FPLZ 2012/13 Season Preview: Wigan Athletic F.C.

Wigan Athletic F.C.

Victor Moses promoting his club's new kit for 2012/13 season.

You can download the full analyzed squad data here.

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

Last Season: Safe
Struggle - this has always been Wigan's situation every season, and the last one was not an exception. Poor conversion rate especially by Victor Moses in first half of the season had almost sent the Latics to hell, though they fired up in the late stage of the season and saved themselves with still a little bit extra league points for survival.

This Summer: Lack of Excitement
Many players are going away from DW Stadium this summer, with names such as Hugo Rodallega, Mohamed Diame, Steve Gohouri and Chris Kirkland; heading the opposite direction are highly rated young midfielder Fraser Fyvie and Mallorca defender Ivan Ramis. Not very flashy here, as usual.

Upcoming Season: Escape the Cycle
Stuck in relegation battle, barely survived. Stuck in relegation battle, barely survived. The unhealthy cycle has been on and on every season for Wigan, and surely this is not something the players and the fans like. They definitely need to bring their skill to the next level and pull themselves up to the mid-table position to avoid such scare again.

Moses' indices last season.

N'Zogbia V2: Moses (FI: 0.634)
He wouldn't like to be recognized that way, but that's the way he is. Victor Moses (£7.0m) is the new ace of Wigan after the departure of Charles N'Zogbia last season, though he did not look like at first. The lad failed to score for a streak of 60+ shots before scoring his first goal on December last season - an embarrassing record for any players. But he marched on from there and ended the season with 6 goals and 6 assists - certainly not bad for a player from a club which constantly troubled by relegation fears.

His £7.0m fantasy valuation might stop you from getting him, but I do believe he has the quality to meet his asking price. The bigger doubt though is his highly possible move to Chelsea, which can be done in these few days. Stay alert for the development.

Budget Pick: Di Santo (FI: 0.434)
There are hardly any fantasy talents at DW Stadium other than Moses, but Franco Di Santo (£5.5m) can be the next hit at Wigan after Moses.

At the age of 23, the Argentine still has a lot of room to grow, not to mention he played only 2025 minutes last season - 150 points should be an attainable target for him this season with less competition upfront and higher reliance on him, should Moses leaves.

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Kick-Off: Gameweek 23 Fantasy Preview

Both Dempsey and Zamora led the demolition of Newcastle.

Overview

The title race has reduced down to two-horse race again after Tottenham's defeat at Etihad Stadium enlarged their trail to Manchester City to eight points. Tottenham should still at least sit a comfortable third at the end of this season anyway, with Chelsea starting to secure the last spot of Champions League football.

Liverpool has knocked out both Manchester clubs out of Carling Cup (City) and FA Cup (United) respectively. Carling Cup looks to be on the hands of the Reds already and that title could be a boost for them to end their trophy drought of six years.

The transfer market is creepily silent this year. Even rumours seem to be very little and it is increasingly likely that Gary Cahill's move would be the biggest action this time compared to Torres' and Carroll's mega buck moves last year.

Game of the Week: SWANSEA v CHELSEA

How will SuperVorm fare
against Chelsea?

Interesting meet up as Chelsea will visit one of the hell arena in Premier League - Liberty Stadium.

Swansea has been incredible at home and has only lost one on their territory to Manchester United. They scored clean sheets in 6 of the 11 home games they had played this term, though they did not collect any in their last three home games. Tough task to score for Chelsea.

Drogba is still progressing with Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations so Chelsea will need to continue to rely on £50m striker Fernando Torres to apply offensive pressure. The Spaniard is on a three month goal drought and I am quite negative on his possibility of breaking the duck. Defensive wise, Gary Cahill did not feature on his first league game at Chelsea and it remains to be seen where he fits in Andre Villas-Boas' tactics.

Given that Chelsea's inconsistent away form, I believe Swansea can frustrate the Blues and make the battle for fourth more interesting.

Prediction: SWA 0-0 CHE
Pick: Vorm


Fantasy Game of the Week: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v WIGAN

It's time for Adebayor
to end his scoring
drought.

Harry Redknapp will seek to turn the tide in their title hunt as they host Wigan at White Hart Lane.

Gareth Bale is a slight doubt for this game - quoted as "75% playing" for this encounter. Adebayor is available again - a great chance to end his goal drought. Both are great captains for this gameweek.

Hugo Rodallega fired a screamer last week... Well that doesn't happen every week. My vote goes to Tottenham for a strong response after a defeat.

Prediction: TOT 3-0 WIG
Pick and Captain: Bale, Adebayor
Pick: TOT defence
Drop: WIG players


Pick and Drop
Pick and Captain:

• Valencia - He doesn't promise you great fantasy score but he is consistent.
• Sessegnon - Plays exceptionally well since Martin O'Neill's takeover.
• Van Persie - A suspension doubt, but you should captain him if he plays.

Pick:

• Carroll - Fits into Liverpool's system finally.
• Aguero/ Silva - Still the reliable combination.
• Walcott - On form recently.
• Keane - Made a spectacular Premier League return.
• Dempsey/ Zamora - Both should combine again.
• Kompany - The captain is back to strengthen the back line.

Drop:

• NEW defence - Blackburn scores in almost every game.

Transfer Traffic

Green light (buy):

• Kompany - The captain returns (clean sheet returns too).
• Lindegaard - For sure De Gea will be benched more often after his terrible performance against Liverpool. Out in crutches during training.
• Sessegnon - His fantasy score is rocketing. Same goes to his price.
• Valencia - Nani's injury made him an even solid selection.
• Keane - His influence is obvious.

Yellow light (watch):

• Van Persie - Suspension doubt.
• Carroll - Looks to finally fits into the system but Suarez will be released from "jail" soon.
• Oxlade-Chamberlain - Played fantastically well but god knows what Wenger is thinking.

Red light (sell):

• Jones - Injured again.
• Ramires - Injured.
• Sturridge - His consistent "one game one goal" trend disappeared into nowhere.

Gameweek 23 Dream Team

Lindegaard

Kompany -- Assou-Ekkoto -- Enrique

Silva -- Sessegnon (VC) -- Valencia -- Bale

Adebayor (C) -- Van Persie -- Keane

Subs: Vorm -- Evans -- Dyer -- Tate

2011/12 Fantasy Season Preview - Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic FC

Last Season Summary

League ranking: 16th (42 pts)

Points per game (home: away): 1.21: 1.00

Goals per game (for: against): 1.05: 1.61

Number of clean sheets: 7

Top league scorer: Hugo Rodallega, Charles N'Zogbia (9 goals)

Top league assister: Charles N'Zogbia (5 assists)

Transfers

In: Ali Al-Habsi

Out: Steven Caldwell, Antonio Amaya, Charles N'Zogbia

Predicted Season Finish: 20th

Forgive me for my pessimism. The Latics were lucky enough to survive last season, but selling the team's top star without finding a decent replacement should be a doomsday for them. All the best.

Fantasy Ace: Hugo Rodallega (£6.5m)

With Charles N'Zogbia leaving, Rodallega has become the only valuable offensive fantasy investments of Wigan. He has good finishing, and is also a bonus magnet of Wigan.

The departure of N'Zogbia may or may not be good for him. On the positive side, Wigan's attack will be more focused on him; on the negative side, the supplies to him will be of less quality. We'll have to see which side will outweigh another.

Decent Picks: Ali Al-Habsi (£4.5m)

Unarguably Al-Habsi is a very good choice for second goalkeeper. Though Wigan is a very leaky team, his outstanding number of saves (121) has effectively compensated his loss of fantasy points. He is very popular as well this season, with more than 20% of fantasy managers picking him.

Worth Scouting: James McCarthy (£5.5m)

The former Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year is far from promising at Wigan so far, but the departure of N'Zogbia could help him to make his name here.

Villa Welcomes Charles N'Zogbia - Darren Bent Need Not Worry About Short of Supplies

Charles N'Zogbia
The solution for post-Young/Downing era.

Yes, quite a big news to fantasy managers. French international, Charles N'Zogbia joins Aston Villa with an estimated fee of £9.5m.

We all know how good the lad is as a fantasy player. The change of club will not change much of his fantasy value; in fact it might make him even more valuable given Darren Bent's goal efficiency. His arrival ensures Darren Bent will continue to receive good amount of supplies after Downing and Young's departure.

Hope that this is not the last signing of Villa this summer. They still need to strengthen their squad to challenge for a better position.

Gameweek 38 Fantasy Preview

So fast, we're reaching the end...

The end is so near, indeed. So how's your position currently? You've only one last week to improve your rankings, it might not help much, but it's better than nothing. At least make sure that there's a good ending will you?

Much drama are still going on at the final gameweek of the season, this includes:

• Race for third / Champions League direct qualification (Man City v Arsenal)
• Race for fifth / Europa League qualification (Tottenham v Liverpool)
• Survival battle (Blackburn v Birmingham v Blackpool v Wolves v Wigan, three spots for five)
• Golden boot battle (Carlos Tevez v Dimitar Berbatov)

These will guarantee excitements and goals galore during this weekend. Invest more on the front!

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Tevez and Van Persie
Photoshop makes the impossible possible.

Battle for Third (Man City v Arsenal)
Both sides will travel as the Gunners make a visit to Craven's Cottage whilst the new FA Cup champions make their way to Bolton.

Arsenal's form recently has been very dismal, managing to win only twice since March. Terrible defence and mentality has caused the team to suffer heavy slip-ups despite stunning form of Robin van Persie. That is also the reason why Manchester City has gone one point ahead of the London giants despite falling far far behind them for a major part of the season.

Speaking of their opponent, Fulham have been enjoying steady form recently. Barring the 2-5 defeat to Liverpool, the Cottagers have only conceded two league goals at home this year. Not a good news for Wenger.

Arsenal will desperately need three points to avoid cancellation of their pre-season revenue-generating tours, but with the current squad morale, I am very negative about that.

On the other hand, the Manchester Blues are on G6 currently after adding another trophy to their cabinet since 35 years ago. Coupled with Carlos Tevez's equaliser against Berbatov on the Golden Boot race, City are certainly high on morale to finish their season in style. More importantly, City's defence are more solid than the Gunners.

Bolton have good results at home just like Fulham, but defensive wise I'd say City should get at least the same point(s) from Bolton as Arsenal get from Fulham.

Prediction:
Fulham 2-1 Arsenal
Bolton 1-1 Man City
Man City secures third place.

Liverpool are outnumbered in terms of league points.

Battle for Fifth (Tottenham v Liverpool)
Europa League seems pretty slim for the Reds as they travel to Villa Park for a hard battle when Tottenham will sit comfortably at home playing against Birmingham.

Kenny Dalglish's legendary return was spoilt last week with a defeat at Anfield to Tottenham. The result has effectively give way for the latter to fifth, which means that Liverpool will need to pray that Tottenham will drop points in order for them to progress to the Europa.

Needless to say, Aston Villa is always a tough team to beat. Houllier will continue to absent, but still with the likes such as Ashley Young and Darren Bent, there will be great pressure for Liverpool's defenders.

On the other hand, Birmingham are well known for their stunningly poor away form, and it is quite a humiliation should Tottenham fail to bag three points on the closing game at White Hart Lane.

Prediction:
Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool
Tottenham 3-0 Birmingham
Tottenham through to Europa.

Mick McCarthy
Looks forward to stay for another year.

Battle for Survival
Wolves v Blackburn: Head to head fight for survival. The victor will surely stay, while a draw will most probably make at least one of them stays. The Rovers have problems to score, so I think Wolves will have a very positive chance to stay.

Birmingham: As written above, the Brums are stunningly poor on the road. Pretty negative on their survival, unless the two clubs just below them suffer defeats.

Blackpool: It's one of the club that I wouldn't want them to relegate. Blackpool has been showing some pretty attractive football with their offence. People like Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell give Premier League some fresh breath. Unfortunately, their sluggish defence won't help them. Their opponent, Manchester United may have already won the league title, but the Red Devils still have reason to play their best. The starters want to warm up for Champions League final; the benchwarmers want to prove something to Sir Alex Ferguson. Goodbye Blackpool.

Wigan: Tide changes pretty quick. The comeback victory against West Ham has given them some momentum  this week, and given Stoke's collapse in the recent showdown against Manchester City, Wigan will have quite a chance to sneak away with at least one point for survival. Don't be too confident though, as Stoke rarely  give points to their visitors.

Prediction:
Wolves 2-1 Blackburn
Tottenham 3-0 Birmingham
Man Utd 2-1 Blackpool
Stoke City 1-1 Wigan
Blackpool and Birmingham relegates.
Wolves, Blackburn and Wigan stays.


The Rest
Prediction:
Everton 2-2 Chelsea
Newcastle 1-2 West Brom
West Ham 2-1 Sunderland

Dimitar Berbatov
Desperately needs a start to fight for golden boot.

Golden Boot Battle
There might be two golden boots this season, and that's interesting.

Carlos Tevez plays on the road, but his home-away goal of 13-8 shows that his away goal efficiency is only slightly lower compared to home. And given City's determination to protect their third position, Tevez should score at least one.

Dimitar Berbatov plays at Old Trafford. He picked 17 of his 21 league goals here - obvious home advantage. But he rarely plays since April, losing his place to Chicharito - a major doubt. However, he's very prolific in bullying the weak - one of the good captain this week. The Bulgarian should definitely get a starting position this time, but whether or not he will get quality support from second string players remains a question.

Pretty unpredictable in my opinion, I give up on predicting this and it's up to you guys.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Carlos Tevez
Just goals away to enjoy his best Premier League season.

Captain Picks

• Berbatov, Tevez - Fights for golden boot.

Buys-In

• Berbatov - Flies high.

Squad of XV

GK: Gomes

DF: Dawson, Hangeland, Fabio

MF: Modric, Dempsey, Malouda, N'Zogbia

F: Berbatov, Tevez, Odemwingie

Subs (in order): Begovic, Adam, Huth, Walker

Goodbye West Ham

Avram Grant
Relegates for two consecutive years.

Goodbye, the Hammers. They looked good to drag their relegation at least until next week by leading 2-0 by half-time, but a stunning comeback from Wigan has confirmed their drop in advance.

So now five teams are still on the fear of relegation - Blackburn, Wolves, Birmingham, Blackpool and Wigan. What's your opinion? I believe the bottom three will stay as what it is currently.

Also featuring today is Liverpool's shocking defeat to Tottenham. They are certainly playing bad, playing without luck, and playing with the ref against them. All their hard work since Dalglish's takeover may end up with nothing.

Remember to climb back soon, West Ham, for I will miss you...

Gameweek 24 Fantasy Preview

Ryan Babel
The EPL flop may escape from sinking Liverpool with a price of £6m.

The transfer window starts to heat up David Wheather (Middlesbrough to Bolton, £2.3m) the latest deal confirmed. Meanwhile, Luis "Hand of God II" Suarez possible move to Liverpool continues to top the transfer rumours.

Back to Fantasy. There will be three replacement fixtures this week, so do try to stock up double gamers whenever possible. The winter transfer wildcard can do you a lot of good this week, but I still believe try using it as late as possible.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Darren Bent
Faces gameweek double on his debut gameweek for Aston Villa.

Teams with Gameweek Double

• Liverpool (Wolves@away, Fulham@home) - Kenny Dalglish is still waiting for his first victory in charge and it seems very possible in this gameweek. Wolves is weak at defence and adding a game against Fulham at home, attackers such as Torres and Kuyt remain the most attractive option from the Reds. Martin Kelly is the only defender I would recommend from Liverpool with such a mouth-watering price.
• Wigan (Arsenal@away, Aston Villa@home) - Not so sure about Latics. Arsenal is in an upbeat form at the moment and it will be hard for Martinez's side to win against the team who has kept three consecutive premier league clean sheets. It won't be easy as well against Villa since they have recruited Darren Bent who will ultimately solve their finishing weakness. N'Zogbia and Rodallega might score one or two, but don't expect much.
• Blackpool (Sunderland@home, Man Utd@home) - It's ridiculous if you still don't have Charlie Adam at your squad. The skipper has already scored 31 bonus points and there will be another gameweek double for him at gameweek 27. DJ Campbell is the second pick as always. As for the defence, I don't think they can guard Gyan of Sunderland and Berbatov, Rooney and Nani of United.
• Fulham (Stoke City@home, Liverpool@away) - I am not surprised to see Fulham score four points this week. Clinton Dempsey remains your Fulham's fantasy ace and may rack up a goal or assist and also bonuses. Hangeland can grab a clean sheet against Stoke. Fulham players won't be good long term buys though as they will face Chelsea and Man City on gameweek 27 and 28.
• Manchester United (Birmingham@home, Blackpool@away) - Six points are on Fergie's hands. Blackpool is the worst home player of the league, so no worries for United's woeful away performance. I expect one clean sheet out of the two, with Nani the most potential candidate for captain. You might want to bet on Berbatov - he can burst any time as long as he partners with Rooney.
• Aston Villa (Man City@home, Wigan@away) - I would have swapped for Bent directly right after his transfer was confirmed, but a game against Man City cancelled my plan. Bent will still be the most tempting bargain of the team since the likes such as Downing, Young and Albrighton will promise unlimited supplies for him to score. It's almost certain that Bent will get his first goal this gameweek.

All Games

• Wolves v Liverpool (1-1) - Rome was not built in one day so I don't expect Dalglish to recover the Reds' away confidence so fast.
• Arsenal v Wigan (3-0) - Captain Van Persie if you own him.
• Blackpool v Sunderland (1-1) - Holloway may sneak home with points as Sunderland is now in post-Bent transition period.
• Everton v West Ham (2-1) - Just deploy every single Everton player you have.
• Fulham v Stoke City (2-0) - The cottagers are in fine form and I expect that to continue against mid-table opposition.
• Man Utd v Birmingham (2-0) - Sir Alex to maintain his great record against his ex-players.
• Newcastle v Tottenham (2-2) - I expect tough challenge from Magpies.
• Aston Villa v Man City (2-3) - Darren Bent will add the dimension that Villa lacks but Man City is still too strong for them.
• Blackburn v West Brom (2-2) - Should be an entertaining match.
• Bolton v Chelsea (1-2) - Bolton's form has been lacklustre recently so I think Chelsea can complete the double.
• Blackpool v Man Utd (2-3) - One is poor at home while the other is poor at away. Victory should be on the side which has better class.
• Wigan v Aston Villa (1-2) - You just simply cannot ignore the effect of Darren Bent.
• Liverpool v Fulham (2-1) - Dalglish simply has to win to repay his fans' support.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Clinton Dempsey
The man that you should get from Fulham this week.

Captain Picks

• Nani/Berbatov/Rooney - Good games for them to rack up plenty of fantasy points.
• Dempsey - Major goal scorer + bonus pointer for two games.
• Van Persie - Wigan's a cake for him.
• Torres - Both opponents' defences aren't strong so he should have plenty of chance to score.

Buy-Ins

• Nani/Vidic - Most reliable Man Utd players in offence and defence each. Gameweek doubles at Gw 24 and 28.
• Downing/Young/Albrighton - Bent will help them to record more assists.
• Kelly - Amazingly cheap for a full back.
• Van Persie - Has been showing spectacular form recently.

Sell-Outs

• Bolton players - they're experiencing a sharp decline in form.

Squad of XV

GK: Van der Sar

DF: Vidic, Kelly, Hangeland

MF: Meireles, Adam, Dempsey, N'Zogbia, Nani(C)

F: Torres, Van Persie

Subs (in order): Kingson, Rodallega, Evatt, Alcaraz

Captain: Nani

Emergency Captain: Value

Fantasy Pit Stop 1: Part Two

To start reading from PART ONE, click here.

As a reminder, for this pit stop I am going to write about:

1. Some major news/events related to the team;
2. Predicted season finish; and
3. Top three rated fantasy players along with their ratings.

The arrangement of teams will be according to current league rankings, in reverse order.

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Currently in 15th

Newcastle United

News
Ben Arfa out for six months but Nigel de Jong escapes from any FA punishments - Bad, bad tackle. Poor Ben Arfa.

Predicted Season Finish: 15th

Newcastle is a team with a rich history. It's squad isn't that rich though. The team is still backboned by the old faces like Nolan, Barton and Gutierrez, while the news faces don't have much calibre to make some big differences aside from Hatem Ben Arfa - who is currently suffered from a serious injury.

However, I don't think the team will repeat their fortune two years ago - where they were relegated. Newcastle is in a better shape now - most notably the vast improvements of Carroll. The 6-0 victory against Aston Villa doesn't have much element of fluke. They might struggle in the relegation zone for a small part of the season, but at the end they should be able to reach the shore.

Top Three Fantasy Players:

1. Andrew Carroll (8/10) - Great third striker with high potential.
2. Joey Barton (7/10) - The "bad boy" has been less violent and more effective on the pitch.
3. Kevin Nolan (6.5/10) - One of the important force in the Magpies' attack.

Honourable mention: Hatem Ben Arfa (8/10) - A very talented winger. Very unfortunate for him to be sidelined.

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Currently in 14th

Wigan Athletic

News - N/A

Predicted Season Finish: 19th

I like how Roberto Martinez implements his offensive team play, but that doesn't always work out especially against a much superior opposition. The Latics have only two victories up till now - one against the so fluctuating Tottenham and another against the poorer Wolves - none are convincing.

While they do have some great additions this season - particularly goalkeeper Al Habsi and defender Alcaraz, I don't think that will be enough for them to stay. Barring N'Zogbia, the rest of the midfielders are particularly weak in terms of Premiership standards.

As their fixtures get tougher and tougher in the final third of the season, I think Wigan will eventually collapse and the lads will meet Wolves next year in the Championship.

Top Three Fantasy Players:

1. Hugo Rodallega (7/10) - A quite productive strike force.
2. Charles N'Zogbia (7/10) - Had some furious times with the club but things should start settle and he should start performing.
3. Antolin Alcaraz (5.5/10) - One of the quality signings of Wigan this season. However, you need to be wary of the number of emphatic defeats that Wigan will face.

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Currently in 13th

Blackburn Rovers

News - N/A

Predicted Season Finish: 13th

They don't play pretty football, but it's fine as long as they get the results. Blackburn is a tough opposition no matter what team you are due to their aggressive approach in defence. They have all the chances to sneak away with points against tougher oppositions.

With a pack of quality defenders with offensive capabilities, added with some evenly matched strikers in a strong competition, I predict that the Rovers will end the season quite comfortably.

Top Three Fantasy Players:

1. Christopher Samba (7/10) - A decent defender with a decent scoring record.
2. Paul Robinson (5.5/10) - Not the best keeper in the league, but he'll give you quite an amount of saves.
3. Nikola Kalinic (5.5/10) - Has a steady start this season.

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Currently in 12th

Bolton Wanderers

News - N/A

Predicted Season Finish: 11th

Bolton might have almost the same team from last season, but still it's much better. Owen Coyle coaches the team right from start of the season, Elmander on form, Martin Petrov activating the attack... all these signs show that the club is in a good shape.

The club has all the strength to remain on the Premier League and finish with a good ranking.

Top Three Fantasy Players:

1. Johan Elmander (7.5/10) - A sudden burst of form has made him the top fantasy choice of Bolton.
2. Martin Petrov (7/10) - He's capable of doing a lot of damage from attack.
3. Kevin Davies (6.5/10) - Still the leader of Bolton with potential to grab plenty of bonus points.

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Currently in 11th

Sunderland

News - N/A

Predicted Season Finish: 9th

It's interesting to see that five out of six Premier League goals of Sunderland were from Darren Bent, with another from new signing Asamoah Gyan. But will that pose a threat for Sunderland's survival? Absolutely not.

The Black Cats is still the team who can frustrate any tougher opponents. They actually get better with the arrival of Elmohamady. The Egyptian defender is very proactive in surging forward and has become the "Glen Johnson" of the season. Combined with the usual faces like Bent and Henderson, Sunderland will enjoy their best top-flight finish over the past decade.

Top Three Fantasy Players:

1. Ahmed Elmohamady (8.5/10) - A constant threat from the back of the flank. Has been impressive so far.
2. Darren Bent (8/10) - One of the all time fantasy favourite that you should start against any opposition.
3. Jordan Henderson (7/10) - The 20-year-old midfielder is a promising gem.

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To be continued in PART THREE.