PLFantasy

I'm currently feeling pretty sorry for myself and my team after a miserable fantasy weekend to follow up on the dismal midweek stretch of games. Let's start with the good: of the 6 clean sheets this week, 3 of the teams were ranked in my top 5 so hopefully you were able to rack up some defensive points this week. My captain picks were weak with only Arshavin, Lampard and Dunne providing any kind of contribution for their teams. The premium players this week were generally poor with Drogba, Torrer, Rooney, Gerrard, Anelka, Adebayor and Defoe all having off weeks with only Lampard and Arshavin giving any kind of production. The big points once again came from mid price or even budget players like Abou Diaby, Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff. It is becoming almost as important to get these budget picks as right as your premium players such is the gulf between the best and average budget picks. Having lost ground on other managers in the past few weeks am I firmly in differentiate mod...

A few of us have turned our attentions to longer term replacements and transfer targets to fill our rosters into the Christmas period and beyond. A factor to consider is the 2010 African Cup of Nations that runs from 10 - 31 January. However, recent reports suggest that some players could leave as early as 27 December to allow for them to prepare for the tournament. Players will miss gameweeks 20-22 for the group stage and up to gameweek 24 for teams that reach the final four. Below is a list of players likely to miss at least some time due to the tournament: Alex Song Emmanuel Eboue Andre Bikey Michael Essien Jon Obi Mikel Solomon Kalou Didier Drogba Joseph Yobo Yakubu John Paintsil Seyi Olofinjana Kamel Ghilas Daniel Cousin Kolo Toure Emmanuel Adebayor Aruna Dindane Nadir Belhadj Hassan Yebda Mamady Sidibe John Mensah Sebastien Bassong Benoit Assou Ekotto The headlines are of course the Chelsea and City players but the loss of players like Assou Ekotto, Bikey and Bassong will be blo...