MyEGL BPL Fantasy – Intermission - The Ola Bola Edition

I finally watched Ola Bola and boy was I impressed. Relegation zone teams should definitely give it a watch, as well as teams like Liverpool, Manchester United, Everton and Stoke, teams that should really be doing better than they are currently. Back home, FAM should watch it, again and again, and remember the importance of serving your country.

There’s naturally some controversy on how some of the story did not reflect history. Let’s be clear though, even though this movie was based on actual events, it’s still a fictionalised account! Hollywood does it all the time, but because we don’t take the trouble to learn the true story, we tend to take the Hollywood edition as gospel. Here we scream bloody murder when the filmmakers change a few things around. Of course we hold local stories dearer to our heart, but people need to relax and remember the overall message.

Ultimately, the objective was to inspire and I’d be lying if I said I was unmoved. Some scenes were a bit corny admittedly but overall it was a great movie, with some excellent cinematography. The scenes that brought tears to my eyes was not actually about the footballers themselves, but the radio announcer’s story. How his family helped him along the way, never giving up their belief that he would make it, and when her daughters heard his voice on radio. “Ayah?” That last one released the floodgates for me.

Anyway, here’s some quick thoughts ahead of Tuesday morning’s Stadium Astro free transfer deadline:

Here’s the next three fixtures for the first two batches of teams that are playing:

West Ham – Sunderland, Spurs, Everton

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Watford – Bournemouth, Man Utd, Leicester

Leicester – Norwich, West Brom, Watford

Stoke – Aston Villa, Newcastle, Chelsea

Southampton – Chelsea, Bournemouth, Sunderland

These are the teams you should be giving priority for your free transfers. Leicester and Stoke have the best next two matches. You can bank on your usual suspects for Leicester (Vardy, Mahrez) but it’s not so certain for Stoke, who have gone off the boil of late ( Check Arnautovic’s status, Shaqiri is a safe pick though.

Spurs, Manchester United have their Europa match on Thursday, but Manchester United also have their FA Cup match up tonight! Not that you should be seriously considering Manchester United players anyway….

Chelsea only play their CL match next midweek, so they’ll be ready for Southampton which should be a tough match. Chelsea just whacked Spurs in their FA Cup tie though, so they’re in the mood.

Speaking off the FA Cup, Spurs out, Manchester City out, West Brom out. If nothing else, it makes players from these teams a bit more safer to pick long-term. Everton, Watford, Chelsea, West Ham and Crystal Palace all made it through so their

Arsenal will have an FA Cup replay, which is very annoying and I’m not sure how Week 30 will work out with them. We’ll have to wait and see. Manchester United play later today.

Remember, after this weekend, the next batch of matches starts the following Tuesday, followed by another round on Saturday. Plan your free transfers carefully.

On another note, if you want to get involved in fantasy football based on local games, Stadium Astro has launched their Fantasi Liga Malaysia. I’ve never played it before, and from the community I’m aware of the many issues it has, but I’m sure the organisers are doing what they can to improve it.

Take care folks. And remember,

“GOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!! GOL GOL GOL GOL GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MyEG BPL Fantasy - Week 26 The Barcelona Challenge

Note: This article has been reproduced from the Stadium Astro website.

Welcome back for Week 26!

I know my title mentions Barcelona but you’ll forgive me if I deal with Europe players at the end. I’ll talk about the Premier League matches first. Here we go (again grouped by timing):

Sunderland v Manchester United

The early match. You should be set up for this already. However, if you have an injured player, then midfield = Lingard. Striker = Rooney/Martial. Patrick Van Aanholt’s penchant for attacking will burn the home side.

Bournemouth v Stoke

Crystal Palace v Watford

Everton v West Brom

Norwich v West Ham

Swansea v Southampton

Judging from the first match, chances are you’ve only got one change to make for this batch, or none. I was all set to swap Martial with Afobe after the Old Trafford match, until I read that Shawcross might be back this weekend. Stoke have a good run of matches but their form is poor. Ighalo’s always a useful pick, especially with a Palace side that hasn’t kept a clean sheet in the League yet for 2016, but check for starting lineups after Flores rotated key members of the squad (e.g. Deeney) against Spurs last weekend.

Everton play West Brom, which is a good matchup, but it’s hard for me to consider bringing in an Everton attacker knowing he won’t be around next week, even though there’s a free transfer break. I’d rather use those free transfers on fixing up my defense or injuries (or in this case my manager, see image below, who will be absent in Gameweek 27!)  Nevertheless, Lukaku finally broke his drought last week, and faces his former side again, having scored a brace the last time they met.

West Ham have the best fixture against Norwich (and they play Sunderland in the first match the following week!) but their players might be a bit tired from the 120 minute FA Cup victory against Liverpool midweek. The Swansea v Southampton match is a really tough one, both sides have done reasonably well in recent weeks. Nevertheless, Sigurdsson is a strong option, or Austin if he starts.

Chelsea v Newcastle

Forget about Newcastle, and they don’t play the week after either. For Chelsea, it’ll be interesting to see if Hazard continues to be benched, although, to be fair, he has yet to have any significant impact off the bench. Fabregas played in the No. 10 position, but I would say that’s not really his best spot, and Oscar should be there instead of being shunted to the side. Note, Cahill will start from now on (with Zouma’s heart-breaking injury) and he is also a strong threat at set-pieces. If you don’t have a Chelsea player, consider Oscar, or Costa, if you can live with the card risk.

Arsenal v Leicester

One of two big matches of the week. Arsenal head into this match on a winning note, breaking a 4 match sequence of no wins. Leicester on the other hand, are bouncing off the walls at the top. This could turn out to be a high-scoring match. Mahrez, Ozil, Sanchez, Vardy and Giroud are all useful picks, although Giroud has not scored ever since his brace against Liverpool one month ago. I can see Sanchez exploding, but I’m struggling with the funding.

Aston Villa v Liverpool

Obviously Firmino’s the in-form choice, and he was rested in the midweek loss to West Ham. Do note that Coutinho, Origi and even Sturridge returned in the FA Cup game midweek so Klopp will have options. However you decide, do bear in mind that Liverpool are in the Capital One Cup Final the week after, so they will not be involved in Gameweek 27.

Manchester City v Tottenham

The second big match of the week. Unlike the first one though, I don’t see a goal-fest here. Aguero’s supply line is damaged from injuries, and with such issues, not to mention an eye on the upcoming Capital One Cup final, I expect Pellegrini to set up his team to play more of a defensive game. This also means players like Clichy instead of Kolarov. And even though Spurs are the stronger team at the moment, the expected return of Kompany should help ensure that Manchester City should hold firm. Not a game to invest players in (I actually sold my Aguero last week, and only have Alli and Pellegrini for this one).

Here’s my team as it stands:

I haven’t really thought my transfers through yet. I still have my Euro transfer for February which I was originally going to use on Mr Lewandowski, except for something I only just realised on Wednesday, which brings me (finally!) to the title of my article:

Barcelona have a double week! This weekend they play Celta Vigo, then on Thursday they play Sporting Gijon. Since I don’t have Neymar, it just makes more sense for me to transfer in Neymar instead of Lewandowski due to the extra match. Lewandowski does have some good matchups coming up though so it’s a dilemma.

This does make it hard not to put the captaincy on Messi or Neymar though (assuming you have either of them).

Speaking of Messi, he had a minor kidney stones operation on Tuesday. I’m tracking the developments with caution, and even though Barcelona have claimed it should not impact on Messi’s playing time. I’m a bit reluctant to captain a double gamer who plays the first game, only to get ruled out from the second game, due to injury as a result of insufficient rest. It’s definitely a conundrum, one that I hope to make the right decision on. Hopefully you do too.

Good luck!

Week 25 Recap - It could have been worse

I started off Week 25 on a wrong note. I was helping out at a nikah on Saturday afternoon and totally lost track of time. Right around the captaincy deadline I was busy helping to pack wedding favours when I remembered that I might not have set up my captain. By the time I was able to log in it had gone past 7 and my captain was set at Aguero (This after having recommended everyone that Captaincy on the Euro players (except Lewandowski) was a sure thing as they were all facing relegation zone teams.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about. All the European teams involved had difficulties dispatching their opponents and as a result there were no goalfests anywhere. In fact, the only Euro player to score was Higuain and he only had one goal anyway, so accidentally leaving my captaincy on Aguero (who scored a consolation goal despite Manchester City losing to Leicester) worked out after all.

Speaking of which, that was one entertaining match and if there's one conclusion from it, it's that Leicester are serious title contenders. As mentioned last week, if you don't have Mahrez or Vardy, pick one up now (I didn't have either but I actually had Huth) and hold. Also, unlike the other title contenders, Leicester do not have ANY OTHER competition that they're involved in.

Other things to note for fantasy footballers:

- Without Shawcross and Cameron, Stoke's defense is falling apart. Pick their opponents until they fix it.
- Despite their resilience against Manchester City midweek, Sunderland's defense is still fragile, especially away.
- Manchester United' s offensive line is clicking at the moment
- Villa WON against Norwich.
- Everton have finally won back to back matches.
- Costa is doing well (I still hate him)
- Wimmer is an able deputy for Vertonghen in the Spurs defensive line.
- None of the deadline day transfers have made any immediate impact fantasy-wise as yet.
- Sanchez is not quite there yet, but he will be.

On a personal note, I still dropped a few more spots down to 88 (CNY lucky number?). My three transfers were Firmino (who did well), Ighalo (who didn't) and Martial (who also didn't but the move for him was really in preparation for next week's early match against Sunderland).  Yes, this also means I still have my Euro transfer as I decided I still wanted two striker slots to play with for now.

Finally, an early warning remember that after the mid-month Premier League break, Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton and Newcastle all have no games due to the Capital One Cup final. Plan accordingly if you don't want to be stuck with players that aren't playing.

MyEG BPL Fantasy (in Malay!) – Terluka Lukaku dan Minggu 25

Perlawanan datang bertubi-tubi, saya akan melihat sepintas lalu Minggu 24 dan memantau Minggu 25

Ringkasan perlawanan tengah minggu

Ronaldo rupanya menjadi pilihan terbaik kapten dengan jaringan hat-trick. Aguero tidak memenuhi harapan. Walaupun dia mendapat satu gol, sememangnya pengurus pasukan fantasi yang memilihnya menjangkakan yang  Manchester City akan membelasah Sunderland.  Sebaliknya, kemenangan City hanya 1-0 dan kad kuning Aguero menambahkan sakit hati para pengurus.

MyEG BPL Fantasy – Is Week 22 time for Aguero?

Matches are coming hard and fast!

I need to cover both the midweek matches from Week 21 and preview the weekend (Week 22). There’s a lot to cover so I’ll try to be brief and focus on the fantasy aspects.

Tuesday teams:

Carroll got injured early but it had no negative impact as West Ham fought from a goal down to end up 3-1 winners against Bournemouth. Payet celebrated his return from injury by helping himself to a goal and assist, unfortunately getting carded in the process. Enner Valencia ended up with 2 goals as West Ham kicked off their favourable fixtures for Period 6 with a win. West Ham face Newcastle next with even more points potential abound. As for Bournemouth, avoid for now until we see some more consistency.

Wayne Rooney continued his return to form (in the Premiership at least) as he scored a brace against Newcastle in a 3-3 thriller. While interest in Manchester United attacking assets is being revived, it looks alarming for their defense, with Smalling the best pick ending up with -3 points. Wijnaldum did well to make a claim for inclusion in our teams, but I’d avoid the other two goalscorers (Mitrovic for his card tendencies, Dummet because the chances of him scoring again are miniscule).

Remember in my last article that I said I wasn’t convinced by Crystal Palace’s chances against Villa. Surprise surprise, Villa ended up winning as Crystal Palace’s attack failed to pay off without Wickham and Bolasie. While I wouldn’t load up on Villa players just yet, but the fighting spirit shown could be an important factor in their relegation dogfight. Crystal Palace face Manchester City next at the Etihad, better to avoid for now as well.

Wednesday teams

Defensive calamities prevailed in the high profile Liverpool-Arsenal clash which finished 3-3 (Glad I sold Cech!) Firmino finally showed the raw talent he last displayed against Manchester City back in October with 2 goals but the jury is still out as to whether he can reproduce the same performance against Manchester United this weekend. Giroud also scored 2 goals, while Ramsey did score to make up for his wrongly-disallowed goal the last time the teams met, and assisted too, while Ozil had a blank. Stick with your Arsenal players this weekend, it’s not Tony Pulis’ Stoke they’re up against, it’s Mark Hughes’ Stoke, whose play style should suit Arsenal’s. I would still exercise caution with Liverpool players though.

The other high profile match between Spurs and Leicester ended up with a 1-0 win for Leicester, allowing them to level points with Arsenal thanks to.Huth’s goal (yay!). The glaring observation is that Mahrez and Vardy (who did manage to start) both blanked for the fourth match running, raising serious questions as to whether they still deserve a spot in our teams.

The match between Manchester City and Everton turned out poorly fantasy wise unless you had defenders. Aguero had his chances but Howard was in excellent form. Still, the signs are there that an  Aguero explosive masterclass against Palace this weekend may well be on the cards. I’d also still keep KDB if you have him. Everton however face Chelsea next, if you don’t already have an Everton player, you might want to use your transfers elsewhere.

Chelsea found West Brom in a very stubborn mood as they secured a 2-2 draw. Fantasy points were not to be had as they did not come from your usual suspects, unless you brought in Azpi. As mentioned earlier, their next opponent is Everton, whose defense has clearly strengthened with the return of Jagielka. West Brom play Southampton next, but there’s no one consistent enough for me from the Birmingham side apart from Morrison, who’s now injured.

Despite the absence of Shaqiri, Stoke downed Norwich 3-1, although Norwich kick-started their own downfall when their midfielder O’Neill got sent off on the 31^st minute. None of the scorers were those you would look to in general for fantasy points (unless you consider Howson as one), although Arnautovic did grab an assist. Stoke City next play Arsenal, and while it looks difficult on paper, some Shaqiri magic could unlock the Cech defense (news says he should be back). Norwich face Bournemouth next, so if you brought Mbokani in it might be worth keeping him till then, given Bournemouth’s poor track record at defending corners.

Swansea collapsed to a surprise 2-4 loss after they were reduced to 10 men with Naughton sent off as Big Sam continues to make an impact on Sunderland’s performances. Defoe was the only one to score a brace last week, this time he went one better and came off with a hat-trick. Nevertheless, Sunderland next face the best defense in the league in Tottenham and play first anyway, so investments should be put on hold until the week after where they face Bournemouth. If you had already bought Defoe for the Swansea match, well done you, because you have the usual ex-player scoring against his old club theory, which Carroll recently demonstrated against Liverpool. Patrick Van Aanholt might also be an option for his attacking points. Swansea face Watford next, which makes it also hard to consider their players.

Finally, Southampton surprisingly defeated an out of sorts Watford, 2-0, earning a rare clean sheet. Flores will have berated his team for their performance, but you can continue to bank on Ighalo and Deeney to recover from their mini-slump for the goals, not to mention the defense as next week they face Swansea. Southampton will play West Brom, but Mane’s the only one I’d consider for now, and he’s clearly struggling.

Here’s my team as it stands:

Yes, I went for Adrian instead of Courtois to save some funds!

I am at the cusp of making the Top 100 (if only I had bought Firmino!), currently sitting at 108.

I’m looking at using my two transfers this weekend as follows:

Kane – Aguero

Payet/Alli – Wijnaldum/Chelsea players

First one is almost a certainty, second one is questionable. I’m keen on being involved in Chelsea’s revival but their fixtures aren’t the best. I should have sufficient funds though. There’s also another break after the 23^rd which I’ll use to get rid of Francis and maybe change my keeper again.

That’s a lot to read, hope you got through it! All the best this weekend!

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!

MYEG BPL FANTASY: Period 6 Preview - Playstation 4 Up For Grabs!

Half the season gone, and 5 monthly prizes are left for the taking. Next up is a Sony Playstation 4. Now, I don’t know about you folks, but I have to go to my brother-in-law’s place anytime I want to have a FIFA kickabout on his PS4 (although my kid ends up playing Minecraft). Thus, owning one would be lovely. Winning it would bring about a beautiful day indeed!

Period 6 contains all fixtures from 12 January to 5 February 2016. Based on these dates, for the Premier League there’s four weeks, Serie A has four weeks, La Liga has three weeks and Bundesliga has two weeks. Here’s the top 3 Premier League teams with the best fixtures during this period.

1.   Watford – Southampton (a), Swansea (a), Newcastle (h), Chelsea (h)

Arguably they face the best fixtures as all the teams they face are in the bottom four. Chelsea will be a bit tricky given that the Blues have definitely been playing much better since Mourinho left, but with Watford don’t appear to be daunted by stronger opposition at all. Ighalo (5.5m) is of course the popular pick and you could keep him throughout the schedule at that price, but Deeney (8.2m) could be a nice differential given he also takes penalties, but he’s priced so much higher.

Flores’ well-drilled side is also more than capable of keeping clean sheets, especially against poorer opposition. Gomes (3.2m) is quality at a nice price, while Nyom (3.1) would be the most likely of the defensive line to contribute attacking points other than a clean sheet, and he’s the cheapest too!

2.    West Ham - Bournemouth (a), Newcastle (a), Manchester City (h), Aston Villa (h)

The return of Payet (9m) could not come at a better time as West Ham face 3 poor bottom half sides as well as Manchester City, whom they handily face at home. West Ham have also done well recently, stabilising their defence, conceding only twice in six matches.

Aside from Payet (9m), Andy Carroll (9.3m) appears to have cemented his spot for now, and also faces another old team (Newcastle) in the sequence. Antonio (8.2m) is also viable as a cheaper alternative, except that he always seems to run out of steam early into the second half. Valencia (9.1m) listed as a midfielder but he’s too inconsistent for me and at his price I might as well go Payet.

At the back, there are options as well should you feel the need to reinvigorate your backline. Kouyate (4.4m) and Cresswell (4.7m) are both strong options at affordable prices. If you have keeper schedule conflicts, then Adrian (4.7m) is the way to go.

3.                3.  Swansea – Sunderland (h), Watford (h), Everton (a), West Brom (a)

Similar to West Ham, they face three bottom half teams and one top half team (Watford), whom they luckily face at home.

Unfortunately, the similarities end there. They have yet to find their early season attacking verve, making most of the prospects questionable. Ayew (9.0m) will probably be your best bet (unfortunately listed as a striker), or Sigurdsson (10m) if you think he will rediscover his form from last year.

Aside from last week’s match against the Red Devils, they were able to muster three clean sheets in a row, so their defenders could be considered. Fabianski (5.3m) not a bad idea, Williams (5.1) for the goal-scoring threat, or Federico Fernandez (4.1m) if you’re running out of funds.

Wrap-up

That’s it for the fixtures. Of course form players and world class players will perform regardless of fixture, people like Aguero (15m), Ozil (12.1m), Kane (12.5m), it’s all about finding the right balance. 

Finally, just a reminder that for the Stadium Astro game, although Premier League only starts on the 12^th (next Tuesday), play still resumes this Saturday as the European Leagues (except the Bundesliga) all have matches. So make sure you field those Messis, Neymars, Higuains and Ronaldos in your first 11! Your captain also needs to be in place, so kindly take note.

Good luck!

Player Picks Week 15

Welcome to the first week of December, it’s going to get nasty from here on in, beware of rotation!

Stoke City v Manchester City

Stoke recorded an unexpected loss against Sunderland last time out and believe me, Mark Hughes was not happy, but they bounced back midweek to reach the semi-finals. They face another Capital One Cup semi-finalist, Manchester City who steamrolled past Hull City.

Tough one to call, Mark Hughes always has a point to prove against Manchester City, but City should win with the quality available. Note: Aguero's not fit again. 0-3 Final Scoreline.

Player picks: Hard to look past De Bruyne for this one, but Kolarov could do nicely too for the clean sheet and free kick potential.

Arsenal v Sunderland

Boy is Big Sam relishing this one.  He actually made Lee Cattermole look good last week, so he’ll be looking to annoy Wenger once again. Sunderland actually held Arsenal to a goalless draw in this fixture last week, with Pantilimon pulling off some amazing saves.  Arsenal’s season is again being disrupted by injuries, and I can see that becoming a problem once again for the London club, especially in central midfield. Final Score: 1-1.

Player picks: Aaron Ramsey is back and Ozil will look for him after getting constantly frustrated by Giroud.  On the other side, Patrick Van Aanholt scored 10 points last week with a goal, and a defender in an attacking role is always good for us!

Manchester United v West Ham

Ugh. This could be a fantasy nightmare. Stay away unless you’re investing in the defense for Manchester United, cause I really don’t know who’s going to score. 1-1

Player Picks: Chris Smalling as the goal-scoring defender.  Mauro Zarate if you’re feeling brave.

Southampton v Aston Villa

Hard to call this one.  I’ve started to see some improvement for Villa against Watford last week, despite losing 2-3. For all of Southampton’s strengths, they struggle against teams that prioritise their defense, which is what Villa will do away from home. 1-1 draw (yes, call me chicken)

Player Picks: Tadic could come back into the goals with Amavi out of the picture, there could be plenty of space to exploit. My dark horse pick for this week is Steve Sidwell, there are issues in Southampton’s backline with Jose Fonte possibly out and no apparent clear starter for Southampton’s right back spot.

Swansea v Leicester

There were signs of life for Swansea against Liverpool last week as well, can they engage Leicester the same way? I just don’t see it. Will Gary Monk make it to 2016? I just don’t see it either.0-3 to Leicester.

Player Picks: Definitely Vardy.  I do have concern over Mahrez being rested by tinkerman Ranieri, but if he starts, then by all means pick him.

Watford v Norwich

Two promoted teams, but has anyone noticed that Watford are in the Top Ten right now? Watford are clearly ahead in terms of quality, and discipline. 2-0 as Flores’ men continue to do well, but there is uncertainty with regards to Gomes (Watford’s keeper). Check injury updates.

Player picks:  Paredes as a nice out of position defender pick, and Deeney for the penalty conversion as Norwich collapse.

West Brom v Spurs

It could’ve been Berahino against Spurs, but West Brom manager Tony Pulis does not seem to rate him. This could be a real slug fest, as West Brom will look to contain and frustrate Spurs. Harry Kane finally blanked last week, will he bounce back this week? I seriously don’t think so, but Spurs should still win. 1-2 to Spurs.

Player picks: Erikssen with a setpiece goal, and Aiderweireld to continue the Spurs trend of goal-scoring defenders.

Chelsea v Bournemouth

One team becoming defensively solid, one team discovering their attacking verve. Which shall prevail? Probably the Londoners, but they’ll concede. 2-1.

Player picks: Willian blanked last week, but that was Spurs, expect a great free kick this weekend. All eyes are on Hazard as a false nine, but I’m tipping Loic Remy to return and do well.

Newcastle v Liverpool

It’s hard not to look at this matchup and think: Massacre. But there you have it. 4 - 1

Player picks: Firmino, Benteke. Not sure if Coutinho will be ready, but we get to check.

Everton v Crystal Palace

Everton were undone last week by a Bournemouth fight back. This is arguably one of their harder matchups but I think they will do just enough to defeat the Londoners.

Player picks: Deulofeu with some magic, Seamus Coleman for the clean sheet and assist.

That’s it for the matches, here’s my team as it stands:

So obviously I need to replace Sanchez, but it does give me an opportunity to pick up an extra Manchester City midfielder for the early match. I also have to decide between playing Cech or Lloris (Cech has the edge for the home advantage, but….). I’m sorely tempted to use a transfer to bring in Coutinho, on Sunday, but that’s overloading  (Yup, it’s another week without Vardy!). There’s also the Euro option to consider, but I’m not sure about that.

That’s it! Good luck this weekend! Stay clear from injuries!

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!