Sunday Aftermath: United On the Summit

"Oops!" Van Persie made Arsenal's £24m revenue from him a painstaking one after scoring the critical opener against them. 

A weird weekend as none of the teams from the top half of the table won except the new league leaders, Manchester United. Here are some highlights:

• Robin Van Persie (£13.5m, 8 pts) embarrassed Arsene Wenger as he capitalised on Thomas Vermaelen's (£7.1m, 1 pt) mistake to score an early opener against Arsenal. Incredible consistency which makes his hefty price tag more and more justified.
• Wayne Rooney (£11.8m, 2 pts) was given the authority to take the penalty on top of Van Persie but somehow missed it. He made up for his mistake later on by making an assist for Patrice Evra's (£6.8m, 10 pts) — still a miserable fantasy gameweek however.
• Meanwhile, Marouane Fellaini (£7.1m, 15 pts) bossed Craven's Cottage as he scored both goals of Everton against Fulham. The Toffees dominated the game but was left frustrated by Steve Sidwell's (£5.0m, 8 pts) late equaliser.
• Norwich have now gotten 7 points out of 9 in their last 3 league games as Bradley Johnson (£4.7m, 11 pts) converted Robert Snodgrass' (£5.8m, 8 pts) assist into the net.
• Fallen fantasy star Gabriel Agbonlahor (£6.9m, 9 pts) scored his first goal of the season as Aston Villa snatched 3 points away from Stadium of Light.
• Victor Moses (£6.3m, 11 pts) grabbed his chance well to score the opening goal for Chelsea but Pablo Hernandez (£6.1m, 9 pts) stopped Chelsea from climbing back to the top of the league table with a late equaliser.
• A stunning day at White Hart Lane as Tottenham failed to deliver any goals at home against Wigan.
• Manchester City's 22 shots proved to be a waste of effort as they shared a point with West Ham in a 0-0 draw.
• Both Queens Park Rangers and Reading failed to grab their first win of the season as they shared one goal apiece at Loftus Road.
• Luis Suarez (£9.7m, 9 pts) is certainly on fire currently but his side failed to snatch all three points at Anfield against Newcastle.

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Sunday Aftermath: Mata's Madness

After a disappointing start this season, Juan Mata is just 7 points away from FPL leader Eden Hazard (60 pts).

So Juan Mata (£9.0m, 18 pts) continued his scintillating form at White Hart Lane! Here are some highlights:

• Gareth Bale (£9.5m, - pts) missed the game to witness the delivery of his first child. Unfortunate timing, otherwise Tottenham should have a fair chance to win it.
• Eden Hazard (£10.3m, 9 pts) continued to deliver consistency with 2 assists, though at the moment Mata is definitely the better of the two with both greater form and cheaper price.
• Two defenders — namely Chris Baird (£4.4m, 15 pts) and John Arne Riise (£5.5m, 10 pts) — combined to help Fulham to win against Aston Villa. Riise has 4 assists already this season, which is not bad for his mid-range price.
• Raheem Sterling (£4.9m, 11 pts) delivered his first goal of the season, and was well rewarded with 3 bonus points as Liverpool won their first home game of the season. Luis Suarez (£9.5m, 5 pts) was the contributor, but wasted tons of chances in the game against Reading.
• Interestingly, Liverpool have collected 2 consecutive clean sheets. Not quite expected, really.
• Else at Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney (£11.7m, 14 pts) scored a "hat-trick" (2 goals plus an own goal) as he completed his 200 Premier League goal milestone and Manchester United won 4-2 against Stoke City. His strike partners Robin Van Persie (£13.4m, 11 pts) and Danny Welbeck (£8.0m, 10 pts) also scored double digit points — all three are great buys if Sir Alex Ferguson sticks with the current formation.
• At Liberty Stadium we saw Miguel Michu (£7.2m, 8 pts) back with his magic feet as Swansea recorded their first league victory since August. Pablo Hernandez (£6.1m, 9 pts) showed his class with a goal as well, but Jonathan de Guzman (£5.7m, 11 pts) was the true hero, having provided the assists for both goals of the Swans.
• James Milner's (£6.1m, -2 pts) red card almost costed City some league points but Edin Dzeko (£7.5m, 11 pts) made sure that it's 3 points in City's hands in just 11 minutes of action. Another frustrating story in FPL — superbly effective yet having his talent wasted on bench.
• Carlos Tevez (£9.4m, 7 pts) continued to provide, but can that stop his sale bandwagon?
• West Ham hammered Southampton 4-1 with club captain Kevin Nolan (£6.4m, 12 pts) continued to deliver super value performance with a goal and an assist. The man of the match was Mark Noble (£4.8m, 15 pts) though, scoring 2 goals.
• At Carrow Road we saw Arsenal getting a shock defeat as Grant Holt (£6.0m, 8 pts) scored in 3 consecutive league games. A man to monitor.
• Demba Ba (£8.3m, 3 pts) assisted for Yohan Cabaye's (£6.8m, 9 pts) but scored an own goal later as Newcastle have to satisfy with a draw at Stadium of Light against Sunderland.
• Junior Hoilett (£5.8m, 10 pts) was lively throughout the game but QPR have to satisfy with a draw after yet another sloppy defensive performance, despite playing with one man more for half an hour.
• Steven Pienaar (£7.0m, -1 pt) was the victim of harsh officiating, and will miss the Merseyside derby next week.

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Deadline Day Deals

Gaston Ramirez doubled Southampton's record transfer fee.

The transfer window has officially closed and numerous deadline day signings are made. Here are some of the moves that can shake up the fantasy game:

• Andy Carroll (Liverpool to West Ham, loan): This deal was done on the night before deadline day actually. Perhaps the pony-tail can reignite his form there, but I don't really think he can score over 15 goals and justify his high price tag.
• Charlie Adam (Liverpool to Stoke): I don't know how he can fit into Stoke's system. The lad is too bad to function as a defensive/holding midfielder, while Jonathan Walters should continue to take the offensive midfielder spot.
• Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea to West Ham, loan): The Israeli returns to his former club after five years. His addition complicates the Hammers midfield line-up, reducing the value of the whole midfield unit due to rotation fears.
• Christian Benteke (Genk to Aston Villa): Scored 19 goals in 37 games for Genk last season. Not too bad and should be a good back-up forward for the Villans. He has little value fantasy wise unless Paul Lambert decides to play 4-4-2 and the forward duo — Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent — injure more often than not.
• Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United to Fulham): Great business. He is unlikely to become a sub, so Mladen Petric's playing time could be sacrificed.
• Clint Dempsey (Fulham to Tottenham): Surprise it is. Liverpool were unwilling to add £2m to their £4m valuation to get the striker's service, which subsequently sent the American to White Hart Lane. Poor decision by Liverpool, though it isn't a good move by Tottenham either by sending out Van der Vaart and getting a less impressive replacement.
• Ashkan Dejagah (Wolfsburg to Fulham): A replacement for Dempsey. He had once scored 8 league goals in one season, but that was five seasons ago.
• Javi Garcia (Benfica to Manchester City): A replacement for Nigel de Jong. Not much fantasy value here though, despite his high transfer fee.
• Pablo Hernandez (Valencia to Swansea): This could be interesting. Bought as a replacement for Scott Sinclair, the lad has consistent goal and assist records at Valencia.
• Hugo Lloris (Lyon to Tottenham): Great capture which effectively means the end of Brad Friedel's fantasy usefulness.
• Maicon (Inter Milan to Manchester City): An experienced right-back they've gotten. If he's price £6.5m or below he would be the best place to look at City's defence.
• Stephane M'bia (Marseille to QPR): Can play both as a defender and midfielder. Perhaps he can strengthen the Rangers' porous defence.
• Bryan Oviedo (Copenhagen to Everton): A young guy with little productiveness on offence. Will become a benchwarmer most likely.
• Gaston Ramirez (Bologna to Southampton): The Saints are going all in by doubling their transfer record fee on him. Definitely will lead the attacking line-up, but it remains to be seen how effective can he become in a club with limited talents to feed him the supplies.
• Scott Sinclair (Swansea to Manchester City): Do not see his value here yet, unless Roberto Mancini somehow believes he is better than Samir Nasri or David Silva.

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