Topic of the Fortnight: The Next Derby

I guess nobody can ever forget about Derby County Football Club do you? They produced a record that is as great as Usain Bolt's 9.58s run -THE LOWEST POINTS OF ANY PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON SO FAR!

So what does it have to do with fantasy premier league? Now I will introduce to you the Derby theory. Lets see Derby statistics when they were last in the premier league:

Club History
	LC	GP	W	L	D	PT	GD	POS
2007/2008	P	38	1	29	8	11	-69	20

You see it don't you? Least wins, most losses, least goals scored, most goals conceded, least points - basically a feeder club. So the best tactics of FPL on that season was to buy the key players of the team who play against Derby on that gameweek, and most of the time it would be rewarding. An example was Liverpool's 6-0 against them where Torres scored a hattrick. Obvious isn't it? Note that they ate 6 goals for four times, 5 goals twice and 4 goals thrice in that single season.

Of course it's a rare case to find clubs like Derby to gain advantage of, but this season I see a Derby-wannabe.I guess you all can see it as well don't you? Yes, yes, yes. It's Portsmouth aka Pompey aka Your Perfect Dessert!

Just a year ago, Pompey was a promising squad capable of breaking into the Europa Cup with the likes like Lassana Diarra, Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Glen Johnson, Niko Kranjcar etc, led by a great coach Harry Redknapp. Indeed they had a relishing start last season, but an incident changed the destiny of the club - Redknapp went to Spurs to cover up the terrible start of the team! Ever since then disasters came. They just finished 14, players gone one by one, from Defoe the first to Kranjcar the last. The squad was totally different now, even though it's not even a year.

As you can see, 90% of Pompey players are strangers for us, and the rest like Finnan and Kanu are those aging uncles who are at big disadvantages in the fast pace EPL. So I can't really expect this team to do anything big this year.

So as a smart FPL player you should apply the Derby theory and take in any important players in offense and defense to gain the points advantage, especially when Portsmouth are fighting big and ambitious clubs, and this can be continuously applied until Paul Hart was sacked and replaced by manager by good calibre or Al-Fahim opened up his chequebook to bring in some big players, whichever occurs first.

Hope that you got something here. Good luck.

... and hope that he won't get a heart attack when he is sacked...

Monthly Express: September

Again I've made some improvements on the monthly preview and postview. August past in the blink of an eye, so did the 4 premier league gameweeks occur. And now lets review on some goods and bads of each teams, and also the recommendations for September.

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Arsenal

Games this month: Man City (A), Wigan (H), Fulham (A)

Difficulty: ●●●●

1. Fabregas is as strong as ever and showed to the world that who's the boss in Arsenal. His creativity provided the gunners the biggest advantage in offense. Sadly he's now injured though. He's one of the best high priced midfielders once available, given his superior position currently at the London club.
2. Arshavin's glow, unfortunately, had been wiped off by Fabby. He's much overpriced now since the position of the attacking ace has now returned to the captain of the team. And with the current trend, I would recommend you to sell him, but you can still keep him before Fabregas is recovered.
3. Van Persie is still on his scoring drought, surprisingly. My predicted top scorer of Arsenal, although yet to score a goal, had provided numerous assists. But still I don't think the goalless streak will last, so to get him is not really a bad choice, though not the best.

Aston Villa

Games this month: Birmingham (A), Portsmouth (H), Blackburn (A)

Difficulty: ●●

1. Agbonlahor finally scored a goal on the last game of August, after having his price dropped by 0.3! This is definitely a good time to buy in Gabby since Villa's fixtures are quite favourable to them. So if you want to load him on, don't hesitate.
2. Ashley Young is gaining his ace status at Villa following Barry's departure. He scored 12 points against Liverpool, and this looks quite promising. Just the same as Agbonlahor, don't wait if you want to buy him; otherwise you won't get any bank profits.

Birmingham

Games this month: Aston Villa (H), Hull (A), Bolton (H)

Difficulty: ●●●

1. Joe Hart is showing something with the Blues. His great form has halted Taylor from coming up from the bench. For those who like cheap keepers in their team, Sorensen-Hart combo is the best.

Blackburn

Games this month: Wolves (H), Everton (A), Aston Villa (H)

Difficulty: ●●●●

Not really anyone that worthed to be written here since their starting 11 are unpredictable and their fixtures are tough this month.

Bolton

Games this month: Portsmouth (A), Stoke (H), Birmingham (A)

Difficulty: ●●●

1. It must be the time for Matthew Taylor to unleash his best this month as their fixtures are relatively easy, especially at Portsmouth. It's certainly a doomsday for him and Bolton if he still can't score any goals or assists after this month. Strongly recommended.
2. Kevin Davies still never show any signs of retirement after his fine display against Liverpool. A goal added with an assist by him had almost led them to punish the Reds.

Burnley

Games this month: Liverpool (A), Sunderland (H), Tottenham (A)

Difficulty: ●●●●●

Despite having two unexpected wins and a few of surprising players such as Jensen, Bikey and Elliott, I don't recommend anyone from Burnley this month as:

1. Liverpool and Tottenham aren't Man Utd and Everton who have difficulty in breaking stubborn defenses, not to be forgotten Burnley is the visitors for both games.
2. Sunderland isn't a relegation candidate anymore.
3. Chelsea had uncovered the mysterious mask of this promoted team.

Chelsea

Games this month: Stoke (A), Tottenham (H), Wigan (A)

Difficulty: ●●●●

1. Michael Ballack has finally found his glorious moments with Chelsea. 2 goals from 4 matches certainly is a good record for a midfielder. If the form can be sustained, bring him on instead of Lampard.
2. Have a look on Ashley Cole. This guy had already collected at least 1 bonus point for 3 consecutive games, and this certainly isn't luck. But as a defender, 2 tough games this month certainly aren't that favourable for fantasy managers to add him into their squad.
3. Didier Drogba is insane. 4 games this season Chelsea had played, and 4 games Drogba ended up with at least 1 goal or assist. His revival under Carlo Ancelotti has made him the best pick among fantasy strikers currently.

Everton

Games this month: Fulham (A), Blackburn (H), Portsmouth (A)

Difficulty: ●●●

1. Distin is the only man I would recommend for. At the price of £4.9m, he'll give a lot of defensive fortification to Everton - at least before Jagielka's back.
2. Baines, despite scoring double figure on last game, still not really a good pick. Note that his goal last game was a penalty, which not even a single team on the premier league would get it once for every 2-3 games. And still, Everton is waiting for its first clean sheet this season.

Fulham

Games this month: Everton (H), Wolves (A), Arsenal (H)

Difficulty: ●●●●

It's always about defenders at Fulham, and this month's fixtures will be a tricky gamble to get them.

Hull City

Games this month: Sunderland (A), Birmingham (H), Liverpool (A)

Difficulty: ●●●●

1. Stephen Hunt have a perfect start in the premier league this season. Provided his price is continuously rising, get him asap to improve your team value and even your score.
2. Experienced Dutch Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink has just joined the team, and I believe with his experience, he'll give the Tigers a lot in his striker position. Observe him for 2-3 games, and bring him on if he's doing very good upfront.

Liverpool

Games this month: Burnley (H), West Ham (A), Hull (H)

Difficulty: ●●

1. Glen Johnson is already the leader of the defenders scoreboard despite only joined Liverpool this season. His totally out of position play will benefit most of the fantasy managers owning him. Please not that Liverpool's defense are still not on their best, so he can potentially load you more points.
2. Torres is finding back his scoring touch steadily - 3 goals in past 3 games. You cannot fool with the league's best striker anyway. Yet he'll need better midfield control for him to score more.

Manchester City

Games this month: Arsenal (H), Man Utd (A), West Ham (H)

Difficulty: ●●●●●

1. Adebayor is on rampage, but the true test for him begins this month. For those who haven't got him yet, I would recommend you to wait until he played against Arsenal and Man Utd.

Manchester United

Games this month: Tottenham (A), Man City (H), Stoke (A)

Difficulty: ●●●●●

1. Rooney gained the quo status at Old Trafford at ease - scoring decisive goals at all three of United's victories. No matter who's the opponent, to place Rooney in your team is always a good choice.

Portsmouth

Games this month: Bolton (H), Aston Villa (A), Everton (H)

Difficulty: ●●●●

It's always a wise decision to rule Portsmouth's players out of your fantasy lineup.

Stoke City

Games this month: Chelsea (H), Bolton (A), Man Utd (H)

Difficulty: ●●●●●

1. Ryan Shawcross had already helped fantasy managers who included him in their team since GW1 to earn £0.4m. But for those who haven't have him yet, now is the worst time to get him - when Stoke have to fight 2 mega teams this month.
2. Sorensen is showing signs of becoming this season's Schwarzer - at a even cheaper price than Schwarzer last season. Stoke are a good clean sheet collector, so you can expect Sorensen to achieve great results this season.

Sunderland

Games this month: Hull (H), Burnley (A), Wolves (H)

Difficulty: ●●

1. Darren Bent should give his loyal supporters 2-3 goals this month as the Black Cats are having easy opponents this month. Then you can expect his price to increase for £0.2m again.
2. Michael Turner's is here, and with his new club, he's even a better bet. They have better defenses and better players with better calibres than Hull. He'll make Sunderland a better team, so I also expect some bonus points from him.

Tottenham

Games this month: Man Utd (H), Chelsea (A), Burnley (H)

Difficulty: ●●●●●

1. Jermaine Defoe should score again at the game against Man Utd since White Hart Lane is always a heaven of goals. For those who want to sell him due to two continuous tough fixtures, the best time to do so is still two and a half months from now.
2. Aaron Lennon is claiming the best right wing of the premier league currently, and with Modrice not around, he'll be the main firepower of the Spurs' midfield. Get him fast.

West Ham

Games this month: Wigan (A), Liverpool (H), Man City (A)

Difficulty: ●●●●●

1. Upson is showing his best, but those who own him should sell him after the game with Wigan since they'll face a lot of tough teams continuously after that.

Wigan

Games this month: West Ham (H), Arsenal (A), Chelsea (H)

Difficulty: ●●●●●

Arsenal and Chelsea are too much for this team, so you better don't bring in a Wigan player to mess your team up.

Wolves

Games this month: Blackburn (A), Fulham (H), Sunderland (A)

Difficulty: ●●●

1. 22k of net transfers for Keogh up to now this week, and I believe this isn't a wise decision. Ebanks-Blake is near to his recovery, and he'll have to warm up the bench again.
2. Ebanks-Blake's price had dropped to £5.3m since his injury, but the price should bounce back if he score a couple of goals this month.
3. Even without goals, Kevin Doyle got 1 bonus point last game. You can imagine how many he'll get if he scores don't you?
4. Kightly is close to his recovery. With him back to action, I can tell you that it'll be the best time to bring on him, SEB and Doyle.

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My Predicted Dream Team of the Month

Cech

G.Johnson G.Cahill Turner Warnock

Hunt Ballack M.Taylor A.Young

Bent Torres

Value: £75.4m (as at 9/9/09)

Cech - Stoke and Wigan aren't great in offense, and Tottenham's attack is always weaker away from home.

Johnson - Always the best defender in terms of offensivity.

Cahill - He shall get clean sheets and hopefully a goal or two with easy opponents.

Turner - The same reason as Cahill.

Warnock - He'll perform better with a better team.

Hunt - The new powerhouse of Hull City.

Ballack - His strong body is the best weapon to pierce through tough defense.

Taylor - Time to bounce back from low form.

Young - He has teams like Portsmouth for him to rape.

Bent - He won't fail to score.

Torres - His goals will be the best cover for the Reds' bad defense.