Did Van der Vaart Kicked Your Ass?

Rafael Van der Vaart
"Didn't start me? Well done!"

Tottenham's ace, Rafael Van der Vaart, who was doubtful for yesterday's match, played a full game and scored a goal!

That's such a pain for those who benched him, including me.

On the other hand, Stoke v Birmingham, which I predicted to be a boring game, turned out to be very exciting. Huth who's listed on my Squad of XV, scored!

There will be eight games today, good luck.

Gameweek 12 Fantasy Preview

Liverpool
The team to watch over these few weeks.

It's good to see Liverpool back on the right track after a sensational win against defending champion Chelsea. Last gameweek was a good one for despite despite scoring only 45 points - as the majority scored much lower with an average of 35.

But now, let's proceed to gameweek 12 which will commence shortly...

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Mario Balotelli
In with two goals, out with a red.

Manchester City v Manchester United
The Manchester derby will not be the same with Nani's and Balotelli's absence.

Both sides got themselves a crucial win last weekend as Chelsea slipped three points. However, the Red Devils were considered quite lucky to win as the team play was awful with Nani and Berbatov's absence. The latter should be able to start ahead of this derby but how fit is he?

With the above factor, I think City should be able to defend their fortress and make United slip this week. Tevez is just so hard to handle, especially for Manchester United.

Prediction: MANC 2-1 MANU

The Rest

• Stoke v Birmingham (0-0) - I can imagine two containing side playing a boring game.
• Tottenham v Sunderland (1-0) - I reckon Spurs to take advantage of home and bounce back.
• Aston Villa v Blackpool (0-0) - Blackpool goalless away record: Arsenal, Chelsea and Birmingham - all with great defence.
• Chelsea v Fulham (2-0) - The Blues will want to unleash all their frustration towards the cottagers but they will have to undergo fitness problem first.
• Newcastle v Blackburn (2-0) - No reason why the Magpies can't fly at St James.
• West Ham v West Brom (2-1) - I reckon that the Hammers will get their second league victory here and cushion their way away from relegation.
• Wigan v Liverpool (1-3) - Too bad for the Latics to face Torres and co at such time.
• Everton v Bolton (2-1) - Both teams are on good form and it will be narrow.
• Wolves v Arsenal (1-2) - I just hope that the Gunners won't disappoint us fantasy wise again.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Didier Drogba
"Never write me off.:"

Captain Picks

• Drogba - He will find the way for Chelsea.
• Torres - He is happy, he is sharp, he is confident.
• Nolan - He has a very good scoring record at home.

Buy-Ins

• Torres - El Nino is back.
• Tevez - Back with superb performance.

Sell-Outs

• Chamakh - Wenger obviously still regards Van Persie as his #1 forward.

Squad of XV

GK: Krul

DF: Luke Young, Bosingwa, Huth, Hutton

MF: Nolan(C), Gerrard, Cahill

F: Torres, Drogba, Piquionne

Subs (in order): Foster, Barton, Ferguson, Coleman

Emergency Captain: Value

Starting XI Value: £80.2m

Total Team Value: £98.8m

Can Liverpool Now March All The Way Back Into The Champions League?

Torres 2-0 Chelsea
El Nino fired twice to take the Reds all the way to the top half of the league table.

A marvellous day for Liverpool as they took down the league leader Chelsea at Anfield.

Roy Hodgson finally compromised and gave up his "marksmanless-marksman" (a.k.a. Zamoraless-Zamora) tactics and stick to his predecessor's pressing style and the result is obviously positive throughout the game.

Torres's brace has given fantasy managers a fresh breath of air after the drop of form of fantasy favourites such as Drogba, Malouda, Berbatov, Chamakh etc.. The Spaniard will obviously get better after finding back his predatory touch.

A big credit for Lucas for his intense work rate which gave him three bonus points. Ancelotti should be regretting now for his underestimation to rest Drogba.

My featured blog title image should be able to stay longer now.

Fantastico.

Sunday Sparks

Asamoah Gyan
The hero for Sunderland after Darren Bent's absence.

Here's some of my views on premier league games that have finished this week up until now:

• Kevin Davies led Bolton to victory with his 16-pointer. Tottenham just aren't strong enough to play two games a week without Van der Vaart.
• Birmingham survived with a point after trailing two goals behind West Ham. Zigic, the tallest player in EPL, is looking more and more influential in offence.
• Morten Gamst Pedersen, once known as the Norway's Beckham, scored his first goal of the season to help Blackburn to get their third league victory of the season.
• Seamus Coleman, the best fantasy defender under £5m category in my opinion, snatched a handful of eight points with his goal and bonus points. His Tim-mate Tim Cahill is also on the radar with nine points.
• A last minute goal by Hangeland has earned his manager 11 points. On the other side of the pitch Albrighton, whom I had just transferred out this week, scored 9 points.

Ji-Sung Park
"No Nani? Then let me be!"

• Superb Park played one of the best games in his life to prevent United from a draw with a brace of goals, one of which came in the final minutes.

• Asamoah Gyan scored twice to preserve an embarrassing record for Sunderland - none other than Bent and him has scored this season.
• A single goal by Andy Carroll has pulled Arsenal three points behind in the title race. I was watching the game and got impressed how "Arsenalised" Newcastle style of play is.
• Balotelli has already scored a double against West Ham, with Tevez playing.

Gameweek 11 Fantasy Preview

Gerrard 3-1 Napoli
The real soul of the team is looking sharp ahead of Chelsea's match-up.

The European action has been impressive this week for English clubs with Bale again single-handedly finished Inter Milan and Gerrard completed a hat-trick against Napoli from the bench. United on the other hand killed off Bursaspor with goals from youth players - Bebe and Obertan. The only loser this week is Manchester City.

Of course, what's more important this weekend is that majority of the star performers are in doubtful/injury position. Headachessss.

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PART I: PRE-MATCH ANALYSES

Who is the better 8?

Liverpool v Chelsea
First and foremost, let's see the updated injury statuses of Chelsea players:

• Lampard - 50-50
• Essien - Expected to start
• Malouda - Expected to miss

I think Essien's recovery will be crucial for the midfield battle between the two teams. I predict that there will be strong possession domination by the Blues should the Ghanaian plays.

However, I think Liverpool's formation will pretty much determine the outcome of the game. 4-5-1 with Torres alone - the Reds will most probably lose. 4-4-2 with N'gog taking Hodgson's favourite target man (Zamora) role - there's a fair chance for the home side so snatch point(s).

Of course, Kyrgiakos definitely must start to guard off Ivanovic, while Carragher and Skrtel must get rid of those unnecessary fouls inside the box.

Prediction: Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea

The Rest

• Bolton v Tottenham (2-2) - Bolton aerial offence should save them from a defeat.
• Birmingham v West Ham (2-0) - Birmingham is obviously the better team at home.
• Blackburn v Wigan (2-1) - A very close one, but I think the on-form Benjani should be able to help the Rovers to win.
• Blackpool v Everton (1-2) - Blackpool has a poor home record.
• Fulham v Aston Villa (0-1) - Dempsey has been outstanding, but Aston Villa is not Wigan.
• Man Utd v Wolves (2-0) - This should be a captain fight between Berbatov and Chicharito.
• Sunderland v Stoke City (1-0) - The Black Cats should be able to bounce from that humiliating defeat with the support of home fans.
• Arsenal v Newcastle (3-1) - Captain Chamakh or Fabregas (if he's fit). The rest of Arsenal's promising midfielders are all susceptible to rotations with so many talents like Nasri, Walcott, Arshavin, Song etc.
• West Brom v Man City (2-1) - City seems to be a different team without Tevez.

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PART II: SQUAD SELECTIONS

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez
Is he the right man?

Captain Picks

• Fabregas/Chamakh - Arsenal is more than happy to face offensive-oriented Newcastle.
• Berbatov/Javier Hernandez - With Nani out, United's attack will focus on them.

Buy-Ins

• Javier Hernandez - He has at least another month of safe starting position.

Squad of XV

GK: Foster

DF: Dann, Elmohamady, Vidic

MF: Fabregas, Arteta, Obertan, Kalou

F: Chamakh(C), Chicharito, Bent

Subs (in order): Robinson, Luke Young, Ferguson, Coleman

Captain: Chamakh

Emergency Captain: Value

Starting XI Value: £78.1m

Total Team Value: £96.9m

The Long List of Casualties Over The Week

Luis Nani
The popular fantasy captain candidate of the week will only feature on his seat.

This must be the injury week of Premier League as numerous big names suffered different degrees of body damages:

• Nani - groin
• Fletcher - ankle
• Van der Vaart - hamstring recurrence
• Joe Cole - hamstring
• Fabregas - hamstring (expected to start this weekend)
• Malouda - ankle (claimed to be able to play this weekend)

Something relieving though, all of them should only out for at most two to three weeks.

Sunday Sparks

Maximiliano Rodriguez
Says welcome to fans who thank him for the decisive goal.

Here's some brief words about what happened in the past 30 hours in English top-flight football:

• Arsenal only managed to score in final minutes for a win. Quite a sad case for me as I was captaining Chamakh. Song scored in three consecutive games. Looking good.
• Chelsea wasn't much better than their London counterpart, won by the same margin. Both Malouda and Drogba are much less striking as compared to them in the first five games. Bosingwa didn't play at all, which was another sad case for me.
• Everton won Yakubu's once-in-a-blue-moon goal. Arteta and Cahill once again gained their owners six points each.
• Dempsey fired two to become Saturday's top pointer, sitting on top of fluke-goal scorer Nani.
• Wolves shocked us with a comeback victory. Adebayor goaled through a penalty anyway.
• Nani made one and fired one to give three points to Manchester United. A quite exciting match-up with Park and Van der Vaart making on-post attempts. VdV might be out for a week or two with his in-game injury. On a side note, Berbatov also lost his sparks like Malouda and Drogba.
• Aston Villa and Birmingham played a goalless draw. Awesome for Foster-and-co owners.

Kevin Nolan
Meet the king of St James.

• Newcastle thrashed Sunderland. Amazing. Nolan wore the hat but take a look at Ameobi. Two goals and two assists. Looked much better than the consolation man (he always made an assist for me when I needed it the most) two years before. However, he will need more playing time before you can consider him.
• Liverpool won a 50-50 game. Torres was lost until the moment when N'gog was brought on. The trident of the former two and Maxi was great and it was no coincidence that the latter scored. Great job by Maxi and as usual, Kyrgiakos the tower of set pieces.