Aston Villa 0-3 Man Utd
Man Utd were dealt a huge blow midweek with the news that Robin van Persie would be side-lined for about a month with a thigh injury. Aston Villa were without the influential Fabien Delph who was serving a one game suspension and the Villains were hoping to end their abysmal home run against Utd, their last league win against Utd was 18 years ago. Sadly for Villa after just 18 minutes of play they found themselves two nil down thanks to Danny Welbeck. The first came after Adnan Januzaj had hit the post and Welbeck was first on hand to slot home, the second came three minutes later following great work from Antonio Valencia down the right who produced a pinpoint cross into the path of Welbeck to convert. Man Utd keep up the pressure in the first half and both Welbeck and Wayne Rooney came close to increasing the lead. Villa on the other hand failed to test David de Gea. The second half was a feisty affair, de Gea and Gabriel Agbonlahor had a handbags moment shortly after the re-start which resulted in both being booked. Agbonlahor will therefore miss Villas next fixture away at Stoke. Utd kept up the pressure and were rewarded on 52 minutes when Tom Cleverley (yes that is correct!) finished off a Wayne Rooney assist to make it three nil. Mathew Lowton was the next name in the referee’s book when he caught Januzaj and shortly afterwards Utd supporters rose in unison to welcome the return of Darren Fletcher following serious illness. Rooney was unfortunate when he found himself clean through only for the referee to bring play back following more handbags by Welbeck and Nathan Baker. The remainder of the match just petered out with no more clear cut chances, Villas Ciaran Clark was booked and Christian Benteke was missing in action again and is clearly short of confidence. Man Utd will take some positives from this result, three crucial points, a comfortable win and signs that when they attack down the flanks the Red Devils can be a handful, Villa though will be very concerned with their poor run of form.
Bonus points: Welbeck (3) Cleverley (2) Jones & Valencia (1)
Norwich 1-1 Swansea
This intriguing encounter at Carrow Road saw Swansea without the industrious Chico Flores who was suspended and the home side were without their influential midfield pair of Robert Snodgrass and Anthony Pilkington due to injury. Fantasy managers were hoping this game would be as action-packed as the previous six meetings which have produced 25 goals and the signs at first were promising when Nathan Dyer put Swansea ahead on 12 minutes following a great passage of play from Ashley Williams. Michu should have doubled the lead but took a wild stab and saw his effort sail over the bar. The turning point in the first half came shortly after Dyer was stretchered off the field with a nasty ankle injury, when deep into stoppage time Johan Elmander found Gary Hooper and the former Celtic Forward unleashed a 25 yard volley that gave Michel Vorm no chance. The second half was a messy affair, Swansea were frustrated by The Canaries and picked up silly yellow cards, Angel Rangel, Michel Vorm and Jose Canas were all booked by the referee. Hooper was denied late on following great work by Leroy Fer and Michael Turner headed against the bar. Norwich will be disappointed not to have taken all three points, they were denied by the woodwork and outstanding goalkeeping by Vorm.
Bonus points: Hooper (3) Dyer & Williams (2)
Tottenham 0-5 Liverpool
Sundays stand out game was the visit of Liverpool to White Hart Lane who had their captain Steven Gerrard missing due to injury. Spurs had enjoyed a small run of form but have won only one of their last five home league matches. The first 45 minutes showed a side to Liverpool that has been lacking away from Anfield. They were relentless at times against Spurs, Phillipe Coutinho had a great chance after just 2 minutes following good work from Liverpool’s Stand in Captain Luis Suarez but the Brazilian scuffed his shot. Liverpools passing was played at a high tempo and was slick and they broke through the Spurs defence on 18 minutes when, following a period of extended pressure, Michael Dawson lost possession to Jordan Henderson and his pass found Suarez who obliged with a brilliantly well placed finish. Liverpool now had the bit between their teeth and Coutinho saw an effort hit the crossbar and Spurs were then forced into an early substitution when Sandro retired injured. To compound his departure more sustained pressure from Liverpool saw Henderson calmly volleying into the goal for Liverpool’s second after an effort by Suarez had been saved. Just before the break Simon Mignolet was fortunate when an effort by Roberto Soldado was disallowed following a shoulder barge. The second half performance by Liverpool showcased their potential, and the result was devastating to Spurs. Goals from Jon Flanagan, Raheem Sterling and Suarez were no more than Liverpool deserved and Spurs’ job was made all the harder when Paulinho was red carded in the 63rd minute for a foul on Suarez. The standout performance has to go to Suarez, 2 goals and three assists says it all, the home fans had long gone as the sound of You’ll Never Walk Alone reverberated around White Hart Lane. The result moves The Reds up to 2nd place, just 2 points off top spot. Sensational!
Bonus points: Suarez (3) Henderson (2) Flanagan (1)
This article was written by Eddy
What do you think of
Ruddy –> Pantillimon
Very good.
Bisto…
Your going to be busy on Xmas Day?
Potty
Evening All
:whacky:
Howdy Dr..
NIN – how’s life, mate ?
Did u get Rooney in or ur still weighing your options, mate ?
HL – Not bad mate thanks for asking,how is out resident cannibal?? I’ve taken a different route,my midfield has been hurting me recently with Brady being a non entity and Morrison picking up yellows for fun,so..replaced Aguero with Hooper and got rid of Brady for Walcott, Hoops is only a short term deal to be honest,needed to raise funds,i’ll get in a another big striker when i activate my JWC,which i’m using early.
NIN – logged in only for a second during worktime – and if I’m not mistakin’ you were debating with someone about going 3-5-2 ?!?
I kind have this crazy idea myself, too…discussed it with Cookie yesterday and mentioned it to a few people too..it did not get the attention I was hoping for…
Nevermind – I’l stick to what my gut tells me…
I mean I now have Roo/Luk/Goofy upfront and have 5.5mil in the bank !
With Silva & Wally back – think the mids will start bringing us back the long awaited pts…
What’s your verdict on this ?
HL – Yeah reverting to a 3-5-2 is very possible,it would take a big shuffle during the JWC to get it right though so i’ll be thinking about it until then,it has worked out great for me in the past but haven’t used it too much this season,my thinking is that with Suarez’s form,do we really need another expensive forward? It could be a solid way to move up the overall as most will be top heavy,i always found midfielders to be the most important in FPL,the likes of Suarez/van Persie are just beasts and score for fun,a juicy midfield is something to behold though..outrageous scores are possible.
NIN – I agree…my plan is to (try to) not take hits and build up some more team value by NY…then it will be way easier to plan…3-5-2 for me…always worked and it should do the trick, once again…
HL – It’s definitely an option for me too,it will depend on the status/form of the premium mid’s though,if all the ducks are in line then i might go ahead and change system,we shall see.
Is Flanagan for Rat a good idea? For a hit?
For a hit ?! Deffo no…
Its just that Rat has done jackall for me. I guess Il do it next GW
SP – I think it might be a little late to bring in Flanagan,3 away games in their next 5 vs City,Chelsea and Stoke,seems a bit dodgy to me,taking hits for defenders isn’t ideal to be honest,avoid if possible.
Ok so thats a unanomous no
Slow – Isnt Rat back from injury now?
At a time when WHU are letting in quiet a few goals
liverpool havent kept many cleansheets recently anyway – their last game was the first one in ages!
Anyone mind taking a look at my team
Krul (Henderson)
terry Chico distin (Demel and chambers)
Ramsey Yaya toure Brady hazard (Amalfitano)
Suarez aguero lukaku
this my sound crazy I was considering Rodriguez as a replacement of aguero so I could then upgrade Brady to silva but then I have double city coverage I could always go for someone else this move gives me 6 mill to play around with but it will be hard getting aguero back in a month
I might just for Rooney but he was playing a deep roll in the villa game but think he will be good as I am a utd fan
“I think he will be good as I am a United fan” am4r77 that’s not how to play the game. I have gone for Agüero to Rooney this week, but not because of any preference to a team, only because I feel he will be at the heart of Man United’s attack and he has great fixtures. You should try to think along the same lines. I would avoid Rodriguez: not a bad player, but you need 3 big hitters up front, as that’s where most of the points are coming from this season.
yes i agree.
i was a palace fan, i wouldn’t buy the likes of chamackh, bannan ect,ect… Just because they’re in my fav team. I’d buy them as they’re scoreing or look like they have points potential.
on Rooney though, ive had him sice gw6 i think and he’s done well for me this season
My bad i was supposed to put I think he will be good and I’m a united it wasn’t supposed to be linked to me being a utd fan and yh most of the hitters have been upfront thanks for the advice james what would you do with the 1m and do you think I should downgrade terry as they have been conceding a lot
Hannibal and Mito…
I washed the Pink T-shirt again today.
Its getting tighter..
Potty
Potty – better make that XXL shirt size, mate…
I’m getting bigger by the day :satansmoking:
I will wait til both teams have played midweek, but I ask:
Do you think Walcott will score (at least) 4 more points than Oscar next weekend?
In other words, Oscar —–> Wally for a 4pt hit, I have Özil and no other Chelsea…
not for a hit with that fixture Jamesimmo
Cheers mate, it’s just I have a gut feeling he will crush Chelsea…
…but at the same time, I’ve held Oscar up til now since his injury, so it would be a shame to release him now when he will probably finally be back starting another PL game
Next week when Arsenal play WHU perhaps
Not worth a hit jamesimmo.Just be patient and get him in next week like i am 😉
Wow and not being funny but i think your defence needs a bit of work mate.Three playing defenders would be good.Think that should be your priority before Wally.
brooky – disastrous week for me defensively but it’s under control now, assuming one of Vlaar or Moxey return, which I see as likely
jamesimmo – I think he’ll score well this weekend,i took a hit to bring him in but it was for Brady,taking out Oscar might not be worth it,close call though to be fair..
I agree NIN it’d hard to sit and watch him score after thinking about getting him in but not acting, what if Oscar doesn’t start? You’d expect him to, but I did so last week too, and Mourinho messed that hope up…
jamesimmo – This is it james,it’s hard to predict Chelsea’s lineup,i wouldn’t say it’s a bad move to make the transfer,it’ll just be difficult to make it a profitable one if Oscar starts,which he should really,they need their best players for the big games,the worry is both start and get similar points,meaning the 4 hit is down the drain..or worse again..Oscar outscores him!! I don’t think that will happen but it’s possible of course,the boy can shoot…
Well said. Weighing it all up, I’ll probably hold out on the move and save it for when Arsenal have their easier fixture against West Ham, unless Oscar *does* start and bags a brace, then I’ll be completely torn!
I’m likely to change my mind though haha, thanks mate
As others have said I wouldn’t take out Oscar now for a hit especially considering you have kept him up till now, he should play at the weekend. You already have Ozil as Arsenal coverage.
Thanks, shall probably stick target than twist! I hope he starts..
Haha so do I!
i might sell him later…
you could get a budget striker and use the funds to upgrade one of your cheaper mids – might be worth looking into…