Premier League - Fantasy: Choose 'em or lose 'em

Eurosport - Sat, 21 Feb 12:42:00 2009

Following the break for internationals and cups, the wait is over and it's time for a certain Russian to step into the limelight.

FOOTBALL Andrey Arshavin Russia Arsenal official site - 0

GOALKEEPERS

Choose 'em: Bolton's Jussi Jaaskelainen (6.24) will face a West Ham side still adjusting to life without Craig Bellamy and now they are missing the injured Carlton Cole (9.88).

Shay Given (5.99) scored well on his Manchester City debut - but then he was up against Middlesbrough 'hitman' Afonso Alves (9.89). City travel to Liverpool on Sunday and you can be sure that he'll make it a hard day's work for the Reds even if they do eventually win.

Lose 'em: Portsmouth's David James (8.69) may not have to deal with the long throws of the suspended Rory Delap (5.71), but the kick and rush of Stoke will give him and his creaking defence plenty of problems.

Chelsea's Petr Cech (13.60) is too expensive a risk for the trip to Aston Villa for a match that could define the fortunes of several clubs at the top end of the table.

DEFENDERS

Choose 'em: Those of you still patting yourselves on the back for having Fulham's John Paintsil (8.90) in your side since he was half that price, make the most of him now - he's suspended for next weekend's match against Arsenal.

Hold the phone - it appears that Everton's midfield wunderkind Dan Gosling (8.06) has been listed as a defender in the game. That means that if he keeps up his impressive form and the Toffees keep a clean sheet, that's double-bubble for you.

Lose 'em: Blackburn captain Ryan Nelsen (6.39) certainly punches above his weight on a regular basis, but don't hold out too much hope of him keeping Manchester United at bay at Old Trafford.

Girls Aloud WAG Ashley Cole (10.51) is suspended for the crucial clash at Villa Park, as are Everton's Tony Hibbert (7.24), Sunderland's Phil Bardsley (8.27), Blackburn's Christopher Samba (9.35) and West Ham skipper Lucas Neill (7.43).

MIDFIELDERS

Choose 'em: Chelsea's Ricardo Quaresma (6.35) looked assured and productive on his debut against Hull. Now that he has to impress a second new manager in as many games, he could prove key against Villa.

Villa's Gareth Barry (13.27) has been productive all season, and is well-equipped to keep England colleague Frank Lampard (18.53) at bay.

Lose 'em: Liverpool's Steven Gerrard (17.36) may be blessed with super-human healing powers, but even he hasn't recovered in time to face Man City at Anfield.

Everton's Tim Cahill (10.50), Liverpool's Xabi Alonso (8.71), Man City's Shaun Wright-Phillips (12.39) and Stoke's Matthew Etherington (7.72) are all banned.

FORWARDS

Choose 'em: Most of us having seen him kick a ball in anger since the night that Russia were ruthlessly cut down to size by Spain in the Euro 2008 semi-final, but the wait will soon be over now that Arsene Wenger has confirmed Andrei Arshavin (6.11) will play some part in the home match against Sunderland. He hasn't played a competitive game since November, but if you're confident he'll hit the ground running then you just can't refuse that price, especially with Emmanuel Adebayor (11.37) and Eduardo (6.40) both injured.

Elsewhere, Wayne Rooney (15.17) marked his return to fitness with a goal in midweek, and the England man loves to scores in patches. He'll play alongside Dimitar Berbatov (13.13) against Blackburn, with poor old Carlos Tevez (11.26) dropping to the bench.

Aston Villa's John Carew (8.49) has scored twice in the five games since his return from injury, and if he gets the service he can hurt Chelsea. Of course, the same goes for Nicolas Anelka (12.96).

Lose 'em: Wigan's on-loan striker Mido (6.94) is ineligible to play against his parent club, Middlesbrough.

Manchester City haven't won a league match on the road since August, so you'd be hard-pressed to make a case for them breaking that run at Anfield - best leave Craig Bellamy (11.12) and Robinho (13.15) for another day.

Tottenham's Darren Bent (9.35) was left on the bench at Shakhtar on Thursday, but with Robbie Keane (8.91) and Roman Pavlyuchenko (6.94) available again surely it's back down the pecking order for the Englishman.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

Comment 10 - 29 of 29

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  1. Hey, I'm an open minded girl from US, I'm­­­ interested in exotic things, photography, dating and­­­ sports...I have my photos on --- T a l l h u b Co m­­­ ---, I love tall guys!
    Do you love traveling and have­­­ some experience? Just find me out.

    From aifuson02, on Sat 21 Feb 6:08PM

  2. Where are the points ?????? argghh, I'm in charge­ of a group and everyone's moaning at me ! None of­ the double pointers have been updated, please sort it­ out ASAP. Have already had two texts this morning and­ I'm naffed off, if I get in Monday and it's­ still unresolved, they'll all start moaning again.­ ...

    I'm begging you, please..........

    From The Mighty Sputnik, on Sat 21 Feb 12:03PM

  3. PapaShango - nothing. BUT, how much do you think Yahoo­ make on advertising on this??? So they pocket the cash­ and provide a vvank service. Fair? @#$%.

    From Reza, on Sat 21 Feb 11:58AM

  4. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP

    ALL MATCHES ON­ INTERNET: PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, CHAMPIONSHIP,­ CARLING CUP, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA, CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP AND MUCH MORE

    ALL THE HIGH LIGHTS­ OF PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES

    From www.premiership.altervista.org, on Sat 21 Feb 11:06AM

  5. Well why didnt I get my points for the Man Und players­ this week? can anyone tell me? Yahoo never awarded any­ points for Wed match with Fulham WHY?

    From seer, on Sat 21 Feb 10:49AM

  6. and how much exactly do you pay for this service?

    From PapaShango, on Sat 21 Feb 10:26AM

  7. Gunners for Life,today Sunderland will no dat,Arsenal­ is not type of a team like Chelsea,dat cannot perform­ without a couch,Arsenal is winning today by 2 goals to­ nil.

    From kanyedapson76, on Sat 21 Feb 9:14AM

  8. yahoo fu*ker who want play yahoo'fantasy??stupid­ fantasy..don't no how to update points..

    From Hiruma, on Sat 21 Feb 8:28AM

  9. Stupid arshavin and stupid arsenal and stupid­ gunners.....u belong where u r now....hahahahahahaha!!!

    From Michael O, on Sat 21 Feb 2:46AM

  10. no need to be objective chris, im merely stating the­ facts. enjoy your EPL, where every result can be­ predicted before the game even starts. you can like­ what you want but i think ur gonna be one of many on­ the british isles that will be pulling their feet out­ of their mouths after Serie A teaches EPL a lesson in­ quality in the UCL

    From justin, on Sat 21 Feb 2:27AM

  11. wheres me man u fulham points???????????? i had 7­ players ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

    want me pints­ want me pints!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Paudge8, on Sat 21 Feb 2:25AM

  12. Also drop Eduardo he got injured again

    From Daniel, on Fri 20 Feb 10:44PM

  13. PS - 16 what are you talking about? Go look up the word­ 'objective' in the dictionary then try again.

    From Chris C, on Fri 20 Feb 9:05PM

  14. Is it just me that thinks this a particualrly poor­ choose 'em? I mean Shay Given is recommended for­ the trip to Anfield with p**s poor city?? I'm­ tempted to sell him despite having him at 3m discount.­ Also Gareth Barry? What in carnation makes you think­ he's set for a good week? In fantasy terms he's­ been disappointing all season, this week he plays­ Chelsea, and just as Villa are showing signs of­ slowing! Frankly a poor effort and I won't be­ making changes based around it. Sorely lacking the­ usual thought and incite.

    From Chris C, on Fri 20 Feb 9:04PM

  15. EPL has no quality players...Andrei Arshavin ?? are you­ kidding me? hes brutal.....setup Fantasy Football for­ Serie A now you have some quality to choose from

    From justin, on Fri 20 Feb 8:51PM

  16. 6 sanogo= c o c k .

    From jamie, on Fri 20 Feb 8:39PM

  17. @#$% yahoo..choose em or lose them??..huh last game man­ utd vs fulham`s points still not updated..if want ppl­ play fantasy at yahoo plz update quickly..fu*ker u­ yahoo

    From Hiruma, on Fri 20 Feb 8:24PM

  18. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP

    ALL MATCHES ON­ INTERNET: PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, CHAMPIONSHIP,­ CARLING CUP, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA, CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP AND MUCH MORE

    ALL THE HIGH LIGHTS­ OF PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES

    From , on Fri 20 Feb 7:18PM

  19. May be he is english too, and he knows this from­ personal experience. :) ;) ;)

    From Rosen, on Fri 20 Feb 7:17PM

  20. wait..... so you are suggesting that ALL english people­ are gimps....
    how did you come to that conclusion?

    From Tom, on Fri 20 Feb 6:18PM
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