PLFantasy

Mark Schwarzer has been ruled out for anywhere up to 6 weeks with a spinal issue and given the nature of the injury, you wouldn't be 100% confident that those timelines will be accurate. In short, he needs to be replaced and given that a large portion of his owners will have been pairing him with Vorm, that move needs to be made quickly given Vorm's away trips this week and next (@New and @Eve). If you don't own Vorm then barring a total mismatch of fixtures, the Swansea keeper is your ready made replacement, and hey, you'll even get a bit of change. So, who should Schwarzer/Vorm owners target? Well the defensive fixture rotation stats point to a number of options whose games will fit in nicely with Vorm (who can now be option 1a in rotation option rather than 1b as expected given Swansea's start to the season): Tim Krul - 4.9m Krul would have been the pick 6 weeks ago but with S Taylor out for good and Coloccini also sidelined, Newcastle's recent defens...

Looking back at last season 14 clean sheets last year ranked third overall yet the team averaged over a GPG conceded at home and on the road. Their home ranking was just 11th in that category. Led the league in GPG away from home (1.05) and were one of three teams to have a better road record than home (with Everton and Wigan). Racked up 9 clean sheets in the second half of the season, with just 5 in the first Managed a solid 1.58 GPG at home but disappointed on the road with just 1.0 GPG including six zeros. Keepers racked up 151 points, the league's best total, representing the best value for money around ( P$ 1.067) at home. This was greatly helped by Stockdale's production for a budget price. The defensive unit was also a great investment, with the 6th most total points delivering a league best P$ mark of 0.727.  Four midfielders (Dempsey, Davies, Murphy and Duff) all topped 90 points with the unit ranking 9th in points and 4th in P$ . Front line struggl...

With less than a month to go until the big kick off, its time to get serious with team selections and I will start the first in a series of position focused posts at the logical place - between the sticks. In previous seasons I have often gone with the strategy of getting a consistent 'keeper on day one and sticking with him throughout the season, to give myself one less headache on selection day. Last year I rode van der Sar all year, which was great for that epic 9 game clean sheet run, but was it really the best strategy? The answer is almost certainly no, especially when you consider that I, along with around a quarter of the league, held Schwarzer from day one - who only went on to lead all keepers in scoring despite only costing 4m. Most would think that this was an aberration, that Schwarzer was a one off steal and no other can give that kind of value. However, the top four keepers in 2008-09 in terms of points per million spent (PPMS) all cost less than 5m and Sorensen at 4...

As we start to assemble our new teams, it is inevitable that in order to satisfy our thirst for stars - Gerrard (12.5), Lampard (12.5) or Torres (11.5) - we will need to save money elsewhere in our squad. This first post will focus on the goalkeepers available for the minimum price (4m) Thomas Sorensen Based on last year's points Sorensen is clearly the pick of the bargains and appears undervalued, having outscored the likes of Robert Green (5m) and David James (5m) last year. The key to Sorensen's value is that Stoke are so solid at home. When looking for a sub keeper the total goals conceded is not so much of an issue (its unlikely for you to play Sorensen when he visits Old Trafford for example). The key is that you can rely on the sub when the matchup is good, an area in which Stoke excelled last year. They conceded just 15 goals at home, keeping no less than 9 clean sheets and only conceded more than 1 goal once after struggling in their first three games. Sorensen ...