PLFantasy

There seems to be a growing chorus that Man City players are becoming harder and harder to own due to constant rotation from Pep Guardiola. There are two key pieces of information that are useful to assess how damaging rotation can be to a player: The predictability of when the rotation happens (before of after Champions League games, away from home etc), If not selected for the first team, how often do they come on as a sub. If you have a decent bench then - while frustrating - you can deal with players not playing at all. However, if they consistently come off the bench for only 15 minutes or so then you are lowering your odds at success. Predicting team sheets is not really my forte (nor a particular interest) so we're going to focus on the second point here: We can see four of the City options have spent time on the bench this season while De Bruyne and Silva have been ever present to date. The calculation for this pair is slightly different as you're getting i...

Given the short gameweek, I only have one main topic this week: Man City (and then a couple of words on Harry Kane). Whether you just saw the goals, highlights or whole game, there was no denying how impressive City's demolishing of Stoke was this week. All six of their starting midfielders and forwards amassed at least 31 points under the official BPS system, compared to just two players total from United, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and Arsneal (Bakayoko and Eriksen). Jesus was given the most points under that system (which overvalues goals in my opinion), De Bruyne was awarded Man of the Match at the stadium while Sterling earned the most fantasy points thanks to his goal, two assists and bonus points. In short, there's a lot of talent to go around here. Two things jumped out this week about this City side that need a bit of exploring: 1. It's increasingly difficult to select just three City players given the talent on offer. Silva, Sterling and Mane are all perf...

Though I started with the promoted teams , it makes more sense to start at the top as in reality this is how the majority of owners build their teams (insert their superstars first then surround them with as much mid range or budget talent as they can). I’ve included five teams here so that each post is comparatively long but really a sub division has arisen within the elite: the two Manchester powerhouses and the London clubs playing catchup. Note, the projected lineups are far from certain and where I don’t know who will play I haven’t really dwelled on it, and neither should you. If you aren’t convinced a player will start the season in the first eleven he should be nowhere near your starting lineup. This isn’t a league where you draft for December, you need to earn points in GW1 just as much as GW21. Players highlighted as being on my personal shortlist are shown in  blue with those who I believe to be secure in the starting eleven shown in bold . Division 1a: Manch...

Looking back at last season Led all teams with 18 clean sheets including 12 at home. Only six other teams have 12 clean sheets in total. The final 13 gameweeks of the seasons saw City rack up an impressive 7 clean sheets including 3 straight to end the season. Their 0.63 GPG at home and 1.11 GPG away ranked 1st and 3rd in the league respectively Failed to score a surprising 9 times though 5 of these came in the first 13 weeks of the season. Through the first 13 gameweeks they managed to score just 15 goals (1.15 GPG). The remaining games saw them up the pace to 1.8 GPG . Led the league in goalkeeper points but ranked just 12th in P$ thanks to Hart's price tag Defensive P90 ranked 2nd at home with the unit coming in 5th in P$ . Thanks to the uncertainty around most positions the unit's prices haven't risen too fast making the unit very useful again this year. Up front the team amassed the third most points, which is incredible considering it was pretty much Tevez...

Football (or soccer if you'd prefer) is not generally considered to be a game of momentum. While a team can build an element of sustained pressure, the counter attack and long ball are equally viable options and can be used to devastating effect. Contrast this to, say, American Football or Rugby where teams drive and battle for field position and you will see my point. That being said, one couldn't help but notice a potentially significant shift in momentum last night in Manchester, not in a single game, but in an entire sport. It is of course hyperbole to suggest that City will surpass local rivals United in this or future seasons but last night's game evidenced that, at least, this could happen. The state of the two clubs finances could not be much different with City owner Sheikh Mansour continuing to plow millions into the Blue side of the city while the Red side face the prospect of their owners making a cash withdrawal . The case is perfectly illustrated by the Tevez...

After much deliberation, I am backtracking on my Defoe tip and hitching my wagon to Adebayor as the man to replace Van Persie/Drogba for this week and beyond. This week's game against Liverpool is admittedly not ideal (0.80 GPG) but the future is bright for City and their next few games include Hull (2.83 GPG) and Bolton (2.17 GPG). Most importantly though is the fact that in 8 games this year, Adebayor has either scored or provided an assist in every game but one. Granted, he hasn't had one of the landmark 16 - 20 point games that stamp his authority as a top fantasy player yet, but that could - and should - come before the season ends. Despite not firing on all cylinders and having injuries to Adebayor, Tevez and Robinho, City are still 6th in goals and are especially dangerous at home. Their team is getting fit though and I like City to go a run before Christmas, scoring plenty of goals along the way. Last time Adebayor played a top 4 side at Eastlands, he made the headlines...

Is Adebayor ready to join the ranks of the fantasy elite? Is he worthy of not just a roster spot but also the captain's armband? Let's take a look at the facts . . . Today's goal at Portsmouth maintained Adebayor's 100% strike record for the season and thrust him forward in the argument for the league's best fantasy striker. I have said previously that this is going to be the year of the big name striker and for the first time in memory, you might want to invest upwards of 20m on front men rather than defenders and midfielders from the big four (or six as the case might now be). Five top strikers are starting to distance themselves this year, namely Torres, Rooney, Drogba, Defoe and Adebayor. In terms of value (points per million spent) Adebayor (.867) is currently top of this list ahead of Drogba (.816), Defoe (.811), Rooney (.746) and Torres (.554). Lets look at how his future production compares with his fellow strikers: Goals The five strikers noted above have a...

Surely it can't be true: Kaka playing in Manchester (and not in red). With the initial ridicule at the audacity of the bid fading, it now seems that a bid has been made and Kaka may even consider the move. Kaka rates as one of the top 5 players in the world and for me is second behind Messi . The thought of him playing in the premiership is excellent and my intrigue as to his potential fantasy impact is off the charts. True, City have been up and down this year but they have still managed to supply the 4 th best striker ( Robinho ) and 6 th best midfielder (Ireland). Kaka will surely make a new big four (joining Ronaldo , Lampard and Gerrard as elite midfield assets. Where his price will fall will dictate for me how quickly I pick him up should he make the move to Eastlands . Anything around 9 - 10m makes him an instant buy. At 11m I would probably advise holding off to see how quickly he can adapt to the league. Although, with Chelsea in a bit of a slump and Ronaldo still...

Finally a staurday afternoon with a decent tally and wouldn't you know it, I had to miss it for the dreaded christmas shopping! Therefore I was not on hand to see Valencia and Young terrorise opposition defenses to give the Juice a decent 52 point haul on Saturday. In absence of my weekly diary and general ramblings, I'll review each game below noting any key trends and scorers and suggesting where future sleepers may lie: Middlesbrough 1 - 1 Arsenal Middelesbrough: Turnbull, Huth, Pogatetz, Riggott, McMahon, Arca, Downing, Johnson, Digard, Alliadiere, Tuncay Arsenal: Almunia, Clichy, Djorou, Gallas, Sagna, Denilson, Fabregas, Diaby, Song, Adebayour, Van Persie. I think Adebayour has staked a claim for the best premium striker around with his 11th goal in 20 games (in all competitions) and the return of Drogba to potentially limit Anelka's minutes (more on that later). With just one clean sheet since week 9, players are abandoning the Arsenal defense and the likes of Clichy...

Here we are, a super sunday if ever there was one. The Manchester derby, the two biggest London teams squaring off along with a couple of other interesting fixtures featuring fantasy studs such as Defoe, Johnson, Arteta among others. With minutes until kick off at the Middle Eastlands I am literally giddy for the action to start though I am (regrettably) predicting a United win. I can see City starting the brighter, perhaps even taking the lead though United's power and depth will possibly shine through in the end. Robinho to score first and 2-1 United pays 90-1, interesting. 13:31 We're under way and the main fantasy news is that Berbatov will start alongside Rooney and Ronaldo . Rafael gets his turn at right back making him a useful pickup for next week if Neville or Brown haven't returned. 13:38 Measured start by both teams, who are both trying to keep their shape. Rafael has been bombing forward though which could leave space in behind him as the game moves on. I ...

As I look out of my living room window I can see the spires of the City of Manchester stadium and yet I did not foresee the fantasy impact of their transfer deadline dealings. I was a little higher on Robinho than some of the critics but I thought there were better options available in his price bracket (van Persie 9.5m, Santa Cruz 8.9m, Agbonlahor 8.2m and Defoe 8.2m). However, Robinho has scored 2 in 2 and notched an assist this week to give him 15 points in 2 games (a PPMS of 0.833 ahead of all but Zaki and Defoe). With van Persie being rested against Bolton I am starting to worry about Wenger tinkering too much with van Persie's playing time. Robinho therefore looks to be an interesting prospect at 9.2m, especially when you consider they play the likes of Newcastle, Stoke, Hull, Bolton and Spurs over the next 8 weeks. Robinho's play also seems to have inspired others around him and Shaun Wright Phillips look well and truly settled back at Eastlands. At 8m his price has inc...