Monthly Archives: April 2013
Fantasy Football GW34 preview: Has Michu’s magic returned?
The sun is shining and Michu (£8.0m) is scoring goals. It suddenly feels like August again doesn’t it?
Swansea’s Spaniard made one of the most spectacular entrances into Fantasy Premier League that we can remember, scoring four goals in his first three games and finishing the year 2012 on 13 strikes. All whilst handily listed as a midfielder.
The goals saw his Fantasy price rocket up from an initial £6.5m, with his ownership percentage increasing each week as a result. However since a goal against Manchester United just before Christmas, Michu has scored just four in 12 games since then. As a player who doesn’t contribute many assists (just two in that time and three all season), the Spaniard started to lose support.
The early season additions to many teams still sees his ownership percentage at a huge 44.1%, above the likes of Luis Suarez (39.8%), Robin van Persie (37.8%) and indeed everyone else, and after a recent return to goalscoring form there will be even more managers who are willing to take him on board in the closing weeks of the season.
Strikes against Tottenham and Norwich in the past two weeks have taken Michu’s tally to 17 goals this campaign, and after Swansea missed out on playing last weekend he has a double gameweek on the horizon in a bid to find even more.
This weekend though he faces a home game against a Southampton side who have failed to win away at a team ranked above them in the table all season, and so Michael Laudrup’s side will be confident of delivering a victory which will keep them in the top half of the table.
Michu is almost certain to be key to those hopes.
Elsewhere on a Saturday which is likely to go a long way towards determining who will be relegated this season, Norwich host a struggling Reading outfit who still look set to go down despite goalkeeper Alex McCarthy (£3.9m) earning them a point from a goalless draw with Liverpool last weekend.
Like Michu, Robert Snodgrass (£6.3m) scored in the last game at Carrow Road – Norwich’s 2-2 draw with Swansea – and the Scottish midfielder is likely to be a key element to the Canaries’ attempts to break down the Royals on Saturday, when Snodgrass will be looking to improve on his record of five goals and six assists this season.
FA Cup finalists Wigan are another side battling the drop, and although they could find it tough this weekend as they return to London to face West Ham, they do so offer intriguing cheap forward options in Arouna Kone (£6.6m) and Callum McManaman (£4.5m).
QPR simply have to beat struggling Stoke if any hope of them staying up is to remain, and so Loic Remy (£5.9m) is certain to be one to watch, whilst Sunderland’s Adam Johnson (£6.7m) is sure to be key to his side’s hopes of a second successive win as they host a strong Everton outfit.
Sunday’s matches bring together four of the top seven in a couple of big-hitting clashes, and whilst Tottenham will be hoping for the return to fitness of Gareth Bale (£10.5m) ahead of their match against Manchester City, it is a return to form that Suarez (£11.1m) will be after as Liverpool host Chelsea. After hitting 11 goals in 10 matches, the Uruguayan now hasn’t managed any in his last four.
Monday night will see Manchester United expect a victory from their home clash with Aston Villa, and whilst Van Persie (£13.6m) managed to find the net for the first time in 12 and a half hours of football for United against Stoke last weekend, it could be Wayne Rooney (£12.1m) who steals the show this time.
Stationed in a deeper role against Stoke, Rooney will be determined to return to a position further forward here, and he could just make struggling Villa pay.
Everton: More fuel required (@Mark_Jones86)
It was there again on Tuesday night, that famous battling spirit that David Moyes has instilled in Everton and watched grow for the past 11 years.
The Blues battled to a goalless draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in a match that was very much a contrast of styles but one played out with all the passion and intensity of the best Premier League contests.
It was the second of back-to-back draws that Everton have played out at the home of the two North London clubs who they have been battling with to secure a top four place all season, and whilst such results would no doubt be looked upon favourably earlier in the campaign there was a sense that they simply weren’t enough now.
With five matches left, Everton sit four points off third-placed Arsenal and two behind Chelsea and Tottenham sides who at the time of writing have two and one games in hand on Moyes’ men respectively.
Everton face a tricky trip to a revitalised Sunderland, a Merseyside derby at Anfield – where they’ve not won this century – and a final day visit to Chelsea before the season is out, leaving their hopes of reaching European football’s elite competition for the second time under Moyes somewhat hanging by a thread.
Despite using the least amount of players in the Premier League, undoubtedly this has been the most consistent season that the Blues have enjoyed under the Scot, and that probably makes it the best.
Their uncharacteristically lightning quick start all sparked from an opening weekend win over Manchester United, and from there they only seemed to grow stronger and stronger.
The likes of Leighton Baines, Marouane Fellaini, Steven Pienaar and recently Kevin Mirallas have turned in performances that indicate they’d look at home in any team in the division, and there is a real sense that Everton are performing as best they can right now. That though, could present a problem.
Although not widely covered in the mainstream media, Everton’s fans are desperate for investment in a club which needs a financial injection to move forward.
Current chairman Bill Kenwright is undoubtedly a fine man judging by the speech he gave at this week’s Hillsborough memorial service at Anfield, but in this age of billionaires and with the money swirling around the Premier League an old fashioned, homegrown owner such as him simply can’t compete. He and his team have been punching above their weight.
Investment in that team is what is needed now, especially as Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are all likely to strengthen over the summer, whilst Liverpool continue to gain in momentum and confidence following their rocky few years.
At the moment, Everton are going flat out to keep up with them all. There has to be a question over whether or not they can sustain that going into a new season.
As well as facing the battle to keep hold of his key men, Moyes – if of course he stays at the club – must also come up with a couple of squad additions that will both freshen the Blues up and keep them at the level they’ve shown this season. Anything less and there is a danger that there won’t be an awful lot left in the tank.
Young talents like Ross Barkley and Seamus Coleman, as well as the improvement of Victor Anichebe mean that the club is certainly showing promise, but what use is that when you’ve run out of gas?
If Everton thought it was tough to keep up with the big boys this season then that is only likely to get even tougher next time around, and they’ll need reinforcements to do that.
That tank deserves to be filled based on this season’s efforts alone.
Premier League Results: STAT-TASTIC!
GW33 Match Centre (Part One)
From @Shots_on_Target
With another 360+ of Premier League football to come it could still all happen for your players.
This was about to be the biggest shock of the weekend until a strange and unfortunate penalty decision allowed Arsenal to get back in it at 1-1. After then the floodgates opened, and in truth they probably would have anyway. Oliver Giroud (my hero) absolutely stole the show from the much fancied Cazorla here. He managed an assist (not shown in data) as well as his goal and his key stats tell you the story.
A somewhat professional performance from Everton you could say, doing enough to get a comfortable win without trying too hard, and getting a rare clean sheet in the process. Kevin Mirallas is a genuine quality player and some say the best Belgian at Everton. He and Victor Anichebe are two strong fantasy options from the Merseyside club, Anichebe particularly. I had a good hard look at him myself around January but felt Jelavic would reclaim the striker’s spot, which he did, but Anichebe’s forced his way back into the team on merit and at just £4.3m is an absolute steal. If you own him this DGW well done you.
Fulham scored a goal without having a shot on target, thanks to Delph’s own goal. Fulham puzzle me, It’s rare for a team with an attacking philosophy to register such a low number of shots in a game, something they’ve done many times this season. Charles N’Zogbia has been a fairly steady player of late, and Benteke of course we all know about.
The Mackem fans are in love with Di Canio after this game but they probably got lucky when Pappis Cisse’s goal was ruled out. They certainly had their tails up though and I’m sure a man as outspoken and flamboyant a player as Di Canio would have sent them out on a high. No-one player really stands out though from their team and I think this might just have been a result written in the stars.
Southampton have been playing well recently as you know, but without really setting the world on fire. West Ham too. Here both teams played out for a score draw which would have been an educated guess before hand. Andy Carrol has playing well but comes with a hefty FPL price tag. Gaston Ramirez‘ much reduced price tag now a better option than Puncheon and Scheiderlin in this team, as well as Jay Rodriguez of course, who was benched here due to illness only I believe.
A very rare performance from Carrick here saw him shooting from inside the penalty box three times and scoring a goal, completely outperforming the other so called attacking players in the team. Kagawa, Valencia registering nothing of fantasy interest at all. It’s still about Van Persie for United, despite growing interest in Rooney, again in midfield and not managing to get a shot off inside the box.
If Arsenal was almost the shock of the weekend then this result was the real thing. A phenomenal display in goal from Reading’s McCarthy making 12 saves! The main fantasy story here though is Liverpool and Suarez’ blanks, against all the odds. This is the highest number of shots on target a team has had this season without scoring a goal. Liverpool had that record before this game too, registering 9 SoT without scoring away at Swansea in GW13. On average this season when team’s have 9 or 10 shots on target they’ve averaged 2.95 goals.
As always you can check out @Shots_on_target at http://www.shotsontarget.co.uk . Consistently providing top insight and FPL statistics!!
Fantasy Football GW33: Bonus Points!
Gameweek 33 has been interesting so far, that much is for sure!
Hands up if you had a midfield four of Arteta, Gibson, Adam Johnson and N’Zogbia…
What nobody?? 😉
The first half of the double gameweek has passed, with four games to go there is still plenty of points to play for. The average score as we stand on Sunday evening is a paltry 24 points and with that many hopes are left with the remaining fixtures.
Looking at the players involved in the Double Gameweek, Carroll came out of the first fixture with Maximum bonus points with Giroud, Van Persie and Anichebe taking 2pts each to round up a good first game for the DGW strikers on show.
Elsewhere owners of Michael Carrick were rewarded with a goal, CS and 3 welcome bonus points in the Sunday game.
1 major talking point this gameweek has to be one of the goalkeeping performances of the season from Alex Mc Carthy for Reading against Liverpool. How this keeper has came away with this game with only 1 Bonus Point is a complete mystery. Carlsberg don’t do bonus points, but if they did they would have given him 4!
I think the bonus points awarding system has to change. It is a travesty in my opinion that McCarthy didn’t claim maximum bonus yesterday, he was without a doubt the man of the match and without whom Liverpool would have taken 3 points.
Lets hear your thoughts on the Bonus system – Do you agree? Do you disagree ? What would you change?
| 13 Apr 15:00 | Arsenal |  |
3 – 1 |  |
Norwich |
| 13 Apr 15:00 | Aston Villa |  |
1 – 1 |  |
Fulham |
| 13 Apr 15:00 | Everton |  |
2 – 0 |  |
QPR |
| 13 Apr 15:00 | Reading |  |
0 – 0 |  |
Liverpool |
| 13 Apr 15:00 | Southampton |  |
1 – 1 |  |
West Ham |
| 14 Apr 12:00 | Newcastle |  |
0 – 3 |  |
Sunderland |
| 14 Apr 14:05 | Stoke City |  |
0 – 2 |  |
Man Utd |
|
|||||
| 16 Apr 19:45 | Arsenal
|
|
v | |
Everton
|
| 17 Apr 19:45 | Man City
|
 |
v |  |
Wigan |
| 17 Apr 19:45 | West Ham
Jaaskelainen |
|
v | |
Man Utd
Valencia 3 RVP 2
|
| 17 Apr 20:00 | Fulham | |
v |  |
Chelsea
Bonus Terry 3 Luiz 2 Moses 1 |
Fantasy Football: GW32 Stats Round Up
Gameweek 33 will be pivotal to many FPL managers with 5 teams having 2 Games.
Here are the stats from GW32 to help you make your mind up.
Many thanks as always to @Shots_on_Target.
GW32 Match Centre
#FYCUP Round 3 Details!
If you were lucky enough to make it through Round 2 of the #FYCUP your team name will be listed below.
Each of the remaining 64 teams has been given a number between 1-64. The draw for Round 3 is complete.
Only fixtures announced on FantasyYIRMA.com are valid. The fixtures on the PL.com mini-league site relate to a H2H league over 8 weeks which with 256 original players obviously would not work! 🙂
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
The generous folks from @AdvertisingWeek have been in contact and offered to add £50 to the prize pot!!
To try and keep it fair I have decided to split the £50 with £25 going to the overall winner and £25 going to the Bonus prize winner (In Addition to the already great prize pot in place from our #FYCUP sponsors @StanJames !!!
ROUND 3 FIXTURES IN FULL…
Fantasy Football GW33 Preview: Arsenal pair can offer double delight
The business end of the season has already both approached and made its presence felt, and as if that wasn’t ramping up the pressure enough this Gameweek has an added element of complications about it.
Whilst some teams such as Tottenham and Swansea will go through Gameweek 33 without a fixture, others – five others to be exact – are playing twice.
For Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Fulham and West Ham a double Gameweek lies in store, and of those sides it is arguably the Champions League-chasing Gunners who offer the best chance for Fantasy points.
Home matches against Norwich and Everton over the next week will go a long way towards confirming whether or not Arsenal will finish in the top four come the end of this season, and two of Arsene Wenger’s men in particular could end up having a huge say in whether or not that becomes a reality.
Both Santi Cazorla (£10.0m) and Olivier Giroud (£7.6m) have impressed at various points over their first season in English football; the Spaniard no doubt more often that the Frenchman admittedly, although both can shine over the next few days.
Four of Cazorla’s last five Gunners league goals have come at the Emirates Stadium, whilst a staggering nine out of Giroud’s 10 Premier League goals this season have come on his home turf.
Both men clearly like their home comforts, and with these back-to-back matches in North London offering them the chance to further improve their records in front of their own fans, then the pair should really be backed to do well for both Arsene Wenger and for you too.
Elsewhere across a Gameweek which has been affected by the FA Cup semi-finals, Manchester United will be seeking to recover from their loss to rivals Manchester City with back-to-back games which could help them seal the title.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men face tough contests though, firstly at a Stoke City side who are fighting for their lives at the bottom before a trip to West Ham in midweek.
With both matches looking to be on the tight, uncompromising side then it could pay to back United’s defensive players as opposed to their more famous attackers.
Goalkeeper David de Gea (£5.8m) had kept six clean sheets in a row prior to the City loss, whilst Rafael (£6.2m) completed 90 minutes for the first time in three games in the same fixture.
It could be a former United player who enjoys his double Gameweek a little more though.
Dimitar Berbatov (£7.3m) has scored five in his last five, and with the Bulgarian facing matches against a leaky Aston Villa defence and then a tired Chelsea he could just be the man to make the difference for Martin Jol’s men.
The forward has also scored four in his last four Craven Cottage appearances, and so it might be the Chelsea game which really sees him catch fire following Fulham’s visit to Villa Park.
Of the other clubs who are playing two matches this Gameweek, the return of Andy Carroll (£8.2m) to the West Ham side and of both Marouane Fellaini (£7.4m) and Steven Pienaar (£6.6m) at Everton should be noted, although the Blues’ other Belgian Kevin Mirallas (£6.8m) has been the man to watch following three goals in his last four games. Sadly he’s listed as a forward.
Elsewhere, Liverpool’s Luis Suarez (£11.2m) will be backed to cause damage to a frequently creaky Reading defence at the Madejski Stadium, whilst Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse (£8.8m) has rediscovered a scoring touch recently and will be looking to score for the fourth St James’s Park appearance running in Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby against Paolo Di Canio’s Sunderland.
In midweek, Manchester City will hope to keep up their momentum following the win at Old Trafford, and Sergio Aguero (£10.9m) should start against Wigan following his Manchester derby heroics.
If he does, there could be more goals in the horizon.
Follow @FantasyYIRMA on twitter for updates and chat during the games. Shoot us your FPL questions and queries on twitter or in the comments below. Best of luck this GW!
@Mark_Jones86: Cup semi-finalists deserve more credit
This year has seen one of the better FA Cup competitions in recent memory.
The high-profile shocks have never been too far away, with Liverpool losing to Oldham, Arsenal bowing out at home to Blackburn and Brentford taking Chelsea to a replay.
It can be too easy to focus on the top sides and their efforts in the competition though.
Chelsea’s remarkable FA Cup run has continued with a run to yet another semi-final, with last year’s Cup winners now holding an astonishing record which has seen them unbeaten in 90 minutes in the competition since a loss to Barnsley in 2008.
They’ll face the 2011 Cup winners Manchester City in Sunday’s semi-final in a tie which brings together the winners of the last four FA Cups. It is also a tie which will have an air of a final about it, given the fact that there would have to be a huge shock in May’s showpiece event if whichever of the duo who wins on Sunday doesn’t end up holding the Cup aloft.
That’s because the line-up in the other semi-final would have been impossible to predict.
No-one would have envisaged seeing Wigan Athletic and Millwall walk out side-by-side early on Saturday evening, and perhaps most tellingly not many people would have wanted to.
We’ve spoken on how Wigan don’t get enough credit for their remarkable, logic-defying stay in the top-flight before, and that lack of respect can be traced in the reaction to their Cup run too.
Within minutes of their superb quarter-final demolition of Everton at Goodison Park – as good a performance as you could wish to see against one of the better teams in the division this season – the old cracks about Wigan supporters not filling Wembley were evident.
Yet the club are no stranger to the big events.
It was only 2006 when they reached the League Cup final against Manchester United in Cardiff, whilst they have been routinely performing well at the big Premier League grounds for the past few years.
As ever, an obsession with just how many fans are there to watch the team play is likely to be seen again over the weekend, but Wigan is a small place to begin with, and they have been competing with big boys such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City on their doorstep all their lives. A second major final inside a decade awaits them on Saturday. To date, Everton and City have only reached one.
In the other corner, reasons for a dislike of Millwall are a little more sinister, but a win for the 2004 FA Cup finalists would also see them be able to boast about two final appearances in a decade.
However for years the club have been a byword for supporter behaviour that can be regarded as less than welcoming.
As football fans we have a tendency to group our opinions on fellow supporters by whichever team they follow – “all Arsenal fans think like this, all Ayr United fans think like that” etc – but is it too far-fetched to look little deeper?
Speaking from personal experience as someone who has moved from the north to live in a heartland of Millwall supporters, the vast majority I’ve met are just football fans like you or I. Of course there are those who you’d steer clear of, but that’s part of life and not just football.
Mud sticks though, and so there will be many who don’t want either team to win on Saturday because of circumstances beyond the actual football clubs’ control.
But both Roberto Martinez and Kenny Jackett have done excellent jobs at their respective clubs, the players from both sides have excelled in reaching Wembley and the fans deserve their day out and the prospect of another one in May.
After all, these two clubs are one of the main reasons why this year’s FA Cup has rediscovered a bit of its magic.
#FYCUP ROUND 2: THE RESULTS
JKLJFDKL
Well done to the winners from round 2 of the #FYCUP !!
Difficult week with points hard to come by this week.
Well done to team “Jingle Bale” with the highest weekly score of 58. You have won a free FPL app courtesy of @FFMiphone. Contact me at FantasyYIRMA@hotmail.com or @FantasyYIRMA on twitter to claim your prize.
The draw for round 3 will be made on Thursday 10th April in time for GW32.
ONLY FIXTURES LISTED ON FantasyYIRMA.com ARE VALID FOR THE CUP!!!
R
Fantasy Football GW32: Nothing but Bonus Points!
Well GW32 was a high scoring week…eh?? #Tumbleweed….
Actually, no – not at all – Very low scoring week all round!
Here’s a breakdown of the Bonus points from this weekend and including the Manchester Derby.
Rodriguez deservedly picked up the maximum bonus for a strong performance for Southampton this week. He has now averaged a massive 10 pts per GW from 30-32 (9-9-12) Fantastic return from a budget priced striker who is available at the minute for 5.2m. With less than 2% ownership he has been a huge differential in recent weeks as tipped in our recent preview.
Elsewhere Benteke continues to impress picking up a goal and 2 bonus points in Villa’s 3-1 win over Stoke. He has been steadily consistent in recent weeks.
Rosicky and Gervinho for Arsenal may not be thought of by many as the key attackers at the best of time. Rosicky being unfortunate with injuries and Gervinho’s form being sparadic at the best of times but both performed well against WBA and while Rosicky scored 2 and took maximum bonus points Gervinho has now 2 goals 3 assists and a 9pt average from his last 3 games… Arsenal have a DGW33 coming up. Could this run continue?
Defenders came up tops for West Ham, Everton and Chelsea with Collins, Jagielka and Ivanovic getting the Maximum bonus points on offer against Liverpool, Spurs and Sunderland respectively.
Maloney’s last gasp equaliser for Wigan saw him walk away with an important point for his club and 3 bonus points also.
A fantastic strike from Aguero on as a second half Sub was enough for 2 bonus points with Milner taking the maximum in the Manchester Derby.
What do you make of the Bonus points this week? Did they get them right? Tweet us @FantasyYIRMA with your thoughts!
Ryan
| 06 Apr 12:45 | Reading | |
0 – 2 | |
Southampton |
| 06 Apr 15:00 | Norwich | |
2 – 2 |  |
Swansea |
| 06 Apr 15:00 | Stoke City | |
1 – 3 | |
Aston Villa |
|
|||||
| 06 Apr 15:00 | West Brom |  |
1 – 2 | |
Arsenal |
| 07 Apr 13:30 | Liverpool | |
0 – 0 | |
West Ham |
| 07 Apr 14:05 | Tottenham |  |
2 – 2 | |
Everton |
| 07 Apr 15:00 | Chelsea | |
2 – 1 | |
Sunderland |
| 07 Apr 15:00 | Newcastle | |
1 – 0 | |
Fulham |
|
|||||
| 07 Apr 16:10 | QPR | |
1 – 1 | |
Wigan |
| 08 Apr 20:00 | Man Utd | |
1 – 2 | |
Man City |
|
Bonus
Milner 3
Aguero 2
Zabaleta 2
|
|||||
FantasyYIRMA - Fantasy Football FPL 