Gameweek 8 Review

Wow! Another highscoring EPL weekend, with 33 goals scored from 10 matches. With only 2 teams managed to get a clean sheet, Many will be wondering why to spend so much money on good keepers when you get the same little point for all! Yeah, that's something for thought. But it's different story on defenders. We've got some defenders able to deliver assists or goals, but this rarely happens on keepers.

Agenda for this review:
1) Score prediction review.
2) Players who get gameweek score of double figures.
3) Top players performance.
4) Other players looking to pick up their forms.
5) New statistical reference.
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(1)

Let's start the review by checking the score predictions. I hope you had already started to do the same, as I believe it will help you in your game to a certain extent.

Legend: [my prediction] (results)]

Bolton v Tottenham [1-2](2-2) wrong.
Burnley v Birmingham [2-0](2-1) correct outcome.
Hull City v Wigan [1-0](2-1) correct margin.
Wolves v Portsmouth [2-1](0-1) wrong.
Man Utd v Sunderland [3-0](2-2) wrong.
Arsenal v Blackburn [2-0](6-2) correct outcome.
Everton v Stoke City [2-0](1-1) wrong.
West Ham v Fulham [1-0](2-2) wrong.
Chelsea v Liverpool [2-1](2-0) correct outcome.
Aston Villa v Man City [1-2](1-1) wrong.

I only get 4 correct outcome. There are 5 draws for this week and I've got it all wrong. Luckily it didn't reflect too much on my fantasy results.

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(2)

Next we'll have a check on players who get more than 10pts this gameweek.
From here you will see clearly why the average score is so low for this gameweek. That's because only 5 players got double figures. And out of these 5 players, only 3 are popular choice. Fabregas had become the difference between success and failure for this week, with the controlling 22pts. You probably will be thinking why you still hold Lampard or Gerrard while they are so expensive yet not deliver.

As usual, lets talk about keepers first. Only Hilario and James get a clean sheet, while Robinson and Sorensen get 5pts each for the save points. Robinson also have an assist to his account.

22pts: Fabregas(10.8)
There's not a player that can go on fine form all season (maybe Ronaldo, but he's gone), but looking at Arsenal's coming fixtures, it would be wise to buy him as soon as you can. I think most people already buy him as soon as Arsenal's last match is over.

12pts: Zayatte(4.0)
Used to be 3.9, the lowest value you can find in fantasy game. Actually many managers have him in the team.... in the sub bench, to be precise. You probally regret putting him at subs, but the truth is, at such low cost, no one really think of making him a first choice. Well, next time you might consider putting him in when Hull City play at home.

11pts: Dunne(5.3)
The strange trend of players scoring against former club continues. He's certainly worth buying, but let's check the fixture and determine the best timing to bring him in. (Definitely not this week, as Villa face Chelsea at home)

10pts: Yebda(4.5), Krancjar(6.9)
Yebda is a total unknown to fantasy managers. He'll need more work to show his value.
People have been expecting Krancjar to deliver ever since he come to Tottenham. This could be a good start. But I'll still prefer Lennon and Jenas to him.

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(3)

Now we'll look at how the top players performed this week. This is important as most fantasy managers will have them in their line-up so you might fall behind when they combined to perform in the same gameweek.

Sorting by price:

Gerrard: 1pt as Liverpool lost to Chelsea.
Lampard: 3pts for the clean sheet. It's been a long time since he last score a goal.
Torres: 2pts as he failed to score against Chelsea.
Rooney: 2pts. Two games scoring blank.
Drogba: 8pts from 2 assists.
Arshavin: 8pts from 1 goal and 1 bonus pt.
Fabregas: 22pts from 1 goal and 4 assists plus 3 bonus pts.
Anelka: 6pts from 1 goal.
Adebayor: 5pts from 1 assist. First game after back from suspension.
van Persie: 7pts from 1 goal and 2pts bonus.
Berbatov: 6pts from 1 goal.
Kuyt: 2pts as Liverpool lost to Chelsea.

Fabregas is certainly the pick of top players for this gameweek. As for next gameweek I expect Man Utd and Arsenal to lead the scoring for top players.

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(4)

Now let's check out a few cheaper players you may want to fit into your team.

Pick-up from the lot:

Legend: Gameweek score/Season score

8/26 Bikey (Bur, 4.0)
He did well during home games. It's about good timing to bring him in on GW9 or GW10.

5/18 Warnock (AV, 4.9)
He's certainly cheap as a first choice defender for Aston Villa.

7/30 Dunn (Bla, 5.4)
He's the top point scorer in Blackburn's team. If Blackburn are to win, he's sure to perform.

7/12 Vennegoor (Hul, 5.0)
Now he's looking a better choice than Ghilas. Hull have some interesting fixtures coming up so let's keep an eye on him.

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(5)

New statistical reference:

you can also access the spreadsheets from the featured section at the left column.

I have added another new features into the spreadsheets:



Here you can view the gameweek top scorer and overall points leader after each gameweek. Might not be too helpful but it's an interesting statistic.

In the next statistical topic I'll discuss how these statistic data helps in your game and how it makes the game even more interesting.

Add-on userscript for enhanced fantasy stats!

Introducing...

Razzas Fantasy Premier League script BETA

I do not write the script. I'm just recommending it to all as I think it will ease you a lot in your stats checking.

Here's a userscript that can be installed to your firefox browser. But prior to this you have to install the firefox add-on, Greasemonkey. This add-on will allow you to install userscript that uncovers more information from a website. Lets see what you will have after installing the user script.

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There will be extra imformations on your team view during line-up or transfer. Beside the player's name it will also show you the player's price, value and form, while in transfer view it will show you player's starting price, current price, price you purchase, and price for selling. You can unselect this feature by untick the "Show extra player info" box at the right column.



You will see the "My Team" option on the first drop down menu. This option is very useful to check your team's status, such as player's form, price change or total points.



On the second drop down menu you will see more added options. But most of them are not so useful. Last season's points and Nett Transter Ins/Outs are the useful one for your stats analysis.

There are also other added options in fantasy manager's ranking view. You can have an explore on it! I hope you can benefit from it.

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Gameweek 8 Preview

It's been another midweek with European club matches. So far all EPL teams did well, except for Liverpool, who lost 2-0 at Fiorentina. Also making the headlines is Giggs who scored his 150th goal for Man Utd in the win over Wolfsburg. He also set up the winning goal for Carrick. Now he's justifying the PFA Player of the Year title he won last season.

Moving into October we see some of the teams have very favorable fixtures ahead. Let's find them out and make use of this information.

Agenda for this preview:
1) Results prediction.
2) Short term analysis.
3) Long term analysis.
4) Hot cake of the week.

You will see this gameweek's preview reflected heavily on my current team as I've just used up my wildcard, hoping to pull my team out of the slump. Anyway, let's see how well I can do.

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(1)

I wonder if EPL managers have nowadays become more aggressive in their team strategy. But I would be very happy if here comes another high scoring gameweek.

Gameweek 8 fixture: (Unguaranteed predictions in bracket)

Bolton v Tottenham [1-2]
Burnley v Birmingham [2-0]
Hull City v Wigan [1-0]
Wolves v Portsmouth [2-1]
Man Utd v Sunderland [3-0]
Arsenal v Blackburn [2-0]
Everton v Stoke City [2-0]
West Ham v Fulham [1-0]
Chelsea v Liverpool [2-1]
Aston Villa v Man City [1-2]

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(2)

The author recommend three teams to look into, if you are searching for a short term transfer.

Wolves
They are facing the bottom club this week. Well, maybe themselves are not far from bottom either, but this is a game that they must win, and it's worth putting all their efforts into. Kevin Doyle(5.4) and Andrew Keogh(4.9) will be all out to make the most of the chances.


Doyle and Keogh are the two main fantasy scorer of a low scoring team.


Everton
The chance for a third consecutive win is waving at them. No reason to lose it. I believe it's still not too late to bring in their defenders. Baines(6.3) and Distin(5.0) are my top picks.


Baines do set pieces, and Distin is cheap.


Burnley
They impressed me alot during the win over Sunderland. I look forward to the attacking combination of Elliott(5.2) and Nugent(5.2) again. Birmingham have not scored more than one goal in a match so far so there should not be a problem for Burnley to grab a win here.

Let's see if Elliott and Nugent can link up again to make the victory.

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(3)

Let's look over a longer period to pick the candidates for transfer
We have 3 teams here and a lot of good players to pick. The question is whether you can afford them.

Tottenham - Bol(A),Por(A),Sto(H),Ars(A),Sun(H),Wig(H)
They actually have a good path up front. 5 favourable games out of the next 6. Who knows, they might even beat Arsenal by that time! It should be safe to bet on them after watching their last game's performance. Take a close look at Jenas(6.2) and Huddlestone(5.2). They are two good options if you can't afford Lennon(8.1), who have already priced up 0.6. However, note that Huddlestone may play out-of-position in the defense as many key defenders are injured. Meanwhile in the forward, Defoe(9.0) are doubtful with broken hand so Keane(8.5) might be a better option.


Tottenham have a lot of great talents in midfield. Jenas and Huddlestone might be cheap but not lacking in talents.


Man Utd - Sun(H),Bol(H),Liv(A),Bla(H),Che(A),Eve(H),Por(A)
Taking out Liverpool and Chelsea, the rests looks easy to tame. Over a long period you should earn more than you lost from the top team clashes. I believe you can try your luck on Foster(5.0) and Giggs(7.1), two player none has expected to play such an important role so far, but has made the enough share of contribution to send MU top.


Foster and Giggs are the affordable selections from a top team.


Arsenal - Bla(H),Bir(H),WH(A),Tot(H),Wol(A),Sun(A)
Their next two games already gives you enough reason to brings in a few of them, right? Why not bring in Vermaelen(6.8)...if you haven't? Looks more economic than Johnson(7.9), right? Also try van Persie(10.1), who has made an assist or scored in all but one fixture so far.


Vermaelen and van Persie looks good for long term investment at this point.

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(4)

Now for fantasy manager's top pick of the week.


Yeah, I know it should be Fletcher, Giggs and Vermaelen that's up front, but I wish to talk about the next two players who had not come up in the last two of my preview article.

Torres(11.5) may have scored a hat-trick in the last game, but judging from Liverpool's fixture it might not be a good timing to bring him in now, if you hadn't own him in your team. Tamir Cohen(4.6) on the other hand, is such a good choice for your sub, even for your first choice, considering his cheap price tag and the points he had scored so far. It won't surprise me if he score again this week.

Lastly, try to make the best use out of the updated spreadsheet's data!! Good luck!!

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Gameweek 7 Review

EPL looks to be fully fired up since the september restart. for the third gameweek in succession, a total of more than 30 goals has been scored in a weekend. (this week 37 goals) Even though there are Champions League games this midweek, the big 4 do not seem to be letting loose any of their efforts to reach the top of EPL table. This is simply a great news for all fantasy managers. (yeah, we like to see more and more goals!!)

Agenda for this review:
1) Score prediction review.
2) Players who get gameweek score of double figures.
3) Top players performance.
4) Other players looking to pick up their forms.
5) New statistical reference.
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(1)

Let's start the review by checking the score predictions.

Legend: [my prediction] (results)]

Portsmouth v Everton [1-3](0-1)correct outcome.
Birmingham v Bolton [1-0](1-2)wrong.
Blackburn v Aston Villa [1-1](2-1)wrong.
Liverpool v Hull City [3-0](6-1)correct outcome.
Stoke City v Man Utd [0-2](0-2)CORRECT SCORE :)
Tottenham v Burnley [3-0](5-0)correct outcome.
Wigan v Chelsea [0-2](3-1)wrong.
Fulham v Arsenal [1-2](0-1)correct margin.
Sunderland v Wolves [2-0](5-2)correct outcome.
Man City v West Ham [2-0](3-1)correct margin.

Once again, got 7 correct. This is looking consistent huh.

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(2)

Next we'll have a check on players who get more than 10pts this gameweek.

A special mention for keepers:
Vito Mannone(4.5) covers very well for Almunia in Arsenal's goal. 8pts in the bag and 2 clean sheets in succession. Other 3 keepers who got a clean sheet are Cudicini(4.5), Howard(5.8) and Foster(5.0). I would recommend Foster, as his price tag is really cheap to stand between the posts for a top team, and still van der sar's return date is unknown. Also Alex Ferguson promised to fire him up to challenge for England's World Cup first choice keeper.

21pts: Keane(8.4)
4 goals...and this is not the first time he did it. Now he'd made himself a better bargain to Defoe!

18pts: Darren Bent(7.5)
Simply fantastic. 1 goal and 3 assist in the 5-2 win. But with MU and Arsenal their next opponents, can he continue to find the net? Louis Saha(7.1) looks to be a perfect replacement.

17pts: Torres(11.5)
A superd hat-trick made him the sole top scorer of EPL at 8 goals. The game at Chelsea look to be coming at a great timing!

15pts: O'Shea(5.4)
A reward for the loyals. But judging by his price tag, this certainly won't happen too often.

13pts: Tevez(8.2)
Finally opened scoring for this season. Also won a lot of praises for his humble attitude after scoring against his former club. A real gentlemen and also a hardworking player that worth a place in every fantasy manager's team.

12pts: Petrov(6.7), Babel(6.8), Jones(7.0)
Petrov had his price cut by 0.3 due to injury during season start, meaning he's a real bargain. He also has the potential to win points with his deadly free-kicks.
Babel is not a first choice in Liverpool so not worth buying. So is Jones who now rotates with Fraizer Campbell(5.7) in Sunderland.

10pts: Bramble(4.4), Riera(6.6)
Wigan's defence is not something really secured, while Riera is not a regular starter. I bet it's not anyone's thought to bring them in.

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(3)

Now we'll look at how the top players performed this week. This is important as most fantasy managers will have them in their line-up so you might fall behind when they combined to perform in the same gameweek.

Sorting by price:

Gerrard: 7pts from 1 goal, subbed at 73rd minutes.
Lampard: 2pts as Chelsea lost to Wigan.
Torres: 17pts from a superb hat-trick, earned an early rest at 66th minute.
Rooney: 2pts. Just couldn't provide the finishing to the chances given.
Drogba: 6pts from 1 goal, even though his team lost.
Arshavin: 3pts from a clean sheet victory.
Fabregas: 6pts from 1 assist.
Anelka: 2pts. Scored blank again.
Adebayor: Last game in suspension. Will come back next week.
van Persie: 9pts from 1 goal and 3pts bonus.
Berbatov: 8pts from 1 goal and 2pts bonus.
Kuyt: 5pts from 1 assist.

Torres is the clear winner among top players this week. This instantly makes difference on those who invest heavily on him. BUT....the road is still long, if he is to prove himself as EPL best striker. (Well, he also has a chance to win the September's award, but I think Giggs has an advantage, as MU climb to the top of the table.)

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(4)

Now let's check out a few cheaper players you may want to fit into your team.

Pick-up from the lot:

Legend: Gameweek score/Season score

6/20 Distin (Eve, 5.0)
Everton is on their way of recovering their league position. Distin is going to pick up points from clean sheet. Cheapest among 4 first choice defenders, he also has the potential to score bonus pts.

7/23 Geovanni (Hul, 5.8)
Scored 2 goals so far, and is looking to play an important role in Hull City's relegation battle. You might want to look at Ghilas(5.0) and Vennegoor(5.0) as well.

8/26 Huddlestone (Tot, 5.2)
Tottenham have some easy fixtures coming up. If you can't afford Lennon(8.1) or Jenas(6.2), Try consider him.

2/30 Elliott (Bur, 5.2)
He played well in every home game. With 3 home games in coming 4 fixtures, he looks good to perform and is cheap as well.

9/33 Saha (Eve, 7.1)
I would suggest you to give up Bent and replace him with Saha. Everton's coming fixture is relatively easier than Sunderland's.

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New statistical reference:

you can also access the spreadsheets from the featured section at the left column.

I have added 2 new features into the spreadsheets:

This table will helps to keep track of the top 3 performers of each team.



Check on the future schedule and determine teams who have easy fixtures ahead. This idea is from fantasyfootballscout. But I have modified it a bit.