Blog Archives
FPL GW9: Statistical round up- by @shots_on_target
If you haven’t already check out @shots_on_target on twitter and visit his site www.shotsontarget.co.uk/
He is spoiling you with individual team statistics for all Premier League clubs.
You can click the team names below for an in-depth statistical round up by
- Visual representation of each player’s appearances in the last 6 weeks and their fantasy form (F.SCORE).
- Key Player Stats: shots, shots in box, shots on target, key passes, assists, minutes and goals
- Key Player Info: FPL price, points scored and % ownership
- Projected Points for the next 6 fixtures(note: Pts x 10)
- Star Player indicators – to 15 F.SCORE and top 15 Value players indicated
- Latest injury news from Physioroom.com
Team Pages:
Gameweek 9 preview: Sergio sets sights on Swans again
As introductions to English football go, it was a pretty spectacular one.
Sergio Aguero (£11.1m) entered Premier League life in the 59th minute of Manchester City’s first game of the 2011/12 season against Swansea City at the Etihad Stadium last August, and 31 minutes later he’d scored two goals.
It was the perfect beginning to a campaign in which Aguero would – in this writer’s opinion anyway – establish himself as the most complete forward playing in England right now, with his final kick of the season bringing the kind of joy to Manchester City fans that they hadn’t experienced in 44 years.
This time around things haven’t gone so smoothly, with the knee injury suffered just 13 minutes into City’s opening game of this campaign against Southampton stalling his progress and seeing him cast to the sidelines for over a month.
Now, having played a part in each of City’s last four games and registering two goals and an assist whilst doing so, Aguero will face up to Swansea again as a man determined to repeat former glories.
Picking City forwards is not for the faint-hearted, and nor is trusting them going by the Champions League loss in Amsterdam on Wednesday, which ended with Roberto Mancini fielding all four of his frontmen at once in a bid to get back into the game.
European disappointment will only make the Italian more determined to succeed on the domestic front just like last season of course, and there can be little doubt that a fit and firing Aguero looks to be a menacing addition to his teamsheet ahead of the weekend. He’d look good on yours too.
Other City options ahead of a game they’ll be expecting to win include midweek goalscorer Samir Nasri (£8.2m and worth serious consideration given David Silva’s injury), super-sub Edin Dzeko (£7.5m) and of course Carlos Tevez (£9.4m), but the latter hasn’t scored in his last five games after finding the net in his first three, and if you’ve got the spare cash then it could be time to switch to his Argentinean mate Aguero in a bid for more firepower.
Elsewhere the Sunday clashes at Goodison Park and Stamford Bridge will attract the most attention, but it is the two other fixtures on that day which should be catching the eyes of Fantasy bosses.
Tottenham go to a Southampton side who have shown a worrying inability to construct any form of functioning defence far too often this season, and with the revolving door policy in front of the Saints net set to continue the visitors will fancy some goals.
Jermain Defoe (£7.8m) is sure to prove a popular choice as his goals continue to keep Emmanuel Adebayor (£9.0m and falling) out of the Spurs side, but it is to a man who often provides him with service that we look to next.
Aaron Lennon (7.0m) only makes it into 4.3% of Fantasy Premier League teams, but the quicksilver winger will fancy his chances up against the creaking Southampton backline, and he could just make hay as Spurs chalk up goals and points on the south coast.
At the opposite end of the country, Newcastle take on a West Brom outfit who had the wind knocked out of their sails by Manchester City last weekend.
The Magpies, on the other hand, were solid before somewhat unfortunately letting their lead slip in the derby match at Sunderland last week, and this fixture might just be another home match in which Hatem Ben Arfa (£7.9m) will shine.
As we’ve discussed on these pages before, Ben Arfa is a man to back when Newcastle play at St James’s Park, and he’ll fancy improving on his record of two goals and one assist when the Baggies come calling.
Cloud nine on Gameweek nine awaits for him, and possibly you too.
GW8 – The Review… HOW DID YOU DO???
To Know The Game: The Story So Far (Part 3)
Having already looked at the best signings of the summer and the top three surprises of the Premier League season so far, the guys from To Know The Game are back with the third and final part of their trilogy for Yirma.
Here, they look at who they believe are the contenders for both a top four finish and for the Premier League title.
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The Race for 4th
4 wins in a row for Spurs; an impressive defensive start for Arsenal; a team from Merseyside that usually finishes strong has started brightly (Everton) and the chance that Newcastle will build on their impressive finish from last year – the race for 4th spot already looks like it will be a close call.
Fans of all 4 teams can truly say that their team will only get better.
Spurs will look forward to Adebayor regaining full fitness and competing with Defoe while the new signings of Dempsey, Sigurdsson and Dembele will settle in and get better. Ekotto should return soon meaning Vertonghen can play in his preferred role as CB and the team will adapt to AVB’s methods. TKTG has already covered Spurs chances for success this season and fans can be excited about their chances to finish in the top 4.
Arsenal will point to the fact that they look a better defensive unit this season – their biggest issue last year. Against Chelsea (their first loss) they conceded 2 set piece goals against an attacking unit (Torres, Mata, Hazard, Oscar) that was assembled at a cost of over £100 million. Szczesny and Sagna will return soon adding more defensive steel and of course there is the return of Jack Wilshere. A decent defence; a midfield of Santi, Arteta, Wilshere and Podolski, Giroud, Gervinhio, Walcott and The Ox…. top 4 or higher?
Everton are notoriously slow starters. Not this season! With 4 wins in 7, Everton seem like an outside bet for the top 4. Usually lacking a decent, fit striker, this year David Moyes has 3 attackers to share the load – Jelavic, Mirallas and Naismith and along with their impressive midfield and solid defenders they can certainly make a run for the top 4. Also, they usually finish strong….
Newcastle finished in 5th spot last year and their fans will be thinking “Why not one better?”. Players should be more familiar with the premiership and their team mates and they have stability with their coach who signed an 8 year deal. If they can put forward a solid run of results in the next 3 months they could be looking to improve on last years’ position. Just don’t mention Mike Ashley to any of their fans.
Current odds make Arsenal favourites at 1/2; followed by Spurs 2/1, Everton 11/2 and then Liverpool 15/2. Newcastle are 25/1 finish in the top 4. (Odds taken from Bet365.com)
Who will be Champions?
Chelsea have collected 19 points from a possible 21. Not only are they the best defensive team in the premiership so far (only 4 goals conceded) but as we have written in the past their forward line looks very promising.
Their biggest problem besides John Terry and Ashley Cole will be their lack of squad depth in the striker department. How will they cope with a suspension (or worse an injury) to Fernando Toress? Sturridge and the unproven Lucas Piazon are the only options or perhaps play the Spanish formation of 4-6-0? Can Sturridge really be the main man of a Premiership winning team? Expect them to buy in the January window but by then it may be too late…
Manchester United’s problems in midfield are well documented. Could Wayne Rooney playing in midfield solve their problems? Along with their injury plagued defenders and lack of defensive cover, can United aim to win another title or are 2 defeats in the league already an issue? Money seems to be short at United so don’t expect any major signings in Jan – United fans hope that we are wrong and that they can acquire a world class CB, LB and CM soon! Is Rooney the answer to United’s midfield and 20th title?
Manchester City were champions last year but this time around they look slightly confused. It’s never easy winning back-to-back titles and not having a settled 11 does not help. Supporters may say that flexibility is key to City this year which in theory seems great but it is not translating to results. Currently on 15 points (same as United), City seem to have another issue – Is Mario Balotelli this year’s Tevez? Seven games into the season and “Super” Mario has already thrown a tantrum – a few more and will Tevez join in as well?
We have the rest of the season to find out… In the meantime, share your thoughts with us
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For more great articles like this one visit the guys at toknowthegame.com, whilst you can follow them on Twitter at @toknowthegame.
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 |  |
1 – 2 |  |
Chelsea |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Everton |  |
3 – 1 |  |
Southampton |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Fulham |  |
1 – 2 |  |
Man City |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Norwich |  |
2 – 5 |  |
Liverpool |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Reading |  |
2 – 2 |  |
Newcastle |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Stoke City |  |
2 – 0 |  |
Swansea |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Sunderland |  |
1 – 0 |  |
Wigan |
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| 29 Sep 17:30 | Man Utd |  |
2 – 3 |  |
Tottenham |
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| 30 Sep 16:00 | Aston Villa |  |
1 – 1 |  |
West Brom |
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| 01 Oct 20:00TBC | QPR |  |
v |  |
West Ham |
Gameweek 6 preview: Hair today, goals tomorrow?
The trouble with pesky competitions like the Capital One Cup – which still sounds like an employee of the month award – is that they can easily get in the way of your Fantasy Premier League team’s progress.
They can affect the mood of teams in the real thing too, and as such Everton’s week suddenly doesn’t look as rosy as it did when Marouane Fellaini (£7.2m) headed in the third of their three goals in the convincing win at Swansea last Saturday.
The cup loss to Leeds in midweek saw the chances of David Moyes making this the season that he picks up a first trophy at Everton effectively reduced by 50%, and the question now has to be whether or not that’ll affect the Blues’ fine league form which has taken them to third in the table after five games.
All eyes will be on Goodison Park on Saturday then, as Everton seek to bounce back at the first time of asking by welcoming Southampton.
As fixtures go it is a pretty decent one to make your recovery from midweek misery, and if you can see them getting over the Elland Road loss quickly then expect the Blues to be flying come Saturday afternoon. With fixtures against Wigan and QPR to come in the immediate future too, it could be a good time to put your faith in Moyes’s boys to earn you points, with Fellaini the man most likely.
That said, Nikica Jelavic (£8.4m) is also primed to return here after missing the Swansea game and only appearing as a substitute against Leeds, whilst those who can afford Leighton Baines (£7.2m) will be getting a severely underrated defender who has already contributed a goal, two assists and two clean sheets this season. He could well be set to add to that tally at the weekend.
Across Stanley Park at Liverpool, things could just be about to change for the better.
Last weekend’s unfortunate loss to Manchester United brought an end to a tricky run of fixtures for Brendan Rodgers’ side, and although the midweek Capital One Cup win at West Bromwich Albion was achieved with a smattering of youngsters, it might just have restored somewhat of a feelgood factor amongst those at the club.
Norwich await in the Premier League at Carrow Road on Saturday, and with the Canaries having only found the net twice in their five league games this season – plus with winnable home games against Stoke and Reading on the horizon – it might just be the time to put your faith in Rodgers’ rearguard.
Injury and rotation issues mean that the only two defenders certain to start for Liverpool at the weekend are Glen Johnson (£6.4m) and Martin Skrtel (£6.0m), and with the pair offering the potential for assist and goal points respectively then either could be good additions. It is further forward where Liverpool could make their mark this weekend though, with Raheem Sterling (£4.6m) still an astute cheap choice and Luis Suarez (£9.4m) ready to fire back at a ground where he scored a hat-trick last season. Those now debating whether or not to stick with Carlos Tevez (£9.9m) could decide to switch to the Uruguayan.
Tevez and his Manchester City team-mates go to Fulham on Saturday, and with City far from certain to get a result there and clashes between Arsenal and Chelsea and Manchester United and Tottenham proving somewhat unpredictable, it might pay to look elsewhere for some points.
With apologies to Steven Fletcher (£7.2m) his goalscoring run has become impossible to ignore, and whilst climbing on board the Fletcher bandwagon has to come with the warning that Sunderland face City away next, this weekend’s fixture at home to Wigan could be the perfect one to see the Scot continue his scoring run.
The Gameweek 5 review, by @shots_on_target
After advising that you should take a look at Leighton Baines (11 points this Gameweek), Demba Ba (nine), Dimitar Berbatov, Kevin Nolan (both eight) and Glen Johnson (five) on Friday, Yirma’s favourite stats man @shots_on_target is back, not to gloat, but instead to provide a thorough review of Gameweek 5.
Swansea 0 – 3 Everton
Although the Swans had their moments in this game, Everton bossed throughout with an incredible 22 shots with 11 on target, a figure more reminiscent of City at home to Wolves last year than a team away at the Liberty. The star fantasy performers from Everton’s point of view were the goal scorers Mirallas, Anichebe, and The Great Fellaini TM, with a combined 23 shots between them, 11 on target. Good value for their 3 goals, in fact they should have scored more. Anichebe is a great one week punt for the Toffees next home game against Southampton but you will have to fancy Jelavic’s chance of regaining the striker role on return from injury (1-2 weeks). Fellaini, Mirallas are established in the side, as are Pienaar and Leighton ‘9 Points’ Baines. All are strongly expected to pick up point further points and Mirallas would be an excellent differential choice.
Swansea to their credit almost scored – with 18 shots in total but just 4 on target. Their failure to score is perhaps due to Everton’s well-drilled defence rather than Swansea’s poor attack and I wouldn’t give up on Swansea’s offensive or defensive options given their immediate fixtures – STO (A) RDG (H) WIG (H) – except for Nathan Dyer.
Fantasy Force: Everton’s Attack and Defence.
Fantasy Flops: No-one.
West Ham 1 – 1 Sunderland
West Ham peppered Sunderland’s goal here with 24 shots, 4 on target, compared the visitors 5 with just 1 on target. Sunderland as is their style, scored from their only shot on target. These stats are actually similar to Sunderland’s goalless draw at the Emirates on the opening day (ARS 23 shots, 3 on target, SUN 5 shots, 2 on target) indicating that Sunderland have the ability to weather a storm quite nicely and West Ham should not feel too disappointed, getting more out of this fixture than Arsenal did. Steven Fletcher provided more evidence of his finishing ability with 1 goal from only shot on target (3 shots in total). This kind of form cannot continue however and Sunderland really do not create enough chances for to warrant buying their forwards at the moment. They have two fixtures in the next 8 that attract attention (Home games against Wigan and Villa) but other than those it’s not so good and I can’t really see Fletcher get more than 2-3 goals over the month or two. Kevin Nolan’s goal for Wet Ham was just reward for his display, he really is a good prospect and West Ham’s main source of fantasy points.
Fantasy Force: West Ham’s Attack (Nolan), Sunderland’s Defence.
Fantasy Flops: Sunderland’s Attack (despite Fletcher)
Southampton 4 – 1 Aston Villa
Villa are in trouble. They can’t defend and it’s going to take a while for Paul Lambert to get this team playing the way he wants, and by then it could be too late. Stephen Ireland looks like he’s broken his arm and could be out for a while and has been one of their most creative players so far, albeit not creating that much. Southampton on the other hand seem to have no problem finding the back of the net with Rickie Lambert the chief threat, They managed 6 shots on target so 4 goals is slightly flattering scoreline, but if you want a £6.1m forward then you could not do much better and with upcoming fixtures home against Fulham and Tottenham and away at Everton and West Ham you’d be disappointed if he didn’t get 2-3 goals over this period.
Fantasy Force: Southampton Attack
Fantasy Flops: Aston Villa – attack and defence.
Wigan 1 – 2 Fulham
A pretty even game this one with both team’s creating plenty of chances, Wigan with 19 shots , 5 on target, and Fulham doing better with 12 shots and 7 on target )on target is best!). Dimitar Berbatov was again at the sharp end and this results, as well as the 2 goals at Old Trafford, demonstrates Fulham’s new found capacity to score goals away from home. Wigan failed to turn majority of both possession and scoring chances into anything more than 1 goal which need not be a major worry to fantasy managers given the budget price tags attached to their forward players. Defensively, this was a good result for Fulham and a bad one for Wigan. Allowing 7 shots on target from 12 attempts is not indicative a tight defence.
Fantasy Force: Fulham Attack & Defence
Fantasy Flops: Wigan’s Defence.
Chelsea 1 – 0 Stoke
Despite the pressure Chelsea heaped on the Stoke defence the Potters held firm and gave a good account of themselves, creating a few chances too with 13 shots, 3 shots on target compared to Chelsea’s 19 shots and 4 on target.. Big players such as Hazard and Torres failed to impress (zero shots on target between them) and with just one promising fixture on the horizon (Nor (H) GW7) it’s perhaps time to re-evaluate their place in your teams. Stoke are doing well. Despite a torrid run of fixtures so far they have defended resolutely and have only conceded 2 goals in games vs. City, Arsenal and now the European Champions Chelsea. Their fixtures don’t let up for a little while but take a look in GW9 after their game with Manchester United.
Fantasy Force: Stoke Defence
Fantasy Flops: Chelsea Attack
West Brom 1 – 0 Reading
A fair result from two teams who are not going to be atop of the scoring charts at the end of the season. Albion’s 4 shots on target from 11 attempts yielding the game’s only goal. With Reading managing just the solitary shot on target all game there’s no wonder they didn’t score, and bearing in mind they only hit the target against Tottenham in their last home game the prospects do not look good for Reading’s attacking players like Pogrebnyak and Guthrie. Lukaku grabbed the game’s only game and the immediate fixture list offers hope of a few more – AVL (A) QPR (H) – but I would not hold out too much hope on them ripping it up.
Fantasy Force: No-one
Fantasy Flops: Reading’s attack.
Liverpool 1 – 2 Man Utd
Many people’s highlight match-up of the weekend, Liverpool managed to dominate the scoring chances in this game despite Shelvey dismissal late in the first half, almost doubling United’s chances created (14 attempts, 6 on target to 8 attempts, 3 on target). I think Liverpool can take some optimism from this game and their fixture list should offer hope – (Nor (A) Sto (H) Rdg (H) – however long-term injuries to Agger and Kelly, a niggle for Borini, plus Shelvey suspension throw this into doubt somewhat. United looked poor but, as always, put away the chances they got to win the game. The team is yet to gel though and with Rooney’s return imminent and rotation around Champions Leagues games a concern it’s going to be a risk owning their attacking players this season methinks.
Fantasy Force: Liverpool’s Defence
Fantasy Flops: No-one
Man City 1 – 1 Arsenal
Arsenal controlled the game in large spells and their customary possession game melded with a new-found defensive resolution means their defensive players are arguably the best of all fantasy assets right now, particularly with Gibbs and Metesacker coming in at £5.6m and £5.1m respectively. The omission of Carlos Tevez would have caused heartache to over 1 million FPL managers this weekend and, with City’s available attacking options plus probable rotation for Champion’s League games, owning elite options from the blue half of Manchester could prove a tad frustrating at times. Santi Cazorla and David Silva were the stand out players from an attacking point of view, and Aguero showed what he’s about too.
Fantasy Force: Arsenal’s Defence
Fantasy Flops: No-one
Tottenham 2 – 1 QPR
Tottenham have been very creative in all their matches so far this season, with this one proving no different, with 20 attempts on goal, yielding 8 shots on target and two goals not a bad result at the end of the day. However, they don’t fill you with confidence. Does anyone else think AVB does not know what he’s doing? Does he think he is still playing Championship Manager in his bedroom? QPR did really well and are staring to play for Hughes now after the opening day calamity against Swansea. They mustered 4 shots on target from 9 attempts which is not bad going for a team away at one of last season’s Top 4. Whilst home games against West Ham and Reading in the next 6 offer potential it’s probably too early to get excited about anyone. As for Spurs, Gareth Bale and Jermaine Defoe (as long as he’s in the team) maintain their promising form.
Fantasy Force: Tottenham and QPR attack – maybe
Fantasy Flops: None.
Newcastle 1 – 0 Norwich
Newcastle have been a very “efficient” team under Pardew, not requiring a lot of the ball or many chances to score their goals. That they managed good but not great 6 shots on target against Norwich from 18 chances created. There should have been more goals but the best chances, including a penalty, fell to Cisse and he’s clearly struggling at the moment, perhaps feeling a bit poorly! Demba Ba took his chance well and continues to be a good option up front, as does Ben Arfa, with game away against Reading the next fixture. Following this though games at home against United, and a solid West Brom plus an away match at local rivals Sunderland aren’t the best in the short term. As for Norwich, it’s hard to call as to whether Newcastle just misfired up front or Norwich defended well. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and opt for the latter but they aren’t a strong defensive option yet.
Fantasy Force: No-one
Fantasy Flops: No-one
An apology, by @Mark_Jones86
I’ve let Yirma down.
I know I wasn’t supposed to do it. I know that Yirma legend and Fantasy football God Tom K told me not to do it. I know that, if I could take Saturday afternoon back, I probably wouldn’t do it again.
But part of me is delighted I’ve done it.
It all started, as so many of the most regretful stories do, with Mohamed Diame.
As I watched the West Ham, Senegal and Werder Beertent midfielder roam aimlessly around Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium early on Saturday afternoon, with his team getting ruthlessly hammered by a Swans team with a terrific case of new manager syndrome, a horrible thought crossed my mind.
It was a thought that all of you will have at some point this season, although only the very brave and very stupid of you will act upon it this early.
It was the sight of Diame trudging off the pitch with his team 3-0 down to be replaced by Alou Diarra which finally made it hit home for me. I couldn’t deny it any longer.
My Fantasy football team was rubbish.
I was sure that I had it right at some point during the endless tinkering of the summer, but the collection of 15 players I was staring at now just made no sense whatsoever.
Diame? Darron Gibson? Fabricio Coloccini? Ramires? Ian Harte? It just didn’t look right.
Evidently the big man upstairs (not my large Polish neighbour Jakub) agreed with me, and sent a monsoon to Sunderland to prevent Harte and his special brand of being-useless-from-anything-but-a-dead-ball football from seeing any action at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon. Football was undoubtedly the winner.
There was, however, one man who I thought could save me from this mess.
One man who, like the warrior he is, would lead my rag-tag bunch of wounded, rotated misfits to success, glory and somewhere in the region of a 40 point Gameweek.
It wasn’t Jakub or the other fella, but it was instead another big man who was sure to rise to the occasion and perform on his long-awaited return to his home turf.
Introducing an icon. The one and only. The captain of Manchester United and, for this week only of Werder Beertent. The great Nemanja Vid… oh, Fulham have scored haven’t they?
Bang goes the clean sheet then, but that’s alright. There’s still time for the big Serbian to get on the scoresheet… Perhaps from a cross or a mix-up with the goalkeeper…
My job involves keeping track of football results, so there was literally no escape from the moment when – in the 64th minute of the match against Fulham at Old Trafford – Nemanja Vidic decided to make up my mind for me by hopelessly flicking the ball into his own goal and putting himself in minus points territory.
Now I’m no Manchester United fan, and as such there will always be a part of me that cracks a smile whenever they concede a goal between now and their Intergalactic Cup Final defeat to the Saturn Superstars in 2072 (Sir Alex having retired three years earlier), but this time it was different. I had to act.
So I did.
Straight away the heart of my team was ripped out, leaving only three survivors – all of whom will coincidentally go on to be useless in this afternoon’s Liverpool v Manchester City match.
Out they came and in went the new faces. New, glorious faces. Faces that would laugh at the mere mention of Mohamed Diame.
And then it was done. And then I clicked it. And then I clicked the confirmation bit asking me if I was sure I knew that I was being completely mental. I was sure.
Activate Wildcard.
So I’m sorry to Yirma. Sorry Tom K. Sorry to you if you don’t agree with me. But I’m happy.
Rest assured I’ll be occupying my comfortably mediocre mid-table position come May, something that was in serious doubt for a few minutes there on Saturday afternoon.
I like my team now.
Of course Marouane Fellaini will keep scoring goals. Of course Swansea will carry on keeping clean sheets. They’ll probably keep them in every match for the rest of the season, I suspect.
I hope you all enjoyed the two-week headstart you got on me then, because I’m ready to start now, and I’m finally fully confident in all of my 15 players.
At least until that second Wildcard in January anyway.
I wonder how much Diame will be then?
Fantasy Yirma: Gameweek 2 preview
Gameweek 2 preview: Forwards to earn their Spurs?
Maybe earning his Spurs is a bit less important to Emmanuel Adebayor than earning AT Spurs, but after completing his move to White Hart Lane from Manchester City at least he’s added another quality striking option for Fantasy managers.
The Togoloese forward (£9.5m) is likely to go straight into the squad for Saturday’s clash at home to West Brom after eventually turning his loan switch into a permanent one, with ‘Ade’ adding much needed strength in depth to Andre Villas-Boas’s striking department after the Portuguese was left with just Jermain Defoe (£7.5m) as a solitary senior forward for last weekend’s loss at Newcastle.
Defoe scored there of course, and he’ll be looking to take that form into the meeting with the Baggies, where he could still start despite the arrival of his new/old team-mate.
The England man continues to be linked with moves away, but it is unlikely that you’ll see Defoe depart North London at least until Villas-Boas is able to bring in yet another forward, and even then all talk of a transfer seems premature.
Now nearly 30, Defoe has seemingly spent a career on the fringes despite consistently finding the net.
There always seems to have been the feeling that managers can do better than him – either at club or international level – but with Adebayor likely to take a while to settle in after having no pre-season to speak of, Spurs are sure to have to turn to him over the coming weeks. Their next four matches see them face West Brom (h), Norwich (h), Reading (a) and QPR (h). The potential for goals is there for all to see.
That should draw you towards Tottenham’s forwards – perhaps with your Sergio Aguero money – and also to the men playing behind them. If Villas-Boas is to persevere with just the one attacker, then Gareth Bale (£9.5m), Gylfi Sigurdsson (£9.0m) and Rafael van der Vaart (£9.0m) will all be looking to get into scoring and assisting positions behind him.
Elsewhere this Fantasy weekend, the lack of a double Gameweek, the advice to avoid Chelsea players who’ll be inactive next weekend and some very intriguing fixtures make it somewhat of a tough one to predict.
After losing so heavily at West Brom, it would be just like Liverpool to bounce back and get a positive result against Manchester City, but it would take the most confident of Fantasy bosses to turn to the likes of the £9.5m pairing of Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez against the champions, despite City’s concession of goals against Southampton and the Liverpool pair’s rest from the trip to Hearts in midweek.
City will miss Aguero of course and so a stalemate could ensue, which is probably what Arsenal would settle for from their tough trip to Stoke where Gunners forwards should probably be avoided.
Manchester United will be determined to bounce back from their loss to Everton on Monday, and with many put off by Robin van Persie’s price tag (£13.0m) it could well be the other home debutant Shinji Kagawa (£8.5m) who impresses against Fulham at Old Trafford, where it goes without saying that the Whites’ players who impressed on the opening day against Norwich – Mladen Petric (£6.0m), Damien Duff (£6.0m) and Alex Kacaniklic (£4.5m) – will find it tougher to shine again.
Other opening day stars Michu (bumped up to £6.7m) and Marouane Fellaini (£6.5m) could have it a little easier at home to West Ham and away to Aston Villa respectively, whilst in the battle of the two teams beaten 5-0 last week, it could pay to focus on QPR’s players ahead of those from Norwich.
Junior Hoilett (£6.5m) – a scorer home and away against Norwich for Blackburn last season – might well shine the brightest.
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