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 refereeâs 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)Â
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 Youâll 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)
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This article was written by Eddy
Depending on the level of importance you give to the cup in FPL, this is the last week we can take a hit before it hurts us in the Cup. It starts GW 18, so you could set up your team with a hit or two now and get it out of the way before it commences.
Mito – I always get shafted in that cup haha,generally by someone who hasn’t touched their team all season hah!
Nothing worst than losing to a ghost ship.
Yep,it’s brutal to say the least haha,hopefully we get a good run this season
Anyone here ever got very far in the cup?
herewegoagain – Nope,i generally get dumped out within the first 5 haha,a mate of mine went far in it 2 seasons ago,cant remember how far exactly but he beat a lot of teams,he then made a silly error and lost by 1 or 2 points.
Cant remember how far I got last season but to be honest didn’t pay much attention to it, might try and go for a run this season as have a bit of breathing room in my mini league, do many people actually go for it do you know?
I know/remember KOP did…
herewegoagain – It’s worth keeping an eye on to see who you’re playing for sure,if you’re playing against someone good then try not to take any hits unnecessarily,if you’re doing well overall then you should have a good chance of going through a few rounds anyway, as i said above though,sometimes phantom teams just happen to produce a monster week and there’s nothing you can do,it’s very frustrating when it happens haha, some tool has captained Crouch or something,just when he scores his only 3 goals of the season of some such bullshit haha.
That’s a bit harsh of Crouch, was just thinking of him to replace Kun, haha!
Guys you can look at your cup history on the site, if the team is entered ilunder the same email.
There was a time when having Crouch may not have been the worst idea,not these days though and never has he been captain material haha,i was just using him as an example but you catch my drift yeah..
Mito – Mine doesn’t show,definitely using the same email too,i only use one team..
Yeah NIN I know what you mean mate, as you say those days are long gone but last year he served my pretty well for a few weeks if I remember rightly. Mito are you sure you can view your cup history from previous season? If so where?
Now, Mito – if we didn’t know you well, we would have thought you are forcing people to take a hit this week đ …
I am not forcing anyone!! But you will lose in the Cup if you don’t so hurry and fix that team with a 12 point hit!
And yeah I can’t see my cup history either. too bad i was going to show you fellas that I won the Cup last season.
RMT please
Krul (Harper)
Evra – Coleman – Shaw
Hazard – Silva – Ramsey – Cabaye
Lukaku – Rooney (VC) – Suarez (C)
0.5m
Gabbidon – Ivan – Ravel
Have already taken a hit to bring in Silva.
Any more changes you’d make?
Plans:
Ivan > Chester
Ramsey > Wally
Tekno-kun – I like it mate,leave as is in my opinion.As for your future changes..hmm..is selling Ramsey really going to help? Fair enough you’re replacing him with Wally but Ramsey scores so well,and consistently too,i’d be looking at downgrading both Evra and Ivanovic in the future and maybe turn Cabaye/Morrison into Walcott?? I just don’t see the point in selling Ramsey,he’s a mid priced mid who score like a super premium mid,FPL gold!!
NIN, thanks for the reply. I believe Ramsey will keep getting points, but not as much as before and less than Walcott. In addition he has an ownership of 62.4% while Walcott is owned by 4.2% meaning that Walcott would be a massive differential compared to Ramsey.
That being said, if he scores big in the next two matches I’d be reluctant to sell him, and might have to postpone/change the plan.
Tekno-kun – Definitely think about it anyway,you could still have Walcott and take advantage of the things you’ve mentioned,and still have Ramsey too,consider this..only Suarez/Aguero currently have a higher total than Ramsey..which is incredible seeing as he’s a midfielder, Walcott could outscore him from now until the end of the season but not by as much as i would have expected,Ramsey is so consistent.
Boys please jump over and have a read of James 101 debut article , FF247 Leagues Round Up
SIlva or Wally?
Which one would be better to have until Jan WC? I have Ramsey and Negredo. Silva’s price is rising tonight and I’m considering doing a hit for Amalfitano or Arnautovic.
The only way to get both before Jan would be selling Oscar and I expect him to be back to the team.
Wally for me, way more explosive fpl wise.
Cheers Mito. Wally is my first choice, only the fact that Silva’s price is rising faster is making me having a second thought…
Albertini – Silva already on 100.4% !
He is going up 2night đ !
HL – I know mate! But I can’t have both and I think I’ll go for Wally, also prefer to do the hit later this week, I already have some injuries to deal with.
Ok, I’m off…
Gotta get up in like 5hrs from now…
See ya all tomorrow evening…
:beer:
Pantilimon,
Coleman, Distin, Williamson,
Silva Walcott, Ramsey, Hazard,
Rooney, Negredo, SuĂĄrez(c) ,
Myhill, Januzaj, Rosenior, Turner.
RMT please. I just made insane 12pts hit and gave up by 4pts lead in my mini league.
Seth – It will take a miracle to recover from a 12 hit this weekend,expect a major drop in rank unless you get very lucky!! I do like your squad though haha..
@Seth, brutal hit. That will cost you about 40000 Places in the overall before the GW starts, but that is a very nice team.