Gameweek 31 Preview

It's vital to keep your mind with this week and not get too carried away with tuning your team up for the upcoming double gameweeks in GW33 and beyond. No matter how many doubles you have in the future, if getting them involves playing short handed in the run up, you totally negate any value you might gain.

Having said that, the two highlighted DGWs lie with Arsenal and Chelsea who both enjoy a nice run of fixtures leading into the double. Arsenal in particular look to be the best investment this week though it is tough to read their injury situation with any certainty as the promising return of Fabregas and Walcott has been limited with Wenger stating he "has not decided if they will start the game". With Van Persie also facing a late fitness the Arsenal stars look to be risky plays this week though with by the far the best fixture they might just be worth the gamble. With Denilson sidelined I would think Fabregas is the most likely to return though I think I prefer Lampard over the next 3 or 4 gameweeks. My advice would be to bring in a role player like Nasri and go with Van Persie if your current front man is an injury doubt (like Tevez).

Clean Sheet Rankings

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

Attacking Rankings

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

Captain Stats
Arsenal players are clearly the most attractive here with their predicted 3.5 goals leading the pack this week. The injury doubts make it hard to pick too many captain options and you might consider someone like Nasri who has been solid on his return from injury (3.7 PPG, 2 assists in 3 games). Of the bigger names I think Fabregas is most likely to start though with potential penalty and free kick duties, Van Persie probably has the higher upside. The Dutchman has been sensational in the second half of the season (9.00 PPG, 11 goals in 8 games) and if fit is the pick for the remainder of the year. The Arsenal defense is a little tricky to forecast and without the budget Djorou it's hard to get too excited about this unit (especially with Almunia between the pipes).

Chelsea don't have the ideal fixture this week (at Stoke is the sixth hardest game you can have in terms of average goals conceded) but they are starting to show some form both up front (17 goals in the last 8 including 7 in the last 3) and at the back (4 clean sheets in the last 8 games including 2 in the last 4). No one has been better over that period than Lampard who has 6.67 PPG in the second half including 47 in the last 6 games. Given his low ownership (7%), penalty duties and solid fixtures, Lampard is my main transfer target for this week and is my number one rated midfielder from now through GW35. Interestingly he has actually performed better away from home of late with a 7.2 PPG average away from Stamford Bridge.

The theoretically sensational pairing of Drogba and Torres looks too pricey right now having really struggled to gel together and I would pass on both. If you are desperate to ditch Tevez and are scared of Van Persie's injury I would favour Torres here based on his ownership (7%) but I wouldn't be thrilled to own him right now.

There was once a time when the Chelsea defense was so good that the likes of Cole and Terry deserved captain consideration every week. I'm not suggesting they're there yet but Luiz clearly looks like a good capture and with a couple of goals to his name already, he seems to be one of the more offensively promising defenders around. Captain status this week is a stretch but he is my number one defensive target and at 6.3m looks like a potential steal yet to be fully exploited (6%).

Tim Cahill has the fixture but lacks the form or fitness and Everton lack the talent elsewhere on their roster to justify consideration here.

For Spurs, Van der Vaart appears to be fit enough to consider owning but it might be a bit early to hand him the arm band just yet. Teammate Bale is banged up and cannot be considered here at the moment.

United's trip to Upton Park is trickier than it looks (two straight clean sheets) though the Hammers can still be leaky and United should have some joy. Rooney and Nani are obviously the first thoughts and both have shown excellent form of late (Nani 7.3 PPG, Rooney 7.4 PPG over the past 8 GWs). Nani's struggles on the road (5.2 PPG vs 9.75 PPG at Old Trafford) suggest that perhaps Rooney is the better pick here though do check who your opponents look to captain this week if you are leading your league (Nani is more likely the pick with 42% ownership). The presence of Hernandez makes Berbatov un-captainable and possibly un-ownable right now.

Suspensions
Gael Givet
DJ Campbell
Paul Scholes
Jonny Evans
Cheik Tiote

Every move you make now needs to be made with an eye on the remainder on the season so I thought it might be useful to highlight the strength of schedules for the final run in:

Strength of Schedule remaining (defensive)
(in order of total predicted goals conceded, games conceding less than a goal in parenthesis)

1. Chelsea (7)
2. Man City (5)
3. Sunderland (5)
4. Man Utd (4)
5. Arsenal (3)
6. Fulham (4)
7. Liverpool (4)
8. Bolton (3)
9. Stoke (2)
10. Tottenham (3)
11. Birmingham (4)
12. Aston Villa (4)
13. Blackburn (3)
14. Everton (1)
15. Newcastle (1)
16. Wolves (0)
17. Wigan (0)
18. West Ham (0)
19. West Brom (0)
20. Blackpool (0)

Strength of schedule remaining (attacking)
(in order of total predicted goals scored, predicted games scoring over 1.5 goals in parenthesis)

1. Arsenal (7)
2. Man Utd (6)
3. Chelsea (6)
4. Newcastle (4)
5. Everton (3)
6. Man City (4)
7. Blackpool (4)
8. Tottenham (4)
9. West Ham (3)
10. West Brom (2)
11. Liverpool (3)
12. Wolves (2)
13. Bolton (2)
14. Aston Villa (4)
15. Blackburn (1)
16. Stoke (2)
17. Fulham (2)
18. Sunderland (2)
19. Wigan (1)
20. Birmingham (0)

As always I welcome comments/questions below or over on Twitter @plfantasy. Thanks for reading.

ENGLAND 2 SPAIN 1 | SPAIN MISSES QUALIFICATION FOR U-17 EURO FINALS

Bad news tonight for Spanish Football fans from the U-17 Euro front. ENGLAND defeated SPAIN 2 – 1 to take the Top spot of the Group & thus qualify for the U-17 European Finals in Serbia later this year. Said in another way, Spain misses out.



Spain U-17 /photo Giovani de Paola

England was superior & Spain managed to keep things equal up until the 55th min mark when REDMOND scored for England,

FC BARCELONA | THE "SECRET" TO THEIR SUCCESS

Just some informative & interesting observations from Spanish Sports paper "Marca" that I thought would tantalize FC BARCELONA fans around the World. Did you know that Barça hasn’t gone below 50% of ball possession,  that is,  total control of the ball in a game, in the last three years? That is,  166 games were the opposition Team hasn’t been able to get the possession of the ball beyond 50% of

REAL MADRID | SERGIO CANALES | THE SHAMAN & THE DESERT

SERGIO CANALES arrived at REAL MADRID CF at a cost of 10M€ from Racing de Santander as a 19 year old midfield promise after having a wonderful & meteoric season 2009 – 2010. Now after more than six months the youngster has had just a few games ( mostly friendlies ) with Real Madrid & many observers had dubbed this “his lost season”, a term not at all positive for a young Football professional

Double Gameweek Analysis

The re-scheduled games are now settled and the final season run in is mapped out. Eight DGWs remain with GW33 looking like the last chance to make serious ground on your competitors as five teams have a blank while three teams enjoy the double. Obviously DGW candidates are going to be highly rated each week but which of the remaining doubles have the highest upside for defenders and attacking players?

Defensive Rankings

1. Chelsea GW33: @West Brom, Birmingham
2. Arsenal GW33: Liverpool, @Tottenham
3. Wolves GW34: Fulham, @Stoke
4. Stoke GW34: @Aston Villa, Wolves
5. Fulham GW34: @Wolves, Bolton
6. Man City GW36: @Everton, Tottenham
7. Tottenham GW36: Blackpool, @Man City
8. Birmingham GW33: Sunderland, @Chelsea 
9. Bolton GW34: Arsenal, @Fulham

Attacking Rankings

1. Chelsea GW33: @West Brom, Birmingham
2. Man City GW36: @Everton, Tottenham
3. Arsenal GW33: Liverpool, @Tottenham
4. Tottenham GW36: Blackpool, @Man City
5. Stoke GW34: @Aston Villa, Wolves
6. Bolton GW34: Arsenal, @Fulham
7. Fulham GW34: @Wolves, Bolton
8. Wolves GW34: Fulham, @Stoke
9. Birmingham GW33: Sunderland, @Chelsea

Arsenal and Chelsea are obviously the immediate priority here with both looking to benefit at both ends of the field and give us plenty of fantasy options. For those chasing leaders in mini leagues it might be time to go make or break and get 3 players from each of these teams over the next two weeks in preparation for the doubles.

Two form candidates immediately present themselves as must owns (Van Persie and Lampard), and after a scare on international duty it looks like Van Persie will be fit and good to go. With 9.0 PPG and 6.67 PPG respectively, they rank among the best second half performers and neither have outrageously large ownerships (Lampard's is particularly attractive at just 7.5%). With Fabregas and Walcott potentially returning this week, we should have a full contingent of players to select from and with the defense looking good but not great, I would lean towards offensive players for my Gunner picks.

Chelsea's defense has improved since Luiz's arrival and at 6.2m he represents a very nice discount over his pricier colleagues Cole and Terry. With a pair of goals he has proven himself to be a good goal threat already and is probably my top pick defender for the remainder of the year (or at least through GW35). It's a shame to waste so much talent but even with a double gameweek it's tough to get too excited about the horrifically out of form Drogba and Torres.

Both Chelsea are Arsenal enjoy good fixtures before their DGWs so feel free to invest heavily now to maximise your holdings by GW33. Of the two, Arsenal look the best option this week so if you are only going to use one transfer this week, I'd go Arsenal. Stay tuned for the weekly rankings which will be posted shortly, including some advice on which players can now be ditched for the season.

LITHUANIA 1 SPAIN 3 | EURO 2012 GROUP I QUALIFIER RESULT

SPAIN managed to win away to LITHUANIA 1 - 3 in their EURO 2012 Group I qualifier to give them another victory, consolidate the Groups Top spot & put them nearly into the Euro Finals of next year. The match went ahead after UEFA officials & the French referee decided that the turf ( without grass ) was apt to play on & safe. Correct decision as no one from both teams were injured in a game played

SPAIN 1 BELARUS 1 | U-21 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

The SPANISH U-21 FOOTBALL TEAM played a friendly match against BELARUS in Madrid with the final result a 1 - 1 draw. Spain used this match to fine-tune themselves for the upcoming U-21 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS in Denmark next June where team also play for a place in the upcoming London Olympic Games.



Spanish U-21 International Bojan 

The Spanish team started with the following 11:

De Gea;

SPAIN 5 NORTHERN IRELAND 1 | EURO U -17 GROUP QUALIFIERS

The Spanish U-17 National Football Team played Northern Ireland today & won 5 – 1 in their Group qualifier for the upcoming U-17 European Championships. The Spanish Team clearly dominated & was 3 – 0 after 45 minutes. The second half saw Spanish Coach Gines take off some important players (the main name being Deulofeu) & give others a run. This did not seem to halt the Spaniards momentum as they

SPANISH FOOTBALL | UPDATE ON THE 2º DIVISION

Spanish Football Sports Blog is a "hobby" written by a Spanish Football - Sports lover who finds time to spread, contact with & let non-Spanish speaking Sports fans around the World,  who admire along with me my Sporting passions,  to stay in touch daily with the most important news. I would love to have more time to expand further beyond the popular news pieces & Clubs, especially the fantastic

FORMULA 1 SEASON KICKS OFF | ALONSO 4TH - ALGUERSUAR 23RD

The Formula 1 season kicked off in Melbourne Australia with Current World Champion Sebastian Vettel starting as he finished last season; untouchable & winning the Australian GP 2011. Englishman Lewis Hamilton came in second & the surprise was Petrov with his third.



Fernando Alonso : photo Ap

However, although I congratulate the winners, the main concern here for obvious reasons is to describe

BELGIUM 1 SPAIN 3 | U-17 EURO GROUP QUALIFIERS

European Nations in the U-17 catagories are playing their qualification Group matches in order to have the right to participate in the U-17 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS coming up in Serbia.



Gerard Deulofeu star for Spain 

SPAIN defeated BELGIUM away 1 - 3 with a comeback after the home team got ahead in the 48th min mark via CALVAHLO against the grain as Spain was dominanting. The goal

DAVID VILLA BECOMES THE HIGHEST GOAL SCORER IN THE HISTORY OF THE SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM

SPANISH FOOTBALL player DAVID VILLA went into the History books last night against the Czech Republic for SPAIN after he become the "Highest Goal scorer in the History" of the Spanish National Team. He started the match equal with the last record holder, Raul, with 44 goals & finished the night as the new record holder with 46 goals.

David Villa has a few years left in his carreer & will not

SPAIN 2 CZECH REPUBLIC 1 | EURO 2012 GROUP I QUALIFIER MATCH RESULT

The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM & current European & World Champions defeated the CZECH REPUBLIC 2 - 1 in a difficult & at times frustrating game as the visitors put Spain on the ropes for 69 mins before solving the "situation". The victory opens up a significant gap between Spain,  which now leads Group I ,  & second placed Czech Rep with a 6 point margin. 

There were two milestones tonight

LILILE PLAYER GERVINHO HEADING TO ATLETICO DE MADRID ?

Ivory Coast winger & French Club LILLE player GERVINHO has not as yet signed his renewal contract offer. This has been interpreted, especially by Spanish Sports press, that the player is seriously considering an apparent offer from Spanish Club ATLETICO DE MADRID.



Gervinho for Lille

The speculated price is around 10M€ & Lille would welcome the injection of cash. The player seems to feel that

FRANCE 3 SPAIN 2 | U-21 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY RESULT

The SPANISH U-21 NATIONAL TEAM played FRANCE in a friendly match & lost 3 - 2 to the "Blues". The Spanish side was a bit of an experiment with players lined up who habitually don´t play together, but this is no excuse at all. The French side played better & deserved to win, but suffered towards the end & were nearly equalized.

The French U-21 team were 3 - 0 up by the 35th min thanks to some

SPANISH INTERNATIONAL PLAYER XAVI HERNANDEZ REACHES HIS 100th INTERNATIONAL GAMES WITH SPAIN

Tomorrow when XAVI HERNANDEZ runs onto the field to represent his country with the SPAINISH FOOTBALL TEAM that plays against the Czech Republic in their important Euro 2012 qualifying Group I match, the FC Bareclona midfielder will have reached a personal & prestigious milestone in his spectacular professional Football career: the 100th International Cap for SPAIN.



Xavi Hernandez with his

EURO 2012 GROUP I - SPAIN HINTS AT STARTING 11 AGAINST THE CZECH REPUBLIC

There is European Football action tomorrow & Saturday with Euro 2012 Group qualifiers & the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM & current FIFA World Champions in action. Their first scheduled encounter is tomorrow night in the magical Spanish city of Granada & against the fellow Group I squad of the CZECH REPUBLIC


David Villa & Fernando Torres

The Spain squad under Coach Vicente Del Bosque has been

REAL MADRID 2011 | ANYONE KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH KAKA?

I am certain that you like myself are baffled or at least curious with what is going on with REAL MADRID Brazilian midfielder KAKÁ. The player has virtually "disappeared" from the Football Planet since his Coach Mourinho announced in a press confrence that Kaka was "dropped" from the squad & would only return we the player thought he was in condition to give his maximum. Since then "puff",

LIONEL MESSI HIGHEST MONEY EARNER IN WORLD FOOTBALL 2010 | MOURINHO HIGHEST PAID COACH IN 2010

According to “France Football”, FC Barcelona Football player LIONEL MESSI repeats again in 2010 as the “Highest Paid Player in the World”. This takes into account his Club salary, different incentives & bonuses & other monetary concepts ( such as publicity, sponsorship, merchandising …etc)


Lionel Messi

Top 10 money earners in World Football Players:

1.Messi, 31 million €2.Cristiano Ronaldo,

REAL MADRID HAS DE ROSSI ON THEIR AGENDA - AGAIN ?

It´s that time again of the season when it has turned the final curve & the finish line is in sight that Football Clubs begin to think about the next season & Football players representatives position themselves to put their "stock" on sale & in the prime points on the shopping shelves. REAL MADRID,  as always,  is talked about now & all year round, as rumours begin to appear on a daily basis.

ATLETICO DE MADRID STARTING 11 - ONE OF THE MANY - TEAM PHOTO 2011

Found this photo of one of the many starting line-ups this 2010 - 2011 season of ATLETICO DE MADRID. One of the characteristics of current Coach Quique Sanchez Flores is his high number of differing starting line-ups; up to 59 different since he took over.

Here is one of the most recent ones for all the global Atletico fans.



Atletico de Madrid 2011
Top: De Gea, Forlán, Mario Suárez, Ujfalusi,

REAL MADRID 2011 | MESUT OZIL

Spanish Sports paper "AS" has given prime space on todays edition to REAL MADRID 22 year old German midfielder MESUT OZIL, & rightly so i my opinion. The youngster has settled in nicely to Spanish Football & with his team to cement himself a place in the squad. The player is important & has the full confidence of his Coach Mourinho, his team-mates & the difficult to please "Santiago Bernabeu"

TENNIS | NOVAK DJORKOVIC DEFEATS RAFAEAL NADAL IN FINAL OF MASTERS 1000 INDIAN WELLS

Spanish Tennis World Nº1 Tennis player RAFEAL NADAL could not manage to defeat a magnificent & strong NOVAK DJOKOVIC in the final of the MASTERS 1000 INDIAN WELLS Tennis Tournament. The Serb went from less to more taking Nadal to three sets & winning 6 - 4, 3 - 6 , 2 - 6  as the Spaniard experienced a radical drop in play & form after losing the second set. Djokovic finally manages to defeat

SPANISH LEAGUE - FOOTBALL | ROUND 29 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE action tonight with all seven games left of Round 29 scheduled. Here is a brief summary of match events, the results & the scorers.



Racing - Real Sociedad

Great match between RACING DE SANTANDER & REAL SOCIEDAD with the home team taking the three points with a 2 - 1 result. A hard days work by both teams that saw individual actions sway things to one side or the other

MOTOGP 2011 | SEASON KICKS OFF IN QATAR | SPANISH RIDER NICO TEROL LEADER IN 125CC

Have to be honest, its been a too long a break & waiting for the start of the 2011 MOTOGP season. Tonight the season kicked off in Qatar under lights with mixed results for Spanish riders , but with an overall positive taste as we race through the summary of all catagories.



Jorge Lorenzo Qatar 2011: courtesy of motogp.com

The GP catagory saw Australian & new Honda rider Casey Stoner fly pass

SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA | ROUND 29 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Three games of Round 29 scheduled down tonight  of the Spanish Football League that included the big Madrid derby. Here are "bullets" of events at the three grounds, the final results & the scorers.



Real Mallorca scores goal

REAL MALLORCA defeated REAL ZARAGOZA 1 - 0 from a brilliantly taken free-kick in the 67th min by DE GUZMAN from the semi circle. Before this, Zaragoza goalkeeper Doblas

SPANISH FOOTBALL | DERBY NIGHT ATLETICO - REAL MADRID

Spanish Football action today with three games down as part of Round 29 of La Liga. Important Saturday afternoon - night of Football as FC Barcelona plays Getafe at 20.00 & Atletico de Madrid plays Real Madrid in the big local derby. There is currently 5 points that seperates Barça from Real Madrid & there are various possible outcome combimations beforehand: Barça loses Real Madrid wins...draws.

EUROPA LEAGUE Q/FINALS DRAW | VILLAREAL WITH TWENTE

Hi guys, been out away from a PC terminal, but apart from the Champions League draw this midday there was also the important EUROPA LEAGUE quater finals, semis & of course by logic, the final draw. The competition has VILLAREAL representing Spanish Football & they were matched with Twente as the diagram perfectly highlights. The Q/Final dates are 7th of April for the 1º leg & the 14th of April

REAL MADRID vs TOTTENHAM | FC BARCELONA vs SHAKHTAR D | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Q/FINAL DRAW

The CHAMPIONS LEAGUE draw for the quarter finals, semi finales & the final have been held at UEFA Headquarters in France with Spanish Club REAL MADRID CF matched up with English Premier League Club TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS & the other Spanish representative FC BARCELONA to meet SHAKHTAR. D in the quarter finals.

The Q/Final dates are the 1º leg games the 5 / 6 th of April with the return 2ºleg down

SPAIN FOOTBALL TEAM | DEL BOSQUE GIVES LIST FOR EURO 2011 GROUP QUALIFIERS

Spanish Football National Team selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque has handed in his list of Spanish Football players for the upcoming EURO 2012 Group qualification matches with the Czech Republic on the 25th of March (at home in the city Granada ) & Lithuania on the 29th of March (away at the city of Kaunas).



Spanish National Team Selector Vicente Del Bosque 

The novelty was the re-call of

REAL MADRID CF STARTING 11 TEAM PHOTO | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE vs LYON - 2º LEG | 2011

Thought the many Spanish Football Sports readers who are REAL MADRID CF fans around the globe may be interested in this almost "historic" REAL MADRID starting 11 line-up team photo of yesterdays 3 - 0 victory over Olympique de Lyon ( 2º leg) that took the Spanish Club into the quater-finals of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2010 - 2011 after six years of being knocked out. 



Real Madrid CF team photo

EUROPA LEAGUE RESULT | VILLAREAL 2 BAYERN LEVERKUSEN 1 ( 5 - 3 AGG) | VILLAREAL MOVES INTO QUARTER FINALS

SPANISH FOOTBALL managed to get another Club into the Quarter Finals stage, in this case, the EUROPA LEAGUE competition after VILLAREAL won 2 - 1 German Club BAYERN LEVERKUSEN in their return 2º leg clash ( 5-3 on aggregate)



Great match by Spanish International Cazorla

The Germans played their best Football the first 30 mins of the first half were they looked dangerous & seemed like they may

Gameweek 30 Rankings

This is the hardest time of year for fantasy league as big scores in mini leagues look insurmountable and most teams become fairly homogeneous with 5 or 6 'must have' players forming the back bones of most successful sides. Add in a growing injury list, suspensions and rotation for European games and it becomes increasingly hard and frustrating to field a side you are truly happy with.

However, 9 games is almost a quarter of the season so it's way too late to give up just yet. Instead, you need to re-evaluate a few things and dig even deeper to find those differentiators.

Before we get into the weekly rankings, let's get some perspective on the form teams. Below are the goals per game since the halfway point of the season:

1. Arsenal (2.1)
2. Chelsea (1.9)
3. Man Utd (1.9)
4. West Ham (1.8)
5. Man City (1.8)
6. Everton (1.7)
7. Aston Villa (1.6)
8. Newcastle (1.5)
9. Tottenham (1.5)
10. Wolves (1.4)
11. Liverpool (1.4)
12. Fulham (1.4)
13. Blackpool (1.4)
14. Blackburn (1.3)
15. Wigan (1.2)
16. West Brom (1.2)
17. Bolton (1.1)
18. Sunderland (1.1)
19. Stoke (1.0)
20. Birmingham (0.9)

The top three teams tell a familiar story but in fourth place, West Ham look to be the biggest standout here. 10 weeks ago I would have said that no one in this team justified fantasy consideration (with Parker the only one in consideration) but suddenly the arrival of Ba and the return to fitness of pre-season favourite Hitzelsperger have not only given us new options but also rejuvenated the form of Parker and Carlton Cole. The game this week (at Spurs) throws some cold water on this enthusiasm but still the Hammers deserve to be much more widely held than they are (only Parker is over 3%) and anyone still holding Bolton or non-Adam Blackpool assets should consider this move as soon as possible.

No team has more clean sheets than Arsenal (7) since week 19 while previous reliable units like Man Utd (3), Birmingham (2) and Sunderland (3) have been less valuable. Along with Arsenal, Fulham and Man City have been dominant at home, adding four clean sheets a piece leading to bargain defenders like Djorou (1.607) and Hughes (0.854) to rank among the best value defenders in aPPMS. Clean sheets in general don't seem to be getting easier to come by though we are seeing somewhat of a greater concentration towards the top end units (Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Spurs make up four of the top five teams). It may be worth shifting a couple of extra million into your back line to invest in these units.

Looking to individuals, it's a few old friends who have had the most success but fantasy managers have generally been slow to jump back on board. Van Persie (11%), Fabregas (7%), Rooney (17%) and Lampard (7%) have all been very good since the half week point but only Rooney is getting serious fantasy attention (and even he is still owned by half as many people as his slumping teammate Berbatov). Of course Fabregas is now injured and out of contention but the other three (along with the consistently brilliant Tevez and Nani) are the best premium options right now. Malouda (22%), Arshavin (10%), Gerrard (7%), Drogba (18%), Torres (7%) and even Berbatov (32%) owners might want to make some moves very soon (Berbatov is the trickiest decision as you must balance his great fixtures with the increasing likelihood of rotation).

So where to go from here? Well, I will be posting a list of sleeper picks for the remainder of the season shortly, while also tweaking the weekly rankings to place more emphasis on the results during the second half of the season.With that in mind, here are the picks for this week:

Clean Sheet Rankings
(Clean sheets kept - opponents failed to score)

1. Man Utd (7 - 4)
2. Aston Villa (5 - 6)
3. Tottenham (4 - 6)
4. Stoke (4 - 4)
5. Sunderland (7 - 4)
6. Blackburn (6 - 6)
7. Chelsea (8 - 4)
8. Everton (4 - 5)
9. Fulham (3 - 2)
10. Arsenal (4 - 2)
11. Birmingham (3 - 4)
12. Newcastle (5 - 3)
13. Man City (4 - 2)
14. Wigan (2 - 4)
15. Liverpool (4 - 2)
16. Blackpool (5 - 4)
17. West Ham (0 - 3)
18. Wolves (1 - 3)
19. West Brom (1 - 2)
20. Bolton (0 - 0)

Attacking Rankings
(Expected goals scored)

1. Arsenal (2.36)
2. Tottenham (2.21)
3. Man Utd (2.03)
4. Blackburn (2.01)
5. Aston Villa (1.79)
6. Chelsea (1.53)
7. Birmingham (1.48)
8. Sunderland (1.33)
9. Everton (1.30)
10. West Brom (1.29)
11. West Ham (1.27)
12. Wigan (1.27)
13. Fulham (1.15)
14. Man City (1.12)
15. Wolves (1.07)
16. Liverpool (1.03)
17. Blackpool (1.03)
18. Newcastle (0.96)
19. Stoke (0.90)
20. Bolton (0.88)

Captain Stats
It's hard to look beyond the pair of Arsenal and Man Utd this week as both teams enter the week in decent goal scoring form and get a decent fixture to capitalise on.

Man Utd
Readers will know that I generally don't love the United midfield from a fantasy perspective and the captain picks normally start and end with Nani. Despite being upset at Carragher, Nani returned to action in midweek and one would think he should play against Bolton this week (though the timely return of Valencia does through a small shadow of doubt over Nani's guaranteed place). Given that GiggsPPG) and against teams conceding 1.5 goals or more (7.17 PPG) he looks like a great play this week.

It seems Berbatov is too risky to captain right now given the rotation risk and while Hernandez is in as good form as anyone, he too looks too risky to captain (though I think his success when playing now makes him ownable). That, of course, leaves Rooney as the remaining option, though you are far from scraping the barrel if you look to him for the armband this week. In the second half of the season Rooney ranks second among all players in points with 71 (Van Persie has 72) and has added five quality games with four of these turning into double digit performances. He doesn't have the home/road splits that teammate Nani shows (Rooney is averaging 6.18 PPG at home) but he's scored 6 in 8 against Bolton while wearing a United shirt while Bolton have somewhat struggled against the top line strikers this year (Drogba, Torres, Anelka, Tevez and Bent have all netted against them).

At this point in the season, ownership percentage should play a role in how you pick your captain with Nani (43%) being the more defensive pick over Rooney (17%) if you are protecting a lead. Of this pair I actually like Rooney a bit more but always be mindful of the managers you are competing with before taking an unnecessary risk.

United defenders make good budget options this week as the injuries to Ferdinand, Vidic, O'Shea and Rafael mean Smalling, Brown and Fabio look all but assured to provide low cost access to a top team (whether or not this is a top defensive unit without Vidic and Ferdinand is however up for debate). That said, I am not willing to hand the armband to a defender on an injury depleted team given that none of these players (or Evra) give a good chance of offensive points.

Arsenal
This is a great fixture for the Gunners but their, ahem, arsenal is a bit depleted so they may struggle to capitalise. Fabregas and Walcott would have made nice captain picks here but in their absence it looks like Van Persie and Nasri are the best (and only) options here. As noted above Van Persie is the form player in the league during the second half of the season and appears to be the safest pick who also enjoys huge upside (four double digit games in his last six). Van Persie has actually been better away from home (6.83 PPG) than at the Emirates (5.33 PPG) and he is crushing teams who concede 1.5 GPG or more for 7.6 PPG. Nasri has returned from his injury in good form adding 5 bonus points in two games and deserves ownership consideration once again. That said, he hasn't reached double digits since GW16 and has only registered one quality game in that time frame. Own? Yes. Captain? Not yet.

Others
Lampard and Tevez have the form but I am always reluctant to captain players in these top of the table clashes which can often be nervy affairs with goals coming from unlikely sources.I wouldn't necessarily sell Tevez to get Rooney for the week but given you must surely own either Nani, Rooney or Van Persie I'd look elsewhere this week.

I'm not ready to welcome Bale back into the captain frame just yet and Defoe doesn't have the form to warrant ownership never mind captaincy right now. 

Hopefully the postings are back on track now and will be more plentiful as we begin the end of season run in. Be sure to check back later in the week then for the final quarter sleeper picks and of course, you can follow the latest fantasy happenings over at @plfantasy.

REAL MADRID 2011 | KARIM BENZEMA | THE REBIRTH

KARIM BENZEMA came to SPANISH FOOTBALL along with Kaka & Cristiano Ronaldo at the juicy price of around 35M€. In fact, REAL MADRID CF President Florentino Perez flew personally to Lyon to get the then Olympique de Lyon forward to sign the dotted line. The Frenchmen was a personal bet for Perez & Real Madrid who considered they had just signed the biggest & future "Best Center Foward" in Europe as

REAL MADRID 3 OLYMPIQUE 0 ( 4 - 1 AGG) | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULT

It has been six years being knocked out at this stage of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE with the French team Lyon being the "boogy" team in the last years. However, the "dark spell" was broken tonight with a victory by REAL MADRID CF 3 - 0 over OLYMPIQUE DE LYON thus winning 4 - 1 on overall aggregate. With this result Real Madrid goes into the Q/Finals of Champions League were it will soon know its next

ERIC ABIDAL MISSES SEASON WITH A LIVER TUMOR | FC BARCELONA

The Spanish  & World Football are in shock as FC BARCELONA have announced that their French International player & defender ERIC ABIDAL has been diagnosed with a tumor in his liver & will miss the rest of this season. Abidal will be operated in Barcelona this Friday to remove & determine the state of the tumor. 



Eric Abidal

Eric Abidal was possibly in his best state of form since joining FC

ATLETICO DE MADRID 2011 | NEWS BRIEFS

Here are some quick ATLETICO DE MADRID news pieces for all the fans spread across the globe




Diego Forlan

Its no secret that Atletico de Madrid foward DIEGO FORLAN is not happy at the Club. The man has been trying to leave for the last year, to such extent that he even offered himself to arch rival Real Madrid earlier in the year. The man has again expressed his discontent to Italian Sports

GETAFE 2 ATHLETIC DE BILBAO 2 | ROUND 28 SPANISH FOOTBALL MONDAY GAME RESULT

SPANISH FOOTBALL action this Monday night with the closing of the Round 28 clash of LA LIGA under some terrible weather conditions here in Madrid. Here is a brief run down of tonights events, the result & scorers.



Young Muniain for At Bilbao against Getafe

GETAFE played host to ATHLETIC DE BILBAO in a final 2 - 2 draw result game that went crazy in the last half hour when all four goals

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA SUNDAY ROUND 28 GAMES RESULTS & SCORERS

Six games of Spanish Football today with Round 28 action of the Spanish League. There has been intense struggles this weekend especially from Clubs either attempting to avoid the relegation zone of La Liga ladder or Clubs attempting to climb into the Euro zones. Here is a summary of events, results & the scorers.



Real Sociedad - Malaga

MALAGA are currently looking at the abyss of the 2º

SPANISH FOOTBALL SATURDAY ROUND 28 GAMES RESULTS | LA LIGA

SPANISH FOOTBALL action today with three games of LA LIGA that belong to Round 28 with the following briefs, results & scorers. 



Almeria - Atletico de Madrid 

ALMERIA are in a risky situation hoovering in the relegation zone of the Spanish League ladder, while ATLETICO DE MADRID need wins to get into the upper zone & attempt their planned objective of a Champions League position. Todays

CRISTIANO RONALDO OR LIONEL MESSI | WHO IS CURRENTLY THE SPANISH LEAGUE TOP GOAL SCORER?

Who is currently the leading Spanish Football League - La Liga - leading Goal scorer? 


You may think that it is strange that such a question be asked if the statistics are recorded & followed strictly, but no, there is "controversy, & so much that it could play a vital role at the end of the season to decide which player receives the prestigious "EL PICHICHI" Award.

At the moment it´s a two

LUIS FABIANO LEAVES SEVILLA FC FOR BRAZILIAN CLUB SAO PAULO

It was well known the Brazilian International & SEVILLA FC forward LUIS FABIANO thought his time at the Spanish Football Club had come to an end & was planning to leave. What has caught many off guard is the announcement tonight by Brazilian Football Club SAO PAULO that they have secured the services of Luis Fabiano from Sevilla FC for 8M€. The Brazilian player then confirmed the news via his

HOLA RAUL | SCHALKE 04 SPANISH FOOTBALL PLAYER WINS THE HEARTS OF THE GERMAN FANS

Spanish Football Players have historically been very timid in their majority in leaving home shores to play elsewhere in Europe, the language & the cultural difficulties have often been cited as importante causes.

That has all changed in the last few years with many Football players going & currently playing in the English Premier League, the Budesliga, Greece, Russia, Italy, Turkey...etc. The

FC BARCELONA JUVENIL B 2010 - 2011 | SPANISH FOOTBALL UNDEFEATED TEAM

Is there a Spanish Football team this year who are still undefeated?




FC Barcelona Juvenil B 2010-2011

Yes, there is & it is this team pictured below. FC BARCELONA Juvenil (Junior) B Team which is trained by ex-FC Barcelona player Oscar Garcia & Quique Alvarez.They have 20 victories, 6 draws & zero losses, plus 79 goals in favour & only 19 goals against. As Spanish Sports daily "Mundo

EUROPA LEAGUE | BAYERN LEVERKUSEN 2 VILLAREAL 3 | 1st LEG RESULT

We saw a great match of European Football in tonights EUROPA LEAGUE 1ºst leg clash between German Club BAYERN LAVERKUSEN & Spanish Football Team VILLAREAL. The final result 2 - 3 is a marvellous victory for the Spaniards that puts them totally in the drivers seat with the 2º leg at Villareal



Nilmar scores for Villareal : reuters

The Germans started strong & dominated the game & it was a

SCHALKE 04 3 VALENCIA CF 1 (AGG 4 - 2) KNOCK OUT THE SPANIARDS FROM CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

German Club SCHALKE 04 defeated VALENCIA CF 3 -1 tonight ( 4 - 2 agg) to advance into the Q/Finals stage of CHAMPIONS LEAGUE &thus end the hopes of the Spanish Team.



Benega for Valencia CF
The Spaniards started well & showed signs of being able to take the match to their territory with promising play. Valencia scored first via RICARDO COSTA with the a header in the 16th min. This woke up the

REAL MADRID NEW SEASON 2011 - 2012 UNIFORM - SHIRT

So,  you are a REAL MADRID fan & are proud to wear the latest gear around town & with your mates. You just forked out around 80 - 90 € this season on the latest Football Shirt ( or uniform ) & are now looking sharp as hell. Well, get ready for another 80-90€ because your current shirt is about to become "old fashion" & now out of date



New Real Madrid 2010-2011 shirt

Spanish Sports daily (AS)

FC BARCELONA 3 ARSENAL 1 ( 4-3 AGG) RESULT | FC BARCELONA MOVES ON IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

FC BARCELONA defeat 3 - 1 ARSENAL FC ( 4 - 3 aggregate ) tonight at "Camp Nou" to knock out of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE competition the English Club & advance forward into the Quarter Final stages. There was a "minor scare" for Barça when Arsenal managed to "score" but with Arsenal down to 10 men after Van Persie was sent off the locals did their job.



Iniesta & Messi open the Arsenal can

Barça

ATLETICO DE MADRID RECEIVES APOLOGY FROM LAW FIRM OVER ERRONEOUS DEBT NUMBERS

On the 18 of Febuary 2011 Spanish Football Sports Blog ( yours truely ) picked up a news piece spalshed all over the Spanish Sports press & did a post. The article made reference of a report handed in publically by prestigious law firm Cremades & Calvo - Sotelo that claimed that Spanish Football Club ATLETICO DE MADRID had a debt of +700M€. The firm had made the report after an opposition "lobby"

DEPORTIVO 2 REAL SOCIEDAD 1 | SPANISH FOOTBALL MONDAY NIGHT ROUND 27 GAME RESULT

The picture says it all, DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA defeated REAL SOCIEDAD 2 - 1 in the last game of Round 27 of the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE. 



Deportivo take the three points in La Liga

Overall one could agree with the final score as Deportivo was more proactive match wise & created for themselves more goal chances. In fact, Depor converted two with the first coming in the 40th min via RIKI & the

SPANISH FOOTBALL RESULTS SUNDAY ROUND 27 GAMES - LA LIGA

Six SPANISH FOOTBALL matches tonight as part of Round 27 of the LA LIGA. Big & intense games between relegation zone teams which are all taking each match from now on as a final along with the big teams fighting for Euro places. Here are the briefs on events, the results & the scorers.



Sporting de Gijon scores against Getafe

Vital win by REAL SPORTING DE GIJON 2 - 0 against GETAFE who are

KAKA FED UP WITH MOURINHO, REAL MADRID & THE WORLD

The news coming out of REAL MADRID is that Brazilian midfielder & ex Golden Ball KAKA is going through his most difficult time at the Spanish Football Club. The 29 year old has been relegated to a secondary position spending more time on the bench than on the playing field after recovering from his serious knee injury.

According to media sources, KAKA has expressed to Real Madrid President

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA SATURDAY ROUND 27 GAMES RESULTS

Three great games of SPANISH FOOTBALL tonight as part of Round 27 of the Spanish League - La Liga. Here is a brief summary of events, with the results & the goal scorers.



Pablo Hernandez , big day with Valencia CF

Nice game between REAL MALLORCA & VALENCIA CF with the visitors winning 1 - 2 & cementing their current third place on the Spanish Football League ladder. The Mallorca ground hasn´t

GERARD DEULOFEU | FC BARCELONA NEW GOLDEN KID

Gerard Deulofeu 


Here is another name of a promising Spanish Football future star. He is soon to be 17 year old GERARD DEULOFEU & he belongs to the "hottest" junior schools in World Football: "La Mesia" of FC BARCELONA.The Barça youth machine is manufacturing young stars & FC Barcelona has already had to fend of the "poachers" from other World Football Clubs.

The young man has been

Gameweek 29 Rankings

Clean Sheet Rankings
Clean sheets kept at home/away - opponents failed to score home/away

1. Man City (8 - 6)
2. Arsenal (6 - 5)
3. Birmingham (5 - 7)
4. Bolton (4 - 5)
5. West Ham (3 - 7)
6. Fulham (7 - 3)
7. Liverpool (6 - 3)
8. Chelsea (4 - 0)
9. Newcastle (3 - 4)
10. Stoke (2 - 3)
11. Wolves (3 - 2)
12. West Brom (0 - 5)
13. Man Utd (4 - 1)
14. Tottenham (1 - 2)
15. Wigan (3 - 3)
16. Blackpool (0 - 6)
17. Everton (2 - 2)
18. Sunderland (4 - 2)
19. Blackburn (0 - 3)
20. Aston Villa (0 - 3)

Attacking Rankings
Predicted goals scored in parenthesis

1. Arsenal (2.48)
2. Chelsea (2.25)
3. Man City (1.78)
4. West Ham (1.66)
5. Bolton (1.60)
6. Man Utd (1.57)
7. Fulham (1.56)
8. Everton (1.48)
9. Birmingham (1.46)
10. Tottenham (1.42)
11. Aston Villa (1.37)
12. Liverpool (1.15)
13. Blackburn (1.14)
14. Blackpool (1.10)
15. Newcastle (1.10)
16. Wolves (1.04)
17. Stoke (1.00)
18. Sunderland (0.95)
19. West Brom (0.95)
20. Wigan (0.88)

Captain Stats
Arsenal's injury problems came at a bad time for fantasy players as many held them through their off week in order to capitalise on their upcoming games but now Van Persie, Walcott and Fabregas will miss this week's game with the former pair out for even longer than that. Despite topping the predicted scoring charts this week then, it is tough to find too many Gunners worthy of the arm band.

Carlos Tevez - This is where most players will settle this week and on fixture alone they aren't far wrong. Tevez started very slowly at home but he has added 2 big games in his last 3 at Eastlands (5 goals in 3 games) and is as good form as any of the big name strikers right now (perhaps just behind Rooney).

Mario Balotelli - 2 goals in a week for Balotelli might act as a reminder for Mancini that Super Mario is still around though he is of course a risky proposition to captain. If you need to take a risk though his ceiling is sky high and in the 8 games he has played an hour or more he has 6 goals including 4 in his last two games (both at home).

Wayne Rooney - The in form striker in the league right now, Rooney has 5 goals in his last 5 games and is close to the form he has struggled to show since a year ago. Having fallen apart down the stretch last year due to injury (and a subsequent rushed return) it would be some form of consolation for Rooney if he could finish strong this year. Based on fixtures I see Rooney as the best long term replacement for Van Persie too.

Dimitar Berbatov - Given his history of being benched against the best teams, I can't back Berbatov this week.

Nani - The fixture isn't great and Nani has struggled away from home but he remains the best midfield option in the game and so deserves some attention. His last two road games have given him 18 points though and he has 4 goals in the last 7 overall. Not the slam dunk he has been of late but still right up there despite the tricky game.

Marouane Chamakh - Appeared to have fallen off the face of the earth of late with just 35 minutes in the 8 games since Arsenal squad got fit but now they have injuries again, he could be back in the fantasy lime light. He was on the scoresheet last night against Leyton Orient and should be locked in for a start this week. When starting he added 4 goals in 7 home games so he is at least worth a thought if you have Van Persie and cannot stretch to one of the pricier options above.

Didier Drogba - I'm not sure what's wrong with him but the arrival or Torres hasn't helped and Drogba is not own-able never mind captain-able right now.

Suspensions
Chaz Adam
Nemanja Vidic
DJ Campbell
Ryan Nelsen
Jean Makoun

ROUND 26 SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE THURSDAY NIGHT GAMES RESULTS

The last two Spanish Football League matches of Round 26 of La Liga were played tonight with the following results & scorers.



Almeria - Racing

RACING DE SANTANDER will be very pleased with their away 1 - 1 draw against ALMERIA. Happy because the visitors were left with 10 men when Henrique was given a red card in the 17th men. With this handicap Racing managed to score first via COLSA in the

SPANISH FOOTBALL ROUND 26 MID-WEEK TUESDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL celebrates mid week LIGA action with Round 26 being split up into three days. Tonight the Spanish League had two matches with the following brief summary of events, results & scorers.



Webo scores for Real Mallorca

RCD ESPANYOL suffered a defeat in their "home fort" against REAL MALLORCA after the latter made a comeback to win 1 -2. Espanyol started on fire with their goal

KOKE | ATLETICO DE MADRID 19 YEAR OLD PROMISE

ATLETICO DE MADRID does have a some positive elements, their improving youth teams & the flow of young players making a place for themselves in the first team. There is already present Defender Dominguez, Goalkeeper David De Gea & now midfielder JORGE RESURRECIÓN MERIODO alias “KOKE”.



Atletico de Madrid young promise Koke 

The 19 year old midfielder played his second straight game with the