PLFantasy

To supplement the weekly captain stats , I am going to try and post the relevant links from around the league with regards to the key players' status. Some weeks there won't be much to say, but given that I spend a good couple of hours looking though these reports anyway I figure they're worth sharing: Robin Van Persie I speculated last week that the Dutchman is probably due for a rest at some point and some ' news ' sources seem to be indicating this could be the week. The logic makes sense (supposedly easy game this week and AC Milan on the horizon) and Wenger has confirmed as much , suggesting he is 'tempted' to rest Van Persie. The generally accurate Guardian squad sheets have Van Persie starting, though that may well have been written before Wenger's latest comments. With Chamakh still away, and Henry and the Ox struggling for fitness it would be a surprise to see Van Persie miss out, but the option is clearly there. The good news is that if ...

There are always new lessons to be learned when it comes to fantasy football, even when you get into the last gasps of a fading season. Last week, a fantasy rambler not too far from here noted: “Mario Balotelli . . . might be worth a punt but it really would be a risk at this point. Only those needing to gain ground on opponents should apply.” A couple of Friday night beers and YouTube videos can do funny things to a fantasy team though and come Saturday morning, Balotelli was lacing up his boots for my team, despite the fact I had everything to lose and nothing to gain in my main mini league. We’ve no more double gameweeks to get carried away with but the lesson stands – don’t overpay for upside unless you’re totally desperate. With two weeks to go a majority of people probably are desperate but 4 point hits rarely work out and I would almost never recommend using them in a non double gameweek. Observant readers might expect to see last week's Fulham clean sheet ...

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...

After what seems like an eternity, we are back in action this week with a couple of GW27 stragglers today and tomorrow before a (close to) full program on the weekend. Before we get into the rankings though, let's run around the league and check in with those who tend to know best: the local papers (incidentally, if anyone has a recommendation for a team blog who always get big news, injuries etc right, please pass on the link and I'll add it to the league links review). The Treatment Room He's close to returning from injury but Houllier has already stated that Petrov will have to accept platooning with new arrivals Bradley and Makoun. None of this trio are fantasy worthy right now, especially given the risk of losing minutes every other week. With Sam Ricketts joining Steinsson on the sidelines, Marcos Alonso (4.0m) has a chance to earn some playing minutes for Bolton. Having arrived in the summer from Real Madrid, Alonso has struggled to settle in this term but now ...

The transfer window has closed once again with key players moving teams and a couple of fresh faces arriving from overseas. There’s not too much time to let the dust settle though as another gameweek roles round, which looks promising for the Manchester teams, while the headliner match on Sunday will give us a good opportunity to assess whether Chelsea and Liverpool have really turned the proverbial corner after both have struggled (comparatively) in recent times. Clean Sheet Rankings (clean sheets kept at home/away – opposition failed to score at home/away) Man City (7 – 6) Chelsea (8 – 4) Tottenham (4 – 4) Aston Villa (5 – 5) Stoke (4 – 4) Man Utd (3 – 2) Fulham (3 – 3) West Ham (3 – 4) Sunderland (4 – 3) Everton (3 – 5) Arsenal (4- 2) Wigan (2 – 3) Birmingham (2 – 2) Blackpool (5 – 2) Blackburn (0 – 3) Wolves (2 – 3) Newcastle (3 – 2) Bolton (0 -3) Liverpool (3 – 1) Wes t Brom (0-3) Attacking Rankings Man City Chelsea Man Utd Arsenal Blackburn Tottenham ...

It's been a long weekend thanks to the lack of EPL action, only tempered by a great weekend of NFL action and some decent Italian games. With just three games on the slate - one featuring two teams (Blackburn and West Ham) who basically have zero fantasy options - there isn't too much analysis for the week, but that hasn't stopped the news stories rolling in, particularly with regards to potential transfers in the new year. The Chatter Steve Kean is the bookies favorite to get the Blackburn job with some other suspect names like Dave Jones and Stuart Pearce also in the mix. Some higher profile names are also in the mix (Martin Jol, Martin O'Neill) but this chatter seems to have cooled after the early news stories . Without reading too much into one game, Blackburn had much more possession this week than in the previous home game and there was a clear concerted effort to play the ball wide with Gamst Pedersen being particularly involved. Pedersen is already havin...

One of my favorite daily columns to read is Buster Olney's daily baseball blog post which gives links from around the league, serving as a one stop shop for anyone wanting to keep up to date. I am therefore going to try and humbly replicate a similar post here either every day or every other day depending on how much good stuff I can find. Any recommended links (great stories, videos, breaking news etc) would be welcomed either by posting below or sending the link to @plfantasy . Also any feedback on whether people like the post and/or find it useful would be welcomed. As always thanks for reading and enjoy the below feast of footballing goodness: The Chatter One of my former favorite players, Frank Leboeuf, thinks Chelsea are too old and must beat Man Utd this week. Ferguson however suggests that Chelsea's problem is their lack of depth compared to prior years. Another former legend, Marcel Desailly, feels that the criticism of Ancelotti is laughable and is confident go...