Pre-Match Analysis: Gameweek 3

All 20 teams will return as the 3rd round of Premier League begins. Perhaps you have observe enough and wanted to use wildcard already? It's all up to you, good luck.

---

22 Aug 09

Arsenal vs Portsmouth (Emirates Stadium, 3.00pm)

Red hot Arsenal vs relegate-to-be Portsmouth. The gunners are ready to open their machine gun again!

Key injuries (Arsenal): Nasri, Rosicky, Walcott (doubtful)

Key injuries (Portsmouth): Finnan (doubtful)

Expected score: 3-0

Fantasy heroes: Van Persie, Arshavin

Birmingham City vs Stoke City (St Andrews Ground, 3.00pm)

Defend vs defend. Most probably a boring match anyway, with Stoke have the higher odds of winning.

Key injuries (Birmingham): Ridgewell, Murphy, Espinoza (doubtful)

Expected score: 0-1

Fantasy heroes: Delap

Hull City vs Bolton Wanderers (KC Stadium, 3.00pm)

Hull certainly had mere chance of bouncing back from humiliating lost to battle against the fatigue-free Megson's squad.

Key injuries (Hull): Bullard, Fagan (doubtful)

Expected score: 0-2

Fantasy heroes: Davies

Manchester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (City of Manchester Stadium, 3.00pm)

Manchester City's billion pounded forwards are simply to strong for the Wolves to defend, not to mention the game will be held at Manchester.

Key injuries (Wolves): Kightly, Ebanks-Blake

Expected score: 4-0

Fantasy heroes: Adebayor, Ireland

Sunderland vs Blackburn Rovers (Stadium of Light, 3.00pm)

The Black Cats will have higher odds of winning since they're the host. Anyway, Salgado is joining Blackburn so have an eye on him.

Key injuries (Sunderland): Malbranque (doubtful)

Key injuries (Blackburn): Emerton, Nelsen (doubtful), Reid (doubtful), Dunn

Expected score: 2-0

Fantasy heroes: Cattermole

Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United (DW Stadium, 3.00pm)

From Latics: We'll repeat what Burnley had just done.

From Devils: Be careful of the hungry devils searching from a bounce from defeat.

The outcome is very uncertain for me.

Key injuries (Man Utd): Ferdinand, Vidic

Expected score: 0-1

Fantasy heroes: Giggs

23 Aug 09

West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur (Boleyn Ground, 1.30pm)

West Ham is doing good but Tottenham is doing great. Redknapp will not let his squad to lose in order to get a Champions League spot.

Key injuries (West Ham): Behrami (doubtful), Ashton (doubtful)

Key injuries (Tottenham): Woodgate, Bale (doubtful)

Expected score: 1-2

Fantasy heroes: Defoe

Burnley vs Everton (Turf Moor, 3.00pm)

Another sparkling performance from the Clarets? I'm sure that Moyes won't allow two consecutive defeats for his squad.

Key injuries (Everton): Arteta, Jagielka, Yakubu

Expected score: 0-1

Fantasy heroes: Pienaar

Fulham vs Chelsea (Craven Cottage, 4.00pm)

Defensive master Fulham will be waiting at their fort to defend for the advancement of Chelsea into their territory. It'll be the first real test for Carlo at the Premier League.

Key injuries (Chelsea): Joe Cole (doubtful), Zhirkov (doubtful)

Expected score: 0-0

Fantasy heroes: Schwarzer

23 Aug 09

Liverpool vs Aston Villa (Anfield, 8.00pm)

Aston isn't as strong as before but still, the Reds must be consistent enough to secure a win at home.

Key injuries (Liverpool): Aurelio, Aquilani, Agger, Skrtel

Key injuries (Aston Villa): L Young (doubtful)

Expected score: 2-1

Fantasy heroes: Gerrard

Note: Time are stated in local England time.

---

Predicted Stars of the Week:

1. Gerrard - The skipper is doing great, and I believe his performance can still be improved for his next game.
2. Ireland - He's naturally borned to score double figures. Hopefully for the game against Wolves which a lot of their defenders are injured, he can do this.
3. Delap - When playing against stubborn defense, Delap's catapult attack is the best weapon to pierce the opponent's goal.

"I can end your career with my 1 MegaNewton throw-in!" Rory Delap

Recommendations from the Pundit:

1. Palacios - 50% confident. It's just 2 games and I am still not done with Tottenham's consistency, so I'll observe him for several gameweeks more at least.
2. Vermaelen - 70% confident. He'll not be Glen Johnson who'll goal a lot but since he had already shown his calibre, you can put your trust on him in defense.
3. Michael Ballack - 50% confident. Ancelotti's strategy will definitely match his style, but still Chelsea's midfield is abundant with stars - which means that he'll not start much unless he has great form.

Post-Match Analysis: Gameweek 2

Although it's only 6 games, gameweek 2 ended with quite a lot of surprises. Now lets dissect the games...

---

Results My Prediction

Sunderland 1-3 Chelsea Incorrect

Wigan 0-1 Wolves Incorrect

Birmingham 1-0 Portsmouth Incorrect

Burnley 1-0 Man Utd Incorrect

Hull City 1-5 Tottenham Correct winner

Stoke City 0-4 Liverpool Correct winner

---

TEAMS OF THE WEEK

Liverpool

It's surprising to see the Reds bouncing convincingly to produce a sensational game against Stoke. While a win against Stoke isn't a tough work for them, defeating them heavily isn't an easy job as well. A big credits for Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson who work exceptionally well to prove to the world that they aren't weak without Alonso.

Tottenham

You might think that the victory against Liverpool last Sunday contained a little fluke in it, but how about the game with Hull? Defoe's hat-trick had helped Tottenham to crush the Tigers and eventually lead the league table.

Burnley

This poor club worth a credit. To concede 0 goals against the Red Devils is already a sweet dream for them, but the Clarets just did something far beyond it - to sink Man Utd! While this proves to be Man Utd's lack of dimension in offense, Burnley's performance - especially Jensen's save, is unbelievable.

BAD TEAMS OF THE WEEK

Man Utd

Poor, poor and poor. Even poorer than Liverpool on last game. With such a unhappy result, Man Utd fans will definitely miss their former ace C Ronaldo. In fact I'm more surprised with their inability to score a goal against them rather than their shocking defeat to them.

---

TOP PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Johnson (18 points)

This man is amazing - at least he had shown to us that he worths more than £17m currently. While setting up the penalty against Spurs, Glenny continued his great form with one goal and assist this game - not to be forgotten to mention that how beautiful his acrobatic goal was.

Defoe (17 points)

The English national managed to get the first hat-trick of the season in the league. And as long as Tottenham continue their enjoyable offensive play, he'll get a lot of goals with his form.

Jensen (14 points)

A clean sheet, a penalty save. Nothing more you can expect from a £4.0m goalkeeper, especially when his opponent were the defending champion.

BAD PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Carrick (0 points)

Definitely deserved the biggest blame for their lost - he lost his penalty.

Rooney (1 point)

Too bad that he's not Ronaldo - he can't always break the deadlock when playing against defending teams.

SPARKLING PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

1. Gerrard - Great as usual. Although his name wasn't appeared on the scoreboard, he was involved in first 3 goals of Liverpool.
2. Mancienne - 2 bonus points from him certainly meant something. Great defense anyway.
3. Keane - He scored one and set up two. Impressive.

---

LEADERBOARD OF THE GAMEWEEK

1. Johnson (18)
2. Defoe (17)
3. Jensen (14)
4. Keane (13)
5. Gerrard, Kuyt (11)

LEADERBOARD OF THE SEASON

1. Fabregas, Johnson (22)
3. Defoe (19)

4. Gerrard (18)

5. Drogba (16)

Pre-Match Analysis: Gameweek 2

Gameweek 1 is immediately followed by gameweek 2, and this is such a big mess - 8 TEAMS ABSENT FOR THIS GAMEWEEK! OMG! What should I do? Good luck if you didn't read the fixtures well. One of the good time to use wildcard though.

---

18 Aug 09

Sunderland vs Chelsea (Stadium of Light, 7.45pm)

After a hard game with Hull, the Blue Lions is expected to have a tougher challenge to visit to Sunderland. Can Drogba again scored a couple of goals? Or is Bent the hero who'll punish Ancelotti's squad?

Key injuries (Chelsea): Zhirkov (doubtful)

Expected score: 1-1

Fantasy heroes: Bent

Wigan Athletic vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (JJB Stadium, 7.45pm)

After a great first game, Wigan is set to have two consecutive wins, while Wolves will try to prevent two consecutive defeats. Can Wolves score their first premier league goal in this match?

Key injuries (Wolves): Kightly, Ebanks-Blake (doubtful)

Expected score: 1-0

Fantasy heroes: Rodallega

19 Aug 09

Birmingham City vs Portsmouth (St Andrews Ground, 7.45pm)

Two of the weaker teams who battle. Can Birmingham retain the pride of promoters by punishing their potential rival of relegation? Well, I expect the Blues to win rather than Pompey, if not a draw.

Key injuries (Birmingham): Ridgewell, Murphy

Key injuries (Portsmouth): Finnan (doubtful)

Expected score: 0-0

Fantasy heroes: Hart

Burnley vs Manchester United (Turf Moor, 7.45pm)

I feel sorry to Burnley, but a small defeat is already a good result for them.

Key injuries (Man Utd): Vidic, Van der Sar, Ferdinand

Expected score: 0-2

Fantasy heroes: Rooney

Hull City vs Tottenham Hotspur (Kingston Comms Stadium, 7.45pm)

The Tigers have a good game days before, despite losing to Chelsea. Can they repeat that kind of form at home and possibly defeat Tottenham?

Expected score: 1-2

Fantasy heroes: Lennon

Liverpool vs Stoke City (Anfield, 8.00pm)

Revenge is a must for the Reds as Stoke drawn them last season, which caused them to lose some precious points to clinch the title. A hard game for them though.

Key injuries (Liverpool): Aurelio, Aquilani

Expected score: 1-0

Fantasy heroes: Benayoun

Note: Time are stated in local England time.

---

Predicted Stars of the Week:

1. Rooney - Too good to be missed out, especially when Man Utd is playing against Burnley. I expect at least one goal or assist and 3 bonus points from him, if not more.
2. Bent - With Chelsea's still adjusting to their diamond midfield formation, Darren Bent might have the chance to sneak into their defense and give a lethal blow to them.
3. G Johnson - The Liverpool's new no 2 is currently the player with best form of the team. Who knows if he stands out and helps the Reds to claim their first 3 points?

Recommendations from the Pundit:

1. Benayoun - 70% confident. He has such a great impact on the game after Rafa substituted him for the game. Liverpool's survival for title challenge will highly depend on him before the return of their key players such as Aurelio and Aquilani.
2. Milner - 50% confident. He'll not score much points - at least for the next two games against Liverpool and Fulham. Their absence of playmaker was too lethal.
3. Yobo - 40% confident. Hmm, the pundit asked us not to be so serious about this week's recommendations, and so don't trust much. Jagielka is a exceptional defender in Everton who noone currently in the healthy Everton's squad has the calibre to replace him. Still, a clean sheet against Burnley on their next fixture is not a hard thing though.

Post-Match Analysis: Gameweek 1

Gameweek 1 has ended with a lot of excitements. While all the games were ended with victors produced, it was indeed quite surprising that most of the visiting teams won. Now lets see the results:

---

Results My Prediction

Chelsea 2-1 Hull City Correct winner

Aston Villa 0-2 Wigan Incorrect

Blackburn 0-2 Man City Correct winner

Bolton 0-1 Sunderland Incorrect

Portsmouth 0-1 Fulham Correct

Stoke City 2-0 Burnley Correct winner

Wolves 0-2 West Ham Correct winner

Everton 1-6 Arsenal Correct winner

Man Utd 1-0 Birmingham Correct winner

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool Incorrect

---

TEAMS OF THE WEEK

Arsenal

You couldn't guess it don't you? While everyone was worried about Arsenal's weakened squad this season, they proved that the public's speculation are wrong by a sensational win against Everton. Can you even believe that they start their season with a convincing goals galore? Not to mention that their opponent was Everton who is renowned for their great defense. A very good job by the Gunners.

Hull City

Phil Brown might gave an unhappy experience to the public, but definitely not his team. What a hard game he had gave to Chelsea, not to mention it was at Stamford Bridge. Oh well, if not for Drogba's flukeful last minute goal, the Blue Lions had already sunk by the Tigers on their very first league game under Carlo Ancelotti.

BAD TEAMS OF THE WEEK

Chelsea

In contrast to Hull, Chelsea's performance was bad yesterday. Again the problem they were exposed to since last season had shown again - their failure to break the deadlock against stubborn defenses, especially at home.

Aston Villa

How pathetic they were in this game. Well, Martin O'Neill bears most of the responsibility anyway - to sell off the playmaker and yet failed to replace him. Yes, you know who the playmaker is. With no dictator of the ball on the field like Barry and an agressive defender like Laursen, I don't see any bright future for the club, at least for this year.

Everton

What a heavy loss they suffered yesterday. 6 goals conceded in just one game. Just as what I expected, Lescott is fooling himself for wanting a move to the richest club in EPL. Everton will have a bigger trouble of losing Jagielka than Lescott, and this is proven in their clash against Arsenal.

Liverpool

Alonso's effect is injuring them. An ultimately awful first half display by them. Babel was going nowhere with his disappointing performance. Another long wait for their title drought I suggest.

---

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Fabregas (22 points)

Oh my goodness, the captain is back on fire again - 2 goals and 2 assists. It's fair enough to say that he demolished Everton with his superb form, while his teammates had set a good opening for him. Definitely a big selection headache for fantasy players, but do feel lucky as he won't be available for GW2 - worry about it later.

Shawcross (15 points)

He did it again, with much grace. Based on last season's statistics, whenever Shawcross scored a goal, he'll get 3 bonus points most of the time, and so did him yesterday. Another great job done by him - considering he's only £4.5m. One of my most precious lad in my team.

Noble (14 points)

This was indeed out of my expectations. A guy who scored less than 3 figures last season score double figures on his first league game? Pretty surprised for me. Still, with only £6.0m, if he can continue the form, grab him.

BAD PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Lampard (2 points)

He disappointed me, heavily. I expect him to shine playing with one of the relegation candidates, but what has he done? No goals and assists: acceptable. Mere number of shots: frustrating. Simply the worst player one gameweek 1 when compared to his skyhigh price.

Babel (2 points)

Rafa gave him the chance to start for Liverpool, and he totally screwed it. Numerous chicken runs added with bad connection with teammates made him look nothing but an idiot on the pitch.

SPARKLING PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

1. Vermaelen - He scored the first goal on his debut as a defender. Great lad to be watched.
2. Upson - He looks promising with a goal and a clean sheet.
3. Wright-Phillips - 2 assists from him. A great performance.
4. Glen Johnson - A couple of great runs by him. The best player of Liverpool at the moment.

---

LEADERBOARD OF THE SEASON/GAMEWEEK

1. Fabregas (22)
2. Shawcross (15)
3. Noble (14)
4. Drogba, Upson (12)