With teams already chosen and settling in nicely, and Gameweek 1 done and dusted, I thought it would be useful to share some tips that have helped me gain a competitive edge over the previous few seasons.

Hold Fire on Transfers

It is often easy to react to a bad week by immediately transferring out poor performers, and drafting in players who have favourable fixtures.

Making such a move before Friday evening is a big no-no. Something can be said for trying to retain money in the bank for your team before players drop in value; however it is a highly risky strategy.

This week alone, over 10,000 people had transferred in Samir Nasri or Jermain Defoe at the start of the week, only to find out they have suffered lengthy lay-offs during the week. This will be a recurring pattern throughout the course of the season.

Friday afternoon is sacred as press-conferences are a key information resource in relation to injuries and team news. Pay attention to these and transfer accordingly. The later the better. Always.

Out Of Position Folk

Throughout the history of the game, players have been given ‘false’ positions.

Good examples include last year’s classification of Gareth Bale and Paul Scharner as Defenders. In reality, they were deployed as attacking midfielders. Therefore, they were effective in gathering attacking points, whilst always offering the possibility of a clean sheet bonus– both were big points scorers.

This year, week 1 has already thrown up a few potential cheap targets in this area:

Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (Sunderland) – Al Muhammadi featured on the right wing for Sunderland in their opener despite being classed as a defender. From this position he attempted 7 crosses and appeared comfortable on debut for a 10 man Sunderland. At 4.5m, he could be a shrewd buy, providing he is given starting opportunities.

Phil Jones (Blackburn) – Jones was stationed in front of the back four against Everton. Although he did not get forward, he impressed in the defensive midfield anchor role and picked up 3 bonus points. Again, at 4.5m, potentially a solid investment when Blackburn’s fixtures pick up.

Jelle Van Damme (Wolves) – Van Damme is a marauding left back brought in from Anderlect. Against Stoke, he provided 5 crosses and made 3 key passes. He is one to watch at 4.5m, particularly at Molineux where McCarthy will look to get at teams.

Double Gameweeks

Planning in Fantasy Football is vital. The forward-thinking scrutinise the future 5/6 fixtures of the top teams, and make transfers accordingly.

The value of this is to avoid point deductions for continually making transfers when players have favourable transfers.

On occasions, these hits can prove worthwhile, however there is no substitute for effective planning.

Last season, the weather caused fixture chaos, and games were postponed all over the country. This (alongside European rescheduling) led to teams playing twice in a gameweek, offering two opportunities for big scoring. Those with good memories may remember when Carling Cup commitments led to Man Utd playing versus Hull and Burnley at home in the same gameweek, with Rooney amassing five goals over the two games.

These opportunities are not to be missed, and hopefully I will be able to give readers a heads up on these.

Good Luck

I wish all readers a prosperous fantasy season, and hope to keep you updated throughout the season on players to watch, stats, and tips. Please feel free to comment.

AC

The latest football betting odds have Chelsea at 8/5 to win the Premier League title. West Brom, on the other hand, are bottom and are now 3/4 for relegation straight back to the Championship. The Baggies could not have asked for a tougher start to their bid for a sustained stay in the top flight and they certainly look to have their work cut out if they are to shake off their yo-yo club status this time around. To be fair though, the prospect of a newly promoted side going to Stamford Bridge and getting anything other than a thumping was never likely.

For Aston Villa the season got off to a flyer with a 3-nil win over West Ham. Can they match or improve on their run of sixth place finishes now that Martin O’Neill has gone? We shall have to see – the opposition that they faced on Saturday looked pretty feeble. Avram Grant looks to have his work cut out steering the Hammers out of relegation trouble this season.

Another side with a new manager is Fulham and Mark Hughes will have been relieved that his side got a valuable point from their goalless visit to the Reebok Stadium. Bolton lie in eighth place and Fulham in ninth after this opening game and a mid-table finish for both sides seems a strong possibility.

Probably the biggest surprise in the crop of games over the weekend was the 0-4 win by Blackpool at hapless Wigan. Before this game Blackpool were seen by many as certainties for relegation and the fact that they managed to chalk up a resounding away win on the first day of the season is a fantastic achievement. Tellingly, however, even though they lie second in the table, the online betting web sites think that they will be relegated with odds of 1/3 being offered. And Wigan? Last season, they suffered 8-0 and 9-1 beatings and if they repeat a performance like Saturday’s against a top team they could well get further pastings this year. The Latics are 6/5 for relegation.

Wolves currently occupy the fourth spot and if they could finish the season in that position it would be a huge shock. This will be their second season back in the top flight. They finished 15th last season and this win against Stoke 2-1 at Molineux would seem to show that they are set to thrive in the Premier League. Stoke were unlucky to lose and would be a good bet for another mid-table finish.

Blackburn kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Everton. Bit of a surprise here as some had predicted that Everton could be a real force this season. All three points were gifted to the Rovers after a blunder by Tim Howard.

The away point that Birmingham collected on their visit to Sunderland was enough to push them into 5th place. Sunderland are 7th. Both sides should be capable of avoiding the relegation zone this year.

Money-bags Manchester City got an away point at Spurs after drawing 0-0 at White Hart Lane. Despite this setback the Cheshire side are 7/1 to win the title. Tottenham are 11/4 for a top 4 finish.

Monday evening saw the last of the opening games played when Manchester United beat Newcastle, another of the promoted teams, 3-0. The Red Devils are 2/1 to become Champions this year after narrowly missing out to Chelsea last season.

Early days of course, and there is sure to be many a twist and turn in the course of the new campaign for the managers, the players, the clubs and the fans. It is what makes us keep watching!

But what has all this got to do with the fantasy football season? I hear you cry. Well, actually, quite a lot. You see, as any fantasy football manager will know, it’s the bargains that make or break a season. On premierleague.com, Friedel and Gomes made the top three goalkeepers for the season, Dunne and Cuellar made the top four defenders, Milner and Ashley Young made the top six midfielders and Tevez sat in third place on the forwards’ list with Defoe level a point off fifth. Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Aston Villa are essential teams to look at and this change has ramifications for all three.

Now, speculation as to why O’Neill has left comes down to a few end results. Saturday saw the confirmation that Nicky Shorey is going to West Brom and we’re now on the brink of seeing James Milner go to Manchester City. One of the key reasons that Martin O’Neill left the job, it is generally reported, is that he was told he wouldn’t be allowed to reinvest any of the money. The expected revenue from the sale is up to £24 million and could see Stephen Ireland heading in the opposite direction. The final piece in the catastrophic puzzle, as far as Villa fans are concerned, is the well-covered media speculation that Ashley Young could be heading to Tottenham for £18 million. Without his two star midfielders, with no money to reinvest and with massive tension in the management, there was little else that O’Neill could do.

So what are these ramifications for the main three? Well, if Milner and Young leave Villa Park, there will be a shortage of midfielders. This could mean that the remaining midfielders are worth much more than their labelled value – or it could mean that the defenders and attackers are worth much less. Milner totalled 12 assists last year whilst Petrov and Downing, between them, got two. On the other hand, Agbonlahor and Carew are happy to set each other up with 11 assists and 23 goals sitting on their statistics table. Defenders could take free-kicks and corners, wingers could get more assists, Carew and Agbonlahor could have more freedom. And with Stephen Ireland’s possible arrival, he will probably be worth a million more than his current fantasy football price.

Manchester City are likely to get Milner’s transfer wrapped up by the weekend, causing more selection problems. With other new signings David Silva and Yaya Toure already in midfield, there is an excellent new line-up. But with Barry, Wright-Philips, Ireland and Vieira already there (and De Jong, Weiss etc.) it’s going to be hard to anticipate the season. My money is on Barry, who is on top form. Bellamy has played in midfield, too, and might not be transferred despite links to Tottenham whilst an additional midfielder, in the shape of Mario Balotelli, would cause further complications.

And at Tottenham, we could see the arrival of Ashley Young with possibly Richards, Bridge or Bellamy coming from Manchester City after their match on Saturday. Tottenham’s defence isn’t the strongest of the top teams’ and wouldn’t suffer from having some reinforcement. Their midfield, however, sees Lennon and Jenas battling it out for the right-wing, Bale and Modric fighting for the left and Kranjcar, Huddlestone, Bentley, O’Hara and others trying to ensure a place on the first team. An Ashley Young injection would definitely make the first team but would devalue the other midfielders. If Gareth Bale is a defender in your fantasy football competition, buy him. If he’s a midfielder, consider whether he’ll be playing as far forward as previously. And Inter Milan are still open about the possibility of selling Sulley Muntari as an additional midfielder to Tottenham.

And if you think the impact will stop there, think again. Reports suggest that Balotelli must leave before Inter will sign Mascherano, though Barcelona are also looking at the Liverpool midfielder, and the income generated from that sale will probably be put back into signing Peter Crouch or Carlton Cole whilst possibly affecting their moves for Christian Poulsen and Brad Jones. The arrival of Jones could allow Reina to go to Arsenal whilst the arrival of Balotelli could allow Shaun Wright-Phillips to leave Man City for Liverpool or Arsenal. This could, in turn, allow Almunia to leave for a Spanish team, Lucas to go to Palermo, Ngog to go to West Bromwich Albion and more besides.

And then there are rumours of Keane going to Villa, Tottenham chasing Gallas, Bridge or Wright-Phillips to Liverpool, Bellamy to Fulham or Celtic, Landon Donovan to Everton, Forlan mysteriously turning up, Remy signing for a Premiership team, Yakubu going to West Ham, Zhirkov going to Russia, etc. etc. and Mesut Ozil arriving at Man Utd or Chelsea.

Also, apparently Robinho still plays for Manchester City. Really?

Click here for more by Jason Rose

Firstly, the winning managers always have a cheap player who ends up scoring lots of valuable points. The best choices for this season are Graham Dorrans and Charlie Adam. Both have been promoted from the Championship with their respective teams but both will have chances to score a few goals. They both take the penalties and free-kicks for their respective teams giving them the opportunity to score the goals which will boost the points they score. Plus, both are the star players of their teams and the likelihood of the them starting every game is a major possibility too.

Also, the star players who will take up the bulk of your budget will create a massive problem for managers. With so many stars in the Premier League, which stars do you have? The certainty must be Frank Lampard. For a midfielder, Lampard scores lots of goals. Every season, Lampard scores around 15 goals. But last year, Lampard managed over 20. His Chelsea team-mate, Didier Drogba, must also be a certainty. Drogba scores loads of goals as well as getting several assists making him a must-have.

Now, the real decision making comes here. Do you have Pepe Reina, Edin van der SAR or Petr Cech in goal? Do you have Steven Gerrard or Cesc Fabregas in midfield? Do you have Fernando Torres or Wayne Rooney up front? These decisions are up to you. But, these decisions must be taken with thought. The points they tot up won’t be much different but could be the difference for you winning it or not.

Here’s what I have gone for:

Reina (LIV)
Johnson (LIV) O’Shea (MNU) Evans (MNU) Zhirkov (CHE)
Valencia (MNU) Dorrans (WBA) Aquilani (LIV) Lampard (CHE)
Torres (LIV) Drogba (CHE)

Reina and Johnson are solid picks and gain clean sheets whilst Johnson comes up with goals and assists. Also O’Shea, Evans and Zhirkov won’t appear as frequently but when they do, they won’t concede many goals and are cheap.

Lampard is a certainty whilst Dorrans and Aquilani are cheap and will score valuable points when played. Valencia provided many assists for Rooney and will have a similar impact again this season.

Finally, Drogba is a certainty leaving me to decide between Torres and Rooney. What helped me choose was Sir Alex revealing that Rooney won’t start the season due to World Cup whereas Torres will play. Plus, Torres scored an impressive 18 goals last season in 22 appearances which is remarkable. This makes you wonder how many goals Torres could get in 38 games. That sealed it for me.

As things stand the Londoners have the advantage with a one point lead over the Red Devils but any slip up by either side could hand the title to the other. Chelsea will be playing host to Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge while Manchester United will be playing Stoke at Old Trafford. As the Premiership title will be decided by the outcome of these two games the results will not just be of interest to supporters of the Chelsea and Man U but to footie fans all over the country. According to the football betting sites Chelsea are 1/12 odds on favourites to win the Premier League outright while the odds on Manchester United are 7/1.

Chelsea look to have the easier task. With just one game left a win against the Latics would secure the Blues their first league title since 2006. They win the game they win the title. But you can bet that Wigan would like nothing better than to end the season on a high note with a victory. Let?s not forget that the Latics beat Chelsea earlier this season so an upset is not impossible. Whether that hope is realistic is a matter of debate – Wigan Manager Roberto Martinez admits that it is a huge challenge for any team to go to Stamford Bridge and win. The online betting websites are offering odds of 20/1 on Wigan winning and 7/1 on a draw. If Chelsea draw against Wigan and United win against Stoke then the title would go to Manchester.

Of course Sir Alex and company will be hoping for that Wigan can get a result at Stamford Bridge. United are 1/9 favourites to beat Stoke on Sunday and the odds on a draw are 7/1. If the Red Devils do win and and Chelsea draw or lose United will shatter another long-standing record by winning a fourth straight Championship title. Winning an English Championship for the nineteenth time would also be another incredible record and a remarkable achievement.

As an impartial observer, I wouldn?t mind betting that many football fans would rather see the Blues win the title this year and break the single club stranglehold that Manchester United have had in recent years. It probably would be healthier for English football and for the Premiership in particular.

To fully capitalize on these double games I have put together a list of players currently in-form that could reap your team bonus points and value:

Clint Dempsey is the Fulham player who so far has the most points this season. The attacking midfielder from Texas is currently ranked 4th overall in the league for current form as well. He is currently averaging 6.8 points a game and with a good run of games, up until game week 16, he could be a handy points scorer for your fantasy football team.

David Dunn is playing a very advanced midfield role for Blackburn this season. This seems to have paid off for him, as he is currently very highly ranked in terms of form. His average score per match has been 4.5 points, and he costs a measly 5.8 million pounds. He has scored 4 goals and accumulated 11 bonus points so far and has been described by his manager as being in scintillating form.

Louis Saha is the ex-Manchester United striker who has just recovered from injury. Having just scored 2 goals in the last 3 games for Everton in the league, he is most likely to score at least one goal in the forthcoming double game week.

Leighton Baines is the Everton defender who is profiting from taking set pieces because of the absence of Mikel Arteta this season. He has already scored 40 points this season and is consistently an outlet for crosses whenever Everton play. He has scored once and set up 3 goals so far and at 6.3 million, he is relatively cheap. If they manage to keep a clean sheet at Old Trafford you could possibly see a very good game week for all managers with him on their team.

Brede Hangeland, is one of the best defenders in the league outside the ?top four?. He was a transfer target for Arsene Wenger, but committed himself to another season at Fulham. With a possibility of clean sheets in game weeks 13 to 16, he should be on everyone?s watch list.

******
goal365.ru