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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Kick-Off: Gameweek 6 Fantasy Preview

John Terry quits England national team as a means of protest towards FA racism hearing.

John Terry quits England, Nuri Sahin (£6.7m) scored a brace with a very young Liverpool squad, Rooney returns in fine form and Manchester City got eliminated in League Cup surprisingly. What a week as we proceed to gameweek 6 of our favourite Fantasy Premier League.

GAMEWEEK 5 TOP SCORERS

1. Ashley Cole (£6.6m, 15 pts): Responded to Branislav Ivanovic's (£7.0m, 6 pts) supremacy as the gap between them is closed down into just 3 points. He is the cheapest among Chelsea's regular starting defenders and should really be your first consideration should you decide to get one of the Blues' guard.
2. Rickie Lambert (£6.1m, 13 pts): The man of ultimate influence at St. Mary's Stadium as he becomes one of the joint runner-ups for Golden Boot after scoring 2 goals last gameweek. The first man to pick if you are interested to invest in Southampton.
3. Marouane Fellaini (£7.2m, 12 pts): So Mr. Afro continued to dominate in offence even under the 4-4-2 system. The Belgian is simply a magnificent figure for the Toffees
4. Rafael Da Silva (£5.7m, 11 pts): The right-back in on a goal streak at the moment. Good offensive potential, only to be flawed by United's rather porous defence.
5. Joleon Lescott (£6.4m, 11 pts): Strong display, but I see no value in any City defenders yet as they are yet to collect their first clean sheet of the season.
6. Leighton Baines (£7.2m, 11 pts): Fine form for the left-back, who scored 7 points or more in 4 of his first 5 games of the season. But is that sustainable in the long run?

FEATURED: Arsenal v Chelsea @ Emirates
Confident Gunners will face Chelsea at home as they hope to continue their unbeaten streak in the expense of their derby rivals.

Laurent Kosciely (£5.4m, 9 pts) replaced sicked Thomas Vermaelen (£7.1m, 0 pts) on last game and performed brilliantly against Manchester City. Not so sure he will start though with Vermaelen expected to return, though it is quite probable that he will replace Per Mertesacker (£5.1m, 2 pts) in the starting line-up.

Upfront it will be all up to Santi Cazorla (£9.2m, 7 pts) and Lukas Podolski (£8.6m, 2 pts) to threaten Chelsea's defence. As for the Blues, both Eden Hazard (£10.3m) and Fernando Torres (£10.0m) are both out of form since returning from international break. They did play well against Wolves in League Cup though, with 6 players scoring 6 goals against them. Juan Mata (£9.3m, 6 pts) deserves a mention as he was the hero for both the League Cup tie and the league victory against Stoke City on last gameweek. Definitely a man to watch.

Not to underestimate Roberto Di Matteo's squad but Arsenal currently are on their highs and don't look like they will be beaten. My vote of confidence goes to the Gunners.

Prediction: ARS 2-1 CHE

TEAM FOCUS: Everton
Sure, Southampton won their first league game in style last week, but to play Everton still seems like a very tough task for them.

Nikica Jelavic (£8.4m, 0 pts) should return for this game after showing up in their defeat against Leeds United and is one of the favourite to perform alongside Steven Pienaar (£6.7m, 6 pts), Baines, Mirallas and also the unstoppable Fellaini. You should definitely own at least one of them for this fixture as Southampton are one of the sides who concede the most, averaging 3 goals per game.

PLAYER FOCUS: Fletcher
Steven Fletcher (£7.2m, 9 pts) is gaining serious interest from fantasy managers after scoring 4 goals in as many games. A home game against Wigan gives him yet another great chance to reinforce his reputation as a clinical finisher.

Demba Ba (£7.8m, 9 pts) continues to gain my preference as he will play against leaky Reading this Saturday.

GAMEWEEK 6 DREAM TEAM

Howard

Johnson — Rafael — Baines

Cazorla — Fellaini  — Nolan — Ben Arfa

Fletcher (VC) —  Van Persie (C) — Ba 

Subs: Jaaskelainen — Sterling—  Bramble — Demel

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Sunday Aftermath: From Hero to Zero

Martin Skrtel was influential on both ends of pitch... One of the ends was a wrong end unfortunately.

Dramatic game at Anfield on Sunday as we saw Liverpool fantastic offence got jeopardized by their shabby defence. Here's my notes on yesterday's game:

• Martin Skrtel (£6.0m). The defender got all the flashlights as he dictated the game with one atomic header and one assist — to Carlos Tevez (£9.4m) unfortunately.
• Tevez once again became the hero for Manchester City, capitalizing both defensive errors of the Reds and recorded one goal and one assist. Great, great underpriced fantasy acquisition, especially when Sergio Aguero (£11.2m) is injured and QPR are the next team on City's fixtures.
• Brendan Rodgers started Raheem Sterling (£4.5m) instead of Stewart Downing (£6.4m) on the left flank surprisingly, and that has paid great dividends. The 17-year-old winger played as if he's a Premier League veteran — calm, composed, and low on errors. Might be the best £4.5m player to own if he can squeeze Downing away from starting XI.
• Luis Suarez (£9.5m) scored the first direct free-kick goal (watch here) of Premier League this season. A very beautiful goal. If and only if he can be more accurate in shooting on open play and provide more in fantasy terms...
• Yaya Toure (£8.0m) continued his spectacular and scored 9 fantasy points. The lad seems to be a better pick than David Silva (£10.0m) at the moment, who only featured as a substitute and broke his fantasy managers' heart.
• As for Arsenal, they failed to grab a goal once again and stuck 0-0 against Stoke City. Thomas Vermaelen (£7.0m) continued to shine though, getting yet another clean sheet and 2 bonus points. Still one of the most productive defender in the luxurious line.
• Meanwhile, Carl Jenkinson (£4.6m) continued to provide super-productive fantasy return for his price, scoring 16 points in aggregate — on par with his new captain Vermaelen. But can he maintain his position when Bacary Sagna (£5.5m, expected to return on 02 September) returns? Big question mark to answer.
• Michael Kightly (£5.5m) of Stoke also continued his fine form, scoring 5 bonus points in 2 games. Looks like the killer-passer in League Championship years ago (check his historical stats here) is getting back his magic feet.
• As for late Saturday game, Eden Hazard (£9.8m) combined with Fernando Torres (£10.1m) for both of Chelsea's goals in their win over Newcastle. The duo are attaining the "must have" status in FPL, with fantasy managers continue to jump into the bandwagon to get him despite Chelsea having no game in gameweek 3.
• Juan Mata (£9.4m), on the other hand, continued to disappoint fantasy wise, having played too deep to contribute any goals or assists.

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FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Arsenal F.C.

ARSENAL F.C.

The new Arsenal home kit for 2012/13 season.
Do you notice the stripes on the sleeves?

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

Password: http://p-fplz.blogspot.com/

Last Season: Dramatic Comeback
The Gunners had started their season terribly, which included a humiliating 2-8 defeat to their rivals Manchester United. Fortunately, a fantastic run starting at the middle of the season helped them to move all the way up to claim yet another UEFA Champions League qualification next season. Van Persie, who remained injury free for the first time in his career for one whole season, deserved to take a huge credit for that.

This Summer: RVP to Leave?
It was good news that arrived the Emirates first with German international Lukas Podolski joining. This seems to be a great signing, as Podolski does carry some sort of "ace" quality - which will share some of the burden away from captain Robin Van Persie. However, shock later arrived with the skipper announced to not sign a new contract with Arsenal on his website. It is still an unknown myth whether Olivier Giroud is bought to increase the squad's depth or to replace the captain.


Upcoming Season: Huge Uncertainty
Clearly RVP's decision to stay or go will have a large influence on Arsenal's course in this coming season. I am more inclined to believe that having a Van Persie is better than having both Podolski and Giroud - they won't be able to better last season's record without the captain in my opinion. But if he stays, then Arsenal should be one of the favourites for Premier League title.

Van Persie's score
distribution last
season.

Mighty Skipper: Van Persie (FI: 0.889) 
It's a no-brainer definitely, if Robin Van Persie (£13.0) stays. RVP's 269 points last season is one of the best in fantasy history. As he finally went through an injury-free season in his Arsenal's career, you can expect him to be more resistant to injury in the future and score consistent fantasy points. The only downside of the £13.0m rated forward is the partial diversion of offence from him to Podolski (and possibly Giroud).


Powerhouse Picks: Vermaelen (FI:0.652), Walcott (FI: 0.526), Podolski (FI: N/A)
Ever since joining, Thomas Vermaelen (£7.0m) has been a very important player in Arsene Wenger's formation. Being a defender who is capable of moving forward and score goals, the defender resembles a great fantasy investment despite his high price tag. Although being plagued by injuries last season, the Belgian still managed to score 6 goals in only 2477 minutes last season, which was a very high figure among defenders.


Meanwhile, Theo Walcott (£9.0m) continues to exhibit the maturity he has obtained last season. He is now more calm and composed, and delivers better consistency than before. Fantasy managers can expect him to improve and improve - his best times are still some distance away.


Lukas Podolski (£8.5m) is always a prolific goalscorer, both in club and country level. The German international scores about 1 goal in every 2.5 games - a pretty good figure for a hybrid left-wing/forward. Priced only £8.5m (even cheaper than Walcott), the lad is capable of producing some super-value performance, and might even step up as the team's ace should RVP leaves.


Rising Star: Chamberlain (FI: 0.293)
Bought from Southampton, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£7.5m) has exhibited great potential last season as he featured regularly in the second half of the season. His most notable performance, of course, was the 7-1 demolition against Blackburn, where he scored 2 goals.


Although it is expected that his playing time to be as limited as last season thanks to Podolski's arrival, but if the German or Walcott somehow get sidelined for a long time, fantasy managers can rely on him to deliver some explosive performance (PI: 1.129, tops Arsenal's list). His price hike this season may limit his value though.


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