Hiatus

Sorry for the lack of updates, but there are some personal stuff which I need to settle 1st prior to my return to blogging.

I'll still be providing a weekly article on TodayOnline, so do check that out instead, for now.

Hope to be back soon. :)

Scoreboard - Week 14

Apologies for the lack of updates, as I've been sick & busy with some personal stuff for the past few days.

As such, there will be no description to the Scoreboard this week.

Picks of the Week - Week 14

For Picks of the Week, I'll look into the gameweek's matches & form a team using £55mil budget. This can be a useful guide for those who are looking for a short-term transfer, or for captaincy choices.

Note: This picks are only for this gameweek & may not represent good value in the long-run.

Even though Aston Villa nearly shocked Man Utd with a 2 goal lead, they only managed to score 3 away goals in 6 games so far. Next up for them will be Man City, who's custodian Joe Hart created a great assist for Zlatan wonderful bicycle kick goal in the international friendly this week. Despite the boo-boo, he's still the safest bet in the City's backline, who only conceded 5 goals in 6 home games.

Everton's Leighton Baines have yet to provide any clean sheet bonus for the past 6 games, and have yet to provide any attacking returns in the past 4. However, taking a look at OPTA stats, he created 23 chances in the past 6 weeks, highest among ALL players. With clean sheets being a rarity, Baines present the greatest chance of receiving attacking returns from a defender.

Liverpool has yet to defeat Wigan since 2009, but the Reds have a slight edge on form, going into the match unbeaten in past 6 league games. Glen Johnson wasn't much of an attacking threat against Chelsea, but he is likely to find more space against a more-adventurous Wigan side, who only managed 4 away goals so far.

West Ham entertains Stoke this week, which has a 0-0 bore draw written all over it. While Winston Reid might be the Hammers' defender most fantasy managers have in mind, he has only attempted 2 shots in 11 games. This pales in comparison to his partner James Tomkins, who have 7 goal attempts in 10 appearances, thus making him a better selection for this gameweek.

John Arne Riise is a better Fulham defender to select for their match against Sunderland, who might be missing Steven Fletcher. However, Agger and Skrtel are doubtful too, hence I went with a Liverpool fullback and a Fulham centerback in the form of Brede Hangeland.

David Silva was left out of the Spain squad in their friendly against Panama, which makes him a likely selection in Man City's matchup against Aston Villa. His comeback last week saw him pick apart Tottenham in the closing minutes of the game, and last year's top fantasy midfielder will be a crucial attacking catalyst for the Sky Blues.

Yet again, Marouane Fellaini is the most transferred in player for the week, due to his attacking outputs for the past 3 weeks. The "in the hole" midfielder faces a Reading side who managed only 1 clean sheet this season, and he looks to wreck more havoc for Everton's attack, which have made 11 away goals so far, 3rd highest in the league.

Southampton's Adam Lallana has been the main creator for the Saints, with 4 assist in the season so far. Against a similar-woeful QPR who has leaked 20 goals so far, Southampton is likely to continue attacking as their best form of defending, and their captain is likely to be highly involved in the setup.

The strikeforce features 3 of the top 4 strikers in TFL. Luis Suarez continued his amazing form in the internationals, scoring a goal and creating 2 others in Uruguay's 3-1 win against Poland. The striker has been invaluable to Liverpool, being involved in 11 of 14 league goals this season, and he will be looking to continue this streak against Wigan at Anfield.

Dimitar Berbatov brace against Arsenal marks his 3rd consecutive week with attacking returns. Fulham has scored 24 goals so far, 2nd highest goalscoring team in Premier League. It'll be an interesting battle as they face Sunderland, who managed 2 CS in 6 away fixtures, but with Fulham's home & Sunderland's away form, Berbatov is one of the popular choices for captaincy this weekend.

Compared to the other 2, Demba Ba is on a cold streak, failing to score in the past 2 matches. A home match against Swansea, whose manager hinted of a injury crisis and has failed to keep a CS since August, could be the likely tonic for the Senegalese to get back on the scoring sheet. 

Scoreboard - Week 13

I'm finally back from Bangkok! Here's a delayed look at the Week 13 happenings in TFLTalk League:

TFLTalk League - Week 13 (Overall)

Nothing changed in the top spot, as Chew Howe Chen's Rob Rangers retained pole position with 270 pts, His consistent performance moved him into #8 in the Overall Leaderboard, though he remains 32 points behind the overall leader Zwe Oak Soe.

Ong Kuan Yuan's KY $5,000 IS MINE! remained in 2nd spot with 262pts, narrowing the gap to 8 points from the top of the league. A solid 32pts weekly total caused his team to move up to 28th position in the Overall Leaderboard.

Another non-mover is mika boy's MikaBoyz, who also scored 32pts this week, though with the unusual captaincy choice of Peter Crouch. Nevertheless, it propelled him up to the 31st spot in the Overall Leaderboard.

Making a reappearance in the Top 5 is Chiau Ren Yu's Manchester Jurong United. Besides the usual suspects of Fellaini, Suarez & Mata, the selection of Bergovic & Caulker meant that his team finished #1 in the weekly rankings, and is currently ranked #35 in the Overall Leaderboard. 

That's 4 teams from TFLTalk League that is in the Top 50 Overall Leaderboard, which shows how competitive this league have been so far! :)

Falling 1 place to #5 is Ong Xin Zhong's TeamToday with another average week of 19 points. The captaincy of Rooney didn't panned well for Ong, while Suarez, Jelavic & Nolan were the only performing players from this week. With only 10pts separating 5th and 11th, another average week could see a new team in the Top 5. 

TFLTalk League - Week 13 (Weekly)

Interesting captaincy choices from the Top 5 teams: Manchester Jurong United & Bummers United went with the popular choice of RVP, Luqman FC selected Suarez, Beanoz FC went with Fellaini, but the most unique choice has to go to Dream FC selection of...GEOFF CAMERON!

However, based on the number of clean sheets this season, it's extremely risky to captain a GK or Defender to double on clean sheet bonus. My advice would be to captain strikers, where the chances of them scoring are much higher.

TFLTalk League - November

The current top 3 teams for November are in the Top 5 TFLTalk League leaderboard, while Rob Rangers is in the Top 10, which makes an interesting dilemma: Should you copy their teams in order to rise up the leaderboard, or is it time to go for differentials in order to catch up with them?

I'm still resisting the urge to place Fellaini & Suarez in my fantasy team until their 5th yellow card...hopefully after next weekend when they serve their bans. :P

And lastly...

David Ngiau's Eat My Shorts Scoreboard (Week 13)

Yaya Toure 7

Frank Lampard 8

Story: David Ngiau has quoted that he will eat his shorts if Frank Lampard outscores Yaya Toure this season. If that happens, I'll personally sponsor a pair of shorts for his consumption.

With Frank Lampard unlikely to feature again this weekend, looks like Yaya Toure will finally catch up with the Chelsea midfielder.

Picks of the Week - Week 13

Seems like TodayOnline didn't publish my article this week, which I'm unsure of the reason.

Anyway, this weekly Picks of the Week will have no detailed explanation (mostly due to on-form & fixtures). I've been working late for the past 2 nights, am attending a wedding this evening & will be flying off to Bangkok for a short vacation, hence there will be no weekend reviews nor Scoreboard update till I'm back.

Apologies for the absence, and good luck for the weekend!

Scoreboard - Week 12

There are some new entries in the TFLTalk league in the past 7 days, and one even created a splash in this week's leaderboard. Read on to find out:

TFLTalk League - Week 12 (Overall)

Chew Howe Chen's Rob Rangers remained in pole position with 240pts overall, extending his lead from 2nd place to 10 points. Switching back to Fellaini has paid off handsomely for him with a weekly score of 30pts. What's more, he's currently 13th placed in the Overall Leaderboard, and is only 32pts away from the converted #1 spot.

Debuting in 2nd spot is Ong Kuan Yuan's KY $5,000 IS MINE! His ambition to win the overall title is well on pace, with 33pts in Gameweek 12, and ranked 44th overall. Although he has used 4 transfer this month, but his team looks strong enough to last through November.

Jumping 2 positions to #3 is mika boy's MikaBoyz. Yet again, his double-up on Man City defence earned the top spot for the Week 12 TFLTalk Weekly Standings, and just within Top 100 in the Weekly Leaderboard!

Ong Xin Zhong's TeamToday slides to 4th due to average week of 21pts, with only Rooney, Suarez and Hart as the players who earned more than 1pt this gameweek. His team is still good enough to be ranked 94th in the Overall Leaderboard, which means TFLTalk League one of the largest and most competitive Private Leagues in Today Fantasy League! :D

Eliya Handayani's Arek Suroboyo FC dropped 2 places this week, and is only 3 points away from dropping out of the Top 5. Using 12 transfers so far, he might want to save some up, for there are 28 more gameweeks to go...

TFLTalk League - Week 12 (Weekly)

Despite 3 teams having 5 goals this week, it was MikaBoyz's Clean Sheets that nabbed himself top spot for the week. 

Lionel Leow's Hangeld FC clinched 2nd spot thanks to his Sunday transfers. By transferring out Poldoski and Kompany after the Man City match, their 6pt contribution was included into his weekly tally. His transfer tactics paid off, as the transferred-in Suarez & Mertesacker netted him another 5pt for a total of 34 this week, placing his team in the 14th spot in TFLTalk League.

Martin Chong's Buncis finished behind Ong Kuan Yuan's KY $5,000 IS MINE!, as his team managed 3 goals compared to KY's 5 goals haul, while Andrew Him's Pride of the North makes an appearance in the Top 5 with 32pts for Gameweek 12.

No Monthly Scoreboard for now, as it'll be exactly the same as the Weekly Scoreboard, but I'll never forget this scoreboard:

David Ngiau's Eat My Shorts Scoreboard (Week 11)

Yaya Toure 6

Frank Lampard 8

Story: David Ngiau has quoted that he will eat his shorts if Frank Lampard outscores Yaya Toure this season. If that happens, I'll personally sponsor a pair of shorts for his consumption.6

Even after giving Toure 2 weeks advantage, the Man City midfielder still could not overtake Lampard's overall score.

Sunday Review - 4th Nov

Sunday featured 2 matches which ended with the same results, but of different fantasy impact. Let's analyze them:

QPR 1-1 Reading

- If neither team is able to beat each other, it's looking to be a loooooooong season for either.

- Pavel Pogrebnyak didn't play a single minute in this game, despite starting in all but one previously.

- Reading have yet to keep a clean sheet this season, while QPR only managed once. Avoid both defences, despite how attractive their prices might be.

- Don't be fooled by Adel Taarabat's 1-point performance. He made 8 attempts, 4 of which are on target, and created 3 chances for his teammates.

Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle

- Luiz Suarez, deemed unplayable by his manager, has either scored or assisted 10 of his side’s 13 goals this season. A word of caution: his next game is against Chelsea, and he is 1 yellow card away from a 1 match-suspension.

- Demba Ba recovered to start in the game, only to be substituted off once he was suffering from shin niggles. Fantasy managers will have to worry for one more week to see if he's indeed fit enough to start.

- Mentioned in the Fixtures Scan - November article, Yohan Cabaye is the Newcastle midfielder to look out for. Thought HBA did created the goal, this is Cabaye's 2nd goal in 3 matches, which still places him as the best Newcastle midfielder in TFL.

- Newcastle's defence just keeps shuffling. Just when every defender was fit in the squad, Coloccini got sent off for a 3-match ban, while James Perch sustained a thigh injury during the match. If they could have a settled defence, they would have more than 1 clean sheet by now.

Saturday Review - 3rd Nov 12

7 matches with a couple of surprising results. Let's take a review on what happened on this Saturday night:

Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal

- Robin van Persie was a great choice for captain, and he ended up...well, good. A goal and a yellow card saw him ended up with 4 points, 8 if he was your captain. This is his 6th consecutive scoring week in Today Fantasy League, which makes him a consistent source of points & captaincy.

- Though Wayne Rooney missed a penalty, he still ended up with 3 points from an assist and yellow card. He's a viable alternative if you do not have RVP for the next few weeks.

- After 2 1pt weeks, Santi Cazorla finally scored a consolation goal for Arsenal. On a week when he wasn't a great captaincy choice, he scored....

Fulham 2-2 Everton

- Marouane Fellaini back in the fantasy limelight. Adding 2 more goals tonight with a 9pt output, and with Everton having favourable fixtures in the next 3 gameweeks, look for him to be one of the top 5 transfers in this week.

- Recovering from a broken rib, Dimitar Berbatov made another assist for Fulham. He has attacking outputs from 4 out of 5 gameweeks he played, though Fulham's upcoming fixtures ain't that easy.

- For those who might be confused why John Arne Riise got 0 points while Chris Baird got -1 point: Riise was subbed off on 59th minute, before the 2nd Everton's goal. 

Norwich 1-0 Stoke

- As I predicted, there was a clean sheet....FOR NORWICH???

- This is the 3rd clean sheet by Norwich this season. If one plans to do some bargain shopping from the team, they should do so at end-Nov after facing Man Utd and Everton.

Sunderland 0-1 Aston Villa

- As I predicted, there was a clean sheet....FOR ASTON VILLA???

- 3rd consecutive game (including the Capitol One Cup) which Christian Benteke have scored. However, the Villans are facing the Manchester duo & Arsenal in their next 3, so hold off any investments till end-Nov.

- Sunderland remained dire in their attacks. They recorded 12 attempts tonight...but only 1 was on target. They really need to find their accuracy in order not to be sucked into a relegation battle.

Swansea 1-1 Chelsea

- With David Luiz injured, Branislav Ivanovic was moved into central defence, while Cesar Azpilicueta made his Premier League debut. Bear in mind John Terry will be back next week, so Ivanovic's change is likely to be temporary.

- Chelsea fans must be sick of hearing the name Hernandez...

- No Michu yellow card means that he will be available for next week's game against Southampton.

Tottenham 0-1 Wigan

- As I predicted, there was a clean sheet....FOR WIGAN???

- Gareth Bale made 3 goal attempts, and created 3 goalscoring opportunities, but ended up with just 1 fantasy point.

West Ham 0-0 Man City

- As I predicted, there was a clean sheet for Man City....AND WEST HAM???

- Despite starting with a 3 man strikeforce, Man City wasn't able to break down West Ham's defence. 

- Carlos Tevez was a thorn in West Ham's side, creating plenty of opportunities, but no one was able to take advantage of. He was subbed out early, perhaps saving him for Champions League match.

Fixtures Scan - November

As the November month will start in a few hours time, this shall be a short article whereby we look ahead at the next FOUR FIVE gameweek to see which FOUR teams have easy fixtures, and which FOUR teams might have a tough month ahead.

Best FOUR team fixtures

1) Stoke (@nor, QPR, @whm, FUL, NEW)

3 home games in the next 5, with 2 poor travellers (QPR & Fulham), and 2 relatively manageable away games to Norwich and West Ham. As I have stated, it's best to load Stoke defenders such as Robert Huth and Ryan Shawcross (both 3.6). If you're fancying a differential attacker, Peter Crouch (6.1) would be a good choice.

2) Manchester United (ARS, @avl, @nor, QPR, WHM)

Another team with 3 home games in November, with their toughest matchup against rival Arsenal this weekend. After which, the Red Devils will have a run of easy fixtures, travelling to relegation candidates Aston Villa & Norwich, followed by hosting QPR and West Ham. Picking the right Man Utd player will be tricky taking their Champ League fixtures into consideration, but as of now, Robin van Perise (8.5), Wayne Rooney (8.1), Antonio Valencia (5.1), Rio Ferdinand (4.9) and Patrick Evra (5.0) should at least feature in 4 league matches.

3) Newcastle (@liv, WHM, SWA, @sot, @sto)

There's 2 tricky away ties against Liverpool and Stoke, which are negated by 3 possibly high-scoring games against West Ham, Swansea & Southampton. Demba Ba have contributed to 8 of 11 Newcastle goals, scoring 7 and creating 1, while most attention from midfield might be on Hatem Ben Arfa (4.1), it's Yohan Cabaye (4.2) who is the best midfielder from Newcastle currently in TFL with 10pts.

4) Southampton (@wba, SWA, @qpr, NEW, NOR)

The Saints may be at the bottom of the table, but there's no doubt their attacking philosophy have led to goals on both ends. 3 home games against defensively-poor team, and a travel to fellow struggler QPR will be a crucial month for Southampton to pick up points. Adam Lallana (3.9) is the 3rd best TFL midfielder with a goal and 3 assists so far, and is a more secure pick compared to Ricky Lambert (5.9), who could be benched during away games.

Worst FOUR team fixtures

1) West Ham (MCI, @new, STO, @tot, @mun)

Kevin Tan may have won Manager of the Month for October using Kevin Nolan (3.9), but he might want to reconsider for this month after seeing the Hammers' schedule. Tough trips to Newcastle, Tottenham and Man Utd, and they won't have any home comfort either from facing Man City & Stoke. 

2) Aston Villa (@sun, MUN, mci, ARS, RDG)

The fixture against Reading will be a relief for the Villa fans at end-November, but their team will have to face a tricky away tie against Sunderland, followed by 3 Champions League participants (Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal). Avoid any Villa fantasy investments for now.

3) Fulham (EVE, @ars, SUN, @sto, @che)

Poor travelers this season, Fulham will have a tough run of away games against Arsenal, Stoke and Chelsea in November. With 12 of the 14 goals conceded in away games, the attacking output from John Arne Riise (3.7) and Chris Baird (3.5) are likely to be negated from their defensive frailties.

4) Liverpool (NEW, @che, WIG, @swa, @tot)

Luis Suarez (7.1) might be the only fixture-proof player in Liverpool, but one might want to rethink about other Liverpool investments. 3 away fixtures to Chelsea, Tottenham and Swansea, the team who defeated them midweek, while a tough home game await them this week in the form of Newcastle. 

Finally, a word of advice for TFL managers: Do note that there are 5 gameweeks this month, so USE YOUR TRANSFERS WISELY!

Picks of the Week - Gameweek 12...or 13?

If you look at the Leaderboard, Gameweek 12 is under October, hence this gameweek might actually be Week 13...I kinda gave up understanding the weeks after they started from Week 5, and considered internationals as a week. -_-"

For Picks of the Week, I'll look into the gameweek's matches & form a team using £55mil budget. This can be a useful guide for those who are looking for a short-term transfer, or for captaincy choices.

Note: This picks are only for this gameweek & may not represent good value in the long-run.

Sunderland are having trouble creating scoring opportunities, but their defence have held steady with only 8 goals allowed, 2nd best in Premier League after Arsenal (6). This week, the Black Cats host Aston Villa, who have yet to win on the road and only finding the net twice in five trips. This makes Simon Migolet an enticing pick.

WBA has an impressive home record with 4 wins and a loss against defending champions Man City. This week, they host bottom dwellers Southampton. Given Steve Clarke's emphasis on defence, I'm looking at Liam Ridgewell might have a chance to grab a clean sheet this weekend, especially since the Baggies have conceded goals in the past 5 games.

As mentioned in this week's Today column, Branislav Ivanovic will be eligible to face Swansea this week. The Swans made minimal changes in their midweek win against Liverpool, and with Ivanovic well-rested for the week, the Chelsea fullback will be bombing down the flanks to make amends for last week's red card against Man Utd.

Another player who is looking to atone for his mistakes is Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen. His own goal against Norwich caused Spurs to tumble out of Capitol One Cup. Against a Wigan team who are having trouble scoring away from home and with BAE still sidelined, the Belgian defender will remain in a more offensive fullback position against one of the weakest, yet most unpredictable teams in Premier League.

Stoke kept their 4th clean sheet last weekend despite my outside pick Marc Wilson being stretched off from a broken ankle (THE CURSE OF THE PUNDIT!). They travel to low-scoring Norwich this week, who only scored 7 goals in 9 games so far. Robert Huth had 2 headed attempts on target against Sunderland last weekend, and if he continues with such form, he's likely to open his account this week.

Gareth Bale has seen a 4% increase in ownership this week, after his last weekend's goal against Southampton. This week, they take on Wigan, who are never known for their tight defence. The Welshman would be a good choice for captaincy if the team does not have a certain Dutchman...

My next 2 picks are of high-risk nature. Firstly, QPR's Adel Taarabt can be relied for assist potential, though his last match against Arsenal showed a different side of him. His 6 tackles attempts was the most among QPR players, and his improved work-rate seemed to have secure his spot in the starting 11. Their opponent, Reading, isn't faring well either, hence this weekend represents one of the best chance for QPR to notch their 1st victory, with the Moroccan pulling the strings from midfield.

The other player I have in mind is a Chelsea midfielder....Oscar! The red-hot Juan Mata is rated doubtful for this weekend with a hamstring injury. Considering he played 120 minutes midweek, the Spaniard is likely to be rested for their Champions League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.

Since Eden Hazard is (mis)classified as a striker, it's about time Oscar translate his CL form in BPL. He already made his 1st assist last gameweek, and if Mata is missing, he'll be the main link-up player between the midfield and Torres/Hazard.

I'll skip the descriptions for RVP and Tevez, as I've already discussed it on Today article.

Lastly, WBA's Shane Long is doubtful for Monday's match against Southampton, which will boost the chance of Romelu Lukaku being called into the starting lineup. He scored in last weekend against Newcastle, and with Southampton's manager insisted in sticking to their attacking principle, there'll be plenty of chances and space for Lukaku to exploit this gameweek.

Scoreboard - Week 11

Last week, there was a team that was in the Top 50 for October, and I told him that if Rooney have a bad week, he might have a chance to clinch the top. How did Chew Howe Chen's Rob Rangers did for the week?

TFLTalk League - Week 11 (Overall)

With yet another impressive performance for the week, Rob Rangers overtook Ong Xin Zhong's TeamToday to secure top spot in TFLTalk League at end-Oct. Rob Rangers scored 4 goals and 2 assists from RVP, Suarez, Mata & Bale for 36 pts this week, while TeamToday only managed 1 goal and 2 assists from Suarez & Duff.

Eliya Handayani's Arek Suroboyo FC remained at 3rd spot with a 7 point gap from Chiau Ren Yu's Manchester Jurong United. His overall tally of 199pts meant that TFLTalk League has 3 teams that are in the Top 100 Overall Leaderboard! Well done guys!

4th placed Manchester Jurong United bounce back into Top 5 after his last appearance in Week 6, due to 3 goals and assists this week. The team has appeared in all editions of TFLTalk League Scoreboard, and looks to be a strong contender for the TFLTalk league title.

mika boy's MikaBoyz makes up the Top 5. Despite having only 2 goals and assists, his gamble to double-up on Man City defence paid off handsomely this week, though it's slightly negated by having the Chelsea duo of A.Cole & B.Ivanovic...

TFLTalk League - Week 11 (Weekly)

3 of the TFLTalk League Overall Top 5 appears in Top 5 Weekly Charts (Manchester Jurong United, Rob Rangers, MikaBoyz). 

The top 2 teams for the week, Gan Heng's Southside & huey chin Teo's Ajunied crescent united, both finished with 43pts, but Southside just nudged it due to 2 extra assist. This weekly highscore puts him just outside Top 10 at 12th spot.

TFLTalk League - October

With 8 goals and 13 assists, Chee Howe Chen's Rob Rangers finished 1st in October for TFLTalk League....and 8th in Overall Ranking for October, just 3 pts behind the MOTM Tan Kevin's Unicorn, who had 10 goals and 9 assists from his players. What's more amazing is that Kevin HAVE NOT MAKE A TRANSFER SO FAR.

On the other hand, how close was it for Rob Rangers? If Fellaini did not get injured, he wouldn't have swapped for Pienaar (-1), then swap for Carzola (+1), for a total of 0pts. Moreover, if he had kept Fellaini all the way, he would have gotten +4 points...and claim $500 for October Manager of the Month.

Ouch.

David Ngiau's Eat My Shorts Scoreboard (Week 11)

Yaya Toure 5

Frank Lampard 8

Story: David Ngiau has quoted that he will eat his shorts if Frank Lampard outscores Yaya Toure this season. If that happens, I'll personally sponsor a pair of shorts for his consumption.

Even with Frank Lampard injured, he still has more points than Yaya Toure.

Sunday Review - 28th Oct 12

All 4 Sunday matches produced plenty of returns from the fantasy favourites, so I guessed almost everyone should be pleased with their totals this week. I'll ignore the major talking points from the men in black & focus on the players in the following reports

Everton 2-2 Liverpool

- Luis Suarez's goal and assist pushes him to 33 points this season, tied-best striker with Newcastle's Demba Ba (more on him later), and even produced the Celebration-Of-The-Week.

- With all the attention on the Uruguayan, captain Steven Gerrard somehow went unnoticed. His 17 points in TFL makes him the 6th best midfielder, although being the most expensive midfielder meant that he'll be overlooked by cheaper options. 

- In lieu of Steven Pienaar's absence, it was down to Marouane Fellaini to provide the spark for Everton's midfield, and he rewarded those managers who kept him with an assist. 

Newcastle 2-1 WBA

- Be warned: Demba Ba was subbed out due to a nerve problem. As Newcastle manager Alan Padrew mentioned

"He just feels like there is a nerve issue going on, so we are going to have to inspect that and see what it turns up this week."

Even though the injury might not be serious, fantasy managers should wait and see before jumping on this bandwagon.

- Papiss Cisse was named as a substitute for the game, and only came on in the 61st minute. Until he regains his spot in the team, one should be wary on selecting him based on the gamewinning goal, his 1st for the season.

- After their bright start to the season, WBA find themselves with down to 9th spot, and no clean sheet in last 5 matches. Do note that their next 2 matches are against Southampton & Wigan, so you might want to keep your WBA defenders for a while longer.

Southampton 1-2 Tottenham

- If you have selected Maya Yoshida from the start, congratulations, he have earned you -6pts.

- I was right about Gareth Bale scoring, though I should have expected his celebrations to be muted, due to him facing his former club.

- This is Clint Dempsey's 3rd game in 4 matches which he produced attacking returns. At £5.2mil, he is £0.2mil cheaper than Bale, and might be a worthy alternative in the next game against Wigan, though the next 6 fixtures after that looks tough.

Chelsea 2-3 Man Utd

- Is Mark Clattenburg in the database yet? (Sorry, I couldn't resist...)

- Fantasy owners of Wayne Rooney take note: in this away fixture, he only has 10 touches in the final third of the pitch (from OPTA stats), as compared against RVP who has 33. So one can tell how deep Rooney will be deployed in away games.

- Juan Mata is on fire. He's the highest points scorer in TFL with 36pts from 4 goals and 5 assists in just 5 games. With him firing away against tough opponents like Spurs & Man Utd, he looks to be a fixture-proof player.

- ADDITIONAL NOTE: Ivanovic and Torres are only suspended in the League Cup, and will appear in the next Premier League game.

Saturday Review - 27th Oct 12

6 games on this Saturday, with the major matches (such as Southampton vs Tottenham) being played tomorrow instead. Here are the highlights for Saturday's matches:

Aston Villa 1-1 Norwich

- There was a match? Really?

- I can't find any fantasy value from either teams. Christian Benteke may have started & scored a goal, but he was taken out only after 69 minutes for Darren Bent, and they're facing Man Utd, Man City & Arsenal in the next 3 of 4 games.

Arsenal 1-0 QPR

- Stupid, stupid retaliation.

- Santi Carzola produced yet another fantasy blank, despite being one of the more involved players in Arsenal's attacking half. With Jack Wilshere returning to the starting lineup, there might be a lesser reliance on the Spaniard in the near future.

- Another player returning to the Gunners' first eleven is Bacary Sagna, who managed to pick up a clean sheet at the expense of Carl Jenkinson. Apologies to those who followed my advice in Picks of the Week.

Reading 3-3 Fulham

- Please do not jump onto the Chris Baird bandwagon. Prior to this season, he has only scored 5 goals in 237 games. Also, he injured himself when he slipped into an advertising hoarding during his celebration, which lead to his substitution.

- This is Dimitar Berbatov's 3rd goal in 4 starts for Fulham.

- Reading's Jobi McAnuff made his 4th assist this season, which makes him tied-3rd in the assist category for midfielders, behind Chelsea's duo of Juan Mata & Eden (HE'S NOT A STRIKER) Hazard. Valued at £3.7mil and with a moderately-looking fixtures in the next 5 weeks, he's one to consider for a budget midfielder.

Stoke 0-0 Sunderland

- I was right about Stoke's defence obtaining a clean sheet for this match, particularly since Sunderland has been dire in front of goal, and had ZERO shots on target in this match.

- What I didn't expect was Marc Wilson's serious injury, which makes my outside pick in Today Fantasy League useless within a gameweek. Hopefully the setback isn't that serious, and he'll be back sooner than expected.

Wigan 2-1 West Ham

- What's with Big Sam's famed defensive tendencies? West Ham have failed to keep a clean sheet in their past 5 games. Looking at their next 6 games, it'll be hard-pressed to see how West Ham might keep a clean sheet against Man City, Newcastle, Stoke, Tottenham, Man Utd & Chelsea.

- This is the 1st home game which Wigan conceded less than 2 goals.

- Nope, no Mauro Boselli yet.

Man City 1-0 Swansea

- In the longest ever Premier League match at 102 minutes and 42 seconds, only 1 goal separate the 2 teams, with Carlos Tevez netting his 1st goal in 6 games.

- The reason for the long game was due to serious injuries to Swansea's Michael Vorm & City's Micah Richards. 

- Gerhard Tremmel (£3.1mil) came on to replace the Swansea's custodian, but he is unlikely to attract plenty of fantasy manager's attention due to their tough fixtures.

- Kolo Toure (£4.7mil) replaced Micah Richards in the rightback role. With Pablo Zabaleta & Maicon still in the injury list, Man City is short on rightbacks at the moment, but do hold onto that transfer button till we receive more updates on the injury situation.

- Despite the missing personal, the Blues managed to keep their 2nd clean sheet for the season.

Picks of the Week - Gameweek 11

For Picks of the Week, I'll look into the gameweek's matches & form a team using £55mil budget. This can be a useful guide for those who are looking for a short-term transfer, or for captaincy choices.

Note: This picks are only for this gameweek & may not represent good value in the long-run.

Man City will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing loss against Ajax midweek, and they'll be back in their Etihad Stadium stronghold against Swansea, who went scoreless in 2 of 3 away PL games this season. As usual, I'll be recommending the safest player in their starting 11, Joe Hart.

Fulham might look vulnerable in their travels, but their last season's away form netted them 6 clean sheets, tied-3rd best with Man City & Newcastle. It might be time for their 1st away clean sheet as they travel to Reading. John Arne Riise, top fullback in Today Fantasy League with 19pts, looks likely to benefit from an opponent who only managed to score 8 and conceded 14 this season.

With the return of Bacary Sagna, Carl Jenkinson might use this last opportunity in order to impress the manager. Arsenal is facing bottom dwellers QPR, who have yet to win a game this season. However, there is the risk of Jenkinson being substituted before 75 mins, which means no clean sheet points, so Thomas Vermaelen might be a safer (though costlier) choice in centreback.

As mentioned in my weekly TODAY column, Stoke players are value-for-money due to their upcoming fixtures & their defensive strength. With their opponent, Sunderland, relying on just 1 player to provide scoring, as long as Robert Huth & company can shut him down, Stoke is likely to rack up another clean sheet.

Against a WBA side who has scored 3 away goals this season, Newcastle might be a good bet to keep a clean sheet at home tonight. Steven Taylor may not be a confirmed starter as he started in the midweek Europa fixture, but he's the best goal threat among Newcastle defenders.

The Guardian has an interesting article on Santi Carzola, which speaks about his impact in La Liga. QPR manager Mark Hughes warned his team on the backlash from Arsenal's poor week, and the Spanish playmaker will be the main threat in pulling the strings for the Gunners' attack.

I've already highlighted Gareth Bale & Demba Ba potential in my weekly TODAY column, hence I'll skip the description over here.

West Ham travels to Wigan, who have conceded 2 goals in each of their home game. Having scored 4 goals with 2 assists, captain Kevin Nolan will be a key player in West Ham's attack, and will likely be involved in the Hammers' goals, if any.

Dimitar Berbatov might not have scored last week, but he contributed to 3 goal attempts inside the penalty area. Against a Reading side who let in 6 goals in 3 home games, look for the Bulgarian to be in the thick of action for Fulham tonight.

Lastly, it might be hard to predict who Mancini might field for Man City with his constant tinkering, but Carlos Tevez have started for all but one Premier League game this season. Also, he had a 20 minute cameo in their midweek Champions League tie, hence he is the likeliest starter against a Swansea team who failed to keep a clean sheet in their past 6 games.

Scoreboard - Week 10

After missing Week 8 due to reservist (my bad) & Week 9 was an international week, let's zoom in to the TFLTalk standings for Week 10:

TFLTalk League - Week 10 (Overall)

After a month of dominating the standings, we finally have a new leader in Week 10. Ong Xin Zhong's TeamToday made it to the top of the charts thanks to his strong October performance of 76pts, out of which 50% comes from captaining Wayne Rooney. His overall total of 180pts puts him 15th place in the Overall ranking...WELL DONE!

Just a spot behind is my long-term rival from Hattrick, Chee Howe Chen's Rob Rangers, who is currently October's TFLTalk League leader with 87pts. The main contributor for the month has been Juan Mata, though he has yet to hand him the captaincy. His current performance puts him in Top 50 for both Overall and October standings. Good luck to him in the quest for October Manager of the Month!

The leader for the past 4 gameweeks Eliya Handayani's Arek Suroboyo FC slipped to 3rd spot due to a lack of Man Utd or Chelsea players in the starting 11, and is trailing the current leaders by 12 points.

4th place belongs to Muhd Khairul's El Nino XI, whose captain is unsurprisingly Fernando Torres. His transfers does seem a little too eager, with 10 transfers already being used, all performed within the 1st gameweek of the month. Do remember that you only have 20 transfers left in the season... and there's about 30 gameweeks to participate.

Rounding up the Top 5 is Hanna Hurwood's Anja Cabanja. The only team in the top 5 who has RVP, he could take advantage if the Dutchman performs well against Chelsea next week & snatch the top spot, though similarly, his team won't be able to make any more transfers till November.

TFLTalk League - Week 10 (Weekly)

My own name appears in the ranking for the 1st time!!! :P

& in a league-first, the team with the most goals & assists made it to the Top of the Week. Congrats to Rob Rangers once again!

TFLTalk League - October

As you can see, it's still early in the season where the standings are pretty fluid. Once you got a good run of 2 gameweeks, you could find yourself in the Top 1,000 of the overall standings, so don't be dishearten with a poor gameweek.

Yea, I have to keep telling myself that for the past few weeks.....

I won't be reviewing the Overall Leaderboard & Monthly Leaderboard, as I would prefer to leave this weekly article to be purely for TFLTalk supporters. Hope everyone doesn't mind this change.

Oh, there's one more scoreboard which I'm sure everyone is interested in

David Ngiau's Eat My Shorts Scoreboard (Week 10)

Yaya Toure 4

Frank Lampard 8

Story: David Ngiau has quoted that he will eat his shorts if Frank Lampard outscores Yaya Toure this season. If that happens, I'll personally sponsor a pair of shorts for his consumption.

Doesn't those shorts looks appetizing now, David? :P