PLFantasy

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P90  Points per 90 minutes at home/away based on the player's fixture  QG  Number of quality games for the season (6 or more points)  BG  Number of bad games for the season (3 points or less)  %  Percentage of team goals scored or assisted  SD  Standard deviation of player scores (risk)  Rating  Percentage of team goals accounted for multiplied by expected team goals for the week. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="#"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;img alt="Dashboard 1 " src="http:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;public.tableausoftware.com&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;static&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;images&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;Ca&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;Captain_0...

Arsenal Szczesny, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Santos, Ramsey, Song, Arteta, Walcott, van Persie, Gervinho Subs: Fabianski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Djourou, Arshavin, Chamakh, Benayoun, Coquelin. No real surprises in this side, who have really blossomed into a good attacking unit after a rocky start to the year. Aside from the defensive Song, the front six all deserve at least some fantasy consideration though I'd probably suggest that Arteta and Gervinho remain a bit overpriced at the moment. As always I don't know what to make of Walcott, who has turned in 5 straight quality fantasy performances but yet still frustrates anyone watching him regularly. If you can't stretch to the ~10m range though he looks like a decent option. Oh, and Van Persie is awesome, that is all. Aston Villa Given, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Herd, Jenas, Bannan, Albrighton, Agbonlahor, Bent Subs: Ireland, Delph, Heskey, Petrov, Clark, Guzan, Cuellar. We're seeing some rotation...

We're under three weeks until the start of the season so team previews are more than due. In order to save time, I have kept the posts to a scouting notebook style, rather than fluffing them up with prose which doesn't really teach you anything. The aim is to post a couple a day to give everyone time to digest them, ask questions and, more than likely, object to something contained within. First up, a deep source of fantasy talent: Arsenal. Headlines 72 goals scored ranked second in the league, 2.05 GPG rate on the road better than every other team by over half a goal. Failed to score on only 6 occasions, only bettered by Man Utd (5) Second in bonus points received (142), again only trailing the Champions (154) Sixth in clean sheets (13) overall, but dramatic splits between home (9 - 4th) and away (4 - t8th) Squad depth looks worryingly deep from a fantasy perspective with arguably the best squad Wenger has had since Henry, Pires et al graced the Emirates pitch. Looking...

There are always new lessons to be learned when it comes to fantasy football, even when you get into the last gasps of a fading season. Last week, a fantasy rambler not too far from here noted: “Mario Balotelli . . . might be worth a punt but it really would be a risk at this point. Only those needing to gain ground on opponents should apply.” A couple of Friday night beers and YouTube videos can do funny things to a fantasy team though and come Saturday morning, Balotelli was lacing up his boots for my team, despite the fact I had everything to lose and nothing to gain in my main mini league. We’ve no more double gameweeks to get carried away with but the lesson stands – don’t overpay for upside unless you’re totally desperate. With two weeks to go a majority of people probably are desperate but 4 point hits rarely work out and I would almost never recommend using them in a non double gameweek. Observant readers might expect to see last week's Fulham clean sheet ...

I always start getting a bit nostalgic around this time of the year as reality sets in that the season is almost over and we have the long summer ahead. There are still a few weeks left though and this is an important week to negotiate with a large portion of fantasy studs involved in games against each other. The two big clashes makes for excellent TV viewing but they make fantasy lineups harder to set as players rarely have big games in the top of the table clashes. It is of course key to also remember that Spurs face the double gameweek in GW36 so be careful before you sell these assets this week due to their tough fixture. City are the other team with the double next week and given their good looking fixture this week (West Ham H) they look like solid investments right now. Clean Sheet Rankings (clean sheets kept at home or away / opponents failed to score at home or away in parenthesis) Liverpool (9 - 6) Man City (10 - 9) Blackburn (6 - 6) Birmingham (6 - 7) Chelsea (11...

Clean Sheet Rankings (clean sheets kept - opponents failed to score in parenthesis) Chelsea (10 - 8) Man Utd (9 - 4) Stoke* (2 - 4) and (5 - 6) Fulham* (3 - 3) and (8 - 5) Liverpool (7 - 4) Aston Villa (6 - 8) Tottenham (5 - 7) Sunderland (7 - 8) Blackburn (6 - 6) Wolves* (3 - 6) and (2 - 3) Man City (4 - 4) Blackpool (0 - 6) Wigan (3 - 3) Bolton* (5 - 2) and (0 - 3) Arsenal (4 - 3) Newcastle (5 - 0) Birmingham (3 - 1) West Brom (0 - 4) Everton (3 - 0) West Ham (1 - 2)  * = double gameweek Attacking Rankings (expected goals in parenthesis) Chelsea (2.48) Stoke (2.44)* Fulham (2.36)* Tottenham (2.21) Bolton (2.07)* Arsenal (1.94) Man Utd (1.64) Liverpool (1.62) Wolves (1.60)* Aston Villa (1.50) Blackpool (1.44) West Brom (1.39) Newcastle (1.21) Man City (1.15) Blackburn (1.13) Everton (1.07) Wigan (0.92) Birmingham (0.89) Sunderland (0.82) West Ham (0.75)  * = double gameweek   Captain Stats The stars seen to have aligned f...

It's vital to keep your mind with this week and not get too carried away with tuning your team up for the upcoming double gameweeks in GW33 and beyond. No matter how many doubles you have in the future, if getting them involves playing short handed in the run up, you totally negate any value you might gain. Having said that, the two highlighted DGWs lie with Arsenal and Chelsea who both enjoy a nice run of fixtures leading into the double. Arsenal in particular look to be the best investment this week though it is tough to read their injury situation with any certainty as the promising return of Fabregas and Walcott has been limited with Wenger stating he " has not decided if they will start the game ". With Van Persie also facing a late fitness the Arsenal stars look to be risky plays this week though with by the far the best fixture they might just be worth the gamble. With Denilson sidelined I would think Fabregas is the most likely to return though I think I prefer...

At time of posting I am working on the basis that all games will go ahead as planned this week, though at least the Blackpool-Liverpool game is already looking doubtful. More updates on this will of course come later in the week but I would recommend holding off on your transfers for now and definitely not paying 4 points for any moves until we are more certain who will actually play. Clean Sheet Rankings Fulham Man Utd Blackburn Wolves Blackpool Everton Aston Villa Birmingham Arsenal Man City Bolton West Ham  Wigan Stoke Chelsea Newcastle Tottenham Liverpool Sunderland West Brom Team Goals Bolton Man Utd Blackpool Aston Villa Man City Arsenal Blackburn Wolves Fulham West Brom Newcastle Chelsea Everton Tottenham Birmingham Liverpool Wigan Stoke Sunderland West Ham Team Goals (form adjusted) Bolton Man Utd Man City Blackpool West Brom Blackburn Everton Arsenal Tottenham Chelsea Liverpool Fulham Birmingham Newcastle Stoke A...

The pessimist in me is wondering where I go from here after a very successful first week in which my predictions did well and my team dominated to a three digit score . However, I am going to be positive and look to have another good week of predictions and hope to show that last week was no fluke (in reality it was probably was a fluke, as my countless failed predictions in the past show). One thing I didn't focus on last week, which I now wish I had, is the prediction tool I use to create my clean sheet rankings. Without getting too bogged down in Excel nonsense, the basic idea is to break down teams historic performance at home/away, against other teams and against certain types of team along with the corresponding data for their opponents. To get the historic data for the promoted sides I used a historic relationship between teams' performance in the EPL and the Championship to try and gross up/net down the expected goals conceded/scored. Anyway, the poin...

Milner really bailed my team out last week, thus keeping me in the running for my office championship. I hope your teams are still alive and with 3 weeks to go there is still time to score some major points and make up ground. This week is pretty vanilla with just the 10 standard games and with Ars-MnC and MnU-Tot squaring off, it makes fantasy selections tough again this week. Villa, Liverpool and to an extent Chelsea have good fixtures though the continued absence of Torres and Fabregas along with the uncertainty around Drogba , make it tough to field a dominant side this week. Defensively there are quite a few good options and I can see several team playing 4 or 5 at the back to maximum their exposure to the clean sheet opportunities. Clean Sheet Rankings (projected goals conceded in parenthesis) Chelsea (0.34) Everton (0.55) Wolves (0.55) Bolton (0.56) Man U (0.67) Aston Villa (0.68) Burnley (0.84) Blackburn (0.90) Hull (0.98) West Ham (1.04) Liverpool (1.05) Arsenal (1.17) Portsm...

Last week was a bit of a let down for many fantasy owners, with many - including me - struggling to top 40 points. The big name players continued to hurt owners with Torres sitting this week to join the likes of Rooney and Fabregas on the sidelines. With Liverpool all but out of the Champions League race and Torres focused on facing his former club Athletico in the Europa Cup, I am skeptical as to how much he will figure in the league from now on. Rooney might return this week but is a risk due to both the unpredictability of big games (nevermind big derby games) while Drogba and Lampard face a tough derby of their own as they travel to Spurs. The team of the week is therefore Villa by some distance who not only enjoy a double gameweek but also have two decent fixtures - @Portsmouth and @Hull. While I am not condoning selling Rooney for Carew straight up, if you have a high priced player and a scrub, it might be worth splitting your cash and getting a pair like Young and Agbonlahor. Th...

Week 12 Fixtures Aston Villa v Bolton Blackburn v Portsmouth Man City v Burnley Tottenham v Sunderland Wolves v Arsenal Hull City v Stoke City West Ham v Everton Wigan v Fulham Chelsea v Man Utd Liverpool v Birmingham It seems like forever since I last posted a review, which is worrying seeing as it was less than two weeks ago! Last week saw a bit of order restored to the top of the league with the best three sides right now dishing out beatings to lesser opposition. Liverpool continue to struggle and are pretty much a fantasy minefield, especially in light of Torres' continued injur ed woes . Six teams face green light defensive fixtures this week, which considering last week's season high seven clean sheets suggests defenses could be back in the money. Captain picks The rich keep getting richer at the moment and though I can't help but expect this production to stop, the trends are still strong so I'm going to keep pushing these guys while the fixtures are hot. 1. Ces...

Apologies for the lateness of the post this week, its been really tough to free time to write it so I'm afraid its a bit condensed. Hopefully be back to normal in a week or two. Gameweek 10 Fixtures Wolves v Aston Villa Birmingham v Sunderland Burnley v Wigan Hull City v Portsmouth Tottenham v Stoke City Chelsea v Blackburn Bolton v Everton Liverpool v Man Utd Man City v Fulham West Ham v Arsenal Two very appealing fantasy fixtures see Chelsea entertain Blackburn (3.67 GPG conceded) and Arsenal travelling to a struggling West Ham team (2.33 GPG conceded). A couple of clean sheet plays also look good with Spurs welcoming Stoke (0.50 GPG scored) and City getting Fulham (1.00 GPG scored). Clean Sheet Rankings 1. Chelsea 2. Aston Villa 3. Tottenham 4. Man City 5. Sunderland You have to love Chelsea this week in every facet of their game as they welcome a Blackburn side averaging just a goal a game on the road this season. Villa are statistically an ever stronger pick as they average ju...

I'm jumping the gun a bit here as I'm sure the inevitable international injury bug will bite someone midweek but I wanted to give everyone a jump on the upcoming week as we look to come out strong from our week off. Four of the big five teams have good looking fixtures and with double gameweeks on the horizon , the next few weeks could be very important. Gameweek 9 Fixtures Aston Villa v Chelsea Arsenal v Birmingham Everton v Wolves Man Utd v Bolton Portsmouth v Tottenham Stoke City v West Ham Sunderland v Liverpool Blackburn v Burnley Wigan v Man City Fulham v Hull City United are the pick of the week as they welcome a Bolton side that have not won at Old Trafford in their last 6 attempts, conceding 18 goals in those losses. Historically, Rooney has done pretty well against Bolton and I like him this week should he bounce back from the calf strain that kept him out for England. The United defense also looks like strong selection to coincide with the probable return of Edwin v...