PLFantasy

No huge deals happened but a couple of lower profile trades could have significant fantasy impact: Michael Turner (4.5) Turner has joined Sunderland in a 6.5m deal which certainly has some fantasy value. Turner led all defenders with 4 goals last year and now he the chance at some clean sheets he looks to be good value. Ferdinand and Bardsley can be had for the same price but Turner's attacking ability and bonus point potential make him excellent value and possibly the biggest winner in the window's final dealings. Niko Kranjcar (6.9) I am a big fan of Kranjcar's ability and his 2m deal to Spurs comes at the right time with Modric out with a fractured le g . At 6.9m he was overvalued at Pompey but playing opposite Lennon and alongside Huddlestone and Palacios should breath life back into the Croatian's career. The natural replacement for Modric is Lennon (7.8) but for those wanting to save a bit of cash, Kranjcar looks like a great bet at 6.9. In the long term (when M...

One of the most overlooked aspects of Fantasy Football is the matchups our players face each week. Most players seem to simply follow trends (which can sometimes work) and pick those players who have racked up alot of points to date or in the previous week. However, this obviously ignores the fixtures on the horizon and often leads to wasted transfers and point chasing. By assigning a figure (1, 2 or 3) to each team based on their performance to date - in terms of goals scored and conceded whilst at home and away - we can generate a strength of schedule for defensive and attacking players. Defensive players Based on the next 6 games, the best strength of schedules for defensive players are: - Liverpool 1.3 - Sunderland 1.3 - Aston Villa 1.7 - Blackburn 1.7 - Chelsea 1.7 - Hull 1.7 (an average schedule would be 2.0) This clearly shows that Liverpool have a combination of the league's second best defense along with the easiest defensive schedule, which should lead to bumper points fo...

Everton v Fulham No regular first teamers are out for either side. Everton players are a good bet this week with Fulham not travelling too well this year (only 2 goals in 4 games scored). The impressive Fulham defense is less so on the road having failed to keep a clean sheet so far. One to watch: Tim Cahill Chelsea v Sunderland Carvalho is back on the sidelines and could be out for up to three weeks. This makes Alex (5.6) an interesting prospect once more with Sunderland at home this week and decent fixtures after that (@Bla, @WH, New). Ballack and Drogba are also sidelined, though there is a chance Cole could return. If you own him for some reason I'd probably keep him out for one more week. Craig Gordon is also a doubt though you want to avoid him anyway in what should be a win for the home side. One to watch: Alex Man Utd v Hull Hargreaves and Scholes are still out which means Carrick, Fletcher and Anderson will battle it our for playing time. I wouldn't suggest that any o...