Player Picks Week 14

Last week before December where it gets really congested and more and more players fall to injury!

I’ve been busy so I’ll get right down to it. As you know, in the MyEG Stadium Astro game, normally you can make sure someone plays before you transfer him out for another starting player. 

Unfortunately, this week, there’s no early match, and there’ll be five matches in the first round of matches which start at 11am. That’s 10 teams, here they are:

Aston Villa v Watford

Bournemouth v Everton

Crystal Palace v Newcastle

Man City v Southampton

Sunderland v Stoke

Let’s assume you don’t have anyone in your squad who is ALREADY injured or suspended (meaning he won’t play regardless).  Are there any players involved in the first round of matches above that you could really score points from, to the point you’re willing to sacrifice potential points for any of your existing players?

THE 5 QUESTIONS ARISING OUT OF WEEK 13

Well, that was one mind-blowing weekend wasn’t it? There are many questions, but here’s the 5 key ones:

1. Are Liverpool for real?

Possibly the biggest story coming out is the amazing win Klopp engineered at the Etihad. Speaking as a Liverpool fan, I was very impressed with how the team worked together. The understanding between Coutinho and Firmino was definitely something they worked hard at during the international break, and it showed.

The question now is whether they can do it consistently and sustain such energy throughout the season. The style looks exciting but hell, I get exhausted just watching the amount of running they do. From a fantasy perspective though, the City win kicks off a nice stream of fixtures for fantasy teams to profit from Liverpool players. I got in Firmino for the match and it paid off nicely.

Wikipedia prank after the match!

2. Aguero or no?

Of course the one player that ended up scoring in the Etihad for the Blues was Sergio Aguero, returning from injury to score against Liverpool to give his team some hope.

His return from injury now leaves teams looking at the possibility of working him into their teams. The impending return of David Silva, Aguero’s partner in crime could really help open Manchester City’s goal-scoring floodgates, and end their current indifferent form.

At $15m, he doesn’t come cheap though, and your quality elsewhere might suffer trying to fit him in, not to mention his position as a striker. Otherwise, Silva or De Bruyne would be your next best options if you want to get at least some points due to Aguero’s return.

3. Has Arsenal’s yearly deterioration begun?

We always hear and talk about how Arsenal start off very well, but tend to tail off as players get injured or tired, not to the point of relegation of course, but just enough to derail their league title hopes. Well guess what, Arsenal's defeat against West Brom has set off the alarm bells once again. 

The loss of Coquelin resulted in such a turnaround that even the most loyal Arsenal fan would begin wondering what’s going on. It's a very taxing schedule ahead, and Wenger's stubborn refusal to buy any outfield players during the transfer window is really coming back to haunt him now. Ozil remains Arsenal’s most reliable player but he can’t do it alone, as other key players like Sanchez tire.

I find it especially annoying because I transferred Cech in during the international break!

4. Is Ronaldo worth the funds and striker spot?

Let's face it, barring that goal fest against Espanyol, he hasn't justified his spot in our teams. Neymar has, and the impending return of Messi also raises questions, especially with the ever so valuable premium striker spots. Hell, even Higuain came off the bench and scored, despite arriving late from Argentina. At a price of 16m, I am seriously looking at selling Ronaldo off and buying another premium player (? See above) or go cheap and use the extra funds to strengthen my team in other areas, particularly the defense.  It now depends on whether or not Benitez stays, whose strategy and tactics to me is the key reason why Ronaldo is not performing. If news says Benitez is staying, then Ronaldo’s off my team.

Finally,

5. When will Vardy stop scoring?

I humbly admit that I’m consistently wrong about Vardy, thinking each gameweek that this is the week his run comes to an end, preferring to stick with his reliable mate Mahrez. As such, Vardy always fails to join my line up (probably why I’m still stuck in the 200+ ranks) despite his cheap as chips price. I’m starting to think the only way Vardy will stop scoring is if I actually do pick him up. (Vardy-keepers beware!). He’s also so budget friendly you could stick GST on him and it wouldn’t matter one bit.

That’s it for the highlights. Elsewhere, we’ve got Kane and Lukaku on a hot run of form, Chelsea finally winning and West Ham coming apart. It’s certainly an entertaining league with lots of surprises!

Next up is the midweek Champions League and Europa League matches, where no doubt more player injuries will be on the horizon. See you next time!

Player Picks Week 13

It’s been a long wait but here we are again. The biggest match this weekend is obviously Manchester City and Liverpool, I hope you’ve got your viewing spots settled at your favourite mamak. It’s 1:30am on a Sunday morning but it shouldn’t stop you hardcore fans from watching with your pals!

Before I start, I’d just like to let you know that thanks to Astro, I will be on the Bual Bola talk show tonight at 830pm on Astro Awani 501 to talk, what else, football and fantasy football! Hope you guys tune in!

Right, let’s take a look at each match in turn (again, 2 picks per matchup using my matchup format).

Microsoft Surface Pro up for grabs!

MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO up for grabs!

In today's article, we take a look at teams with the best fixtures for Period 4 as defined in the MyEG Stadium Astro game.

Before I start, I just wanted to mention that my last article on the local football fantasy scene hit 500+ views, trending right at the top! I'm very flattered and honoured that all of you came in to read it, if you ever have feedback, do let me know too!

Anyway, back to business, so I obviously failed in my quest for that Samsung 6 in Period 3, otherwise I'd be strutting around like a peacock in this column. In any case, for the MyeEG Stadium Astro prize, Period 4 begins this Saturday the 21st and will last until December the 18th. That's 4 rounds of fixtures for every team, including the Europe teams, so no extra fixture anywhere to take advantage of.

A Microsoft Surface Pro is your goal this time around, good luck!

Let's get the European players out of the way first:

The Euro Watch

Messi has returned to training, so if you haven't used up your Euro transfer for the month yet, then he definitely comes into consideration. His return could well have an impact on Neymar's output. Having said that, this week it's the Clasico (Real Madrid v Barcelona), where anything can happen.

Ronaldo has scored 8 times in 13 matches. For him, that's an average record, especially when you consider that 5 of those goals were in 1 match. Nevertheless his other 3 goals were in his last 4 matches, suggesting that he may have found some consistency. Higuain has scored in 4 of his last 5 La Liga matches, so he's definitely another source.

Finally of course, there's Lewandowski who leads the goal-scoring charts where the MyEG Stadium Astro game is concerned. His fixtures are not that great though, as Period 4 sees him face teams all in the current top half of the Bundesliga.

 

Who's this dude? Possible hit pick of the month!

Top 3 teams with the best fixtures

Okay, back to the Premier League. Here's my pick for the three teams with the best fixtures for the next four weeks, which you can apply to both the MyEG Stadium Astro game and your other games.

1. Everton - Aston Villa (h), Norwich (a), Crystal Palace (h), Nor (a),

Crystal Palace is the only speed bump in that sequence, but fortunately for Everton it's at home, where they have a good goal-scoring record (tied third with Southampton, behind only Manchester City and Leicester City). Lukaku is where the spotlight is on, but. Barkley has tapered off in recent weeks, but those who already have him will probably hold. Deulofeu has been burning up the scene and is someone you should take a serious look at too. The return of Baines could very well improve their chances of clean sheets as well, bringing their defenders into consideration.

2. Spurs - West Ham (h), Chelsea (h), West Brom (a), Newcastle (h)

Three home matches, and with Harry Kane in good touch, it's hard not to back them. Son is also returning, and I can see them doing very well. The first fixture appears the toughest as West Ham are just below them on the table, but West Ham's loss of Payet brings down the quality of the attack considerably, and if Spurs push harder, the Irons will end up defending a lot more than attacking.

3. Arsenal - West Brom (a), Norwich (a), Sunderland (h), Aston Villa (a).

It's a mouth-watering sequence of fixtures against four of the bottom 8 teams, tempered by the key problem that 3 of them are AWAY. Of the four, the first match appears the trickiest, after which also comes a must win Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb in midweek, so you'd be forgiven for not going all in until the following weekend as Wenger attempts to manage his key player's minutes. The other issue concerns Alexis Sanchez. Wenger has talked about giving him a rest, and even though it looks unlikely he'll bench him so much, his minutes will definitely require monitoring, especially after his Chile matches. Ozil is the man in form, and he was not involved in the Internationals so ignore him at your peril!

That's it for Period 4. See you on Friday for this week’s Player Picks!

For my other football fantasy articles, please visit unknownworlds.blogspot.com.

The Local Fantasy Football Scene In Malaysia

With the International Break still in effect, I’d like to go local and talk about how vibrant our fantasy football community is here in Malaysia. Probably the best Facebook page out there dedicated to fantasy football is “Kaki Fantasy Football” (Links provided below!). This page was created way back in May 2012. With over 15,000 members it gives you a very good idea of how active Malaysians are in fantasy football.

The Kaki Fantasy Football members are involved in various fantasy games, such as our local MyEG Stadium Astro game (both the Premier League and Piala Malaysia too!),  and the official Fantasy Premier League game (both the Premier League and the Champions League).

Plenty of tournaments are also held through this FB page. Tournaments like the SK PREMIER LEAGUE, SK LEAGUE H2H TAGTEAM, SKAFCUP2015, JINGGA ACADEMY FANTASY and even guessing the score competitions like SK-TEKA SKOR all keep the community active and in touch. Through the efforts of the various administrators, they have even managed to secure various sponsorships for prizes. What’s admirable is that they have managed to avoid charging anyone from entering any tournament, keeping them free while still managing to give away prizes for these contests. Of course, if there are any potential sponsors out there, do let them know!

Like other fantasy football forums, blogs or Facebook community pages, the community helps each other out on a regular basis, with players posting for help and giving suggestions on a regular basis. For example, for the MyEG Stadium Astro game, members also share the Euro Codes and Bonus Transfer Codes in good competitive spirit as they help each other to maximize point scoring as much as possible.

On another note, most of its members also belong to international websites, like the Fantasy Football Scout blog and the Starting 11 Forum. Our Malaysian presence is such that our participation has been recognized internationally. I myself had the honour of being asked to help moderate the Starting 11 Forum, something I have been doing for the past three years or so now.

In any case, it’s very encouraging to see our community grow.

Here are some links for those interested in the local scene:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/KakiFantasyFootball/ - The Kaki Fantasy Football Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/groups/stadiumastrofantasybpl/  -  The MyEG Stadium Astro Facebook page

http://wanozil.blogspot.com/  - A blog in Malay for fantasy football

http://www.slidingtackles.com/ - A local blog dedicated to the Fantasy Premier League

Let’s keep the community going! Malaysia Boleh!

Get ready, the Internationals will soon be over, December will see matches coming hard and fast, make sure you’re prepared.

Player Picks Week 12

Welcome to Week 12! As usual, be wary of teams travelling from their Champions League or Europa matches, such as Liverpool (from Russia). Always check injury news, and remember, even though you would never pick certain players (e.g. Cazorla of Arsenal), if he’s injured, his absence might impact on the fantasy productivity of other players. Another perspective is when a key defender is injured (such as Smalling), it would impact on David De Gea’s chances of a clean sheet.

This week I’m returning to the match-up format where I look at each match-up make a prediction, and pick out the 2 best possible picks. However, this time, the 2 picks do not have to be for each side, but can be for the same team.

Week 11 Woes and Triumphs

So much for the usual suspects scoring a hat-trick, but a warm welcome to Arouna Kone, the newest member, and the second Everton player to join the club!

Other than Everton vs Sunderland, the other matches involving the options I mentioned last week ended up being a lot tougher than expected. Manchester City made it harder for themselves with Bony forgetting to bring his shooting boots, and not starting Sterling. Wijnaldum with his Newcastle team found themselves thwarted by a keeper in excellent form (Butland). Mane (and Southampton) were against a losing but resilient Bournemouth side that played a much better second half. Kane only managed to score in the last minute against Villa. And who would've thought Kone would be the one to join the hat-trick list, and not his teammate Lukaku. Unfortunately, like Naismith before him, we can't immediately assume that he will be a regular starter.

So what else happened?

Week 11 Spotlight

Welcome back as we look to a potentially large goal-scoring weekend! This time around, my article will be spotlighting those players who have a chance this week to join the ranks of the hat-trick elite.

Hat-tricks, who’s next?

Last time out, Kane highlighted an otherwise fairly miserly fantasy week 10 last night, as he joined the ranks of the hat-trick heroes for the season. Believe it or not, it's only been 10 weeks, yet we have had SEVEN hat-trick heroes already (NINE if you include Lewandowski and Ronaldo). Let's look at them:

1. Callum Wilson (now injured)

2. Naismith (now out of favour)

3. Sanchez (going strong)

4. Aguero (now injured)

5. Sterling (can he do it again?)

6. Wijnaldum  (playing in a relegation zone team)

7. Kane (is he back?)

Will another hero rise this week?

Let's look at the contenders:

1. Kevin De Bruyne - Facing a defensively inept Norwich who have yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League. To put it into perspective, Norwich let 6 goals in against Newcastle. NEWCASTLE, who were at the time (and still is) in the relegation zone. Kevin De Bruyne is becoming a key player for City, and although he only had one assist against Bournemouth in a 5-1 win, you would suspect his time is soon.

2. Raheem Sterling - Can he do it again? Let's face it, he was poor against Manchester United, but then, you wouldn't call that a game of much quality, with both teams looking not to lose instead of trying to win. It's hard to imagine Norwich keeping him at bay, with the constant rotation in defense as Alex Neill tries to find a more stable combination.

3. Sadio Mane - Bournemouth's troubles are not over, and the speedy Mane is set to possibly push Bournemouth into the relegation zone. Mane was also not involved midweek, so he should be fresh for the weekend.

4. Wijnaldum (can't spell his first name) - The lifting of Coloccini's suspension will boost Newcastle, and they'll be determined to show their win against Norwich was no fluke. Stoke are very much an unknown quantity right now, and their Capital Cup One exertions (120 minutes plus penalties) could very well make them pay the price against a team that was not involved.

5. Romelu Lukaku - It's hard to see Big Sam letting Sunderland concede that many goals, but let's face it, he doesn't exactly have a quality defense to work with, and at Merseyside those flaws will show. Romelu Lukaku is the perfect person to exploit this as he looks to bully the defense into submission.

6. Harry Kane – There’s enough evidence to indicate that this is a player that thrives on confidence, and his hat-trick against Bournemouth can only mean better times are ahead. Managerless Aston Villa are an unknown quantity though, as the departing of Sherwood might precipitate a more defensive strategy as caretaker manager Kevin McDonald may try to play for a draw in an away match, and as such Kane comes last in the list.

Dark horse: Yaya Toure. He took the penalty in the midweek match against Crystal Palace, and if Norwich concede penalties, he looks set to take them in the absence of Aguero. He won’t likely have much defensive duties and his runs forward could be fruitful.

It's funny not to see fantasy stalwarts Mahrez, Vardy and Sanchez on my list, but their matchups look tough. (Leicester against West Brom away, and Arsenal against Swansea away).  I haven't listed Pelle and Bony either, as I feel that they will be more involved with the build up or assisting the goals. They also started in the Carling Cup midweek matches so may get tired faster than the other candidates.

So, how does your team look right now, here’s mine at the moment:

Obviously, the most critical problem concerns Costa. Costa has claimed he is ready to play through the pain barrier against Liverpool, although as a Liverpool fan, I hope he doesn’t score. Gomis is still on bad  form, and I don’t see him getting much against Arsenal.

The other problem concerns Fabianski, and although I think Swansea will make it hard for Arsenal, I can see him conceding two goals, which makes me considering benching him instead.

I will most likely do the following during the weekend:

Coutinho to Kevin De Bruyne, Costa to Lukaku, Gomis to Kane.

By doing so, I will end up playing 5 out of the 6 hat-trick candidates I listed. It’s a real case of putting my money where my mouth is!

All the best!