Blog Archives
Fantasy Premier League RETURNS!!
My phone started to buzz like crazy this afternoon in the car… My Mrs said Ohh Mr. Popular today?
I checked the phone and a wide grin sprung immediately to my face.
The Fantasy Premier League had launched this afternoon.
She looked at me , then paused, then said …
“You have got to be &£%$ING kidding me… Well you will still have to go to B&Q on Sunday”
Long Story short, I am delighted to see the return of FPL – Mrs isn’t .
With the league reopening today FantasyYIRMA.com will be taking a deeper look over the coming weeks at Player selection, one’s to watch, strategy articles, Bargain options and FPL advice. One of the first things that jumped out at us immediately is the change (again) to the Bonus Point system.
“new Bonus Points System (BPS) that has been created exclusively for Fantasy Premier League and makes its debut in this season’s game.
Utilising a range of statistics to create a BPS score for every player, the system is designed to reward contributions of players that may not necessarily earn traditional fantasy points, rather than re-reward players that already score handsomely against the current scoring criteria.”
You can read the full introduction to the new Bonus System here .
While we have yet to see this in action (There is a nice example using the WBA 5-5 ManUtd game) – the new Bonus System is something I wholeheartedly support and agree with – The previous system was flawed in my opinion however it is a very difficult measurement to get correct because of the number of variables and the concept of individual opinion on any one game.
Another link to check out is the full player listing for the FPL which you can check out here
To save you some time, Gareth Bale is 12M!
Quite possibly the most beautiful yet frightening set of figures I’ve ever seen, given that I know the next 33 days will be spent analyzing them!
It is brilliant to have the FPL back, please keep up to date with us Via twitter @FantasyYIRMA and of course here on the site.
Click the picture below to join the FantasyYIRMA.com Mini-League which has a £100 First place prize this year!
R
PREMIER LEAGUE RETURNS IN 40 DAYS!!
With the FantasyYIRMA team still enjoying their summer hiatus we are delighted to feature FPL superfan Walt (@EPLFanForLife) on the site again.
(NOTE: #FY admin @Pedro_Lamb was last seen heading into what he thought was a table tennis sports bar in Bangkok.. if found please provide with return directions to Burton, UK.)
If you would like to submit a guest post to feature on FantasyYIRMA.com please email Ryan on FantasyYIRMA@hotmail.com.
PREMIER LEAGUE RETURNS IN 40 DAYS!!
Mid-Summer FPL Status Report
It’s agonizing, right? We’re smack dab in the middle of the off-season, the official #FPL site has gone dark, the transfer window is officially open for business, and the only certainty is that there are roughly 2.5 million people sitting on the edge of their seats with all questions and no answers.
After sitting back and thinking for a moment, there are actually some things we do know, but they too are really only things we know about the past and the present; not the future. These things too, as they relate to the FPL season to come, also lead directly to one place; more questions.
When it all boils down to it, there are three distinct variables that connect last season’s FPL season with the season we all now anticipate. They are:
1) What happened last season
2) What has happened since the season ended
3) What is going to happen between today and August 17
What Happened Last Year
Wouldn’t it be great if last season’s performance was a direct indicator of how players would perform this year? I have no statistics to correlate one season’s performance to the next, but it’s only natural to look to the Van Persie’s and the Michu’s and the Bale’s and the Lambert’s and the Gerrard’s and the Mata’s and the Jaaskelainen’s – Jasskelainen!?!? – to pay rich dividends this time around as well. But what about the guys who came on strong at the end of last season? What about Coutinho and Sturridge and Kagawa and Lukaku? Will the strong end to the season carry forward through the long summer and into the first few fixtures of the season to come?
Although it’s easy to assume that that is the case, things have definitely changed; But just how much? Enough to make last season’s statistics a mistaken indicator of what’s to come? New managers, new players coming and going, World Cup qualifiers, Confederations Cup, pre-season tours, time off on holiday, stress surrounding potential contract extensions or transfer rumours. All of these things affect a player’s outlook, attitude, and ability to gel with a new squad or manager. Some players are affected positively and some players are affected negatively.
How much will last year’s performance influence the 15 guys you select to start your 2013-2014 FPL season with? Many FPL managers will struggle with this thought over the next 40 days, and I will be right there with you.
What’s Happened Since the Season Ended
For all intents and purposes, the 2012-2013 English Premier League season ended quietly. Manchester United had long ago wrapped up their title and the bottom of the table was all but sorted. May 19, 2013 seems like forever ago.
Since then, 5 teams have undergone managerial changes – with 4 of them being in the top 6 sides. That leaves Arsene Wenger and Andre Villas-Boas as the only two managers in the top 6 to be leading their sides into the next campaign. Everyone else – Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton – all have managerial transitions to endure and the inevitable acclimitization period that such a change inherently brings with it. Make no mistake about it, these changes will impact these clubs as the new season gets underway. Don’t forget DiCanio and Sunderland either – he has caused quite a stir both inside and outside the club with his sometimes unorthodox approach to managing professional football players.
In addition to the managerial changes and full-scale club transitions that they involve, there have been 101 confirmed transfers since the season ended on May 19. Of those 101 confirmed transfers, 43 have involved players moving into the EPL from a different league, 51 have involved players leaving the EPL, and 7 have involved players being transferred from one EPL team to another. Keep in mind that the large majority of these 101 confirmed transfers have been confirmed during the past 6 days!
Notable transfers that may affect your FPL outlook as we make our way through the summer include:
- Carroll from Liverpool to West Ham
- Mignolet from Sunderland to Liverpool
- Sanogo to Arsenal
- Ratt to West Ham
- Figueroa to Hull City
- van Wolfswinkel to Norwich
- Stekelenburg to Fulham
- Navas to Manchester City
- Fernandinho to Manchester City
- Schurrle to Chelsea
- Amat to Swansea
- Kolo Toure from Manchester City to Liverpool
- McGregor to Hull City
- Mannone from Arsenal to Sunderland
- Shelvey from Liverpool to Swansea
- Anelka to West Brom
- Van Ginkel to Chelsea
- Paulinho to Tottenham
Again we’re left with more questions than answers.
Which Carroll will show up for West Ham this season, having finally settled somewhere he feels wanted? Will Mannone start for Sunderland? How will Schurrle and Van Ginkel fit in at Chelsea? Will Fulham’s defense improve and make Stekelenburg a viable FPL option in goal?
How will Fernandinho and Navas slot in at City and where does that leave Dzeko, who conceivably would benefit greatly from Navas’ ability to jet down the wing and lob crosses into the big man week after week? How will Shelvey’s move affect last year’s Newcomer of the Year, Mr. Michu, and his position on the pitch? What does Paulinho’s move mean for Tottenham’s midfield, specifically Sigurdsson, who was used sparingly following a pre-season full of significant hype following the arm-wrestling match between Rodgers and Villas-Boas?
How will Moyes respond to the unenviable scrutiny of following the most celebrated manager in the history of the English top division? How will the players respond? How will Martinez keep Everton’s momentum going with the 3-4-3 formation he seems intent on installing (Seamus Coleman anyone?) How will the circus act that was Chelsea fan’s relationship with their manager play out this year, now that the Chosen One has returned to the team he “has always loved”? Will Pellegrini bring stability to the clubhouse of millionaires that make up the Manchester City squad? What will happen to the poor Sunderland souls who are caught with any variation of sugar, natural form or not, pulsing through their systems following DiCanio’s institution of modernly bizarre team rules?
How will new boys Cardiff City, Crystal Palace and Hull City fare? Are they worth investing in at any position?
It’s only July 8. There are 40 days left until the season begins on August 17. Given the questions raised by the moves made to date and the changes that will have each of our heads spinning, there is still so much more to come that may completely change our approach to the new FPL season.
What Will Happen Between Now and August 17
The greatest league of the most popular sport in the world is never short of excitement. With no games being played there is really only one thing to keep the thousands of journalists whose careers revolve around the Premier League in business; transfer rumors. Log onto Twitter for 30 seconds and you’re bound to run across a handful or a dozen of them. It’s what keeps the EPL world spinning on its axis between May and August. And the rumors are flying fast and furious.
The Thiago Alcantara move to Manchester United has been “confirmed” multiple times since shortly before he led Spain to the UEFA Under-21 European Championships earlier this summer. If that move ever materializes, coupled with Moyes’ insistence that Rooney is going to stay at ManU this season, where does that leave those of us convinced that Kagawa finally seemed like he was beginning to settle in as a long-awaited and much-needed consistent midfield Manchester United FPL option as the season unfolded?
Will the John Ruddy rumored move to Chelsea materialize? Where will that leave Norwich? What in the world is going to happen with Suarez? Will the Higuain deal to Arsenal finally go through, and which Gonzalo will show up if it does?
And these are only the rumors we know about now! Many more will come, and unfortunately for those of us who are unsettled by this fact, the transfer window will stay open right up until gw3 of the coming season. I hate that!
So for now, there is a lot that we know, a lot that we don’t know, and a lot that we don’t yet know we don’t know. The next 6 weeks are going to be a roller coaster; a roller coaster that many of us secretly enjoy because it includes the final pieces of the puzzle that all stews together in mid August to give us all of the information we’ll have available to us for that all-important few days prior to August 17 when we finish fiddling, complete our tinkering, say a final good luck prayer, and click CONFIRM TEAM.
Enjoy it FPL’ers….I know I will.
Please check out Walt’s new FPL blog.. A must read and well recommended from the FY team http://whatiwantmykidstoknowaboutfootball.blogspot.co.uk/
Tale of a Fantasy Premier League Champion!!
It is with great pleasure that we welcome FPL World Number 2 and the FantasyYIRMA.com mini league WINNER Kelvin Travers.
Kelvin had an unbelievable season and is a genuine fan of FPL. Having led the overall game for large parts of the year the league was decided on bonus points following the final gameweek of the season.
Take nothing away from this man – what he displayed this year in terms of judgement and consistency was extremely impressive!
We are proud to say the FY mini- league was won by an extremely deserving winner! Kelvin has been kind enough to put together an overview of his FPL journey this year – Enjoy!
*R
Season Review
By @K3lviN
Having had time to get over the disappointment of missing out by just two points on winning the 2012/13 Barclays Fantasy Premier League, I’ve been invited by @FantasyYIRMA to explain some of the highs and lows of my season, and my thoughts for next year.
Lows
I may as well start with the lows, and to be honest they don’t come any lower than finishing second having lead for most of the season – infact, having lead for most of the final day, right up until bonus points were added. Seeing Lukaku grinning at me from my bench with a hat trick and 16 points, knowing my decision to play Fellaini over him has ultimately cost me the chance to achieve the impossible and be no.1 in the world at the end of the season.
Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, who would have predicted West Brom scoring 5 past Man Utd and a Lukaku hat trick?! But, the season is played over 38 gameweeks and the guy who finishes top deserves the accolade.
Some other lows from my season that stick out – my decision to bench Berbatov in gameweek 11 when he scored two against Arsenal. Transferring in Dzeko in gameweek 27, he played 0 mins and I ended up transferring him straight back out the following week, a waste of two transfers and probably a handful of points.
I’d imagine to some people those aren’t exactly lows – finishing second in the world, benching the wrong player a couple of times, and wasting a transfer; but at the time, to me they were.
Highs
I can easily say what was the high point of the season for me – gameweek 19. It was Boxing Day and I was in my local with some friends having some festive beers. Van Persie had already scored and assisted in the afternoon kick off and everybody has giving me grief for not captaining him, as at that point I was 26th in the world and had chosen to captain Bale – it was 0-0 at half time in the Aston Villa vs Tottenham game. Then came the 45 minutes that completely changed my season, a Gareth Bale hat trick, 42 points as captain and when I woke up the next morning I was World no.1 for the first time. An incredible feeling, and unbelievable achievement, and one I thought would only last until the following gameweek and I’d never see again.
I was partly right, by the following gameweek I’d dropped to 9th, but over the second half of the season I never dropped out of the top 10, and went back to world no.1 for a further 6 weeks. In the last 16 weeks of the season, I only dropped out of the top 2 on three occasions – hence why I said earlier I was so disappointed with second place overall.
The other high point of my season was taking to Twitter to talk to people about fantasy football and becoming part of the wider fantasy football community. I was completely taken aback by the amount of support and encouragement I received from people over the course of the season, and even afterwards the messages I received after finishing second. I tried to reply to as many messages as possible, so if there was anybody who congratulated me and hasn’t already seen a reply, then I’d like to say thank you for your support.
thank you for your support
FantasyYIRMA league
I joined the FantasyYIRMA league around the end of January. At the time a guy called Des was at the top, so I got in touch with him on Twitter to check he was ok with me joining as I would be knocking him off top spot. I didn’t want to just join and spoil it for those who’d been top through the Autumn, but as I was chatting with everybody on Twitter I wanted to get involved in the league. Luckily Des said he was ok with me joining, so I have to say thanks to him otherwise I wouldn’t have been in the league.
When I joined though, I never had any intention of claiming the prize money if I’d won – I joined because of Twitter and the fantasy football community, not money. So, I decided at that point if I made it to the end of the season and won the league, I’d donate the prize money to charity. From that point onwards I felt I was playing for charity, and at one point I was overtaken at the top and wanted to fight back to win the money back for charity.
The charity I wanted to support is a local one to me, called the Candlelighters. They do some absolutely amazing work for kids who are growing up with cancer, and if anybody is ever looking for a charity to support I would really recommend you consider helping them.
Next Season
I wasn’t sure if I’d play next season after coming so close. I can’t see how I can ever do better than I have this year, but after a few weeks off I’m already missing football so can’t see how I can sit a season out.
I’m going to enjoy a couple of months off fantasy football, probably not as much as my girlfriend will enjoy me taking a couple of months off fantasy football, but I’ll definitely be coming back next year to play again.
I’ll be getting into the pre-season games and stats, doing some research on new signings, and I’ll share a few of my ideas and plans for the new season on Twitter.
Aside from joining the FantasyYIRMA league again next year, I also want to make an offer to anybody who wants to try and beat me. I’m going to setup a league of my own, free to join, and for every person who can finish above me I’ll donate £5 to charity. For every person I can finish above, I’d ask those people to donate something of any winnings they make over the season to charity, as little or as much as they can afford.
I’ll setup the league once the new season starts and post the code on Twitter, I thought it might be a fun way to play directly against some of my adversaries from this year, people on Twitter, and hopefully some new players – all whilst trying to raise a few pounds for charity. I hope a few people will want to join me alongside their existing leagues.
See you next season,
Kelvin (@K3lviN)
Many Thanks from the #FY team to Kelvin for taking the time to provide this guest post – Drop him a follow on twitter.
Fantasy Football Preview: Santi to shine as the curtain falls?
Mini-leagues are being furiously checked and the points difference between you and your rivals are being totted up. It’s the final day of the season.
Unlike the Premier League this one was always destined to go down to the wire, and so the key question as we enter the final weekend of Fantasy Premier League matches is whether or not you need to find a left-field pick to try and catch up with those around you.
Whilst the likes of Gareth Bale (£11.0m and surely the weekend’s safe captaincy choice), Theo Walcott (£9.2m), Juan Mata (£10.2m) and Robin van Persie (£13.7m) are sure to be the popular picks, perhaps your net needs to be cast a little wider in the search for a player who can give you that extra push over the finish line.
That player could well be Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla (£9.6m).
Fresh from providing four assists in the Gunners’ 4-1 victory over Wigan on Tuesday night, the Spaniard goes to Newcastle to face a side who conceded six goals in their previous home game against Liverpool.
With Arsene Wenger’s men needing a win to secure a top four finish ahead of rivals Tottenham, Cazorla is sure to be crucial on an afternoon when he is likely to be a creative force.
Those four assists against Wigan took the Spaniard’s tally to 13 for the season, level with the likes of Walcott, Van Persie and Steven Gerrard for the campaign, with only three players registering more.
Add that to his 12 goals and you’ve got an extremely successful first campaign in England for the former Villarreal and Malaga man, but he’d only look back on it fondly if he can help his club into the top four. He has every chance to do just that at St James’s Park.
Elsewhere, Tottenham’s attempts to secure their own European football for next season will of course be helped by Bale as they host Sunderland, but it could be a rejuvenated Emmanuel Adebayor (£9.0m) who proves crucial following two goals in his last two games.
Following their Europa League heroics, Chelsea host Everton seeking to make sure of their third place finish. Demba Ba (£7.8m) was cup-tied for the Benfica victory and so he could prove crucial as the Blues seek to make it an unhappy last game in charge for David Moyes.
Away from the challenge for Europe, Liverpool draw the curtains on their campaign with a home game against relegated QPR.
The Reds and retiring defender Jamie Carragher (£5.0m) will fancy their chances of keeping a clean sheet, but further forward in-form striker Daniel Sturridge (£7.3m) will be seeking to follow up last weekend’s hat-trick at Fulham with another impressive display. Against QPR’s defence he has a great opportunity.
As the campaign draws to a close, those who have impressed throughout it such as Michu (£7.8m) and Rickie Lambert (£6.9m) have chances to finish their seasons on a high as Swansea and Southampton host Fulham and Stoke respectively, whilst the champions Manchester United go to West Brom seeking a winning end to their season. Javier Hernandez (£6.5m) started and scored against Swansea last week and will be looking to do so again amidst the uncertainty surrounding the future of Wayne Rooney.
Everyone knows about the future of Roberto Mancini by now, and in his absence Manchester City will be looking to round things off with a victory at home to Norwich.
Their forwards have impressed at various stages throughout the campaign, but with two goals in his last two league appearances perhaps it’ll be Edin Dzeko (£6.8m) who steps up to the plate again this time.
His addition could prove vital as the campaign draws to a close and we all look forward to the next one.
Roll on August.
We’ll see you then.
Fantasy Football Preview GW37: Walcott to worsen Wigan’s woes?
With next season already promising to be hugely different given the dramatic developments at Old Trafford this week, cherishing this campaign suddenly looks to be even more important.
For Wigan Athletic, that seems to ring true more than loudly than for others.
The Latics will be FA Cup finalists at the weekend, but come Tuesday they could find that their eight-year stint in the Premier League is over. Should results go against them at the weekend, then nothing less than three points from their next match will do if they are to stay in the top flight. Unfortunately for them, that next match is at Champions League-chasing Arsenal.
The Gunners may have lost this fixture last season, but they simply can’t afford to do that now.
With Theo Walcott (£8.9m) returning to fitness and form then they certainly don’t look like doing that, and the England man could play a large part in confirming the Latics’ relegation.
Walcott scored and completed 90 minutes in both of his last two matches for the Gunners, taking his tally to 13 strikes and 13 assists during a hugely productive season.
As Arsene Wenger’s men close in on a top four place Walcott looks to be a hugely important figure, and he’ll enter the Wigan game high on confidence, which could end up spelling trouble for Roberto Martinez and his boys.
Any discussion about the battle for the top four – and of course your ongoing battles in Fantasy Premier League – isn’t complete without a mention of Gareth Bale(£10.9m), who takes his considerable talents to Stoke City this weekend.
Bale and Spurs might find it tough going there, but they should eventually come out on top in a match which is sure to see defender Jan Vertonghen (£6.8m) come under threat from Stoke’s attack.
Elsewhere, Everton’s Marouane Fellaini (£7.2m) is sure to find support ahead of their Blues’ match against mid-table West Ham at Goodison Park.
The Belgian has been in fine form throughout the campaign and he’ll be determined to impress in his side’s final game in front of their own fans this season. Following the Blues’ goalless draw at Liverpool last week he could be one to back as they look to find the net again.
As for Liverpool, they go to a Fulham side still not safe from relegation just yet, and with both Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez unavailable then the onus is sure to fall on Philippe Coutinho (£6.7m) and Daniel Sturridge (£7.0m). Dimitar Berbatov (£7.1m) will of course be vital for the hosts.
At Berbatov’s former club, Sir Alex Ferguson’s last home match in charge of Manchester United brings selection issues with it, but he is likely to once again start with Robin van Persie (£13.7m) upfront for the visit of Swansea. Those prone to a little bit of nostalgia might like to back a few Fantasy points for Ryan Giggs (£6.0m) and Paul Scholes (£5.0m) too.
Back in the cold hard world of chasing the Champions League, Chelsea will be happy that Aston Villa are now all but safe as they prepare for a trip to Villa Park early on Saturday.
Rafael Benitez’s side will be in no mood to let up now as they look to finish as high as possible, and with the battle between Fernando Torres (£9.3m) and Demba Ba (£7.8m) sure to be dominating many thoughts, it is Juan Mata (£10.1m) who continues to make his team tick.
Somewhat bizarrely denied the winning goal at Old Trafford last weekend, Mata will be doubly determined to impress at Villa Park.
He could be a vital addition for your side.
Fantasy Football GW35: Nothing but BONUS POINTS!!
After Suarez went all Hannibal Lecter on us last week GW34 was always going to be a tough act to follow…
Little did we know the drama, the wait… the sleepless night over the carry on that was the Gareth Bale assist! (We acknowledge we need to get out more)
Essentially the kind chaps at the Premier League were kind enough to review the footage from the 2-2 draw between Wigan and Tottenham and retrospectively declare that the ball did indeed touch (barely) Mr PFA player of the year. Great for us #FPL Managers who have him in our team.
This late change transformed a 7 point performance into a 12 as with the assist came 2 bonus points also. Boyce still managed to pick up the 3 Bonus points despite his own goal once again raising a question mark over the bonus point system…
- Elsewhere, Yaya Toure smashed his way through midfield again to collect the maximum in a 2-1 win for City over West Ham.
- Pienaar picked up the maximum bonus allocation as he reminded us that there are alternative options for your #FPL team if you would like a midfielder from Everton.
- Lukaku repaid the faith of thousands of FPL managers who have brought him in for DGW36 with all 3 bonus points to go alongside his goal.
- Crouch was tipped by FY this week as picking up form and while he didn’t get the goal his performance perhaps deserved, he did pick up the maximum 3 bonus points.
- Reading and QPR both were relegated in a drab 0-0 match. Really was not a great game to watch and no players on the pitch stood out. The panel drew straws and decided Guthrie was the stand out player however I’m sure 3 bonus points for him will be no consolation what so ever for relegation.
- The Arsenal – Manchester Utd game may not have the same intensity of previous seasons but was a close fought affair. RVP started so RVP picked up 3 bonus points. With Walcott, Evans and Rooney picking up 2 points each also.
- Frank Lampard is inching closer and closer to the Chelsea all time top scorer record and picked up 2 bonus alongside his goal from the penalty spot with the ever improving Oscar picking up the maximum.
- Newcastle 0-6 Liverpool… Hands up if you had a £5 bet correct score on that?? No.. Didn’t think so. With Suarez out now for the next 10 games I think there was a level uncertainty over which Liverpool team would turn up, yet this was as accomplished performance as you will see all season. Henderson scored twice and picked up the maximum. Downing provided a brace of assists but couldn’t manage to get a bonus point, shame.
As I write this Aston Villa have just put 6 past Sunderland in a mammoth 6-1 win, Di Canio did not knee slide this evening. The bonus points have yet to be announced at time of writing although after smashing in a hat-trick i expect Benteke to be nailed on for the maximum bonus. A goal and 2 assists puts Agbonlahor in the mix for 2points also.
@ryano83
As per usual, drop us a tweet with your thoughts, did they get the bonus points right or wrong? What did you make of the Bale assist? Would you have given it? Tweet us your comments on @FantasyYIRMA or drop a comment below
| 27 Apr 12:45 | Man City |  |
2 – 1 |  |
West Ham |
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| 27 Apr 15:00 | Everton |  |
1 – 0 |  |
Fulham |
| 27 Apr 15:00 | Southampton |  |
0 – 3 |  |
West Brom |
| 27 Apr 15:00 | Stoke City |  |
1 – 0 |  |
Norwich |
| 27 Apr 15:00 | Wigan |  |
2 – 2 |  |
Tottenham |
| 27 Apr 17:30 | Newcastle |  |
0 – 6 |  |
Liverpool |
| 28 Apr 13:30 | Reading |  |
0 – 0 |  |
QPR |
| 28 Apr 15:00 | Chelsea |  |
2 – 0 |  |
Swansea |
| 28 Apr 16:00 | Arsenal |  |
1 – 1 |  |
Man Utd |
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| 29 Apr 20:00 | Aston Villa |  |
6 – 1 |  |
Sunderland |
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Fantasy Football GW35 preview: Defoe to take a bite out of Wigan?
Well he was never going to exit quietly was he?
Sunday saw the last action of one of the Fantasy Premier League stars of 2012/13, with Liverpool’s Luis Suarez leaving the game for the season with a goal in the 97th minute of what was an 11-point performance against Chelsea – not that everyone was talking about that come full-time.
In his absence, forward options are being scoured and teams are being altered, but perhaps his direct replacement was seen earlier on Sunday afternoon.
After failing to start since the 3-2 loss at Liverpool last month, Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe (£7.9m) – another with a history which includes biting opponents – came off the bench to score in Spurs’ fantastic comeback to beat Manchester City at White Hart Lane last weekend.
With Emmanuel Adebayor (£9.0m) struggling having scored just three league goals all season, Defoe’s return to fitness could be perfectly timed for Andre Villas-Boas’ side as they chase the Champions League.
As far as the Fantasy game goes, Spurs head for Wigan at the weekend before a double Gameweek next week when the north Londoners face Southampton and Chelsea, meaning that Defoe is likely to get plenty of playing time as the campaign draws to a close.
The England forward could prove to be a key man for both Tottenham and for your team as the scramble for league positions becomes more intense, and he could just be the forward to trust in Suarez’s absence.
Those fixtures for Spurs and the return to fitness of Gareth Bale (£10.5m) mean that the Welshman is sure to find himself thrown back into plenty of teams following his recovery from injury, whilst defensively the likes of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (£5.8m) and defender Jan Vertonghen (£6.6m) could also offer much.
Elsewhere, the battle for the Champions League places will go up a notch at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea entertain a Swansea side who seem to have been on a downward spiral ever since they won the Capital One Cup.
Juan Mata (£9.8m) took his tally to 16 assists for the season after being credited with laying on both goals in the draw at Anfield, and with the Spaniard so key to everything his side do then Rafael Benitez surely won’t risk leaving him out for the clash with the Swans.
The form of both Eden Hazard (£9.6m) and Oscar (£7.8m) has been encouraging in recent weeks, but it is still Mata who makes Chelsea tick and who they’ll be looking to in a contest that the hosts will really need to win in their challenge for the top four, especially given that Suarez took a bite out of their hopes on Sunday.
Arsenal are the other one of three clubs that cannot go into the two still available top four places, and they’ll be hoping that champions Manchester United will have taken their eye off the ball as they visit The Emirates.
The absence of Olivier Giroud through suspension means that Lukas Podolski (£8.1m) is likely to come in from the start for the Gunners, whilst Theo Walcott (£8.8m) could also be restored to the central forward role that he so enjoyed earlier in the campaign.
A little higher up the table than Arsenal, Manchester City host West Ham in a contest in which Carlos Tevez (£9.1m) will be looking to keep up recent form against his former club. Having kept six clean sheets in their last seven home games, the likes of Joe Hart (£6.8m), Pablo Zabaleta (£6.2m) and Vincent Kompany (£7.0m) will be confident of keeping West Ham out.
Having scored only a second goal in 26 games at QPR last weekend, Stoke’s Peter Crouch (£6.0m) could be fancied for another strike at home to Norwich, whilst Christian Benteke (£7.3m) will be confident going into Aston Villa’s clash at home to Sunderland.
At Goodison Park, Everton will be going for a sixth home win in seven games as they host Fulham.
Marouane Fellaini (£7.4m), Kevin Mirallas (£6.9m) and Leighton Baines (£7.8m) are likely to garner the most attention, although for a cheap choice it could pay to go with Victor Anichebe (£4.4m), who has started the last six Blues games and is sure to have chances against a Fulham side who have kept just three clean sheets on the road this season.
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.
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 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!
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