SPANISH FOOTBALL TRANSFER RUMOURS | ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC AT REAL MADRID ?

Its rumour time folks in Spanish Football & in reference to this post, REAL MADRID CF. With Coach Mourinho announcing that he is staying for next season, the rumours are building as the Club begins planning for next season.Already there is a "black list" of 7 names that many say will be leaving the Club at the end of the season for a "new Football home" next season. The voiced names are:

Sahin

SPANISH FOOTBALL | MATCH FIXING IN LA LIGA ?

Sports betting is a multi-million dollar business. Betting on Football results, goals & what not drives thousands of punters into a betting frenzy every weekend in order to make a quick buck, pound or euro. It seems SPANISH FOOTBALL is not immune to the "side-effects" of a business which operates on the thin line between good & evil. 






Sad to read today that Spanish late-night Sports radio

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE - ROUND 36 SUNDAY GAMES RESULT

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued this Sunday with Round 36 & five games of LA LIGA. Here are all the final results & goal scorers as things get "heated" in the Euro table positions & especially in the relegation zone.



Karim Benzema 



REAL MADRID shock-off their mid-week Champions semis loss to Bayern Munich & concentrated on LA LIGA with an important 3 - 0 win over SEVILLA FC. The victory gives

SPANISH TENNIS | NADAL WINS CONDE GODO 2012

Spanish World Nº2 ranked Tennis player RAFAEL NADAL added another title to his long list when he defeated fellow Spaniard DAVID FERRER 7-6 7-5 in the Final of the Conde Godo tournament in Barcelona. It was the 7th consecutive title for Nadal on his favourite surface, clay, which adds more weight to his legendary status on the mentioned surface. Nadal nothced his 34th victory on clay, 6 behind

TRANSFER RUMOURS | REAL MADRID CONSIDERS LUCAS BIGLIA

The transfer rumours heat up every year around this time as the season comes to an end & the Clubs plan the following season. In the REAL MADRID case there are rumours that many will leave to find a new club: Kaka ( PSG ) , Higuain ( PSG, Chelsea , Inter, Milan ), Albiol... & Lass Diarra. This last has been spotted in Turkey talking to the big Clubs. 




Lucas Biglia

According to local Spanish

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA - ROUND 36 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL action with 5 games of Round 36 celebrated this Saturday. Here is a brief round-up of games, with the final results & all the scorers.




Kone for Levante


LEVANTE won GRANADA 3 - 0 & keeps the flame alive of finishing in Champions League table positions. The battle for the coveted position places is up for grabs along with Valencia CF, Malaga FC, At.Bilbao & At.Madrid. Today

Gameweek 36 Captain Data

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P90 Points scored per 90 minutes at home/away based on this week's opponents QG%Percentage of games played where the player scored 6 or more points xPct The percentage of his team's goals a player has accounted for, multiplied by the expected goals for this week Rating Based on the player's rankings in the other three categories.

We discussed some transfer targets yesterday so take a quick look over there if you're still unsure on who you want to bring in this week. A couple of readers noted that I neglected to mention the upcoming FA Cup final, which is a fair point, though it's something which doesn't have a huge impact on the week. If you own Liverpool or Chelsea players you're going to play them regardless, on the assumption that they will get at least 90 minutes, and I'm not sure any of them are great transfer targets anyway, with perhaps the exception of Mata who I highlighted in yesterday's piece. The cup final probably puts a slight knock against him but I'd still take what is likely going to be full game against QPR at home and then a chance at decent minutes against Newcastle (a must win game, by the way) than stick with someone with just a single game.

I've talked about Cisse at length over the past couple of weeks so I won't dwell on it again here. The situation is fairly simple: he can't continue to score goals at his current rate, based on the number of chances he is getting, but when the regression comes is less clear. I understand the idea behind riding a hot streak, even if I'm not sure it's rooted in fact, and without too many other great options this, he makes a very solid play. Just be sure to understand the risks too.

Without the recent injury and possible dressing room unrest, I would have comfortably handed Adebayor the arm band this week but now the situation is a tricky one for fantasy managers. If he's healthy I think he plays as Redknapp can't afford to let egos get in the way of their chase for Champions League football. That, of course, is a big 'if' with Physio Room suggesting he will be fit, while the pl.com officials are less clear giving him only a 50% chance. I think you have to go with Cisse over him unless we get clearer evidence that he faces Blackburn on Sunday, though I still like Adebayor over some of the more established captain picks like Rooney, Van Persie or Aguero, providing that is, we don't get any more negative news. 

For the double gameweekers you should probably put more emphasis on the xPct column as this is only data which accounts for the extra expected goals scored by a player's team. That leads you to players like Gareth Bale, Frank Lampard and, I suppose, Jermaine Defoe though I wouldn't touch the latter given the uncertainty around who'll play up top for Spurs. I would look at Lampard if was playing my wildcard or had two free transfers to spare but otherwise he still doesn't represent great upside for his price tag. I like Bale more than the stats given his excellent underlying numbers (not reflected in the formula) and probably like him the most among midfielders this week. 

While Rooney has enjoyed success in the Manchester derby before, the odds aren't in his favor and I wouldn't consider him a captain pick this week. Of the non-double gameweekers I would likely look towards Van Persie, despite his blip in production of late, though again he doesn't look like an outstanding play. A few managers have floated the idea of ditching Rooney or van Persie in favour of one of the double gameweekers this week, but take quick look at the upcoming rankings before doing so:

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Cisse comes out on top over the remaining three gameweeks but van Persie is tied for the final two gameweeks, which when you consider the regression we are suggesting Cisse is due, suggests that bailing on the Dutchman for the Newcastle hit-man is premature. If you believe van Persie has really taken a step back and Cisse can out shoot Leo Messi, make the move, but if you believe in the regression argument then van Persie remains the better option for GW37 and 38 and thus some caution should be exercised. 

As for Rooney, that is a close call as he faces a tough game in GW38 which dampens our expectations a bit. Statistically the pick is therefore Cisse, though some realism has to be baked into our expectations and the chance of a Sunderland side with nothing to play for keeping United out if they need a win to clinch the title looks slim. 

I know some readers think I am too conservative with this kind of move, and honestly, my approach will almost certainly prevent you from winning the whole pl.com game (to do you need to take gambles and be first to market numerous times). If however, you're happy to go with a somewhat conservative, but rational approach, I am much more comfortable using Cisse as a third forward alongside the elite pair and looking to gain ground on your competition elsewhere in your team (perhaps double down on Everton defenders or nab Juan Mata etc). 

Let's wrap this up then before I get further off track. I will make an extra effort to get on to answer reader questions this week as I'm sure the majority of us have bigger issues to deal with, rather than the normal Vorm v Mignolet toss up.  For Twitter fans, the @plfantasy handle is now free of other non-fantasy nonsense so if my baseball ramblings have turned anyone off, come on back!

GUARDIOLA SET TO LEAVE FC BARCELONA ?

Hot rumour coming out of Spanish Sports media tonight is that FC BARCELONA Coach JOSEP GUARDIOLA will announce his departure at the end of the season. REPEAT, it is only a rumour, but a hot one at that hitting the "airwaves"



Pep Guardiola


The Coach wishes to communicate his decision to his players tomorrow & then will give a Press Conference to drop "the bomb". The man is mentally exhausted

ALL SPANISH EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL

Two Spanish Football Clubs will meet in the upcoming Final of the EUROPA LEAGUE after the two semi-final games celebrated tonight. Here is a brief summary of events, the final scores & all the scorers.



Falcao

ATLETICO DE MADRID defeated in the 2 º leg semi 0 - 1 ( 2 - 5 agg ) VALENCIA CF away with a solitary goal from ADRIAN in the 60th min.Valencia was dominate in the first half & had

Gameweek 36 Preview

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Needless to say, this week is dominated by the double gameweeks, though I don't think they will all produce the bounty of points some expect. I am going to avoid dwelling on the obvious matchups as, for example, if you own Tony Hibbert you are obviously playing him, you won't consider captaining him and few will be considering transferring him in, so there isn't really a decision to be made there. Instead, I will focus on the top end of the market, which is where you will want to direct your transfer attention (captain picks will follow later or tomorrow) and at the bottom end of the market, where I will try and highlight some DGWs which aren't perhaps as good as they seem and aren't worth the cost to get access to them.

Top Shelf matchups (transfer targets)
Chelsea and Tottenham midfielders - these are by far the best fixtures for the week, and probably the only group I would consider paying 4 points for. Chelsea get two home games, though one tough opponent, while Spurs face two easier opponents but have to go on the road for one of the games. Both teams need to win if they hope to nab 4th spot, though some concern must at least be voiced over Chelsea's mental state after their triumph at the Nou Camp and hence the Champions League final lurking in the distance.

The conversation with these two teams needs to start with their elite midfield options with both Gareth Bale and Juan Mata making a lot of sense this week. If you find the Opta data to be persuasive, you're going to want to go with the former, who has inexplicably failed to find the net for 10 gameweeks despite taking 31 shots with 11 of them hitting the target. Over that same period Sigurdsson and Cisse have each hit the target 16 times, scoring 7 and 11 goals in the process. Now, we can talk about the quality of shots being taken, composure in front of goal etc all you want, but those totals for Bale simply aren't sustainable and if he continues to get into good positions, he is more likely than not to find the back of the net.

Mata has had an odd fantasy campaign, quietly racking up an impressive 145 points in his debut season, though never really capturing the imagination of managers with his ownership numbers being depressed all year. The appearances off the bench concern me, as does do his shot totals over the past handful of appearances, though at this stage of the season you're looking for upside and his four double digit gameweeks illustrate his credentials. The only appeal I see with Frank Lampard are his penalty duties and that isn't enough for me to part with 11m.

Van der Vaart is obviously startable this week too, but I have some concerns over his ability to start (and complete) two games in a week, plus of course his production has taken a steep decline in the second half of the year. I'd be willing to own him, but this is one case where I feel the stats overvalue him a touch and you need to exercise some caution before jumping on board.

Newcastle forwards - I've been saying for a few weeks that Cisse will surely be tackled by the regression monster at some point, but he keeps defying the odds and now has 11 goals from just 16 shots on target. As shown above, Newcastle's fixtures are good rather than great this week as they face two sides who have improved over the past month or so and very much have something left to play for. Cisse will figure prominently in this week's captain discussion, but for now we're focused on whether or not to bring him in. If you believe he can continue to score at his current rate, the answer is of course 'yes' as neither opponent this week are stout enough to totally cut off his supply of chances. However, if you factor in some regression along with his exploding ownership numbers, I am less inclined to put a stamp of approval on him. In a vacuum he makes a good transfer target, and a lack of other options might lead you to that conclusion, but again, I'm not sure I'd be paying 4 points for the privilege.

Demba Ba has actually registered just one shot less than Cisse over the last 10 games, but has only a single goal to show for it. Given his lower price tag he remains a budget option, though despite my concerns over Cisse's ability to convert shots at his current clip, he does look like the better option for the next couple of gameweeks given the way Ba has been pushed onto the flanks on occasion of late.

Verdict: Bale and Cisse look like the only elite options to me, though even with them I'm not sure I would be paying 4 points to bring them in, unless of course you're current starter is set to rack up zero points.

Good options, but be careful

Emmanuel Adebayor was all teed up to be my number one pick this week, so much so that I jumped in early last week to also take advantage of the 'easy' trip to QPR. I didn't however account for the apparent dressing room unrest/ 'hamstring' injury which kept Adebayor out and resigned Spurs to another miserable performance. How to treat Adebayor this week now looks tricky and you have to conclude that you can't be in a position to transfer him in with such uncertainty in the air.

Nikica Jelavic has been receiving plenty of attention over the past few weeks, but I fear he may be being overrated a touch coming into the double gameweek. A trip to Stoke is a tricky game at the best of times, and with little to play for, I'm not sure Everton will be ready for a potential battle that awaits them. Jelavic has scored with 5 of his 8 shots on target over his last 6 appearances, form which - like Cisse above - looks a touch unsustainable. He's a good play for the week for sure, and if you're looking for a 3 gameweek option his remaining fixtures are also reasonable, but I don't see him a slam dunk pick and would hesitate before using my valuable transfer on him with the other options available above.

Liverpool and Fulham midfielders / forwards - two games are obviously nice but Fulham don't travel well at all while Liverpool can't be counted on for anything at the moment. Go ahead and start the likes of Dempsey and Suarez but they shouldn't be transfer targets.

All defensive matchups - I wouldn't bet money on any of the double gameweek defensive options to rack up one, never mind a couple of clean sheets, thus they are unlikely to represent good transfer targets. The two exceptions I might make would be if (a) your current starter is injured/suspended and you've no depth to back him up or (b) your only options are from City/United and you are confident that they will accrue, at most, a single point (ie concede 2 or more goals). In that scenario, you only need your replacement to play twice to almost break even with any clean sheets/assists/goals being pure profit.

In that scenario, the choice looks to be between Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea or Spurs, who have varying combinations of good/mediocre fixtures. I might actually lean towards the cheapest of the bunch, with Everton having two promising defensive fixtures including one (FUL H) which is about as good as it gets. I don't personally like any of this group enough to pay for them, but I would understand the move if you need a big finish in your league standings.

Don't force the issue
Bolton and Stoke players, along with Fulham and Newcastle defenders seem to disprove the theory that two heads are better than one. For a double gameweek in the middle of the season there could be some value here as you try and time the pickup with a run of good games, but with so few quality options on these teams it just doesn't make sense to waste a valuable transfer, or worse, 4 points, to bring someone like M Petrov or Etherington in. It's still likely that you play anyone in this group, but don't get carried away with the ceiling for a group of players who are essentially just replacement level. 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | REAL MADRID KNOCKED OUT BY BAYERN IN PENALTY-SHOOT OUT

Intense match that went into extra-time, down to the wire & was settled in a penalty shoot-out. REAL MADRID CF was knocked out of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE tournament 2 - 2 ( penalty shoot out 3-5 ) by BAYERN MUNICH that moves on to play the Final in their home stadium against Chelsea FC & which they are now hot favourites



Cristiano Ronaldo


Bitter-end for Spanish Football in Champions with FC

FC BARCELONA 2 CHELSEA FC 2 | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2 º LEG SEMI RESULT

FC BARCELONA has been knocked out of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE tournament after English Club CHELSEA FC managed a 2 - 2 final result ( 2-3agg ) in the 2º leg semi final match. It was a victory against the grain & with all the Chelsea FC players singing ( metaphorical) the Pink Floyd track ..."all in all we´re just another brick in the wall. Defensive wall that was higher when Chelsea FC Captain Terry

MONDAY NIGHT SPANISH FOOTBALL ROUND 35 GAME RESULT

Round 35 of the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE concluded tonight with the Monday Night Game between OSASUNA & MALAGA FC that ended in a 1 - 1 draw. Lost opportunity for both Clubs to jump table positions as Osasuna aims for Europa League positions & Malaga to get off Valencia CF the prized 3º rd place.



Osasuna - Malaga FC

Osasuna opened the scoring in the 53rd min via NINO but Malaga FC midfielder

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE ROUND 35 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued today /tonight with Round 35 & with 5 games scheduled of LA LIGA. While the Spanish League title winner may have been settled, or at least made clearer after yesterdays Real Madrid victory over FC Barcelona, the action continues for the Euro table places & especially around the relegation zone. Lets look at all the final results & all the goal scorers. 



Granada

SPANISH TENNIS | NADAL DEFEATS DJOKOVIC IN MONTE CARLO FINAL

Great news this afternoon for Spanish Sports & Tennis with the victory of RAFAEL NADAL over NOVAK DJOKOVIC in the Final of the Monte Carlo MASTERS 1000 tournament. Not only did Nadal defeat the World Nº1 ranked Tennis player Djokovick 6-3 6-1, but it was the Spaniards 8th consecutive Monte Carlos title which set a new World Record in Tennis being the first to win the same tournament 8 times in a

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA ROUND 35 SATURDAY NIGHT - CLASICO - GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL tonight with four matches scheduled in Round 35 of LA LIGA & the "clasico" taking all the headlines & all the World Football attention as the Spanish League was basically up for grabs. Here are all the final results & scorers.



Khedira scores for Real Madrid

FC BARCELONA suffered their first home ground defeat,  & barring late surprises, kissed this seasons Spanish League

THE OTHER CLASICO | MESSI vs CRISTIANO RONALDO

Saturday 21 st of Abril 2012, Round 35 of the SPANISH LEAGUE at the "Camp Nou" Stadium in the city of Barcelona. Another "clasico" between the home Club FC BARCELONA, currently second on the LIGA table with 81 points & the current table leader REAL MADRID with 85 points.



Camp Nou

Big match commencing at 20.00 Spanish local time which could well settle the season 2011-2012 LIGA title,

Gameweek 35 Captain Data

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P90 Points scored per 90 minutes at home/away based on this week's opponents QG%Percentage of games played where the player scored 6 or more points xPct The percentage of his team's goals a player has accounted for, multiplied by the expected goals for this week Rating Based on the player's rankings in the other three categories.

It's an interesting choice this week, as for the first time in a while one of the previously 'elite' players (read: Van Persie and Rooney) are not the obvious pick per the stats. I still have some reservations of Cisse as a truly elite forward given the fact he is currently converting shots on target at an incredible rate. Some will argue 'form', others will suggest it's a small sample, and you'll find me largely in the latter camp. For comparison, Cisse is currently converting shots on target at a rate of one goal every 1.5 shots (10 goals on 15 shots). Leo Messi, perhaps the greatest player of all, enjoying one of the best seasons of all time, is converting them at a rate of 2.1 (65 goals on 139 shots). The natural response is that these are different players in different leagues but show me a player who can sustainably convert chances at this rate and I'll listen.

The above should not, however, be read as a pick against Cisse. He's been sensational for Newcastle in his brief time with the club and gets a great fixture this week as Newcastle welcome a Stoke side with little to play for and one that doesn't travel too well at the best of times. With next week's delicious double gameweek coming up, Cisse remains a solid pickup, though he is of course along way past being a differential option. That said, he currently ranks third in FFS captain poll, and that likely doesn't account for the thousands of average players who will likely roll with Van Persie or Rooney again this week. 

My plan all along was to bring in Bale and Adebayor for the double gameweek, but I must concede that I am revisiting those plans to consider fitting Cisse in. I'll likely stick with my original plan but the fact I am wavering towards a player who is a textbook regression candidate is a testament to his production.

If you share my reservations, or simply want to play it a bit safer you're probably looking at one of the elite forwards, now once again joined by Aguero after his brief flirtation with mediocrity. City have obviously looked great over the past couple of weeks and Aguero was at the centre of much of their success with 9 shots in those two fixtures. However, before last week, Aguero hadn't scored an away goal since GW9 and is averaging a worrying 4.7 P90 away from Eastlands. His obvious talent and production this year suggest he should always be in contention but I don't think I'm ready to go there based purely on two weeks' data and a good looking fixture. Chances are if you read this blog you probably don't own Aguero and thus the future fixture list also becomes an issue, with next week's Manchester derby looming large (not to mention a tricky trip to St James' Park). I see the logic here but I don't see enough to warrant the obvious downside.

So that leaves Rooney and Van Persie as the obvious picks and both look like solid plays for the week, even if the upside is possibly a bit limited compared to prior weeks. On first glance, Van Persie has taken a small step back these past few weeks but just a single goal (from the spot) in the past six gameweeks. However, over that period he still leads the league in total shots (19) and his 11 efforts on target can only be bested by Cisse (12). Without digging into a deeper analysis of the type of shots he's taking (perhaps he's forcing it a bit), it's fairly uncontroversial to suggest that his conversion rate picks up again at some point so if he can continue to get into good positions, the goals should return. Chelsea are a good defensive team which obviously hurts Van Persie this week, though you do wonder how much attention will still be on the upcoming trip to Camp Nou on Tuesday. 

Rooney didn't look great last week but still escaped with a couple of goals (one from the spot) and an inexplicable three bonus points (that so-called change in the system was a total waste of time). He still managed to get six shots off, and his data over the past 6 gameweeks suggests a player who continues to be dangerous every week. Everton have quietly enjoyed an excellent season and this fixture is actually pretty comparable with Arsenal welcoming Chelsea (Everton concede 1.2 versus Chelsea's 1.1 away from home). Rooney has been great at home and United obviously need a big performance here with City coming up next week (if that means anything). I don't put much stock in the 'former team' narrative (that's one to investigate over the off season) but considering everything else makes Rooney a very good pick again this week.

The other two names high on the list are a pair of midfielders who've been fantasy gold this year. Dempsey and Sigurdsson have both been generally great but both have fairly strong home/away splits with Dempsey dominating at home and Sigurdsson shining on the road. Both players have managed 10 shots on goal over the past 6 gameweeks, though Sigurdsson enjoys a substantial advantage in terms of assist potential with 12 key passes versus Dempsey's 5. Bolton aren't showing any dramatic improvements as the season winds down and are still susceptible to big home defeats against quality opposition. Sigurdsson is still only held by 7% of managers making him the best differential play of the week if you need to do something different.



Edit: A couple of readers pointed out that Carlos Tevez deserves some attention here, and they're absolutely right. His four goals and two assists in just a handful of minutes obviously represents an outstanding return, and his Premier League pedigree shows there is reason to believe he can simply slot back into the first team and pickup where he left of last year - as one of the best players in the league. As you may have gathered though, there is a 'but' coming.

In his two starts in GW33-34 he managed six total shots, four of which hit the target. All four of those shots were converted into goals. Yes, he's a potentially elite player, and yes, he has a good scoring track record in the Premier League, but as we noted above, that kind of conversion rate is just not sustainable. Neither West Brom away from home, nor Norwich at home have particularly good defenses so it isn't a given that Tevez will even get as many chances going forward to convert. Granted, he likely will this week, but then City face the Champions-elect and a tough trip to St James Park, essentially making Tevez a one week gamble (not to say he can't produce in the other games too, just that the odds won't be stacked in his favour). I issued a warning regarding small sample sizes for Cisse, who now has nine appearances under his belt, so you can imagine my hesitation to jump on a player who was an afterthought just a couple of weeks and has performed well in two games against mediocre opposition.

Tevez's strongest asset is his low ownership numbers (3%) and to get such upside from a player held by so few is indeed rare. I can certainly see a scenario where he is successful this week, but balancing that out against no double gameweek in GW36, tough games in GW36 and 37, a small chance that he doesn't even start this week and all the off-field drama that has affected him all season, I just don't see a 12m risk unless you absolutely need to gain 10s of points on your opponents immediately and they have the Rooney, van Persie and Cisse market cornered.

It's a tough choice to make this week and the logic behind Cisse looks solid. That said, I will likely stick with Van Persie who may be abandoned by a handful of managers following his "poor form" of late. 

EUROPA LEAGUE SEMI FINAL 1st LEG FINAL RESULTS

EUROPA LEAGUE semi final 1º leg matches tonight with three SPANISH FOOTBALL teams involved along with a Portuguese Club. Here are the final results & all the goalscorers.



Adrian
ATLETICO DE MADRID defeated in spectacular fashion VALENCIA CF 4 - 2 to allow them a foot into the finals door with Valencia still alive due to their two away goals. One finds it bewildering to understand how a team

FOOTBALL FINANCE | REAL MADRID - FC BARCELONA TOP RICH CLUBS IN WORLD FOOTBALL

Prestigious American Financial magazine "Forbes" has released its list of the "Worlds Richest Football Clubs". Taking into account the main accounting factors like income ( all sources, from TV, merchandising, spectators...etc), costs & current debt the "bottom line" balance sheets puts English Club MANCHESTER UNITED in the Nº1 spot. The British pound exchange rates may have helped give the Club

Double vision: A look ahead to Gameweek 36

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CS Clean sheets kept at home/away based on this week's fixture Opp FTS Number of times this week's opponent has failed to score at home/away GPG Conceded Predicted goals conceded this week based on a team and their opponent's performance this season Opp CS Clean sheets kept at home/away by a team's opponent GPG Scored Predicted goals scored this week based on a team and their opponent's performance this season

So what does this mean for individual players? Let's look at how the data suggests the fantasy stars will do from here on in: Each bar represents the players' xPct over the final four gameweeks.

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I won't get into particulars of captain picks etc now as that's something for next week, but the above will hopefully give some initial guidance when making any transfers this week. I'll add some of my thoughts tomorrow.

Gameweek 35 Preview

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CS Clean sheets kept at home/away based on this week's fixture Opp FTS Number of times this week's opponent has failed to score at home/away GPG Conceded Predicted goals conceded this week based on a team and their opponent's performance this season Opp CS Clean sheets kept at home/away by a team's opponent GPG Scored Predicted goals scored this week based on a team and their opponent's performance this season


As important as getting your picks right this week will be how you setup your team for next week's double gameweeks. I'll post the data for next week later on, along with some thoughts on players to target, and then the regular captain picks will come through later in the week.

CHELSEA FC 1 FC BARCELONA 0 | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI 1º LEG RESULT

FC BARCELONA lost 1 - 0 away at Stamford Bridge London, home to English Football Club CHELSEA FC in the first leg of the semi final of CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. A night in which luck did not follow Barça as they dominated the match but lost due to missed chances & to a more effective Chelsea FC.



Alexis

In fact Chelsea FC did relatively little, but what they did do they did it well. Defend &

BAYERN MUNICH 2 REAL MADRID 1 | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI RESULT 1º LEG

BAYERN MUNICH won the 1º leg semi final away clash against REAL MADRID 2 - 1 of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE in an exciting game of Football. Always a difficult affair for Real Madrid, or any visiting team, to play Bayern on their home turf with their "vibrating" home crowd which supported their team brilliantly all the game. 

Although the Germans grab the victory & an important psychological edge, the

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA ROUND 34 MONDAY NIGHT RESULT | GETAFE 5 SEVILLA FC 1

While most of the local Spanish Sports daily s filled their spaces with pre-Champions League semis content about Real Madrid & Barça, tonight the last game of Round 34 of the Spanish Football League was played. An excellent match & great spectacle as GETAFE made a magnificent comeback to defeated SEVILLA FC 5 -1. 



Negredo for Sevilla FC

Sevilla started well & got ahead when NEGREDO scored a

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LEAGUE ROUND 34 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL & Round 34 of LA LIGA continued today with seven matches scheduled. Here are all the final results & all the scorers.



Espanyol - Valencia CF

RCD ESPANYOL defeated convincingly VALENCIA CF 4 - 0 & puts the latter third position on the Liga table in a delicate situation. Valencia still hold the prized third place thanks to the fact the Malaga could only manage a draw in their

SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE - LA LIGA - ROUND 34 SATURDAY RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL action this Saturday with two games of LA LIGA Round 34 scheduled with the following final scores & goal scorers.



Real Madrid - Sporting

First placed REAL MADRID hosted last placed REAL SPORTING DE GIJON in a must win match for the home side. After 90 minutes Real Madrid managed a 3 - 1 victory that sets them up for the "clasico" against FC Barcelona next week & puts the

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - CURRENT TOP GOALSCORERS

Spanish Football Sports Blog had a widget that gave up-to-date statistics on the current situation with the "Leading Goalscorers" & their actual goal tally. That widget went down the toilet when the source stopped actualizing the information, thus it made no sense to keep it up.


However I am conscious of the fact that the regular readers & the visitors from around the globe are looking to see

Gameweek 34 Captain Data

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P90 Points scored per 90 minutes at home/away based on this week's opponents QG%Percentage of games played where the player scored 6 or more points xPct The percentage of his team's goals a player has accounted for, multiplied by the expected goals for this week Rating Based on the player's rankings in the other three categories. 

These games are barely giving a humble blogger enough time to set his own team (I someone failed to 'confirm' my changes last week, resulting in Rooney getting the arm band over Van Persie), never mind look too far into the future. It's on that note I offer a lowly apology for the lack of attention for the upcoming double gameweeks. I hope to get something out early next week, but in the mean time our good friends at Fantasy Football Scout have you covered.

Onto this week then. What we lack in depth we gain in quality as both Van Persie and Rooney look like irresistible options this week. Indeed, there isn't too much analysis to add here. If you purely want to maximise your chance at points, it's tough to look beyond Van Persie. He leads or ties in every key metric other than P90, which Rooney edges by 0.4 points. Despite Wigan's result this week, I'd still suggest there is a gulf in quality between them and Villa, giving Van Persie the better fixture in terms of both likelihood of success and upside.  For all the hand wringing over McLeish's Villa side, they've only conceded more than two goals on three ocassions, and they were all against quality opponents (Arsenal, City and Chelsea). Wigan on the other hand have conceded three of more goals on no less than 10 occasions, though to be fair, not once since Jan 31.

Van Persie is picking up 58% of the votes in the FFS poll making Rooney a differentiator of sorts. I like that play much more than rolling the dice on a risky transfer so those looking to gain ground should really look at Rooney who is almost as good a play as Van Persie on paper but will surely attract far fewer captain votes.

If you're really desperate to gain ground then Valencia and Walcott look like a good pair of options, though I'm not sure this is the week to be getting cute with your captain pick. I'd prefer to stick with one of the elite options this week then take a chance on someone like Cisse next week, or even one of the double gameweekers (Miyaichi or an emerging Petrov look like the best picks there).

I start this post every week hoping to come up with a real hidden gem but of late it's been pretty boring stuff. Hopefully the data is at least giving you some clues as to how to pick between the elite pair, and it has generally been pretty reliable over the past weeks. Just how effective it is will be analysed after the season. 

SPANISH FOOTBALL MID-WEEK ROUND 33 THURSDAY NIGHT RESULTS

Round 33 of the SPANISH LEAGUE finished tonight with three games played & with the following final results & scorers.



Negredo for Sevilla FC

SEVILLA FC still aspires to get into European table positions & took a big step towards that objective after defeating REAL ZARAGOZA 3 - 0. The result puts Zaragoza again into relegation "hot waters" & time is running out.


The goals came via FAZIO with

Gameweek 34 Rankings

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P90 Points scored per 90 minutes at home/away based on this week's opponents QG%Percentage of games played where the player scored 6 or more points xPct The percentage of his team's goals a player has accounted for, multiplied by the expected goals for this week Rating Based on the player's rankings in the other three categories. 

SPANISH FOOTBALL MID-WEEK ROUND 33 WEDNESDAY NIGHT RESULTS

Mid-week SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight with four games of Round 33 played. Here are all the final results & all the scorers.



Granada

GRANADA drew 2 - 2 with ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO in an exciting match of Football that had action right till the end. Granada started on fire with goals from ROMERO in the 2nd min & a second via GEIJO in the 74th min. Before however, Granada lost Romero to a red

SPANISH FOOTBALL - MID WEEK - ROUND 33 TUESDAY NIGHT RESULTS

SPANISH FOOTBALL mid-week action with Round 33 rolling with three games played tonight. The Round continues with more matches tomorrow & on Thursday. Here are all the final results & all the scorers.



Alexis

FC BARCELONA defeated relatively easy GETAFE 4 - 0 & go to sleep tonight just 1 point behind current leaders Real Madrid which plays tomorrow in the "Madrid Derby" against Atletico. The

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LIGA ROUND 32 MONDAY NIGHT RESULT | MALAGA FC GRABS THIRD PLACE

Last match - Monday Night game - of Round 32 of the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE played tonight between MALAGA FC & RACING DE SANTANDER. The final result was a very convincing 3 - 0 victory to the home side that puts them into 3rd place of the classification table, that is, Champions League position.



Isco scores for Malaga FC

The intentions of Malaga came clear & early when Maresca hit the post in

Gameweek 33 Preview

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P90 Points scored per 90 minutes at home/away based on this week's opponents QG%Percentage of games played where the player scored 6 or more points xPct The percentage of his team's goals a player has accounted for, multiplied by the expected goals for this week Rating Based on the player's rankings in the other three categories. 


Captain Rankings

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P90 Points scored per 90 minutes at home/away based on this week's opponents QG%Percentage of games played where the player scored 6 or more points xPct The percentage of his team's goals a player has accounted for, multiplied by the expected goals for this week Rating Based on the player's rankings in the other three categories.