Blog Archives
Fantasy Football: Tips out for Yirma! GW24
If @Pedro_Lamb wins his 100/1 correct score bet @ryano83 and @mark_jones86 may as well concede… he wont though so it’s ok….I hope…
Name this fish…
GAMEWEEK 24
Here within the Fantasy Yirma administration team, we like to pretend we have money. With that in mind we have devised a FY Tipster selection competition.
The loser from the Admin team at the end of the season will pay the £50 prize fund for the mini league!!
Here’s the current standings after Gameweek 23:
| FY Tipster | GW23 Spend | GW23 Return | Total Spend | Total Return | Difference |
| @pedro_lamb | £30 | £87.50 | £690 | £733.28 | £43.28 |
| @mark_jones86 | £30 | £0 | £690 | £507.19 | – £182.81 |
| @ryano83 | £30 | £33 | £690 | £803.66 | + £113.66 |
Rules
Each player must place three £10 bets (Monopoly) per gameweek. (SINGLES ONLY/ PL Only)
The bet can be on any individual result/market/outcome with the only proviso being that you must stipulate the odds at time of selection submission and it must be from the same odds provider.
In practice this means your three £10 bets can be across three fixtures or three markets within one match.
Get your tips out for Yirma!!!
Gameweek 24 tips:
£10 Correct Score QPR 2 -5 Man City 100/1
£10 Newcastle Win 9/5
£10 Swansea Win 2/1
£10 Villa v Newcastle 0-0 17/2
£10 Norwich Win 10/3
£10 Liverpool win 11/5
£10 Stoke to win (less than 2.5 goals in the game) 10/3
£10 West Ham win 5/2
£10 Everton Draw 14/5
Premier League: App Preview “Fantasy Football meets Wall Street”
I think if I was to say that the FantasyYIRMA team were slight fans of Fantasy Football, I’d be locked up for blatent lies…we are clearly nuts about #FPL.
So… when a new #FPL related app lands on the scene we tend to sit up and take notice. Over the past few months we’ve watched with anticipation as Football Trader gets ready to launch! This week’s guest post is an interview with Sohail Godall, Co-Founder of Football Trader.
By @ryano83
If you enjoy #FPL then this could be like an extra free transfer when you’ve had a last minute injury!
FantasyYirma: So tell me about this new Fantasy Football Trading Game app?? There’s been a lot of chat on twitter already about it!
Sohail: We’re launching a new type of Fantasy Football game for the modern fan. Imagine Fantasy Football played on a live stock market, where you buy shares in players live that are constantly changing based on news off the pitch and how they perform on the pitch.
This is basically Football Trader 🙂
FantasyYirma: Interesting, so it’s a sort of Fantasy Football meets Wall Street? Many FPL fans may not be used to the concept of Real-time trading. What made you base your game on this?
Sohail: Well we heard users tweeting and telling us that sometimes current Fantasy Football can just be a “Game of Luck”. Controversial perhaps, but in the end users always pick the same players who score goals/assist or in a team that keeps clean sheets. It’s not a level playing field and half the players in the league are mostly overlooked. (We blogged about this last week here – http://tinyurl.com/a9z6bd8)
The actual gameplay of Fantasy Football games has not evolved much since it started 20 years ago! The points scoring system is very similar.
Football today is inundated with so much information in the media – live breaking player news, transfer speculation, twitter discussion and people are constantly checking their smartphones. We want to bring this together in a game where you can quickly buy/sell players based on how you view a players worth. You read news about them, watch their performance and make a judgement on how you anticipate what they will do in the next games.
It’s all about investing in players you think will do well where you can grow their value.
FantasyYirma: So thinking about that and the real-time aspect, people would jump into the app and buy/sell their players as they hear news?
Sohail: Exactly, think of the Eden Hazard incident the other day. Before the game his stock was high, he had started coming into form and scored. His stock was rising, people were starting to buy him. Then the incident and in an instant he’s sent off and banned for 3 games. His stock falls.
We saw this during our testing this week, his price fell straight after and in our game it would likely fall as people would sell him expecting his price to fall sharply. Those that sell quickly won’t lose out too much, as it’s all about timing. Some might not sell as they think he will come back strong.
It’s all about how you anticipate a player, and every person see this differently 🙂
FantasyYirma: Sounds innovative! I can see the real time aspect appealing to people. So how does the game work? What are the basic rules?
Sohail: I thought you might ask that! See below
FantasyYirma: And for those who have been drawn in on the idea, when’s this all out?
Sohail: It’s been extremely complicated building all this! We are now finally live in a Private Beta testing out bugs on the live market and refining the gameplay. We are open to users wanting to join the Beta and provide feedback (just send us a Tweet at the address below).
Once we get through this, make some changes, we will launch on iPhone and Android by the end of February we hope. Our big launch will be for next season!
FantasyYirma: Many Thanks for your time Sohail, much appreciated and I’m sure there will be FPL fans on the lookout for this! I look forward to my free copy! 😉
See Below for further links on the game, Beta testers are welcome:
Fantasy Premier League: FY Mini-league still open-Prize to be won!
Still time to join the FantasyYirma mini-league!!
You can still join the #FantasyYirma mini-league – be warned the competition is tough! The FantasyYirma mini-league is one of the TOP RANKED in the overall game! Click the link below to Join.
The Official FantasyYirma League is FREE TO PLAY and has a £50 cash prize for the winner.
Click to Join. http://fantasy.premierleague.com/my-leagues/15005/join/?autojoin-code=44397-15005
The prize money is provided by the FY Admin team member with the lowest total score at the end of the season…
To take £50 off your mate in a bet is fun- to make him sponsor the league for an entire season …is funnier.
Premier League: Fightback Statistics! (Part 1)
Many thanks to @JonnyGrossmark for providing this excellent guest post. If you are not following him on Twitter already – get on it!
As always, Guest posts are welcome on the FantasyYirma page. If you have an idea for a new article or would like to promote a recent piece contact Ryan at fantasyYirma@hotmail.com for more information.
#FY
How Well Does Your Team “Fightback” When Conceding 1st? Stats Analysis
The phrase “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” is certainly appropriate when discussing football data at a time when data is now readily available to the public should they be inclined to look at it. Manchester City have tried to raise the bar by offering data in the hope that some bright blogger/analyst will be able to add to the debate about improving performance via analysis of the data.
In this article I want to show how important the analysis of data is but at the same time I am hoping to push the boundaries in terms of stimulating interest in raw football data by looking at data from the 2008-2009 onwards including the current season to find out if there is a correlation between conceding and the strength of a team.
If we look at teams that regularly occupy the Championship League spots and the Europa League places we see a level of consistency that the other teams cannot produce. But are there any variables that preclude established sides such as Spurs from considering winning the EPL?
The Top 6 Sides “FightBack” Analysis
We can see that Arsenal and Manchester City have both conceded first 59 times in the sample and Man City have been the team that have consolidated their position as a Top 2 team while Arsenal have declined in status but have maintained their levels in terms of being consistent regarding the the number of games a season where they concede first. We can also see that although Manchester City have drawn a higher % when conceding first (27%) , it is Arsenal who have only lost 49% of games when conceding first, which is much better than Manchester City as they have lost 57% of the games.
Manchester United have conceded the first goal of the game, the least amount of times (45) and Everton the most (76). There are some key issues to discuss.
- Why have Manchester United conceded the first goal so many times this season (11 at just over the half-way point) compared to 8, 8 ,12 and 6 in the previous seasons in the sample?
I could discuss that the Manchester United midfield is not good enough to protect the defence or that this is a random event that I cannot explain but I will leave that to other football bloggers because as long as Manchester United win their games when they concede first, the relevance of this new trend is weakened. It means that in the EPL when Manchester United concede then there is still expectation that they will win but this is dependent on so many factors so we cannot just put a value on Man United beating Fulham when Fulham scored on 3 minutes to lead 1-0.
– What is the expectation of further goals given that Fulham have scored the first goal on 3 minutes and are the away team?
– Will the expectation of goals increase (greater then calculated before the game started) or impede for both the teams or will the early away goal have an effect on just one team?
What value do we put on Carrick having to play as the emergency centre-half in that game or the laughable own goal by Vidic in the game or the fact that Rooney started on the bench due to lack of form and Nani did not even make the bench for the game?
It is easy to put a figure on the expectation of Man United winning at 1-0 down but much harder to justify that figure without the inclusion of several other variables such as the pitch conditions, the strength of the shots, the accuracy prevention of both teams, the weather conditions, the motivation of both teams and the possible under performance of players on the day plus the fact that Carrick had to play in a position that I do not think he is best suited to. But when Carrick has played centre-back what % of games have Manchester United lost compared to the average which also is irrelevant unless you look at the strength of the team that they play each time Carrick has played in the role.
I remember reading in the paper on the last game of the season(2010-2011) to be advised that Manchester United do not score many goals during the last game of the season. The final score was Manchester United 4 Wolves 2 . The flaw of the argument is that the strength and motivation of both teams and the time of the first goal and the goal expectation and any rain or beach balls or referee blunders or freak goals or Red cards could alter the course of the game.
As Man United are winning 72% of their games when conceding first this season then I do not believe Sir Alex will be losing too much sleep. A problem may occur if they are losing 1-0 to a team like Dortmund or Bayern Munich as they will find it rather tougher to get back in the game than they did against teams at the level of Fulham.
Sir Alex Ferguson has acknowledged that the biggest mistake he made was letting Stam go who I would consider to be one of the best defenders in the History of Manchester United.
Do we believe the story that Sir Alex was advised that Stam was tackling less in games and as a result a perceived view that his best days were behind him or was it as Stam has publicly said that Man United were in financial difficulty and needed the cash flow urgently.
At the petrol station he parked his car and got in with me. He told me that I had to be transferred. Then he said: “Will you please move to Lazio quickly?”
If we look at Everton they have consolidated their position as a top 6 side as far as I am concerned, but recently I was listening to the radio to be advised that “Everton have over achieved this season” and that this is a blip and their levels of performance will drop.
They did not offer any data to back up their prediction and I offer the following in the case for the defence of Everton
- Everton have in Baines and Fellani – two of the best players in the EPL in their positions and I would argue the case for Fellani to be player of the season with the qualities that he brings to the game. If Fellani and Baines were sold then I would re evaluate my thoughts on this by waiting to see who Everton Purchased as replacements. Players such as Howard, Neville and Distan have years of experience but I appreciate that the squad does not have youth on its side.
- Historically Everton have been very consistent finishing no lower then seventh since the 2008-2009 season and Moyes is a fantastic motivator of his squad and I can see him in charge at Old Trafford one day.
- If we look at Everton conceding first which is an excellent indicator of the strength of the team. I am not personally concerned by how many times a team concede but by how they react to the event.
Everton have conceded the first goal in 76 games during the sample but the levels remain very consistent and it has not impeded them from a high finish as they have only lost this season 9% of games when conceding first and in the sample overall they have drawn 34.66% and avoided losing 53.94% of the time. Only Manchester United in the sample of games can boast a better % which is 60.
By Jonny Grossmark
Follow Jonny on twitter
@JonnyGrossmark
Premier League: Mid-Season Review (Part 1)
Guest Post from SuperGrover at www.shotsontarget.co.uk a fantastic site for insight and analysis into the Fantasy Premier League!
FantasyYirma are pleased to feature this Midseason Review and will be updating the site throughout the week as part of an ongoing mini-series.
Don’t forget to drop your comments below and thanks again to www.shotsontarget.co.uk
If you would like to submit a guest post for the site, contact Ryan at fantasyyirma@hotmail.com
Mid-Season Team Analysis – THE TOP SIX
SuperGrover has worked his socks off to bring you a comprehensive review of each and every team in the Premier League, providing his rating and insightful analysis on each team’s performances and how they have turned these into results. A truly great read, this first part covers the current top six teams.
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The festive holiday period presented games thick and fast, with numerous exciting and interesting results. Rather than a week-by-week review, I have decided to use this time to present a mid-season team summary for each Premier League squad. The summary consists of shot data (both for and against), expected goals (scored and allowed), and team ratings both for the full season and over the past six game weeks. In addition, I offer a bit of my own analysis.
Note: Percentages represent difference with league average. Defensive percentages have been reversed meaning a negative percentage actually represents defensive performance below league average. The statistics for this article cover Gameweek’s 1-22 with the exclusion of the Chelsea-Southampton match from GW22.
Starting at the head of the table we have the attacking juggernaut that is Manchester United. The Red Devils have dominated all-comers offensively, scoring seemingly at will whenever they threaten. While the underlying numbers suggest Man United. have been a bit lucky offensively (2.5 goals per game is probably not sustainable – it was last season, SoT!), they are, and most certainly will continue to be, the best attacking team in the league (along with their cross-town rivals, of course).
Defensively, Man United have been better in seasons past, although they have allowed a few more goals than one would have expected given their shot and chance numbers. Anecdotally, it seems opposition teams have a renewed belief in a questionable backline (the Reading game a prime example). Up till now however the typical United response has been to..score more and is responsible for the higher than expected goals on both sides of the pitch.
Fun Fact: United have converted just 2 of 5 (40%) penalties this season. The rest of the league has converted 34 of 43 (79%).
Prediction: Normality returns offensively somewhat and the backline stiffens a bit. Expect a slight reduction in goals on both sides the remainder of the season, but nothing that impacts their championship march.
The defending champions have had quite the first half. Sitting seven points off United, City need to step up in a hurry if a Championship Title defence is in the cards. Offensively, City have really struggled this season. Statistically, they look every bit as dominant as they did last year, but they simply haven’t converted. How much of this is due to Aguero’s fitness issues is unknown, but this team should be scoring more than they are.
Defensively, City are probably a bit better than they were last season, at least in the EPL. They are very clearly the best defensive team in the league. I don’t expect that to change over the remainder of the year.
Fun Fact: City have had at least 5 more shots in the box than their opponents in all but 4 games with only one opponent (Liverpool) able to equal their shots in the box total.
Prediction: Aguero finally gets healthy and the attack starts getting on track by the end of the month. City make a run at United, but the 7 points are too much to overcome. Second place and a new manager are on the horizon.
Two different managers and nothing much has really changed for the Blues. They still remain a superb attack, focused around sensational midfield play by Mata and Hazard. They have scored quite a few more goals than expected, possibly due to the 6 penalties scored, 2 more than anyone else and about 4.5 more than average. Defensively, they’ve been more porous than the goals allowed suggest, with Cech leading the league in save percentage among regular goalies. A top 4 spot looks almost assured with a game in hand and a 4 point lead over 5th. Beyond that, the Blues will be playing for lesser cups both in Europe and domestically.
Fun Fact: Chelsea have scored 6 penalties and has only hit the woodwork twice all season. Both numbers are easily the best among the top 10 teams.
Prediction: Chelsea keep on keeping on. They firmly establish themselves as the 3rd best team in the league, albeit a substantial bit behind the top 2.
Spurs are an interesting club. A mishmash of parts with world class talents sprinkled in (Bale, Vertonghen). Adebayor, in particular, seems a bit out of place at times and one might wonder if his trip to ACON may allow AVB to find a better fit up front. Statistically, Spurs rely on shots outside the box more than most elite attacks, primarily a result of Bale’s prolific ability from 18+ yards out. With that said, their shots on target are as expected and they neatly fit into the model for goals scored.
Defensively, Spurs are excellent at preventing shots but struggled with clear cut opportunities allowed. Should they improve down the stretch they will be one of the very best defensive units in the league, behind City.
Fun Fact: Gareth Bale has the 2nd highest rate of shots on target per minute among regular players in the league behind only Romelu Lukaku.
Prediction: Spurs continue to dominate weaker competition and sure up their backline. The attack comes and goes as quality up front is missing somewhat. Big games against Everton and Arsenal determine which European competition Tottenham play for next season.
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the season so far. Everton were expected to be solid, but probably not legitimately compete for the top five. They are and I expect they will continue to do so presuming fitness.
Offensively, Everton have dominated statistically. Fellaini and Jelavic represent physically dominant players and they’ve been able to get into the box against even the best opposition. However, neither have exactly proven to be a clinical striker, Jelavic surprisingly but Fellaini not so, and the resulting conversion rates have been a major drag on goals scored.
Defensively, Everton are a bit underrated, mainly due to the lack of clean sheets. Personally I feel that this is primarily the result of a scheduling quirk which saw them face better attacking opponents at home and lesser opponents on the road. This is a recipe for a bunch of single goal conceded games, something Everton have done twelve times thus far.
Fun Fact: Nikica Jelavic has just 2 goals on his last 40 shots, 35 of which came from inside the box.
Prediction: Everton continue to be statistically elite, but lack the quality that and precision finishing necessary to challenge for a top 4 slot. Clean sheets come more regularly, but tough away fixtures doom Everton to a dog fight for a Europa slot.
Arsenal are definitely in a battle this season to continue their consecutive qualification for one the coveted Champions League spots. Given the entirety of the first half of the season, one would think qualification is unlikely. However, Arsenal has been better when Walcott has been fit (both as a winger and a central forward) so I do believe the chance remains.
To do so, Arsenal is going to need improvement on both ends of the pitch. Offensively, Arsenal generate fewer shots than any other elite side. While this has improved with Walcott, that improvement needs to continue. Defensively, Arsenal are still prone to gaffs, as evidenced by their 12 errors leading to goals conceded, the most in the league. This absolutely must stop or Arsenal may find themselves shut out of Europe altogether.
Fun Fact: The Gunners scored 23 goals in just 4 games (SOT, TOT, NEW, RDG). They have just 17 goals in the other 17 games.
Prediction: Fitness improves in the second half and the backline improves. Walcott finds his place, both as a winger and striker. Arsenal do just enough to edge Everton for 5th.
GW23: Nothing but FPL Bonus Points!
Here are the bonus points for GW23 so far with 1 fixture remaining.
We want to hear from you.
How many points are you on now?
What are your thoughts on the Bonus points this week and this season?
Who do you think should have got bonus points but didn’t?
Who got bonus points that you didn’t think would?
Drop a comment under the article and we will RT all responses on the @FantasyYirma twitter account.
| 19 Jan 15:00 | Liverpool |  |
5 – 0 |  |
Norwich |
| 19 Jan 15:00 | Man City |  |
2 – 0 |  |
Fulham |
| 19 Jan 15:00 | Newcastle |  |
1 – 2 |  |
Reading |
| 19 Jan 15:00 | Swansea |  |
3 – 1 |  |
Stoke City |
| 19 Jan 15:00 | West Ham |  |
1 – 1 |  |
QPR |
| 19 Jan 15:00 | Wigan |  |
2 – 3 |  |
Sunderland |
| 19 Jan 17:30 | West Brom |  |
2 – 2 |  |
Aston Villa |
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| 20 Jan 13:30 | Chelsea |  |
2 – 1 |  |
Arsenal |
| 20 Jan 16:00 | Tottenham |  |
1 – 1 |  |
Man Utd |
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| 21 Jan 20:00 | Southampton |  |
0 – 0 |  |
Everton |
| 23 Jan 19:45 | Arsenal |
Giroud 3 Podolski 2 Walcott 1 |
v |
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West Ham |
GW22 : The FPL Review
GW22 The Review by @shots_on_target
Check out www.shotsontarget.co.uk for more great articles!
Those folks who played their wildcard for a Chelsea player or two were well rewarded here, particularly with 3 assists from Juan Mata. Two of his assists were for Walter’s own goals so don’t count as key passes in the data but there’s no denying his ability to produce. He’s made a habit all season long of playing the key pass or scoring from a limited number of chances. It’s a sign of real quality. Stoke managed to put in an average performance against Chelsea but all in all this was a performance of real quality from the Billionaire’s Club (no?).
So little adventure from a home side but they came away with a point. If this performance sums up QPR’s mentality against superior teams then some more clean sheets may be on the cards. Tottenham’s ratio of shots in the box to those outside tells the same story as the Chelsea-QPR game did last week – QPR can defend like their Premier League depends on it, and it probably does. Bale is at least the equal or perhaps more of a threat in this team than the more orthodox strikers Defoe and Adebayor which serves to underline his value as a truly elite fantasy player. First game in the Premier League this season too where I think a team has not made any substitutes.
A rather “average” in game in terms of the stats but there are a few important things to take away. First of all, breaking news…. Van Persie is sweet fantasy gold. The rest of United’s team is quite unusually well off the radar. If anyone one emerges from RVP’s shadow be sure to get a quick look in. And talking of shadows, this performance from Sturridge may serve to at least obscure Suarez’s flame as Liverpools prima donna attacking force. Equivalent shots and chance created, twice as many shots in the box and his team;s only goal promotes Sturridge up in my rankings to very interesting indeed.
Swansea’s performances in games like this really showcases the tactical subtleties of Premier League football. Not for the first time Laudrup’s team have shown that, when they want to, they can defend against the best attacking teams in the league. Everton too, and unfortunately for their supporters fans, also demonstrated that when it comes to breaking down a team they have not reached the dizzying heights of attacking, creative football, no matter how taller Fellaini’s hair gets. The Belgian remained amongst the Toffee’s chief threats though, as well as the off-target Jelavic and the overlooked Anichebe.
The highlight from this game (and yes there was one) was Cisse’s low overall share of the visitor’s opportunities. I expected that, in Ba’s absence, and given the role reversal between the two last season as Newcastle’s point striker, and his compatriot’s absence that Pappis Cisse would profit from a significantly increased share of shooting chances. Not so, at least from this game, albeit a tricky away game and not one from which to form firm conclusion.
It’s always difficult to assess a game where a player is sent off so early. Arsenal managed an average league performance against City, as indicated by the yellow arrows, which is not bad with ten men you’d have to say. However, I’m not convinced. Giroud has their most shots as a sub in the last third of the game when the game situation is different anyway, moreso with Kompany’s sending off. City only managing 3 SoT though raises a few eyebrows, although the overall stats do not suggest Arsenal were unfortunate not to concede two after they went a man down.
Sunderland score three goals, and probably just about deserved all three too. West Ham have made a habit this season of conceding shots but only conceding them outside their box, outside the danger area. Here, Sunderland got their chances in the box and it’s from these they had most of their chances. McClean may be set for a resurgence in form which see’s him register the kind of interest that he did this time last season. Maybe he likes his Mam’s Christmas dinners.
Puncheon is a constant threat for Southampton and has all but assured himself a place in the team with the unfortunate injury to Lallana. Lambert of course scored the goal and despite a decent price rise ahead of the Double GW still represents good value. If Villa are going to score then you’d think Benteke has to be involved.. but how many will they score?
Personal story – I was at home quietly congratulating myself on backing West Brom’s goalie Foster for a Clean Sheet in my team when #BOOM# from 0-2 to 3-2 in no time at all. Whereas Reading’s shots where spread incredibly uniformly amongst their players the Baggie’s played everything through the enigmatic Lukaku who’s now scored 9 goals in 947 minutes, that’s essentially a goal per game.
Several weeks ago I was of the opinion that Fulham were a decent attacking team, one that ultimately may struggle to pick the lock of an out and out defensive team, a la Stoke, but still a team that were prepared to take the game to the opposition, to create chances, and to score goals. Wigan are exactly the type of team against which I’d expect Fulham to flourish, not necessarily win, but create chances, and score goals. Even an early goal in this game could not give Fulham a platform to push on. Wigan’s form over the last 4 has seen them make an improvement on their early season performances and Di Santo built on a run of games back in the team with a top game, admittedly though in the absence of Arouna Kone.
Chelsea 2 – 2 Southampton – Report to follow.
#FPL GW22: NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS!!
| 12 Jan 12:45 | QPR | |
0 – 0 | |
Tottenham |
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| 12 Jan 15:00 | Aston Villa | |
0 – 1 | |
Southampton |
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| 12 Jan 15:00 | Everton | |
0 – 0 | |
Swansea |
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| 12 Jan 15:00 | Fulham | |
1 – 1 | |
Wigan |
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| 12 Jan 15:00 | Norwich | |
0 – 0 | |
Newcastle |
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| 12 Jan 15:00 | Reading | |
3 – 2 | |
West Brom |
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| 12 Jan 15:00 | Stoke City | |
0 – 4 | |
Chelsea |
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| 12 Jan 15:00 | Sunderland | |
3 – 0 | |
West Ham |
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| 13 Jan 13:30 | Man Utd | |
2 – 1 | |
Liverpool |
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| 13 Jan 16:00 | Arsenal | |
0 – 2 | |
Man City |
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| Chelsea | |
2 – 2 | |
Southampton | |
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Gameweek 22 preview: Cole to light up the Double Gameweek?
To the die-hard Fantasy manager, the FA Cup is nothing but an inconvenience.
It is simply an unwanted chance for your players to get injured, to suddenly rediscover some flickering form or to play themselves out of contention for the next league game. What use were last weekend’s goals from Robin van Persie, Michu and Luis Suarez to anyone but Uruguayan Beach Volleyball Team selectors anyway?
Fear not though, for the Premier League returns this weekend, and it does so with a bang for the European champions (yes, believe it or not they still are).
Branislav Ivanovic (£7.1m) may have exhibited a worrying fondness for providing assists for the opposition during the midweek Capital One Cup defeat to Swansea, but if we’re going to stay strong and keep our disdain for the cup competitions alive then we are going to have to ignore that and instead look forward to him taking his place in a Chelsea defence which is about to embark on a Double Gameweek. Or will he?
The gradual return to fitness for John Terry (£6.5m) and the constant relocation of David Luiz (£6.6m) – sometimes inadvertently – means that the only member of Chelsea’s back four surely certain to line up against both Stoke and Southampton is Ashley Cole (£6.5m), who looks to be a fine investment for Fantasy bosses who may have activated their January wildcard ahead of this weekend, and who scored the winner and kept a clean sheet which Stoke visited Stamford Bridge in September.
Further forward, the signing of Demba Ba (£8.6m) has put the once secure place for Fernando Torres (£9.8m) under threat, whilst Rafael Benitez will surely avoid angering Fantasy bosses for a second Gameweek running and restore Juan Mata (£9.9m) to his Premier League line-up after resting him for the shock loss at home to QPR.
Harry Redknapp’s side entertain the manager’s former club Tottenham at Loftus Road in Saturday’s early match, with Gareth Bale (£9.8m) primed to score big on a weekend when many of his highly priced rivals are facing tougher fixtures. A wildcard move for the Welshman could have benefits well beyond this Gameweek.
Before the FA Cup so rudely interrupted us the name on everyone’s lips was that of Theo Walcott (£9.0m) but he and Arsenal face a tough test at home to Manchester City this weekend, with City likely to be missing the hamstrung Sergio Aguero (£11.0m) and Carlos Tevez (£8.9m) looking to start.
Suarez (£10.4m) won’t have many friends at Old Trafford and is unlikely to find many points either, with Robin van Persie (£14.0m) certain to lead the line for Manchester United against Liverpool. Those who back the Reds defence – which could include the cheap Andre Wisdom (£4.3m) after Jose Enrique (£5.9m) was ruled out for six weeks – to keep out the Dutchman aren’t short of options to replace him, with one of those options coming at Sunderland.
The Mackems have a relatively friendly set of four fixtures coming up, and so Fantasy bosses who had lost faith in Steven Fletcher (£7.0m) could be tempted to turn back to the Scotsman ahead of his side’s home match against West Ham, whilst the departure of Ba is sure to see Papiss Cisse (£8.8m) given a central striking role for Newcastle’s visit to Norwich if he can overcome a knock.
Another battling injury is Southampton’s Gaston Ramirez (£5.6m), but the Uruguyan is certainly worth keeping an eye on ahead of the Saints’ Double Gameweek trips to Aston Villa and Chelsea, whilst teenage full-back Luke Shaw (£4.0m) could find himself becoming an inexpensive addition to plenty of teams once that wildcard kicks in.
Whilst his price hasn’t yet risen, Marouane Fellaini’s (£7.4m) has been falling ever since his three-match ban, but with the Belgian back and ready to play a part in what look to be a winnable next four games for Everton, starting with this weekend against Swansea, then his addition could be crucial.
FA Cup magic makes FPL points disappear!
With it being an FA Cup weekend there is excitement, supposed magic in the air and the potential for some major upsets and great fixtures. It does mean however that there are no Premier League fixtures this week so no Fantasy Premier League. There will be a full GW22 preview coming in time for next weekend and a club insight article from Fantasy Yirma ‘Pundit’ @Mark_Jones86.
For keen FPL managers all eyes will surely be watching out for the final score coming from St. Mary’s Stadium this weekend. Southampton take on Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday with both teams aware that they will play each other in the league in GW22 thanks to their rearranged fixture.
This match will only go ahead however if it is not a stalemate in the Cup game. In this scenario the FA Cup game would be replayed on January 16th instead of the rearranged league fixture.
Fingers are crossed that there will be a winner in the cup game between Southampton and Chelsea meaning that GW22 suddenly turns into a Double Gameweek!
Southampton are away to Aston Villa and Chelsea are away to Stoke in GW22 at the minute – throw in the potential for a Chelsea / Southampton game and suddenly we are faced with FPL questions like “Should I take a chance on Torres?” and “RAFA ROTATION….Which of his bucket-load of midfielders will get the gametime across a double gameweek??”
That is just the starting point.. Fonte , Puncheon and Lambert all have merit for consideration in the event of a DGW…
Combine this with the fact that GW23 sees Arsenal and West Ham with a DGW, the African Cup of Nations kicks off this month and the small matter that a January Wildcard is now available and to be perfectly honest – It’s probably a good thing there is no Premier League fixtures this weekend!!
There are difficult decisions ahead.
However while there may be a few challenges in the next few GWs for everyone, it is a proud day for the team at Fantasy Yirma. The FY mini-league has made it into the top 5 “best leagues” on the official fantasy.premierleague.com website.
FYI: Our mini- league is still open for anyone to join and have a go, but be warned…the standard is extremely high…
Completely FREE to PLAY with £50 for the winner. The official Fantasy Yirma mini-league is still available to join!!
Click the red picture below to Join.
It is great to see so many people involved in our league doing so well. Looking at the players who make up the top 15 of the Fantasy Yirma mini-league and it is extemely impressive that all of them are in the top 1000 globally out of more than 2.5m players that is certainly an achievement! Leading the charge in our league is team Wallofame who is having a great season so far sitting on 1,314 points which is 28th in the entire game…
| # | Team | Manager | GW | TOT | |
| 1 | Wallofame | Sir Alex Jnr | 92 | 1,314 | |
| 2 | Ravel M FC | Saugaat Ranjan | 79 | 1,313 | |
| 3 | Rocky’s X1 | Rocky Ogle | 79 | 1,305 | |
| 4 | Fluorescent Lampards | Eli Lourie | 69 | 1,284 | |
| 5 | TerrorToon | joe p | 78 | 1,277 | |
| 6 | Colbert Nation | Tom Kingscott | 93 | 1,277 | |
| 7 | The Cucking Funts | Richard James | 64 | 1,265 | |
| 8 | Anthony’s Wingers | Didier Drogba | 94 | 1,264 | |
| 9 | juniors | Ray Harding | 81 | 1,263 | |
| 10 | Nortei Nortey | Chris Galloway | 85 | 1,262 | |
| 11 | Skycat | Richie Browne | 78 | 1,258 | |
| 12 | DreamKillers | Sarnab Das | 87 | 1,257 | |
| 13 | real kaka krakers | mell hyzam | 78 | 1,251 | |
| 14 | Grande Elias Team | Jorge Pacao | 78 | 1,249 | |
| 15 | [MUSVN] Tom | Nguyen Bui Huynh | 104 | 1,246 |
So enjoy the magic of the FA Cup this weekend because next week – FPL is back…and back with a potential DGW vengeance.
Ryan
@FantasyYirma
FantasyYIRMA - Fantasy Football FPL 
