The Matchday Insight : Week 11

Coming off a good weekend as some of the picks continued to give alot of points such as Gea , Vdv , RVP , Hernandez etc . It does sometimes make it tougher going in to Week 11 when we have a 100+ pts target in mind and keeping the rank up . Well thats what we are here for to make things simpler and competitive.

Assuming most of the fantasy teams would have Silva , Aguero , Gea  any of these three doing good or bad doesnt effect the rank much but its the rest of the team that makes all the difference. Keeping these 3 is a must and i would never advise you to change them.

This being a matchday before another long international break , lets get it right to have a good satisfying fantasy weekend.

The Matchday Insight : Week 10

Before we get to week 10 picks , i must admit that last week has been more eventful that any other week for me. My rank has been moving up and down in thousands and at the end it did go up edging closer to the 4 digit number.Im sure most of us did bank on D. Gea along with Manchester United to play well in the derby at Old Trafford but this Man City side did demolish them in a manner that Alex discribed as "the worst defeat in his time ".

The Negative 18 by my keeper just about killed the week but all thanks to VDV with 2 goals got it back on track. Some good performances by Suarez , Balotelli and Rvp who came on from the bench at 73 mins and scored 2 goals.

Looking forward im sticking with the basics of strong home sides in defence and targeting weak opposition in the offence.Keeping in mind Carling cup matches midweek and CL matches coming up after Week 10, it will be important to ensure no player in your team is rested for either of the two reasons.

Lets get to Week 10 player picks :

The Matchday Insight : Week 9

We have learnt a lot from the last 3 weeks and im sure most of you will agree with me on this :

1. To stay away from most players playing CL in midweek as they tend to be rotated or tired.
2. Manchester clubs are not at all close to how they started the first 5 weeks.

3.Newcastle and Liverpool seem to show consistency and provide good value picks.
4.Newly promoted teams(QPR,Swansea,Norwich) all seem to inconsistent and not at all dependable.
5.The best picks from Week 1 to Week 5 ( Dzeko,Young,Silva,SWP,Cabaye,Richards,Gibbs etc) all seem to have lost their momentum and apart from Silva, the rest need a break from fantasy.
6.Manchester Derby ( after a midweek CL game) will be tough to depend on where fantasy is concerned.


Let's get straight to week 9 picks :

The Matchday Insight : Week 8

Lots happened in the last 2 weeks as England, France, Denmark, Italy etc all made it to the Euro 2012 and while these qualifiers were on, it gave me enough time to take a nice break from the regular.Having said that i must admit that ive missed watching EPL the last few days and im all geared up to watch as many matches i can this coming weekend.


I did have an eye on my fantasy team but could not do much with it as i wanted to be dead sure about injury news as i cant afford to have any one not playing or injured this early in the season.

Okay lets get straight to Week 8 :

Rooney and Hernandez fit to face Norwich

Sir Alex delivered some good news on Friday's prematch press conference stating that Rooney, Hernandez and Evans are all fit to face Norwich on saturday at Old trafford.

Chicharito has recovered from a 'dead leg' suffered last week against Stoke.

Having Evans back will boost the United defence as it is much needed after 2 back to back draws.

SAF also mentioned that Vidic , Smalling and Cleverley will be fit to face Liverpool ,after the International break, on 14th October 2011.

The Matchday Insight : Week 7

Most of us have had a moderate Week 6 as we banked on Rooney, who did not play due to a hamstring injury, Dzeko ( had a poor game against Everton ) and Gea gave single digits after 4 weeks of some fireworks.Im assuming most of you did have atleast 2 of the 3 players.

Making a team for Week 7 would require you to answer many questions, im sure ull try many combinations and believe any and every news you can get on injuries , bustups with managers etc.My purpose to write this article is to help you go through this tough ride in a rather smooth way.

Question No. 1 : Do you stick with Rooney / Will he play or no / Is it worth the risk to pick him ?

My Answer      : As per SAF, in the prematch press conference on 30.09.2011 at 09.45 am Rooney,Hernandez and Evans are all fit for saturday's game against Norwich.

Question No. 2 : Whats going on in the Man City camp/ What are the issues relating to Mancini with Tevez and Dzeko ?

My Answer  :  As you saw in many youtube videos, Tevez refused to play as a sub in the CL clash against Bayern which led to Mancini saying that Tevez is not going to play for Mancity again.Do i see him playing again for his club? It may take weeks if not months or may be never.Dzeko reacted in an unusual manner when he was substituted at 55 minutes which led to Mancini saying "Dzeko wiil sit with me in the dugout for the Blackburn game."It does make Aguero and Balotelli obvious choices upfront.

Having said that lets get straight into Week 7 :

The Matchday Insight : Week 6

Before we get into Week 6 , how can i not mention the highlights of Week 5 where Arsenal lost ( to blackburn ) , Liverpool lost ( to Spurs ) , Chelsea lost ( to Man. United ) ,Man. City were held by Fulham and therefore all Top 6 teams apart from Manchester United lost points.

If thats not enough , here's some more review from last week. All 3 promoted teams won and took all 3 important points. Some fine performances from Aguero , Yakubu , Nani , Torres ( apart from the miss of the season ) , Mata , Barton etc. My team did fairly well with 112 pts and apart from Cahill ( dissapointing ) all did well.

Lets go straight to Week 6 picks :

Easy Matchups :

Chelsea vs Swansea
Liverpool vs Wolves
Newcastle vs Blackburn
Man.City vs Everton
Wigan vs Tottenham
Stoke vs Man. United

Forwards :

1. Adebayor :
 Away to a depleted Wigan side , Adebayor has to be the pick of the forwards and his stats say it all. 3 goals in 2 matches and an average of 18.5 pts. He is still cheap at close to 10 and most of you may have picked him at cheaper values.

2. Dzeko / Aguero
Before i get into details regarding these 2 in form strikers , let me remind you that we have champions league coming up on Tuesday/Wednesday and im sure Mancini will have a keen eye on that one. Who will start is a tough call but both these are tough to take out and if you already have them , so keep them.Who ever will play will do as good as they have been doing.

3.Rooney / Rvp
Both worth 20+ are matchwinners and can tear apart any defense. Rooney is playing away at stoke, not a cake walk , but in the form he is in anything is possible.On the other hand RVP has given points without doing his best and now that Arteta / Gervinho are getting into things at Arsenal im sure theres some support for Rvp upfront to score a few.

4. Gervinho
Those of you who watched him play last week against Blackburn will know why ive put his name on this list. He clearly looked the sharpest of the Arsenal players and im sure will get many opportunities against Bolton at home.Cheap at around 8 too.

5. Torres
Apart from his miss last week , i do think he played one of his best games for Chelsea. I dont blame the media for taking his case for that miss but i do feel he is getting back to some kind of form .With the likes of Mata and Ramires playing a more offensive role theres lots on offer for Torres to score and create. If you are wanting to save for elsewhere then Torres would be a good pick ( against Swansea ) for around 13.
In case you dont like this man in your team there's Suarez for same value against Wolves.

Note : Welbeck / Hernandez are available for Manchester United ( keep a lookout for team news on Friday ), Mata is good but i still consider him as a winger rather than a striker.

Midfielders :

1. Van der Vaart/ Nani / Young
Vdv is back from a injury and got an hrs playing time last week. He should be all set to continue where he left off before getting injured. Playing against wigan and having seen all the starters rested midweek for Carling Cup ,should be all set for a cracker.
Nani is hitting prime form and does play an important role esp when Man. United play away from home. Young too looks good and always involved. Plays well along side Rooney and a good bet to keep hitting good fantasy points as he has been doing in the past 5 weeks.
Vdv does seem the pick of the 3 as he plays Wigan and does not need to worry abt Champions league.

2. Silva/ Nasri
Same explanation as last week. Key to Man City's game and dominance at home.

3. S.Wright Phillips
Really like the new look QPR after the transfer market and having some one like SWP just makes it better. He has been consistently playing well , attacking the goal , crossing etc and gaining good fantasy points. In case you have not got him cheaper he is still cheap at 7.57.

4. Arteta
He is finally getting used to the way Arsenal play and last week we did see him controlling the midfield. Playing in a central role does suit him and anything he gets on top of the opponents box he just puts it in. We do hope for Arsenal to get back to the top half of the table and this man will have to play a central role for that.Walcott is not mention in my list but could be looked at along with Arteta.

5. Cabaye
Two reasons for him on this list. I do like this Newcastle team and have performed really well to hit 4th spot after 5 games. Secondly in this team one man stands out in offense...Cabaye. He looks a threat and does most of the work upfront.Good pick for 7.59

Note : Gerrard is back from injury ( cheap at around 13.5 ) and i would suggest he will take some time to get into top form. Adam is back after serving his one match ban ( missed the Carling cup clash ) ,

Defenders :

1. Luiz
He is back from injury and after warming the bench against Manchester United , he should be all set to be a regular starter in the Chelsea backline.Playing at home against Swansea should be a good time to pick him as there is a potential clean sheet and a few goals coming his way.
Played full 90 minutes plus extra time midweek in the Carling cup , could be rested for the weekend.
Makes Ivanovic , Bosingwa sure starters and better picks.

2. Santos
Last week we saw 4 goals scored against Arsenal but Santos still gave a whooping 14 pts. Alot of tackles won, shots blocked , successful crosses etc did lead to those points. After Gibbs played midweek in Carling cup i dont see Santos rested. Good pick

3. Brown
Playing against West Brom and cheap valuations has put Brown on this list. In case you dont have much to spend on your defence this could be a good pick.Remember he plays Norwich next.

4. Jones
He has been exceptional so far. Averaging just under 8 and always looks good playing offensive at times. Good pick to have in your team at close to 10.

5.Skrtel
After receiving a red card last week , he has served his one match suspension by missing the Carling Cup tie . Now back in the liverpool squad and playing against Wolves could be a good pick. His value has dropped after the red card at around 6.36

Goal keepers

1. DDG 
Same reasons as last week. Has been the pick since week 1 and has been prooving all along why Manchester united paid a price for his services.

2. Reina
His value has dropped after the 4-0 defeat against Spurs and he is worth 8 . Plays at home against Wolves and i do think he is one the good keepers around.

3. Krul
Clearly the pick of goalkeeper , valued at 4.92 with an average of over 8. Newcastle defense has been great this season and work well along with Krul. Playing at home to Blackburn should not be such a threat. Good pick and good points.

Have a great weekend !!!