#gw9preview

It’s that time of the season now when the players you’ve lost faith with and taken out of your team - start to score… the time of season when your captain finally scores big points… but everyone has him.

It’s that time of the season when you celebrate a midfielder who scores a goal AND has FOUR assists… then you check your iTeam and find out you don’t actually own him.

  Tadic… 20 points… I was sure he was in all my iTeams but when I checked it seems I sold him in the third gameweek!! Admin, can you double-check that please??

  Aguero?  Yeah I had him, it’s just that I had him in my worse performing iteam, in my main team he was absent and I captained Ulloa.

  SATURDAY, 12:45

  West Ham United  V  Man City

  Apart from their opening day defeat to Tottenham, West Ham have scored in all their other seven fixtures this season and will feel confident of finding the net again against a Man City team with just two clean sheets all season.  Diafra Sakho continues to be the main threat for the hammers, picking up FiT points in all his five starts this season including scoring in the last four games.

  Man City will be hoping for no Champions League 'hangover' after their mid-week exploits in Moscow.  You'd have to go back to October 2013 for the last time City failed to win a premiership game after a European tie (they beat CSKA) although they were away to Chelsea. The Manchester club currently top the 'Away' table, undefeated with three wins and one draw, and just like West Ham, have only failed to score in one game this season.

Sergio Aguero who scored four goals last week will go into the match just three points behind the injured Diego Costa who tops the overall FiT points scorer so far this season. 

  If you've managed your iTeam correctly then you won’t be bringing in any players for this match, they should already be there!  Expect lots of managers to sell Man City players after this fixture as they play on a Sunday next week.

  Winston Reid is one card away from suspension.

  Last Season :  West Ham United  1 – 3  Man City.

My Prediction – I fancy a tired Man City to unlock the West Ham defence late on in the game. WHU 0 – 1 Man City.

  SATURDAY, 15:00

  Liverpool  V  Hull City

  They may not have been playing particular well but Liverpool are still picking up points, have scored in all but 1 premiership game and looking to break into the top 4 with a 3rd straight victory.

  Mario Balotelli will be looking to finally find the back of net on his 6th start for the club, with so many in-form forwards in the premiership it would be a risk to start with the Italian but it’s a risk that could pay handsomely with other managers opting elsewhere.  Nacer Chadli and Mohamed Diame are the only midfielders to have scored more goals than Raheem Sterling who added an assist last weekend and remains popular in iTeams. Balotelli and Sterling are the only Liverpool players to pick up points from consecutive games. 

  Diame has now scored four goals in the last five games and at £5.4M is a great way of releasing funds in your iTeam.  Abel Hernandez has scored three from five and will look to increase that tally with the absence of Nikica Jelavic.

  Hull have scored in every game so far (scoring 2 goals in each of their last 5 games) and will be confident of doing so again against a Liverpool team with just 1 clean sheet.

  Europe watch – Liverpool lost to West Ham (A) after beating Ludogorets at home but beat WBA (H) after losing to Basel.

  Last Season : Liverpool 2 – 0  Hull City

My prediction – Anfield’s turn to see Liverpool hit 3 but still no clean sheet.  3 – 1.

  Southampton  V  Stoke City

  So last week Southampton beat Sunderland 8 – 0 while the week before Sunderland beat Stoke 3 – 1, should be a home victory then?  The Saints certainly are in form – 2nd in the form table behind Chelsea and with only 2 points dropped at home in their four games they will be many people’s favourites to take the three points.

  At home, Southampton have scored 14 goals so far which is more than any other team in the premiership while conceding just 1 – the least of any team in the prem.

  With an impressive four clean sheets already this season, the Southampton defence will be up against a Stoke side who have netted more than one goal in just two of their games this season (including a 2 – 2 draw with bottom club QPR)

  Graziano Pelle just can’t stop scoring and Dusan Tadic just can’t stop assisting, between the two players they have been involved in thirteen of Southampton’s nineteen goals this season.  It might not be a surprise that the Saints have five players inside the top twenty overall FiT scoring players – more than any other club.

  Stoke go into the game having lost just one of their four away games which includes a 1 – 0 victory over Man City in gameweek three.  Victor Moses has assisted in the last four games linking with Charlie Adam and Peter Crouch who have scored two each in that time.

  Phillip Bardsley is one card away from suspension.

  Last Season :  Southampton  2  -  2  Stoke City

My Prediction – The Saints go marching on, 2-0 victors.

  Sunderland  V  Arsenal

  Sunderland will be eager to put last week’s defeat behind them and will take confidence in their unbeaten home record.  They may have only won one of their four home matches but they are matched with an Arsenal side who have only won one away fixture.

  Both teams have drawn five games each from their opening eight fixtures, with Arsenal taking seven points – one more than Sunderland – from their last six games.  Forgetting last week’s result, Sunderland’s Steven Fletcher scored twice and also assisted in their previous game while Sebastian Larsson has one goal and two assists so far this season.

  With just one clean sheet, an outfield player might be more favourable than to transfer in any Arsenal defender.  The problem is who?  Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsay are the only players to score in consecutive games but that was back in gameweeks 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 respectively.

  Last Season :  Sunderland  1 – 3  Arsenal

My Prediction – Draw number six for both clubs, 1 – 1.

  West Bromwich Albion  V  Crystal Palace

  It’s all about Saido Berahino at the moment with his six goals so far this season making him the EPL’s top English scorer.  Five of those goals came at the Hawthorns including three in the last two games making the player the 4th highest FiT points scorer in the game.

  The Baggies looked impressive in their displays against Liverpool and Man Utd in recent weeks, and despite the defeat at Anfield the team are definitely on the rise.  The only problem for us busy FiT managers is that  it’s hard to see another stand-out player for WBA, Graham Dorrans has two assists and a goal but just like his colleagues, all their points achieved have been from single games. With three clean sheets from the previous six games maybe the defenders are a better option, but only if Ben Foster is passed FiT.

  Fraizer Campbell has three goals from his last four games in a Palace side just one point from the relegation zone.  Wilfried Zaha will be pushing for his first start since Sep 13th after supplying Campbell last weekend V’s Chelsea.  Mile Jedinak priced at £5M could be popular after scoring 2 in the last 4 while Jason Puncheon has the same stats in assists.  Andrew Dengate should sign Marouane Chamakh.

  Last Season :  WBA 2 – 0  C. Palace

My Prediction – Berahino to make the headlines for the right reasons and Warnock to make them for the wrong ones, 2 – 0.

  SATURDAY, 17:30

  Swansea City  V  Leicester City

  Having won their first three games of the season, Swansea have picked up just two points from their next five games. With a tough November coming up it seems three points against newly promoted Leicester is the best chance to ease the growing pressure on boss Garry Monk.

  Leicester themselves haven’t won since gameweek 5 when they scored five against Man Utd, a game which saw Jamie Vardy score 1 and assist the other 4.  Vardy added another assist in gameweek 7 before being left on the bench for last weekend’s defeat to Newcastle.  Esteban Cambiasso might be the man to make way for him if selected this time round.

  No-one has more assists in the game than Gylfi Sigurdsson who is Swansea’s highest point scorer and it wouldn’t surprise me if he passed 50 points for the season after this game.  Wilfried Bony has scored twice in the last two games and may offer bigger rewards than his Icelandic teammate due to less ownership.

Besides Vardy, Leonardo Ulloa may tempt a few managers.  Despite no return in the last three games (two of which the Foxes failed to score) he scored four from the previous three games and has scored just under half of all their goals this season.

  Last Season : No fixture.

My prediction – Leicester fans may struggle to remember the last time they went four games without a win, it’ll become clear on Saturday night.  3- 0.

  SUNDAY, 13:30

  Burnley  V  Everton

  Goal difference is all that’s keeping the clarets off the bottom of the table having scored just four goals and remaining winless.  Hopes will be laid on the shoulders of Danny Ings who returned last weekend with an assist after missing the previous three games.

  Everton seem to have no problem in goals, finding the back of the net in all their games so far.  Leighton Baines remains a FiT must with 1 goal, 2 clean-sheets and SIX assists from the last six games which include games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd.

  Everton have a good fixture list in November and with Ross Barkley now back he will be a popular choice along with Romelu Lukaku.  Seamus Coleman, Phil Jagielka and Steven Naismith have also scored big points recently and will also prove popular so keep an eye on your h2h opponent and play accordingly to suit.

  Europe Watch – Everton have lost their 2 premiership games (Palace, Man Utd) after playing in Europe.

  Last season : No fixture.

My prediction – No scoring V’s free scoring, leaky defence V’s solid defence?  0 – 3.

  Tottenham Hotspur  V  Newcastle United

  Tottenham go into the game sitting in 18th position in the form league table and face a Newcastle team fresh from their first league win of the season.  Tottenham’s goals seem to have dried up recently; they scored 5 in their first two games and then have taken the six games following to reach that total again.

  Christian Eriksen has scored 3 from their last five goals and Nacer Chadli the other two.  Both players offer value for your iteam, Eriksen is currently on a scoring run but Chadli has more points and is only 2 behind Fabregas who tops the charts.

  Newcastle may have eased the pressure for manager Pardew after last week’s victory over Leicester, but they may find it more difficult away from St James’ Park considering they’ve taken 3 points from away fixtures just twice so far in 2014.

  Papiss Cisse has started the last three games for Newcastle and since coming off the bench in gameweek 5, he has netted five times putting him equal 7th top scorer in the league. Not bad considering his season started a little over a month ago.  Gabriel Obertan had his first start in gameweek 7 and also started last week, in those two games the midfielder returned with a goal and an assist and might be worth transferring in considering his low percentage ownership in iteams.

  Europe watch – Spurs lost to WBA after playing in Belgrade but beat Soton after their last European game.

  Last season : Tottenham  0 – 1  Newcastle

My Prediction – Spurs haven’t scored more than 1 goal in their last 4 matches, 1 – 1.

  SUNDAY, 16:00

  Manchester United  V  Chelsea

  Both Manchester clubs have taken 11 points from their previous six fixtures, United currently in 4th place in the form table.  Having won their last three games at Old Trafford, they have the 3rd best home record in the league.

  But this is Chelsea their playing, 1st in the form table and with the 2nd best away record in the league. Not to mention they’re the premierships top scorers and still unbeaten.

  With Man Utd playing the next two Sundays and with Man City and Arsenal both away on the horizon, it looks difficult to find an edge with their players for your iteam.  Angel Di Maria is 1 point short from being the top scoring midfielder and has the equal best assists with 7.  I would avoid any defenders considering they have no clean sheet since gameweek 4.

  Chelsea possibly may be without Diego Costa and Loic Remy but I can’t see them struggling in front of goal with no fewer than five midfielders scoring from the last five games.  If your playing FiT properly then Cesc Fabregas will already be in your team, he has a goal and 3 assists from that 5 game period.  Willian has one less assist but has no guarantee of starting, Oscar possibly offers the better value at £7.8M with 2 goals and 2 assists but with Eden Hazard’s performance on Tuesday night, maybe last season’s 3rd top-scoring midfielder should be the one to pick.

  My brother is a season ticket holder at Man Utd, I’m sure he won’t mind me revealing what he tweeted after the WBA match on Monday night…

‘Another solid point’

Or after Chelsea’s romp on Tuesday night…

‘Good to see Chelsea hitting a bit of a rough patch ahead of their trip to Old Trafford. #gulp’

  Last Season : Man Utd  0 – 0  Chelsea

My prediction – Chelsea will hit a rough patch at some point, but not today. 1 – 2.

  MONDAY, 20:00

  Queens Park Rangers  V  Aston Villa

  You might have heard the fact going around this week that every team in the top four divisions have scored at least twice as many goals as Aston Villa… apart from Burnley and QPR.  Indeed, it doesn’t make for great Monday night television and I doubt many will have iteam interest.

  QPR were unfortunate to lose against Liverpool last weekend but the records read that they have lost their last three games and are without a victory since gameweek 3.  Aston Villa’s record is slightly worse with defeats in their last 4 games, a victory over Liverpool in gameweek 4 securing their last points.

  QPR have conceded the most goals in the Premiership but when up against the team who have the equal lowest goals scored it’s safe to say that if you have any transfers left at this point, you may as well just use it to set your team up for next week.

  Making his first start last weekend, Christian Benteke may interest a few, but Villa’s last point scorers where Gabriel Agbonlahor (Phillippe Senderos assist) in that vicory over Liverpool.  At least QPR do score goals, not many but Charlie Austin, Leroy Fer and Eduardo Vargas all have 2 goals each from the previous six games.

  Last season : No fixture.

My prediction – Poor defences should see lots of goals. Nah! 0 – 0.

    I have used the clubs form quite a bit during this blog, form is classed over the last six games but now I’m going to quickly go over the next FOUR games.

                                                                                                          The top 4 teams last season – Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

The current top 4 teams in form – Chelsea, Southampton, Man City, Man Utd.

  SELL SELL SELL!!

Sell those MAN UTD players! They have Chelsea (h) Man City (a) and Arsenal (a) in their next four fixtures.

After Monday night, QPR face Chelsea (a) then Man City (a).

SWANSEA face Arsenal (h) in GW11 then Man City (a) in GW12.  In those same GW’s C. PALACE play M. Utd (a) then Liverpool (h).

  BUY BUY BUY!!

Only three clubs have no fixtures against the above mentioned teams – EVERTON, SOUTHAMPTON and TOTTENHAM.

Three more clubs can join them after this weekend’s fixture – STOKE, SUNDERLAND & WEST HAM.

  Good luck, remember it’s bonus transfer round next GW.