GW 13 - previews - They are back!

These fantasy hot prospect are all back from injuries and a few of them made surprise return too as earlier than predicted.


Manchester City vs Birmingham

Carlos Tevez is back from injury and Birmingham have bad records playing away. Take note of Tevez, the trouble maker, scorer and bonus point magnet when he is playing against smaller team.

What I think: Mancini said he'll be happy to settle with 1 point against ManUtd rather than nothing but won't be settling with 1 point against Birmingham



Tottenham vs Blackburn
 

Van Der Vaart made a surprise return from injury on Tuesday night and scored one too. He has scored in every home game for Tottenham this season and seems like to have become a master of tap-in (good in positioning or always lucky to be at the right place at the right time?)

Blackburn won against Newcastle at St.James Park but I don't see them to win two in a row. Sorry Blackburn. Tottenham will win this one for sure after four winless runs.

What I think: Play your Bale, Modric and Van Der Vaart!



Aston Villa vs Manchester United

Yea, Nani is back too and completed 90-minutes against Manchester City that ended 0 - 0. He is one of the best fantasy prospect this season's FPL.

But Aston Villa aren't easy at home. But I don't see them to be tough too to concede 2 goals from a Blackpool side with 10-changes made, not to say to need a 90th-minute goal from Collins to win the game 3-2 on Wednesday night.

What I think: Tough match. Aston without fit experienced strikers. Only Delfouneso available. ManUtd without Evra, Rafael, Hargraeves and Giggs. Berbatov & Hernandez seemed to lose their sparks.



Everton vs Arsenal

Yeap, Van Persie is back too and he is lethal when he is fit. With Fabregas, Walcott and Song added to the squad, a win can be possible for the Gunners. Chamakh might hold his starting place as he scored twice against Wolves on Wednesday night.

Anyway, Cahill might head one in with the fragility of Arsenal's defences.

What I think: I am backing Arsenal to win this one.



Stoke City vs Liverpool

Torres isn't injured actually but I listed him in "They-are-back"- category as Torres is really back to his old-self. No kidding, the goal against Wigan is just awesome to watch, watching Torres to outpace the defender and poke in the goal after Gerrard's perfectly weighted pass created the path for him.

What I think: Liverpool to win if their defences work real hard. Liverpool are not in a position to score 3-4 goals like Chelsea and only able to win narrowly with a Gerrard-Torres combination, so the defences really need to give their best.

Extra: Kelly might establish himself as the preferred right-back choice in the absence of Johnson and at a super bargain price at $4.2



Chelsea vs Sunderland

                                               

Lampard is tipped to be back by Ancelotti yesterday but from the updated news, he will be out for another 3 weeks. Drogba under-performed again due to his illness, affected by malaria. Recently, Chelsea's attacks are really disappointing as the returns for Drogba, Malouda and Anelka are really low value for money. Drogba's $13.1 price is not returning what we paid for.

However, Chelsea's back four are the most reliable in the BPL as Chelsea only have conceded 5 goals this season after 12 games! Take note on Ivanovic, Bosingwa and Ashley Cole (Cole's return on the past 6 games is better than Drogba's)

What I think: Chelsea to win? Of course.


Others:


West Ham vs Blackpool - Avram Grant's side failed to take advantage to clinch their second win against West Brom, but this is another chance against Blackpool. However, Blackpool won't not held back and love to play attacking games. West Ham do need to improve on their defence.



Newcastle vs Fulham - Newcastle still can't make their home a fortress, their inconsistency are giving me big frustration. One week they can win away against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and 3 days later they can lose to Blackburn at home. However, this can be a tight match, expect a draw maybe?



Wigan vs West Brom - Both have the chance to get a win out of this game, but I would like to see West Brom to continue their dream start in the BPL under Roberto Di Matteo. Odemwingie is back and he is a promising striker.



Wolves vs Bolton - Bolton are playing good this season, home and away. Wolves are still lying in the relegation zone with only 9 points from 12 games. I think Wolves will need to do something against Bolton if they want to enjoy another season in the top flight or else. However, Bolton's Davies and Elmander are playing pretty well at the moment, a fact that we can't defy, sharing 9 goals between them. (Bolton's 6th in the table, this explains all)

Gameweek Preview - GW 12

 
Congratulation to Liverpool as they beaten Chelsea 2-0 which made the headline in last weekend (other than Arsenal's loss at home to Newcastle which was one of the top headline too)

Since this is a midweek game, I will cut the preview short and simple.


1) Manchester's derby:

MC: Tevez is back. Silva and Milner is not on hot form, but not in dip form either. With Mancini's defensive approach, this might be hard for ManUtd to score with their current squad.

MU: Without Nani, United's offence are weak. Let's assume Berbatov is back (which is a doubt), he will be leading the attack with Hernandez and Park Ji-Sung. I don't think they can make it through MC's defences easily.

Will be a low-scoring game, perhaps, a narrow MC win. Look out for Tevez who loves to score against his old club.



2) Chelsea vs Fulham

Chelsea will not suffer back to back defeat in the BPL, at least under Ancelotti. Drogba is reported to be suffering with malaria but this will not keep him out from this game. Anelka, Malouda will be the usual studs to lead the attack. Essien might return but Lampard is still out, so Drogba will still be taking penalty and free-kicks. Perhaps a 2-0 win for Chelsea?



3) Wigan vs Liverpool

If Liverpool can bring on their momentum from the previous 3 back-to-back wins in the BPL to this game, I can see no reason for Liverpool to not win this one, with Torres on-hot-form. Kuyt has returned and Meireles played extremely well too in the right midfield.

Let's say another 2-0 win for Liverpool?



4)  Tottenham vs Sunderland

Bent is out and will not face his ex-club. So Gyan will lead Sunderland's attack. But Sunderland's pretty weak at away, a narrow win for Tottenham perhaps?

Bale, Modric played quite well and even Hutton participated alot in attacks. I might get it wrong but it seems Pavluychenko will be the one taking penalty if he does play.




5) Newcastle vs Blackburn

Three back-to-back wins for Newcastle as well, the win against Arsenal was totally unexpected and it proved Hughton really has some quality. But he is still not awarded a new contract.

Anyway, back to the game, Blackburn will make it hard again for Newcastle as I think Big Sam will play some hard-ass defending again. But Carroll does sure want to impress as he is called up for the England team by Capello. Hope he does not injured himself while trying to impress Fabio Capello.

So, what about Newcastle to continue their momentum to win this game? The other 2 Englishmen looked good too. Nolan and Barton.




6) Aston Villa vs Blackpool

Aston were so close to an away win last week after being denied by Hangeland in the last kick in the injury-time. Too bad.

However, Aston will do their best to win this one. Albrighton played so well and Ashley Young is still menacing from the flank.

What about 3-1 to Aston Villa? Cool?




7) Everton vs Bolton

Cahill and Arteta again to win this for Everton.

Bolton's Davies and Elmander are on-form but Goodison Park is not a place for them to score for fun.




8) Stoke City vs Birmingham

I can see a boring draw coming. Or a narrow win for Stoke City is possible.




9) West Ham vs West Brom

Avram Grant was so close to win his first away game for West Ham last weekend, so this will possibly be his second win for West Ham United. Go Obinna and Piquionne!




10) Wolves vs Arsenal

Arsenal disappointed many FPL managers last weekend fantasy wise, as all the hot studs scored like 1 or 2 points maximum.

Wolves played quite well this season at home, so Arsenal can expect a tough match but I believe they can pull something out to make this into a victory to compensate their fans over the embarassing defeat to Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium 2 days ago.

Gameweek Preview - GW 11

 Bolton vs Tottenham

Van Der Vaart will be definitely out as he is labeled "red" in the FPL. So, Tottenham's attack will be led by Crouch, Modrid, Bale and Keane/Pavluychenko. Since Van Der Vaart will be absent, all the spotlight will be on Gareth Bale who performed superbly in both games against Inter Milan, where he 'killed' a world-class right back such as Maicon.

For Bolton side, the only attacking threat only comes from Elmander as I can see. Holden is a good choice to fill in your 5th midfielder option at $5.0 as he will only will get better.

Manchester United vs Wolves



Hernandez and Berbatov will lead the attack in this match with the absense of Nani. Who will fill the midfielders slot? That's a question. The only player that I can see to be starting is Paul Scholes. Carrick has high chance to start too with Fletcher's absense. For the flank, Obertan and Park Ji-sung perhaps?

For Wolves side, not any players will be recommended by if there's any scoring chances from set-pieces or penalty. perhaps Jones or Milijas? (if you don't think ManUtd can keep a clean sheet)

Liverpool vs Chelsea 

Gerrard scored a hat-trick against Napoli. Can he bring that form to this match against the mighty Chelsea? Torres who is rested is expected to start the game.

Drogba and Anelka, both scored in midweek UCL games will definitely start the game too as Malouda is definitely out and Essien is doubtful for this match. So Kalou is a cheap Chelsea midfield option as he can bring some threats too wide areas.

Others:

Arsenal v Newcastle - Arsenal will win this one for sure. Fabregas is doubtful due to injury but I have a strong feeling that he will be featuring. Nolan ain't gonna repeat his luck form like last weekend against the Black Cats who looked so strong after held Arsenal, Liverpool and ManUtd to a draw.

Birmingham v West Ham - Birmingham are always good at home, but I am backing Avram Grant this match as he is under pressure now and need to get result. Birmingham is an easier team.

Blackburn v Wigan - 3 points for Blackburn, but a narrow win. Jones is the defensive stud and Benjani might grab something too out of this match

Blackpool v Everton - Everton will win this one by doing all they can. Arteta and Cahill will grab something. Start Adam too if you have him as he has the advantages by taking free-kicks and penalty.

Fulham v Aston Villa - Tight match between them. Aston has no fit strikers, so expect Young to deputize the striker position. Dempsey is on-form too and Dembele has returned as well.
 

Sunderland v Stoke City - Sunderland need to win this for sure to bounce back from the 5-1 humiliating derby defeat. Bent and Gyan should be played together to penetrate Stoke's stubborn defensive approach.

West Brom v Man City - Hey guess what, I would like to see ManCity to lose again to a lowly team.

Gerrard shines, Malouda out (and other latest updates)

The coming match of the week, Liverpool vs Chelsea is anticipated by many fans of both side. In midweek Europa Cup, Gerrard scored a hat-trick to help salvage Liverpool from an embarassing defeat to Napoli at Anfield. All three goals scored by Stevie G came in the final 15 minutes, including a penalty.

Hat-trick hero against Napoli. Liverpool won 3 - 1

Torres was rested in the match against Napoli to keep him fresh for the match against Chelsea this weekend. Steven Gerrard came out from the bench on 46th minute to replace Milan Jovanovic and scored a hat-trick.

His last hat-trick was against Aston Villa two seasons ago when Liverpool thrashed Aston Villa 5-0 at Anfield during Benitez' tenure. Glen Johnson returned from injury that might boost Liverpool's offences from the right flank.

No chance of playing against Liverpool this weekend due to an injury

Frank Lampard might feature this weekend for Chelsea but Malouda definitely will be out. It will be a dilemma for FPL managers; to keep him or to cash him for other players that are on-form too, such as Van Der Vaart.

Other major injuries doubts and question marks:

Arsenal vs Newcastle - Will Fabregas features? That's really 50-50. As Wilshere returns from suspension, Wenger has a lot choices to choose from; Song who is on-form, Arshavin, Rosicky, Denilson, Diaby, Nasri and Walcott.Who will he start? If Fabregas does feature, he is definitely my captain's pick. Chamakh is the only stable pick as he will definitely start the game.

ManUtd vs Wolves - Nani definitely will be out for sure. But since Giggs, Valencia and Fletcher are out injured as well, that narrows down Ferguson's choices of midfielders. Will it be Park Ji Sung and Obertan playing on both flanks? Or will he convert Anderson to left midfield and play Carrick and Scholes in center midfield? Gibson has a chance to start the game too. Awh.. too many uncertainties.

West Brom vs ManCity - ManCity's mega million squad suffered another embarassing 3-1 defeat to Lech Poznan. Anyway they need to move on and concentrate on this weekend's match against West Brom. West Brom is playing well this season and has already shrugged off the relegation candidate's tag. But will Tevez be featuring in this game like Mancini said? If he plays, he is definitely a good pick. Silva and Milner are the one to watch too. If ManCity stumble again at West Brom, Mancini will be in deep shit be in REAL DEEP SHIT!

Bolton vs Tottenham - Van Der Vaart is a hot property now. But he limped off in the victory against Inter Milan on Tuesday night. He is doubtful for this coming match at the Reebok Stadium. But he has an outside chance to be playing too. Will he play? Who knows? Will Bale play? Or will he be rested after the superb performance against Inter Milan? Among Keane, Crouch and Pavluychenko, who will start the game? It's all question marks. Ask Harry Redknapp.

Gameweek Preview - GW 10

This weekend might be a normal FPL weekend where all players thinking to nab a much points as possible and climb the table in their mini leagues.

However, this weekend is anticipated long by Newcastle, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Birmingham fans, players and managers as there are a double derby this weekend which might not be awared by some FPL players outside England.


Newcastle vs Sunderland derby

Newcastle are lying at the 9th place in the BPL table, well it is considered a comfortable position after 9 games, but, with only 11 points, they are actually 2 points above the relegation only.

Newcastle are one of the traditional big clubs with huge fanbase and financial power. The inconsistency into the new season is causing the speculation surrounding manager Hughton.

Despite 4 losses this season, Newcastle did pull out some superb performances by thrashing Aston 6-0, winning 1-0 at Goodison Park and sent Chelsea out of the Carling Cup, which makes the route easier for Arsenal and Manchester United.

Let's see:

Strikers to watch: Darren Bent vs Andy Carroll, both are English, physical, good aerially and have the ability to score goals. Play them if you have them.

Midfielders: Barton vs Cattermole, both are English, love to throw their boots around, have higher chance to pick up cards especially in such derby day. However, Barton remains a cheap stud at $4.7 and takes free-kicks and corners. Henderson is another player with growing reputation in the Sunderland squad that caught my eyes though.

Defenders: Elmohamady has established himself in the Sunderland squad and adapted well to the BPL. His price rose to $5 from $4.5 now and is the highest price increase for a player in Sunderland. He is worth it anyway, with such price tag, as he is the defender with the THIRD highest fantasy points in the FPL now with 44 pts. But I will not play any defenders from both side in this match. Hey! It's a derby.



Aston Villa vs Birmingham derby



Gerard Houllier won't mess this game up as I can see Aston will win this derby at home. They have a good record at home against Birmingham.

Strikers: Heskey vs Zigic. Heskey is rejuvenated under Houllier and proved to be important to the team now with Agbonlahor out injured and Carew not preferred by Houllier. Zigic being the tallest player in the BPL at 6'8" scored 2 goals in his last 2 games. But Heskey would be the 1 nabbing up points in this derby

Midfielders: Reo-Coker vs Ferguson. Both are hard ass holding midfielders. Reo-Coker is given the captain armband by Houllier with the absence of Petrov. Ferguson proved to be important in every Birmingham's victories or draws. However, attacking player might snatch up the spotlight with fantasy points in this game. Ashley Young and Downing particularly.

Defenders: Aston's defenders could grab a clean sheet in this match. But there's no guarantee. It's a derby anyway. But Foster, Dann, R.Johnson, Carr, or Ridgewell might be suffering. I recommend not to play them.


Others:

Wolves vs Manchester City


(Yet to score a goal in the BPL)

ManCity's defeat to Arsenal last weekend will make them to try their very best to win away at Wolves. They will take advantages against Wolves who are still in the relegation zone with only 1 win this season.

Tevez has flown home yesterday due to an "injury" (which might be a "shadow" injury as he might be homesick more to injury. If he is injured, do you think ManCity's medical staff will allow him to leave England? He is one of the highest prized asset of the ManCity's squad with 7 goals in the BPL now).

Thus, Balotelli and Adebayor shall start this game. Wanna gamble on Balotelli? $8.6 only and he might wanna prove himself and live up to his price tag, so, Wolves will be an opponent to ignite his season.

Anyway, Silva and Milner will be the usual stud to take points due to their participation in attacks plus the absence of Tevez.


Arsenal vs West Ham


(Talismanic Fabregas is back)

West Ham won 3-1 against Stoke in the midweek Carling Cup. What's wrong with Avram Grant? He is some sort like a specialist in CUPS instead of league (he led Chelsea to FA Cup and UCL finals in 2008, Portsmouth to FA Cup final in 2010, just to lost 1-0 to Chelsea). West Ham won't be hanging in the relegation zone if AG can transfer his team's cup form to BPL matches.

Back to the Arsenal side. Fabregas, Walcott and Bendtner are back to full fitness. Walcott scored twice in midweek against Newcastle, even Bendtner scored once too after picking up a pass from Fabregas who came out from the substitutes' bench.

Arsenal gonna win this one, no doubt. Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Walcott and even Song are way too good for West Ham.


ManUtd vs Tottenham

Former Tottenham striker Berbatov and on-hot-form Javier Hernandez will be starting against Tottenham. Hernandez was once mentioned to be a risky buy but not anymore. At $7 now, he is the cheapest first-team ManUtd striker and scored 4 goals in his last 3 games for ManUtd. Rooney still out injured there and Hernandez will use this limited time and opportunity to establish himself to be one of the 'untouchable'.

However, Tottenham is one of the "Big 7" now and to be more accurate, one of the top 4 clubs last season. With the addition of RVDV, their squad seems to be be completed and playing at the very top level. Even Modric said that they gonna break the jinx in this game, as they never win at Old Trafford before.

Berbatov, Nani and Hernandez will be hard for Tottenham's defenders to contain, but Van Der Vaart, Bale, Modric and Lennon are threats too. This will be a damn nice match to watch.

Bolton vs Liverpool

Is Liverpool's season back on track and ignited after the win over Blackburn last weekend? We will see in this match. Bolton won't be easy at home, with the likes of Elmander, Davies (got his first England cap recently) and Lee Chung Yong on form. Even youngster like Holden played so well and caught my eyes.

Torres only has 2 goals in his pocket after 9 BPL games, but stick to him, he is good, and good-looking too. As long as there's chance created for him, he will do his very best.

**Outside bet, very risky: Joe Cole might grab some points in this match if Liverpool can repeat their form like they play against Arsenal and ManUtd. I still vouch for Cole and trying to prove that he will not be a FLUKE!

Blackburn vs Chelsea

Sam Allardyce the boaster will make it hard for Chelsea this time. His defensive approach can be hard to break down.

It is all down to Chelsea players to tear up their defence and keep Big Sam's arrogant mouth shut.

Drogba played badly last weekend but I will stick to him. Bosingwa is the cheapest Chelsea's defender who plays as well as Ashley Cole from the right flank. Buy him if you can't afford Ashley Cole who is $8.2 now, even more expensive than Van Der Vaart!

Baldies at Liverpool

Notice this long ago, what's wrong with the baldies trend at Liverpool? Anyway, keep up the good work to bounce back from a bad start of a new season.

Martin Skrtel



Pepe Reina



David N'Gog

Joe Cole

Ryan Babel

Raul Meireles (he is bald now)

Paul Konchesky

Nathan Eccleston

Jonjo Shelvey



Jay Spearing

GW 9 - review and statistics

The jinx continues as Torres scored once I sold him. Really frustrated.

Anyway, lets look at MC vs Arsenal match as Arsenal is the ONLY TEAM that scored 3 goals in gameweek 9 in the BPL last weekend.

Manchester City 0 - 3 Arsenal

Walcott returns, Bendtner scored the third goal too after returning from an injury. Nasri continues his run of good form, scored a well constructed goal by Arshavin and made the third for Bendtner.

Boyata is the culprit here due to his inexperience being a young defender. A 4th-minute red card is enough for Arsenal to take the advantage and kill the game.

Nothing Adebayor can do despite scoring a hat-trick in midweek. Tevez was substituted at the 57th-minute.

Nasri's price rose up to $7.5 now, grab him faster as he will be facing West Ham at home that might be another match for him to snatch some points and possibly bonus points too.

Stoke City 1 - Manchester United 2

As mentioned in my GW 9 preview, you might wanna bet on Hernandez @ $6.9. Well, he proved to be a winning bet, scoring 2 goals and 3 bonus points at Stoke on Sunday.

An awkward back-header and a simple but precisely timed tap-in by Hernandez a.k.a Chicarito made him the player under the spotlight as he only cost $6.9 being a Manchester United first team striker (as long as Rooney stays injured).

Tuncay's wonder goal pulled them back into the game but Chicarito opted to spoil the joy of Stoke's players and fans by scoring the winning goal for MU (which he did as well in MU's Carling Cup against Wolves on Tuesday's night)

Rooney might be possibly out for another 2 weeks, so, Chicarito at $6.9, it's your decision.

Liverpool 2 - 1 Blackburn - All 3 goals happened in 6 minutes in the 2nd half. Krygiakos' display was superb. Torres scored the vital winning goal again. But Robinson isn't bad either. Still a long way to go, Hodgson.

Chelsea 2 - 0 Wolves - Drogba is awful. Nuff' said. However, Bosingwa's return and display caught my eyes. I'll put him on my radar.

Tottenham 1 - 1 Everton - will Everton start their unbeatable run? Anyway, Van Der Vaart scored again and cost $8.1 now. Still worth it as he plays like a $11 player and take free kicks + penalties too. Grab him while he's still hot.

Birmingham 2 - 0 Blackpool - Zigic the tallest player in the BPL did the damage to Blackpool. Blackpool talismanic captain did a silly mistake by sending the ball into Zigic's path and gifted him a free poke-in goal.

Sunderland 1 - 0 Aston Villa - Awful Dunne own goal. Both side's attacks and defences are equally match, thus, an own goal is proved to be fatal enough.

Wigan 1 - 1 Bolton - Elmander did it again! So did Rodallega. Both of them are the obvious and predictable players to be on the scoring chart in such game.

West Ham 1 - 2 Newcastle - Newcastle's inconsistency is what I am angry about as they will lose the game you expect them to win and win a game that you expect them to lose. Sorry Avram, it's Hughton's day.

West Brom 2 - 1 Fulham - I noticed that everytime West Brom wins, opponents' defenders did some silly mistakes or playing out of form (look at Arsenal's and ManUtd's errors). Luck or what? West Brom scored both goals on occasions where Fulham have only 3-4 defences in the box and leaving a huge space for West Brom players to roam and create free spaces for themselves. Rare scene to see West Brom to occupy the top half of the table after 9 games into a new season in BPL.

GW 8 - review and statistics

Blackpool 2 - 3 Manchester City

Blackpool was among the candidate for relegation but after 8 games into the new season, the other 'pool' (Liverpool) was in the relegation zone instead. Blackpool's build up in attacks and defences are way better and entertaining than Liverpool.

Fighting against a club with £133 million annual wages bill (Blackpool only have £6 million wages bill annually), the Tangerines will just not give up and fight to the last minutes of the match. If it wasn't for Silva's classy goal, this match will end with both teams grabbing a point each.

Congratz to Tevez who performed so well and now the leading BPL goal scorer with 7 goals. Ferguson must be banging his head against the wall as he claimed the guy is not worth £25 million.

Fulham 1 - 2 Tottenham

Although Huddlestone's controversial goal was debatable, nevertheless this game resulted in Fulham's first defeat of the season.

Van Der Vaart continues his fine form. He cost $7.9 now.

Arsenal 2 - 1 Birmingham

Zigic started as Jerome was injured. The tallest striker in the BPL scored his first BPL goal with a nicely guided header with little jumping effort, due to his 6'8" height.

Chamakh, despicable - although he scored the winning goal, he dived to get a penalty which later converted by Nasri. So, where's Wenger now as everytime other clubs' players did something despicable he is the first one to come and criticise.

Manchester United 2 - 2 West Brom

Another relegation candidate shine in big matches against the "Big Four". After the victory against Arsenal in GW 7, West Brom grabbed a point away at Old Trafford due to some schoolboy error from Van Der Sar. Pathetic goal keeping.

ManUnited threw away another 2 goals lead and get their 5th draw of the season.

Nani and Berbatov continue their fine forms, but so do Brunt from West Brom.

Bolton 2 - 1 Stoke City



Nothing much to say in this game, it's a very close game for both team. The only thing that caught the headline is Ivan Klasnic, who scored the winning goal, then get booked twice in the injury time and get sent off.

Everton 2 - 0 Liverpool

Cahill and Arteta, the usual studs of Everton that perform consistently. Arteta's rocket ended Liverpool's hope for a come back and resulted Liverpool looming in the relegation zone at 19th place.

Roy Hodgson is a downgrade and all players he brought in are downgrades! (Out: Aquilani, Mascherano, Insua... Replacements: Poulsen?, Meireles?, Konchesky?).

You don't offload your playmaker who just got fit and wanted to prove himself in the BPL off for a £4.5 million Poulsen and dynamo powerhouse midfielder Mascherano who is SO VITAL to the team's midfield. Konchesky for Insua is a joke.

Aston 0 - 0 Chelsea

Without Drogba, Chelsea aren't threatening. Anelka can't do it by himself. Aston Villa's defence are getting tougher with the arrival of Houllier. No more 6-0 thumping will ever happen again.

Newcastle 2 - 2 Wigan

N'Zogbia came back to haunt his ex-club. Newcastle made it very late to grab a draw. Bad runs for Newcastle at the moment. Wigan show some recovery after a terrible start into the new season.

Wolves - West Ham

A fair result though. Nothing much to say.

Blackburn - Sunderland

Another fair result too. Blackburn's defensive tactics are tough to break. Sunderland's Elmohamady is another great addition to the club too.

Quick Review for GW 8 (Sunday's matches)

I think among all matches in GW 8, the match between Blackpool vs Manchester City was the most entertaining game among all... ManCity won 3-2 thanks to 2 goals from Tevez and a superb solo performance from David Silva that sealed ManCity's win over Blackpool.

Tevez's the man, but who really caught my eye in this match is David Silva


(I really thought he will be a high-profile fluke in BPL)

Tevez scored a brilliant first touch goal assisted from a cross by David Silva, scored another deflected goal and David Silva scored the third goal with a superb solo performance which is really top class, superb footwork that led all Blackpool's defenders tackling air and finally drilled a curving shot into the left of the goal.

The first thing in my mind when Silva played his first few match for ManCity in the BPL is, will he be another fluke like many foreign players did, where they excelled superbly in their previous clubs but can't adapt to the pace and playing style of the BPL (eg: Shevchenko, Robinho, etc)

Silva wasn't cheap, signed for 24 million Euros from Valencia during the summer. I really think that he will be a fluke as he seems ineffective and his fantasy value dropped $0.5.

But since the game against Red Bull Salzburg where ManCity won 2-0, Silva seems has started to adapt Mancini's tactics and ManCity's playstyle. He contributed regularly in attacks and finally he scored his first BPL goal in such a classy way (plus an assist too)

If he continues to play like that, with a starting place guaranteed, he definitely will be filling one of my midfielder slot with a price tag of $8.5 only, as ManCity are playing regularly with a sole striker (Tevez) and Silva is like a second striker that plays behind the main striker and sometimes outwide (like he did in Valencia behind David Villa)

Meanwhile for Blackpool, have produced some entertaining and constructive playstyle too. They did try hard to come back but it was too late and ManCity are too rich to lose a game against a newly-promoted team with that amount of money invested into the squad. However, if Blackpool continue to play like this, it will NOT BE A PROBLEM for them to survive in the top flight. (Hey, Adam is a bargain buy too!)

Everton 2 - 0 Liverpool (New owner, same old problems)

(He is in deep sh*t as Liverpool are in 19th place now after 8 games)

While Spaniard like Arteta and David Silva shined in Sunday's matches, Torres can't produce like he did in the past two seasons. He really tried hard, but Everton's defence are too tough for him to handle alone with minimum supports.

Cahill and Arteta each scored one. Both's goal are piledrivers, too fast even for a world-class keeper like Reina to stop in time.

Liverpool really failed to threaten the Everton goal line and Howard looked pretty comfortable, saved some well attempted shots from Torres. New signings like Joe Cole, Raul Meireles, Paul Konchesky all are so-so only. N'Gog, Babel and Jovanovic were subbed into the game between 70th-80th minutes but nothing they can do to save the game. (They aren't any high-profile supersubs either)

New owner for Liverpool, great news! Same old problems for Liverpool, bad.. bad news!! Since the arrival of Roy Hodgson (which I consider is a downgrade compared to dictator Benitez), all his signings aren't high profile as well other than Joe Cole and Raul Meireles. The worst signing definitely will be Poulsen!

After the international break - GW 8 is coming

OK, put aside the Liverpool saga as it's super frustrating to see a club to fight from within in the Board of Directors. Sale or no sale? Anyway let's just leave these fussy stuff to the management level as we ARE focused on the players and manager (although the instability and internal problems greatly affected the team's performance, but Gerrard is still Gerrard, Torres is still Torres, aren't they?)

Match of the week, the same old Merseyside derby...




Everton vs Liverpool



News: Torres passed the fitness test and will be included in the squad against Everton, Kuyt will be sidelined due to the ankle injury suffered when playing for Holland in midweek. Gerrard will still be leading Liverpool in searching for the tonic to kickstart their season (it's into the 8th game and yet Liverpool still need a so-called "kickstart")


In the last meeting between these two side, the game ended 1-0 thanks to a winning header from Dirk Kuyt despite playing 10-men most of the time at Anfield. But the dynamic Kuyt is out injured for some time as the ankle injury he suffered is quite serious.


However, Liverpool is boosted by the return of Torres and Konchesky. Thanks to the international break that allowed Torres to rehabilitate and recover, but how well he can do as he has just returned once again from injury and yet to find his touch and consistency since World Cup. The burdens are once again on him and Gerrard. (I hold the faith in Torres and did not sell him as I believed that he will recover in time, he still cost $11.6 despite being injured in Blackpool match)


Everton are strong at home (looked at the 3-3 draw against ManUtd, they just won't give up). Arteta, Cahill, Pienaar and Baines all looked good. A hard match to predict and a game worth dying for for both teams.


Hmm...: Try to avoid placing both team's defenders as both team are still shaky and doing badly since the new season began.





Manchester United vs West Bromich Albion



News: Rooney is back and seems there's a rift between him and SAF as he claimed he did not suffer from ankle injuries as told by SAF (everytime when Rooney did not feature)


Although Nani and Berbatov started greatly this season and totally shadowed Rooney (plus all the scandals and medias surrounding him), I put my focus on Wayne Rooney this weekend. His form has dipped greatly with only 1 goal (from a penalty) since the start of the new season. But, he only cost $11.4 now and with the penalty-taker responsibility still with him, why not gamble on him?


I know I know (I did not mention about Nani right?), Nani did greatly for both club (since start of 10/11 season) and country (scored twice and assisted 1 for Portugal against Denmark) and everyone is taunting him to be the new Ronaldo, he has since became a favourite choice in FPL (since Valencia was injured and Nani became indispensable). With the free-kick and corners taking responsibility, $8.6 is the best deal ever for a ManUtd player who is guaranteed a starting place and involved in attacking build-ups.


Hmm...: Captain Rooney this week and expect a surprise in return.



Arsenal vs Birmingham




News: Fabregas is back!


Fabregas is back and only cost $11.8 now. But he still needs time to gain back his touch and consistency. The Spaniard who is also bothered by injury and fragility (oh, the other Spaniard is Torres, who suffers from the same problem), have one of the best average points per game if you did notice (22 pts in 4 games for Arsenal)


But Nasri is out there to voice out and claim that he is better playing in central position than playing out wide, meaning that it will be back to Wenger to decide whether to put back Fabregas into the central position, who has super vision and passing accuracy, or sticking with Nasri in that position, who is so on-form right now (20 pts in his last 3 games playing in central position)


However, Fabregas is still the stud as he will be taking free-kicks, corners and penalties if he is playing, so, in a team like Arsenal, $11.8 is definitely worth it. He is a must-buy when Arsenal have a good run of fixture, but, but... I still need to observe him for a little bit longer. Be patient...


Hmm...: Arsenal are good at home and Birmingham s*cks at away games. Do I need to elaborate further?



Aston Villa vs Chelsea



News: Benayoun will be out for 6 months (WHO CARES!!?)


Drogba can't stop scoring. Malouda is enjoying his football and currently the highest scoring midfielder in BPL. Ashley Cole is the only defender that worth his value in FPL at $7.9... (Bad for those who bring in Alex as he was injured after the game against Arsenal.. HEY!! remember a guy called Ivanovic!?haha)


How many teams that score 23 goals in just 7 games into a new season? You'll be stunned if you looked at the goal differences at the BPL table and compare Chelsea's against all 19 other teams. Don't be surprised if they are tipped to retain the BPL title just after 7 games into the new season.


Aston Villa? Gerard Houllier? Yea yea, they are strong at home, they beat Chelsea 2-1 at home last season, but I don't see that coming again.


Hmm...: Aston Villa's defenders are not worth the value at all this season, except for Luke Young. Marc Albrighton is the best choice to fill in your midfield slot with a price tag of $4.6 if you need a cheap and guaranteed starting place player.



Van Der Vaart... a phenomena?




News: price shooting up!!


Since joining Tottenham, he adapted to English football at a very swiftly. The spot kicks, corners and penalty all belong to him. Why not, at only $7.8, playing in a team of Champion League calibre?


Hmm...: Tottenham will meet some tough teams in the next 4 games, so don't be surprised if he does not deliver. Fulham under Mark Hughes have a total different approach and do not expect to beat them easily at Craven Cottage.

"Fernando Torres"

Some of the best moments of "Fernando Torres" (there is reason why I put the quote)


(This is the "Fernando Torres" i knew...)

Torres obviously excelled better under Rafael Benitez (oh god I kinda missed him now despite his dictatorship style of management and stubbornness on deploying 2 holding midfielders' formation) than under Roy Hodgson.

A semi-fit Torres still can bang in goals for Liverpool under Benitez, but a semi-fit Torres under Roy Hodgson is no different than a misfiring goal-shy striker, due to the formation and playstyle of RH that play so deep (hello this is not FULHAM that you are managing!), creating a gap between the midfielders and Fernando Torres, preventing him getting any supports for build ups in attacking. Lucas + Poulsen combination is a DISASTER!

If you did finish the video, a chunk of assists were derived from Arbeloa, who was shipped out to Real Madrid for a cheap skate 4 million Euros ONLY. He is classy and great in that position. What on earth is Benitez thinking, shipping both Alonso and Arbeloa to Real Madrid and bringing in Aquilani (injured most of the season) and Johnson (who played well only for the first quarter of last season and playing like sh*t this season despite being a regular).

Wonder how Liverpool will be doing if Alonso and Arbeloa are still there in the 2009-2010 season...

Review GW 7

Shock of the week: Liverpool 1 - 2 Blackpool


(You better think hard how to turn things around)

Liverpool's nightmare continues, what can be more worst now; 6 points in 7 games into the new season, dropped to 18th place in the table and Torres is out after 10 minutes on the pitch. (For those who captained Torres, just accept that it is a bad day)

At first Steven Gerrard & Co. said they are aiming top four, then Roy Hodgson who deployed some sh*tty formation again said they will go as far as possible in Europa League (then crashed out in Carling Cup by Northampton at Anfield)

Now Liverpool is in 18th placed and facing relegation crisis, what can be more worse? When will Liverpool regain their feet on ground?


And the trend continues: Drogba's 13th in 11 games against Arsenal


(Alex scored a stunner+clean sheet+2 bonus, congratz to FPL
managers who have them both)

Drogba's scoring run continues against the Gunners; 13 goals now in 11 encounter against Arsenal. He just love to score against them, he can score even by not looking at the goal.

Alex took the free-kick and scored a stunning goal that swinged outwards the goal, making it too fast and powerful for Fabianski to stop. I really thought Drogba will take that, but Alex's a talented free-kick taker too when it comes to long-range free-kicks.

Nuff' said, 2-0 to Chelsea in an interesting match with many efforts in building up attacks in both teams...


And, it ended out as MC's cheapest signing (£8 million from Middlesbrough) is the most prolific and effective one....


(He scored in the last 2 games for England and last 2 games for MC)

Adam Johnson did it again like what he did against Sunderland last season, where he scored a stunner and save a point for MC. But this time, he scored a beauty to salvage all 3 points for MC.

19 minutes on the pitch only, came out as a substitute and scored a beauty; after dribbling pass Williamson and drilled in a left-footed shot pass Joey Barton into the left end corner of the goal. Grabbed 9 pts including 3 bonus pts.

Despite his talents and goal creating/scoring abilities, he is still a pain-in-the-ass fantasy option as he is prone to rotation and not an automatic starter in the multi-million MC squad.

Hey, since when Mancini turned to attacking football to turn things around? It paid off didn't it? (He swapped Yaya Toure and Barry out and brought in Adebayor and A.Johnson to turn things around and it worked)


Others:

• Sunderland 0 - 0 MU - Sunderland held another big team again, this time is the Red Devils who are away at Sunderland.

• Birmingham 0 - 2 Everton - Everton grabbed their first win of the season in an away game, which is unpredicted as Birmingham is normally strong and tough at home.

• Wigan 2 - 0 Wolves - There are not much team that Wigan can beat, and they did take their chance to do all they can in this match.

• Tottenham 2 - 1 Aston - As predicted, Tottenham is too tough for the current Aston Villa team to play against. Van Der Vaart anyone?

• Stoke 1 - 0 Blackburn - Walters who? Nevercaptainnickybutt's author is a great predictor..

• West Brom 1 - 1 Bolton - Odemwingie and Elmander continue their great forms.. Cheap options and bargain buy..

• West Ham 1 - 1 Fulham - I expect West Ham to win this one though, anyway, West Ham started to gain momentum. Avram Grant brought Piquionne to Portsmouth and now West Ham for some reasons..

Review for GW 6

Result of CKW's XI prediction:

GK: Foster (7)

D: Dann (5), Konchesky (1), Sagna (4)

M: Parker (3), Malouda (2), Arshavin (5), Gerrard (6) , Nasri (12)

S: Torres (C)[14], Berbatov (2)

Subs: Krul, Jerome, Williamson, O' Shea

Total: 61 pts

Verdict: Another above average week with an average score of 39 pts. Konchesky's was substituted early game due to injury. Aww..

What can be more shocking than Arsenal's loss to newly-promoted West Brom? Biggest shock so far this season.


Arsenal 2 - 3 West Brom



Hey, saw Arsene Wenger's frustration? It's not the loss, it's the hero turned villain acts of Almunia that made him to show such expression. Priceless huh? Almunia made a penalty, saved it and he is suddenly against all the critics. A moment later, 3 goals were conceded and West Brom were in dreamland when they are leading by 3 goals at the Emirates stadium. The 2nd and 3rd goal were definitely Almunia's fault. Even Robert Green can handle the 2nd shot and why was he leaving the GK post and allow Thomas to tap in a simple goal.

Nasri's burden was too heavy to lead Arsenal's attacks as he did pull 2 goals back, but it was already late... too late...

Arsenal's next match was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and without injured goalkeeper Almunia, blunderish Fabianski might be the first choice goal keeper and I can see no reason NOT to captain Drogba next week.


Manchester City 1 - 0 Chelsea



Well, the battle among the rich clubs and rich boys, seems like the richest got the result. Although a narrow one, Tevez's stats against Chelsea was superb. 5 goals in 4 matches against Chelsea. Well, this is a tight game, Mancini (defensive coach/style/tactics) vs. Ancelloti (attacking style/tactics/formation). Obviously the old rivalry among the once compatriots in the Italian national side was brought to an intense level. It's already a common thing to see during their spells with AC Milan and Inter Milan respectively.

ManCity's defensive tactics are obviously succeed in neutralizing all Chelsea's attacks. Trio Anelka, Drogba and Malouda can do nothing when they were totally sealed off from the back by the 2 holding midfielders (Yaya Toure and De Jong) plus incoming defenders from the front when Chelsea are attacking.

A nice counter-attack paid off and Tevez's strike is the only goal that wrapped up the 3 points against Chelsea. A good record thou as ManC's last season double against Chelsea are still fresh in my mind.


Bolton 2 -2 Manchester United



Owen Coyle continues to upset SAF's ManU team away from home like he did against them when he is still in-charge of Burnley. Well, another Bulgarian shines in this game, not Berbatov, but is Martin Petrov which I rated highly during the start of the season. A goal and an assist for the free transfer from Manchester City.

Nani once again showed his magic (1 goal 1 asst 2 bonus pts) and he is still working hard to fill in Ronaldo's boot. Rooney continues to struggle and his form and price continues to plummet too. For those who brought in Berbatov, disappointed huh? Well, his price do increased to $9.1 over the week but you really cant judge his performance by merely one-game's form right?


Liverpool 2 - 2 Sunderland



Does Liverpool have a habit of drawing on the same scoreline when they are dip in form? I remembered two seasons back, they got a draw with 4-4 scoreline at Stamford Bridge and lost 7-5 on aggregate and crashed out from Champions League. The next game they got another 4-4 draw at home to Arsenal with 2 last-gasp goal scored by Torres and Benayoun.

Well, it repeats again. 2-2 against Northampton 2 divisions below them, crashed out of Carling Cup on penalties. Another 2-2 draw against Sunderland. 2 goals and 3 bonus pts for Darren Bent. Thanks to a smart Torres who take the advantage of Turner's backpass to goal keeper which considered as already taken the free-kick (which fat-head Steve Bruce described as unsportmanship) and assisted Kuyt to score the opening.

Thanks to Poulsen a.k.a Lucas ver.2 to give away a penalty and Johnson who failed to be a defender and too obsessed in attackings that let Darren Bent snucked in and scored a header from the right side.

Gerrard did good enough to spare Liverpool's blushes. Torres still struggle to score goals as he is all on his own to create chances and to score goals.


West Ham 1 - 0 Tottenham



Actually this win is predicted as sooner or later West Ham will get their first win anyway and this is a good chance as Tottenham faced defender crisis once again and they need to prepare themselves too for Champions League game in the midweek.

Piquionne did listed himself in the "miss-of-the-season" 2 weeks ago against Chelsea but he did score the winning goal in this match.

Anyway, why Avram Grant always looks sad?


Newcastle 1 - 2 Stoke City



Newcastle's brace in midweek Carling Cup win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but failed to bring that form back to St. James Park. Stoke's record signing Jones continues to score and James Perch's own goal ends it all.

Carroll's price hiked to a high $5.7 so far and is the player with the highest price rise in FPL with +$0.7. I sold him as he did not perform for a few games and sadly after I sold him he grabbed an assist though as he is brought down in the penalty box and Kevin Nolan ($5.7) converted the penalty.

Put Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton (3 bonus pts despite loss), Hatem Ben Arfa ($5.1) and Carroll in your radar as all of them are bargain buy as Newcastle definitely is top flight material.


Blackpool 1 - 2 Blackburn



Adam's form in the BPL and FPL is considered good. You actually can see him in all attacks-build-up of Blackpool as he is involved in most of the attacks. He is the captain and set-pieces/penalty taker as well so he is worth the buy as a cheap midfield option at $5.1.

However, a miscommunication between the Tangerine captain and goal keeperGilks caused an own goal as Adam headed back the ball to the GK expecting he will fetch it but it ended up in the Blackpool's net.

Blackburn's defense are still mean and tough to break. Australian international Emerton scored the winner in the dying minutes.

Is Big Sam being sarcasm as few days back he claimed to have enough materials to coach Real Madrid and being successful and before the match he claimed Ian Holloway to be on par with Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson, and Big Sam defeated Ian Holloway's Blackpool. So what he is trying to tell?


Wolves 1 - 2 Aston Villa



Aston Villa continues to excel under Houllier and Gerard Houllier seems to bring back the best in Heskey (who used to play under him too in Liverpool). Aston came back from a goal down and scored 3 goals against Blackburn in midweek Carling Cup.

Downing and Ashley Young should be put under your radar as you don't want to miss them out from your FPL squad if they winger pairs continue to perform well under Houllier.


Fulham 0 - 0 Everton

David Moyes on the brink of getting sacked? Everton plunged into the bottom of the table. With the calibre like Arteta, Pienaar, Cahill, Howard, Jagielka, Heitinga, Baines, Yakubu and Beckford (more like a flop to me, he should stick his foot to League 2 football), Everton still failed to get their first win of the season despite coming back 2 goals down and drew 3-3 against ManU.

For Fulham, bargain striker Dembele is out injured for 2-3 weeks, so, Dempsey should be a good attacking option for Fulham if you wanna have any player from the team.


Birmingham 0 - 0 Wigan

Well, the result is kinda disappointing as Birmingham is normally strong at home, their fortress to win game. They are super duper weak away. They missed a chance to seal a win against Wigan who are dip in form. Birmingham can do better with the attacking options like Hleb, Zigic, Jerome, and Gardner.

Foster and Dann are still the defensive studs. Bargain buys!