PLFantasy

Clean Sheet Rankings Powered by Tableau Attacking Rankings Powered by Tableau Individual Rankings On a recent FanGraphs podcast, guest Dan Szymborski spoke briefly about the difference between projections and predictions. Szymborski is the creator of the ZiPS baseball projection system which uses a combination of historic data and minor league stats to project future production. The key point here for us is that Szymborski notes that he is keen to avoid having a computer model do things that a computer isn't very good at, such as judging whether a niggly knee injury will keep a player out or whether a manager gave a hint in his latest press conference that someone might be rotated. He therefore distinguishes between projections - which are computer generated and focus on factors we can quantify - and predictions which use those projections along with other factors that are best left to the human mind to factor. Given a few comments I have seen where the below ...

I try not to get involved in too much "will-he-won't-he" speculation in these pages with, for example, the weekly statistical rankings being provided regardless of rotation risk. I'm not saying, of course, that this shouldn't be a factor, only that I'm in no position to offer a worthwhile opinion, other than collating other news stories (which are often based on nonsense quotes from managers anyway). There are plenty of other sites who offer opinions on whether Tevez will play or if Vidic has recovered from injury but in almost all cases it's pure guess work and so I try and stay away from such discussions. With that in mind, my initial reaction to Ba's move was negative. I have no idea whether he will play every week at Chelsea, and while you'd think it would extremely odd for a player to leave a good team to go and ride the bench, other players have done the exact same thing before. All I therefore see is a player who has gone from being the e...

Powered by Tableau As in prior weeks, each player is assigned a 'buy', 'hold/monitor' or 'sell' status. These do not necessarily reflect what I would personally do, rather what I suggest to be a decision based in logic. For example, I might feel that Rooney represents better value than van Persie, but I would still 'buy' the Dutchman's success and consider him very ownable. The different assigned statuses are summarised as: Buy - the player can be purchased immediately taking consideration of his playing time, fixtures, injury status etc. This status does not necessarily mean you should buy him now as it depends who else you own, only that it is reasonable to do so. Hold, and/or monitor - if you own the player you're not in a rush to sell him but there's sufficient risk here to justify potential buyers holding off. Sell - the player has too many risks and should either be sold or not purchased. This does not mean he might not ha...

Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Podolski, Walcott Subs: Martinez, Mertesacker, Rosicky, Giroud, Ramsey, Coquelin, Gervinho Nothing really to note here in terms of lineup issues with Mertesacker apparently struggling for fitness rather than being benched. The ineffectiveness of the team going forward could well lead to changes next game, though Wenger is one of the managers who tends to stick his plans more than most so I wouldn't be expecting anything too drastic. I'm still a touch concerned that Giroud comes into this side and Walcott slides back into midfield, but given the fact he'd still have significant value in that role too, it wouldn't put me off pulling the trigger Walcott during this gameweek. Aston Villa Guzan, Lowton, Clark,  Stevens,  Herd,  Bennett, Delph, Westwood, Albrighton, Benteke , Weimann Subs: Given, Ireland, Holman, Bowery, Bannan, Lichaj, Carruthers ...

I've missed a couple of 'fanning the flames' pieces over the festive period as the games have simply come too quickly to stay on top of. Given the fact that the wildcard window is about to open, I thought it might be useful to look over the last four  gameweeks of action and perform the same analysis as we normally do; deciding whether their success is legitimately repeatable. As in prior weeks, each player is assigned a 'buy', 'hold/monitor' or 'sell' status. These do not necessarily reflect what I would personally do, rather what I suggest to be a decision based in logic. For example, I might feel that Rooney represents better value than van Persie, but I would still 'buy' the Dutchman's success and consider him very ownable. The different assigned statuses are summarised as: Buy - the player can be purchased immediately taking consideration of his playing time, fixtures, injury status etc. This status does not necessarily mean yo...