Barclays Fantasy Football 2012/13 – Top Tips

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s I hold myself out to be the Warren Buffet of the Barclays Fantasy Premier League, I thought that it was only fair to pass on my wisdom in this arena to each and every one of you. Actually, the real reason is that I need another outlet to satisfy my vanity. The Ten Commandments of Barclays Fantasy Football are as follows:

1. Do not waste points on transfers barring exceptional circumstances

I'm always amazed at the large number of people who employ this tactic believing that they are guaranteed to hit the jackpot and score a hundred-plus points if only they could have a particular line-up that week. The only certainty is that you will lose four points, which really adds up during the course of the season if done on a regular basis. 

2. Do not forget rule number one

3. Be patient

Inevitably some of your players will go through barren spells, but hold fast. You will only gain maximum reward from your players by sticking with them through long periods. Try to think how many points they are likely to gain over the course of the season rather than on a weekly basis. For instance, if you pick Rooney and he fails to score in five games, but is still playing well, you would be foolish to replace him with a player who scored a hat-trick in the previous week. Clearly, the player who scored the hat-trick in the previous week is highly unlikely to do so the next week. The number of idiots who brought in Berbatov last year after his hat-trick heroics was staggering –  forgetting that Berbatov was unlikely to start most games for Manchester United. Pavel Pogrebnyak was another example of this folly last season.

4. Pick players who are assured starters

This commandment sounds trite, but is pretty vital in Fantasy Football and not always easy to achieve given the prevalence of squad rotation in football today particularly amongst the top teams. 

Kagawa for Man Utd should be ignored despite his prowess as he is likely to rotate with Welbeck (or maybe even Robin Van Persie up front).

In fact the whole Man Utd rearguard apart from Evra and Vidic should be avoided because of the rotation and uncertainty as to Sir Alex's first choice back four. Even the talented De Gea might well be rotated with Lindegaard as per last season.

Marin and Oscar are unlikely to start initially for Chelsea so stay clear.

The Man City players to avoid are Balotelli, Nasri, Clichy, Kolarov, Zabaleta and Richards (he's injured for the first month of the season anyway).

Arsenal will probably rotate Walcott and Gervinho so I would give them a miss, although if Gervinho starts regularly he is a snip at £7.5 million as he is a pretty much a striker badged as a midfielder. Gervinho is one of the best dribblers in the Premiership and I expect him to have a much stronger second season, as most Arsenal signings tend to. I would also expect Gibbs to start ahead of Santos this season, although clearly Santos will get several outings.

It is also vital that the reserves you select are regular starters so that you can be certain that at least 11 of your 15 will start. Equally, it gives you greater flexibility in rotating your side so that you can play players when they are likely to score highly because of easy fixtures that game week. 

I guarantee that at one time or another in the season you will have to rely on your reserves so make sure that you don't miss out on easy points. Last season Neil Taylor was invaluable for me in this regard.

Here are the starting line-ups that I think would be selected if each manager had a fully fit squad:

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Song, Wilshere; Gervinho, Cazorla, Podolski; Giroud (I'm assuming that Van Persie will leave).

Aston Villa (4-4-2): Given; Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Stevens; Holman, El Ahmadi, Bannan, N'Zogbia; Agbonlahor, Bent.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, A.Cole; Mikel, Lampard; Ramires, Mata, Hazard; Torres.

Everton (4-4-2): Howard; Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga/ Distin; Baines; Osman, Gibson (Barkley should have a part to play this season), Fellaini, Piennaar; Naismith, Jelavic.

Fulham (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Riether, Hangeland, Senderos, Riise; Duff, Diarra, Dembele, Ruiz; Petric, Dempsey.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique; Lucas,  Gerrard, Allen; Downing (Rodgers is highly likely to buy another wide advanced player), Borini, Suarez.

Man City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Y.Toure, Barry; Nasri, Tevez, Silva; Aguero.  (Yes, I think Mancini will still largely opt for a flat back four rather than three at the back.)

Man Utd (4-4-1): De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Nani; Rooney (if Van Persie does not join Kagawa will play many games 'in the hole' with Rooney moved forward into a more advanced position), Van Persie (Welbeck if Van Persie does not join).

Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Krul; Simpson, S.Taylor, Coloccini, Santon; Cabaye, Tiote; Gutierrez, Ben Arfa, Ba; Cisse.

Norwich (4-4-1-1): Ruddy; Whitaker; R. Martin/R.Bennett, Turner, Tierney; E.Bennett, Howson, Johnson, Pilkington; Snodgrass; Holt.

QPR (4-4-1-1): Green; Onuoha, Ferdinand, Nelsen, Fabio; Hoilett, Diakite, Faurlin, Mackie, Taarabt/Cisse, Zamora.

Reading (4-4-2): Federici; Gunter; Gorkss, Pearce, Harte/Shorey; Kebe, Leigertwood, Guthrie, McCleary; Pogrebnyak, Le Fondre.

Southampton (4-3-3): K.Davis; Clyne, Hooiveld, Fonte, Fox; Schneiderlin, Lallana, S.Davis; Puncheon, Lambert, Rodriguez.

Stoke (4-4-2): Begovic; Shotton, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson; Pennant/Kightly, Whitehead, Whelan, Etherington; Walters, Crouch.

Sunderland (4-4-1-1): Mignolet; Bardsley, Brown, O'Shea, Richardson; Larsson, Cattermole, Gardner, McClean; Sessegnon; Wickham.

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Rangel, Chico, Williams, Taylor; Britton, De Guzman; Dyer, Michu, Sinclair; Graham.

Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Friedel (likely to sign a new goalkeeper); Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto; Sandro, Sigurdsson (assuming Modric does not stay); Lennon, Van der Vaart, Bale; Defoe (Spurs will sign a striker who is capable of playing on his own like Adebayor as Defoe is incapable of doing so).

West Brom (4-2-3-1): Foster; S.Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Mulumbu, Yacob; Odemwingie, Morrison, Brunt; Long.

West Ham (4-3-3/4-5-1): Jaaskelainen; Demel/Reid, Collins, Tomkins, McCartney; Collison, Noble, Diame; Maiga, Cole, Vaz Te. 

Wigan (3-4-3): Al Habsi; Ramis, Alcaraz/Caldwell, Figueroa; Boyce, McCarthy, McArthur, Beausejour; Miyachi, Di Santo/Kone, Maloney (I have assumed that Victor Moses will leave before the transfer window closes as he would start).

5. Defence matters too

Most people understand that the 3-4-3 formation is the best formation in Fantasy Football. However, this often means that managers overly focus on attack, leaving a porous rearguard. Clean sheets matter and ensure a regular accumulation of points. To use a stock market analogy, the defence represents dividends whereas forwards represent capital growth. Although the latter is ultimately more important as every investor knows dividends 'keep the show on the road'. Yes, I am indeed a dick.

Admittedly, last season was a bad season for defenders, but players of the calibre of Hart, Kompany and Evra – regular starters – should not be automatically overlooked because of their hefty price. Clearly, the best defenders will largely be found at the big four clubs, but I also fancy QPR to have a pretty miserly back line now that Mark Hughes has had a chance to impose himself upon the club.   

Laurent Koscielny is the best value defender overall at £5.5m as I expect Arsenal to have a better season defensively. Ashley Cole is well priced at £6.5m and Fabio, who should start regularly at left back for QPR and make frequent forays into the opposition half, is a snip at £4.5m.  

Other well-priced defenders include John O'Shea at £5m as Sunderland will be defensively solid under Martin O'Neill and O'Shea is the best Sunderland defender. Emmerson Boyce (£5m) at Wigan should pick up many assists in his right wing back role as he did at Wigan in the last ten games of last season. Had Jean Beausejour been classed as a defender he would have been one of the first names on my team sheet, but, alas, he was not. Ivan Ramis is another Wigan player (£4.5m) to monitor, but, as I have not seen him play, he does not feature in my reckoning.

Many think Ian Harte is great value as he was Reading's set piece maestro last season and Reading had the best defensive record of the promoted teams. However, I'm not convinced that Harte will play regularly this season given his age and lack of pace. Nicky Shorey will probably start a large chunk of Reading's games too, so goodbye Mr Harte. 

Although Aston Villa will probably have a fairly leaky rearguard with the appointment of Paul Lambert who has a Corporal Jones derring-do approach to football (a welcome relief from the dire offerings of the red pock-faced Alex McLeish), there are several Aston Villa players who are very well-priced. The first is the talented Ciaran Clark (£4.5m) – a goal-scoring centre back – who will form a centre back pairing with Ron Vlaar. Richard Dunne might struggle to break that partnership when he returns from injury. Enda Stevens (£4m) should start at left back ahead of Warnock and Delph making him a tasty little morsel. Apologies if I'm wrong on the Stevens front. 

Apart from Stevens, the best defenders in the £4m bracket are Chris Gunter for Reading who should start at right back for the bulk of the season. Gunter has just returned from injury so please show me mercy if Cummings starts the opening couple of games instead. Nathaniel Clyne is quite the talent and will offer a considerable attacking threat for Southampton from right back. However, Southampton will probably have one of worst defences in the Premiership this season so this should be noted.

6. Midfielders: select set piece takers or those who play in advanced positions

This is hardly a great revelation, but your midfielders should score goals and/or be likely to pick up regular assists. Holding midfielders have no part to play in Barclays Fantasy Football. One simple step to take is focusing the midfielders who take set pieces as clearly this gives them a head start in the assist stakes. Here are the likely set piece takers most of whom are midfielders:

Arsenal: Santi Cazorla
Aston Villa: N'Zogbia
Chelsea: Mata
Everton: Pienaar (Jelavic and Baines will be heavily involved too)
Fulham: Duff/Dembele (although others will feature too)
Liverpool: Gerrard
Man City: Silva
Man Utd: Nani and Young (Rooney takes the penalties)
Newcastle: Cabaye
Norwich: Snodgrass (Surman might feature too if he plays)
QPR: Taarabt (if he plays)
Reading: Harte (if he plays)
Southampton: Lambert and Lallana (Lambert takes the penalties)
Stoke: Pennant and Etherington (Walters usually takes the penalties)
Sunderland: Larsson
Swansea: Sinclair
Tottenham: Van der Vaart (Sigurdsson when Van der Vaart hamstrings snap)
West Brom: Brunt
West Ham: Noble
Wigan: Maloney

The midfielders with considerable value here are Noble and Maloney both at £5m.

Another key factor to consider when selecting midfielders is how high up the pitch they play. The higher up the pitch that the midfielder plays the more likely the midfielder is to score. This is a more important attribute than shots per game as one Fantasy Football website is rather exercised about. 

For instance, Arteta and Lampard, both deep-lying central midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 (very much in the 2), should be ignored as they do not pose a great enough goal threat. The same logic applies to Tom Cleverley, Joe Allen, Yaya Toure (when not in an advanced position played 'in the hole' behind the striker) and Sigurdsson if he plays centrally in a 4-4-1-1 behind Van der Vaart.

The type of midfielders that you should select ought be one of the following:

  • Those who play 'in the hole' behind a striker either in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1 like Cazorla, Mata, Gerrard and Taarabt; or
  • Wingers who provide plenty of crosses like N'Zogbia, Larsson, Nani, Piennar (who also plays 'in the hole') and Bale; or
  • Advanced wide players in a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 who are not classified as forwards like Moses, Maloney, Gervinho, Walcott, Silva (when not 'in the hole') and Sinclair.

As you might have guessed I quite like the phrase 'in the hole'. Apologies if it is starting to grate.

7. Pick forwards who will pick up points for assists

When selecting strikers the overwhelming focus tends to be on goals rather than assists which is silly given that assists count one point less than goals for strikers. The strikers who are likely to do well on the assist front are strikers who can hold the ball up and lay it off: Lambert, Graham, Long, Giroud and Carlton Cole for example. Adebayor was the prime example of this quality last season as he picked up assists by the bucketload. 

Of course Rooney and Tevez always pick up plenty of assists. 

I also think that Torres, although not a natural provider of chances for others, should notch up more assists this season largely because of his lone striker role and likely regular game time.

8. Keep an eye out for 'double game weeks'

Generally I am against making too many transfers but you should monitor when a team has two games in a game week for obvious reasons.  Indeed, in game week one Chelsea and Reading have two games so it would be sensible to have a larger than usual contingent of Chelsea and Reading players in your squad initially. This is why I am starting with Cech rather than Hart in goal in the first week. I would, however, caveat this by stressing that it is still not worth losing points in achieving this. I suppose it might be worth losing points if a team had three games in a week, but this is unlikely.

9. Avoid master plans  

There are some Fantasy Football obsessives who will have already mapped out points in the season when they will bring in and sub out particular players. Unfortunately, for them, in all likelihood, this will not work out as there will be a number of unforeseen events (as Donald Rumsfeld termed them – 'unknown unknowns' and 'known unknowns', which is undoubtedly the wisest thing that he ever said) like injuries, suspensions, loss of form and god knows what else, which will de-rail the very best laid plans.

There are also some who advocate 'sophisticated tactics' like selecting two cheap goalkeepers like Begovic and Green and rotating them when each has a home game. Whilst this worked well last season with Krul and Vorm, I can't see any obvious pairings in which rotation is a possibility. It is unlikely that two cheap goalkeepers will perform as well as Krul and Vorm did last season.

10.  Try to leave yourself some wriggle room

It is highly unlikely that you will pick the perfect team in the first game week that will see you through until the end. It is therefore sensible to leave 0.5m in the kitty to give you the opportunity to purchase a player who will shoot up in value because everyone is suddenly clamouring for him. If you have nothing left in the kitty you might have to restructure your whole team to accommodate the new player, either requiring a wildcard which you don't want to play too early, or incurring a loss of unnecessary points in transfers.

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My Team: The Dibbly Dobblers

Goalkeepers: Cech (I will replace Cech with Hart shortly), Green.

Defenders: A.Cole, Koscielny, Fabio, Clark, Gunter.

Midfielders: Cazorla, N'Zogbia (I might replace N'Zogbia with Ben Arfa when the latter is fit), Pienaar, Maloney (I'm a little concerned that Crusat and Miyachi could start ahead of him but I'm prepared to wait and see), Guthrie.

Forwards: Rooney, Torres, Tevez.

21 comments:

  1. Superb, the most sensible, best written FF analysis i've read on the web. Agree with all your above assertions. (I finished in the top 1% globally last year so i'd like to think i have an idea what i'm talking about)

    Except for danny guthrie, too many years watching him as a toon fan, he is far to deep lying and offers nothing going forward. I'd swap him out for Toon's Marveaux, missed last year through injury but will make an impact this year, and will at least start the season whilst HBA is injured.

    Ed

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    1. Really appreciated your comments Ed. Thank you very much. I agree with your comments about Guthrie being deep lying (not generally my type of Fantasy Football midfielder), but I thought that he was still the best 4.5m midfielder. I agree with your Marveaux comments- he will feature at some point, but I'll still stay clear as he is not a guaranteed starter. I've subbed Ben Arfa back in for N'Zogbia as he is fit. I did it straight after today's game in case his value increased to 7.6m which would mean that my team would require a major reconfiguration.

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  2. Well written piece with excellent tips.
    One thing, if fit, Arteta starts for Arsenal, pretty sure of this.

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    1. Thank you.

      You are right that Arteta will generally start for Arsenal this season. The starting line ups in my article were the line ups that I would select if all the players in the various teams were fit. I think that Wilshere or Diaby would have lined up alongside Song as the second deep lying midfielder ahead of Arteta. Now that Song has been sold, I think the first choice deep lying midfield pair for Arsenal is now Arteta and Diaby/Wilshere. Of course, Wilshere or Diaby might be used in more advanced roles.

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  3. My team. Comments and tweaks appreciated!!
    im thinkin of using 4-4-2 for the 1st gameweek only
    Krul, Green(sub)
    shawcross(sub?), cole(2 games), lescott, pearce(2 games), hangeland
    ramires (2 games), mcclean(sub?), kagawa, nolan, michu
    rooney, lambert(sub), torres (2 games)
    i have couple of questions.
    does tevez seem like a better option than lambert? Im thinkin that he'll be rotated w/ ballotelli once the italian comes back!!
    im really unsure about kagawa's position because of rvp!!

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  4. I would't go with Shawcross because I think Stoke will be worse defensively this season.

    I prefer Gunter to Pearce- he's also 0.5m cheaper.

    Again, although Fulham kept a clean sheet today, I don't think Fulham will be strong defensively this season, so stay clear. Home to Norwich will probably be Fulham's easiest fixture of the season.

    Don't pick Ramires as he might have several games for Chelsea in defensive midfield.

    I wouldn't pick Kagawa as he is not an assured starter. I don't think he'll play in the big games as a central midfielder as this would leave Man Utd too open. His preferred position is 'in the hole' in a 4-4-1-1 and 4-2-3-1.

    You're right that Balotelli will feature, but he will rotate with both Tevez and Aguero. Tevez is so cheap and before he went AWOL this season was one of the best Fantasy Footballers.

    Lambert was on my shortlist as he will provide assists and takes Southampton free kicks and penalties.

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  5. Great article! Im no expert in fantasy and quite new to the game. I actually had Petric and Michu on my team then read your article and changed a lot of my players to similar players to yours! loved your analysis and breakdown completely agree. I read that you subbed n'zogbia for ben arfa. wanted to do that too but dont have the units! my team is currently:

    Cech (6.5) Green (4.5)
    Cole (6.5) Peace (4.5) Vlaar (5.0) Zabaletta (6.0) Fabio (4.5)
    Cazorla (9.0) Guthrie (4.5) Pienaar (6.5) N'zogbia (6.5) Noble (5.0)
    Rooney (12) Tevez (9) Torres (10)

    No units left over so couldn't do the same with switching ben arfa in for n'zogbia!!! no too sure who to transfer as my midfield are lacking units and since i only have 1 free transfer i don't really want to be making two transfers sacrificing a defender for a midfielder but then again i risk ben arfas price going up again if i wait for two free transfers next week!! Any suggestions? Is michu still worth considering?!

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  6. Many thanks.

    I apologise about Petric and Michu. Petric was never on my short list and I would still not pick him. Fulham will have a slightly better than season than last, but they have probably had their easiest game of the season in Norwich at home. Norwich are my favourites for the drop. I was amazed at how well they did last season.

    Michu, on the other hand, is a different matter. I toyed between him and Pienaar in my original selection. I still think that Pienaar will have a good season, so I will resist jumping on the Michu bandwaggon. Michu's value , no doubt, will rise to £7m quickly. I prefer Pienaar to Michu still as over the course of the season I would expect Everton to do better than Swansea. The 5-0 scoreline flattered Swansea as QPR were a bit too gun ho in chasing the game from behind. Robert Green had a bad game too.

    I'd bring Ben Arfa for N'Zogbia quickly in case his value goes up from £7.5m. Ben Arfa will be Newcastle's main man this season if fit.

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  7. updated midfield lineup for gw 1
    ramires (2 games), pienaar, silva, noble(made a mistake replacing him for kevin nolan), michu
    I will have 7.5 mil in the bank if I sell Ramires. Whom should I get in place of him?

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  8. Yes dump Ramires. He is too deep lying, not a 'nailed on starter' and sometimes plays as a defensive midfielder: a concoction for disaster as a Fantasy Football midfielder. Assuming that he has not gone beyond 7.5m bring in Hatem Ben Arfa. Gervinho's not bad shout either, but he is not an absolutely guaranteed starter and will depart for the African Nations later on in the season.

    I don't think Nolan is that much better than Noble. I know that Nolan scored yesterday, but Noble will pick up points as he takes West Ham penalties and sometimes set pieces.

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  9. Your expertise is fantastic. I'd love it if you'd write a tip page / players to watch week by week, course thats your choice!

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    1. Thanks Marco. I will certainly be putting up more postings throughout the season, although not on a week to week basis as this would go against my philosophy of patience and not obsessing too much on the short term. I will put up new starting line ups after the transfer window has closed and give my thoughts on the high scoring players.

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  10. As a rookie to this game I'd like to thank you for an insightful tablet of commandments! Although I'm playing a different version of fantasy manager than the fantasy premier league (a norwegian one), your tips have been invaluable for me! The norwegian one counts the two first PL rounds as "test rounds", and will reset all scores when round 3 starts. Therefore I'm still putting my team together and I find myself coming back to this page often to read your commandments. If you'd like to write more wisdom through the season, I'll be glad to read it.

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    1. Many thanks Njaal. Glad you found it helpful.

      As above in my reply to Marco, I will be making further Fantasy Football postings throughout the season. The next posting will be after the transfer window has closed.

      I have to say that I'd hate the 'test rounds' as it would give everyone the opportunity to dissect the starting line ups without needing any judgement or knowledge as to what the starting line ups might be. If I could change the Fantasy Football rules I'd cap the number of transfers allowed to five per season in total to make it more like reality.

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  11. Playing with popular (at least in FPL) formation 3-4-3.

    GKs: Cech, Green
    DF: Hangeland, A. Cole, R. Taylor, (Figueroa, McCartney)
    MF: Nolan, Taarabt, Yay Toure, N'Zogbia (Pienaar)
    FW: Rooney (c), Torres (vc), Podolski.

    For a newbie, I think I made couple of mistakes with this selection. R. Taylor does not seem to get so much playing time as last season. General outlook of my defence is weak. I also have my doubt in midfield, but I think there is something coming from likes of Taarabt and Pienaar, but is Toure efficient enough in the long haul? Or is there better options for Nolan (Noble?). N'Zogbia seemed also be poor agains WHU last weekend. I am satisfied with Torres, but is there anything coming from Rooney? Especially concerned I am with Podolski. I thought he could hack it, but there better options at this time? I would love to bring Ben Arfa to my team.

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    1. And Cazorla seemed to be very promising, at least he was very active which is a huge advantage.

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    2. Considering getting rid of R. Taylor in favor of R. Huth. Maybe this weekend I should play A. Cole/Huth/McCartney or Fig, as Hangeland may have a tough game ahead. Then considering changing Cech to Mignolet or Howard (Next Week?) When Hangeland should be changed? Never going get midfield look as I would want it to look. :(

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  12. Dump R.Taylor. Unless Newcastle have many injuries he won't start regularly which is the most essential quality for a Fantasy player. I think you could do better than Hangeland, Figueroa and McCartney too.

    Keep Pienaar as he is probably Everton's most creative player and I expect Everton to have a strong season barring injuries.

    I wouldn't go for Yaya Toure as he oscillates between a defensive and attacking midfielder. Generally, you should only be picking advanced attacking midfielders in your Fantasy team.

    Noble is better value than Nolan so I'd go for him. Noble takes a lot of West Ham's set pieces.

    My answer to Rooney would be yes. For the last few seasons he has been one of the highest Fantasy point scorers. You shouldn't be making snap judgements just because he didn't score in the first week. Look at how well he is playing rather than adopting a purely outcome focused approach. If he is playing well then the goals and assists will come.

    Bring in Ben Arfa.

    I would leave out Podolski as it might take him a while to acclimatise to the Premiership. At £8.5m I'd prefer Jelavic at the moment. If you're prepared to spend more money look to Tevez and Adebayor now that the latter has signed for Spurs.

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    1. Cazorla was the first player I picked for my Fantasy Football team. He's a great player. I've also had a bet on Arsenal to win the Premier League at 16-1. Considering Man Utd and Man City's odds were 5-2 and Chelsea's 5-1 this is quite a variance. Arsenal really aren't that much worse than these teams, if at all.

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  13. Hi, great article and really helpful.

    Just wondering whether you could give me some thoughts on my team...

    foster (federici)
    Coloccini hangeland williams barnett (terry)
    noble toure britton allen (hazard)
    tevez jelavic (torres)

    Have 4.5m in the bank

    Am thinking of taking out allen and britton and bringing in pienar and michu. Thoughts?

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    1. Apologies for the late reply. I have been very busy of late.

      I think Foster in goal is a good choice given that West Brom are likely to be strong defensively this season. Their good defence stems from having a defence coach specialist in Steve Clarke as manager and a robust shield in Mulumbu and Yacob rather than a particularly talented back four. Indeed, there are certainly more talented centre backs than McAuley. Yacob is a particularly good defensive midfielder.

      I'd get rid of Hangeland and Barnett as I don't think Fulham and Norwich will be strong defensively this season. I think Norwich will be relegated. I think you could do better than Ashley Williams too as I don't expect Swansea to maintain their impressive early season form throughout the season. Neil Taylor's leg break will hurt them more than most realise.

      Remove Allen as he is a deep lying central midfielder and will not pick up enough assists or score enough goals. The same goes for Britton. Off the top of my head the best midfielders are: Cazorla, Kagawa, Ben Arfa, Fellaini, Pienaar, Hazard, Michu (he won't keep up his current form though), A.Johnson, Dembele, Bale, Walters, Maloney.

      Your strikers are good. Importantly they will pick up lots of assists as well as goals.

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