Fantasy Football: Weekly Preview

Fantasy Football is a science. One which very few have learnt and even fewer have mastered. It has very little to do which having an extraordinary level of intellect or a very deep knowledge of the game.All it requires is a little bit of common sense which we possess in abundance.

So let’s get down to business and give you a walk-through for this week’s English Premier League action so that you know who you should stick with and who needs to leave these shores and never be allowed to come back in ever again.

First up the matches you should be investing in :

Chelsea(at Home) vs Stoke :

Memories of the 7-0 thrashing of the Cottagers in 2010 ring fresh but since Chelsea have changed, Stoke not so much.Stoke showed determination in their draw at home against Manchester City last week and will look to continue their decent form. But it looks highly unlikely as they’ll be able to get a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge.Picking the usual Chelsea suspects seems to be the logical choice despite their draw against QPR last time around.

Lanky Stoke forward Peter Crouch has somewhat surprisingly scored more fantasy points than Robin van Persie this season.

Prediction: 3-0 to Chelsea

Newcastle(at home) vs Norwich :

Newcastle got out of jail last time around and would’ve surely lost had even one of the legitimate Everton goals had stood. They have looked out of sorts and have managed a paltry 5 points from 4 games.Papiss Cisse has looked out of sorts for club though he’s been scoring some brilliant gaols for Senegal.The positive is Demba Ba who got off the bench and scored a brace against Everton and looks to get back in the same form that got his accolades throughout the first half last season.Norwich lost 5-0 on opening day of the season but have somewhat steadied the ship with three consecutive draws.It does look like a straightforward win for Alan Pardew’s boys.

Prediction : 2-0 to Newcastle

Man City(at home) vs Arsenal :

Despite both teams playing away Champions league fixtures and there being just six goals scored in the last six meetings between Arsenal and Manchester City with all three encounters last season ending 1-0, we expect this game to be lively and high scoring.

Amazingly, Man City have scored just one goal in the last five Premier League games against Arsenal. Keeping history and Arsenal’s resilient defence aside, we expect Aguero and/or Tevez to score. But after putting 2 past Spanish Champions Real Madrid in midweek they should be on a high.Gervinho could be a steal at 7.3 m being classified as a midfielder after having scored in midweek and two against Southampton.Cazorla and Podolski have both score heavily in Fantasy Football points so far and will be looking to attack at a Man City defence which has shown frailties in the Champions League.

Prediction : 2-2 draw

Liverpool(at home) vs Manchester United :

It looks straightforward on paper. Manchester United are second in the league. Just one point off the top. Liverpool are well… 17th. And they have played more matches than they have scored points. But there’s something about these Liverpool-United matches that throws form out of the window.

If you have picked any of the Liverpoool players we are very sorry for you. Steven Gerrard though has the knack of rising to the occasion against United.

Manchester United got an unconvincing win against Galatasaray in the weekend with the entire team barring maybe Rafael and Kagawa looking out of sorts. Kagawa should definitely start with United looking to attack as opposed to their more cautious approach at Anfield last year.Robin van Persie should start unopposed and with no Ashley Young to challenge for his place Nani should too.We expect a highly combustible match especially if Patrice Evra is involved though we’d love to see Buttner being given another go.

Prediction : 3-1 win for United.

Player Picks:

Hazard and Mata against Stoke at home.

Michu , Graham and Dyer for their home clash against Everton.

Darren Bent against the porous defence of Southampton.

Demba Ba and maybe Cisse against Norwich.

Team of the Week

GK: Cech

D: J. Olsson – Ivanovic – S. Taylor

M: Bale – Hazard – Cazorla – Michu

F: Tevez – Ba – van Persie

Subs: Foster – Gervinho – Clyne – Lowton