Category Archives: Player Selection
GW15 The Review!
Here is the GW15 review from @shots_on_target . For great football Stats and opinion visit http://www.shotsontarget.co.uk
Great performance from Chelsea here, taking full advantage of Chelsea’s current plight. The visitors could have been ahead and in full control of the game by half time though but failed to capitalise on Mata‘s opener, assisted by Torres for his first attacking points for an ages. Andy Carrol looks likely to miss up to 8 weeks of football now in the winter period where West Ham’s direct style of play should prove advantageous. In his absence it will be up to Cole, Nolan and Maiga to find the goals.
This result and performance is the final seal on Everton’s form this season. They are the real deal and Fellaini is a colossal threat to any team. City’s home defence has been goodt this season, one of the league’s best, so Everton’s 4 shots on target is impressive, plus their shape in defence is much improved with Gibosn back in the centre of midfield. Carlos Tevez was City’s busiest attacker but other threats in Silva and Nasri were kept very quiet.
A tremendous all round display by Swansea who bested Arsenal.at their own game. Laudrup’s men showed harmony in attack and defence to wrack up the chances and prevent them at the other end, with Michu once again the man to benefit with another big points haul in the Fantasy Premier League. The Spaniard is now joing top scorer with Van Persie and Suarez. Arsenal’s front three lacks energy and Wegner’s decision to play Gervinho over Giroud back-fired.
Much fancied Liverpool here put in the kind of performance that looks great on paper but does not put the ball in the back of the net. They dominated another game, limiting Southampton to just 1 SoT. Luis Suarez would have been heavily captained this weekend but despite numerous chances reverted to type and only hit the target the once. He did hit the crossbar though,the rebound from which led to the goal. Glen Johnson and Enrique both provide great attacking potential from the full back position to add to their clean sheet appeal.
I had expected Fulham to do well in this game and they started the brighter. The injury to Ruiz has seen Berbatov deployed in a withdrawn role supporting Petric and hence a lack of any shooting chances for the Bulgarian and an overall lack of quality for Fulham. Tottenham showed their superiority here and were very effective in turning this into scoring goals, something which Jermaine Defoe has always pretty good at.
More goals scored in this one than either team are used to although both teams performed below their oppositions average rates. A low overall shot total too, with majority of these coming from set pieces. There’s little to get excited about to be honest. Sessegnon is starting to get himself into shooting chances, Pilkington too, but for their price tags I’d look elsewhere. Sessegnon would be my one week punt for the double gameweek though, if you are so inclined.
Alex Ferguson’s men rarely fail to create headlines, whether it’s getting beat by an underdog or putting out crazy scorelines like this one. Looking at the shot totals both teams put in average overall performances, doing particlarly well at hitting the target, and then even better at scoring. Two of Reading’s three came from Nicky Shorey corners with Rooney‘s first from the spot resuting from a foul after a corner. Van Persie notched his 10th league goal this season, had another wrongly ruled out, and was United’s focal point in attack again.
Redknapp’s much sought after first win of the season for QPR did not materialise here, partly due to a stout pefromance from Villa and goalkeeper Brad Guzan, but also a lack of quality at the cutting edge of the home team’s attack. They created enough chances but the likes of Park, Taarabt and SWP are not goal scorers at this level. Aston Villa settled for a point and offered very little going forward, fair enough.
West Brom perhaps desereved a point out of this game with Dorrans providing goal threat and creativity in good measure but the Baggies don’t have have enough attacking flair or the style of play to pick apart a defence as solid and as organised as Stoke’s. Steve Clarke’s team have excelled on the counter-attack many times this season but that’s not a strategy that’s going to work against a team like Stoke who don’t attack in numbers. This should not diminish West Brom’s appeal this season but does add futher value to the Stoke defence.
Fantasy Yirma – Main League Update #FPL
The official Fantasy Yirma league, is ticking along nicely with the top 10 in our league all within the top 2000 in the game.
In first place – Rocky Ogle is in 34th place following GW15 – some achievement when you consider there are more than 2.5m entries in the overall main game !!
The league is free to enter and as with previous years there is a prize of £50 to the winner.
To Join the FY league CLICK http://fantasy.premierleague.com/my-leagues/138818/join/?autojoin-code=44397-138818
 |
1 | Rocky’s X1 | Rocky Ogle | 55 | 922 |
|
2 | TerrorToon | joe p | 54 | 908 |
 |
3 | Roderick’s X1 | Fantasy Stalwart | 72 | 889 |
|
4 | Vinny’s Vandals | Vinny Goodfield | 77 | 880 |
|
5 | Fluorescent Lampards | Eli Lourie | 73 | 879 |
 |
6 | real kaka krakers | mell hyzam | 54 | 879 |
|
7 | Nortei Nortey | Chris Galloway | 62 | 874 |
|
8 | MaushiChiGaand | Pawrush Elavia | 58 | 872 |
|
9 | Colbert Nation | Tom Kingscott | 59 | 872 |
|
10 | Jonespipe Toon | Mark Jones | 89 | 869 |
Fantasy Yirma H2H league update
Since 2007 more than 2000 people have had a go on YIRMA.
The NIFFTY LEAGUE (Northern Ireland Fantasy Football Through Yirma) started in January 2012 as an invitational Head to Head version of the main game.
Reset and raring to go for the new season NIFFTY is back!
Capped this year at 38 people we have a great mixture of Northern Ireland legends, current Internationals, local radio personalities and the 20th most influencial man in Northern Ireland…
We feel the NIFFTY League has an impressive line up!! Keith Gillespie, Warren Feeney, Grant McCann and Michael O’Connor have almost 200 International Caps for Northern Ireland and much is expected of their teams!
Alan Simpson Vs Stephen Clements is the NI radio grudge match – battle of the airwaves!! I imagine a forfeit for the loser of this pairing could be quite entertaining….
With several fantasy football enthusiasts and of course the Fantasy Yirma Admin team of @ryano83 @mark_jones86 and @pedro_lamb this league promises to throw up some good matches and produce some questionable banter on twitter.
*@ryano83
Follow us on @fantasyyirma for #NIFFTY updates
NIFFTY League players:
League Top 10 following GW15
|
1 | hotspurs | 12 | 1 | 2 | 821 | 37 |
|
2 | Haven’t Got a Kalou | 12 | 0 | 3 | 817 | 36 |
|
3 | Ninja Kagawa | 11 | 0 | 4 | 853 | 33 |
|
4 | Werder Beertent? | 11 | 0 | 4 | 791 | 33 |
|
5 | Wilkos newco | 11 | 0 | 4 | 765 | 33 |
|
6 | Lamb County | 11 | 0 | 4 | 763 | 33 |
|
7 | Summer’s Shooters | 10 | 2 | 3 | 695 | 32 |
|
8 | Cricklewood NW2 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 816 | 27 |
|
9 | Phil Dowd’s Shroud | 9 | 0 | 6 | 808 | 27 |
|
10 | FC Bull Mtn. | 9 | 0 | 6 | 759 | 27 |
Gameweek 16
Gameweek 16 preview: Will Black Cats bring good luck?
If a team is playing badly then can Fantasy bosses trust their players on a double Gameweek? We’re about to find out.
Sunderland have won just one of their last nine games, a run which has seen them slide down the table and now sit just one point and one place above the relegation zone.
It is hardly stellar form and they are results which have cast serious doubt of the future of boss Martin O’Neill, who will be desperate to pick up at least one positive result in the days ahead as his team face two very different challenges.
First up is Chelsea on Saturday, and with Rafael Benitez struggling to adapt to the very peculiar demands of the Stamford Bridge hotseat – in the Premier League at least – then the Black Cats are likely to fancy their chances ahead of that and their second game of the week against Reading on Tuesday.
Fantasy bosses who are playing the long game will have had Steven Fletcher (£7.2m) in mind for this Gameweek for as long as Sunderland’s game against the Royals was called off due to excessive rain in the north east in August – a common occurrence there – but with the Scot struggling with an ankle injury then it might pay to switch those sights to Stephane Sessegnon (£7.4m) now.
This season the Benin international might not have hit the heights that he regularly found during his last campaign when he registered seven goals and 12 assists, but there have been signs that he’s returning to form recently and whatever Sunderland do over their next 180 minutes is likely to heavily involve him.
Fletcher, Adam Johnson (£6.8m), Craig Gardner (£4.9m), Carlos Cuellar (£4.6m) and goalkeeper Simon Mignolet (£5.1m) are others to keep an eye during Sunderland’s heavy workload, but it is next Tuesday’s opponents Reading who might offer the greater value for your Fantasy cash.
A Saturday match at fellow strugglers Southampton is followed by that Sunderland meeting next week for Brian McDermott’s men, and with forward Adam Le Fondre (£4.9m) forcing himself to the front of Reading’s queue of forwards in recent weeks the 26-year-old could be seen as an inexpensive gamble.
Reading will fancy their chances of finding the net against their two red and white striped opponents, with Le Fondre, Jason Roberts (£4.5m), Jobi McAnuff (£5.1m) and Hal Robson-Kanu (£4.3m) all offering the chance of cheap thrills for your side. At the back, defender Sean Morrison (£4.0m) has come into the team in recent weeks and showed an eye for goal.
With neither of the teams involved in the double Gameweek looking particularly convincing, you might be tempted to look at the teams playing in the regulation one, with the biggest one of those coming at the Etihad Stadium.
The Manchester derby is probably even tougher to call than the usual big name Premier League tussles, but with Wayne Rooney (£11.7m) finally finding his goalscoring form at Reading last week then he’ll be one to watch. Sergio Aguero (£11.0m) started Manchester City’s last two games on the bench and so will surely be turned to from the beginning for the hosts.
In Sunday’s other matches it can’t have escaped Fantasy players’ notice that Tottenham are likely to be missing Gareth Bale for their trip to Everton whilst Luis Suarez (£10.5m) is banned for Liverpool’s visit to West Ham, a state of affairs which could see midfielder Jonjo Shelvey (£5.2m) start upfront and Jose Enrique (£6.0m) pushed up to the left wing again.
A day earlier and up in North London, Arsenal will want to emerge from their latest crisis at home to West Brom and can do if forward Olivier Giroud (£8.5m) is handed a start.
The Frenchman had scored three goals in his previous two home games before being left on the bench for last weekend’s loss to Swansea – Michu is now up to £7.8m ahead of their game at home to Norwich by the way – and if Arsene Wenger turns to his summer signing then he could find that his team gain a bit of luck in front of goal.
Luck which should be on everyone’s wish list this weekend and beyond.
Gameweek 15: NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS!!!
| 01 Dec 12:45 | West Ham |  |
3 – 1 |  |
Chelsea |
| 01 Dec 15:00 | Arsenal |  |
0 – 2 |  |
Swansea |
| 01 Dec 15:00 | Fulham |  |
0 – 3 |  |
Tottenham |
|
|
|||||||||||
| 01 Dec 15:00 | Liverpool |  |
1 – 0 |  |
Southampton | ||||||
|
|||||||||||
| 01 Dec 15:00 | Man City |  |
1 – 1 |  |
Everton | ||||||
| 01 Dec 15:00 | QPR |  |
1 – 1 |  |
Aston Villa | ||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
| 01 Dec 17:30 | Reading |  |
3 – 4 |  |
Man Utd | ||||||
| 02 Dec 16:00 | Norwich |  |
2 – 1 |  |
Sunderland | ||||||
|
|||||||||||
| 03 Dec 20:00 | Newcastle |  |
v |  |
Wigan | ||||||
|
|||||
GW14 NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS!!
| 27 Nov 19:45 | Sunderland | |
0 – 0 | |
QPR |
|
|
|||||
| 27 Nov 20:00 | Aston Villa | |
1 – 0 | |
Reading |
|
|
|||||
| 28 Nov 19:45 | Chelsea | |
0 – 0 | |
Fulham |
|
|
|||||
| 28 Nov 19:45 | Everton | |
1 – 1 | |
Arsenal |
|
|
|||||
| 28 Nov 19:45 | Southampton | |
1 – 1 | |
Norwich |
|
|
|||||
| 28 Nov 19:45 | Stoke City |  |
2 – 1 | |
Newcastle |
|
|
|||||
| 28 Nov 19:45 | Swansea | |
3 – 1 |  |
West Brom |
|
|
|||||
| 28 Nov 19:45 | Tottenham | |
2 – 1 | |
Liverpool |
|
|
|||||
| 28 Nov 20:00 | Man Utd | |
1 – 0 | |
West Ham |
|
|||||
| 28 Nov 20:00 | Wigan | |
0 – 2 | |
Man City |
|
|
|||||
Gameweek 15 preview: The case for the defence – Volume II
After our Gameweek 8 focus on some of the men who ply their trade at the back, the case for the defence has been reopened ahead of a weekend which is likely to see defenders prove as important as ever.
Scrappy Gameweeks 13 and 14 saw clean sheets and defensive bonus points become vital, and if you can get your hands on a player who will provide both as well as offering an attacking threat then it’s wise to hold onto him. Fortunately there is one currently stationed on Liverpool’s left wing.
Just how long Brendan Rodgers continues with his efforts to transform Jose Enrique (£5.9m) into the new Gareth Bale remains to be seen, but the Liverpool manager’s selection of the Spaniard ahead of converted left-back Stewart Downing in his side’s last two games shows that this is an experiment which is set to last.
Ever since taking up the left midfield role in the second half of Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea in Gameweek 11, Enrique has carried a greater goal threat than any other Reds player bar Luis Suarez. He almost scored in that Chelsea game, provided a goal and an assist in the win over Wigan, had an effort controversially disallowed at Swansea and came close numerous times in Wednesday’s loss at Tottenham.
With Southampton visiting Anfield on Saturday the home crowd will be expecting their underachieving team to both create plenty of chances and keep it tight at the back, two elements of their game that could see Enrique pick up plenty of points. He could even be a left-field left-sided captaincy choice for the brave and the bold amongst you.
Whilst the former Newcastle man is a familiar face to Fantasy players thanks to his five-and-a-half years in the English game, there is also a relative newcomer who could also be worth considering this weekend.
Manchester City’s Matija Nastasic (£5.5m) will need no introduction to Joleon Lescott after the young Serbian took the England defender’s place in the City team, and after starting City’s last six league games the 19-year-old looks here to stay.
The champions have kept five clean sheets in those six matches, and whilst Nastasic’s team-mate Pablo Zabaleta (£5.8m) is another name to consider as an alternative to the expensive Vincent Kompany (£7.2m), the Serb’s price only looks like rising throughout the campaign as City’s title challenge seemingly grows stronger. City’s defenders do come with a warning of a fixture list which sees them face Everton and Manchester United in their next two matches, but Nastasic might just be worth the risk.
Elsewhere as we continue our look at the men at the back, perhaps the weekend’s best chance of a stalemate – Gold-dust when we conduct these cases for the defence – comes at Loftus Road where QPR face Aston Villa in a contest which will see Ryan Nelsen (£4.0m) marshal the home defence and Villa’s Matthew Lowton (£4.5m), Ciaran Clark and Eric Lichaj (both £4.4m) all feature for the visitors.
Manchester United left out Rio Ferdinand (£5.9m) for the midweek win over West Ham at Old Trafford, with full-backs Patrice Evra (£6.8m) and Rafael (£6.5m) perhaps the only two certain starters for their Saturday evening trip to Reading, whilst Chelsea seem to have no problem keeping clean sheets under Rafael Benitez, with Ashley Cole (£6.5) certain to be a key part of the attempt to keep a third in a row as they go to West Ham.
If you need a cheaper option though then it might pay to head to North London, where Per Mertesacker (£5.3m) has started Arsenal’s last eight matches and popped up with a goal in the Gameweek 12 win over Tottenham.
The Gunners have only kept two clean sheets in those eight matches, but they’ll expect to be on the front foot as Swansea visit the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, whilst the return from suspension of Fabricio Coloccini (£5.0m) should shore up Newcastle’s back-line for Monday night’s visit of Wigan.
Gameweek 14 preview: Time for some Silva service?
The first solely midweek Gameweek of the season could be one to separate the men and women from the boys and girls, with Tuesday evening’s deadline perhaps catching out one or two of you who live for your Fantasy weekends.
Luckily for Manchester City they’ve got someone who they can rely on any day of the week, although admittedly David Silva (£9.4m) didn’t start this campaign in the same stellar form he showed for the champions in the majority of the last one.
Call it a hangover from the summer’s European Championships – another trophy to his name – if you want, but whatever it was it simply wasn’t allowing the Spaniard to come to the fore in the manner that he normally does, and it has subsequently seen him only included in just over 6% of Fantasy teams.
That could all be about to change though, as after a trademark creative display and a goal against Aston Villa recently he looks to be ready to rediscover past glories.
We’ll overlook Sunday’s drab draw at Chelsea – most of the players did so it’s only fair – and so City will now be eyeing three points from Wednesday’s trip to Wigan, where Silva will no doubt be expecting to shine.
The Latics are capable of scoring goals but also of conceding them too, and with Carlos Tevez (£9.4m) surely expected to return to the starting line-up after being left out at Chelsea, Silva will be the man looking to provide him with the service needed to shoot down the home side.
Elsewhere, after their defeat at Tottenham on Sunday surely the last place that West Ham would want to go now would be Old Trafford, and Sam Allardyce and his side will head for Manchester knowing that they’ll have a huge task on their hands to emerge with anything.
QPR may have set home hearts fluttering with the opening goal against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side on Saturday, but the hosts responded with three strikes of their own – although crucially none were from Robin van Persie (£13.7m).
The Dutchman rarely goes two games without finding the net, and so he looks a good bet to pick up some points as United attempt to do the same ahead of their summit meeting with City at the Etihad Stadium in a week-and-a-half’s time.
Also this midweek, Liverpool’s improving defence will find it tough to contain Tottenham’s Gareth Bale (£9.7m) and Jermain Defoe (£7.8m) at White Hart Lane, whilst Everton will be banking on the return of Marouane Fellaini (£7.6m) to scare Arsenal as the Belgian comes back from suspension at Goodison Park.
The improved form of one of last season’s must-haves Stephane Sessegnon (£7.3m) will threaten to spoil Harry Redknapp’s welcome party at QPR as Rangers go to Sunderland, whilst Rafael Benitez will really feel the heat at Chelsea if the Blues can’t beat local rivals Fulham at Stamford Bridge. Juan Mata (£9.6m) may have had a couple of fruitless weeks but still remains their most likely matchwinner.
Aston Villa and Reading haven’t won many matches between them this season, and it will be the hosts who’ll fancy taking the three points from their meeting at Villa Park on Tuesday – particularly if Brett Holman (£5.5m) and Andreas Weimann (£5.2m) impress.
Charlie Adam (£6.6m) has scored the winner in each of Stoke’s last two home games and so he is the form man to keep an eye on ahead of the visit of Newcastle to the Potteries, whilst Pablo Hernandez (£6.1m) and Zoltan Gera (£5.0m) could be the men to watch as Swansea host West Brom.
It might be worth keeping an eye on events further south as well, as improving Southampton bid for a third successive victory when they host Norwich at St Mary’s.
Gaston Ramirez (£6.0m) scored in the weekend win over Newcastle, and he’ll be looking to find the net again against an admittedly solid Norwich outfit, but one who could be missing goalkeeper John Ruddy (£4.7m) through injury.
Fantasy Yirma Competiton… from @FPLmanager
Many thanks to @FPLmanager from www.fplmanager.co.uk for providing us with 3 free copies of his great #FPL app to give away.
Have a look at his app – only 69p now and available on Iphone, Ipad and Ipod Touch
To enter the draw to win simply Tweet the following –
“Chance to win 1 of 3 copies of the #fpl app from @fplmanager simply RT this tweet @FantasyYirma visit http://www.fantasyyirma.com RT”
Draw will be made before the start of GW14… Good luck to all
FPL Manager a fantastic Fantasy Football App that players of the Official Barclays Fantasy Premier League have been waiting for!
- Management of all your team(s) using native iOS and no webpages
- Beautifully designed with no superfluous screens
- Squad changes and transfers done easily with the tap of a finger
- Advanced player sorting and filtering ensures finding the player you need is effortless
- Get the edge on your rivals with all the latest news, tweets, tips and tricks
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later. WiFi, Edge, or 3G network connection required.
You can download the app from iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/fpl-manager/id398329284?mt=8
Gameweek 13 preview: Biting the hand that used to feed him?
Running into an ex is never the most comfortable of experiences, but it usually makes you want to prove that you’re doing well for yourself.
Take Jermain Defoe (£7.8m) this weekend, as the Spurs forward faces up to a West Ham outfit he once represented.
The faces, names and replica shirts will have changed, but the frosty reception that Defoe will get from the away fans at White Hart Lane will make him determined to get one over on his former employers, and provided that he comes through Thursday evening’s Europa League tie with Lazio in one piece then he is certain to start on Sunday afternoon and beyond given that Emmanuel Adebayor’s brain explosion at the Emirates Stadium last Saturday leaves Tottenham a little thin up top for their next three fixtures (West Ham H, Liverpool H, Fulham A).
Whilst ‘biting the hand that used to feed you’ is an expression that Defoe may have taken a little too literally when he has faced up to West Ham in the past, with the help of the likes of Gareth Bale (£9.7m) and Aaron Lennon (£7.0m) around him this time he could cause some damage to a West Ham side who admittedly start the weekend ahead of Spurs in the table.
A home win at White Hart Lane would change all that though, and Defoe looks to be central to Tottenham’s hopes of achieving that as the England forward hopes to leave his former love pining for him.
Mark Hughes is another who’ll be taking on a former club this weekend, although the QPR boss will probably wish that he was anywhere other than Old Trafford.
With pressure mounting on the Welshman following the dismal 3-1 loss at home to Southampton last weekend, Hughes heads to Manchester still in the hottest of Rangers hotseats despite a week which brought about rumours of his demise.
Having not won in 12 league matches this season then Old Trafford would be a fine place for QPR to strike a lucky thirteenth, but that is incredibly unlikely and the home side should be backed to leave their ex-forward with more than a few regrets.
That should of course mean more points for Robin van Persie (£13.7m), but if you can’t afford the Dutchman then it is well worth keeping an eye on the fitness of Wayne Rooney (£11.7m), who should return to the Manchester United starting XI against opponents that he scored home and away against last season.
Others bumping into old friends include Brendan Rodgers, who takes Liverpool to Swansea in a match which could prove to be a shootout between Luis Suarez (£10.3m) and Michu (£7.3m), and Rafael Benitez, who returns to the Premier League and is reunited with Fernando Torres (£9.6m) at Chelsea.
There will be those who feel that Benitez will instantly restore Torres to the player of old, but putting him back in your team does come with the warning that Chelsea will miss out on Gameweek 17 due to World Club Championship commitments, whilst they also face the tough test posed by champions Manchester City this weekend.
Elsewhere, there will be those wondering what to do with the absence of Marouane Fellaini through suspension for Everton’s game with Norwich – not least David Moyes – and whilst Steven Naismith (£5.9m) might be worth a gamble were he listed as a midfielder, perhaps the absence of the big Belgian will see former Everton goalkeeper John Ruddy (£4.7m) – another visiting old friends – keep a fourth straight clean sheet and a fifth in six games.
Further forward, Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla (£9.4m) might not have any connection to Aston Villa, but after three goals and two assists in the Gunners’ six away games this season then he’ll be worth keeping an eye on at Villa Park, whilst Stoke’s Jonathan Walters (£6.3m) and Charlie Adam (£6.6m) could exploit Fulham’s frequent away struggles at the Britannia Stadium, and having broken his goalscoring duck last weekend then Stephane Sessegnon (£7.3m) will look to shine as Sunderland host West Brom.
FantasyYIRMA - Fantasy Football FPL 