The Matchday Insight : Week 19

Now that was a week we all didn't expect. Rooney and Nani being billed as top runners and rightly so gave a total of 5.5? Unbelievable. We have to be wary of these real world managers being very unpredictable with lineups and getting a sure shot team on the scorecard atleast. I was lucky enough to have all my players partcipate and giving me a decent total of 76.5 in this low scoring week. Now the transitional week from 2011 to 2012 is here and it comes only 2 days after the last week. Should we expect surprising lineups and players on the team sheet?...surely, but the least we can do is be prepared so lets get down to it.

The Matchday Insight : Week 18

The midweek has come to a close with the Manchester clubs showing off their dominance during the festive periods. Overall the week was a mixed one with largely players giving in performances that were expected of them and a few not so. You wouldn't have seen too much movement in your rank this week but be prepared for a roller coaster ride for this coming matchday that seems to be a recipe for managers losing their heads as we'd all be spoilt for choices. lets take a look.

The Matchday Insight : Week 17

Before we can even brush off this past weekend the mid week matches are hovering over us with a lot of questions luming about who will start who won't, if the early subs or late ones in week 16 are any indication to what line-ps to expect from week 17 or players that were involved for the full 90 would get another full game or not not. We had a mixed results with players not giving great performances but average and below avg performances. Silva and Vermalaen DDG helped most teams end with a decent points total. Let's move ahead to the preview.

The Matchday Insight : Week 16

The Article has been updated.(Rohit)


Coming off a high scoring matchday with the likes of Rooney(40 pts), Suarez(22 pts), Nani(32 pts), Larsson(23.5 pts), Vorm(29 pts),Ba (23 pts) did well and incase you didnt have them in your team, im sure you must have barn doored some of them for the weeks to come.


Up till week 15 we did see most of the teams picking the same players such as Vdv, Rvp,Gervinho,Aguero etc who have given plenty of points in that period but now we do enter the Christmas period where the number of games go up and its time to move up in ranks.

The Matchday Insight : Week 15

It's been quite an eventful midweek for English clubs with the group stage of champions league coming to close and the fate of the four being decided. The result has to be surprising as no one would have bet that the London clubs would out do the more superior and talented Manchester clubs. With both City and United being pushed into Europa league priorities are sure to change but until next year feb this should not concern us.


Coming to this weeks preview we have a good mix of games ahead of us and choice is plentiful, so it could be a week when we see alot of variations in player picks. Clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are fore runner of the easy match ups so let's get into the details of what players to opt for this week.

FA charge Liverpool and Suarez

An FA statement read: "Liverpool Football Club have been charged by The FA with failing to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion, following the dismissal of Jay Spearing. 
"The charge is in relation to Liverpool’s Premier League fixture at Fulham on 5 December 2011. The club has until 4pm on Monday 12 December to respond to the charge. 

The Percentage Wars - The Real Factor Behind Ranking Up.

Hi all. It looks like we all are in for a good week. Me and AM were discussing how our teams did and he pointed out the fact that the last minute change I made of taking Adebayor instead of Bale had hurt my chances of moving up the ranks quite a bit as the switch was worth 16.5 valuable points. We thought a further dissection of this move and how it actually impacted the team was necessary, and to be honest, something we'd enjoy getting to the bottom of. 

Put Your Money Where The Points Are

As I was reading some of the comments on a few posts I put up on NMA, I came across "billthegrunt's" startling discovery that the midfielders are not proving to be very fruitful in this seasons game. So I thought it would be best to delve a bit deeper and see why and how to use this information to our advantage.

The Matchday Insight : Week 14

Matchday 14 is right upon us and it comes with a champions league's final matchday looming in the horizon. The teams that are still looking to secure qualification for the round of 16 are Man City, United and Chelsea. Mancini is a fantasy managers worst nightmare, making calls that u never expect and always fear. Ferguson's United is not a team that u would really heavily bank on this week with better options available. Villas-Boas's Chelsea have an early kick-off away to Newcastle....what a waste of an early kick-off. Arsenal and Totenham have no other competition really bothering them and the weekend is their priority. Lets see where all this takes us.

Show Rochina The Door?

Now if you barn doored him at 2.28, u might be looking at ur team sheets and thinking is he worth the gamble or not. After putting a excellent performance u might think he is, but we will go back to week 10 to 13 and get some analysis.

The RVP Factor: Discount Strategy Ups All.

Hi everyone, this is RV. I've been off fantasy blogging for a bit and my mate AM has been doing a pretty good job managing the site alone. One thing I learnt being away and not writing was that doing well in fantasy is more to do with the a consistency in player picks than weekly player picks. Let me explain. I have to be honest, this season has been the worst I have performed in the last 9 years and I sit on a rank of 29000 something. My rank was in 700s' last year and was my best performance ever. I have always been in the top 2500 since the past few yrs. This year I kept making a critical error in my strategy ever week. I kept switching my "to bank on player" in and out of my team losing out on some huge points output and some heavy discounts.  More after the bump:

The Matchday Insight : Week 13

Something good about midweek CL matches is that the weekend approaches really fast and i cant wait to sit back and catchup on most of the matches this coming weekend.Been travelling for over two weeks and been managing to catchup on football on my phone.Well now back and looking forward to a new matchday.

Highlights of week 12 : Consistency of Mr. Rvp , back with a bang Mr. Adebayor , Liverpool's commanding win over a poor Chelsea team, first loss of the season for Newcastle and Spurs climbing up the ladder to 3ed spot.It must be a bad time for a Chelsea fan as things are not going their way this season and they seem to be running out of ideas.On the other hand Arsenal, who didnt start well , seem to have found their rythem and have been sailing quite comfortably to top 7 spot.

Manchester clubs are far the most threatening teams this season and with both needing to get a result in their last group matche in Champions league , it will be interesting to see how they go about their matches in the coming 2-3 weeks.I do expect alot of rotation and resting of players as its a do or die situation in the big money league.

Lets get straight to Week 13 :

The Matchday Insight : Week 12

Finally the international break seems to be coming to an end and how much have we missed the EPL these two weeks.In previous years i used to somewhat look forward to internationals where England were playing but ever since Capello and Terry have taken over the team i just dont bother watching them playing and stick to the post match score updates.

Without wasting much time , lets get straight to Week 12 picks :

The Matchday Insight : Week 11

Coming off a good weekend as some of the picks continued to give alot of points such as Gea , Vdv , RVP , Hernandez etc . It does sometimes make it tougher going in to Week 11 when we have a 100+ pts target in mind and keeping the rank up . Well thats what we are here for to make things simpler and competitive.

Assuming most of the fantasy teams would have Silva , Aguero , Gea  any of these three doing good or bad doesnt effect the rank much but its the rest of the team that makes all the difference. Keeping these 3 is a must and i would never advise you to change them.

This being a matchday before another long international break , lets get it right to have a good satisfying fantasy weekend.

The Matchday Insight : Week 10

Before we get to week 10 picks , i must admit that last week has been more eventful that any other week for me. My rank has been moving up and down in thousands and at the end it did go up edging closer to the 4 digit number.Im sure most of us did bank on D. Gea along with Manchester United to play well in the derby at Old Trafford but this Man City side did demolish them in a manner that Alex discribed as "the worst defeat in his time ".

The Negative 18 by my keeper just about killed the week but all thanks to VDV with 2 goals got it back on track. Some good performances by Suarez , Balotelli and Rvp who came on from the bench at 73 mins and scored 2 goals.

Looking forward im sticking with the basics of strong home sides in defence and targeting weak opposition in the offence.Keeping in mind Carling cup matches midweek and CL matches coming up after Week 10, it will be important to ensure no player in your team is rested for either of the two reasons.

Lets get to Week 10 player picks :

The Matchday Insight : Week 9

We have learnt a lot from the last 3 weeks and im sure most of you will agree with me on this :

1. To stay away from most players playing CL in midweek as they tend to be rotated or tired.
2. Manchester clubs are not at all close to how they started the first 5 weeks.

3.Newcastle and Liverpool seem to show consistency and provide good value picks.
4.Newly promoted teams(QPR,Swansea,Norwich) all seem to inconsistent and not at all dependable.
5.The best picks from Week 1 to Week 5 ( Dzeko,Young,Silva,SWP,Cabaye,Richards,Gibbs etc) all seem to have lost their momentum and apart from Silva, the rest need a break from fantasy.
6.Manchester Derby ( after a midweek CL game) will be tough to depend on where fantasy is concerned.


Let's get straight to week 9 picks :

The Matchday Insight : Week 8

Lots happened in the last 2 weeks as England, France, Denmark, Italy etc all made it to the Euro 2012 and while these qualifiers were on, it gave me enough time to take a nice break from the regular.Having said that i must admit that ive missed watching EPL the last few days and im all geared up to watch as many matches i can this coming weekend.


I did have an eye on my fantasy team but could not do much with it as i wanted to be dead sure about injury news as i cant afford to have any one not playing or injured this early in the season.

Okay lets get straight to Week 8 :

Rooney and Hernandez fit to face Norwich

Sir Alex delivered some good news on Friday's prematch press conference stating that Rooney, Hernandez and Evans are all fit to face Norwich on saturday at Old trafford.

Chicharito has recovered from a 'dead leg' suffered last week against Stoke.

Having Evans back will boost the United defence as it is much needed after 2 back to back draws.

SAF also mentioned that Vidic , Smalling and Cleverley will be fit to face Liverpool ,after the International break, on 14th October 2011.

The Matchday Insight : Week 7

Most of us have had a moderate Week 6 as we banked on Rooney, who did not play due to a hamstring injury, Dzeko ( had a poor game against Everton ) and Gea gave single digits after 4 weeks of some fireworks.Im assuming most of you did have atleast 2 of the 3 players.

Making a team for Week 7 would require you to answer many questions, im sure ull try many combinations and believe any and every news you can get on injuries , bustups with managers etc.My purpose to write this article is to help you go through this tough ride in a rather smooth way.

Question No. 1 : Do you stick with Rooney / Will he play or no / Is it worth the risk to pick him ?

My Answer      : As per SAF, in the prematch press conference on 30.09.2011 at 09.45 am Rooney,Hernandez and Evans are all fit for saturday's game against Norwich.

Question No. 2 : Whats going on in the Man City camp/ What are the issues relating to Mancini with Tevez and Dzeko ?

My Answer  :  As you saw in many youtube videos, Tevez refused to play as a sub in the CL clash against Bayern which led to Mancini saying that Tevez is not going to play for Mancity again.Do i see him playing again for his club? It may take weeks if not months or may be never.Dzeko reacted in an unusual manner when he was substituted at 55 minutes which led to Mancini saying "Dzeko wiil sit with me in the dugout for the Blackburn game."It does make Aguero and Balotelli obvious choices upfront.

Having said that lets get straight into Week 7 :

The Matchday Insight : Week 6

Before we get into Week 6 , how can i not mention the highlights of Week 5 where Arsenal lost ( to blackburn ) , Liverpool lost ( to Spurs ) , Chelsea lost ( to Man. United ) ,Man. City were held by Fulham and therefore all Top 6 teams apart from Manchester United lost points.

If thats not enough , here's some more review from last week. All 3 promoted teams won and took all 3 important points. Some fine performances from Aguero , Yakubu , Nani , Torres ( apart from the miss of the season ) , Mata , Barton etc. My team did fairly well with 112 pts and apart from Cahill ( dissapointing ) all did well.

Lets go straight to Week 6 picks :

Easy Matchups :

Chelsea vs Swansea
Liverpool vs Wolves
Newcastle vs Blackburn
Man.City vs Everton
Wigan vs Tottenham
Stoke vs Man. United

Forwards :

1. Adebayor :
 Away to a depleted Wigan side , Adebayor has to be the pick of the forwards and his stats say it all. 3 goals in 2 matches and an average of 18.5 pts. He is still cheap at close to 10 and most of you may have picked him at cheaper values.

2. Dzeko / Aguero
Before i get into details regarding these 2 in form strikers , let me remind you that we have champions league coming up on Tuesday/Wednesday and im sure Mancini will have a keen eye on that one. Who will start is a tough call but both these are tough to take out and if you already have them , so keep them.Who ever will play will do as good as they have been doing.

3.Rooney / Rvp
Both worth 20+ are matchwinners and can tear apart any defense. Rooney is playing away at stoke, not a cake walk , but in the form he is in anything is possible.On the other hand RVP has given points without doing his best and now that Arteta / Gervinho are getting into things at Arsenal im sure theres some support for Rvp upfront to score a few.

4. Gervinho
Those of you who watched him play last week against Blackburn will know why ive put his name on this list. He clearly looked the sharpest of the Arsenal players and im sure will get many opportunities against Bolton at home.Cheap at around 8 too.

5. Torres
Apart from his miss last week , i do think he played one of his best games for Chelsea. I dont blame the media for taking his case for that miss but i do feel he is getting back to some kind of form .With the likes of Mata and Ramires playing a more offensive role theres lots on offer for Torres to score and create. If you are wanting to save for elsewhere then Torres would be a good pick ( against Swansea ) for around 13.
In case you dont like this man in your team there's Suarez for same value against Wolves.

Note : Welbeck / Hernandez are available for Manchester United ( keep a lookout for team news on Friday ), Mata is good but i still consider him as a winger rather than a striker.

Midfielders :

1. Van der Vaart/ Nani / Young
Vdv is back from a injury and got an hrs playing time last week. He should be all set to continue where he left off before getting injured. Playing against wigan and having seen all the starters rested midweek for Carling Cup ,should be all set for a cracker.
Nani is hitting prime form and does play an important role esp when Man. United play away from home. Young too looks good and always involved. Plays well along side Rooney and a good bet to keep hitting good fantasy points as he has been doing in the past 5 weeks.
Vdv does seem the pick of the 3 as he plays Wigan and does not need to worry abt Champions league.

2. Silva/ Nasri
Same explanation as last week. Key to Man City's game and dominance at home.

3. S.Wright Phillips
Really like the new look QPR after the transfer market and having some one like SWP just makes it better. He has been consistently playing well , attacking the goal , crossing etc and gaining good fantasy points. In case you have not got him cheaper he is still cheap at 7.57.

4. Arteta
He is finally getting used to the way Arsenal play and last week we did see him controlling the midfield. Playing in a central role does suit him and anything he gets on top of the opponents box he just puts it in. We do hope for Arsenal to get back to the top half of the table and this man will have to play a central role for that.Walcott is not mention in my list but could be looked at along with Arteta.

5. Cabaye
Two reasons for him on this list. I do like this Newcastle team and have performed really well to hit 4th spot after 5 games. Secondly in this team one man stands out in offense...Cabaye. He looks a threat and does most of the work upfront.Good pick for 7.59

Note : Gerrard is back from injury ( cheap at around 13.5 ) and i would suggest he will take some time to get into top form. Adam is back after serving his one match ban ( missed the Carling cup clash ) ,

Defenders :

1. Luiz
He is back from injury and after warming the bench against Manchester United , he should be all set to be a regular starter in the Chelsea backline.Playing at home against Swansea should be a good time to pick him as there is a potential clean sheet and a few goals coming his way.
Played full 90 minutes plus extra time midweek in the Carling cup , could be rested for the weekend.
Makes Ivanovic , Bosingwa sure starters and better picks.

2. Santos
Last week we saw 4 goals scored against Arsenal but Santos still gave a whooping 14 pts. Alot of tackles won, shots blocked , successful crosses etc did lead to those points. After Gibbs played midweek in Carling cup i dont see Santos rested. Good pick

3. Brown
Playing against West Brom and cheap valuations has put Brown on this list. In case you dont have much to spend on your defence this could be a good pick.Remember he plays Norwich next.

4. Jones
He has been exceptional so far. Averaging just under 8 and always looks good playing offensive at times. Good pick to have in your team at close to 10.

5.Skrtel
After receiving a red card last week , he has served his one match suspension by missing the Carling Cup tie . Now back in the liverpool squad and playing against Wolves could be a good pick. His value has dropped after the red card at around 6.36

Goal keepers

1. DDG 
Same reasons as last week. Has been the pick since week 1 and has been prooving all along why Manchester united paid a price for his services.

2. Reina
His value has dropped after the 4-0 defeat against Spurs and he is worth 8 . Plays at home against Wolves and i do think he is one the good keepers around.

3. Krul
Clearly the pick of goalkeeper , valued at 4.92 with an average of over 8. Newcastle defense has been great this season and work well along with Krul. Playing at home to Blackburn should not be such a threat. Good pick and good points.

Have a great weekend !!!

The Matchday Insight : Week 5

After back to back action packed matchdays (Rooney and Aguero hattricks) we head towards another matchday full of goals and fantasy points.A bit different to previous weeks as we had champions league matches midweek , Manchester United and chelsea play each other , Manchester City need to get used to playing CL and premier league in the same week ( we saw how Tottenham suffered with adjusting to this last year ). But going by the form these teams are in , i dont see anything stopping them.

Last week was full of goals and those of you who did stick with Aguero ( Most of you did end up dropping him as he had a long tour of Asia prior to that ) and Rooney , did get the worth of picking them. Chicharito came back with a bang , so did Odemwingie and Adebayor. Keepers had an exceptional week as Gea , Szczesny, Hart , Foster, Friedel , Begovic all gave 14 + points . First win for Arsenal , Spurs and WBA.

Gibbs Good to Go

With Wenger suggesting that Andre Santos is short of match fitness and gibbs back for selection he should slot in to all teams without a doubt. Available at 3.12.

The Matchday Insight : Week 4

We are back from the international break. This break came just after a blowout fantasy week for some players like Dzeko, Rooney and Young. The Manchester teams were on fire and blew the london clubs away with a total of 13 goals scored between them.
The hammering given by united to arsenal prompted them to act up during the transfer deadline which helped in securing some decent players, even if not the caliber of what they lost in Cesc and Nasri. 


Lets take a look at how fantasy week 4 will pan out for your teams and which players are definite to be a part of your game plan.

The Matchday Insight : Week 3

A much better week 2, compared to the first week, where we saw a total of 23 goals scored and 6 clean sheets . Some great display from Manchester United against a strong Spurs attack , Liverpool looked a strong side against an injured Arsenal , Wolves and Manchester City made it 2 wins in 2 matches ,Chelsea's first win of the season ,  points for all 3 newly promoted sides and some surprise performances from Newcastle and Aston Villa ( 4 pts in 2 matches )

On the indivisual front it was good to see Gea and the young Manchester United side show some real skills and prospects for the future. Suarez came on from the bench to seal the win , All 3 strikers from Villa on the score sheet , Anelka for Chelsea , Silva and Dzeko for City , Ryan Taylor for Newcastle etc

Im sure most of us banked on Everton to win against QPR , a complete surprise of the week and it does prove that no one can be taken for granted.

Looking forward to Week 3 , some cracking games in store and im sure lots of goals in store for our fantasy team.Lets get the best picks from this week match ups :

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The Matchday Insight : Week 2

After a quiet start to the new season, I'm sure most of us did expect fireworks from the word GO but were disappointed to see some goalless draws or 1-1 etc. Apart from the display we saw from Manchester City and some fine show put on by Kun Aguero, it did make up for the quiet weekend.

Most of us did bank on Manchester United (especially after their match against City in the Community Shield), Chelsea (Always good starters), Liverpool (All great new signings) but we not rewarded as there were only 5 goals in total from their 3 matches. Arsenal have not yet found their footings after losing their key players so I dont see many of you going that direction unless you are a die hard Gunner.

Those of you who saw the City game, mainly the 2nd half, must have realised why they are also real contenders to winning the league. 

So lets concentrate on whats in store for Week 2 :

The Matchday Insight

As the first week of fantasy football dawns upon us, it is time to take an in-depth look at what strategy and what players will help in kickstarting our season with a healthy points outcome. To do so let's breakdown each position and see which players should be worthy contenders for your fantasy teams.

Ben Foster Loaned To West Brom

West Brom have signed Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster on loan for the season with Boaz Myhill going in the opposite direction.

This move gives a lot of clarity in the goal keeper position for West Brom. Foster will be the number one choice for the baggies with Boaz Myhill being loaned out to Birmingham in return, a straight swap deal. Unlike his parent club's misfortunes of last season in which they suffered relegation, Foster enjoyed an excellent season playing all 38 matches and giving in very consistent performances fantasy wise. The level of the club he has joined is similar or a notch down as the combination of Roger Johnson and Scott Dann was superior to West Brom's current back two of Tamas and Olsson so don't expect tons of improvements in his points production.

Bolton Sign Three: The Eagle has Landed

Bolton have completed the £3million joint signings of Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears from Burnley along with the signing of Nigel Reo-Coker as a free transfer from Aston Villa. The stand out signing of all three fantasy wise has to be of Chris Eagles.

We've already seen him perform brilliantly for Burnley from the 2009-10 season which was also under Owen Coyle now manager of Bolton. The strengths of Eagle are well understood by Coyle and would profit all fantasy prospects of the player. With a tendency to collect a handsome amount of phantom points through his shots,crosses and ability to win corners we are looking at a solid investment for fantasy teams during preferable match-ups. watch for him in future team selections. 

Aguero Signs For Manchester City

The noisy neighbors just got noisier! This transfer windows big money big name signing has taken place, Sergio Aguero is a Manchester City Player. His own tweet saying: 'I'm already a City player. Happy to be in this club and this city. Thank you all for the welcome and the reception!'. 
A fantasy outlook after the jump:

Transfers : The Inside Out

Welcome to the Insight Fantasy EPL's comprehensive transfer update. We will be keeping you updated on all the transfer activity taking place in the premier league.


Thereafter we will be bringing to you a fantasy analysis of all the transfers made by each team before they kick off with the season 2011-12 so that you all are geared up for an exciting season with your Fanstasy teams.

Fantasy Insight - New EPL Players

These players will be available for low prices and can be integral for you to build a strong team. They will give you the leverage required to pick the premium players and also give your team a solid points output. 
Let us preview the potential top players in each position:

Fantasy Insight : EPL Players

As we look into the transfers done by Premier league clubs, there have been a number of players who have switched from one premier league club to another.
In Fantasy terms, it is not guaranteed that they will come cheap as their valuation will depend on their performances and valuations from last season.
Here’s an insight to some key players who have switched clubs: