Sunderland: Consistently inconsistent
What to make of Sunderland’s season? It depends what mood you and they are in.
There probably isn’t a more suitable nickname in the Premier League than the one adopted by the men from the Stadium of Light. Black cats are either considered lucky or unlucky depending on what culture you adopt, and the Black Cats from the north-east are either good or bad too.
Mackems supporters are likely to opt for the latter description for the majority of their club’s season though, even if Sunderland’s struggles haven’t been easily apparent to the rest of us.
Bar a six-game winless streak which took in all of October and much of November, Sunderland and boss Martin O’Neill have always just done enough to maintain an air of control. Wins like the Boxing Day success over Manchester City – a now customary victory following on from last season’s – gave the impression that everything was serene on the surface, but below deck those black cats’ legs were whirring wildly.
Now, Sunderland sit just five points and three places above the relegation zone. They have lost all three of their games in February and now face what has suddenly become a huge home match against Fulham, another of the division’s great inconsistencies, on Saturday afternoon.
There are clearly talented performers in O’Neill’s team.
Steven Fletcher has proven himself to be a genuine Premier League forward, Stephane Sessegnon is capable of fantastic performances when he’s in the mood, and Simon Mignolet looks to be a goalkeeper who is destined to play for one of the big boys one day.
The individual talents are certainly there for O’Neill, but as can be true with every individual, the team has far too many bad days to compensate for the good.
Only seven of Sunderland’s 27 Premier League games this season have ended in wins, and whilst that is more than the five clubs who currently sit below them it is clearly not enough given the talents they have at their disposal.
Last season, when O’Neill entered the club in December and steered them away from the relegation zone and eventually to within two points of a top half finish, the likes of Sessegnon, Seb Larsson and James McClean all starred.
The arrivals of Adam Johnson and Fletcher saw new, potentially exciting elements added to that trio, and whilst the Scot has been an undoubted success given his 10 goals over the campaign, Johnson’s inconsistencies have mirrored those of his team.
The sometime England winger is capable of some fine performances on his day, but his day doesn’t come around often enough – a fact borne out by his struggles to break into the Manchester City team and his eventual sale by Roberto Mancini.
O’Neill has recently added Danny Graham to the mix, although the forward’s similarity to Fletcher does leave concerns that the pair won’t be able to form a potent partnership. The French midfielder Alfred N’Diaye looks to be an energetic enough arrival, but there remains a belief that Sunderland failed to strengthen in key areas during January. They are still playing midfielders at full-back regularly.
All of that adds to the often makeshift nature of a team and club who look as though they are not sure where to be. They need to be out of relegation trouble obviously, but that isn’t enough for a club of Sunderland’s stature.
Their inconsistent nature simply can’t be allowed to go on, especially if they want to avoid getting sucked in to the battle at the bottom.
Sunderland need to find themselves, and find a few more wins in the process.
Fantasy Premier League: GW27 Review
#FPL GW27 Review
Many thanks as always to @shots_on_target for his weekly wrap up of the Premier League games.
Check out his website at www.shotsontarget.com for some great #FPL insight!
What a performance by Gareth Bale in a very buoyant encounter at Upton Park. There’s not more much to say about Bale so I’ll move right on and mention Andy Carroll and Joe Cole. Nolan’s injury could prove a blow for the Hammers if it’s serious but this may afford Cole a more prominent role. He’s not £0.0m by the way, he’s £5.6m.
These two teams have both been great sources of fantasy players this season, and should continue to be so. With Ba gone, Sissoko and Cisse are providing the goals and Gouffran is one to watch too. Cabaye, on pens and free-kicks, will pick up points although Sissoko’s (rapidly rising) price tag and advanced role behind the striker make him this team’s highlight. In a FPL season dominated by midfielders Ritchie Lambert is this season’s third highest scoring forward, behind only RVP and Suarez. Not bad. Puncheon’s 2nd benching in the last 4 games throws a spanner in the works for a fair few managers; both were away games though so perhaps a tactical move and ,if so, maybe not too worrying ahead of 4 home games in the next 6 for. Maybe.
Berbatov was a dim glimmer of light in this match, Fulham unable to really threaten much against a Stoke side willing to let them try. Riise and Riether took advantage of the space to push up down the flanks and get involved in the attack, the latter getting the assist. Let’s move on.
A tight game without any real top draw attacking play to shout about – perhaps the highlight was Moyes’ fury at the final whistle. Norwich have been a legitimate threat from set-pieces all season which makes Snodgrass a very sound option for your FPL team, with Bassong and Holt the two players who tend to get on the end of things. Everton really didn’t get much going, too often failing to find players in the box. They need a good win against Oldham in the Cup and then Reading to keep up momentum into the run-in.
Top notch performance from Wigan, excelling not only in attack but defensively too, with the return of Boyce from injury and late introduction of season-long absentee Alcarez. Kone scored his 8th goal of the season in which he has missed about a fifth of. I would not be surprised to see him score another 5 or 6 before the end of the season with some nice fixtures over the horizon.
The early withdrawal of Van Persie will be a keen talking point for fantasy managers through this week ahead of a plum home game against Norwich which comes a few days before the Real Madrid game. In RVP’s absence it could well be Nani who fills the gap. Recently urged in the press by Sir Alex to show consistency this might be just the type of “media-message” Nani needs to prove his worth at a top club. QPR hardly troubled United at all but they will be pleased to get Remy back in action.
All hail Lukaku, right? Although Sunderland have earnt a tag as a defensive team over the last few seasons they don’t travel well at all so it’s no surprise that West Brom created plenty of chances, and even less of a surprise that these chances mostly fell and were put away by Lukaku, who just seems to be getting better through the season. Sessegnon had one of his best games yet this campaign and Sunderland’s attacking form has been gradually improving.
If United weren’t so far ahead in the league this dominant performance could have been regarded as City reaffirming their title challenge. Mancini has had a strange strategy this season of starting matches with a block of 5 in a deep midfield line, with the 2 fullbacks lining up with 3 center mids, this week in Milner, Rodwell and Garcia. Only when Tevez emerged did City have enough creative force to break Chelsea down, Silva and Toure showing their class. Check out Talk of the Crowd’s awesome tactical analysis of how the introduction of Tevez changed the game.
A lot was expected of Arsenal ahead of this one after their now almost customary March cup exits. Though they got the win and had a host of chances they left it late. Santi Cazorla has gone slightly under the radar but has now scored 11 goals this season, the same as Walcott although in significantly more minutes. Walcott and Giroud had their fair share of chances too. Villa, unsurprisingly, did not create much although N’Zogbia is ever so slightly blinking on the fantasy radar.
Fantasy Premier League: GW27 Nothing but Bonus Points
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Fulham 1-0 Stoke
| 23 Feb 12:45 | Fulham |  |
1 – 0 |  |
Stoke City |
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| 23 Feb 15:00 | Arsenal |  |
2 – 1 |  |
Aston Villa |
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| 23 Feb 15:00 | Norwich |  |
2 – 1 |  |
Everton |
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| 23 Feb 15:00 | QPR |  |
0 – 2 |  |
Man Utd |
| 23 Feb 15:00 | Reading |  |
0 – 3 |  |
Wigan |
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| 23 Feb 15:00 | West Brom |  |
2 – 1 |  |
Sunderland |
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| 24 Feb 13:30 | Man City |  |
2 – 0 |  |
Chelsea |
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| 24 Feb 13:30 | Newcastle |  |
4 – 2 |  |
Southampton |
| 25 Feb 20:00 | West Ham |  |
2 – 3 |  |
Tottenham |
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Preview- French Ligue 1: Troyes v Bastia
Big thanks to Leroy from Leroysbettingtips.co.uk for providing FantasyYirma with his own personal selection for this weekend’s Football. Delighted to have him on the site. You can follow Leroy on Twitter also at @LeroyFootyTips
This tip comes from the French Ligue 1 game between Troyes v Bastia taking place at the Stade de l’Aube at 19.00 this evening.
Another game from two sides involved in a relegation scrap in the French tip tier and I am expecting a pretty open game with both sides going for all 3 points.
Both sides have impressed me attacking wise of late although both sets of defence’s leave a lot to be desired.
Troyes currently occupy 19th position in the table and are 5 points adrift of safety as things stand. It was looking good last week as they led 0-2 at Toulouse only to concede two goals in the final 3 minutes of the game including a late own goal from Nivet, shaky defending at crucial times of the game has been something that has occurred too often this season.
Attacking wise though they have impressed and are growing in confidence especially at home.
Tonight is a game they really have to go out and try and win with their opponents Bastia 7 points above them in the table and I expect them to give it their all however I do not rate their chances of keeping Bastia out over 90 minutes.
Despite a 0-0 draw last time out, Troyes have managed just 1 other clean sheet at home all season long and have conceded 12 goals in their last 6 games here before that.
They did however mange to find the net equally 12 times themselves during that time and 5 of those 6 games all went over 2.5 goals with the other a 1-1 draw with Nice.
Bastia have conceded heavily during their travels for the most part of the season, in fact they they have the worst defensive record in the league conceding 51 times in just 25 games with 29 of those conceded on the road.
They themselves are just 3 points above the drop zone currently and this is the kind of game they will be aiming to win against a side in a poorer position.
With Bastia’s home record where they are generally finding the points to aid their survival they have nothing to lost tonight by going out and trying to win this game and that’s why I expect a pretty end to end game.
It’s true that Bastia have have struggled to find the net away from home this season but they have had their moments. They put 2 past Lyon, Nice and Reims as well as 3 against Sochaux all away from home.
Last away day they lost out to big guns PSG but still managed to score with the game ending 3-1.
All 4 of Bastia’s last 4 away games have all exceeded the Over 2.5 Goals mark.
This game should be seen as Bastia’s most important away fixture of the season so far and although I am not so confident they can take all 3 points, I am confident they can find the net and I will be expecting Troyes themselves to bag a couple of goals tonight.
Because of all the factors mentioned above I see the odds of 2.1 with Boylesports a great bet and is one of my favourites of the day.
Good luck to everyone betting today!
For more football tips & other sports betting tips from a variety of different sports, free competitions and bet giveaways please visit my website Leroysbettingtips.co.uk
The FantasyYIRMA Knockout CUP: Free to play! Great Prizes! NOW CLOSED!!
THE #FY CUP NOW HAS 256 PLAYERS AND IS CLOSED OFF FOR NEW ENTRIES!!
We are delighted to launch the FantasyYIRMA KO Cup!! We have a huge £200 prize pot to give away in the form of free bets from the generous folk over at StanJames .
The cup will run for 8 gameweeks starting from GW31. Be warned – places are limited to 256 players only so follow the link below if you want to join!
The league will take the form of a head to head knockout. Starting in GW31 with 256 players we will finish on the final day of the season with the grand final! 1 lucky winner will receive £100 in free bets from @StanJames with 2nd place taking home £50 in free bets.
To make it even more interesting we will also give away £50 to the best individual GW score from the teams registered at the start of the cup for the duration of the competition… meaning you can get knocked out in the first round but still be eligible to win a prize!
FREE CUP… GREAT PRIZES…SIGN UP BELOW!!
If you haven’t played Fantasy Football before with the fantasy.premierleague.com site you will have to register a team (Free) before entering the cup. Entry code is 44397-579605 alternatively – click the link below
We think this is a great way to finish off the season – so get involved – get talking about the cup – Tweet us once you are signed up at @FantasyYIRMA using hashtag #FYCUP and get ready for kick off in Gameweek 31!!
THE #FY CUP NOW HAS 256 PLAYERS AND IS CLOSED OFF FOR NEW ENTRIES!!
RULES:
- Fantasy Football scores based on the Fantasy.PremierLeague.com game.
- Players must be 18+ to Enter
- Players must be following @StanJames and @FantasyYIRMA on Twitter to be eligible for prizes
- *£200 Prize pot split in the form of free bet codes from Stan James – no alternatives.
- Winners must have an existing account or can open a new account with StanJames.com to receive prizes
- Standard Stan James T&C’s apply Terms & Conditions
- Fixtures drawn at random by an online fixture generator
- Weekly match-ups available on FantasyYIRMA.com
- For more information on Responsible Gaming please refer the Stan James Responsible Gaming Policy.
*In the event of a tie for the bonus prize the deciding factor will look at 1.number of goals scored, 2.number of goals conceded. In the event of a draw after this there will be a coin toss decision.
Fulham: Jol’s band of brothers need to bond
A look at any of Fulham’s recent teamsheets would leave you with inspiration for winning a game of Scrabble.
Ashkan Dejagah, Alexander Kacaniklic, Giorgos Karagounis, Urby Emanuelson and Stanislav Manolev have all made appearances for the Whites in recent weeks, and whilst we are yet to see midfielder Eyong Enoh in action, football writers can only breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that reserve goalkeeper Csaba Somogyi hasn’t got further than the bench yet.
Regardless of the names, what has been apparent is the changing nature of the Fulham team.
Now incredibly reliant on Dimitar Berbatov, Martin Jol’s side appears to be built solely to get the best out of the Bulgarian.
Gone the days of a resilient Fulham based on the consistent performances of the likes of Danny Murphy, Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora, the current side is set up solely for their forward. The results have been mixed.
Berbatov has scored just three goals in his last 14 Premier League games, and almost as a direct result Fulham have only won three of their last 18.
Currently six points above 18th-placed Reading, Jol and his 12th-placed side have work to do in order to join the teams who already appear to have done enough to secure Premier League survival – namely those from West Bromwich Albion in ninth and up.
Relying on the enigmatic talents of Berbatov is always going to produce both good and bad days, and Fulham have had plenty of those during a season in which they’ve once again shown themselves to frequently be soft touches on the road. They’ve won just two of 13 away games.
As the season heads towards its climax Jol will be looking to his unlikely band of brothers to offer Berbatov more help, to become more than just new names on those Fulham teamsheets and to step into their own limelights.
The apparent returns of old heads such as Mahamadou Diarra and Simon Davies in the matches to come will certainly help matters, but it is those players around Berbatov who really need to step up.
Dejagah was a Bundesliga champion with Wolfsburg in 2009. Kacaniklic was highly-rated during his youth career at Liverpool. Karagounis was a European champion with Greece in 2004 and has played in a string of Champions League games for clubs of the quality of Panathinaikos, Inter Milan and Benfica. The same can be said of Emanuelson at Ajax and AC Milan, whilst Manolev has played 29 times for Bulgaria.
These are not rookies.
These are players who have the experience and the quality to step up and perform for the team, and when added to the efforts already put in by the likes of Mark Schwarzer, John Arne Riise, Brede Hangeland, Aaron Hughes, Steve Sidwell and Damien Duff then a solid platform should be assembled. Bryan Ruiz and Mladen Petric add quality, whilst Berbatov is their matchwinner.
Results need to be picked up sooner rather than later though, as Fulham strive to avoid becoming that one team who everyone waits to see get sucked into the relegation mire in the coming weeks.
On paper they have names to ensure that doesn’t happen, but games aren’t played on paper, they’ll be played against Stoke and Sunderland in the coming week and a half; two matches which look crucial to Fulham’s hopes of pulling away from any danger.
To do that plenty of Jol’s players will have to become more than just multinational names on a teamsheet, and instead become names that the Fulham fans can remember and trust that they can lead their team to safety.
They should do just that, although football does have a habit of making fools of us all – just like Scrabble.
The Gameweek27 Preview is now available:
Gameweek 27 preview: Giroud to lift the Gunners’ gloom?
Liverpool eventually delivered for Fantasy bosses on their Double Gameweek, but the absences of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge this time around will have those managers looking elsewhere.
Neither Liverpool nor Swansea are in action in Gameweek 27 following the Reds’ 5-0 win at Anfield last Sunday, and so without the Reds and the Swans to call upon then points will have to be picked up from other sources. It’s not the happiest of places right now, but maybe one of those sources will be the Emirates Stadium.
Defeats to Blackburn and Bayern Munich have left Arsenal in the grip of the usual ‘crisis’ they go through about seven times a season, but purely in Premier League terms they aren’t doing too badly.
Three wins and a draw from their last four matches have taken the Gunners to within four points of fourth-placed Tottenham, and with Spurs not playing until a tricky trip to West Ham on Monday night then Saturday’s visit of Aston Villa offers Arsene Wenger the chance to lighten both his own and the club’s mood.
Wenger should start with his compatriot Olivier Giroud (£8.0m) upfront, especially given that the French forward has scored five goals in his last five Premier League appearances at the Emirates.
The experiment of playing Theo Walcott (£9.5m) through the middle has produced good results, but Arsenal looked stronger when Giroud came on against Bayern in midweek and can make that strength tell against a notoriously weak Villa back line. If you’re a striker short given the non-appearances of Suarez and Sturridge, then he could be your man.
Elsewhere it’s top against bottom at Loftus Road, where it is simply impossible to ignore the claims of Robin van Persie (£14.0m) as your captaincy pick.
Manchester United’s mercurial Dutchman actually came down in price for the first time since October before United’s last league game against Everton, but he responded by registering a goal and an assist – a 19th and 10th of the campaign respectively – in his team’s 2-0 win. He was rested for his team’s FA Cup exertions on Monday night and so should be primed and ready to go for this visit to Queens Park Rangers.
As always with United it can be quite difficult to pick their midfield, but with an apparent injury to Phil Jones (£5.6m), then Sir Alex Ferguson could look to pair Michael Carrick (£5.8m) – who scored in this fixture last season and is United’s top points-scoring midfielder this time around – with Tom Cleverley (£5.6m, and the pair will be targeting points in what should be a routine victory.
There will be nothing routine about the big game of the weekend, as Manchester City host Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.
There is an intriguing battle going on to see who will finish as City’s top points-scoring forward, and although he is bottom of the list at the moment the smart money should perhaps be on Sergio Aguero (£10.9m), who has started the last three league games whilst Carlos Tevez hasn’t played a minute of the last two.
Clean sheets might be hard to come by in that clash, but they could be seen in the opening game of the weekend at Craven Cottage.
Stoke have only scored once in their previous five away games, and against a Fulham defence marshalled by Brede Hangeland (£4.8m) they could find that record tough to improve.
The Norwegian centre-back was once a Fantasy favourite but he has seen ownership dwindle due to not yet scoring a goal this season. That could all change here.
Another player who hasn’t scored as often as he’d like this season is Papiss Cisse (£8.8m), but it might be worth keeping an eye on Newcastle’s Senegalese forward ahead of what looks a huge game against Southampton at St James’s Park.
A goal there could kick off a much-needed run of form for both him and his team, and perhaps provide you with that all important edge in the coming weeks.
Check out our new Club article – This week Fulham
Fantasy Premier League: 5 make or break buys from @shots_on_target
It may have crept up on you but there are now only 12 Gameweeks remaining in the 2012/13 Season – Frightening!
What also is potentially frightening is to look at your mini-league and see your work colleague/friend/classmate/ FPL ARCH NEMESIS (we all have one) starting to stretch into a comfortable lead. What is especially disheartening with this is that there seems to be a large core of similar players across you and your opponents’ team, so how are you supposed to catch them??
Some people may want to finish with the highest score they possibly can, however- if mini-league rivalry is on the top of your agenda then you may just have to think outside the box and be prepared to take risks!
This is where personal preference kicks in, are you prepared to gamble with team selection, are you for example prepared to pick a captain differential in order to make up a points gap??
With this in mind we asked @shots_on_target for his thoughts on players who have the potential to give you the edge now we are in the final third of the season. He has outlined 5 players, each with an ownership of under 10% which may help you make up the gap.
We also would like to hear from you…drop a comment below outlining what player you think has the potential to make or break your season as we head towards the end of the season. Alternatively tweet us @FantasyYIRMA
By @ryano83
Sissoko (Newcastle) £6.1m MID 6% owned
Newcastle’s new signing has already grabbed the headlines with his two goals against Chelsea and has added an assist in each of his other two games in the Premier League so far. Last season it was Cisse who powered many a FPL team down the home straight – this year it could be Sissoko.
Sturridge (Liverpool) £7.8m FWD 9% owned
Daniel Sturridge has been installed as the main striker in a Liverpool side capable of top quality performances. Sturridge is a direct rival for Suarez in your team. At a once £3m and now just over £2m discount he’ll give you plenty of spare cash to invest elsewhere and will give Suarez a good run for his money.
Aguero (Man City) £10.9m FWD 5% owned
The Argentine is probably the biggest disappointment from a fantasy perspective this season, which of course goes hand in hand with City’s stuttering attempt to maintain their title-winning status. Aguero has had a stop-start campaign himself with rotation and injury, playing just two thirds of the season to date. If you are looking for someone to match or even out do Van Persie then Aguero, still a world class talent, is as good a punt as you can get.
Giroud (Arsenal) £8.0m FWD 5% owned
The Gunner’s summer signing from Montpellier took a while to find his feet but has now strung together a decent run of games. Arsenal’s season has followed a similar pattern to recent season, and with another disappoint FA Cup exit they are going to have to put all their efforts into keeping themselves in the Champion’s League positions.
Maloney (Wigan) £4.8m 2% owned
Whilst not exactly like to make or break your season if you’re looking for a cheap player to fill a position in your team and release funds elsewhere Wigan’s Maloney is well worth a look. He’s had a good run recently and Wigan have one of the better run-ins through to the end of the season. Maloney’s role behind the striker should see him good for another few goals to add to the 4 he’s scored already this season.
Fantasy Premier League: DON’T BLAME DAVID DE GEA
Fantasy YIRMA : Guest Post
If you would like to submit a guest post for the FantasyYIRMA.com site please contact Ryan at FantasyYIRMA@hotmail.com or on twitter @FantasyYIRMA
DON’T BLAME DAVID DE GEA
by Adam Zdroik
And that’s why everyone likes double Gameweeks. Even though Liverpool put in a sub-par effort against West Brom in their first match of Gameweek 26, they helped out Fantasy owners with a 5-0 win over Swansea. While Swansea lost that match, they won 4-1 in their previous game.
Basically, all of the players that were favorites to be top captains last week did well and that’s why Fantasy squads averaged 65 points.
Luis Suarez didn’t score against WBA, but had a goal and two assists against the Swans. That’s the line for pretty much everyone on the Reds and it’s the opposite for Swansea players. Michu had two goals and an assist against QPR, but didn’t even play against Liverpool.
Now we have to deal with the aftermath. Neither Liverpool or Swansea have a match in Gameweek 27, which means you’re going to have some high-priced players on your bench, or you’re using your wildcard if you have one.
Considering most owners already used their wildcard, I’ll focus more on what to do with what you have.
If you have Michu, Suarez and Steven Gerrard, you’ll need to get rid of at least one of them. There’s no way around it because that’s going to leave roughly 30m of the 100m (variable depending on team) on your bench.
Not including Michu, there are four players on Swansea that are owned by at least nine percent of people. Michu is owned by 49 percent, almost half of the owners at premierleague.com.
Surprisingly, Liverpool is at the same amount of ownership with Suarez, leading the way at 36 percent. That means there are 10 players not playing this weekend in the Premier League who are owned by at least nine percent of the Fantasy community. Throw in the rest of those team’s squads still owned by plenty of people and you have a good amount of transfers happening this weekend.
WHO TO GET?
GK, David de Gea, Manchester United, 5.5m
The Spaniard has two straight clean sheets in the league and is no doubt United’s number one keeper at this point. He was the main reason United didn’t lose against Real Madrid in their Champions League match.
United’s upcoming schedule is one of the best: At QPR, vs. Norwich, at West Ham, vs. Reading, at Sunderland. The Red Devils have a chance to get clean sheets in all of those matches and De Gea will benefit the most. At 5.5m, his price tag is at the cutoff of the maximum I want to spend on a goalkeeper. He’s going to be the best option for the next five weeks. That’s worth my money.
David de Gea isn’t the one to blame anymore. Photo Credit: Dudek1337
DEF, Davide Santon, Newcastle, 4.9m
He’s one of Newcastle’s cheaper defenders and plays in a very attacking role, which led to two assists for him most recently against Chelsea. With friendly fixtures and a squad that’s playing a lot better after the transfer window, now is the time to buy into Newcastle defenders.
Upcoming fixtures include road matches at Swansea and Wigan, and on home soil against Southampton and Stoke City.
MID, Moussa Sissoko, Newcastle, 6.1m
Three Premier League matches, two goals and two assists. That’s all you need to know right there. Sissoko has come into the lineup and immediately made a difference for Newcastle. His price is much cheaper than all of the top dogs, yet he could easily provide the same kind of numbers.
FOR, Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, 11.9m
Supposedly Rooney had a sinus infection and missed United’s FA Cup match against Reading last Monday, but I wouldn’t be worried about it. He’s started in three straight league matches and is a couple million less than Robin van Persie, which makes him the easier addition.
As you can see, Manchester United and Newcastle players are in the best situations to succeed for the next month and the players listed above would be the best moves for your squad to make if you want to succeed.
WEEKLY RANKINGS
Goalkeepers
- Wojciech Szczesny, Arsenal, 5.3m, vs. Aston Villa
- David de Gea, Man United, 5.5m, at QPR
- Tim Krul, Newcastle, 5.2m, vs. Southampton
- Mark Schwarzer, Fulham, 5.1m, vs. Stoke City
- Adam Federici, Reading, 4.4m, vs. Wigan
Defenders
- Patrice Evra, Man United, 7.1m, at QPR
- Leighton Baines, Everton, 7.5m, at Norwich
- Nacho Monreal, Arsenal, 4.2m, vs. Aston Villa
- Rafael, Man United, 6.0m, at QPR
- Bacary Sagna, Arsenal, 5.2m, vs. Aston Villa
- Brede Hangeland, Fulham, 4.8m, vs. Stoke City
- Davide Santon, Newcastle, 4.9m, vs. Southampton
- Gareth McAuley, West Brom, 5.2m, vs. Sunderland
- Kyle Walker, Tottenham, 6.1m, at West Ham
- Gael Clichy, Man City, 5.6m, vs. Chelsea
Midfielders
- Theo Walcott, Arsenal, 9.5m, vs. Aston Villa
- Gareth Bale, Tottenham, 10.0m, at West Ham
- Marouane Fellaini, Everton, 7.7m, at Norwich
- Santi Cazorla, Arsenal, 9.3m, vs. Aston Villa
- Moussa Sissoko, Newcastle, 6.1m, vs. Southampton
- Juan Mata, Chelsea, 10.1m, at Man City
- David Silva, Man City, 9.4m, vs. Chelsea
- Frank Lampard, Chelsea, 8.5m, at Man City
- Yaya Toure, Man City, 7.7m, vs. Chelsea
- Yohan Cabaye, Newcastle, 6.6m, vs. Southampton
Forwards
- Robin van Persie, Man United, 14.0m, at QPR
- Lukas Podolski, Arsenal, 8.3m, vs. Aston Villa
- Olivier Giroud, Arsenal, 8.0m, vs. Aston Villa
- Wayne Rooney, Man United, 11.8m, at QPR
- Sergio Aguero, Man City, 10.9m, vs. Chelsea
- Demba Ba, Chelsea, 8.9m, at Man City
- Christian Benteke, Aston Villa, 6.5m, at Arsenal
- Edin Dzeko, Man City, 7.5m, vs. Chelsea
- Adam Le Fondre, Reading, 4.9m, at Wigan
- Romelu Lukaku, West Brom, 6.5m, vs. Sunderland
YOU’RE THE CAPTAIN
- Theo Walcott, Arsenal
- Gareth Bale, Tottenham
- Robin van Persie, Man United
- Lukas Podolski/Olivier Giroud, Arsenal
- Sergio Aguero, Man City
Aston Villa is brutal on the road and Arsenal should be able to get out of their slump in this one. Walcott has three goals and three assists in his last five matches and many haven’t been better than him. Because of this, I am dethroning RVP as the top captain option for the week. Villa has allowed the most away goals and Arsenal has scored the second-most home goals this year. Walcott will be around for at least one goal.
Bale is playing amazing right now, which is why managers from all of the biggest clubs are looking to call his name, including Pep Guardiola soon to take the helm at Bayern Munich. Bale had two free kick goals in Tottenham’s Champions League match which doesn’t happen often. He has scored his club’s last six goals in all competitions. That says enough right there.
RVP is still great, don’t worry, but his numbers haven’t been as good or consistent since Rooney returned. Not to mention, Danny Welbeck is also getting a lot of time up front. Nevertheless, Van Persie scored and assisted on United’s only two goals in their last league match.
These two forwards should be in for a nice match as long as Arsenal doesn’t take the day off. As said before, Villa allows a ton of goals on the road, which means Podolski and Giroud shouldn’t have any problems. One of those five-goal games would help them right now. The Gunners have actually scored at least five goals in five matches this year. That’s a lot.
There’s going to be goals in the Man City-Chelsea match and Aguero gets the edge over the others. This is a last-ditch captain option and I would only advise it if you like to play risky, or if you need to move up about 100 spots in your league.
*Stats up-to-date as of Feb. 18
Adam joined RotoExperts in 2008 as a member of the Scout/Player Updates Team. Throughout the years, Adam has written articles encompassing a number of sports. If you like your Fantasy advice full of numbers and straight to the point, look no further. Find him (@RotoZdroik) on Twitter, to get a daily take of what’s happening in the sports world
The official FantasyYIRMA Gameweek 27 Preview will be available on Thursday 21st February
Fantasy Premier League: GW26 Review
Gameweek 26 still has one fixture remaining with Liverpool playing Swansea this weekend, but here is the round up of the 10 other games so far. Many thanks as always to @shots_on_target for his review, check out his site at www.shotsontarget.co.uk a fantastic #FPL resource!
A much needed win for Aston Villa although overall they performed below average for a home
team up against a travelling West Ham, Villa’s red arrows indicating below average totals in
all shot categories. Their limited attack is all through Benteke though, which makes him
always in with a chance of a goal. The Nolan-Carroll partnership combined well again
producing plenty of chances in the box but none of real gilt-edge quality.
Torres had a rare performance here where he is the Chelsea player with the most shots on
target, usually he’s second behind one of the midfielders. There were a lot of efforts to
share out here though, and with many at range from Lampard and Luiz. Both players can hit ’em though. Hazard’s goal and assist flatter his underlying numbers.
A rather muted, some might say controlled, performance from United against Everton.
Ferguson did not need to take any risks with this game, especially after City’s loss, and
this kind of performance was always on the cards. United’s attack, and Van Persie in
particular, are just so clinical this season they continue to score goals from
limited chances. Evans, when he gets a start, probably warrants his new found goal scoring tag this season. Rooney’s lack of threat up-front will have those managers who signed him up recently reverting back to worries of a few months back, will he play too deep too often? Everton were well contained here. The talismanic Fellaini was marked out of the game by Jones and Anichebe was no match for Vidic, leaving the best chances falling for Osman from midfield.
If any game was going to be 0-0 this week it was this one. Fulham have just lost it whilst
Norwich have learnt how to defend. New signing Becchio looked to be a useful focus for
Norwich’s attack with Snodgrass maintaining his position as my favourite fantasy option in the
Canary’s attack. I’ll try not to mention Berbatov anymore than is necessary.
The report’s after this game centred on City’s shocker but I’d like to draw some attention to
Southampton’s performances of late since their Argentine coach came on board. This was not a result in which they earned a plucky result against defending champions. They dominated
City at both ends of the pitch, deserving of a dominant victory. Puncheon continues to present an excellent cut-priced option. As for City.., who can tell? Aguero and Silva are not paying
back their price tags yet and rotation risk continues to hang over Dzeko, although he’s
maybe worth that kind of risk with his career goal scoring record.
Stoke managed a lofty number of shots here, hauling themselves all the way up to an average level performance against Reading, thanks in part to Walters bluster up behind Crouch and plenty of set pieces. There was no miracle comeback for Reading this time but Stoke really should’ve kept a clean sheet.
This was a game with a lot more chances than the score line suggests. Despite Giroud being restored to the central strikers berth it’s young Theo once again who posed the most threat in
Sunderland’s penalty box, followed by Cazorla who looks to be finding his spark again. For
Sunderland, Fletcher will feel unfortunate not to have been on the score sheet.
This was another terrific display from Swansea, led up front again by their main man in Michu. The Spaniard’s brace and assist will have overshadowed team-mate Hernandez who was rewarded here after some great performances recently. QPR look doomed already but if they do get anything it’s usually from a Taarabt pass.
What can I say about Gareth Bale that you don’t already know? With Defoe out and Adebayor
rested after his duties with Togo there’s was plenty of room up front for Bale to exploit, although it was Dempsey who started up front. Holtby‘s performance will have caught the eye too, with 4 shots, all in the box, showing a potential knack for getting into scoring positions. Gouffran’s was looking good for the visitors until his injury and that’s blow for Newcastle. Sissoko‘s lack of shots here is a downer on his virtuoso display last week but an away game at White Harte Lane should not dampen expectations too much, unlike Cisse though who has failed to step it up since Ba’s Chelsea exit.
West Brom’s gameplan worked a treat here. They had to ride their luck at times with Foster in fine form, especially saving Gerrard’s penalty. But with 70 minutes of pressure successfully soaked, Clarke threw on Lukaku and his enviable strength and pace was enough to hit Liverpool with the sucker-punch.. With Sturridge out injured Suarez was up front but his shooting was off today, failing to hit the target with any of his 7 shots. Gerrard continued to put in the kind of shift that has seen him amass so many FPL points recently. If he had scored his penalty, which was won by Suarez, this gameweek would have told a whole different story, and it still may with the final fixture, LIV vs SWA, to come this Saturday.
Enrique stole the crown for top points with a goal, assist and clean sheet, plus full bonus points.. Suarez and Sturridge were next best and despite Suarez outscoring Sturridge by 5 pts it was very close between the two of them again. Suarez won a perhaps fortunate penalty for his assist. Sturridge was generously handed his penalty by Gerrard, but could have easily scored one or two more from open play. Couthino’s full debut also showed he’s one to watch.
Liverpool’s victory was emphatic. They had 35 shots in total, the most from any team this season, and this has prompted me to take a look back through this season’s results for other dominant performances from a shot data perspective. As can be seen from the number of goals scored in these games it’s still shots on target that is the important stats. Sure, lots of shots are good, but if they don’t hit the target it doesn’t count for much.
You can read more on the Liverpool v Swansea game at http://www.shotsontarget.co.uk/2013/02/liv-5-0-swa-and-other-emphatic-wins.html
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