PLFantasy

Warning: some of the following lineups may cause severe depression and bewilderment. Be assured that they are indeed Premier League lineups and take solace that we still have three weeks before the transfer deadline. If the below gets too depressing, check out the other previews for comfort: The Elite The Maybes The Promoted Aston Villa Projected lineup: Given (5.0) , Stevens (4.0) , Clark (4.5) , Vlaar (5.0) , Lichaj (4.5) , N'Zogbia (6.5), El Ahmadi (4.5) , Holman (6.0) , Delph (5.0), Weimann (5.5), Bent (8.5) This lineup would be more settled if not for the one month or longer injuries to Agbonlahor and Dunne which make the opening lineup tricky to predict. Hutton and Warnock appear to deemed surplus to requirement with Stevens, Lichaj and Lowton apparently being left to fill the void. A new arrival is surely imminent with Aaron Cresswell widely regarded as the man to take the left back spot, but for now Stevens is pencilled in by default. Though this unit should imp...

Looking back at last season Managed just 48 goals (13th) which conceding 59 (14th) in what was a pretty mediocre fantasy season in the midlands.  Three of the top five points scorers from last season (Downing, Young and Friedel) have all moved on. Villa players racked up 40 assists last season, 20 of which came from Downing (9) and Young (11). After moving to Villa, Bent added 9 goals in 16 games with a 5.4 PPG . He continued his career trend of contributing little outside of goals though (1 assist, 9 bonus points). Villa racked up just 7 clean sheets (14th) though all of them came at home which ranked 7th in the league. At 5.0m the price tags might be low enough to warrant spot starting them at home this year if this trend continues. Only Blackburn had a bigger differential between home (1.00 GPG ) and road (2.11) goals allowed. After Bent joined the team in January, Villa scored in every game but one. Villa 'keepers ranked 8th in P$ at home but 19th on the road. Given is...

With just one week to go until the big kick off, its time to run through the league, team-by-team, and assess who will play and who presents the best value. Today's post brings you the first 5 teams, with a further 5 to follow each day: Arsenal Projected team: Almunia, Clichy, Gallas, Vermaelen, Sagna, Diaby, Denilson, Fabregas, Walcott, Van Persie, Arshavin It seems that Wenger has turned to the 4-3-3 to try and improve Arsenal's fortunes with Walcott (8m) and Arshavin (11m) the favourites to play alongside Van Persie up front. I have previously stated my admiration for Arshavin , and nothing has happened in the off season to discourage this. I think he provides a striker's tally of goals (getting 5 points a time) and adds enough assists and bonus points to replace Ronaldo in the new holy trinity of fantasy football. Walcott has never really done it for me and I think he will be the first to be dropped if Wenger wants to give Bendtner or blog-favourite Carlos Vela a run o...

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...