Kick-Off: Gameweek 19 Fantasy Preview

Six Chelsea players on last gameweek's dream team. How many do you own?

A not less than impressive gameweek 18 action featuring Chelsea's 8-goal demolition over Aston Villa, which Juan Mata (£9.5m, 6 pts) and Fernando Torres (£9.6m, 6 pts) both failed to register double digit scores. Weird, just weird.

GAMEWEEK 18 HIGHLIGHTS

• Manchester City managed to close down the gap to 4 points against Manchester United after Gareth Barry (£5.3m, 11 pts) scored a last minute goal to secure 3 points for the home side and left Reading stuck at the last place on the league table on Christmas. They are certainly playing more and more like a champion team — playing averagely and yet able to take three points into their bag.
• Manchester United, on the other hand, were held draw by Swansea — who have been doing so well against the top sides this season. The bright spot was, of course, the brawl between Robin Van Persie (£13.9m, 4 pts) and Ashley Williams (£4.8m, 4 pts), where the defender attempted to clear the ball but ended up striking the ball to Van Persie's face at close range.
• Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard (£9.3m, 17 pts) seems to be very hype in this festive season as he led his side to a 4-0 victory against Fulham. Stewart Downing (£5.7m, 11 pts) did surprisingly well this time as he scored his first Premier League goal, as well as first Premier League assist, for the Reds since joining the club last summer.

GAMEWEEK 18 TOP SCORERS

1. Steven Gerrard (£9.3m, 17 pts): His killer pass simply owns.
2. Ramires (£6.2m, 14 pts): Featured as a supersub and did not disappoint with his locomotive-style run. Two goals in 30 minutes, that is simply incredible.
3. Martin Skrtel (£5.9m, 13 pts): One thing unique about Liverpool defenders is that their best back four are all good at going forward. He just showed that again.
4. Eden Hazard (£9.5m, 13 pts): Recorded his first double digit gameweek after his price returned to his season starting value. Perhaps it's time to get him in again.
5. Steven Pienaar (£6.6m, 13 pts): He's in one hell kind of form with 28 points in last 3 gameweeks. Can he continue to take charge of Everton's offence in the absence of suspended Marouane Fellaini (£7.5m, - pts)?

FEATURED: Manchester United v Newcastle @ Old Trafford
The Magpies will certainly have a tough Boxing Day as they visit to Old Trafford tomorrow.

Newcastle are historically Manchester United's bully suspects, and have never won at Old Trafford since 1972 — that's an incredible 40 years.

Robin Van Persie is the favourite to lead the line again, though one might wonder the possibility of resting him, and/or possibly Wayne Rooney (£12.0m, 1 pt) by Sir Alex Ferguson and deploy Javier Hernandez (£6.9m, 1 pt) and/or Danny Welbeck (£7.8m, - pts) instead.

On the back Nemanja Vidic (£6.6m, 2 pts) is fully fit once again and played until the whistle was blown against Swansea last Sunday and should therefore lead the line again this time.

Newcastle has lost all of their last 3 Premier League away tie and I expect that to continue. Demba Ba (£8.3m, 2 pts) might of course blast one or two goals behind the line, but I don't think that's going to stop the Red Devils from reaping points from their favourite prey in the Premier League.

Prediction: MUN 3-1 NEW

TEAM FOCUS: Tottenham
It's unlucky that Aston Villa will face Tottenham after a calamitous defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Gareth Bale (£9.5m, 3 pts) is fit to war again so expect the floodgate to reopen at Villa Park. Jermaine Defoe (£8.4m, 2 pts) is more than happy to see him return as he had scored no goals in his absence.

I think Christian Benteke (£6.7m, 2 pts) surely has something up his sleeves so let's focus on Tottenham's offensive players instead of their defence.

Prediction: AST 1-3 TOT

PLAYER FOCUS: Pienaar
Steven Pienaar is in wonderful form in the absence of Fellaini, so expect him to get up and running again against Wigan at Goodison Park.

GAMEWEEK 19 DREAM TEAM

Hart

Vidic — Ivanovic — Baines

 Michu — Pienaar — Mata  — Bale (VC)

Defoe — Van Persie (C) — Suarez

Subs: Begovic — Gaston Ramirez —  Nelsen — Fonte

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 18 Fantasy Preview

Total ownage: Chelsea progressed to the semi-finals of League Cup after giving Leeds a five-goal-demolition.

It's certainly a roller-coaster month for Chelsea as they finished off Leeds United in style after a shock Club World Cup defeat to Corinthians. Can they kick-start a good league run with such form?

GAMEWEEK 17 HIGHLIGHTS

• Manchester United maintained their six-point lead after a solid victory over Sunderland. Robin Van Persie (£13.8m, 12 pts) was the hero again with a goal and an assist.
• Santi Cazorla (£9.7m, 23 pts) scored his first Premier League hat-trick as Arsenal recorded an emphatic away win at Madejski Stadium.
• Queens Park Rangers finally got their first victory of the season as Adel Taarabt (£5.6m, 14 pts) scored a both goals for Harry Redknapp's side.
• Marouane Fellaini (£7.7m, 2 pts) is suspended for four games after a Zidane-esque headbutt effort against Ryan Shawcross (£5.8m, 5 pts).

GAMEWEEK 17 TOP SCORERS

1. Santi Cazorla (£9.7m, 23 pts): A hat-trick is always wonderful. Class.
2. Christian Benteke (£6.6m, 15 pts): Killed Liverpool with 2 goals as the striker continues to cement his starting position for Villa.
3. Jan Vertonghen (£6.3m, 15 pts): Scored his second goal of the season as the shows some very good offensive potential.
4. Adel Taarabt (£5.6m, 14 pts): Should play an important role for QPR's defiance against relegation.
5. Lukas Podolski (£8.2m, 14 pts): Played the supportive role in Cazorla's heroic show. Decent.

FEATURED: Swansea v Manchester United @ Liberty
League leaders Manchester United will travel to Swansea in their attempt to at least retain their lead against second-placed City by six points.

Michu (£8.0m, 2 pts) is the man on form now for the home side as he scored 5 goals in the last 4 league games. A big man to mark for Nemanja Vidic (£6.6m, 1 pt), who has just recovered from a long-term injury, and co.

Nonetheless, the Swans have not been doing well defensively so it presents a fair opportunity for Robin Van Persie to take the lead against Michu in the Golden Boot race. Expect the star striker to induce some fear into the home side's defence with Wayne Rooney (£12.0m, 7 pts) pulling the strings from behind.

Should be a quite challenging match, but I think the Red Devils should go through.

Prediction: SWA 0-2 MUN

TEAM FOCUS: Manchester City
City certainly don't want to see their derby rivals Manchester United to extend the lead against them, and should really seize Reading totally.

Yaya Toure (£8.0m, 10 pts), the African player of the year for two successive year, is the hot man this gameweek with more than 130,000 gameweek transfers in currently, and should play a major role in tearing the Royals' defence, while David Silva (£9.4m, 6 pts) will play the supportive role as usual.

Up front it should be Carlos Tevez (£9.5m, 2 pts) partnering Sergio Aguero (£11.0m, 5 pts) once again and you can expect them to tap in some goals.

Prediction: MCI 3-0 RDG

PLAYER FOCUS: Mata
Juan Mata (£9.5m, - pts) has been very integral in Benitez's offensive tactics, so expect him to deliver some magic against Aston Villa this Sunday.

GAMEWEEK 18 DREAM TEAM

Reina

Zabaleta — Ivanovic — Walker

 Snodgrass — Taarabt — Mata (C) — Yaya Toure

Van Persie — Tevez — Suarez (VC)

Subs: Jaaskelainen — Sterling —  Demel — Fonte

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 8 Fantasy Preview

David Silva is a major doubt for this week's Premier League.

Real Madrid suffered a large scale FIFA virus after the notorious international fixtures. Fortunately it doesn't look that bad for Premier League clubs, with David Silva the only big name on the casualty list so far. Let's get back to business then, fellow fantasy managers.

GAMEWEEK 7 TOP SCORERS

1. Aleksandar Kolarov (£5.7m, 20 pts): A super productive gameweek for him, just like what we saw frequently last season. He don't play regular minutes though, which makes it hard to persuade myself to get him.
2. Jose Fonte (£4.0m, 15 pts): Not so sure how he managed to get in here. Averaging not even a point for the past 6 gameweeks before the last one, you will need incredible courage to get him. Not recommended.
3. Steven Caulker (£4.7m, 15 pts): So defenders top the list of last gameweek. Good price, good offensive stats so far, but needs a few more gameweeks to observe his playing minutes, his offensive consistency and Tottenham's defensive resolution.
4. Jonny Evans (£5.8m, 14 pts): If Manchester United can regain their tight back line, then he is the man to own. Evans is currently the cheapest access to the Red Devils' list of fantasy defenders following Nemanja Vidic's 8 weeks injury.
5. Patrice Evra (£6.8m, 13 pts): A much more solid performance. Still not recommended however with Branislav Ivanovic (£7.2m, 12 pts) and Leighton Baines (£7.5m, 6 pts) both performing much better with just a little bit of premium.
6. Wayne Routledge (£5.2m, 13 pts): Played a big part in ending Swansea's consecutive defeat streak. Taking the inflation of Nathan Dyer (£5.7m, 2 pts) into consideration I believe Routledge is the more valuable pick of the duo should you need some Swansea exposure.

FEATURED: Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea @ White Hart Lane
A big showdown will happen at London this Saturday as Andre Villas-Boas hopes for a redemption against his former club Chelsea.

Though the Mourinho protege had an awful career at Stamford Bridge, he is having a much better time at White Hart Lane, grabbing 12 points out of possible 12 in his last four Premier League games after a slow start. It could hardly get any better to face his former employer at such a timing.

Much of his hopes will depend on Gareth Bale (£9.5m, 43 pts in total) — who has been superior in both club and country level and earned numerous praises after a fantastic feat for Wales earlier this week.

Emmanuel Adebayor (£9.0m, 1 pt) should be fit for action, but I don't think that will refrain Jermaine Defoe (£7.8m, 5 pts) from going into action — a 4-4-2 is quite likely for Villas-Boas' side.

On the other side, Fernando Torres (£10.0m, 12 pts) will be looking forward to extend his fine form, with Eden Hazard (£10.3m, 9 pts) and Juan Mata (£8.9m, 8 pts) providing strong support from the flanks. Great exciting offensive match in anticipation.

I don't expect clean sheets, so it is not advisable to get any of their defenders hoping for 4 clean sheet points. Close call, but I am more inclined to a Tottenham victory after their wonderful feat at Old Trafford two weeks ago.

Prediction: TOT 3-2 CHE

TEAM FOCUS: Liverpool
Arsenal will play at Carrow Road against leaky Norwich City, but in my opinion Liverpool's home game against Reading is as delicious as the Gunners in fantasy terms, if not better.

Just like Norwich, Reading are still struggling to earn their first Premier League of the season, and the road to Anfield — which is set for an expansion plan — won't be kind to them.

While the Reds have just won one Premier League game so far, they have the tendency to bully defensively weak teams. Luis Suarez (£9.6m, 2 pts) is the only match fit senior forward of the team, and is surely the man to invest following Fabio Borini's (£7.3m, 0 pts) injury for Italy.

Fernandez Saez (£5.0m, 2 pts), better known as Suso, is another Liverpool man on fine form and could start and score some good returns this gameweek, while Andre Wisdom (£4.5m, 9 pts) will hope to start again after claiming 9 points which include 3 bonus points last gameweek.

It's too long to not win at Anfield, and I think that will end on Saturday.

Prediction: LIV 3-1 RDG

PLAYER FOCUS: Cazorla
Arsenal will play Norwich this week, so it's very hard to ignore the likes such as Santi Cazorla (£9.4m, 8 pts). The Spanish playmaker is expected to bring lots of troubles to the Canaries' defence.

Lukas Podolski (£8.6m, 5 pts) is another man you should consider from Arsenal, while Everton's match against QPR presents several fantasy opportunities such as Steven Pienaar (£6.9m, 8 pts) and Nikica Jelavic (£8.4m, 5 pts).

GAMEWEEK 8 DREAM TEAM

Manonne

Johnson — Evans — Baines

Cazorla (VC) — Nolan — Sahin — Bale

Suarez (C) —  Podolski — Jelavic

Subs: Schwarzer— Routledge —  McCartney — Rangel

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