MyEG BPL Fantasy - WEEK 21 IS UPON US!

The FA Cup saw a lot of rotation which should be of interest to fantasy football teams. 

Players like Ozil were given the day off, while players like Ighalo, Mahrez and Kane were all benched as managers sought.to keep their players fresh ahead of a double header of Premier League matches. 

Some teams fielded very strong teams such as Manchester United and Chelsea. Teams like Liverpool had their teams stretched as they struggled win over their lower league opponents. Swansea failed totally, as Oxford United recorded a memorable 3-2 win. There were a few all Premier League ties as well, but there were no real upsets in that respect.

Manchester City was one of those who started key players, specifically Sergio Aguero as he continues to build up his fitness. Others took a different route, with West Ham choosing to introduce Payet from the bench instead.So how should MyEG Stadium Astro teams prepare for this week? It’s important to remember to use your three transfers before Tuesday to refresh your squad if necessary, otherwise those transfers will be burnt as a new set of transfers is issued on Tuesday morning. You could use those free transfers to include players from the first group of matches, which is as follows:

Aston Villa		v		Crystal Palace
Bournemouth		v		West Ham
Newcastle		v		Man Utd

They are all battles between the top half and the bottom half in the first group, but slightly complicated by the fact that the top half teams are all playing away. Nevertheless, players . Admittedly, I’m not convinced by Palace at the moment, I feel that Villa could steal a point here. Bournemouth have brought in Iturbe from Roma on loan. While he’s not yet in the database, he could put West Ham’s clean sheet hopes at risk. Otherwise, Payet, Martial, although Manchester United did have a tough time against Sheffield on Sunday which could be detrimental to their performance.

Here’s the second batch of matches:

Chelsea		v		West Brom
Man City		v		Everton
Southampton		v		Watford
Stoke		v		Norwich
Swansea		v		Sunderland

Chelsea, Manchester City and Watford are clearly the stronger teams. Chelsea are on the up (although Costa might not make it) while Manchester City are the highest scoring team at home, with an astonishing 29 goals and should continue, making any of their key personnel in De Bruyne, Silva (if fit) and Aguero fair game. Southampton seem to be on a downward spiral, making Watford players a strong pick. The remaining two are a bit more unpredictable. Stoke winning is no longer a given, with Norwich’s recent improvement while Swansea vs Sunderland is seriously anyone’s guess.

The last two are theoretically the tricky ones, at least on paper.

Liverpool		v		Arsenal
Spurs		v		Leicester

However, Arsenal should seriously not have problems against Liverpool, as the amount of injuries for Liverpool is for once worse than Arsenal’s. Ozil was rested so he’ll be prepped and ready. The last match is interesting. Spurs and Leicester faced each other on Sunday in the FA Cup, but neither fielded a full strength line-up. Vardy might not make it, but Mahrez can’t be underestimated. On the other hand, Kane should continue his useful form.

Important!

Teams must remember that for Tuesday and Saturday matches, you will only receive one set of transfers to use. Therefore, while it makes sense to optimise matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday, you should preferably save a transfer to deal with possible injuries before the weekend.

Here’s my team:

For my free transfers before Tuesday’s matches, I intend to go:

Cech à Courtois

Paredes à Nyom

Silva à Payet

Pellegrini said he is hopeful of Silva’s return, but I’m not convinced he’ll start. Picking Payet will also give me an opportunity to do a live transfer if necessary for the second round of matches, although to be honest I’m looking at saving them all until the weekend’s matches (assuming I resist Firmino!)

Good luck all!