@SpiderM4tt‘s #FPL Theory for this 2014/15 season FantasyYIRMA are delighted to feature an EXCLUSIVE guest post from the 2012/13 FPL CHAMPION Matthew Martyniak Matt finished top of the #FPL tree in 2012/13 season beating out 2.6 million (!!!) players to take the title. Big thanks to Matt for his time and contribution to the site […]
Blog Archives
Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool may have changed their approach – So should your Fantasy Teams
Aug 29
Manchester City’s Aguero And The 5 #FPL Players You MUST Pick This Week
Gameweek 3
DEFENCE: Fabricio Coloccini, Newcastle – £4.5m (Home v Crystal Palace)
A huge haul of nine Fantasy points from Newcastle’s goalless draw at Aston Villa made Fabricio Coloccini the only winner of that game, certainly amongst all of us who had to endure watching it.
The Argentinean isn’t always the soundest Fantasy pick, but on a tough weekend to call he should marshal a United defence which stands a good chance of keeping out a Crystal Palace side now under the stewardship of Neil Warnock, whilst the Geordies have got some decent fixtures coming up too.
MIDFIELD: Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea – £6.3m (Home v West Brom)
The Iceman Gylfi Sigurdsson continues to see his price rise as his second spell at Swansea begins with a bang.
It’s West Brom at home for the Swans this week, and although that is then followed by a trip to Chelsea, the next five fixtures look pretty kind.
FORWARD: Stevan Jovetic, Manchester City – £8.0m (Home v Stoke)
After shooting down Liverpool by scoring a brace against them for third time in his career (once in this pre-season and once for Fiorentina five years ago) Stevan Jovetic is suddenly a man in form.
With Edin Dzeko not quite firing just yet it will be interesting to see what would happen if Manuel Pellegrini opted to field Jovetic upfront with Sergio Aguero. Interesting, and undoubtedly tough for Stoke City.
THE OUTSIDER (a player with less than 5% ownership): Cheikhou Kouyate – £5.0m (Home v Southampton)
Not so much an outsider as a way outsider, combative midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate has completed 90 minutes in both of West Ham’s game’s so far, registering an assist against Crystal Palace.
He’s not going to win you masses and masses of points, but sometimes you just want a player who you know you’ll get an honest stint out of, and the Senegalese could be your man.
THE CAPTAIN: Sergio Aguero, Manchester City – £12.0m (Home v Stoke)
After his brief and remarkable cameo appearance against Liverpool, surely Sergio Aguero is now ready to make his first Premier League start of the season as City host Stoke at the Etihad.
Granted, the champions face two tricky looking fixtures in the immediate aftermath of this one, but even if he’s on the bench the Argentinean has proven to be a huge goal threat when he comes on.
Can you afford to keep ignoring him?
Chelsea’s Fabregas And The 5 #FPL Players You MUST Pick This Week
Gameweek 2
DEFENCE: Eric Dier, Tottenham – £5.1m (Home v QPR)
If you picked Tottenham’s Eric Dier and Hull defender James Chester as the two players who’d top score in Gameweek 1 then you really should be doing this job instead of us, and although it might look a little like we’re jumping on the bandwagon we’re backing Dier to impress again in Spurs’ first home game of the season.
The young defender will be guaranteed a start as QPR come calling to White Hart Lane, and whilst he’s already shown his prowess in front of goal, it’s his clean sheet potential which should excite here.
MIDFIELD: Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea – £9.1m (Home v Leicester)
Ah, that pass. That pass. That pass. That pass.
It was almost as if Cesc Fabregas carved his assist for Andre Schurrle at Burnley on Monday night out of stone, meticulously constructing it to look so slick and polished as it pretty much invited the German to put his side 2-1 up at Turf Moor.
He should have chances to do the same at home to Leicester.
FORWARD: Wilfried Bony, Swansea – £8.5m (Home v Burnley)
After playing a supporting role in last weekend’s victory over a miserable Manchester United, Wilfried Bony should be back to his goal-getting best when Swansea host Burnley at the Liberty Stadium.
On his day the Ivorian forward can be one of the best forwards in the Premier League, and against a defence which might not have recovered from coming up against Chelsea he should have some chances.
THE OUTSIDER (a player with less than 5% ownership): Dusan Tadic, Southampton – £7.5m (Home v West Brom)
Serbian midfielder Dusan Tadic showed enough impressive touches on his Southampton debut against Liverpool at Anfield to suggest that he’s going to be a player to look out for this season.
At £7.5m he might be a touch on the expensive side, but after topping the assists chart in the Dutch Eredivisie as well as coming fourth in the top goalscorers list (16 assists, 14 goals), and setting up Nathaniel Clyne’s goal at the Kop end, he could stand out at home to West Brom.
THE CAPTAIN: Diego Costa, Chelsea – £10.5m (Home v Leicester)
After bounding into English football with his goal at Burnley, Chelsea’s Diego Costa will now have another promoted team in his sights at Stamford Bridge.
Leicester conceded twice to Everton and everything is pointing towards another set of Blues managing even more than that on Saturday afternoon, and if they do that they you can imagine that Costa will be at the forefront of the action.
Liverpool’s Lovren And The 5 #FPL Players You MUST Pick This Week
Aug 14
Gameweek 1 And we’re back! As a new Fantasy Premier League campaign kicks off, we launch our new-look previews aimed at giving you the best insight into #FPL over what will be another gripping season. Each week we’ll bring you the best picks for the defensive, midfield and forward positions, as well as an outsider […]
Check out our Free Fantasy Football Prize League!!! From Arsenal to West Ham
The Fantasy Premier League is BACK!!
Click the FY logo above to Join our Free League
Or enter code 10411-3999 at the Official Fantasy Premier League site
With more than 3000 people already in the league it will be a challenge to rise to the top – but if you do you WILL be rewarded!!
To celebrate the return of #FPL we have relaunched the FantasyYIRMA.com Mini-League with a cash prize on offer for the winner to £100 !!
Manager of the Month will win a free shirt from the guys at CAMPO RETRO and not forgetting BetMcLean who will be dishing out spot prizes in the form of free bets!!
This season we want to be BIGGER & BETTER
Will any of the new Premier League additions make your team?? With Sanchez, Costa, Fabregas, Herrera and a host of other new signings make their way into your squad or will you be looking for a bargain or two??
I think it’s fair to say that if you had told me that the FantasyYIRMA.com site was still running almost two years after it started I would have chuckled immensely… but it has… we have… and as both the twitter account and website has continued to grow, it genuinely is a pleasure to be involved in the wonderful world of Fantasy Football.
The interaction online from #FPL fans across the world has been fantastic!
For those who have asked how we finished this season:
Both myself and FY Writer Mark finished in the top 10k for the season which means that we both finished ahead of 99.7% of all 3,218,887 players in the game. Not bad eh?
I also have just noticed that when the season started for 2013/14 I was clearly too excited about picking my team that I forgot to design a kit!
For those that don’t know – the concept of FantasyYIRMA actually started back in 2006 when a drunken conversation back in Belfast around what to name our 6 person mini-league led to the following comment…
“I don’t give a flying **** what you call it, sure call it after yir ma”
Five World Cup Stars Who Could Be Lighting Up FPL (Arsenal and United linked)
Jul 20
So the World Cup is now over – but don’t despair – take a hearty swig of our hair of the dog to cure your football hangover as we have a glance at five top talents who could well be washing up on the shores of Blighty very soon. Don’t forget to follow @BETFUZE […]
GW38 Preview: Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko can fire to seal last day glory
And so it’s come to this. The final day of the Premier League season, and with it the Fantasy one as well.
But before we all start looking up Algeria’s left-backs and start considering our teams for the World Cup editions of the game in the summer, there are still some precious points to play for in the final week of the campaign.
Manchester City know that they’ll be able to seal the title as they host West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, and whilst the likes of Yaya Toure (£10.4m) and Sergio Aguero (£12.8m) have been the main attractions for plenty of teams all season, it is forward Edin Dzeko (£7.3m) who can round things off with a bang.
The Bosnian has been in fine form in the closing weeks of the season, and although the time of writing is before City play host to Aston Villa in their penultimate game of the campaign on Wednesday, with Aguero confirmed as missing out on that one then Manuel Pellegrini is sure to be relying on his No. 10.
Dzeko scored twice in the win at Everton last weekend, and with his relatively cheap price and his status as City’s new No. 1 forward to take into consideration, he could be the player to make the difference in your final week.
A forward with almost half the ownership percentage of Dzeko but exactly the same price is Swansea’s Wilfried Bony (£7.3m), and as the Swans round off their season at Sunderland then his is another name you need to consider. If it comes down to a straight fight between him and Dzeko though, go for the Bosnian as he has something left to play for.
And that is the key to this final week. Finding players who have a task in hand is crucial, as the rest of the matches will just be too unpredictable. Remember the 5-5 draw between West Brom and Manchester United this time last year?
Unlike Manchester United, Liverpool have been heavily involved in the title race this season, with their sheer amount of goals being the key reason why.
Luis Suarez (£13.1m) has of course taken the headlines, but it could well be that Daniel Sturridge (£9.8m) comes up trumps as the Reds round off their season at home to Newcastle. Recommending Magpies players hasn’t been a feature of this column this season, but Loic Remy (£7.9m) could find the net against the Reds’ famously suspect defence. Expect goals at both ends in that one.
Elsewhere, Arsenal will be looking to play themselves into form ahead of next weekend’s FA Cup final, and although that isn’t strictly a good reason to choose their players it is a decent enough one this week.
Mesut Ozil (£9.5m) perhaps hasn’t wowed fans in the way that many expected him to this season, but the German has shown flashes of inspiration in recent weeks and could be worth a punt if you’ve got imaginary money to burn. Olivier Giroud (£8.5m) and Lukas Podolski (£7.8m) will also be dangerous.
The Gunners will face Hull City in that final at Wembley, and no doubt they’ll be delighted that they won’t be coming up against the Tigers’ front two of Shane Long (£5.5m) and Nikica Jelavic (£6.5m), who are both cup-tied.
Of the pair, it’ll be the Croatian who will be more eager to sign off from the season in style as his side host side former club Everton on Saturday, with the law of the ex-player suggesting that he could bury any chance which comes his way and bite the hand which used to feed him.
Thanks for reading all season, and have a great summer.
GW36 Preview: Arsenal’s Lukas Podolski could offer valuable points in closing weeks
Now removed of the pressure associated with a title race, Arsenal seem to have gone back to playing attractive, attacking football, at least if the second half against West Ham and the Hull game which followed are anything to go by.
Also key to those Gunners victories has been the presence of Lukas Podolski (£7.8m) in the starting lineup, with the German managing to double his tally of Premier League goals output for the season in the space of six days last week.
Owned by just 2.3% of Fantasy bosses at the time of writing, the key problem with selecting Podolski for your team has always been the fact that he tends not to last the full 90 minutes for Arsenal, but he did just that against West Ham and was withdrawn with just seven minutes left against Hull.
Arsene Wenger appears to have noted that his side play better with another attacking threat playing off Olivier Giroud (£8.5m), and although both Mesut Ozil (£9.5m) and Aaron Ramsey (£7.2m) have returned from their injuries in recent weeks and both are worth considering for selection, Wenger surely has to keep Podolski in his team based on recent form.
The Gunners are now widely expected to sew up their usual spot in the top four in the coming weeks, as they host Newcastle on Monday, then face a home game with West Brom before going to Norwich on the final day.
Podolski will be key to that effort as they bid to go into the FA Cup final in the greatest possible mood, and having more than made his point to his manager in recent weeks, he could make your team a few more before the end of the campaign.
https://twitter.com/ZOO/statuses/459632656754290688
Elsewhere, another potentially decisive Premier League weekend will see Liverpool host Chelsea knowing that a win would place them within touching distance of the Premier League title.
Of course this will be a hugely difficult game for the Reds, but the form of Raheem Sterling (£5.8m) is proving impossible to ignore, and he could again be turned to in another clash which is sure to have Anfield rocking.
The fact that six clubs face double Gameweeks next week should be uppermost in your thinking though, especially given that Manchester City are one of them and are refusing to give up on their title challenge.
Sergio Aguero (£12.5m) has bounced back from injury and scored in the win over West Brom on Monday, and although City face a tough trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday and Aguero perhaps isn’t quite 100% fit yet, he is still one of the top performers in the division even when he’s not in full working order.
David Silva (£9.8m) got injured in that game and things don’t look good for him, but Samir Nasri (£8.6m) remains in fine fettle and he’ll be crucial if City are going to continue to have a say in the destination of the title.
Another side who double up in Gameweek 37 are Sunderland, and following their stunning win at Chelsea they’ll be bouncing into this weekend’s crucial game at home to Cardiff full of confidence.
Fabio Borini (£6.2m) proved his worth to the club with the winning penalty at Stamford Bridge, but perhaps it will pay to back winger Adam Johnson (£6.4m) to rediscover some of the form that he found earlier in the season and impress in a match which is bound to go a long way towards deciding who’ll stay in the Premier League for next season.
GW35 Preview: Liverpool’s Luis Suarez is facing Norwich. You know what to do.
After the drama of last weekend, Liverpool’s title challenge rolls on to Norfolk this time around, and there’ll be at least one man who’ll be pleased it does.
Luis Suarez (£13.3m) has scored a staggering 11 goals in his last four matches against the Canaries, including hat-tricks on his only previous two visits to Carrow Road and four goals against the same opposition at Anfield in December.
The Uruguayan’s often jaw-dropping goalscoring rate might not be at the same level it has often been at the moment, with just one strike in his last four games, but as the Reds chase what would be a remarkable title success he is certain to be determined to fire them there.
You could argue that Suarez is fortunate to be facing Norwich at all after narrowly escaping a red card against Manchester City, but he could be coming up against them without his strike partner Daniel Sturridge (£10.4m) in tow after the forward limped off in the same game.
At the time of writing the extent of Sturridge’s injury isn’t known, but if he doesn’t play then that will only add extra attacking responsibility to the shoulders of Philippe Coutinho (£8.5m) and Raheem Sterling (£5.7m), but as both have shown in recent weeks they are more than capable of handling the pressure.
One man who definitely won’t be playing for Liverpool is the suspended Jordan Henderson (£6.5m), with his three-game ban for the red card picked up against City now ruling him out for until the final game of the season.
Speaking of City, they can’t be counted out of the title race at all just yet, especially now they’ve got Sergio Aguero (£12.2m) back from injury, a return which has soften the blow of losing the injured Yaya Toure (£10.5m) for a couple of games.
As they showed at Anfield though, the inspiration behind all of their good work at the moment is the brilliant David Silva (£9.9m), a player who has really found his form in the closing weeks of the season and one who should really have a higher Fantasy ownership percentage than 14%.
He’ll be vital as City host West Brom on Monday night in a match they simply have to win to stay in the title race, whilst Chelsea also face a similar must-win (and probably will win) match at home to Sunderland on Saturday.
As usual, the attention is on Chelsea’s forwards ahead of the contest, with that baton now passed to Demba Ba (£7.4m) following his crucial goals against Paris-Saint Germain and Swansea.
Elsewhere, perhaps the game of the weekend sees David Moyes return to Goodison Park with Manchester United, a match which Everton will fancy their chances in as they continue to chase the Champions League.
Young defender John Stones (£4.2m) has kept his place in the team despite the return to fitness of Phil Jagielka, whilst Steven Naismith (£4.7m) continues to make his presence felt upfront. United remain largely friendless in the Fantasy game, although at least Juan Mata (£9.1m) has started to shine.
Cardiff’s latest attempt at climbing out of trouble sees them host Stoke in what is simply a must-win game, and whilst Peter Odemwingie (£5.5m) will fancy getting one over the club he started the season at, the hosts will be looking to Jordon Mutch (£5.0m) to inspire them to a much-needed three points.
Fulham, another club in relegation trouble, may have picked up important points lately through the goals of Hugo Rodallega (£5.0m), but they face a tough visit to a Tottenham side who will be inspired by the recent performances of Christian Eriksen (£6.8m).
Red Cards win you Prizes?? Reverse Fantasy Football
Apr 11
Guest Post: Suck League Fantasy Football: Celebrating the players on the lowest rung of the season rankings by @TaylorJ427 Fantasy football is a game of strategy, statistical number crunching, and a little bit of luck. You can spend hours trying to optimize your lineup, balancing budget limitations with player performance to find […]
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