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)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 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)
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This article was written by Eddy
I had an overall rank of 113,000 before todays games, thought I might have broken into the top 100k with an overall score of 81 points.
Ended up down in 147,000! I assume that is the consequence of not captaining Suarez, still a green arrow though.
Haha.. same here mate.. was on 150k last night, now? 230k with 85 pts….. Should have captained Suarez….
great articles btw guys!
thanks to migs and eddy!
Hi all.
Bit of advice needed… My wildcard is currently active, and I am considering the following changes:
Boruc for Howard
Barkley for Fer
Anything else needed? I have already swapped Zab for Terry and Rooney for Aguero. I fully intend to bring Sergio back in once fit so I need to have ~1.4 million in the bank.
Why?
You’re team looks fine the way it is to me!
plus you get a free wc in january!
oh well.
the changes look good.
Well I need to get Boruc out. Would you say Fer is the best option at < 6mil?
yes i think so and howard is the best other option
Are you not getting annoyed with Terry’s form? I finally had enough of Chelsea’s lack of clean sheets – Cue the clean sheets!
yes it’s ridiculous!
i think i’ll be selling him soon too…
I need a defender for under 4m though, has to be Ward right?
stabilo- turner is a good shout 4.1 mil
True, but I need minimum 1.4m in the bank to bring back Sergio once fit, has to be 4m and under!
Are you going to play this defender if not then chambers he’s playing until clyne is back
maybe crystal palace defender like ward or moxey(both 4.0 i think)?? also whittaker(3.9) or chester(3.8)
I have Chester already. I think I will get Ward. I have three good defenders (Coleman, Zab and Flanagan) but will use the 4th/5th defender to swap into the main three if they have particularly good game lined up. Cheers for the advice though chaps.
yeah sounds good. palace defence has been solid for some reason. every time i bench gabbidon he gets 6, 7,9 pts every time!!! so annoying!!! your team looks good though
I will never not capain Suarez again. My word I bet all of us feel stupid now.
Just a tad… I also left Walcott and Flanagan on the bench – D’oh!
[Repost]
Two rules i am going to try to inforce into my team:
1) FORM OVER FIXTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2) ALWAYS CAPTAIN LUIS SUAREZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I dropped 7000 places -_- thank goodness I arrive home tomorrow. Get back in the groove me hopes.
Had an excellent gw. Ended up with 97 pts, and moved up to 2678 in the world. Just used my gw transfer and got Walcott for Ozil.
Link your team then !! 😉
Okay Okay
Guzan,(Daniels)
Coleman, Johnson, Chester (Clyne, Chambers)
Walcott, Hazard, Ramsey, Nasri (Ravel Morrison)
Suarez, Rooney, Lukaku
1.1 Million in the bank.
-Next week I plan on picking up Coutinho for Nasri
Nice team ! Nasri to Silva would be better in my opinion 😉
+1 get silva!
Yea thats the debate Im having with myself. I just feel with champions league and the overall added depth of Man City’s squad, Silva could be more likely to face squad rotation. On top of that I eventually see my self trying to bring Zabeletta into the team and will need to save every penny possible for that to happen. Also Im a little nervous of my decision to drop Ozil for Walcott. Do you think that was the right decision?
Thats possible but i think Silva is one of their main players and after his injury layoff he needs games to get his full match fitness back.I’d have him in my team but ‘ive already got yaya.I think the walcott transfer is a good move.Look at the impact he had yesterday in his first full game back.Better value for money in my opinion and free’s up funds for your Silva transfer 😉
El Kun’s price is dropping faster than Charlie Sheens pants in a tittie bar! Guess he will be dropping 0,1 tonight already! And I am so happy I captained Rooney instead of Suarez…NOT! All my arrows wentred even if I got a respectable 73 points. As BilliesBob said up there…FORM OVER FIXTURE and SUAREZ ALWAYS captain!!
Hahaha
Do we know the extent of Augero’s injury yet?
Nope. They say “unknown return date”…And I do not know if I trust Pelligrinis assessment of “we do not know how many weeks he will be away”. He might only miss 1 game or 2. But I do not want 12,5 sitting on the bench so I sold him and time will tell if I was too quick on the trigger! Probs tomorrow we will know more?
Cheers, Kung Fu. Hope the trade works for you 😉