Pre-Match Analysis: Gameweek 18

Now I only realized Fantasy Cup had been started on last gameweek! Have you qualified for that?!!

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Fantasy Predictor

My predicted results of matches this week.

POR vs LIV [1-2]

AST vs STO [2-0]

BLA vs TOT [1-2]

FUL vs MANU [1-0]

MANC vs SUN [3-0]

ARS vs HUL [2-0]

WOL vs BUR [1-1]

EVE vs BIR [2-1]

WHU vs CHE [1-2]

WIG vs BOL [1-2]

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Fantasy Focus

Analysis of big showdowns this week.

Fulham vs Manchester United

Prediction: 1-0

I'll still back Ferguson even if his squad is without eleven first team players if he is to play at Old Trafford. What if they'll travel out of Manchester? I think even the most loyal fans of United will doubt about that.

Apart from the injuries, there are still a couple of reasons which reinforce my point of view that Fulham will win:

• The cottagers had just qualified for the next round of UEFA Europa Cup, which is an obvious morale booster;
• Manchester United don't have quite a good record against team with rock solid defence. Apart from Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Burnley all have tough defences.

Unless Sir Alex Ferguson comes up with a miraculous formation or Ryan Giggs is able to feature to provide the creativity needed, otherwise the red devils may even have difficulty in scoring goals. With these I will back Hodgson to win this time.

Subbed out at 59 min 55 sec last game!!

Manchester City vs Sunderland

Prediction: 3-0

Manchester City will set to restart their campaign when they face Sunderland at their home ground this weekend. Manchester City's unbeaten streak came to an end after a humiliating 3-0 defeat to their Champions League position competitor Tottemham Hotspur, while Sunderland is on an outstanding poor form having only getting five points from their last six.

I think City should dominate the game with three goals or more to release their frustration after having failed to break Tottenham's defence. Carlos Tevez is the man to be noticed as this little beast is hitting his top form. Sunderland who is having a too awful form is just too far away to be trusted.

Grab him fast!

West Ham United vs Chelsea

Prediction: 1-2

It'll be very merry at London as West Ham hosts Chelsea at Upton Park. In normal circumstances, I'll predict Chelsea to win easily... but wait! The 2-1 victory against Portsmouth was only the first in their last five! And their African core players Essien and Drogba are both on the red cross!

But they are quite lucky as West Ham is undergoing a very awful run of form without their attacking ace Carlton Cole. And who knows if Lampard will finally score some giant points with the absence of the Ivorian beast? It might be silence before Lampy's storm.

Have you sent your condolences?

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Fantasy Line-Ups

My recommendations to strengthen up your fantasy team.

GW18's One-Gamer

The highly expected top achiever of the gameweek.

Carlos Tevez (£11.6m)

He'll unleash his rage.

GW18's Five-Gamer

The highly expected top achiever in the next five games.

Ivan Klasnic (£6.0m)

On fire with easy opponents coming up.

GW18's Best Line-Up

My preferred squad of the week.

Friedel

G Cahill --- Dunne --- Vermaelen

Lampard --- Milner --- Arshavin --- Eagles --- Milijas

Saha --- Tevez(C)

---Subs (in order): Jensen, Klasnic, Scharner, Pantsil---

Captain: Tevez

Second Captain Choice: Milner

Team Value: £100.3m

Starting XI Value: £80.8m

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Fantasy Times

The latest premier league news to enrich your day.

UEFA Champions League Draw

David Beckham may make a return to Old Trafford after AC Milan was drawn to face Manchester United on the round 16 of Champions League. He'll be loaned to Milan again from LA Galaxy next year.

Besides that, we'll also see Mourinho to make a visit to his former employer Chelsea with his Italian champion Internazionale Milan.

But can those two people make a revenge with a so inferior Italian side?

"Take my boot you @#&* Fergie!"

Post-Match Analysis: Gameweek 17

Another gameweek was over and our fantasy favourite Cesc Fabregas is now injured? Will you sell him out of your team?

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Fantasy Scoresheet

Results of my score prediction.

Final Score [Prediction]

*Correct outcomes are bolded.

SUN 0-2 AST [0-0]

BIR 2-1 BLA [1-0]

BOL 3-1 WHU [2-0]

MANU 3-0 WOL [3-0]

BUR 1-1 ARS [0-0]

CHE 2-1 POR [4-0]

LIV 2-1 WIG [2-0]

TOT 3-0 MANC [2-2]

1 Perfect Result(s)

3 Correct Goal Difference(s)

2 Other Correct Outcome(s)

2 Incorrect Outcome(s)

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Fantasy Commentary

My view towards interesting matches this week.

Manchester United 3-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Mick McCarthy made my day as Wolves rotated even more than Manchester United during the match at Old Trafford. The dream theatre which had only made the host lost five times in last few seasons caused Big Mick to actually hide all their first team midfielders and attackers. As for the home side, Giggs was injured and is still doubtful for the upcoming match.

With these kind of rubbish squad, it was never been that easy for United as Rooney scored the opener through the spot and Nemanja Vidic finally scored his first league goal this season. In addition, Berbatov made a brilliant first touch again to send a beautiful pass for Valencia to claim the third for the Red Devils. Easy one for them.

Left Right: Mick McCarthy

Burnley 1-1 Arsenal

Just as I expected, Arsenal was drawn by Burnley. The first half was rather exciting with Eagles nearly opened the deadlock when Almunia had to punch the ball to reflect off the woodwork due to Vermaelen's mistake.

But just minutes later, Arsenal led the game with Fabregas bagging the goal after getting rid of McDonald and Carlisle. However, the gunners joy didn't last too long as Vermaelen made another mistake to allow Graham Alexander to level from the spot.

Then there's a shocking scene: Arsenal's captain Fabregas was limped off with an injury!

With this, the gunners' offence was degraded and the second half became rather silent for both sides. So the score ended 1-1.

5 goals this season with 4 from the spot.

Tottenham 3-0 Manchester City

Manchester City lost their chances of creating the longest premier league unbeaten streak after being outclassed by Tottenham with three goals at White Hart Lane. Mark Hughes couldn't be happy before the match with the absence of three key players: Lescott, Bellamy and Wright-Phillips.

Their absence, especially Bellamy, was proven to be a major blow for them as Niko Kranjcar thumped in the first for Spurs after a great teamwork with Peter Crouch and Aaron Lennon. It was Peter Crouch who made the assist again as Defoe scored his 13th league goal of the season.

And it wouldn't be any worse for the England's Real Madrid as Kranjcar scored his second of the night at stoppage time to claim 15 points on the fantasy gameweek's score.

"Where is my position?!!!"

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Fantasy Report Card

Results of my fantasy line-ups.

GW17's One-Gamer

Didier Drogba (Not Featured)

Absent with an injury.

Five-Gamers

Wayne Rooney (GW15-19) [16 pts - provisional]

A goal and three points bonus. Convincing.

Didier Drogba (GW16-20) [13 pts - provisional]

Absent as mentioned above.

Carlos Tevez (GW17-21) [1 pt - provisional]

Still four more games to come. Stay patient.

GW17's Best Line-Up

Hart(2)

Cahill(11) --- R Johnson(2) --- Dunne(8) --- Vermaelen(2) --- Evra(6)

Lampard(C)(18) --- Bowyer (2) --- Huddlestone(4)

Rooney(9) --- Tevez(1)

Automatic Substitutions:

Cahill for Giggs
Huddlestone for Drogba

---Subs (unused in order): Jensen(4), Reid(2)---

Captain: Drogba

Emergency Captain (Value): Lampard

Total Score: 65

Best Possible Score: 70

Team Value: £101.6m

Starting XI Value: £81.4m

Verdict: Quite a good result thanks to the absence of Giggs and Drogba which allow Cahill to come out.

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Fantasy Times

The latest premier league news to enrich your day.

Nistelrooy to Anfield?

The former Manchester United's scoring legend Ruud van Nistelrooy may planned to come back to English Premier League after a frustrating season having to position behind of Benzema, Higuain and Raul on the battle for Los Galacticos' forward.

Several clubs have already been related to him to offer him a job that can guarantee him playing but it is now rumoured that Liverpool has the highest odds of getting the Dutch. Well, it's rather reasonable as:

• The reds needs a high profile striker with great scoring touch like Nistelrooy to solve their attacking problems;
• Nistelrooy wants a revenge on Ferguson hence Anfield is the best option for him;
• Only clubs like Liverpool can afford his high salary.

Well, it's just my personal guess but, if we can see Nistelrooy vs Owen in the league's second leg in Old Trafford, why not? It'll be full of sparks.

"Dear Michael, don't ever think that you're the only one who dare to betray your mother club. You'll never walk alone."

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Fantasy Awards

Some rewards and punishments to players who performed and did not performed this week.

Fantasy Top-Gun Award

Niko Kranjcar (15 pts)

Two goals, a clean sheet and three points bonus. Luke Modric may feel threatened now.

Fantasy Humiliation Award

Mick McCarthy

He didn't even fight for any points at Old Trafford.

Pre-Match Analysis: Gameweek 17

Hiya guys! In just two days we're gonna step from gameweek 16 into gameweek 17. Do you ever notice that there are games in midweek and four teams aren't featuring?

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Fantasy Predictor

My predicted results of matches this week.

SUN vs AST [0-0]

BIR vs BLA [1-0]

BOL vs WHU [2-0]

MANU vs WOL [3-0]

BUR vs ARS [0-0]

CHE vs POR [4-0]

LIV vs WIG [2-0]

TOT vs MANC [2-2]

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Fantasy Focus

Analysis of big showdowns this week.

Sunderland vs Aston Villa

Prediction: 0-0

Sunderland is on a bad form recently to only manage to get five points from their last six games; Aston Villa on the other hand, is having an impressive campaign to defeat Manchester United at Old Trafford before they are going to visit the Stadium of Light.

Despite this huge difference in form, I don't think Villa can get away with a win here. Their super effective counter-attack is useful against team with high offensive approach, but certainly not against a team who can be very patient in building up their attacks like Sunderland.

Needs to regain his form.

Burnley vs Arsenal

Prediction: 0-0

Arsenal will have a hard game again as they travel to Turf Moor to face clarets. Burnley, which have only lost once in their home ground will look to snatch some points from gunners.

From the game against Liverpool, we can see that Arsenal aren't doing so well lately as they found it hard to break through Liverpool's quite open defence. With a very contained team they are going to face plus the stamina that they had used up due to recent compacted fixtures, I think they may slip up some points again.

Can he protect his territory?

Tottenham vs Manchester City

Prediction: 2-2

The most exciting game of this coming fixtures as two of the clubs who are ambitious of getting the champions league position clash with each other. Tottenham aren't at their most favourable position after a shocking defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Manchester City is now unbeaten in their last 10 league games and yet still couldn't find a reason to happy about as they had only won one in their last nine.

Some sparkling points in this game will be the battle of the short-tall strikers combination: Defoe-Crouch vs Tevez-Adebayor. Besides that, the battle for England's #1 right wing of Aaron Lennon and Shawn Wright-Phillips is also the selling point of the game.

With this game goals should be bursting out like fountain but who will win? I guess neither. You must not forget the fact that City is so so consistent in earning draws. In fantasy perspective, have a close look at Tevez.

Scoring like nobody's business recently.

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Fantasy Line-Ups

My recommendations to strengthen up your fantasy team.

GW17's One-Gamer

The highly expected top achiever of the gameweek.

Didier Drogba (£11.6m)

He must score if Chelsea wants a victory.

GW17's Five-Gamer

The highly expected top achiever in the next five games.

Carlos Tevez (£8.3m)

On a hot streak now.

GW17's Best Line-Up

My preferred squad of the week.

Hart

R Johnson --- Dunne --- Vermaelen --- Evra

Lampard --- Bowyer --- Giggs

Rooney --- Drogba(C) --- Tevez

---Subs (in order): Jensen, Cahill, Huddlestone, Reid---

Captain: Drogba

Second Captain Choice: Rooney

Team Value: £101.6m

Starting XI Value: £81.4m

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Fantasy Times

The latest premier league news to enrich your day.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award

Congratulations to Manchester United's veteran Ryan Giggs as he victor over the Formula One World Champion Jenson Button to grab the BBC Sports Personality Award.

Giggs, even at the age of 36, is still one of the most threatening player in the Premier League. In fact, the moment when he dribbles he can actually give me a false illusion that he's still in his late 20s!

With this evergreen performance and his always humble attitude, I personally think he deserves the award pretty much. Give a big clap to him won't you?

Even more reliable than Duracell.

Post-Match Analysis: Gameweek 16

A shocking gameweek with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool all losing points! Unbelievable. Really regret for selling Agbonlahor for Defoe which led to the loss of over 20 points of my team. Damn!

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Fantasy Scoresheet

Results of my score prediction.

FINAL SCORE [PREDICTION]

*Correct outcomes are bolded.

STO 2-2 WIG [1-0]

BIR 1-0 WHU [1-0]

BOL 3-3 MANC [2-3]

BUR 1-1 FUL [1-0]

CHE 3-3 EVE [3-0]

HUL 0-0 BLA [2-2]

SUN 1-1 POR [2-0]

TOT 0-1 WOL [5-0]

MANU 0-1 AST [3-1]

LIV 1-2 ARS [1-1]

1 Perfect Result(s)

1 Correct Goal Difference(s)

0 Correct Outcome(s)

8 Incorrect Outcome(s)

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Fantasy Commentary

My view towards interesting matches this week.

Chelsea 3-3 Everton

League leaders Chelsea lost two precious points after a series of defensive faults at Stamford Bridge, but they are lucky as their closest contender lost all three points in the very same week.

Indeed I couldn't believe this scoreline when I visited Livescore Centre of Premier League site. The blues' flawful defence against set pieces caused the draw. In fact, when we looked through their defeat against Aston Villa, they were lost to set pieces as well. This is really unforgivable as the Terry-Carvalho partnership had already lasted for so long and yet there's still not enough of understanding between them. If they can't fix it, I can imagine how swift they will drop out of the title race when Drogba and co return to Africa for the African Cup of Nations.

Flops #1.

Tottenham 0-1 Wolves

Disappointing. 26 shots over 5 yet they lost by one. Yes, it's twenty six shots against five! 70% possession throughout the game and yet they lost by one. My big apology to recommend Jermaine Defoe and Aaron Lennon this game as I was also heavily affected by this. Here's my loss to buy JD:

• -4 points for two transfers (one for JD, another for the cash to bring in JD),
• -7 points for selling Agbonlahor for Defoe (9-2=7pts),
• -11 points as I will definitely captain Drogba if I didn't buy Defoe (13-2=11pts).

These made a total of -22 points. A big lesson for me and also you guys: believe in your team and try to minimize transfers.

And yea, I really couldn't believe how the hell would Tottenham lost to a lesser team like Wolves in their home ground. This is very ridiculous.

Flops #2 (ultimate).

Manchester United 0-1 Aston Villa

Martin O'Neill once again brought down the members of big four after a convincing win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. It has been centuries since the away side had won in this stadium but, yea, the ball is round. Agbonlahor stroke the only goal thanks to the courtesy of Ashley Young to ensure three points for Aston Villa. Credits to the defence of Villa which led by Richard Dunne, their new Laursen as well.

Well, I wasn't surprised with their win after all as Villa had already taken down Chelsea and Liverpool this season, especially when United had to deploy Fletcher as RB again due to their injury crisis. The thing that concerned me is that United couldn't score any goal at their home ground! Giggs was underperforming, as well as Rooney. Owen was introduced but that didn't help much. I am very disappointed with United's offence. Shameful.

Flops #3.

Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal

Andrey Arshavin became the hero again as Arsenal won at Anfield 2-1 against traumatic Liverpool. Liverpool played a strong first half with Kuyt opened the scoresheet and a penalty disallowed by the ultimately notorious official of Premier League, Howard Webb. Yes, it's the f***ing HOWARD WEBB again. I seriously think that he had benefited a lot from betting companies with his series of ridiculous judgements to both sides which are a total display of his stupidity. Just watch Liverpool vs Man Utd and Liverpool vs Arsenal this season if you haven't see it and I am confident that you'll agree with my words.

Now back to the business. In contrary to first half, the second half was catastrophic with Glen Johnson tapped in a goal for Arsenal. Yes, it's the Mr Twenty Million Glen Johnson. The story didn't end here when Mr Twenty Million mismarked Arshavin to let him score a brilliant goal which reflect through the post. Aquilani was subbed in but sadly, he didn't make any magic and the gunners bagged in full three points to get back into the title race.

Quote by a forumer: "Rafa spent £20m for one who scores an own goal and another £20m for one who warms the bench." Sarcastically, that is very true...

Flop #4 (super duper ultimate flop).

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Fantasy Report Card

Results of my fantasy line-ups.

GW16's One-Gamer

Jermaine Defoe (2 pts)

As I mentioned. A big flop.

Five-Gamers

Wayne Rooney (GW15-19) [7 pts - provisional]

Bad display this week.

Didier Drogba (GW16-20) [13 pts - provisional]

Spectacular performance but wasn't able to bring three points to Chelsea.

GW16's Best Line-Up

Sorensen(7)

Faye Ab(0) --- Evra(2) --- A Cole(1)

Lennon(2) --- Valencia(2) --- Giggs(1) --- Reid(5)

Defoe(C)(4) --- Drogba(13) --- Tevez(13)

---Subs (in order): Hart(7), R Johnson(5), Alexander(2), Dempsey(2)---

Captain: Defoe

Total Score: 50

Best Possible Score: 68

Team Value: £102.1m

Starting XI Value: £81.6m

Verdict: Albeit having two great scorer the score is still low due to bad choice of captain.

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Fantasy Times

The latest premier league news to enrich your day.

Sorensen's Marvel

Stoke City's chief goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen has shown us why he is so popular among fantasy gamers with 45 percent of over two millions of them include him in their team. Another penalty save by him against Wigan had made him to only concede one from five of his penalty defences recently. 35 points from the last four games - do you have him in your team?

Hand of God.

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Fantasy Awards

Fantasy Top-Gun Award

Drogba, Tevez (13)

Both scored two goals and three points bonus. Good signs of display.

Fantasy Humiliation Award

Defoe, Lennon, Johnson

The former two sucks for unable to convert any goals for Tottenham; the latter one directly led to the defeat of Liverpool. Congratulations to Defoe for entering the list consecutively for two weeks.