a draw thanks to a second-half equaliser from Luis Suarez (£9.9m), who is in rich vein of form.

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Saturday Screamers: Swans and Cottagers on Fire

19 points in his Premier League debut? Dream start.

The first round of Premier League games this season have ended, and what an incredible start we have! Here are some highlights:

• Swansea won 5-0 against QPR. It looks like the Swans will continue to impress under Michael Laudrup's regime as new signing Michu (£6.5m) marked his name with 2 goals and 1 assist. Don't say I didn't tell you about Michu's fantasy potential before as he should become one of the super bargain this season. Nathan Dyer (£5.5m) also delivered 2 goals, which was impressive.
• Also winning 5-0 are Fulham against Norwich. Mladen Petric (£6.0m) carried forward his fine form since pre-season with 2 goals and 1 assist, just like Michu. I've also covered him in my pre-season previews and he should become a season bargain as well. No Dempsey, but who cares?
• Liverpool seem like a cursed team as they lost woefully to West Brom by 3 goals. Zoltan Gera (£5.0m) scored a goal of the season candidate, but it was Liverpool's unorganized offence and porous defence that caught my attention more.
• The first Premier League game of Arsenal in post-RVP era has ended goalless. Santi Cazorla (£9.0m) has impressed the fans though with his footwork.
• Reading's first of the two games for this gameweek ended with a draw thanks to Adam Le Fondre's (£5.0m) penalty in the ending minutes. Pavel Pogrebnyak (£5.0m) failed to score, which is disappointing.
• West Ham won 1-0 with Kevin Nolan (£6.0m) scoring. The midfielder should be the club's main fantasy contributor as expected.

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

SWANSEA A.F.C.

The Swans on fire with their new away kit.

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

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

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

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

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

Sinclair's FPL stats
last season.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 28 Fantasy Preview

Are you ready for Liverpool's gameweek double?

Overview
A pretty catastrophic last gameweek for plenty of managers with fantasy favourites Sessegnon and Dyer being sent off and Ba missing a penalty. Coupled with Kompany's recent injury, a lot of changes will be needed for owners of them. Time for precious wildcard?

At European tournaments, we saw Arsenal being knocked-out gloriously from Champions League after managed to recover three of the four goal deficit against AC Milan at their home turf before half-time but unable to add anymore after that. Meanwhile, Manchester City suffered an away defeat at Europa League and more shockingly, Manchester United conceded three goals at home to fall 2-3 against Athletico Madrid.

Game of the Week: ARSENAL v NEWCASTLE

Oxlade-Chamberlain had a
fine game against AC Milan
in Champions League.

Revenge is a must for Wenger's lads as in form Arsenal strives to take down Newcastle at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners are on a superbly fine run now, killing off both Tottenham and Liverpool in their last two league fixtures. Captain Robin Van Persie is on extraordinary form now. See how he scored twice against Liverpool with such limited chances.

Walcott, Arteta and Ramsey are all quoted as doubtful (75% playing) in FPL - expect some or all of them to play anyway as they combine with in form Rosicky and Oxlade-Chamberlain to provide excellent supplies to their captain.

On the other side, the Ba-Cisse combination will continue to offer major threat, but I see a sweet revenge for Arsenal. Solid victory for Arsenal to put pressure on third-placed Tottenham.

Prediction: ARS 3-1 NEW
Pick and Captain: Van Persie
Pick: Walcott, Ba, Cisse
Drop: NEW defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: LIVERPOOL's Double (@ SUNDERLAND, EVERTON)

Time for Suarez to redeem
himself?

Liverpool will get their replacement fixture against Everton this gameweek and this make their players delicious fantasy commodities.

The away game at Stadium of Light against Sunderland will be a tricky one but Liverpool are lucky to face them at such timing. The Black Cats started their reign under Martin O'Neill brilliantly but failed to pick up any win in their last three games. Coupled with the suspension of the team's ace Stephane Sessegnon, the Reds should be able to pick up one point at least.

The Merseyside derby will take place on Tuesday at Anfield. Everton are slowly picking up as the season progresses and they have shown some good results recently. While the Toffees are as mighty as the title contenders, they are tough to be taken down.

Defenders Skrtel and Enrique are must have players as usual, while Suarez should be given the fantasy captain armband for his explosive performance. You never know if he could break the goalpost jinx this week and score a couple of goals this week.

Prediction: SUN 0-0 LIV, LIV 2-1 EVE
Pick and Captain: Suarez
Pick: Skrtel, Enrique, Adam, Bellamy


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

• Young/ Rooney  - Expect them to rip off West Brom.

Pick:

• Pogrebnyak  - He just don't stop scoring.
• Mata  - Time for him to lead Chelsea away from slump.
• Yakubu - Wolves defence shouldn't be a problem for him.
• Osman  - The first man you should consider for Everton's double with Pienaar being ineligible to face Tottenham.
• Holt - Should score against Wigan.

Drop:

• Kompany - Injured.
• Sessegnon/ Dyer - Suspended.
• Aguero - Rotation risk.
• WBA defence - Expect demolition by Manchester United.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

• Suarez/ Enrique/ Skrtel  - Good to hold for at least this week.
• Pogrebnyak/ Dempsey  - Superb form.
• Young - Replacing Valencia's importance.
• Van Persie - Captain supremo.

Yellow light (watch):

• Adam  - Not so good for long term holding.
• NEW defence  - Not so resolute recently.
• Aguero - His production hardly meets his price.

Red light (sell):

• Kompany - Injured.
• Sessegnon/ Dyer - Suspended.
• Ba - Pogrebnyak and Papiss Cisse seems to give similar production and are much cheaper.

Gameweek 28 Dream Team

Szcznesny

Enrique -- Skrtel -- Evans

Young -- Silva -- Walcott -- Mata

Suarez (C) -- Progrebnyak -- Van Persie

Subs: Mignolet -- Pilkington -- Bosingwa -- O'Shea

Kick-Off: Gameweek 25 Fantasy Preview

The handshake routine will not be cancelled for Man Utd-Liverpool encounter.

Overview
A pretty two poled feelings last week with Van Persie's owners laughing happily and the rest left stunned. Can RvP repeat the feat? Not so positive against in-form Sunderland.

The shocking news this week is no other than Fabio Capello's resignation. The Italian coach is not happy with FA's decision to strip Terry's captaincy and thus decided to leave. Harry Redknapp tops the list to replace him.

Game of the Week: MANCHESTER UNITED v LIVERPOOL

Can Berbatov get a start
and hat-trick again?

Old Trafford will surely welcome Suarez with a great deal of abusive chants as Liverpool travel to Manchester for this number one rivalry in English football.

The usual handshake routine will not be cancelled according to FA and it will be interesting to see how Evra and Suarez react to each other. Strong personal rivalry. Luis Suarez will be eager to pay a revenge through his fancy footwork so expect tough times by defensive partnership of Evans and Ferdinand. In form Carroll could also be a big threat if he can get good aerial supplies by his teammates. Two big man to watch.

On the other side, all key players including the long missing Cleverly could be available for this game. It would be hard to predict the starting midfielders and forwards correctly, but I believe both Valencia and Rooney would still get the right to start and produce some havoc to one of the best defensive line (which might be without Jose Enrique) in the Premier League.

Surely it would be an intense game, but Liverpool's poor away attack (14 away goals only this season) will hinder their chances at Old Trafford. Expect good performances by the Red Devils.

Prediction: MUN 2-1 LIV
Pick: Valencia


Fantasy Game of the Week: SWANSEA v NORWICH

Sinclair has been pretty
impressive this season.

Spurs are welcoming the challenge of Newcastle, while City's away form has been mediocre recently, so I will change my focus to the battle between the two promoted teams this season. The Canaries beat the Swans 3-1 earlier this season, but we all know how different it will be at Liberty Stadium.

Sigurdsson has a flying start in the Premier League, while both Sinclair and Dyer are very threatening in the flanks. Up front they have Danny Graham who does a decent job as a forward. Expect goals from this quartet of attackers.

I will not be surprised if Norwich can score past the rubber hand Michel Vorm, but Swansea should really get a victory here.

Prediction: SWA 3-1 NOR
Pick: Sigurdsson, Sinclair, Dyer, Graham
Drop: NOR defence


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

• Aguero - Broke his goal drought and that might be the opening of floodgate.
• Mata - Very pivotal in Chelsea's offence.

Pick:

• N'gog - Should score against Wigan.
• Zamora - Samba-less Blackburn will not have the quality to stop him.
• Van Persie - Always start him regardless of his opposition.
• Sessegnon/ McClean - Arsenal's defence is weak.
• Jarvis - Played well last week and should continue to perform.

Drop:

• NEW defence - Against Tottenham, clean sheet is hardly likely.
• AST defence - City's blades are sharp.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

• Richards - Good fixtures oncoming.
• Oxlade-Chamberlain - Sensational form.
• Demba Ba - His price sky leaped by £0.4m since his return.
• Van Persie - Get him before his price reaches a prohibitive level.
• McClean - Superbly cheap and in form.
• Sigurdsson - The bandwagon should start in the next few gameweeks.

Yellow light (watch):

• Yakubu - Observe Blackburn's performance before getting him in.
• Assou-Ekkoto - Fantasy managers are overly optimistic on him.
• Mata - Chelsea's form is quite unstable at the moment.
• Kompany - Still not sure whether he will play this week.

Red light (sell):

• LIV players - United this round, League Cup final next round (no league fixture), and Arsenal after that.
• Adebayor  - Terribly out of form.
• D Cisse - Red carded.

Gameweek 25 Dream Team

Vorm

Ekkoto -- Richards -- Senderos

Bale -- Sessegnon -- Silva -- Sigurdsson

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

Subs: Hennessey -- McClean -- Knight -- Bassong

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