If you’ve been to the Emirates Stadium recently you’ll have noticed something fairly new about the place, and it’s not that the Arsenal fans are smiling. In late 2011, Arsenal unveiled statues of three club legends around the ground; managerial icon Herbert Chapman, defensive hero Tony Adams and goalscoring God Thierry Henry. The trio so […]
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GW24 Preview: Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla can shine on his date with Palace
Before the recent FA Cup North London derby against Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium, Santi Cazorla (£9.5m) had scored just one goal this season. He’s got six now.
Terrific goalscoring form has seen the Spaniard hit the net five times in his last five matches in all competitions, and with the Gunners suffering plenty of injury setbacks as they continue their challenge at the top of the Premier League, those goals are crucial for a side missing plenty of attacking talents.
After scoring in the 2-2 draw at Southampton in midweek, Cazorla will surely start when Crystal Palace come calling to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon in a match that the Gunners should certainly win.
That Saints game was the only Premier League match in the last six that the Gunners haven’t won, with Cazorla starting all of those matches and completing the 90 minutes in all of them bar going off for the final five minutes at St Mary’s.
The Spanish international’s current goalscoring spurt shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise.
Until that Spurs FA Cup clash his only strike this season came in a 2-0 win over Liverpool in early November, but Cazorla scored 12 times in his first season in English football last year, and so there could well be more goals on the way if he is to keep up his average.
Against Palace he’ll be joined by the likes of Olivier Giroud (£8.7m) and Mesut Ozil (£10.0m), but injuries to the likes of Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey has opened the door for young German Serge Gnabry (£4.2m), who is a more than useful cheap squad addition and has started the Gunners’ last three games.
https://twitter.com/ZOO/statuses/428899474153299968
Elsewhere this weekend, Manchester United’s newfound attacking trio will be backed by many to win at Stoke.
Juan Mata (£9.6m), Robin van Persie (£13.6m) and Wayne Rooney (£11.3m) were all available for the first time in the midweek win over Cardiff at Old Trafford, and as they go to the Britannia Stadium they’ll have plenty of Fantasy bosses cheering them on.
As showcased above though, there are plenty of reasons when Cazorla is the preferred option to his Spanish international teammate Mata right now, but with both players available at a similar price then it is certainly worth monitoring the displays of both over the next few matches.
Everton were embarrassed by neighbours Liverpool at Anfield in midweek, and so they’ll be determined to bounce back when they host Aston Villa at home on Saturday.
Romelu Lukaku was crocked by teammate Gareth Barry in that Liverpool loss and he’ll miss out here, meaning that we could see a debut for giant on-loan forward Lacina Traore (£7.5m), but a shrewder move could be to go for winger Kevin Mirallas (£7.2m), who at least put in plenty of effort at Anfield and scored in his two previous appearances before that.
Everton’s Merseyside conquerors go to West Brom on Sunday, and they’ll be going there with plenty of confidence.
Luis Suarez (£13.4m) will of course be plenty of Fantasy bosses’ pick for the captaincy following his goal and assist against the Blues, but it is Daniel Sturridge (£9.4m) who is catching the eye more for Liverpool at the moment, scoring five goals in four games since returning from injury.
Tottenham will fancy their chances as they go to Hull City, where Emmanuel Adebayor (£7.8m) could shine again and keep up the fine form he’s been displaying recently, whilst the big clash of the Gameweek obviously comes on Monday night when Manchester City host Chelsea.
Often such titanic clashes are ones to avoid from a Fantasy perspective, but you simply can’t ignore City’s stellar home form this season, and in the wake of Sergio Aguero’s injury at Tottenham, a goal for Edin Dzeko (£6.7m) wouldn’t be too surprising.
GW23 Preview: Chelsea’s John Terry a safe pick in our defenders special
Jan 27
Juan Mata’s move to Manchester United ensures that, much like in Fantasy football, it has been another week in which the creative, attacking players have hogged the headlines. Every now and again though, we like to switch the attentions to the men at the back, and so this look at the forthcoming midweek matches is […]
GW22 Preview: Reuniting Liverpool’s deadly SAS could be key to Fantasy Premier League glory
Jan 16
The only surprising thing about the fact that 53.1% of Fantasy bosses now own Liverpool’s Luis Suarez (£13.4m) is that there are 46.9% who don’t. The Uruguayan was at it again at Stoke last weekend, scoring twice as the Reds survived a madcap game in rainy conditions to win 5-3. For the final 25 minutes […]
Off the Mark: Why I’m backing Andy Carroll to lead West Ham to Premier League safety
Jan 15
When the bat signal was finally visible, it was shining over the gloomy skies of the Welsh capital. The silhouette of the hulking, ponytailed figure looked a little different to how we’d remembered it in the past. There was a bushy beard and, dare we admit it, even a few extra pounds, but there was […]
GW21 Preview: With Arsenal’s Walcott woe, Tottenham’s Eriksen could be a wildcard wonder
Jan 9
So the FA Cup third round has been and gone, leaving nothing but the memories of a few shocks, a pink football and the damage done the ligaments of Theo Walcott’s left knee. Yes, just as the Arsenal man was beginning to hit his stride this season he’s been cruelly cut down for the rest […]
January Wildcard Special : Play it your way! Part 1
Firstly, Happy New Year from the #FY team.
For the Fantasy Football enamored amongst us the New Year brings a late Christmas present…
THE JANUARY WILDCARD!!
To help you decide how to best approach the January Wildcard FantasyYIRMA.com will be running a series of articles looking at different perspectives.
WILDCARD SPECIAL
Play it your way Part 1: LINK
Play it your way Part 2: LINK
Play it your way Part 3: LINK
First up we are delighted to feature a guest post from the 2012/13 FPL CHAMPION Matthew Martyniak
Matt finished top of the #FPL tree last season beating out 2.6 million (!!!) players to take the title. Big thanks to Matt for his time and contribution to the site with this excellent post.
Make sure and follow Matt on twitter if you are not already on @spiderm4tt
Here are his thoughts on the January WC…
Here is Matt en route to Hong Kong last summer as part of his prize for WINNING 2012/13 FPL
How will I use my January wildcard…?
This is a question I am often asked; ‘How will I use my January wildcard?’
In the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) we get two wildcards (WCs). One is the ‘normal WC’, which can be used at any point throughout the season, the other is the January WC, which can only be used in January, hence its name.
While some FPL managers cannot wait for the January WC activation date after the Gameweek twenty (GW20) deadline to ‘sort out’ their FPL team due to injuries, suspensions, poor players etc; there will be plenty of FPL managers out there, like myself, that are fairly happy with their FPL team and squad, and therefore feel that they do not need to use it immediately, as one or two free transfers over the next few GWs could ‘fix’ any small problems they may have.
So when is the best time to use it?
I have always said the best way to use a WC in general is – when you feel you need to use it.
Here I have previously discussed my thoughts on the best way to use a WC: Link to FFPundits
The best way I feel to utilise a WC is to either to prepare for a double GW (DGW), or to ‘clean up’ your team after a DGW. The reason why I feel it is best to use a WC around DGWs is so that you can have many DGW players in your FPL team in order to maximise your GW score potential. These are the WC tactics I successfully utilised during my FPL title win last season. I used my January WC to prepare for DGWs (DGW22 & 23), while my normal WC was used to ‘clean up’ after a DGW (DGW1).
Here is my FPL title winning review article that explains my WC usage last season: Link to FISO
Other reasons for activating the WC is for restructuring your team due to injuries, suspensions, poor FPL players, and/or gaining team value by ‘jumping on’ the player price rises.
The January wildcard is same as the ‘normal WC’….. But it is also slightly different!
The January WC should be utilised in the same way to an extent as the ‘normal WC’. However, the January WC differs slightly from the normal season WC. This is because the January WC, as obvious as it sounds, can only be used in January! Other differences are when using this WC are that the player price gains in January may not be as profitable as during early season WCs due to the already moderate to high ownership on the best FPL players. And unless there is snow over the next few weeks to disrupt Premier League fixtures (This cannot be relied on!) then the chances of a DGW occurring this January is unlikely.
So if there are no DGWs in January, which is looking highly likely to be this way at present, and I am happy with my team and my squad that has no major pressing injury/suspensions/poor form concerns, and also with a slim chance of me making any ‘useful profit’ from player price gains……then when is the best time for me to use the January WC?
I will most probably wait until the end of January before I activate it..…..most probably after the GW23 deadline. This way I can keep my January WC as ‘insurance’ just in case there are any major injuries, suspensions, and poor form that may occur to my FPL team over the next few GWs.
Also it can be advantageous for me to use my January WC as late as possible due to the January transfer window that closes at midnight U.K. time on 31st January only a few hours before the GW24 deadline. And as we all know, many of the Premier League transfers during the January transfer window mainly occur during the final week of January, and even right up to very last moment.
However, it is not just important for me to look at the players transferring to and from Premier League clubs to see whether I want them or not – but it is also important for me to look how that player, or players, may ‘impact’ their Premier League team once they have arrived or departed…..and therefore, will this ‘impact’ help or hinder my other players I have, want or not want, in my FPL team/squad?
So in having the option of transferring in/out FPL players during this period via my January WC may hopefully prove fruitful for my FPL team in the subsequent February GWs, and beyond.
Good luck with your January WC everyone – use it when it is right for you!
I would just like to say thank you and best wishes to FantasyYIRMA and to all the FPL managers out there – I hope 2014 brings you all many green arrows!
Happy New Year everyone!
Matt (@spiderm4tt)
FPL Champion 2012/13
FantasyYIRMA would like to take this opportunity to highlight Matt’s personal charity Fantasy league. You can read about it here http://www.justgiving.com/Matthew-Martyniak where he is raising money for the incredibly worthy charity, Save the Children
The good folk at the PremierLeague have outlined the basics for us. How you decide to play it is up to you! Good Luck
#FY
GW20 Preview: Back Liverpool’s Luis Suarez to bring in the New Year with goals
Dec 30
The chaos of the festive fixture programme is now dying away somewhat, with just the New Year’s Day matches left for Fantasy bosses to get through. Saturday’s resting and rotation of several of the game’s big hitters made it a tough weekend for all, but things should return to normal for the first matchday of […]
GW19 Preview: Alvaro Negredo can shine in Manchester City’s clash with Crystal Palace
Dec 27
He may have had fortune on his side with the winner that saw off Liverpool on Boxing Day, but providing that he’s fully recovered from those exertions then Manchester City’s Alvaro Negredo (£9.7m) might not need luck to impress against Crystal Palace on Saturday. The forward’s winning goal against the determined Reds owed much to […]
GW18 Preview: Wayne Rooney can take armband as Luis Suarez faces Manchester City
Liverpool have been too far up the table to really take much notice of their great rivals Manchester United this season, but as Brendan Rodgers’ Reds and their star man face a couple of tricky games on the road, David Moyes’ key performer could come to the fore.
Such has been his mastery of all that he’s surveyed this season, there will still be Fantasy bosses who opt to give Luis Suarez (£13.2m) – a player now owned by almost 50% of managers, and one who has registered a staggering 77 points in his last four games (or 154 if he was your captain throughout) – the captaincy as Liverpool go the fortress Etihad Stadium on Boxing Day, but some tasks might prove to be beyond even him.
Instead it could pay to focus on United forward Wayne Rooney (£11.3m), who recovered from an apparent injury to register two assists in the win over West Ham, and who has a couple of simpler assignments on the horizon than Liverpool’s Uruguayan.
As Suarez goes to City and then Chelsea before the New Year, Rooney faces matches first at Hull and then Norwich, before following those up with home clashes against a hit-and-miss Tottenham and an uninspiring Swansea.
If United are to get back in touch with current league leaders Liverpool and the rest of the chasing pack then they are perhaps going to have to pick up 12 points out of those available 12, and Rooney will certainly be key to those efforts in the continued absence of Robin van Persie through injury.
Danny Welbeck (£7.1m) will be a key man too, and with youngster Adnan Januzaj (£4.9m) starting the last three league games he could also be a useful cheap addition should you need one.
Elsewhere, that summit meeting between Manchester City and Liverpool will see the hosts as huge favourites given their terrific home record this season.
With Sergio Aguero still out it’ll be Alvaro Negredo (£9.7m) and Edin Dzeko (£6.7m) who Manuel Pellegrini turns to for goals, but Yaya Toure (£9.8m) scored against the Reds in each of the last two seasons and found the net with a penalty and a free-kick in his last two games.
Also scoring for fun is the Everton defender Seamus Coleman (£6.3m), who has netted in three of his last five matches as well as helping keep two clean sheets.
Blues players should be given serious consideration on Boxing Day as they welcome rock bottom Sunderland to Goodison Park, where Romelu Lukaku (£8.8m), Kevin Mirallas (£7.3m) and Ross Barkley (£5.1m) could all be in the points.
Another of the division’s form players is the Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye (£6.5m), who has registered the full three bonus points in two of his last three games and will be a key man as the Geordies host Stoke at St. James’s Park.
Yet Cabaye’s 8.7% ownership looks massive when you compare it to the measly 1.3% currently enjoyed by Tottenham’s Emmanuel Adebayor (£7.7m).
The Togolese forward came in from the cold to score twice in Spurs’ 3-2 win at Southampton, and as the North Londoners face home games with first West Brom and then Stoke before the New Year his differential potential could be huge for your team.
Adebayor should certainly be considered as a serious alternative to Olivier Giroud (£8.8m), for whom the goalless draw with Chelsea marked a fourth start without a goal and extended a run of just three strikes in his last 12 Premier League games.
Aaron Ramsey (£7.6m) has now netted just twice in his last seven too, with plenty of pressure surely placed on both as the Gunners go to West Ham.
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