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Pre-Season Guide Updated

24 July 2011 1548 comments
Mark Mark
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Saturday brought a whole raft of pre-season friendlies with many of the Premier League top guns stretching sinews.

Gervinho’s brace on his Arsenal debut offered an early warning sign to the chaos he can cause defences – enough to have Arsene Wenger purring in post-match anticipation. Fantasy Managers will be stroking chins, pondering the merits of the Ivorian, perturbed no doubt by his classification as a Fantasy forward.

United overcame the heat to earn another stateside victory over Chicago Fire – Wayne Rooney again on the scoresheet. Liverpool meanwhile, slipped to a surprising reversal on Humberside, Nigel Pearson’s Hull City humbling the Liverpool revolution despite debuts for Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson.

Rafael Van der Vaart’s abilities and Fantasy potential is undoubted; his brace in Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Orlando Pirates will surely have him blink brighter on our pre-season radars. Enough to cause an initial squad overhaul? Tottenham’s early fixtures cause concern but the Van der Vaart pre-season form may yet force a rethink.

There were plenty of other sides in action, including Everton, Sunderland, Norwich and Swansea. With an array of friendly matches pouring in today, it pays to keep up to date with the pre-season trends.

Our pre-season form guide is up to date with all yesterday’s action, scorers and team lineups.

Mark Mark created the beast. He's now looking to tame it.

1,548 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    What's better?

    a) Baines & Zamora
    b) Bramble & Suarez

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    1. Davido989
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      baines and zamora

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    2. jmiljan
      • 14 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Baines and Zamora

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      1. halcyon
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        baines and zamora. no question

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  2. Irish Madridista ⭐
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    will wes brown start for sunderland??

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    1. bossa
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      O'Shea Brown Bramble Bardsley

      IMO

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      1. Irish Madridista ⭐
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        would you pick brown over o'shea to save 0.5??

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    2. Secret Agent Torres : Carry…
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      No, he won't.

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  3. bossa
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    RMT for now.

    Given Schwarzer
    Kompany RJohnson Alcaraz O'Shea Enriqué
    Sinclair Moses Albrighton VDV Malouda
    Bent Drogba Holt

    Staying away from Arsenal and United because of the tough starts for them. I love Nzog but I think that he's overpriced.

    Suarez is a must have but I'm still wary because the Copa America

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    1. Davido989
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      drogba is a rotational risk
      you have no city coverage

      do drogba to zamora
      and albrighton to yaya

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      1. bossa
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        I think I will do that with Drog

        But Yaya wont get more points that Albrighton.

        Imo Albrighton is a must have.

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        1. Davido989
          • 15 Years
          14 years, 9 months ago

          do sinclair to yaya ?

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          1. bossa
            • 15 Years
            14 years, 9 months ago

            Im staying away from the DM's but maybe I will play him if he plays more advanced.

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            1. Davido989
              • 15 Years
              14 years, 9 months ago

              okay

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    2. chinmusic
      • 16 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      He's spot on price-wise, I would say. He was a bargain last season.

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    3. halcyon
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      suarez is not a must have imo. players rarely start well after a summer international tournament plus pools fixtures are not great

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  4. RevsFC
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Please RMT

    Al-Habsi/Given
    Luiz/Baird/Bardsley/Orr/Samba
    VDV/Kalou/Duff/Taarabt/Walcott
    Bent//Rodallega/Gervinho

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    1. bossa
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Kalou wont start any game imo.

      Luiz is not a certain starter yet with Alex in the shadows, same with Gerv

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    2. JCSkala
      • 14 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Still unsure on Gervinho. If he was a midfielder then.....

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    3. Davido989
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      walcott and gervinho combination might not work , arsenal have poor fixtures

      walcott to yaya
      gervinho to suarez
      part from that nice team 😉

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      1. RevsFC
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        thanks guys

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  5. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Which 1 to leave out from these 4...

    a) Taarabt
    b O'Hara
    c) Sinclair
    d) Murphy
    e) Albrighton

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    1. bossa
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Murphy

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  6. JCSkala
    • 14 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Please RMT
    Hart (Ruddy)
    Ivanovic Kompany Dunne Bardsley/Hughes (Orr)
    Barton Lampard N'Zogbia
    Hernandez Bent Odemwingie
    Rodallega for hernandez at start for fixtures

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  7. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Any Norwich fans out there? Any info on Hoolahan would be helpful as I have 1 midfield spot left and 5.5m to play with...

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    1. louissteinberg
      • 14 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      no norwich fan but i know hoolahan,
      pulls the strings for norwich (if they win games he's likely to benefit from bonus points)
      originally a winger but deployed centrally behind the strikers now.
      can score goals since his move infield and will be 2nd on penalties after holt.
      5.5 is a nice price for him but of course it reamins to be seen what he can do in the 1st division.

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      1. Jinswick
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        cheers

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  8. louissteinberg
    • 14 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    comments,

    cech

    rafael kompany luiz

    n'zogbia sinclair VDV taarabt downing

    suarez Ba

    subs
    given holt jagielka senderos

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    1. Goooooner from Lahore
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      not sure downing will start everygame. arteta or toure or bale are better choices

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      1. Davido989
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        downing is bound to start every game , liverpool don't have much choice on quality left wingers

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        1. Goooooner from Lahore
          • 15 Years
          14 years, 9 months ago

          but surely he aint better than likes of arteta, bale, toure etc as fantasy prospects?

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          1. Davido989
            • 15 Years
            14 years, 9 months ago

            with carroll around to recieve the end of his crosses then he probably is and arteta is injured , bale fresh from injury and toure well his decent 😛

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      2. louissteinberg
        • 14 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        was concerned about that too but they did lay down 20mill for him, im thinking hes got the edge over the likes of adam, maxi, henderson and cole.

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        1. Davido989
          • 15 Years
          14 years, 9 months ago

          +1

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  9. jmiljan
    • 14 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Wilshere or Walcott?

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  10. Dave Bauer
    • 16 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    So is this Ruddy guy a dead cert to start for Norwich assuming they don't sign another keeper? I've seen him in a lot of teams and he doesn't rotate at all badly with Given.

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    1. bossa
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Yes but Norwich defend is shit. I cant see them keeping a single clean sheet. They are last seasons Blackpool.

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      1. nevertrustbony
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        blackpool kept a clean sheet in their first game

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        1. Goooooner from Lahore
          • 15 Years
          14 years, 9 months ago

          hey any idea on a cheap defenders who also score??
          specially from promoted leagues?

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  11. bossa
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Nobody getting Bale? 8m is a decent price even though he's an overrated player.

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  12. Goooooner from Lahore
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    hey

    lampard and toure OR VDV and silva

    ivonoic VS LUIZ

    if some chelsea fan or regular follower is sure of who will be a definate starter at bridge, plz confirm!!! IVONOVIC OR LUIZ

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    1. louissteinberg
      • 14 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      vdv and silva

      luiz

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  13. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    So, best attacking Fulham player to go for? Contenders:

    a) Zamora - most attacking, expensive, no set pieces
    b) Dempsey - most attacking mid, most expensive, shares set pieces
    c) Duff - form player, reasonably attacking, reasonably cheap, no set pieces
    d) Murphy - form player, cheapest, least attacking, on pens.

    Who gets your vote for best value?

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    1. Goooooner from Lahore
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      ZAMORA... coz he is the man to look for under martin jol.

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  14. pablo discobar
    • 16 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    RMT if you will

    GK, Given, Kenny,

    DEF, A.Cole, Kompany, Enrique(assuming he joins Liverpool), Berra, Taylor or Monk at Swansea.

    MID, Tarabat, Albrighton, Sessignon(or Barton), Murphy, Lampard

    FWD, Rooney, Graham, Suarez

    Defence has been picked after studying the fixtures up to and including GW 7( After which I will probably Wildcard ). The Swansea and Wolves defenders have favourable home games If I need to play them in necessary gameweeks

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  15. Orion
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Walcott, Silva, Nasri or....? 9.5 in the bank
    Already have VDV, N'Zog, Sessegnon, Taarabt

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    1. Goooooner from Lahore
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      silva i guess seeing the fixtures.

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    2. Bartowski
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Cahill

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    3. Pinnochio
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      arteta man

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  16. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    a) Baines & Tchoyi/Hoolahan
    b) Jagielka & Yaya

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    1. jmiljan
      • 14 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Jagielka & Yaya

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    2. Boom!!!
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      A)Baines and Hoolahan

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      1. Jinswick
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        You know much about Hoolahan?

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        1. Boom!!!
          • 15 Years
          14 years, 9 months ago

          he is the playmaker of norwich...scored 10 goals and assisted 9 in the championship...also scored the goal and assisted another for norwich yesterday in a friendly...he will be on corners and set pieces for them...

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    3. Vengeful_Bunny
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Baines and Hoolahan

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  17. ⭐ ABHISHEK - THE CURIOUS …
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Anybody here Sent an msg to join the H2h league...and recieved the code ?
    For new entry players ?

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    1. Boom!!!
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      entries close on friday so u will not get it before that abhishek...

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      1. ⭐ ABHISHEK - THE CURIOUS …
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        Means I have sent the details to them...
        So will i get the code after friday ?
        Or it's a lucky draw if i get it ?

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        1. King Eric, in America
          • 15 Years
          14 years, 9 months ago

          "Deadlines are going to be tighter this year, so you’ll need to be quick as entry for these closes just a couple of weeks away at midnight (GMT) on Friday July 29 – a week today. All valid entries will then be put into a (hypothetical) pot, with 44 drawn at random and assigned to a league based on their final ranking from last season"

          So it's not a guarantee you're in the H2H unless fewer than 44 new entrants apply. If more than 44 try to enter, it's a draw to see who's in.

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          1. King Eric, in America
            • 15 Years
            14 years, 9 months ago

            And you're competing with me 🙂

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            1. ⭐ ABHISHEK - THE CURIOUS …
              • 15 Years
              14 years, 9 months ago

              Means Only 44 will be lucky to get in while all other new entrants will be disqualified ?
              It's purely based on luck ?

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              1. thehodge
                • 16 Years
                14 years, 9 months ago

                Who do I e-mail?

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                1. King Eric, in America
                  • 15 Years
                  14 years, 9 months ago

                  "Please email me at andy@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk with the heading “FFS Head to Head: New Entry” with these very specific details as entry:

                  Fantasy Football Scout User Name (nickname used to post comments with)
                  Full name
                  Link to your Fantasy Premier League team or ID number

                  Make sure you provide the correct link. This can be found by clicking ‘History’ under your kit on your team page. It should be of the form ‘http://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/X/history/’ (where X is your unique 1 to 7 digit team ID number – for example, mine is 89). N.b. links are represented differently than in past years so don’t get caught out.

                  If you fail to provide all of these details or enter by the closing date below, then your entry will become invalid so make sure to check everything is correct.

                  Deadlines are going to be tighter this year, so you’ll need to be quick as entry for these closes just a couple of weeks away at midnight (GMT) on Friday July 29 – a week today. All valid entries will then be put into a (hypothetical) pot, with 44 drawn at random and assigned to a league based on their final ranking from last season."

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              2. King Eric, in America
                • 15 Years
                14 years, 9 months ago

                Nope - based on how free of sin you are. Good karma means you're in ... naughty boys sit the bench.

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  18. benjamin100
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    afternoon - how about the following:

    Given Kenny
    Kompany Luis Johnson Jagielka Rafael
    Lampard Sinclair Ben Arfa Nzog Taarabt
    RVP Zamora Holt

    Really struggling with midfielders this year...anyone else?

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    1. Bartowski
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Yeah, its good but you're putting alot of faith in Ben Arfa, Taarbt and Sinclair all doing something.

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    2. Davido989
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      luis is a rotational risk apparently

      i think you should downgrade lamps to malouda
      and then upgrade sinclair to yaya/downing if possible

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      1. benjamin100
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        thanks guys sinclair rotates well with taarabt but agree my midfield looks shocking!

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  19. Pinnochio
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    anyone think bosingwa will start for chelsea?

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    1. Davido989
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      some games imo

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    2. Goooooner from Lahore
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      hez a great fantasy prospect but i guess ivonovic will not let him start..

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    3. louissteinberg
      • 14 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      portiugues connection, i dont see why not

      but i think ivanovic has the edge still.. would be nice to see bosingwa's runs down the flank tho

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    4. Dave Bauer
      • 16 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Only Cole and Terry are likely to start 90%+ of Chelsea games IMO.

      I personally wouldn't go near anyone else.

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  20. Lee_football
    • 14 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    I think there is a good chance Bosingwa will be first choice right back. I would wait to see how Chelseas remaining pre-season fixtures plan out before deciding.

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    1. Pinnochio
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      hope he does great value

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  21. Bartowski
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    I imagine it'll still be Ivanovic, with Luiz playing with Terry in the middle.

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  22. Pinnochio
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    ba or rodallega?

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    1. Davido989
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      ba surely

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  23. Kingston
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    For anyone playing the metro game, i've got 2 questions

    What happens if your captain doesn't play?

    Do your free transfers get rolled over as in fpl?

    I did have a read through the rules but couldn't see the answers.

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  24. Davido989
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    ok ive rated many teams on this page
    rmt now :

    al habsi given
    luis hangeland kompany johnson simpson
    yaya malouda downing nzogbia ferguson
    rooney zamora graham

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    1. King Eric, in America
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      So you're thinking 4-4-2?

      Which Johnson?

      Yaya? A DM seems a waste for City coverage ...

      Malouda is a big question. So is N'Zogbia.

      Besides Rooney, you have no Captain choice, either.

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      1. HondaCiv
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        :/

        Yaya hardly plays DMC, he's an excellent option.

        N'Zogbia shouldnt be a big question at all either, he can produce stuff on his own and will always play.

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        1. King Eric, in America
          • 15 Years
          14 years, 9 months ago

          Not a pure DM, but not really a Gerrard-esque OM (at City) either. Excellent option? We'll see. I don't think so.

          N'Zogs question is whether he'll move, if so where he'll play/will he have free kicks, etc. and whether AVilla (if that's where he goes) has *any* sort of actual offense. So no, no questions there at all.

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          1. Kingston
            • 15 Years
            14 years, 9 months ago

            On some of last seasons heat maps yaya was Man city's furthest forward player. He also outscored silva fantasy wise last year and is cheaper than silva. I think people sometimes plump for silva because he's a better player to watch. In reality he can't finish for toffees

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            1. King Eric, in America
              • 15 Years
              14 years, 9 months ago

              Still much of preseason/transfer window to go, so clearly I'm shooting in the dark here.

              Heat map could just mean Yaya doesn't return as much on defense, so 'meh'

              If Tevez goes, that changes how City play, and Yaya did well late last year with Tevez out -- so I'm more likely to agree with you if that happens.

              Silva is integral for City, though ... but he suffers from the 'pass that feeds the assist for the goal' syndrome, I agree.

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      2. Kingston
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        I wouldn't say yaya is a defensive midfielder

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      3. Davido989
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        yep 4-4-2
        roger johnson
        well thanks

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    2. ollycee
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Not a bad effort! I'm not sold on Rooney though, think he will be playing a deeper role in a lot of the games this year. I have gone for Graham too, think he could be great value for money at 5 million and may sneak pens off Sinclair!

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      1. Davido989
        • 15 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        might do rooney to carroll , i think he will destroy sunderland , arsenal (imo the worse defensive team) and then bolton or something.
        +1 graham is probably the biggest underdog in the game

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  25. Peka90
    • 14 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    1.Downing/Suarez
    2.Rooney/Barton

    Which number would you choose in this team:
    —————–Given—————-
    —-r johnson — kompany — rafael
    (Barton/Downing)– Nzogbia — VDV — Yaya
    —(Rooney/Suarez) — bent — Gervihno

    RMT

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    1. Samwise the Brave
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      1.,unless there's news that suarez will be rested

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  26. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    a) Baines, Hoolahan & Zamora
    b) Bramble, Albrighton & Suarez

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    1. Peka90
      • 14 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      b .... but maybe petrov from bolton instead ... hes in good form pre season 🙂

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  27. Davido989
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    nzogbia and rooney or nani and suarez ?

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    1. Samwise the Brave
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      Nzogbia and rooney, nani is a rotation risk

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  28. Bartowski
    • 15 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    I wouldn't go with Johnson and Luiz is a rotation risk, you should try to free up some funds to replace ferguson with someone who'll actually get you some points.

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  29. thehodge
    • 16 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Given Kenny
    Kompany Alcaraz Simpson Bramble R.Johnson
    Sinclair Yaya Lamps Duff Taarbat
    Rvp Holt Suarez
    I'm unsure over Lamps. I could downgrade him to Vdv and do Johnson to Cole but that would leave me without Chelsea attacking coverage.
    Thoughts?
    Thanks

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    1. King Eric, in America
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      The defense looks a bit speculative, but I assume you mean to go 'light' there for cash elsewhere.

      Why Yaya? Wouldn't Silva be better City option (at least at this point)? You could drop Suarez to Zamora and upgrade Yaya to Silva, especially if Suarez looks like he might be rested (although I don't think he will be).

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    2. J0E
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 16 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      I was considering R Johnson but had a look at his poss bp under EAsports and he's very low down. Arguably that is unlikely to improve at Wolves. Better for his price IMO.

      Re chelsea attacking coverage.. if you pay 10-12m you want them to play every week....apart from Lamps I don't think anyone else is guaranteed a start.

      But having Lamps seriously weakens the rest of the team...also means you miss out on the potential points-arama of VDV's opening game.

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      1. thehodge
        • 16 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        Thanks for the input lads. I could do Lampard and Toure to Vdv and Silva but it would leave me with no Chelsea coverage which frightens me. Back to the drawing board.

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  30. dk21boy
    • 16 Years
    14 years, 9 months ago

    Anyone care to comment on my team,altho daresay will change before start season
    HART,
    KOMPANY,A.COLE,RIISE,
    ALBRIGHTON,VDV,WALCOTT,TAARABT,NANI,
    BENT,RODALLEGA
    SUBS:DE VRIES,GRAHAM,SIMPSON,TAYLOR
    THX

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    1. Davido989
      • 15 Years
      14 years, 9 months ago

      i would recommend
      walcott to silva
      rodallega to ba
      bent to suarez

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      1. J0E
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 16 Years
        14 years, 9 months ago

        bent's a sound choice...look at wk 2 and the coming game weeks and you will want him back pretty sharpish.

        Rod and BA are much of a muchness.

        Nani is far from a Jesus figure (nailed on) as well. That could be a massive waste of money. Perhaps consider shifting more cash up front and beefing up attacking options.

        Perhaps Bent - Rod and Ba or Bent - Zamora - Rod. Graham is hugely unproven...big risk getting him in.

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