SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 24 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

Seven games played in Round 24 of the Spanish Football League(La Liga) with plenty of goals & the usual dose of controversydepending on which team you follow.(photo: Sporting vs Malaga_elmundo.com) Excellent match between REAL SPORTING DE GIJON & OSASUNAwith the home team winning in the end 3-2. Sporting player DECUEVAS continued his great form scoring first in the 17th min,but Osasuna began to

First Take

Its nice to have a gameweek wrapped up by early evening on a Sunday to get some thoughts down on the week's action without it dragging into Tuesday and Wednesday. In truth it was a pretty average fantasy weekend, with far more drama in reality than for us fantasy managers. With horror tackles, cup heroics, multiple red cards and handshake snubs. However, big games from fantasy favourites like Lampard, Tevez, Fabregas and Torres gave some managers some joy, as did clean sheets from consistent bargain defenses like Birmingham and Fulham.

Clean sheets were at a bit of a premium again this week though the consistent units of Birmingham and Fulham once again delivered. Bolton and Sunderland aren't widely held and the absence of star units like United and Villa hurt many teams' defense this week.

Blue Moon Rising
I wasn't expecting big returns from City players (I didn't rank any in my captain picks) and I was shocked to see Bellamy, Tevez and Barry all have big games. While 4-1 flattered City a bit, they were good value for the victory and Chelsea look terrible at the back. Hilario rightly got the blame for the first goal but Chelsea were generally poor and are missing Cole, Cech and a stable Terry badly. While I'm not ready to write the unit off just yet (Por, Bla and WH to come in the next three games) you have to wonder how good of value they represent over say Fulham or Birmingham whose players come at a considerable discount.

Perfect Storm
I was delighted to see El Nino back for Liverpool this week and mark his return with a goal in their win over Blackburn. I have mentioned several times that I rate Torres as one of the top 3 players in the league and its great to have him back as a fantasy option, especially given Drogba's off week in gameweek 29. Torres now has 13 goals in 17 league appearances (a rate of 0.90 GPG) and has amassed 6.97 PPG. Compare this with Rooney who is also averaging a 0.90 GPG and 7.81 PPG and you realise that Torres has been extremely good when fit. With @Wig, Por and Sun to come in the next 4 weeks I think Torres is the ideal replacement if you need to move Drogba on, and should be considered an elite differentiator given his comparatively low ownership (17%).

Looking ahead There are only 8 games this week, and that includes double gameweeks for Bolton and Burnley. That means plenty of teams will be scrambling to field a starting XI and plenty will reach for the 4 point transfers. If you cannot field a full XI then paying 4 points for someone like Kevin Davies, Zat Knight or Steve Fletcher is a sound decision as barring a rare-benching they will pick up 4 performance points so you break even with anything else deemed to be profit. Both teams have a couple of decent gameweeks after this one too so you will have time to move them on again without being stuck playing them against quality opposition. I will write a quick post on who I would sell/keep of the teams not playing this week to follow this one tomorrow.

The transfer targets for the week will undoubtedly be Arsenal players as the near perfect storm of third best home scorers against the worst road defense happens with the arrival of Burnley at the Emirates. I of course like Fabregas but Bendtner also impressed this week showing a toughness that I was often lacking in the past. I have championed the top strikers all season so I have no room for him but if you are employing your cash elsewhere then for 6m you could do alot worse this week.

Stay tuned later in the week as I try and formulate a plan to deal with the fixture carnage of week 29 as well as the usual weekly preview later in the week. As always, why not tweet or post your lineup/transfer questions below.

SFS FLASHBACKS: ZINEDINE ZIDANE 2002 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL GOAL

One of the great goals of Football - Soccer - & European Cup History.ZINEDINE ZIDANE scores REAL MADRID´s 2º goal & winner in the45th min against Bayern Leverkusen in the 2002 Champions LeagueFinalPoetry in motion, not to be missed:

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 24 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

REAL ZARAGOZA managed a very valuable victory away from homeagainst higher placed GETAFE 0-2. Both goals were scoredrelatively early by Zaragoza Chilean "Winter Market" signing SUAZO in the 3rd & 19th min. The player made a warm gesture to his fellowcountrymen who have suffered an earthquake earlier this morningwith a dedication.(photo: Suazo)TENERIFE hosted a "hungry" REAL MADRID , a game that

REAL MADRID: RIBERY "HAD" AN AGREEMENT

The "secret" that everyone knew about but no one admitted hascome out in the open after BAYERN MUNICH Directive Uli Hoenessadmitted that Frenchman FRANCK RIBERY had come to an "agreement"with REAL MADRID. Spanish sports daily “Marca” has published todayin its online edition,that Ribery wished to abandon Bayern Munich dueto problems with ex Coach Jurgen Klinsmann last season.(

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM: LIST OF 23 PLAYERS GIVEN FOR UPCOMING FRANCE FRIENDLY

Spanish National Football Coach & Selector, Vicente Del Bosque, hasannounced his list of 23 called up players to represent SPAIN in theupcoming Friendly International match against France at Paris nextWednesday.Each list calls the attention of the media as the South African WorldCup Finals are just months away, & lists of this nature may give hintsto what the National Team Selector has in mind

EUROPA LEAGUE - VIDEO : VALENCIA CF 3 - CLUB BRUGGE 0

Here is the VIDEO of goals & highlights of yesterdays EUROPALEAGUE 3-0 victory of Valencia Cf over Club Brugge. Intensegame, with numerous goal opportunities & same outstandingsaves:

EUROPA LEAGUE 2009 - 2010 2ºLEG RESULTS: VALENCIA GOES ONTO THE LAST 16 TEAMS & VILLAREAL ELIMINATED

VALENCIA FC defeated BRUGGE 3-0 in the 2º leg EUROPA LEAGUEclash qualifying themselves for the next phase & pulling back the tieafter losing in the 1º leg 1-0 away at Belgium. (photo: Brugge goal Stijnen stops Villa)Valencia scored in the first 20 seconds via MATA & that rocked theBelgium side against the ropes. Valencia had numerous chances toscore a bag full of goals but Brugge goalkeeper

EUROPA LEAGUE 2009-2010 2ºLEG: ATLETICO DE MADRID GOES ONTO THE NEXT PHASE (SEE VIDEO) & ATHLETIC DE BILBAO ELIMINATED.

The 1ºst leg clash in Madrid finished with ATLETICO DE MADRIDdrawing 1-1 with Turkish side GALATASARAY. The 2º leg EUROPALEAGUE return match promised to be a tough affair & it was, withstrong play, a sending off & controversy. The return game finishedwith GALATASARAY losing 1- 2 against ATLETICO DE MADRID, 2-3on the overall aggregate to take the Spaniards onto the next phase.(photo: Forlan flying

Gameweek 28 Preview

Firstly an apology for the lack of posts this week, real world has taken over and I've struggled to even manage my own time nevermind a fantasy football team. But fear not, help is here and the forum for gameweek 28 is officially open.
Last week's transfers/captain really picked themselves as we all flocked to United players to capitalise on their double gameweek. For this we were rewarded with big games from Rooney and Valencia as well as clean sheets all round on Tuesday night. This week however is a different story.

With only 8 games in play, no United or Villa players and some big name absences like Adebayor (suspended), Arshavin (injured), Gallas (injured, Lennon (injured), Diaby (injured) and Cech (injured) it is going to be a struggle for many to pick a team. Knowing that I needed to start making up points as soon as possible, I sold my soul to the devil last week and while my three United boys did me proud (53 points between them) I am now left with 5 players set to take no part in EPL action this week.

Who to sell
Rooney is in must own territory now and have met or even surpassed the great Cristiano Ronaldo in fanatsy play in the past few months. That said, if you were on the bandwagon relatively late and you aren't sitting on a huge cash gain then it might be an idea to drop him this week and use your cash elsewhere knowing that 40%+ of players are going to have 12m sat on their bench this week. It is almost inconceivable that his price falls so you should be able to get him back without losing too much cash. The obvious replacement is Drogba but he is out himself in week 29 so would be purely a one week fix. I therefore like Torres, provided he can prove himself fit for Friday's appetising game with Blackburn (H). He didn't start today against Unirea and wasn't needed off the bench so I would fancy him to start on contribute on the weekend against Allardyce's team. As for the United defense, their upcoming fixtures are generous so Evra owners might want to stand pat. If you own one of the fringe players (like Wes Brown) now might be time to cut loose as after their bye week they should have a fully fit squad to choose from which will limit the minutes of Brown, Neville, Rafael et al.

Clean Sheet Rankings

1. Liverpool
2. Chelsea
3. Burnley
4. Birmingham
5. Tottenham
6. Sunderland
7. Arsenal
8. Fulham
9. Bolton
10. Wigan
11. Stoke
12. Wolves
13. Portsmouth
14. Everton
15. Blackburn
16. Man City

Captain Rankings

1. Fernando Torres
2. Didier Drogba
3. Frank Lampard
   
4. Steve Gerrard
5. Darren Bent
6. Cesc Fabregas
7. Peter Crouch

Sorry for the brief preview this week - normal service should resume next week.

EX REAL MADRID COACH SCHUSTER GIVES HIS "CLUB INSIGHTS"

The German Ex Real Madrid player & Coach Bernd Schuster hasnever been one to hold back on his words. During an interview onSpanish late night Sports radio, the controversial Footballpersonality let these two “bombs” go:The 1st Bomb:"Sin Cristiano, el Real Madrid sería una pastilla para dormir"“Without Cristiano, Real Madrid is a sleeping pill”(photo: ex Real Madrid Coach Bernd Schuster_marca.com)

FC BARCELONA: SHOULD BARÇA BE CONCERNED WITH MESSI SLUMP?

Should FC BARCELONA fans be concerned about LIONEL MESSI?This question has been raised because there is a clear lack of freshness with the player which has manifested itself in his performances in the last few games. This same observation has been on Barça Coach Guardiola´s mind & now he is meditating putting the current FIFA World Player & Golden Ball winner on the bench. Is this wise or will

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2009 - 2010 QUARTER FINAL 1º LEG: CSKA MOSCOW 1 - SEVILLA FC 1. WATCH THE MARK GONZALEZ GOAL (VIDEO)

SEVILLA FC managed a valuable away goal in their 1-1 draw intonights 1º leg CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Quarter Final match against CSKA MOSCOW. It was ALVARO NEGREDO that put theball into the back of the net in the 25th min from a great JesusNavas pass, just when Sevilla were demonstrating their bestFootball.(photo: Alvaro Negredo)However, the Russian team was to equalize in a spectacular fashionwith a "

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2009-2010 QUARTER FINAL: STUTTGART 1 - FC BARCELONA 1

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Quarter Finals & STUTTGART managed a 1-1draw against reigning Champions FC BARCELONA that would havetasted sour for them. A controversial game with "unseen" possiblepenalties committed to the German taht were not called & a possiblefoul in the Barça goal.(photo: Cacau scores_elmundo.es)The first half was all Stuttgart who exploited the poor Barça ball game& their defensive

REAL MADRID: CRISTIANO RONALDO & XABI ALONSO PENALTY TALK (VIDEO)

It was last Sunday & REAL MADRID was leading 5-2. Cristiano Ronaldois tripped in the penalty area & it is given. Ronaldo had a goalalready, Higuaín & Kaká had two each & a “Hat-trick” would havebeen nice. Cristiano Roanldo & Kaká take the penalties at RealMadrid, but this occurred:Xabi Alonso: “Cris, leave it to me”Xabi Alonso: “I haven’t scored a goal as yet”Xabi Alonso: “Allow me to put one in”

VIDEO: DAVID VILLA GOAL AGAINST GETAFE - PURE CLASS

VALENCIA CF & Spanish International forward DAVID VILLA hasgone into the lead in the Spanish League goal scoring tally with17 goals so far, ahead FC Barcelona player Messi (16 goals) & RealMadrid player Higuaín (14 goals). The race will be definately onuntil the end of the season between these 3, with the possiblity ofCristiano Ronaldo joining them, for the prestigious "Pichichi Award".Until then

FC BARCELONA THINK IN OSASUNA DEFENDER AZPILICUENTA?

Spanish sports daily “AS” publish that FC BARCELONA has its mindon OSASUNA U/21 Spanish International defensive winger CESARAZPILICUENTA. The players contract ends in 2012 & his contractrelease clause is situated at 15M€, which makes the Osasunadefender relatively accessible economically in reference to themarket.(photo: as.com)The Barça idea is to have Azpilicuenta as a “back-up” for Dani

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 23 MONDAY GAME RESULT: VALENCIA CF 2 - GETAFE 1

Round 23 of "La Liga" came to an end tonight with the last scheduledmatch between VALENCIA CF & GETAFE. The home side defeated2-1 the visitors after a great start that was dimished when Valenciadefender Alexis was sent off with double yellow cards in the earlypart of the 2º half.(photo: David Villa in action_as.com)However, the damage to Getafe was done before Valencia went down to 10 men, after

REAL MADRID: SEVILLA FC WINGER JESUS NAVAS NEXT PLAYER TRAVELLING TO MADRID?

Spanish Football Magazine “Don Balon” has published a “scoop”in their current online edition. Apart from announcing that theytoo believe that REAL MADRID Coach Manuel Pellegrini will notcontinue next season, they advance that Real President FlorentinoPerez wishes his team to play more via the wings & has SEVILLAFC & 25 year old Spanish International player JESUS NAVAS inmind as an option for next

WORLD FOOTBALL CLUBS: FC BARCELONA & REAL MADRID IN TOP 10 MOST CLUB MEMBERS

Have you ever wondered which Club has the most Club members?Football Finance Web “futebolfinance.com” gives the Top 10 listof Clubs on a Global scale. Two Spanish Clubs are highlighted; withPortugal placing its Lisbon Club Benfica in the Nº1 position withthe grand figure of 171,000 members for 2009.(photo: FC Barcelona 2010)Here is the Top 10 list:1. Benfica - Portugal 171,000 members2. FC

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 23 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS (VIDEOS)

Six games in Round 23 of the Spanish Football League - "La Liga" -have been played tonight with plenty of beautiful of goals to givethe night shine & plenty to talk about.(photo: Cristiano Ronaldo remembers Madeira_efe)REAL MADRID defeated 6 - 2 VILLAREAL with CRISTIANO RONALDOinspired, man of the match & with a call to remembrance for his birthplace Madeira experiencing tragic floods. Real

BASKETBALL: SPANISH CUP FINAL 2010 - BARCELONA 80 - REAL MADRID 61

FC BARCELONA gave a good old beating to their maximum rivalsREAL MADRID with a 80 – 61 score line to take this seasonsBASKETBALL SPANISH CUP Final & title (Copa del Rey).Barça gave a defensive lesson that stopped all of Madrid’s options &ideas to allow Ricky Rubio to guide Barça along with the tournamentsMVP FRAN VAZQUEZ & Lorbek to rip apart their opponents.A historic 19 point victory to

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Three games played Saturday night in Round 23 of the SpanishLeague - "La Liga".FC BARCELONA stamped their authority with a devasting exhibitionover RACING DE SANTANDER. The 4-0 win came via the goals ofINIESTA (8th min), HENRY (28th min) with a great free-kick,MARQUEZ (33rd min) with another free-kick & THIAGO (84th min).The doubts about Barça were firmly squashed lat night to the gleeof Barça

REAL MADRID: RAFAEL BENITEZ AGAIN IN MIND?

The Olympique Lyon Champions League 1-0 defeat has put REALMADRID Coach PELLEGRINI on the ropes again. There is a sensewithin the "noble" sector of the Club that the man doesn´t understandthe Real winning mentality, that Pellegrini is "afraid" tactically, doesnot know were to place his star players yet alone who & that hecontinues to make "Infantile" line-up errors that is degrading the

VIDEO: RAFAEL NADAL "RECOVERS FROM INJURY" WITH SHAKIRA

You may have been wondering what Spain´s greatest ever Tennisplayer still active, ex-World Nº1 & currently Nº3 ranked is doingsince he retired from his Q/final game against Murray at this yearsAustralian Open with a worrying knee injury.RAFAEL NADAL has been busy doing a musical video-clip showingoff his emotional side & his chest to the camaras. Watch a sneakpreview of the man rubbing his mantle

SPAIN BEGINS ROAD TO EURO 2012 AGAINST LIECHTENSTEIN & ENDS WITH SCOTLAND

SPAIN begins its long road towards the European Nations Cup finalin 2012 on the 3rd of September against Liechtenstein playing away.Spain is in Group I along with, these 3 other nations, Lithuania,Czech Rep & Scotland, who have all agreed to set their gamesschedule this afternoon.(photo: Spain celebrates a goal_as.com)Euro 2012 qualifying Match schedule:- 03/09/2010 Liechtenstein-Spain- 08/10/

EUROPA LEAGUE 2009-2010: SPANISH TEAMS NOTCH UP 3 DRAWS & 1 LOSS

Four Spanish teams participated tonight in the EUROPA LEAGUEhome & away phase with three draws & one loss.(photo: Marcos Senna scores from free-kick_marca.com)Great game at VILLAREAL with a 2-2 draw against Germany teamWOLFSBURG. Villareal scored first with a great free-kick from SENNAin the 42nd min. However it was Wolfsburg Brazilian star GRAFITE who scored twice (with the last a penalty) in

TRANSFER RUMOURS: FC BARCELONA WORKING HARD FOR 2010-2011

The Barcelona sporting press are publishing that FC BARCELONA isalready busy planning their squad for the next 2010-2011 season,even though the Club Presidential elections are due & the new“bosses” are unknown. However, there is one chief who is outsidethese forces & is already hard at work & that is Coach Guardiolawho has handed in his wish list. There are to positions that are apriority, the

THE SERGIO CANALES "MANIA"

The new REAL MADRID signing from Racing de Santander, SERGIOCANALES has seen how his life has dramatically changed overnight.His jump to stardom has catapulted the 19 year old to become thenew “teen idol” of thousands of young adolescent females thatfollow & scream their hearts out to the young player on his travels.The player has had to see his personal security increased with morebodyguards

REAL MADRID: PLAYING LIKE THIS WILL NOT WIN THEM THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

"Nos llevamos un mal resultado y una mala impresión delequipo"“We take back a bad result & a very poor impressionof the team”(Jorge Valdano Real Madrid Director General)If yesterday was an indicator, REAL MADRID WILL NOT win this yearsCHAMPIONS LEAGUE, the prime objective seeing that the Final willbe played on their home ground; the mythical “Santiago BernabeuStadium". The European Cup (now

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 1º LEG QUARTER FINAL 2010: OLYMPIQUE LYON 1 - REAL MADRID 0 (VIDEO)

The "curse" of the Lyon "Stade Gerland" continues to haunt REALMADRID who were defeated 1-0 by OLYMPIQUE LYON. In fact,the French win is well deserved as the local team put in a veryserious, disciplined & well organized game that "chocked" RealMadrid with intense pressure with every Spanish move. The Frenchdid not show any shyness & planted a well studied strategic plan thatpayed off for them

EXCUSE ME, HAVE YOU SEEN HENRY?

Where is Thierry Henry?That’s the question that fans & media have been asking these lastfew days. The FC BARCELONA French International has been “missing”for the last three official games & speculation is mounting as towhether there has been a “fall out” between Coach Guardiola &the French forward.(photo: Henry in action_elmundo.es)It isn’t turning out to be the best season for Henry who’s form

REAL MADRID: CRISTIANO RONALDO THE HIGHEST PAID PLAYER IN THE WORLD

According to "Futebolfinance.com", REAL MADRID star CRISTIANORONALDO is the highest paid Football player in the World. ThePortuguese Web also makes reference of the "rebirth" of the"economic power" of Real Madrid in World Football with 3players in the Top 10.Here is the ranking of Top 15:.1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 13.000.000 €.2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona) 12.000.000.3 Lionel Messi (

SFS FLASHBACKS: LYON 3 - REAL MADRID 0 (SEASON 2005/2006)

Before the Real Madrid readers of SFS throw their arms in theair & unjustly claim that this blog is anti- Real (something that isrejected categorically), the fact of the matter is that OLYMPIQUEDE LYON & its home ground, Stade Gerland, has not been historicallygood news at all for REAL MADRID. The truth is that the lastencounters between these two Clubs in France has ended with theFrench Club

ZINEDINE ZIDANE IS BACK: AS REAL MADRID "APPRENTICE"

ZINEDINE ZIDANE is back, now as Public Relations & REAL MADRIDFootball Ambassador, an excellent move & marketing strategy bythe Spanish Club. In fact, the public appearance with the RealMadrid squad travelling to Lyon, for tonight’s Champions Leagueclash, forms part of a greater picture & plan (photo: Zidane arriving at Lyon with the Real Madrid team_as.com)Zidane has begun an apprenticeship at

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - MONDAY NIGHT GAME RESULT

Monday night Football kicked-off for Spanish Football with the lastremaining game of Round 22 played in the Canary Islands.Bottom zone TENERIFE hosted MALLORCA & managed a value1-0 victory to take the 3 points. The only goal came early in the 13thmin via NINO. Mallorca played a below standard match & then hadTenerife goalkeeper Aragonese stopping all the little opportunitiesthey managed to

Gameweek 27 Preview

The dust hasn't yet settled on gameweek 26 - indeed it isn't over yet - but it's never too early to look ahead to next week particularly with a couple of key factors for next week's games. Firstly, United have a double gameweek and Rooney is a must own/must captain player. Given that he is already so widely held you risk losing ground on pretty much all your opponents if you don't sign the in-form Englishman. His value has risen sharply over the past 6 weeks but its likely it could move another blip or two this week as more and more owners jump on the Ronaldo-like bandwagon. I have made my transfer uncharacteristically early to avoid losing cash in delaying this inevitable move (the risk is that he gets injured midweek against Milan).

A second key factor driving this week's transfer rush is the injury to Ashley Cole, that could rule him out for the season though perhaps not the World Cup. Cole was widely held in the fantasy game (14%) and these owners will now all jump ship, likely using one of two options. Many will simply turn to another Chelsea defender with bargain Ivanovic looking likely to benefit given the risk associated with Terry (on holiday in Dubai) and Carvalho (rotation risk). The other option, given his double gameweek, will be to jump on Evra - United's most reliable and dynamic defender. I expect his price therefore to rise this week, which is again why I acted quickly to make this change. A final choice that perhaps might not be as popular would be to bring in the rather expensive Yuri Zhirkov. The Russian hasn't made much of an impact this season but he has plenty of attacking flare and should start most games in Cole's absence. Owned by just (0.3%) of managers makes him a great differentiator and I don't think Chelsea as a unit will suffer greatly by the addition of Zhirkov along the backline. If you are operating on tight margins then I would advice taking this risk or chance losing out on the players you desire.

Only two teams have a double gameweek this week (Man United and West Ham) which is about as settled as you're going to get with more fixture carnage caused by the draws in yesterday's FA Cup. This of course makes United players unevenly valuable and the natural instinct will be to ensure you can field 3 United men this week. However, the caveat is that United do not play in week 28 (along with Hull, Aston Villa and West Ham) and so your bench must be strong or you must factor in a 4 point hit before you bring anybody in this week. I think it is worth it given that both Everton at home and West Ham away rank in the bottom half in goals conceded and considering the frankly outrageously good form of Wayne Rooney. If you don't own a United defender I would probably not buy two, but I think you can safely bring one for the week and rest/sell him next week for an overall gain to your team.

Clean Sheet Rankings

1. Man United
2. Aston Villa
3. Fulham
4. Chelsea
5. West Ham
6. Portsmouth
7. Blackburn
8. Arsenal
9. Man City
10. Tottenham
11. Stoke
12. Wigan
13. Birmingham
14. Wolves
15. Everton
16. Bolton
17. Liverpool
18. Hull
19. Burnley
20. Sunderland
    

Captain Rankings

1. Wayne Rooney
2. Didier Drogba
   
3. Cesc Fabregas
4. Antonio Valencia
5. James Milner
6. Patrice Evra
   
7. Gabby Agbonlahor
   
8. Eduardo
9. Carlton Cole
10. Frank Lampard

There can be only one captain for me this week, whether you are trying to differentiate or are riding high in your own league. Rooney against two decent but far from concrete defenses is too tempting and given that 40%+ of the league will be captaining him, if you get this decision wrong you could lose 15-20 points on everyone else. If you don't have and cannot afford Rooney then I think Drogba's form justifies the armband despite Wolves away being a trickier game than you might think (1.32 GPG conceded). After that its the usual suspects, though I like Valencia (the best of the other United options) more than usual this week given his double fixture.

As always, please post your transfer and lineup questions below or @plfantasy

REAL SOCIEDAD GOALKEEPER BRAVO SCORES GOAL

No it’s not Paraguay Goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, its 2º Division REAL SOCIEDAD Goalkeeper BRAVO taking & scoring a free-kick goalagainst Gimnastic de Tarragona this weekend:

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 22 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

Six games of Round 22 played tonight with the big At.Madrid & FCBarcelona clash taking the spotlight over the rest of the games.ATLETICO DE MADRID defeated 2-1 FC BARCELONA in an exciting& nerve breaking match, especially for Atletico fans. The Madrid teamindirectly has put back excitment into the "Liga" by allowing its cityrival Real Madrid to get back to only 2ºpoints behind Barça in

ATLETICO DE MADRID - FC BARCELONA: REAL MADRID SUPPORTS ITS CITY RIVAL

Some Catalan humour from Barcelona Sports daily "Sports" & itscartoon section "Futbolitis". A very undermanned defensive FCBARCELONA visits tonight Atletico de Madrid in its Liga game &never has the local team such a good opportunity to defeat Barça.Real Madrid is hoping that their city rival can do the job so to cutBarça´s lead just to 2 points on the classification table.Real Madrid President

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 22 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Three games in Round 22 of the Spanish League - "La Liga"- havebeen played tonight with the following results & scorers.(photo: Valencia forward Mata_elmundo.es) Serious setback for VALENCIA CF who travelled to REAL SPORTINGDE GIJÓN & drew 1-1 missing out on 2 valuable points. The hometeam got off to a dream start with a 5th min goal by DIEGO CASTRO.From here, Valencia recovered from the initial

MANCHESTER UNITED DEFENDER VIDIC CLOSE TO REAL MADRID?

Once again the drums are sounding out of England, this time thepaper “The Daily Mail” claims that 28 year old MANCHESTERUNITED & Serbian International defender NEMANJA VIDIC could beheading to REAL MADRID. The paper even puts down an economicfigure that is around the 22M€ mark.Other European Clubs are also said to be interested like FC Barcelona& AC Milan, but the English paper claims that Real

REAL MADRID: CLUB LEYEND LUIS MOLOWNY DIES AT 84 YEARS OF AGE

Luis Molowny Arbelo, born on the Canary Island of Tenerife in 1925& legendary player & Coach of REAL MADRID, has died at the age of84. Real Madrid & Spanish Football farewells one of the great playersthat served as an example of class & professionalism who dedicatedhimself to the Sport & the Club that become part of his entiresporting life: Real Madrid CF.(photo: Luis Molowny)Molowny played a

REAL MADRID MAKES OFFICIAL THE SIGNING OF SERGIO CANALES

REAL MADRID has communicated via its Web that the signing of 19year old RACING DE SANTANDER "Football Wonderkid" SERGIOCANALES is now official.(photo:Sergio Canales_as.com)The youngster signs a contract for 6 years & will do the pre-season withReal Madrid next season before returning on loan once again to Racingfor another year so as to continue with his evolution. Real Madrid willpay Racing 5M€

ATLETICO DE MADRID CLUB SONG (CHANT)

For all ATLETICO DE MADRID fans World-wide:Goose-bumps all the time!

FC BARCELONA YOUNG STARS PRACTICE "EL CHUTACULOS" ( ASS-SHOOTING)

They are the “creme de la creme” of the FC BARCELONA youthteams & some have already made the jump into the senior side.¿How do they train their skills?Apparently they practice “El Chutaculos”, translated literally"Ass-shooting”, all the rage at the training sessions at “La Masia”(the Barça junior Football school). Here are Marc Bartra, ThiagoAlcántara, Gai Assulin, Jonathan dos Santos, Sergio

SPANISH CUP 2009 / 2010 2º LEG THURSDAY SEMI FINAL: ATLETICO GOES INTO THE FINALS

ATLETICO DE MADRID managed to keep at bay RACING DESANTANDER who took advantage of the habitual loss of concentrationof Atletico to take this game 3-2, but lose the tie on aggregate 3-6 dueto the 3-0 Atletico victory in the 1º leg.As with everthing associated with Atletico nothing is simple & a bit of melodrama is always at hand. Racing put a chill up all Atletico fansspines when defender VALERA

REAL MADRID: IKER CASILLAS 500TH OFFICIAL GAME THIS SATURDAY

Considered currently as the "Best Goalkeeper in the World", REAL MADRID & Spanish National Team Captain IKER CASILLAS willnotch up this Saturday his 500th official game defending his teamsgoal posts against Xerez.Congratulations Iker, many you keep playing many more. Here is aVIDEO of Casillas in action with some awesome saves:

ATLETICO DE MADRID: AGUERO HINTS AGAIN OF A DEPARTURE

SFS has been writing here for sometime that the days of Argentinestar SERGIO AGÜERO with ATLETICO DE MADRID can be counted.The 21 year old star forward simply has not a team behind him toguarantee the titles or the International exposure that is deservedfor a man of his level & talent. There have been already variousattempts in the last few months to lure Aguero away from Madridwith big offers

REAL MADRID: RAUL U.S.A BOUND?

Imagine RAUL playing for the NEW YORK RED BULLS? This is thenews piece & question put up by Spanish daily “Marca” whichclaims that the American Club has made en economic offercomparable with the conditions that the REAL MADRID Captainnow has on contract. It is not the first time that the “Americanadventure” has popped up in the media as the player himself hassaid in public that playing Soccer in

SPANISH CUP 2009 / 2010 - WEDNESDAY 2º LEG SEMI-FINAL: SEVILLA FC GOES INTO THE FINAL

So close yet so far, these words sum up a magnificent GETAFE whodefeated SEVILLA FC 1-0 in their SPANISH CUP 2º leg semi-finalclash,but lost on aggregate 2-1 to Sevilla. Thus SEVILLA FC is oneof the finalists of this years Spanish Cup.(photo:Soldado scores)SOLDADO (above) hit the post in the 7th min & if that would have gonein, perhaps the future would have been different. Getafe did not put

FC BARCELONA DENIES "VERBAL AGREEMENT" WITH CESC FABREGAS

FC BARCELONA has put this announcement on its Club website:"Given the exceptional repercussions created by the stories that have appeared in different media with respect to an agreement with Arsenal FC player Cesc Fàbregas, FCB flatly denies that there have been any negotiations or agreements with the player.In accordance with FIFA regulations, FC Barcelona’s contract policy has always made it a

REAL MADRID: BENFICA DAVID LUIZ A PRIORITY FOR 2010-2011?

Transfer rumours are beginning somewhat early in the year, oneis waking up to find the main Sports dailys with their covers splashedwith names connected to the big Clubs. The recent rumour is CESCFABREGAS with FC Barcelona, who by the way, his representativeDarren Dean has categorically dismissed the news of an agreementwith Barça saying its totally false. He would need to say this

FRANCK RIBERY: HUMOUR FROM BARCELONA

Ahhh, those funny Catalans. Here is some Barcelona based humourfrom "Futbolitis", the cartoon section of "Mundo Deportivo", inreference to FRANCK RIBERY & his speculated move to SpanishFootball:Translated:"Zidane would love to see me go to Madrid""Henry would like me to go to Barça"" On the otherhand my representative would be happy to see me atthe Club that gives him the biggest commission"

FC BARCELONA: CESC FABREGAS SAY YES?

English Premier League Club ARSENAL may have sent a formal letterof complaint to FC BARCELONA to stop contacting their star player& Captain CESC FABREGAS, & the English Club may have made anoffer to better the Spanish Internationals economic conditions, butnews from Barcelona has added a different light. According toBarcelona based media, Radio ONA FM, which naturally has beenpicked up by one of

FOOTBALL FINANCE: MANCHESTER UNITED & REAL MADRID DOMINANTE FOOTBALL INTERNET

From the Portuguese website “Futebol Finance” we get thisinteresting statistic referring to Football Club website & howthey are authentic income generating motors, with English &Spanish giants Manchester United & REAL MADRID dominanting.See below the Top 20 Football Club websites visited (uniquevisitors annually):(photo: Real Madrid Web page image)1. Manchester United (England) - 452.7 million2.

SFS FLASHBACKS: ANDRES INIESTA

He is the brain in the midfield of FC BARCELONA & the SpanishNational Team, & currently one of the finest players in the World.Elegance, skill, class & vision of play ANDRES INIESTA showed allthese talents since he began playing Football with 6 years of age.Here is a SFS Flashback of a very young Iniesta in action:

REAL MADRID: GONZALO HIGUAÍN & THE INTEREST FROM JUVENTUS

The Italian Club JUVENTUS has been interested & has asked onvarious occasions the situation at REAL MADRID of the 22 year oldArgentine International forward GONZALO HIGUAÍN. The Italianpaper “Il Corriere dello Sport” has again informed that Juventusis still interested & willing to put up 35M€ to attempt to convinceReal Madrid to sell.It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Higuaín at the Spanish Club

Gameweek 26 Preview

After another disappointing 41 point week, I have finally pulled the trigger and made a risky play - I am putting my faith in the Mancini's frustratingly inconsistent City side. I have brought in Adebayor to play alongside Tevez in time for their double gameweek this week. I can then add N'Zogbia, Sorensen and Huth to this pair to give me 5 double gameweeks. Do I really trust this City side? No. However, as another Rooney goal hit the back of the net with me not owning him, it was time to make a move before it is too late. United have a double gameweek of their own next week and so Rooney will be a must, so I'm hoping to gain some ground this week on those who can't/won't sell him by hitching my cart to the Adebayor bandwagon.

Clean sheets were fairly easy to come by last week with no less than 8 teams keeping the opposition at bay. Six of these ranked in my top 10 and four of my top six were able to keep a clean sheet. Playing the numbers, only Fulham (15th) and Villa (14th) were surprises based on my rankings. I also feel somewhat pleased with my captain rankings as many top line players struggled to hit the big scores this week. Rooney (1st) , of course, delivered once again while Drogba (4th) was even better than I thought he would be. Adebayor (8th), Lampard (7th), Evra (6th) and Gerrard (2nd) would all have delivered double digits if handed the arm band while only Anelka, Bent and Tevez failed to register any extra points. This week's rankings will be slightly skewed by the double gameweeks but without too many premium players in action, you will face the tough choice between a good player in two games and a premium player in one game.

Clean Sheet Rankings

1. Stoke
2. Wigan
3. Fulham
4. Man City
5. Blackburn
6. Tottenham
7. Arsenal
8. Aston Villa
9. Chelsea
10. Man United
11. Portsmouth
12. Bolton
    
13. Birmingham
14. West Ham
15. Wolves
16. Everton
17. Sunderland
18. Hull
19. Liverpool
20. Burnley

Stoke, Wigan and City all look like good defensive bets on their double gameweek as all three units have been okay in parts this year and get at least one opponent who rank towards the bottom of the scoring charts. The bigger name teams are not so good plays with the top two teams travelling to Goodison and Villa Park in what will likely prove to be tough games. In fact, if either United or Chelsea keep a clean sheet, I think that would be a good sign that both have really got their defensive units back on track and would become must own players going into the final few weeks of the season.

Captain Rankings

1. Emmanuel Adebayor
2. Carlos Tevez
3. Didier Drogba
4. Wayne Rooney
5. Frank Lampard
6. Cesc Fabregas
7. Andrei Arshavin
8. Ryan Shawcross
9. Hugo Rodallega
10. Charles N'Zogbia

As you can see I am going all out on City this week based on the 2.1 GPG Bolton are shipping away from the Reebok along with the fact that their best defender Gary Cahill is now out for the season. Their other game at Stoke is not as appealing (1.08 GPG) but regardless Adebayor and Tevez are both in good form and with Rooney facing his toughest game for a while, I like the Blue side of Manchester to reign supreme this week. Of the other double gameweekers I like the Wigan pair of N'Zogbia and Rodallega to continue their good fantasy form, while Shawcross is a legitimate quadruple threat, earning points from goals, assists, bonus points and clean sheets this year.

With four games tomorrow evening the deadline is 19:30 GMT on Tuesday evening so don't forget to get your transfers in before then. Until then why not post your thoughts, comments and transfer/lineup issues below or @plfantasy.

SPANISH HANDBALL: FC BARCELONA & SPANISH LEGENDARY GOALKEEPER DAVID BARRUFET ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

SPANISH HANDBALL received the inevitable news that FCBARCELONA goalkeeper & Spanish International DAVID BARRUFETwould retire at the end of this season. The Spanish Handballprofessional is to the sport what Diego Armando Maradona is toArgentine Football...the best ever. David Barrufet announced todayto media that after so many years playing Hndball & with Barça(1981 - 2010) it was time to stop &

VIDEO OF SPECTACULAR ROBINHO GOAL FOR SANTOS

The ex Real Madrid Brazilian player ROBINHO, now on loan fromManchester City at SANTOS, scored this outstanding goal in his lastgame that is worth a place here for all the readers.Watching this one wonders why hasn’t the player been able to givehis best at a consistent level at his former Clubs. In fact, Robinho hascommented to local media that he forced his departure from RealMadrid & this could

REAL MADRID: VIDEO OF HIGUAIN GOAL AGAINST RCD ESPANYOL

Lii, a regular SFS reader, emailed requesting the video of the thirdREAL MADRID goal scored by HIGUAÍN against RCD Espanyol lastSaturdays "Liga" match. SFS supooses that it will also be of interest tothe rest of the readers as the initial control & then execution from theplayer is fabulous...

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 21 GAMES RESULTS

Spanish Football - "La Liga" - summary of Round 21 games with results& scorers:Yesterday FC BARCELONA won GETAFE 2-1 with two "controversial"Red Cards (Pique & Marquez) who many interpret as a "get back"after strong criticism from Madrid based media that the refereesfavour Barça. However, under these circumstances FC Barcelonamanaged to win with goals from MESSI in the 6th min & XAVI in the67th

EURO 2012: SPAIN "COMFORTABLE" IN GROUP I

The Group draw for the 2012 European Nations Football Cup to beheld jointly in Poland – Ukraine has been held earlier today. SPAIN,the current European Champions, has been drawn in Group I & havebeen matched up with the Czech Rep, Scotland, Lithuania &Liechtenstein.A comfortble group in theory with opponents not in the upcomingSouth Africa World Cup, plus Spain has defeated them in the

SPANISH CUP 2009 / 2010: 1º LEG SEMI-FINAL ATLETICO DE MADRID 4 - RACING 0

The second 1º leg SPANISH CUP semi-final has been played withATLETICO DE MADRID taking a giant step towards reaching thefinal with a mighty 4-0 victory over RACING DE SANTANDER.Frankly, it could have been more, as Atletico hit posts & missed sittersthat could have turned the scoreline into 7-0. Amazing if you considerthe horrible performance in "Liga" which is currently enough to cutyour vains.(

Gameweek 25 Preview

Another average week in the books for Pure Juice and I'm strongly considering drastic action. I'm out of the cup now and find myself 38 points adrift in my work league. I have Hart, Sorensen, Fabregas, Milner, Bent and Tevez who are all owned by at least 28% of all managers. None of these players have had much joy in the past few weeks and I particularly frustrated by Milner, Sorensen and even Bent's form. Add this to the fact that Valencia's place in the United team might be in jeopardy and suddenly my team looks weak. I think Fabregas is too good to drop while Tevez gets a double gameweek in week 26. The others are all on the block and I am looking to move to players held by 10% of managers or less over the coming weeks, ready for the late season push. For that reason I will be featuring players' ownership every time I mention them from now on.

Clean Sheet Rankings

1. Man United
2. Birmingham
3. Stoke
4. Tottenham
5. Burnley
6. Liverpool
7. Sunderland
8. Chelsea
9. Wolves
10. Bolton
11. Man City
12. West Ham
13. Hull
14. Aston Villa
15. Fulham
16. Blackburn
17. Arsenal
18. Portsmouth
19. Everton
20. Wigan

Man United are a great pick this week and I like Wes Brown (2%) as the safest and cheapest way to get access to this solid unit. Differentiating is less important for defenses as you a buying a unit more than a player but due to rotation issues, United are generally underheld and only Evra (26%) is owned by more than 5% of players. I therefore rate Brown as a buy for the week as with Ferdinand suspended for another couple of games and Vidic still injured, he should be safe for another couple of weeks. Birmingham defenders are underheld but Hart (28%) is a starter for many teams and will surely be started by most of them this week. Still, Dann (3%) and Ridgwell (3%) remain very good, cheap options and with good fixtures ahead you could do alot worse than rolling the dice with two Birmingham defenders over the next few weeks.

Despite their reliability this year, the Villa defense will make it hard for you to gain ground on your opponents due to Dunne's (41%) ownership. With a schedule that includes @Tot, MNU, Bur, Bye it might be worth ditching them now before re-signing them for the double gameweek in week 30. Everton have 3 straight clean sheets but they now face @Liv, Che, MNU, @Tot so I wouldn't jump on that bandwagon if you haven't yet.

Captain Rankings

1. Wayne Rooney (43%)
2. Steven Gerrard (16%)
   
3. Carlos Tevez (29%)
   
4. Didier Drogba (20%)
   
5. Darren Bent (32%)
6. Patrice Evra (26%)
   
7. Frank Lampard (28%)
   
8. Emmanuel Adebayor (3%)
   
9. Cesc Fabregas (35%)
   
10. Nicolas Anelka (12%)
    

I'm finding it really hard to recommend many captains this week, nevermind those held by less than 10% of owners. I really like Adebayor as a player than could outperform his ownership and with the double gameweek coming up as well as a good fixture this week (@Hul) now might be a good time to buy. Despite my concerns over Bent, Sunderland have the best fixture of the week (Wigan surrender 2.82 GPG on the road) and so he is a great option this week. Rooney's fixture is actually harder than you'd think (1.40 GPG) but he is in such good from its hard to look elsewhere. Arsenal's struggles last week along with another tough game this week mean that Fabregas finds himself the lowest he has been in the rankings for some time.

Differentiators
I don't like these players enough to warrant captaining them, but they might be worth a look if you are looking for someone a bit different this week. In no particular order:

1. Cameron Jerome (5%)
2. Sanli Tuncay (0.2%)
3. Nani (5%)
4. Danny Murphy (5%)
5. David N'Gog (1%)
6. Kevin Davies (2%)
7. Peter Crouch (6%)
8. Sotirios Kyrgiakos (1%)
9. Chris Eagles (2%)
10. Wes Brown (2%)

As always, stay tuned tomorrow and before deadline time @plfantasy for the latest injury news. Until then why not post your rotation and transfer questions below.

REAL MADRID: DIEGO ALVES TO REPLACE DUDEK?

Spanish daily Marca informs today that REAL MADRID is on the move& thinking already about a substitute goalkeeper for the current 2ºonboard 36 year old Jerzy Dudek who ends contract on the 30thof June.(photo: Diego Alves_marca.com)According to the paper DIEGO ALVES, current goalie of ALMERIA, is theman as he fits in well having all the correct qualities that Real arelooking for to be the perfect

SPANISH CUP 2009 - 2010: 1º LEG SEMI-FINAL - SEVILLA FC 2 GETAFE 0

The first SPANISH CUP 1º leg semi-final clash has been played withSEVILLA FC defeating GETAFE 2-0. Although this scoreline gives theAndalucia team a huge advantage with the 2º leg match still to play,there is still "slim hopes" for Getafe if the way they played tonightcould be repeated at home next week.(photo: Luis Fabiano against Getafe_marca.com)In fact this game gave strenght to the saying, "

SPANISH FOOTBALL - APPROVED FRIDAY & MONDAY NIGHT GAMES

The popular Roman saying invented by the poet Juvenal & later usedas a political instrument by the Roman Cesar’s to calm the masses,“give them bread & circuses”, has been taken further in Spain whichhas currently a close to 11% unemployment rate. As from the 10th ofFebruary the Spaniard, & most happily the Football lover & fan, couldfind himself with 7 days straight of Football games. In fact,

SFS FLASHBACKS: FC BARCELONA FOWARD HRISTO STOICHKOV

What is up with FC BARCELONA Bulgarian "Golden Boot" &"France Football Golden Ball Award" winner HRISTOSTOICHKOV?He is currently training in South Africa with the MamelodiSundowns team. However he does not seem to be making muchadvances with his English as seen here in this "piss take" videomash-up with his TV interview just before this last Xmas.SFS has seen the original video where this

REAL MADRID: JAVI MARTINEZ ON AGENDA IF DE ROSSI FAILS

The popular daily late night TV (Digital Terrestrial Channel) programon Football called “Punto Pelota” gave us the exclusive weeks backvia its presenter Josep Pedrerol that REAL MADRID had AC ROMAmidfielder DE ROSSI in mind for next season. The popular journalist,backed by his regular panel of local Football “in the know” journos &personalities, assured that the Real Madrid technical staff see a

Window Shopping

Fear not, this is not another sports story trying to glorify what was, in reality, a pretty boring transfer window. I do, however, have a couple of players who I am interested in who might be worth a thought as differentiators as the season goes into its final stages.

Amr Zaki (5m)
Last year Zaki was a big reason for many teams' early season success and he enjoyed a period of must own status on his way to 10 goals in his first 16 games. However, the Egyptain big man couldn't deal with the British winter and fell out with Steve Bruce who said that "I can honestly say that in all my time in football I have never worked with someone as unprofessional". Well, lucky for us we don't have to manage our players on a daily basis so Zaki becomes an intriguing prospect. He has alot to prove and the final 10 games of the season will serve as an audition for a future return to the big leagues. While I don't think he can replicate the form of last year, I do think he might be able to contribute to a successful fantasy side and for 5m and no one owning him, he could prove to be a very cheap differentiator for anyone brave enough to roll the dice. My issue is that I really want to spend big up front (Rooney, Drogba and one more) so its tough to squeeze him in. If however, you'd prefer to splash your cash on the likes of Lampard, Gerrard and Fabregas then Zaki could be a very useful squad player. It's also worth considering that if Zaki starts to score, managers will sense a return to last year's heights and will jump all over him causing a sharp rise in his price.

Eidur Gudjohnsen (6m)
My all time favorite Bolton player returns to the Premier League but unfortunately his status as a first team regular is uncertain. In the game he has been classified as a midfielder which does give potential value given he is probably Spurs' 3rd pick to play up front (with the departure of Keane) but Crouch and Defoe will play most weeks and Eidur could be limited to mop up duty. The midfield (where Gudjohnsen can be equally well deployed) also looks crowded with Jenas, Huddlestone, Palacios and Kranjcar all competing for two central spots. I therefore - with some regret - find it hard to fully recommend Gudjohnsen but I will be tracking his progress and if he breaks into the first team then at 6m he looks very good value.

Jack Wilshere (4.3m)
If you need a bargain midfielder then the Arsenal prospect Wilshere might be your best bet. Bolton have a few decent midfield options but Owen Coyle is a fan of Arsenal's system and I think he will be keen to add another passer to his side. Wilshere has excellent skill and pace and should be able to contribute some assists and the odd goal, which would be a great value for such a cheap player. I'm not saying you want to rely on him every week but if you want to load up elsewhere, Wilshere might free up enough cash to let you get a Drogba instead of an Anelka or a Milner instead of a Wright Phillips.

Landon Donovan (6m)
Donovan has had a few games to settle in now and so far its so good for the American international. A goal, an assist and 2 bonus points from 4 games that included Arsenal, City and a tricky trip to Wigan is a very good return for a budget forward like Donovan. I'm a bit concerned about squad rotation with the return of Yakubu but I think Donovan should feature enough to justify fantasy consideration and is a good potential differentiator.

Asmir Begovic (4m)
Sorensen owners beware. Stoke pursued David James pretty hard and then landed his backup Asmir Begovic. Considering they already had a decent backup in Simonsen we could read into this move that Pulis expects to start Begovic at some point. If that happens then he becomes the obvious replacement for Sorensen, which would actually be a bonus as we keep our access to the solid Stoke defense and save 0.5m in the process. Sorensen has been a loyal servant for many teams this year but if there's money to be saved, he has to go.

Check back tomorrow for the weekly preview including captain and defensive rankings along with the latest injury news. As always, thanks for reading and why not post your comments below or @plfantasy.

PABLO SARABIA: ARSENAL ATTEMPTS TO "GRAB" ANOTHER SPANISH PEARL

Spanish Football has another young pearl that is catching theattention of many scouts & International professionals. The nameof the young player is PABLO SARABIA & he plays for Castilla,the junior team of REAL MADRID. English Premier League ClubARSENAL via their Manager ARSENE WENGER has had his eyeon the youngster for some years & now wishes to incorporateto his team for 2011. The French Manager