EPL Official Fantasy

[Jukes]

Nobody else going Cisse? :( If he played as many minutes as Aguero last season he'd have gotten 245 points, much larger then Aguero's 211. I've got him in my forward line with Aguero and Lambert, reckon all three could explode and go 200+ each ;)

My team:
Krul (Cerny)
Cole, Williams, Hangeland (Shawcross, Barnett)
Sinclair, Toure, Silva, Kagawa (Britton)
Aguero, Cisse, Lambert

How's that look?

[essendon2]

Nobody else going Cisse? :( If he played as many minutes as Aguero last season he'd have gotten 245 points, much larger then Aguero's 211. I've got him in my forward line with Aguero and Lambert, reckon all three could explode and go 200+ each ;)

My team:
Krul (Cerny)
Cole, Williams, Hangeland (Shawcross, Barnett)
Sinclair, Toure, Silva, Kagawa (Britton)
Aguero, Cisse, Lambert

How's that look?

Cisse and Silva are both in doubt for this weeks' game, and I'd go Michu over Sinclair!

I think I've finally settled on my starting line-up for the opening round.  There's a few safe picks and there's a few risks.  I also have 1.0m in the bank in case any of my risks fail and I need a quick upgrade.  Feel free to pick this team apart because I'm always interested in other people's opinions!



Keepers

Going with the rotation tactic here.  The only premium keepers I would get are Hart or De Gea, and even though De Gea was tempting, especially at his price, I have opted to remain with the rotation policy for the second year running.  Begovic is in a battle with Sorenson to see who will be the number one keeper at Stoke, and even though I think it's his to lose, I will be starting with Vorm for the opening round.

Defenders

I don't usually like spending big money of defenders, but I think Kompany is a class act, and it would be fair to say he is making a push as one of the best defenders not only in the EPL, but the world.  It's this reason why I have gone big at the back with Kompany.  City are a solid defensive unit, so he will rack up the points for me.  Just has to watch those cards though, as he can go in a bit too hard at times. 

Ferdinand and Gallas are massive risks and I'm well aware of that.  Ferdinand has injury issues and Gallas has selection issues.  If both can find their feet and cement places into their respective defences, then I will have pulled off two massive bargains as Spurs and United, like City, have good defensive set ups.  If they fail, which is a big possibility, then I at least have some money in reserve to trade them out to someone more solid.

Shawcross is well priced imo, and will proved great cover if and when I need him.  Stoke are very tricky at home, so I can see myself playing him over most players (except Kompany) when Stoke have a home fixture.  Stoke are one of those teams where they can either be impossible to break down or they can completely collapse, but I still feel good having him in my side.  As for my defender I've gone for a cheapy in Tierney.  I will most likely be playing 3-5-2 most weeks anyway (I've gone 4-5-1 this week due to the fact I don't think Lambert or Di Santo are going to trouble Man City or Chelsea respectively) so hopefully I won't even need to play him.  At Norwich he should actually be a starter for them, so on the rare occasion I do have to call him up to my team he should be playing for Norwich.

Midfield

This is easily my strongest area, and as with most fantasy teams you want a good engine room to keep things ticking over.  Bale is a star, and he will play a hell of a lot for Spurs.  He can be inconsistent at times, but I have no worries about that as I will be keeping him for the long run, and he should pump out similar numbers to last year (hopefully even better!).

I've started with the Chelsea duo as we have a good start to the season.  There's the whole debate over Hazard or Kagawa (In the blue corner is ele and in the red corner is Jukes :P) but in the end this is my decision and Hazard can have a similar impact to what Mata had last year.  He may slow, and that is the only risky part in picking him, but once he finds his feet he will explode.  Ramires is a gun, and he seems to be growing in strength.  He's quick, chips in with assists and can score the odd goal.  Exactly what you want from a midfielder.  Again, there is risk involved as he could be rotated a fair bit as we are well stocked in the creative midfield area these days.  That said, he should retain his place in the starting lineup, at least for the beginning of the season.

I hate City, but I love Toure.  He is an absolute machine, and he was my first picked midfielder this year (as he was last year).  He seems to have a bit of a free role, and that can only be a good thing in terms of fantasy.  He can play killer balls, resulting in assists, and he has a thunderous shot on him, which can result in some spectacular goals.  He's fast becoming one of the best mids in the world, and he's pretty much what you would call a complete midfielder right now as he is equally good in attack as he is in defence.  He's also surprisingly quick, and he has great movement, and it's a joy to watch him make a pass, burst into the box, get it back and slot home a goal.  As far as my fantasy team is concerned I hope he does that a lot.

With such a stacked midfield I had to throw a cheapie in there somewhere.  Swansea are an attacking team, which is also handy from a fantasy point of view.  Britton should be in their best eleven, and he should be picked most weeks.  Britton only got 81 points last year, but as my 5th midfielder, and priced at only 4.5, if he can replicate that then I'll be more than happy.

Forwards

Simply put, you won't win anything without one of the big three strikers (Aguero, Rooney and Van Persie).  With Van Persie and Rooney now playing in the same side, it's hard to look past Aguero.  He is the main man at City, and he should, and will, rack up the points this season.  With Tevez now back in the side there could be claims that Aguero's output may drop, but I don't think that will be the case at all, as he looks set to crack the 200 mark again this season.

I've gone for Lambert to parnter Aguero, opposed to someone like Ba.  For one, Lambert is cheaper, but I think people are underestimating Southampton a bit, and of all the teams to come up this season I think they could finish the highest.  A lot of that will depend on Lambert's forum, but he did have a great season last year.  Yes, I know it was in the Championshi, but he does know how to score, he is the penalty taker and most importantly he chips in with assists, which is important for a forward.

My final forward spot has gone to Di Santo.  Hopefully I won't even have to use him, but he should provide decent cover.  Wigan aren't the greatest scorers, but he did a decent job for them last year.  Looking at their attacking options you would aslo think he will be playing most weeks.  A lot of people have gone for Pogrebnyak as their third forward, and even though he is cheaper and I did originally have him, I've now decided that I'm not convinced by him, which is why I've spent the extra 0.5 on a player that scored close to 100 points last season, which is really all you want from a third choice forward.

I'd go Sczcesny over Vorm & Hangeland over Shawx, but that's just my opinion!
nice team though.

i hate choosing between:
Hazard + Tevez
vs
Ramires + Aguero!

[Chelskiman]

Shawcross is locked for me.  Always puts in a solid performance.  I originally had Sczcesny but I'm not sold on him.  Makes some awful mistakes at times.  Vorm scored 159 points last season whilst Sczcesny scored 139.  I like Vorm, and Swansea have a really easy start to their season.

[Jukes]

Neither have an injury warning on the fpl site?

[Chelskiman]

Nobody else going Cisse? :( If he played as many minutes as Aguero last season he'd have gotten 245 points, much larger then Aguero's 211.

That's assuming he could keep up his scoring rate in those minutes, which I highly doubt.  Cisse is too overpriced for me.  Ba will score just as much as him, and he's considerably cheaper.

[Tominator]

thoughts on this team guys ?

I'm a first-timer at this haha, just made a team today ::)

(this is the squad by the way, not the actual starting XI)

GK - Foster    Ruddy
DEF - Kompany      Shawcross     Assou-Ekotto     Figueroa     Coloccini
MID - Dempsey      Hazard      Walters      Britton     Sinclair
FWD - Rooney      Holt      Graham

[KoopKicka]

Haha sorry Chelsekiman! ill change one if youd like?

[Chelskiman]

Haha sorry Chelsekiman! ill change one if youd like?

Lol, doesn't worry me.  If you think that's the best mid you can get then go for it.

[CrowsFan]

Seriously no help for my team??

[PowerBug]

Yeah seriously CF. :P I can't help coz i'm a soccer noob. :P I ask the questions, thus:


Torres, Podolski, Aguero. Which 2 to go with Pogrebnyak?
Also who are the 2/3 star midfielders people are looking at?

[Fletch74]

Seriously no help for my team??

Your team is very good CF as per usual. Got some good unique players.

I'm just not sure about Kagawa - what formation is SAF going to play now with RVP and Rooney? Sagawa normally likes to sit behind the strikers, but SAF may play a 4-4-2, so that may not work as well for him.

Here is my side for the moment

Vorm

Vermaelen, Evra, A Cole, Shawcross

Dempsey, Song, Hazard

Aguero, Holt, Pogrebnyak

Krul, Williams, Dyer, Obertan

Any comments?

[essendon2]

Szczesny (Cerny)

Hangeland, Vermaelen, Zabaleta (Clark, Clyne)

Santi Cazorla, Hazard, Lampard (C), Michu (Guthrie)

D.Cisse, Tevez, Torres (VC)

[Jukes]

/\ Song is probably going to Barca so I'd stay off him.

Essendon2 I'd stay away from stacking chelsea players, they do have the double fixture but Hazard and Torres will be crap while Lampard is too old.

[Fletch74]

/\ Song is probably going to Barca so I'd stay off him.

Essendon2 I'd stay away from stacking chelsea players, they do have the double fixture but Hazard and Torres will be crap while Lampard is too old.

Thxs re Song, but why would Hazard be crap?

I agree re Lampard and Torres though...

[Jukes]

/\ Song is probably going to Barca so I'd stay off him.

Essendon2 I'd stay away from stacking chelsea players, they do have the double fixture but Hazard and Torres will be crap while Lampard is too old.

Thxs re Song, but why would Hazard be crap?

I agree re Lampard and Torres though...

Did you watch the com shield? All he did was dive a few times and completely fail a backheel. Won't cope in the epl for 2-3 years.