Kick-Off: Gameweek 16 Fantasy Preview

Darren Fletcher is suffering from a possibly career ending
infection. No more Fletcher in the rest of this season, at least.

Overview
Clearly Darren Fletcher's infection of ulcerative colitis is the biggest news over the week as there are fears that he might have to end his career as a football player prematurely. May god bless him.

As for fantasy managers, this week or the next are one the best period to utilize your wildcard if it is still available. Plan your transfers well and you can go very far during this hectic Christmas fixtures. Good luck.

Game of the Week: MANCHESTER CITY v ARSENAL

Can Van Persie destroy
City?

City surely are looking forward to recover from their first defeat against Chelsea last week, but it won't be easy as Arsenal will travel to Etihad Stadium this week.

Arsenal has managed to close the gap to single digit following City's lost, and Wenger will hope that his squad can do some miracles away at Manchester City. Van Persie is on course to renew Shearer's record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year and surely will show no mercy towards Kompany and co's defence. A sure starter despite such tough oppositions.

Yet I'm pretty sure City will find any possible way to rebound from their first defeat of the season, and a victory against the Gunners will be the best way to shut doubters' mouth. In fact, almost every player of City is a goal threat and it will be very hard for Arsenal to guard Silva, Aguero, Balotelli, Yaya Toure and others all together.

It's a City win for me, though you should start all your City and Arsenal attackers with confidence.

Prediction: MCI 2-1 ARS
Pick: Van Persie, Silva, Aguero
Drop: ARS defence


Fantasy Game of the Week: QUEENS PARK RANGERS v MANCHESTER UNITED

Beware of his return.

Chelsea are travelling to Wigan but Moses has just released his floodgate, so I'm more inclined to the rebounding Man Utd as the fantasy friendly team of the week. Against QPR, it's a pretty good chance for United attackers.

Nani and Rooney both broke their scoring drought - good signs of returning form and also a signal of "United season starts at December". Both are great candidates as the captain of the week.

Fletcher's loss is a blow to United's midfield, but Phil Jones was spectacular playing at centre midfield last week and is good at least for short term. He should be able to mark the witty Joey Barton well.

It should be a comprehensive victory for United. QPR's defence is too weak to hold them off in my opinion.

Prediction: QPR 1-3 MUN
Pick and Captain: Rooney, Nani
Pick: Jones
Drop: QPR defence


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

1. Ba - In full rage. Unless he can be tamed by Vorm.
2. Adebayor - Sunderland's defence is kind of sloppy and I don't think Martin O'Neill can fix it so fast.
3. Drogba/ Mata/ Sturridge - On great form for Wigan to face their execution.

Pick:

1. Maxi - Should give some hard time to Guzan.
2. Steven Fletcher - On superb form.
3. Yakubu - Should be able to pierce West Brom's defence.

Drop:

1. SUN defence  - Not solid enough to hold Tottenham's rich vein of attack.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Drogba - Returns to his old best.
2. Ba - Simply unstoppable.
3. Steven Fletcher - Great form.
4. Sturridge - Cheap and consistent.
5. Nani - Rejoices with 2 fresh goals last week.

Yellow light (watch):

1. Maxi - Playing well can could book a starting place in Dalglish's XI.
2. Moses - Broke his duck and could break the floodgate.

Red light (drop):

1. Agbonlahor  - Suspended.
2. Van der Vaart - He's on the selling bandwagon.

Gameweek 16 Dream Team

Krul

Walker -- Enrique -- Jones

Nani -- Silva -- Bale -- Mata

Adebayor -- Drogba (C) -- Rooney (VC)

Subs: Vorm -- Maxi -- Jagielka -- Simpson

Unbeaten Got Beaten: Gameweek 15 Fantasy Review

Both Nani and Rooney returns with 2 fine goals each.

Chelsea 2-1 Man City
Well, no more unbeaten teams in the league after this game. Pretty shocking to see how fast and easy Balotelli scored the opener. Silva should had got a penalty but wasn't awarded. Big decision that turned the game around.

The king of all volleys a.k.a. Raul Meireles returned with a jumping tap-in. Great goal. Lampard was brave enough to take the penalty but nonetheless is still a fantasy player to be avoided with his little playing time.

Sturridge once again stole the limelight with a brilliant assist for Meireles' goal. Superb fantasy acquisitions.

Pick: Sturridge
Drop: Clichy


Man Utd 4-1 Wolves
Perfect response by United after a shocking Champions League exit. Both Nani and Rooney scored a brace to prove the fact that they are not fantasy flops, they are just out of form. And now they have found the form. Beware.

Interestingly, Valencia started ahead of Young and got 3 delicious assists. Let's see how the competition for place between Valencia and Young develop and if the former wins, he will become a great fantasy stock costing only £7.8m currently.

Encouragingly for Wolves despite the defeat is the fact that Fletcher scored yet another goal. Superb form. Mick McCarthy's ace.

Pick: Rooney, Nani, Fletcher
Watch: Valencia


Arsenal 1-0 Everton
The gunners had a hard time testing Everton's defence but Van Persie's fantastic volley made sure they took three points in front of their seniors such as Henry and Pires to celebrate the club's 125th anniversary. It certainly is RvP's era now and I can imagine the next statue to land at Emirates would be his.

I am fascinated with Walcott's growth and you can seriously see how much more he has now other than his speed. I am really in love with his vision and unselfishness.

Amazingly, the four centre backs of Arsenal, namely Vermaelen, Koscielny, Djourou and Mertesacker combined to give their club a clean sheet. Not bad.

Pick: Van Persie, Arteta, Walcott
Watch: ARS defence


Liverpool 1-0 QPR
For some reason Liverpool tend to make their oppositions keeper in godlike mode. Cerny certainly is far away from Krul and Vorm's class but somehow he made sure the result was respectable for QPR. Jinx?

Suarez played a fine game as usual but his selfishness at times didn't impress me. Good goal anyway.

Meanwhile, Maxi continues to attract my attention with his poaching instinct and I for one hope that he can start all the remaining league games for Liverpool.

And Adam, as predicted, was pivotal as he assisted for Suarez's header. His fantasy scores over the past weeks are consistent as well, making him a quite decent pick for your squad.

Pick: Adam, Maxi
Watch: Suarez


Bolton 1-2 Aston Villa
Guzan played a solid game with 7 saves. A good keeper to consider for rotation strategy if Given is out for a prolonged period.

Offensive wise, Agbonlahor provided an assist but will be suspended for the next game after accumulating five yellow cards. Might just be the right time to jump across Ba's bandwagon.

As for Bolton, Klasnic scored his seventh goal of the season. A good figure.

Watch: Guzan, Klasnic, Agbonlahor


Norwich 4-2 Newcastle
Great formation by Paul Lambert as he totally capitalised Newcastle's aerial weaknesses without Coloccini and Steven Taylor in the middle of the defence. 3 goals of Norwich were scored through direct headers and another through a rebound after a header - that explains all.

While the likes like Holt, Morison and Hoolahan all got home with good fantasy points, it's quite surprising to see Crofts with double digit scores. He has never failed to record 1-2-2-1-2-2 kind of scores for all previous gameweeks he had played. Certainly needs more observations to see whether that's a fluke or a sudden burst in form.

On the other side, Demba Ba showed some great first touches to score a brace. Truly incredible.

Pick: Ba, Morison
Watch: Holt, Crofts
Drop: NEW defence


West Brom 1-2 Wigan
So the best performer of Wigan during pre-season finally broke his goal drought after attempting his 46th shot of the season. Great present to his birthday and I believe the floodgate will be lifted soon. Be aware of his performance.

I thought West Brom played horribly at home. The penalty was unnecessary and Long wasted a seriously good chance.

Pick: Moses


Swansea 2-0 Fulham
Dempsey is the man in black as his deflection caused a goal for Sinclair and his equalising penalty well saved by Vorm. Formless poor lad.

Vorm mind games certainly worked for the penalty. 1 yellow card point for 5 save points... Worth it.

Pick: Vorm
Watch: Sinclair
Drop: Dempsey


Stoke 2-1 Tottenham
Two fine goals by Etherington has notified fantasy managers that it's not only about Walters at Stoke's offence. In fact, Crouch has also been pretty consistent over the weeks, though Walters will still be my first pick of Stoke's offensive department.

The ref has pretty much gone against Tottenham and it so ridiculous to see how Adebayor's equaliser was ruled off side. The Togolese had been magnificent in the second half and it was a shame that his brilliant work wasn't fairly rewarded.

Pick: Walters, Adebayor
Watch: Etherington, Crouch


Sunderland 2-1 Blackburn
A good comeback by Sunderland to get a sweet victory for O'Neill's first game in charge for the Black Cats. Two superb goals that came from Vaughan and Larsson. The latter's set piece dominance has once again shown its value following a wonderful free kick goal which hit the post before bouncing into the net. Great one from a great player.

Vukcevic earned two 8 points in a row and is only owned by close to 0% of fantasy managers. Certainly a gamble that wouldn't cause a drop in team value at the moment.

Pick: Larsson
Watch: Vukcevic

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 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

Cruising City: Gameweek 9 Fantasy Review

"Why always me?" Balotelli just never stops creating chaos. Both on
and off the pitch.

Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City
MUN: Never can I imagine there'll be worse loss than Liverpool 4-1 demolition of Old Trafford to United. BUT the calamitous performance by United defenders has successfully renewed such embarrassing record.

The biggest question is of course "Why Johnny Evans but not Vidic or Jones?" Always and always I rate Jones as the best youngsters on the back among the young blood of Red Devils. Evans? Obviously the worst. And he just did it again.

The decision to not sub Phil Jones in immediately after Evans' red card is yet another disastrous decision. No matter how good Ferdinand is it's impossible for him to guard two forwards altogether - and Ferdinand was poor, if not terrible. That's just ridiculous.

To sum it up it's really the rare bad tactical decisions by Sir Alex Ferguson that made the team looked awfully awful.

MCI: Play calmly and shown resolute defence before the red. Tackles were timed to perfection and Richards has really locked Young very well. He did well up front too.

All three of Aguero, Dzeko and Balotelli scored. The latter is showing some exceptional form despite having just burned his home recently. However, with the habit of Mancini to keep his forwards when he's sure of victory, their fantasy ceilings will be affected.

Silva as usual is the most consistent and important performer for the team, so grab him quickly before he becomes unaffordable.

Pick: Aguero, Balotelli, Silva, Richards
Drop: Ferdinand, Evans


QPR 1-0 Chelsea
QPR: Surprise surprise! QPR won but did they really play well? For sure not!

They are up by two men before half time and yet? It was Chelsea who's more adventurous and nearer to the second goal of the game.

All I can say is disgrace to Neil Warnock's team. When you are two men more than you opponent you should attack like a monster. Not only the didn't, they are struggling to defend in the second half.

Worth noting though is the fact that Helguson somehow squeezed through the starting XI and is capitalising his chances well.

CHE: Nothing much to comment as two red cards had effectively limited their performance.

Drogba's red pretty much mean that Sturridge's position in starting XI is almost certain, while Bosingwa's red should give chance to Luiz. Unfortunately, the Blues are struggling to keep a clean sheet lately and thus making Luiz not worthy as a fantasy defender.

Pick: Sturridge
Watch: Helguson
Drop: Bosingwa, Drogba


Liverpool 1-1 Norwich
LIV: They got 20+ shots and yet only a goal - finishing ability remains a big problem for Dalglish to be solved. Suarez just never stops wasting chances - that has to be stopped.

The team certainly needs a layoff man like Zamora and Carroll's inability to blend into the team certainly won't help.

NOR: Pilkington assisted this time as the young man continued to impress. Holt scored his second goal of the season surprisingly and I do wonder whether he is a big game guy.

Watch: Suarez, Pilkington


Arsenal 3-1 Stoke City
ARS: It's really all about Van Persie at this team. The captain came from the bench to decide the game with two goals. Incredible. Unbelievable. C Ronaldo-esque fantasy performance.

Ramsey is as productive as always and should be bought as direct replacement for Arteta who played to deep to score. Gervinho is good as well up front for setting up both Van Persie's goals. Great attacking selections at Arsenal.

STO: The team just never stops revolving around Walters in offence. Their sluggish away form just couldn't improve, however.

Pick: Van Persie, Ramsey, Gervinho, Walters


Fulham 1-3 Everton
FUL: Not their day really with Zamora missed a golden chance.


EVE: 16 points from Drenthe from his first Premier League start. He certainly looked must more offensive than I had imagined and is set to become a hot fantasy bargain.

Pick: Drenthe


***I am not giving full game by game reviews as I am very busy recently.

Kick-Off: Gameweek 9 Fantasy Preview

Aguero returns wonderfully.

Overview
Both Manchester clubs have finally earned themselves their first victory in Champions League group stage respectively as they set for the first grand match of the season at Old Trafford in this coming Sunday. A pretty good Champions League midweek for Premier League clubs in fact as all four participants won. Rooney, Aguero, Ramsey and Torres (still not available) were the big man from respective teams.

Game of the Week: MANCHESTER UNITED v MANCHESTER CITY

Can De Gea pass the second
test after passing the first one
against Liverpool?

The first decisive game that can alter the direction where the Premier League trophy will go at May next year. Manchester United will take on the challenge against league leader and also their "noisy neighbours" Manchester City at Old Trafford.

City are really cementing themselves as a giant club currently, sealing 22 from possible 24 league points so far. The money spent by the Sheikhs has really given them incredible squad depth - players like Balotelli and Adam Johnson can easily make it through the starting XI of any other Premier League clubs, but yet they sit on City's bench frequently.

Silva and Nasri will continue to act as the dual-core processor at City - their supplies will be the very crucial factor in determining the outcome for City at Old Trafford. Aguero, who just scored the winning goal for City coming on through bench, shall give some hard time to United's defence.

The host Manchester United are doing fine too this season, but their form has dipped a bit recently. A lucky win against Norwich plus a difficult draw against Liverpool clearly shown that they are starting to struggle as the fixtures get more compact for them.

Rooney will lead the line as usual with Nani and Young providing the width. But will they play 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 against the ever threatening City? Hard to tell.

Vidic will really have to be in 100% focus if he starts. He has bad discipline history in big games (remember the red card hat-trick against Liverpool) so he simply has to be more alert about that.

I would have gone for a home victory a week ago, but the recent performance by United simply doesn't give me the confidence for that. Mancini has quite a chance to break United's 100% Premier League home record.

Prediction: MUN 1-1 MCI
Pick: Rooney, Aguero


Fantasy Game of the Week: QPR v CHELSEA

Meireles surely hopes to lock in
a first team place at Chelsea.

Sure, Liverpool are at home against Norwich, but with Norwich on form and Liverpool not so solid on the back so far, I'll rather go with Chelsea who just won 5-0 in the Champions League.

Torres scored more than one goal for the first time for Chelsea but is still unavailable for this week's Premier League action. No worries though, as both Sturridge and Drogba are more than ready to fill the Spaniard's boots, with on form Meireles providing the supplies behind them.

Lampard and Mata are perhaps the most safe player to start, but you do need to pay some good premiums for them (Lampard is super expensive and Mata don't seem to have a high ceiling yet). Ramires' injury has certainly paved a way to Meireles for a sure-starter, so you should really consider him who comes at a much cheaper price.

Defensively I still don't trust Terry and co, so it's really the Blues' attackers who matter.

Prediction: QPR 1-3 CHE
Pick and Captain: Sturridge, Meireles, Lampard
Pick: Mata
Drop: QPR defence, Ramires


Pick and Avoid
Pick and Captain:

1. Suarez/Adam/Gerrard - Against Norwich it's always a good choice to pass the armband any one of them.
2. Adebayor/Van der Vaart - They are against one of the worst defence of the league.
3. Van Persie - A no-brainer for his form.
4. Demba Ba - Scored 5 goals in 3 games and should score again against Wigan.

Pick:

1. Ramsey - Good form.
2. Best - Form is not as good as Ba.
3. Agbonlahor - Never fails to shine.
4. NEW defence - Rock solid.

Avoid:

1. NOR defence - Don't think they can escape from Anfield with no damages on the back.
2. BLA players - Awful all the way.

Transfer Traffic
Green light (buy):

1. Van der Vaart/Adebayor - Both are dictating Tottenham's offence.
2. Ba - Newcastle are playing extremely fine with him the key player upfront.
3. Ramsey - Cheap and productive.

Yellow light (watch):

1. Pilkington - Not really a good time to bring him in despite the form.
2. Adam - Watch whether he will be sacrificed to make way for Gerrard.
3. Arteta - Playing too deep.

Red light (sell):

1. Dzeko - Out of favour.
2. Downing - Played decently but somehow failed to contribute anything up till now.

Gameweek 9 Dream Team

Krul

Enrique -- Warnock -- R Taylor

Adam -- Van der Vaart -- Ramsey -- Meireles(VC)

Suarez -- Adebayor(C) -- Ba

Subs: Vorm -- Eagles -- Assou-Ekkoto -- Boyata

Kick-Off: Gameweek 8 Fantasy Preview

Wayne Rooney lost his cool for England. Can he control his temper
against Manchester United and Everton's arch-rival Liverpool?

Overview
A long break for the UEFA Cup qualifier with England confirmed a spot in the finals. But Wayne Rooney's red card certainly is a blow for England as it means that he will possibly miss all the group stage of the European's top national tournament. Worries for Capello then.

This gameweek is certainly another good period to use your wildcard. With players like Adebayor and Aguero gone doubtful/injured and players like Nani and Nasri who are both on form, I would advise you to use the wildcard without hesitation should you need it.

Game of the Week: LIVERPOOL v MANCHESTER UNITED

Luis Suarez to whack
Man Utd again?

Nothing in England is greater than this derby. Manchester United, who knocked Liverpool off their perch on May this year, will seek for a victory to push themselves further in front of their arch-rivals in terms of the number of top-flight league trophies.

The Red Devils are definitely having an extremely fine league run, scoring 19 league points out of 21 which include an astonishing 8-2 victory against Arsenal. Rooney is setting his sight for the Golden Boot definitely, with Hernandez and Welbeck competing to become the ace's partner. All three are studs if start.

On the midfield we have Ashley Young and Nani who are both constant threat to any defence. Martin Kelly (whom I prefer over Glen Johnson in this game) and Jose Enrique will need to be 100% (or perhaps 110%) focus to stop them from attacking. Not to be forgotten is Valencia who can deliver precise cross for the forwards to deal the finishing blow.

On the other side, Suarez will want to repeat his feat on the same game last season as he is definitely the most threatening player to Manchester United. His mazy runs should be dealing hell lots of troubles for United's defence led by Phil Jones and co.

The most anticipated one if of course the return of Steven Gerrard to the starting XI after a hell long 7 months. Can he bring instant impact and kiss the camera again like last time at Old Trafford? Big answer to fill in.

I think United's form will match Anfield's home advantage. It can go anywhere, but I'm going in for a scoring draw.

Prediction: LIV 2-2 MUN
Pick: Rooney, Nani, Suarez


Fantasy Game of the Week: MANCHESTER CITY v ASTON VILLA

Edin Dzeko is hopeful to regain
his starting spot.

The top pack teams are all facing tricky oppositions this week, but let's focus on Mancini's squad which will host on form Villa at Etihad Stadium.

Attacking options are becoming much easier at City as Aguero suffers an injury - Dzeko should become Mancini's first choice forward. Balotelli may or may not start depending on Mancini's tactics, while Nasri should accompany Silva to supply the forward(s) after showing some magnificent form both in club and country.

On the other hand, Agbonlahor continues to be McLeish's strongest chip to steal some points from one of the joint leaders of the league as his speed and confidence should give some hard time to Kompany and co.

Given will be eager for a payback to his former club, but City's strength and home advantage will be too strong for him to protect his square.

Prediction: MCI 2-0 AST
Pick and Captain: Silva, Dzeko
Pick: Nasri




Pick and Avoid
Pick:

1. Ramsey - Playing in a more advanced role than Arteta.
2. Sturridge - Cheap and promising.
3. Sinclair - Starting to shine.
4. QPR players - Blackburn are pathetic enough for them to bounce back.
5. Odemwingie, Long - Should be getting goals at home.

Avoid:

1. Aguero, Adebayor - Doubtful.
2. Sagna - Long term injury.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

1. Ramsey - Cheap and fruitful.
2. Nasri - On hot streak.
3. Dzeko - Set for sure start.

 Yellow light (watch):

1. A Young - Form is dipping.
2. Sturridge - See if he starts most of the time.
3. Andrew Johnson - See whether he hits his high.

Red light (sell):

1. Aguero - People are dumping him.

Gameweek 8 Dream Team

Hart

Enrique -- A Ferdinand -- Bosingwa

Silva (C) -- Nani -- Ramsey -- SWP (VC) -- M Petrov

Dzeko -- Odemwingie

Subs: Vorm -- A Johnson -- Shawcross -- Tamas

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

Full-Time: Gameweek 5 Fantasy Review

Like brothers?

38 goals from 10 games this week. Great feast for Premier League fans especially the Man Utd-Chelsea encounter. Dramas here and there!

Man Utd 3-1 Chelsea
Extremely entertaining game with lots of goals, lots of dramas and most importantly, lots of MISSES! What are the odds of Rooney missed a penalty and Torres missed an open goal attempt after that? Unbelievable.


MUN: Not the most convincing victory at Old Trafford, but 3 points are 3 points and no complaints about that. Smalling's goal was offside, but he won't get that chance if he was not courageous enough to run and bang the ball with his head; Nani's goal was offside when he received the ball, but to be left so open by Chelsea's defender to score such a magnificent shot - you can only blame Terry and co for that. Phil Jones was very determined to get the ball - which he indirectly helped Rooney to get the third goal for United. Applause.

In overall the team looked very confident and determined despite the fact that it was Chelsea who were actually having the edge in the game. Clear title favourites. The central midfield is still weak, but the strength of the flanks will overcome it easily.

What interests me is when will United lose their first game, and how will the young players react with it. Big confidence hit, and the title race may be wide open; otherwise expect the young blood of Red Devils to march their way to 20th.

Pick: Nani, Rooney, Young
Watch: Smalling, Jones


CHE: Torres resurrected? Quite close. The pack of faster players really had positive impact on him. Much better runs, better courage, better skills. Too bad the miss did flaw his performance by a lot.

Ramires was good for some of the passes, but for beautiful pass by Torres - should he let it go and allow Sturridge to shoot instead of attempting a forceful shot, well much to improve on offence despite having numerous beautiful runs.

One thing to note though, Torres and Lampard are mutually exclusive players - they simply can't and won't link well. Torres needs players to play around him and Lampard's speed prohibits that.

In short, great job by AVB to dominate the play at Old Trafford - 22 shots, and I can see things to improve sooner rather than later for Chelsea to close down the leading duo.

Watch: Torres, Mata, Ramires
Drop: Lampard


Tottenham 4-0 Liverpool
Not the kind of result that fans expect, but no surprise as Liverpool played terribly bad. With or without the red cards I would still believe Tottenham will win.

TOT: Modric screamer is clearly on the list for goal of the season. Harry Redknapp will be glad that he actually kept him during the summer transfer window. Adebayor was wreaking havoc throughout the game and at £8.1m, he's a mega steal. I can see the Togolese's price to hike up to £9.0m or even £9.5m at the end of the season.

Surprisingly it seems that Adebayor's presence has powered up Defoe too, with the English scoring 19 points over the past two gameweeks when Adebayor played both games. Both are good, although I will definitely pick Adebayor on any day.

With Van der Vaart returned too, the tri-core (VdV, Modric, Parker) midfield line-up will definitely supply the front duo lots of ammunition for goals. Having at least one Tottenham attackers is simply a must for this moment.

Pick: Adebayor, Defoe
Watch: Van der Vaart, Parker, Modric


LIV: Pathetically weak throughout the game. Defence was nonsense, especially at the right flank where Skrtel was dominated totally by Gareth Bale. The red card was really, really expected with his frequent mistakes and terrible judgments. Charlie Adam way too reckless and impatient when defending - he needs to keep his cool. Lucas was helpless as Tottenham's attack was too quick - he had no backup.

Carroll still didn't find his way into the team - he acted more like a statue rather than a player. Suarez, once again, was helpless upfront. Dalglish and Comolli really shouldn't let both Meireles and Aquilani - the rare creative directors in midfield - to go.

Fans will be eager for the return of Steven Gerrard, and hopefully he will cure the current mediocre Liverpool at least by a bit.

Watch: Suarez
Drop: Adam, Skrtel, Carroll


Blackburn 4-3 Arsenal
Weird game? Arsenal led twice only to be let down by the worst defence of the league - they leaked 14 goals already.

BLA: It was Yakubu's day, really. The Everton outcast was influential he scored 2 important goals (the other 2 were own goals though). Solid striker which will also be the pivot of the Rovers' survival. He is a must if Rovers' can pick up their form and bang in some goals.

N'Zonzi had a good run which caused Koscielny's own goal, but he isn't historically productive so don't be hasty to make decisions about him.

Pick: Yakubu
Watch: N'Zonzi


ARS: Defence was once again a let down. I thought Mertesacker will turn the situation around but seriously, Koscielny is too big a tumour to be removed. He was at fault for at least 2 of the goals. Before Vermaelen's return or Wenger's decision to kick Koscielny into the reserves, avoid Arsenal defenders.


There's also problems offensively. While Arteta and Gervinho both got their first goal for their new club, Gervinho's selfishness is questionable. In fact he was scolded by captain Robin van Persie for his selfish attempt instead of feeding the ball to the Dutchman who was clearly unmarked. The ending would be much different if Arsenal led by 3-1 instead of 2-1 by half-time.

Pick: Van Persie, Gervinho, Arteta
Drop: Koscielny, ARS defence


Aston Villa 1-1 Newcastle
AST: Satisfactory performance. Given was influential again as he saved some of the tricky shots especially the long-distance cannon from Cabaye. Offensively it's yet again Agbonlahor who scored - he feet are on fire.

Pick: Agbonlahor
Watch: Given


NEW: St. James' Park has their new Carroll - Leon Best. In fact I'm torn between choosing Agbonlahor and him: Gabby is more clinical, but Leo is cheaper. Both are great third forward.

Cabaye was unlucky - he could have scored double digits on any other game with that kind of performance. Instead, it was Tiote who scored 7 points - I seriously cannot see that to repeat frequently.

Pick: Best, Cabaye


Bolton 1-2 Norwich
BOL: Klasnic got a red - that butt-hurted a lot of managers. N'gog grabbed the chance and earned the team a penalty. Unfortunately Bolton's next two games are tricky - Arsenal and Chelsea - won't bring too much good to the young French.

Martin Petrov scored through the spot, and is surely claiming the #1 fantasy spot at Bolton.

Pick: Petrov
Watch: N'gog
Drop: Klasnic


NOR: Holt started from bench - the captain is becoming less and less influential as the team won without him for majority of the playing time.

It's only the Canaries' first win, and is far too soon to deduce anything about any of their players yet.

Watch: Pilkington, Morison
Drop: Holt


Everton 3-1 Wigan
EVE: Slight disappointment from Tim Cahill as he only assisted one - not so solid captain choice. Vellios is receiving good reviews from football pundits - a superb steal if he starts.

Watch: Vellios


WIG: It's Di Santo who's the ace of the team instead of Moses who remained rather silent over these weeks.

Pick: Di Santo


Swansea 3-0 West Brom
SWA: Finally a victory. Luck was on their side this time as Sinclair fired 12 fantasy points. Those who remain loyal with him are well rewarded.

Also on the score sheet are Nathan Dyer and Leroy Lita - two cheap fantasy players. Not sure about their consistency though.

And Michel Vorm is as solid as ever. A season long hold.

Pick: Sinclair, Vorm
Watch: Dyer, Lita


WBA: Not their day. Long wasn't clinical enough to take the chances. Surprised to see both Dorrans and Brunt started on bench.

Wolves 0-3 QPR
WOL: Overwhelmed by QPR throughout the game. Form is starting to loosen out.

QPR: Faurlin's 10 points and 3 bonus points were both unexpected. As for the expected ones, Wright-Phillips (6 points) was once again influential in the win as well as Joey Barton (13 points). Both are superstuds from QPR.

Bothroyd once again failed to impress; instead it was DJ Campbell who scored for the strikers.

Pick: Barton, SWP
Watch: Faurlin, DJ Campbell
Drop: Bothroyd


Fulham 2-2 Man City
FUL: Good comeback. Good role played by Zamora. Still the ace of the team whenever he's fit.

Pick: Zamora


MCI: Overly defensive after the 2-0 lead. Silva, Dzeko, Aguero and Nasri are still the usual producers from the team.

Pick: Aguero, Silva


Sunderland 4-0 Stoke
SUN: Larsson scored 2 and created 1 as I suffered for selling him out of my team. He got only 1 bonus point though for such good stats. Instead it was Craig Gardner who got 3. The one that is more well-worthed to invest for long-term is surely Bendtner (5 points).

Pick: Bendtner, Larsson, Brown
Watch: Gardner


STO: Nothing much to say here as the team lost completely.

Full-Time: Gameweek 4 Fantasy Review

It's Wazza Roo's era!

The league looks increasingly likely to be a two-horse race for now with yet another dominant display by the Manchester duo. Manchester Premier League?


Bolton 0-5 Manchester United
BOL: Man-marking was non-existent throughout the game with at least three of the goals being scored with the player being "marked". Played overly defensive at their homeground.

Despite that, Martin Petrov looked lively throughout the game and is a good bargain midfielder that is capable of delivering something around 8-10 assists over the course of the season. His value should be rising soon, if you want him get him fast.

Pick: Petrov
Drop: BOL defence


MUN: Back-to-back hat-tricks by Wayne Rooney shows the importance of having at least one premium-priced forward. Superb goals, especially the third curling one which left Jaaskelainen helpless. Chicharito should also got his hat-trick if not for one offside goal and another narrow miss. Both are superb choices upfront, so pick Hernandez if you can't afford to own Rooney.

Nani finally outscored A. Young for the first time this season, but I will still say A. Young should deliver more than the Portuguese this season due to his role as second set-piece taker behind Rooney. Even a lay-off for Rooney's free-kick goal gets 3 solid assist points, and Young is going to benefit from that.

Defensively it's a surprise to see them held yet another clean sheet, with Phil Jones looked to be United's next utility man at the back after John O'Shea.

Pick: Rooney, Hernandez
Watch: Nani, MUN defence (watch out for their forthcoming opponents)


Manchester City 3-0 Wigan
MCI: Just when people started to bring in Dzeko, Mancini surprisingly benched him and partner Aguero with Tevez instead. Three cool finish by Aguero. He simply doesn't waste chances. Tevez didn't look to sharp as he shot an awful penalty which saved rather comfortably by Al-Habsi.

At the moment Silva and Nasri are rather even, but after a praise by Mancini, I believe Silva's starting spot is more secured than the French.

Kompany got 2 bonus points - the best City defender to own alongside with Richards who has good offensive capabilities.

Pick: Aguero, Silva, Kompany, Richards

WIG: Nothing much to reveal here as City boasts the best defence. Perhaps Al-Habsi's penalty save will tell you that Wigan still have the poker chips to stay in the Premier League.

Watch: Al-Habsi


Arsenal 1-0 Swansea
ARS: A strange lucky goal by Arshavin to seal off 3 points. Not too bad for a game, with Walcott having a couple of chances. Arteta's debut was just okay, though I expect it to improve. Defence was much solid than before although Koscielny remains a liability back there.

Watch: Walcott, Arteta, Mertesacker


SWA: Bad mistake by Vorm as Swansea looked determined to leave Emirates Stadium with a point before that. Offence still look dismal.

Everton 2-2 Aston Villa
EVE: The consequences of the departure of Arteta was fully reflected on Baines' fantasy points - he took the penalty and went away with 8 points. Obviously the best investment you can get from Goodison park.

Cahill performed finally as well with an assist - Everton's result will depend pretty much on Baines and him.

Pick: Baines
Watch: Cahill


AST: It's Agbonlahor again. Consistent. Phenomenal goal by Stiliyan Petrov, but you don't expect that to repeat frequently from a defensive midfielder.

Pick: Agbonlahor


Stoke 1-0 Liverpool
STO: Britannia is still one of the toughest fortress to break in English football. Brave defensive display (especially for Begovic's quadruple save!) despite being owned throughout the game. Walters was the penalty taker - he represents good value with his ability to play as second striker.

Pick: Shawcross, Walters


LIV: Finishing remains an issue although defeat was partly due to bad refereeing. Not getting a goal from 20+ shots was a shame. Carragher was the culprit again for leaking yet another goal after last game. They should not have much problem to reach top four though as long as they play like that every week.

Drop: Carragher

Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea
SUN: Overwhelmed throughout the game with nothing much to tell. Gyan left for UAE - Bendtner becomes a good pick.

Watch: Bendtner


CHE: Looks like AVB is going for the success formula of Mourinho - one goal victory margin. Torres was benched unsurprisingly as Sturridge fully capitalise the chance by scoring one stylish goal - calm, superbly accurate and impressive. Hopefully he will grab a permanent starting spot sooner or later - he will be a must-own by then.

Watch: Sturridge


Wolves 0-2 Tottenham
WOL: Not really good upfront - might be due to lack of supplies from Jarvis who only played as substitutes.

TOT: Two debutants gave immediate impact - Adebayor and Parker. I believe Adebayor will be a must-own very soon given Tottenham's offensive approach and the lack of consistent forwards at White Hart Lane. Bale still looked ordinary - don't switch him in before he explodes.

Pick: Adebayor
Watch: Parker


Norwich 0-1 West Brom
NOR: Disappointment to Grant Holt yet again. His shooting rate is similar to his midfield teammates. Bad sign. Needs to get the supplies to perform.

Drop: Holt


WBA: Odemwingie - the return of the king. Missed one penalty, but scored the decisive goal earlier. Still the goal factor of Hodgson's team.

Pick: Odemwingie


Fulham 1-1 Blackburn
FUL: Aaron Hughes was injured - remember to check on his updates. Ruiz failed to adjust to English tempo in his first game as he was subbed out during half-time. Zamora scored a cool equaliser similar to Rochina's attempt which reflected-in through the woodwork. He was also fouled in the penalty box once despite not being correctly addressed as a foul - great potential for fantasy points.

Pick: Zamora
Watch: Hughes


BLA: Great impact by Rochina but I don't see him scoring over 100 fantasy points in such a limited team especially when he's not even a sure-starter. Defence was awful as always, with Salgado really a big liability. He simply don't deserve to start with his frequent mistakes.

Drop: Salgado


QPR 0-0 Newcastle
QPR: Looked likely offensively throughout the game with Shaun Wright-Phillips showing strong immediate impact - should be bursting soon. Central pair Taarabt and Barton took away with 3 and 2 bonus points respectively, with the former looking much better as he participated more in offence.

Bothroyd looked like he will always be late to convert supplies into goals - terrible goal-poaching skills as a Premier League forward.

Pick: Wright-Phillips
Watch: Taarabt, Barton
Drop: Bothroyd


NEW: Constantly being bombarded with few chances to strike back. Simpson scored 2 bonus points apart from his clean sheet. Obertan also got 2. Three players with 2 bonus points on the same game!

Watch: Simpson, Obertan

Gameweek 34 Fantasy Preview

Gareth Bale
PFA Player of the Year. Even Dirk Kuyt has better statistics than him on the league.

Raul Meireles
PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Well deserved.

Scott Parker
Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year. What a great year for a great leader.

Congratulations to all three of them for winning their awards respectively. This season has gone pretty far isn't it? Still, there are three horses running for the title and five clubs struggling on the quicksand of relegation. Excitements continue...

Back to this gameweek. Four more teams on a double this week, with Fulham having the best fixtures among them. Will you invest heavily on double gamers given that the top clubs are having relatively easy fixtures this week? A big gamble to be honest.

---

PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Daniel Sturridge
Can he continue his magic in this gameweek double?

Double Gamers

• Stoke City (Aston Villa @ away, Wolves @ home) - Fantasy managers won't be enjoying too much from this double with two tough opponents. The Villans had regained their long lost form and will give a hard time to Bolton at their home ground. Wolves on the other hand are still distance away from survival and will again fight their best for points. Still, start your Begovic, Huth and Etherington - they are all great in collecting fantasy points. Prediction: AST 2-0 STO, STO 1-1 WOL.
• Wolves (Fulham @ home, Stoke @ away) - Interestingly both of their opponents this week are double gamers. They should at least salvage a point at Molineux given Fulham's inability to win an away league game since 2nd of February. Stoke at away is a tricky one, but with nothing else to lose, they will fight out their best. Jarvis is the best Wolf, but those who are willing to take risk may stock Ebanks-Blake or Milijas as well. Prediction: WOL 2-1 FUL, STO 1-1 WOL.
• Fulham (Wolves @ away, Bolton @ home) - The Cottagers are quite on fire now with the return of Bobby Zamora, and it's quite possible to take four points from these two games. Dempsey and Zamora are worthy for your captain armband this week. Prediction: WOL 2-1 FUL, FUL 2-1 BOL.
• Bolton (Arsenal @ home, Fulham @ away) - First, they have neither European spots to pursue for nor relegation crisis to fight for; Second, one of their opponents is Arsenal (I know the Gunners have been quite unreliable recently, but still). Don't put too much on hope for them except for one - Daniel Sturridge! Prediction: BOL 1-2 ARS, FUL 2-1 BOL.

The Rest

• Man Utd v Everton (1-0) - The Red Devils are not as slippery the Gunners, but you never know.
• Blackpool v Newcastle (2-1) - The Magpies are quite safe. Will they lend a helping hand?
• Liverpool v Birmingham (3-0) - The Reds now have more than enough weaponries to kill any team who park their buses.
• Sunderland v Wigan (2-2) - One point from last nine games for the Black Cats. I'm quite sure they will not win this time as well.
• Tottenham v West Brom (2-0) - It's VdV's time again.
• Chelsea v West Ham (3-0) - Expect complete demolition by the Blues (if Torres doesn't start).
• Blackburn v Man City (0-1) - City needs to win to protect their Champions League spot.

---

PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Didier Drogba
Another scoring spree for the Ivorian?

Captain Picks

• Drogba - On his peak currently.
• Suarez - They will be plenty of opportunities for him to strike.
• Zamora/Dempsey/Sturridge - Double gamers with fantasy excellence.

Buys-In

• Drogba/Malouda - Back to their prime.
• Van der Vaart - Starts his scoring engine again.
• Dempsey/Zamora - Fantasy proven.

Sells-Out

• Man Utd players - The toughest period of their season is coming soon.

Squad of XV

GK: Schwarzer

DF: Huth, Hangeland, Luiz

MF: Malouda, Dempsey, Etherington, Van der Vaart

F: Drogba, Suarez, Zamora

Subs (in order): Begovic, Jarvis, Flanagan, Gary Cahill

Captain: Drogba

ECS: Value

Sunday Sparks

Daniel Sturridge
Made it three out of three at Bolton.

A not so crazy weekend as compared to last week's record-breaker 43 goals, but a couple of amazing goals made this week a memorable one. Here are some highlights:

• As mentioned on my last post, Rooney's fantastic overhead kick is really too enjoyable. Could be easily the goal of the season.
• Nani continued his show his consistency on the Manchester derby victory with a goal and an assist. That makes my decision to bench him a very awful one.
• Van Persie! Ten goals in seven games, he is really the most terrorising striker in premier league currently.
• Walcott and Fabregas are also on good points this week. It should be a great gameweek for those who invest heavily on Arsenal players.
• Birmingham got a clean sheet and I am more than happy about it. Labelled as flop for so long, Zigic's towering existence finally shows great importance.
• 0-0 between Blackburn and Newscastle was the last thing I expected.
• Aston Villa failed to take down Bloomfield Road as they shared a draw with Blackpool. Bent once again was pivotal; a quick and clean pass and he sent Agbonlahor to a one-on-one and scored a goal.
• Liverpool failed to make it five wins out of five, as opposed to what I expected. Meireles made it five goals out of six games with yet another stylish volley. Luis Suarez was pretty unlucky with one shot on bar and another on post, but two bonus points has justified his hard work.
• West Ham made a superb comeback after trailing for three goals to earn a point from West Brom. Worth noticing is Demba Ba who scored two goals.
• Niko Kranjcar gained my respect as he scored yet another victorious goal to make Tottenham escaping from two draws.
• And of course, Sturridge remains incredible at Bolton as he scored his third goal for Bolton in as many number of matches.

Headlines Over the Past Week

Gary Neville
Wish him all the best in his post-football career.

• Gary Neville retired. He cannot be compared to Giggs or Scholes, but still, he's a legend.
• Old fantasy big names, Lampard and Rooney, finally scored some fantasy points which match their price tag.
• It only took 17 minutes for Luis Suarez to score his debut goal for Liverpool. Meanwhile, Meireles scored his third goal from four games and Martin Kelly continued to provide marvellous fantasy returns in such a cheap price.
• Liverpool actually played a weird 3-4-2-1 formation against Stoke. And it worked effectively.
• Two other new signings also scored on Gw25 - Robbie Keane for West Ham and Daniel Sturridge for Bolton.
• Obinna surely impressed fantasy managers with five goals on his recent two games.
• Darren Bent continued his fine scoring record against top sides of the Premier League.
• Fabianski out for the rest of the season. Will Szczesny become a fantasy hot cake?