Blog Archives
#FPL Insight: Mata vs. Hazard by @shots_on_target
#FPL Insight Mata vs. Hazard by @shots_on_target
Big thanks to Yirma regular @shots_on_target for a great insight piece – to view more of his articles check his site at www.shotsontarget.co.uk
This is clearly represented by a comparison of both players attacking stats from the first two gameweeks with Hazard earning an average F.SCORE of 46 compared to Mata’s 26.
To see @shots_on_target follow this article up with some further analysis with Cazorla and Bale visit his website at http://www.shotsontarget.co.uk/2012/10/matahazard-vs-95m.html
Gameweek 7 preview: Can Suarez repeat the trick?
Gameweek 7 preview: Can Suarez repeat the trick?
Luis Suarez likes Norwich. Norwich doesn’t like Luis Suarez.
In fact, quite a few people don’t like Luis Suárez (£9.4m), but Fantasy managers shouldn’t be amongst them in the next few weeks as the Uruguayan ace looks to provide the goals which shoot Brendan Rodgers’ Reds up the Premier League.
Being Liverpool hasn’t always been too easy whilst they’ve had Suarez around, but Rodgers’ new philosophy is designed to get the best out of the Reds’ No. 7, with last Saturday’s hat-trick at Norwich proving that it is a philosophy which is beginning to click into gear.
Saturday’s treble was Suarez’s second successive hat-trick at Carrow Road, and if you’d backed him to repeat the trick against previously wounded opponents then you might like to see who Liverpool are welcoming to Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
Suarez scored twice against Stoke in the League Cup last season and then once more against the Potters in the FA Cup, helping the Reds towards the finals of both competitions and no doubt leaving Stoke sick of the sight of him.
They’ll be coming up against him on Sunday though, and even though Tony Pulis will no doubt be drumming plans of how to stop him into his defenders’ heads as we speak, Suarez will fancy his chances against an outfit he has shone against before.
Steven Gerrard (£9.4m) managed to get on the scoresheet alongside Suarez last Saturday, but perhaps better value can be found in his fellow midfielder Nuri Sahin (£6.7m), another who found the net at Carrow Road and a gifted playmaker who is only likely to see his influence on this Liverpool team grow the longer the season goes on. The Turk is good enough to warrant Real Madrid spending big money on him last summer, whilst Arsene Wenger was desperate to bring him to Arsenal before he chose Anfield. Three goals and two assists in his last two games hint at a lot more points to come.
Away from Liverpool, Chelsea are still likely to be most Fantasy manager’s focus groups for another weekend, with the re-emergence of one player in particular surely not going unnoticed.
Juan Mata (£8.8m) might be considered old news by some following the arrivals of Eden Hazard (£10.3m) and Oscar (£7.8m) in the summer, but the Spanish magician has started to work his magic in the past week, scoring four goals in his last three games and providing the assist for Fernando Torres (£9.9m) to find the net against Arsenal.
The Euro 2012 winner sparkled during his first season in England, but a gruelling summer both in Poland and the Ukraine and then at the Olympics affected his stock amongst Fantasy bosses at the beginning of this season. Currently only 4.3% of teams have him on their books, but that will only grow in the coming weeks.
The game of the weekend is surely Newcastle against Manchester United, which threatens to become a shootout between Demba Ba (£8.1m) and Robin van Persie (£13.5m) but could be settled by the skills of Hatem Ben Arfa (£7.9m). The Frenchman has either scored or assisted in each of Newcastle’s three games at St James’s Park (sorry Mike Ashley) this season.
Manchester City, Everton and Tottenham all have fixtures which will make their players popular with Fantasy bosses, but for our third player selection of the week we turn to an old Fantasy favourite – the player in the wrong position.
Arsenal’s Gervinho (£7.4m) may be listed as a midfielder but he certainly doesn’t play like one, and the in-form Ivorian will be looking to improve his record of five goals in his last five games when the Gunners go to West Ham.
It’s a short journey for them, but it could be a profitable one for you.
@Mark_Jones86
The GAMEWEEK 6 REVIEW (by @shots_on_target)
Here’s the round up of the 9 games played so far in GW6. Many thanks to our regular guest post writer @shots_on_target for some great analysis. You can read more of his articles at http://www.shotsontarget.co.uk/
We will have a Yirma Twitter takeover this evening from 7.30PM with football pundit @mark_jones86 taking over the @fantasyyirma account to cover the #QPR V#WESTHAM game. So contact us at fantasyyirma@hotmail.com today with any #FPL questions you have or leave a question in the comments section below.
@ryano83
ARSENAL 1-2 CHELSEA
Arsenal dominated the attacking play in this game, trebling the number of shooting opportunities in the box to that of Chelsea, but failing to hit the target with any regularity. Chelsea on the other other proved to be very ruthless when presented with a chance in the box, particularly scorer of the first goal, Fernando Torres. Arsenal continue to struggle to finish off their creative play. Chelsea are a tough nut to crack though (ask Messi) and owners of Cazorla should remain confident with him creating 4 Key Passes and getting himself into the box for 4 shots. For Chelsea, Hazard, despite his obvious quality, did sweet f.a. in this game from a fantasy point of view, whilst Mata stepped to finally replicate some of last season’s FPL form.
READING2- 2 NEWCASTLE
Demba Ba will grab the fantasy headlines from this one. He represents a clear threat in comparison to team mate Cisse, and is a great player to own in FPL. The rest of the magpies are falling to produce on a reliable basis. Sure, Ben Arfa still has the odd moment of magic in him but on this evidence he is overpriced, he didn’t even take a shot in this game. For Reading, this was their best game so far from both an offensive and defensive point of view, creating more chances this 90 minutes in their previous 2 games put together and limiting Newcastle to just a handful of chances. Unfortunately for the Royals though, the fell to Ba.
EVERTON 3- 1 SOUTHAMPTON
Despite an early scare Everton racked up the chances and the goals they deserved. 15 shots in the box, and 8 on target is really what you’d expect of United or City, and in Nikica Jelavic they have a man to score them. Fellaini continued in his up-front role supported by the impressive Mirallas, who is really hitting the ground running after his summer move from Olympiakos. Both were unlucky not to get more than an assist between them. Not so for Pienaar who did very little in FPL terms, despite such a dominant Everton display. For the Saints, Lambert was kept pretty quiet with just one shot but it was Gaston Ramirez who stood out, not just for his goal, but for his overall involvement in the visitor’s attacking play. They created a fair amount of chances too, there are goals in both these teams.
NORWICH 2 – 5 LIVERPOOL
This was the Luis Suarez show. The Uruguayan absolutely dominates Liverpool’s forward play and has always had the quality to find the back of the net. With some juicy fixtures on the horizon FPL interest in Suarez is rightly set to explode. Elsewhere, Sahin showed what he’s about playing in the support role in Shelvey’s absence. If he can make this position his own he could be a great fantasy asset. Norwich were almost as creative as Liverpool in this game, and the scoreline flatters Liverpool a little. They are yet to settle on a front man but if Holt or perhaps Snodgrass can find their shooting boots they could start to pick up both real and fantasy points.
STOKE 2-0 SWANSEA
This was exactly the scoreline that many people expected. Swansea’s bubble has burst up against the drilled quality of teams like Everton and now Stoke. To be fair, Laudrup’s men are not built for a day out in Staffodshire and have plenty to offer the fantasy manager over the next couple of fixtures. Stoke were impressive in their game plan and Tony Pulis knows exactly how to play the way he does. Peter Crouch is a threat in the box and players like Adam know how to find him.
MAN UTD 2 – TOTTENHAM 3
This game was everything that the Premiership is about. Under-pressure Villas-Boas got his early game tactics spot on as Spurs went straight for the jugular at Old Trafford, leaving the likes of Giggs a mere spectator. Gareth Bale was a geniune menace and his form is key to Tottenham, and he is in some great form right now. United piled the pressure late on, with Spurs forced to drop deep and defend. Van Persie, Nani, and Rooney all stood out for the Red Devils despite Rooney just getting a 45 minute run out.
FULHAM 1-2 MAN CITY
Fulham’s recent results have gotten people talking but they came up against a solid City side here who controlled the game well and really limited the attacking nous of the home team. Berbatov’s unfortunate injury means he will miss up to 3 games and he will be missed, although the front Ruiz and Petric did well as the the focal point up front. For City, Tevez place in the starting XI settled the biggest fantasy question of the day but he did not do all that much and was predictably subbed off just over the hour mark. Aguero played the full 90, as did Silva, and these two are the real starts of City’s attack.
SUNDERLAND 1-0 WIGAN
Steven Fletcher and Sunderland do it again, score from their only shot on target. Can they continue to do this for much longer. To be frank, if Steven Fletcher was capable of scoring with every shot he takes he would not have been playing for Wolves last year and Sunderland this, no offence Mackams! He is a quality finisher though, no doubt about it, but he’s not Superman, Wigan should feel hard done by, they probably did enough to score, but O’Neil has his Black Cats as well-drilled as his reputation.
ASTON VILLA 1- 1 WEST BROM
Two surprising omissions in the starting line-ups here, with Bent and Lukaku both missing out. Shane Long was the main threat for the Baggies early on a grabbed a goal with Gera providing most of the threat from midfield. For Villa, Benteke was plenty involved but is still adjusting to the style and pace of the Premiership and failed to find the target with any of his 6 efforts. Bent and Lukaku’s introductions from the bench livened up the encounter with both heavily involved as the game opened up, with Holman also impressing for the Villains.
GW6 NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS!!
Due to the fact that Carlos Tevez is still in my team, I’m not going to even try and work out how he got two bonus points this week… but he did and this pleases me – as it will please a large percentage of #FPL players!
Anyway.. here are the Bonus points in Full.
@ryano83
| 29 Sep 12:45 | Arsenal |  |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Everton |  |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Fulham |  |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Reading |  |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Stoke City |  |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Sunderland |  |
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| 29 Sep 17:30 | Man Utd |  |
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| 30 Sep 16:00 | Aston Villa |  |
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| 01 Oct 20:00TBC | QPR |  |
v |  |
West Ham |
To Infinity and Beyond- or at least GW5-GW9 (By @shots_on_target)
If you would like to get involved and write your own guest post for @FantasyYirma feel free to contact us via email, twitter or directly on the site
Many thanks to our guest post from @shots_on_target . This week he looks at some selection choices with the next 5 or 6 gameweeks in mind.
Here is my appraisal of transfer target’s that should serve you will for the next several gameweeks and beyond. The players featured are those that have the right mixture of good form and good fixtures, regardless of price. Obviously I am trying to aim slightly off the beaten path as there is no need to highlight the likes of Van Persie and Tevez . These are all picks that aim to strengthen your squad on a mid to long term basis, rather than one week punts or trying to pick up a cheap or temporary option, with a particular focus on the next 6 game weeks. All should be guaranteed game time, high points potential and value for money.
Up Front
Demba Ba (Newcastle) £7.7m 18% owned FIXTURES: NOR (H) RDG (A) MUN (H) SUN (A) WBA (H) LIV (A)
Already bagged three this season from 5 shots on target and 15 shots in total. This kind of production is perfectly reasonable return from a high quality striker, and his overall record in the Premiership is enviable (26 goals in 50 games with Newcastle and West Ham). Reports that Cisse is suffering from illness eases concerns over his gametime in the near term. Obviously is a slight risk having been named a sub recently but I think he’s too good not to start.
Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham) £7.1m 7.2% owned FIXTURES: WIG (A) MCI (H) SOT (A) AVL (H) RDG (A) EVE (H)
Fulham showed Top 4 attacking form last year at home but struggled away. This year they top the charts for total shots on target with 33, 10 more than next placed Tottenham. But they top the charts for shots on target away from home too, with 14, 3 more than next best Spurs, so they are able to create chances away from home, and with the audacious Berbatov leading line, he, and they, are going to score goals. I would even consider Berbs as a captain option for Fulham’s home fixtures.
Also consider: Luis Suarez (£9.4m)
Middle of the Park
Kevin Nolan (West Ham) £6.1m 8.7% owned FIXTURES: NOR (A) SUN (H) QPR (A) ARS (H) SOT (H) WIG (A)
Featured in my Midprice Midfielders article last week Nolan’s attacking intent, fixtures and goal-scoring record at this level get him into my best picks for the coming 6 weeks regardless of price, which is very, very generous considering West ham’s impressive start.
Also consider: Hatem Ben Arfa (£7.7m), James Morrison (£6.0m)
See also last week’s post on Midfield options here… https://fantasyyirma.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/guest-post-midfield-selection-advice-by-shots_on_target/
At the Back
Leighton Baines (Everton) £7.1m 14.6% FIXTURES: SWA (A) SOT (H) WIG (A) QPR (A) LIV (H) FUL (A)
Not the best immediate run of fixtures but Baines is a season long pick in my opinion with games against Sunderland, Reading and Norwich to come after the next 6. Baines looks to be on track to recapture his FPL form on the 2010/11 season that saw him return a 178 point season. Last year he suffered but with Pienaar back in the team and Fellaini moved up front they are creating plenty of space and opportunity for the England man to join in the attack.
Glen Johnson (Liverpool) £6.4m 2% FIXTURES: MAN (H) NOR (A) STO (H) RDG (H) EVE (A) NEW (H)
Liverpool are well off the fantasy radar right now and Glen Johnson has suffered a price drop since the start of the season. You probably won’t want to pick him up for the forthcoming fixture against United but after that things start to brighten up with plenty of clean sheet potential in games versus Norwich, Stoke and Reading in particular. Johnson has been involved plenty in Liverpool’s attacking play with an impressive 6 key passes and 7 shots. Liverpool were dealt a harsh opening schedule but Johnson has shown promise that the forthcoming fixtures could reward some investment.
Guest Blogger Profile: @shots_on_target
Football and stats fan who finds nirvana within the game of fantasy football!!
Visit his blog for
#FPL key stats, rankings, analysis and point forecasts http://shotsontarget.blogspot.co.uk/
GW5 preview: More than Arfa chance! Featuring MVF’s Adam Richman?? Yes, Really!
Gameweek 5 preview: More than Arfa chance
You’re still here then? You haven’t decided to throw in the towel after the trials and tribulations of last weekend? I salute you.
I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d gone. It was a Gameweek which saw barely any goals for the usual suspects, the early substitutions of others and a late appearance off the bench for everyone’s favourite expensive Dutchman. You might as well have picked your team by tossing 11 coins.
It’ll be different this week though, as the clubs return to action following midweek European appearances no doubt refreshed and ready to earn you some points.
One man who’ll certainly be prepared is the Newcastle midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, who misses his side’s Europa League trip to Portugal due to a European suspension which dates back to his Marseille days.
That means he’ll be fresh for Norwich’s visit to Tyneside on Sunday afternoon, when Alan Pardew’s men will be expecting to earn a victory for only the second time in this Premier League season and the first since the opening day.
The fortuitous draw at Everton did at least highlight that the Magpies are made of resilient stuff this season, and given that Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez and the admittedly under the weather Papiss Cisse were also all left out of the squad to travel to Madeira and face Maritimo, Pardew’s key men will all be fit and raring to go for the visit of the former Newcastle boss Chris Hughton and his side.
Admittedly a player who can struggle when his side are under the cosh as they were at Everton, Ben Arfa picked up 10 points in Newcastle’s opening home game of the season against Tottenham, and then nine in the second against Aston Villa.
The Frenchman loves the Tyneside air, and he could well make Norwich suffer in it come Sunday afternoon.
Elsewhere over this Premier League weekend, eyes are inevitably drawn to the most super of super Sundays as Liverpool take on Manchester United at Anfield before Manchester City host Arsenal.
The focus in the former clash is likely to be just as much on the off-field matters as on-field ones, but Liverpool will be determined to give their old rivals a stern test as they go in search of a first win of the league season. They might not get it here, and the tight nature of the contest makes it difficult to recommend any player from either side. The same can be said of the match at the Etihad Stadium, although City should do enough to win.
For Fantasy football purposes – and that is why we’re here – both matches should be avoided, but the same can’t be said for Chelsea’s clash with Stoke at Stamford Bridge.
The early season pacesetters may have suffered the blow of letting their lead over Juventus slip on Wednesday night, but they’ll be determined to come out fighting after dropping their first Premier League points of the season at QPR last weekend. Petr Cech and his defenders will be confident of a clean sheet, and whilst it has been a whole week since Eden Hazard made an assist, perhaps it’ll be the returning Juan Mata who comes to the fore on Saturday – particularly if Oscar is out injured.
After recommending him last week, Dimitar Berbatov didn’t let us down with two goals against West Brom, and the Bulgarian will fancy hitting the back of the net again when Fulham go to Wigan. If you’ve got slightly more to spend though then perhaps it could be better invested in Jermain Defoe, who overcame the indignity of having to play in that terrible Tottenham away shirt to score twice against Reading last Sunday.
If he can get over that, then QPR at home should be a doddle.
Gameweek 5 Preview – EXTRA TIME
As a special addition to our GW5 preview, Fantasy Yirma had the pleasure of speaking to Man Versus Food legend Adam Richman this week. Now that he has thrown in the fork on eating challenges he has discovered a love for all things Fantasy Football.
Adam plays the Telegraph version of the game here in the UK so first things first – we must get him in the official game also next time!
Speaking about the season so far, Adam has a strong team and you can tell he takes his Fantasy Football seriously when as a Spurs fan he is loaded up with Chelsea players. It’s reassuring to hear that Adam is facing a lot of similar dilemmas as us with his team at the moment with question marks over Swansea and Fulham players giving him food for thought this week.
We asked Adam to select a Captain for GW5, (or predict the GW-MVP-ESPN style, gotta love an acronym or three) and here were his thoughts.
“This week Chelsea will dominate I think” Key Player? “more than likely Hazard”
Thanks to Adam for speaking with @fantasyyirma this week, and good luck this season.
The gauntlet has been thrown down for you to join the Yirma mini- league next season! 🙂
Guest Post: Current Yirma Champion reflects on season so far.
Thanks to current Yirma champion Tom for providing his insight into the season so far. Tom finished in the top 250 last season (Out of over 2.7m players) We are already contemplating copying his team 😉
First of all, an apology for my reply to a question raised in my previous post. I believe I advised the unfortunate user to watch out for Cazorla and Giroud of Arsenal, only for me to go and start with Podolski on opening day.
It’s an interesting time as after only 3 weeks we’ll see a massive differentiation of wildcard use. Some will have played it, some will be playing it right now in this two week window, whilst others attempt to hold their nerve and save it for a rainy (or, as the case may be, snowed off) day. There is no correct strategy here but whichever direction you go in, ensure you have a mixture of the players in form mixed with those who may be creeping under the radar with excellent fixtures coming up.
I’d imagine the likes of Michu, Hazard and Tevez will have found their way into just about every team by now so I won’t mention them. Any player who has scored a goal thus far will have been brought into the limelight so the likes of Nolan, Fellaini, Piennar, Fletcher, etc) will also be making their way into squads, but what about those who haven’t fired yet?
An obvious example of an underperforming team is Tottenham. I haven’t given up on them yet and with Adebayor surely pushing for a start this weekend, things will improve. Dempsey may or may not prove to be a hindrance but I believe there are goals here if you are brave enough to pick a Spurs attacking player.
As a Villa fan I tend to stay away from what inevitably turns to disappointment, but signs of life have surfaced and the team outclassed Newcastle last time out and were held to a draw only by a rocket from Ben Arfa. I’m not sure I’d advocate shelling out on Bent or Bentake up top just yet, but there are certainly goals to be had with a fantastic upcoming schedule.
On similar lines, Dimitar Berbatov poses some interesting questions. It’s another wait and see but if he can get regular games and dictate play surely he’s in line for a great season. Cisse and Ba didn’t become terrible players overnight and should pick up last season’s goalscoring exploits very soon, whilst Danny Graham must be given a little faith despite being completely overshadowed by his midfield so far.
And what about Robin Van Persie? A player plucked from obscurity and thrust into the Premier League spotlight. Well, not quite. I don’t believe in ‘must have’ players in this game, especially at his extreme price when we don’t know how he fits into plans when Rooney comes back and Champions League rotation kicks in. Saying all that, I have him slotted neatly in my team and it would be hard to recommend against him for anyone with a wildcard this week. For those without, I wouldn’t break the rest of my team just to have him no matter what he does against Wigan this weekend. After that fixtures stiffen up and rotation is right around the corner.
I’ve avoided the wildcard this week despite some obvious flaws in my squad. The first bullet point in my last post argued that you should pick players who will play. So naturally I stuck De Gea in goal. Ryan Bennett was an unfortunate pick as he was replaced by newly signed Bassong at Norwich after the GW1 window shut, whilst my GW3 signing Ashley Williams has now been left at the heart of a completely shattered defensive unit. Apart from that I was extremely fortunate to start with Tevez, Hazard and Michu which meant that I wasn’t chasing bandwagons and had the pleasure of seeing other teams panicking to transfer them in. For those yet to wildcard, I salute you, and I hope we will be able to keep up and make our move later in the season? This is where the men are sorted from the boys.
There’s a draft coming from that bloody window!!!
Closing time: The frantic ending to the transfer window
The music has stopped, the bouncers are putting chairs on the tables and there are football managers staggering around and looking for whatever they can get their hands on.
Alright, maybe that is a bit extreme, but the last few hours of the transfer window can often have the feel of a local nightclub with a questionable reputation. Virtually everyone is available if you’ve got the right moves, but you might pick up somebody you’ll regret in the morning.
Ever since the introduction of summer and winter transfer windows, it is the closure of both rather than the opening which always makes big news.
Sky television have turned the bi-annual event into a frantic soap opera all of their own, as men and women in a TV studio shout to reporters stationed in car parks full of expectant youngsters, all of whom are waiting to hear the news that a tireless midfielder from Feyenoord has passed his medical and completed his season-long loan. Cue the cheers.
The quality of these pantomimes have been on a steady decline since 1st September 2008, the day that the city of Manchester welcomed Robinho and Dimitar Berbatov to their two Premier League football clubs amidst the kind of against-the-clock drama that Jack Bauer usually monopolises.
The fact that now, two-and-a-half years after Robinho last kicked a ball for Manchester City, his unwitting co-star Berbatov surely stands on the verge of leaving Manchester United wouldn’t even have been considered back then. Both players, at £30m plus the rest, were going to be superstars for their new clubs, regardless of what anybody thought.
Berbatov’s performances at United can be debated over until all involved are blue in the face, but it would take a really convincing argument to state that he was worth the money that United shelled out on him back then, whilst it might take a hypnotist to convince you that Liverpool were right to spend a similar amount two-and-a-half years later on Andy Carroll, another who could be on the move again this week.
Yet at the time it was all about the thrill of spending. The clubs were operating against the clock and wanted to make their move, Liverpool in particular following their windfall from the Fernando Torres sale to Chelsea.
Were they not operating against the clock the club would not have shelled out the cash that they did on Carroll. The player was a confirmed target, but the Reds were happy to wait until the summer for him to get in their taxi. The offer they got for Torres sped up a manic process.
And that is what the final few hours of the transfer window are. Manic.
Clubs blinded by the thrill of the chase and the money involved make huge moves, and they are often false ones. QPR stayed up by the narrowest of margins last season after spending big in each window, almost creating new teams as they did so and removing the character and team spirit which had got them to the Premier League in the first place.
Staging the end of the window after the first matches of the league season doesn’t exactly help matters either, and can lead to players refusing to play for their clubs in a bid to force through moves as seen in the cases of Luka Modric and Clint Dempsey.
One of those got his transfer, and the other one will eventually. Players know that if they flirt with moves for long enough they’ll get what and who they want.
Maybe ultimately that’s what everyone desires.
The player gets his move, the manager gets to experience the thrill of the chase, the fans get to watch the drama unfold. In the background, the agent counts his money.
All of them were in the dodgy nightclub in the first place, so they must have known that it would end like this.
No-one goes home early and alone on deadline day, after all.
NIFFTY League GW3
The NIFFTY (Northern Ireland Fantasy Football Through Yirma) League is off and running.
Here are the Head to Head games for GW3…
Fantasy Yirma’s Chief Football Writer @mark_jones86 takes on our man across the pond @advertisingweek in an interesting match up…Mark has played his wildcard already- will it pay off??
Citybeat presenter Stephen Clements @citybeatstephen plays Accrington Stanley’s James Gray @james_tippy10
in a tightly contested match up. Meanwhile, BBC Ulster’s Alan Simpson @alansimpsonbbc plays Larne export Neil Gardiner @larneboy73 in a match sure to be high scoring in terms of points….
Keep up to speed with the NIFFTY league and see how our GAWA boys get on- @keithgillespie7 @michaeloconnor8, @grantmccann11 and the Feeno aka Warren Feeney are all having a go at Yirma this year.. which one of them will finish higher???
Gameweek 3 preview: The value of Sterling
Gameweek 3 preview: The value of Sterling
What were you doing when you were 17? Actually, on second thoughts I don’t want to know.
Whatever it was, unless you’re Michael Owen or Steven Gerrard it’s unlikely that you were running about the Anfield turf with a brilliantly youthful innocence and what looks to be a genuine love of seeing the ball at your feet.
Raheem Sterling has got that, and he showed it during his 90 minute display in the red of Liverpool against Manchester City last Sunday afternoon.
Now this is a Fantasy football blog. We are here to try and give you advice about what to do with your team. So of course I’m not going to say that Sterling should immediately be transferred in and made captain ahead of Liverpool’s match with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, but the teenager’s £4.5m price tag should raise interest from Fantasy bosses who like to get a squad player who will provide real value.
Thinking long term, Sterling’s value will only go up, and so if you can afford the luxury of bringing in a player who will supplement your squad rather than star in it, then there aren’t many better choices than Liverpool’s new young talent.
The team he plays in looked good last weekend, and there will be many who fancy them to beat a so far scoreless Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, when Nuri Sahin (WHY IS THERE STILL NO PRICE??) is likely to make his English and Fantasy football debut against the team he looked set to join all summer, especially with Lucas Leiva now injured again. Martin Skrtel (£6.0m) remains a popular choice despite last weekend’s error.
His backpass allowed Carlos Tevez (£9.5m) to score at Anfield, and with the Argentinean’s value already up by £0.5m since the start of the season, Fantasy bosses would be wise to add him to their squad before it’s too late. Tevez is a good bet to impress when City host QPR at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.
Just what their neighbours Manchester United will do following the injury to Wayne Rooney remains to be seen, although the blow creates a perfect opportunity for the Fantasy game’s most expensive player Robin van Persie (£13.1m) to settle into his stride at his new club, whilst Shinji Kagawa (£8.6m) is another who could thrive in Rooney’s absence. United should beat Southampton at St Mary’s on Sunday.
Gameweek 3’s key problem is the absence of a Chelsea fixture of course – although Eden Hazard could still find a way to make an assist – and so if Fantasy bosses have a free transfer available and the funds to bring in a big name for one week only, they could well settle on Tottenham’s fixture against Norwich at White Hart Lane.
Spurs have misfired under Andre Villas-Boas so far, but with Emmanuel Adebayor (£9.6m) and Rafael van der Vaart (£8.9m) looking to fire against the Canaries that could all change here. Gareth Bale (£9.5m) might be the man to turn to if you can afford to replace Hazard and then buy him back at an inflated price though.
Elsewhere, many Fantasy bosses will be looking a Newcastle’s home match against struggling Aston Villa as a chance for Papiss Cissé (£9.5m) to rediscover last season’s prolific goalscoring form, but it is Hatem Ben Arfa (£7.6m) who has picked up the most points in the Magpies team and could be set to impress again.
It has been Swansea and Everton who have impressed everyone this season, and although both have winnable games again this weekend, it is the Blues players who travel to West Brom who might offer the prospect of more points in the long-term.
Marouane Fellaini (£6.8m) and Nikica Jelavić (£8.5m) have started as they mean to go on.
@Mark_Jones86
FantasyYIRMA - Fantasy Football FPL 