PLFantasy

Looking back at last season Provided decent value at the back with 9 clean sheets, evenly spread between home (4) and away (5). Failed to score in 10 games, though only 3 of these were at St James' Park where the Magpies are deadly. 2.16 GPG at home was second only to Man Utd Not a great deal of production from the 'keepers (2.8 PPG ) though they did deliver decent value as Harper and particularly Krul came at a very low price. The defensive unit provided decent value for money (9th in P$ ) and made useful spot starters. Whoever solidifies there place in the side alongside Coloccini and Jose Enrique should provide decent value again, particular is it's any of the 4.0m options. The midfield was also fairly average (13th in PPG and P$ ), especially when you take out bonus magnets Barton and Nolan Amazingly, the front line gave the best value in the league with a P$ of 1.33. The problem was that the points were widely dispersed between 4 or 5 players, without muc...

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...

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...

The league title might be decided this weekend but the fantasy season keeps going and with three gameweeks left there is still plenty to play for. On a personal level I set the bar for a successful season at 2,000 points so anyone flirting with that still has something to aim for. Add in countless mini leagues that remain unsettled and the importance of these games becomes clear. The key to the week is undoubtedly the DGWs for City and Spurs though be careful about over doing it here as the matchup between the two doesn't play out as a great fixture for either. Also consider that Spurs have to go to Anfield next week before loading up on too many of Redknapp's boys. Clean Sheet Rankings Man City (5 - 2) and (10 - 3) Fulham (9 - 4) Man Utd (10 - 6) Tottenham (5 - 7) and (2 - 3) Aston Villa (6 - 8) Bolton (5 - 8) Newcastle (4 - 5) Everton (5 - 6) West Ham (4 - 5) Wolves (3 - 7) Stoke (6 - 2) Chelsea (4 - 0) Wigan (3 - 4) Arsenal (4 - 3) Liverpool (5 - 3) West Br...

I'm putting all the design nonsense to one side to get down to some actual fantasy writing. As I'm sure most of you are chomping at the bit to get into your transfers/lineups so I will get straight down to business. Clean Sheet Rankings Aston Villa (0.43) Arsenal (0.49) Chelsea (0.56) Man City (0.69) Everton (0.72) Bolton (0.72) Newcastle (0.72) Fulham (0.77) Man Utd (0.82) Blackburn (1.26) Wolves (1.26) Wigan (1.60) Blackpool (1.72) Liverpool (1.74) Stoke (1.93) Sunderland (1.95) Birmingham (2.05) Tottenham (2.44) West Brom (2.79) West Ham (4.53) Captain Rankings Cesc Fabregas: Arsenal are the top rated team for the week with an expected 4.5 goals. Arsenal have scored 10 league goals with Fabregas on the pitch this season and he has scored or assisted three of them. This would suggest he should notch points this week and I wouldn't bet against him getting one of each, even after his penalty miss last week. Dimitar Berbatov: 38 points in 4 home ga...

This week seems to be a metaphor for the financial crisis at Portsmouth - we all knew it was coming but our plans were probably insufficient. With 6 teams not playing at all and only 2 enjoying a double, many of us are going to struggle to field a full strength side this week without drastic changes. In truth that gives us an advantage as the average punter will either stay put with their weakened side or overreact and spend 20 points bringing in new players. If you do need to make transfers, let's look at which of your players with a bye week should be sold and which would be better kept: Aston Villa - Hold With no game in week 28 either, many of us sold the likes of Milner last week in anticipation of their double week vacation. If you stuck by your Villains then it might be worth holding on again if you can given their double gameweek in week 30 (@Sto, @Wig) followed by a home derby against Wolves. I think these boys should have been sold in week 28 but if you made it through th...

Gameweek 15 Fixtures Portsmouth v Burnley Arsenal v Stoke City Aston Villa v Hull City Blackburn v Liverpool West Ham v Man Utd Wigan v Birmingham Wolves v Bolton Man City v Chelsea Fulham v Sunderland Everton v Tottenham In a week where many focus their attention on tomorrow's world cup draw, there are some excellent looking fantasy games that should see some big points after a couple of up and down weeks for many of us. Villa and United each provide plenty of fantasy options and face opponents leaking goals a plenty this season (2.57 GPG and 2.14 GPG respectively). Three excellent defensive opportunities arise this week, with three teams given predicted to concede less than 0.5 GPG (Villa, Fulham and Arsenal). After a flurry of big name injuries over the past month, the situation is starting to improve and we may even get Torres back this week . Of course as the fantasy Gods giveth they also taketh away with Carlton Cole out for 'several weeks' and Dunn's status unko...

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...

Pretty quiet fantasy day today despite 15 goals being scored in 5 games. Goalscorers like Yebda (0.0%), Vennegoor of Hesselink (0.3%) and Fletcher (0.5%) ensured that most teams will have failed to score too many points, as will the fact that the only clean sheet was kept by Portsmouth, on the road! The only fantasy star to register a goal for the week was the impressive Darren Bent who was also credited with a man of the match award of 3 points. Having missed out through the first 6 games, Bent now seems to have got the pundits attention having notched back-to-back clean sheets, despite the fact that Cana or Cattermole were widely praised as the dominate players in the fixture. This added scoring category makes Bent even better and the fact he went to Old Trafford and scored makes him not only a guaranteed every week play, but also a captain candidate if the matchup looks good. The biggest game in fantasy terms was Sunderland's surprise draw at Old Trafford which reaffir...

02 October 2009 (Manchester) -- Pure Juice manager Chris Glover is no stranger to controversy having ditched club captain Lampard back in week 5 and shockwaves have rocked Juice again with news that both Shaun Wright Phillips and Richard Dunne have both been sold and replaced by in-form winger Aaron Lennon and Arsenal defender/midfielder Alex Song. "I feel like both lads give us something different and will help us in the long run to rack up a higher points haul" , said Glover. "I was concerned with having Dunne and Collins from Villa and we really thought it was time to ride the Arsenal fixture list while the going is good". There's no arguing about the Lennon pickup, though some pundits are suggesting that Song is not guaranteed first team football at the Emirates and therefore looks like a risk for the Juice boss: "I think with Denilson out Song is a good prospect and we are sure he can do a job for us in the coming weeks" . Glover's decision t...

The dust has settled from the Champions League which brings to a close a mixed midweek for English sides. Liverpool were undone by a very impressive Fiorentina side while United's win was tainted by an injury to Michael Owen , though if any fantasy manager is sticking by the former England star at 7.9m, they need more help than I can provide in the next few paragraphs. Arsenal looked okay despite leaving it late to see off Olympiakos on Tueday , while Chelsea continued a poor weak with a mundane display against minnows Apoel . With all those distractions behind us its time to focus on the fantasy week ahead, and where better to start than at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea entertain Liverpool in the fixture of the week. Gameweek 7 Fixtures Bolton v Tottenham Burnley v Birmingham Hull City v Wigan Wolves v Portsmouth Man Utd v Sunderland Arsenal v Blackburn Everton v Stoke City West Ham v Fulham Chelsea v Liverpool Aston Villa v Man City The fixture of the week is undoubtedly t...

It seems sometimes that Arsene Wenger's side are polarising in the Premier League despite being, for me, the second most enjoyable side in the world to watch (after European Champions Barcelona). Fans of the other big four sides mock their lack of trophies and others call them underachievers or even cheats . Whatever their merits, they have been in sublime goal scoring form this year (17 goals in 5 games) and their upcoming fixtures look promising. A few questions have been posed over where we should rate Cesc and company and who looks likely to play in the coming weeks, so lets have an in-depth look at their team and what we can expect over the next few weeks. Who will play in Wenger's bes t eleven? It appears that eight spots are pretty much locked down, and will be occupied by the same players barring injury or the occasional rest. These are Almunia (6.0), Clichy (6.3), Gallas (6.6), Vermaelen (6.7) and Sagna (6.3) at the back; Fabregas (10.6) in midfield and Arshavin (10.7...

Another great weekend of action is in the books, and some interesting conclusions can be drawn: The big four is still a big four, at least for now. The two big challengers stepped up, and were duly dispatched by their more successful neighbours, with Spurs putting up less of a fight than City. City were unfortunate to lose in the circumstances but overall their defensive frailty, particularly in the air, were exposed and they will struggle to break the big four unless this area is improved. Spurs meanwhile were easily dismissed, and again, despite being unlucky to not get a penalty for a foul on Robbie Keane, they were easily the weaker side on the day. The big strikers keep on rolling. I feel somewhat vindicated for my controversial decision to drop Lampard in favour of big name strikers, as Drogba, Van Persie, Torres, Rooney and Agbonlahor all finding the net. Of the 8m+ midfielders only Cesc, Kuyt and Ballack scored for their respective sides. The promoted sides are for real and all...

Is Adebayor ready to join the ranks of the fantasy elite? Is he worthy of not just a roster spot but also the captain's armband? Let's take a look at the facts . . . Today's goal at Portsmouth maintained Adebayor's 100% strike record for the season and thrust him forward in the argument for the league's best fantasy striker. I have said previously that this is going to be the year of the big name striker and for the first time in memory, you might want to invest upwards of 20m on front men rather than defenders and midfielders from the big four (or six as the case might now be). Five top strikers are starting to distance themselves this year, namely Torres, Rooney, Drogba, Defoe and Adebayor. In terms of value (points per million spent) Adebayor (.867) is currently top of this list ahead of Drogba (.816), Defoe (.811), Rooney (.746) and Torres (.554). Lets look at how his future production compares with his fellow strikers: Goals The five strikers noted above have a...