It’s not a long preamble this morning. It’s far too cold for long walks. Nevertheless I can’t bring myself to go into this gameweek without some more words on our favourite Ferrari-folding midfielder…

I’ve tried looking but there seems little debate on the issue of FPL captain this week. If you’ve kept patience with Ronaldo, in my opinion, you’ve got to hand him the armband. If (a big if) he does the business against either Chelsea (unlikely) or Wigan (more likely) then it could provide a major swing in your mini-league situation.

There is a distinct “have” and “have not” situation with Ronaldo. The United man is owned by 24% of managers in the Fantasy Premier League game with Arteta, Lampard, Ashley Young, Geovanni and Ireland all ranked above him on ownership. Presumably the “have nots” will be dishing out the captaincy to Gerrard, Lampard or perhaps Berbatov or a United defender. Of those, Gerrard looks the best bet with his visit to Stoke but if he comes up short and Ronaldo can return a goal, an assist and some bonus, then suddenly things could take a significant swing. With kind fixtures and another potential double gameweek coming up in February – we’d also be likely to see a major swing in Ronaldo ownership.

All this of course, depends on the the United man being able to destroy the Chelsea and Wigan defences as competently as he destroys performance cars. This could be a turning point – Ronaldo owners will be hoping he notices this one.

Some brief team news before we get to the FPL deadline. Sky and the press are expecting Torres to start for Liverpool at the Britannia. I’m not quite so certain given Rafa’s propensity to rely on Kuyt as a central striker away from home. That certainly worked well at Newcastle last time out on their travels – so I’m wondering if Torres will be kept as an impact sub should they need him. Personally, I wouldn’t risk my prize asset on his return from a hamstring injury against Faye and Shawcross in freezing cold temperatures, if I didn’t have to. This is Rafa though – I’m not going to doubt his methods for fear of making his grudge list.

The BBC are doing their bit for fantasy manager heart conditions by listing Ashley Young as a doubt with a hamstring injury. I’m pretty sure they mean Luke Young who was reported as having a tight hamstring earlier in the week. Make of that what you will but I think Ashley owners are on safe (frozen) ground.

Talking of which, in case you missed it – the Portsmouth vs City game has been postponed. The Fratton Park pitch was frozen despite copious amounts of hot air being blown onto the pitch (insert hilarious hot air joke here). Good news for City who were without Wright-Phillips and possibly Robinho. Not so good for Ireland’s fantasy owners. He’ll now miss the Wigan game next weekend through suspension.

Off we go into another gameweek then. May your investments pay off and your returns be healthy. Good luck folks.