Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 1

Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 1

Well, here we are. After weeks, seems like months, of watching the price lists develop and then tinkering a million times with our squads, we are just hours away from the deadline bell. Over the last two days all the pressers have been held, the managers have spoken, some more revealing more than others and it really is the last chance saloon time to be tinkering away, finding that elusive 4mln defender, checking rotation, choosing your captain and pressing the confirm button for the final time before kick off!

Before we get into the previews, may we just welcome LawDogg onto TeamTalk – he and Cookie will jointly present the article to you – Lawdogg writing the game intros and Cookie hurtling round the pressers, reporting what exactly the managers have said and in many cases, trying to interpret what they actually mean!

What a summer it’s been!
The Women’s World Cup was fun.
When the dust finally settled,
The American ladies had won.

Fantasy Crickets a new treat,
Potty got us all obsessed.
But it’s been a Tekno Viking,
That has bowled it the best.

Fantasy MLS has been grand,
And kept us all on the ball.
Our writers and friends
Have dominated it all.

Spurs came to the US
For the MLS All-Star game.
A 2-1 loss later saw their
Heads hung in shame!

MLSexperts went missing,
Feared on the straight and narrow.
With celebrities help he was found,
Hiding under Tekno’s sombrero.

We’ve made some new friends,
And welcome old ones back,
For a new and exciting season
With lots of mischievous craic.

So here we go – the start of the season and we have some new friends (victims) to get cosy with, while we have lost others. QPR, Hull and Burnley have left us, meaning the likes of Bobby “still can’t play 90mins” Zamora, Sean “sand paper voice” Dyche and Steve “diet plan” Bruce escape our ridicule. However we welcome Watford, made famous by the likes of Elton John and errrrr Elton John. We say hi to the weird “close knit community/family” of Norwich (Your mother is your cousin, your sister is your cousin, the Norwich family) and good ol’ “Let’s Be ‘Aving You” Delia. And for the first time ever to the top flight of English football we lovingly greet Bournemouth, which is famous for, hmmmmm, let me think…..a beach? A popular hotspot for honeymoons for our grandparents. And Tony Hancock. Wow. So, much to look forward to and it’ll probably take you a Hancock half hour to read through our carefully constructed recipe of team news. No Sacrifice has been made and Lawdogg and Cookie sincerely hope that you’ll still be standing at the end of it. We make no apologies as Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word. BOOOM!
Without further ado, let’s Go Around the Grounds for the first time this season.

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Man Utd vs Spurs (Sat 8 Aug 12.45)
The Red Devils and Spurs kick the season off on Saturday in what should be an entertaining match despite the fact Spurs feature in it. What you need to know is that Spurs have beaten United just twice in their last 32 matches in all competitions. Consider that: just two wins in more than thirteen years. To be fair, both of those wins came at Old Trafford. Why United fans shouldn’t be worried: United have kept 17 clean sheets against Spurs during that time. Whilst there has been a lot of turnover in Van Gaal’s squad, there is simply too much class there to expect anything other than a United victory.

LVG with his big red cheeks was delighted to reveal United have no injuries. However, he then dropped the bombshell that keeper David de Gea won’t be involved versus Spurs with the manager describing his situation at Old Trafford as “unfavourable”. So the “will he/won’t he go to Madrid” speculation continues – meanwhile either Sergio Romero or Sam Johnstone will deputise in goal this week. Aside from the farce between the sticks, Marcos Rojo will be given longer to rest from Copa America duty and Bastian Schweinsteiger is still building up his sharpness. Marouane Fellaini is suspended.

Spurs will leave it late before deciding whether keeper Hugo Lloris and midfielder Ryan Mason are 100% fit for the lunchtime trip to OId Trafford. Both players played the final 35mins of the win over Milan on Wednesday night and while Mauricio Pochettino is confident the two should make the squad he is less sure they can last 90mins. Andros Townsend and Roberto Soldado are less likely to feature – though this is worse news for United than Tottenham in all honesty.

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Bournemouth vs Aston Villa (Sat 8 Aug 15.00)
Saturday afternoon Bournemouth will kick a football in the top-level of English football for the first time in its 116-year history. The Premier League has gifted them a winnable fixture against an Aston Villa team that has lost 12 of the 19 league matches it has played in 2015. A busy summer has seen an overhaul to that woeful squad with Villa signing eight players, four of which are expected to feature in the team’s starting XI on opening day. The high-flying Cherries have more than enough firepower to win this one if Villa’s new arrivals do not start the season on the same page as the rest Tim Sherwood’s men.

New signings Max Gradel, Lee Tomlin and Sylvain Distin could start for Bournemouth on Saturday. Manager Eddie Howe has a fully-fit squad for the club’s top-flight debut.

New Aston Villa captain Micah Richards, Jordan Amavi and Idrissa Gueye are among the visitors’ likely debutants. The game may come too soon for Jack Grealish, Carles Gil and Carlos Sanchez because of a lack of fitness, while Jores Okore is out after knee surgery.

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Everton vs Watford (Sat 8 Aug 15.00)
The Hornets visit Goodison Park hoping to reverse their Premier League fortunes. In its two previous top-flight campaigns Watford managed a combined 11 wins and finished dead last both times. They field a starting XI that fails to inspire much confidence and if we are going to be honest with ourselves the only reason we know anything about Deeney is because he is a cheap third striker for our FPL team. Everton on the other hand will be looking to bounce back from a season that saw fail to finish in the top half of the league for the first time since the 2005-06 season. The pressure will be on Roberto Martinez to get his team off to a hot start and a home match against Watford seems the perfect opportunity to do just that.

Martinez says that striker Romelu Lukaku remains a doubt for Saturday’s big kick off, but will be given every chance to prove his fitness. The boss implied that if Lukaku didn’t quite make this weekend, he wouldn’t be too far away. Maybe one to ignore and not take a chance on me thinks. Martinez expects John Stones and Kevin Mirallas to be fit, while Gerard Deulofeu “has a chance”. Some things never change as Tony Hibbert, Steven Pienaar and Darron Gibson are all unavailable. Martinez finished by saying he is hopeful of bringing in another three players into the squad before the end of the transfer window.

Hornets Almen Abdi and Steven Berghuis are unlikely to make the trip to Goodison after both have missed training this week due to injury. However there is better news of Jose Manuel Jurado who is available for selection after missing last week’s friendly vs Sevilla.

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Leicester vs Sunderland (Sat 8 Aug 15.00)
Both teams will reach the start of the season simply happy to be here. Leicester was just six points clear of relegation while Sunderland had to wait until the final day of the season to confirm its survival. Three of the last five between these two have ended in a 0-0 draw, including both matches last season. While Leicester have a slightly better record against Sunderland at home, don’t expect a lot of fireworks in this one. We could tell you more but it would just waste your time. A 1-0 Leicester win or 0-0 draw is the likely result in this one.

Claudio Ranieri pleased many an FPL manager by confirming that defender Wes Morgan is available for selection. He did however say he won’t be choosing the line up until Friday evening, giving himself the maximum time to assess Morgan’s freshness. The Tinkerman was unable to say whether defender Yohan Benalouane and midfielder N’Golo Kante will be ready for the weekend, as the pair have only trained three times since arriving at the club.

The Black Cats will be without just Jordi Gomez and new signing Yann M’Vila for the trip to Leicester. M’Vila will be building his fitness with the U21s while Gomez is still recovering from a knee injury. Both Steven Fletcher and Wes Brown have both been passed fit, but will struggle to get a start after missing much of preseason. Captain John O’Shea is sweating over a starting place after new signing Younes “Earthquake” Kaboul was preferred in the final pre-season friendly.

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Norwich vs Crystal Palace (Sat 8 Aug 15.00)
Good news for newly-promoted Norwich – Crystal Palace have never beaten them in the Premier League. Just eight of the previous 110 meetings between the clubs have taken place in top-flight English football, with four draws and four Norwich victories. With the arrival of Connor Wickham and Yohan Cabaye and a full offseason under the tutelage of former-Eagle Alan Pardew, Crystal Palace now boast a respectable attack and will look to improve upon their tenth place finish last season. A win against Norwich would be the perfect start.

Canaries boss Alex Neill said his squad are excited, confident and focused as they plan for the new season. He says he is expecting a difficult game (sharp there Alex) and promises his team will get after Palace. Norwich’s only absentees will be defender Martin Olsson, striker Kyle Lafferty and midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu

Lord Pardew refused to be drawn on which keeper he will select as his no.1 in place of the injured Julian Speroni – instead he chose to praise both Wayne Hennessey and Alex McCarthy, suggesting both will play for their country. My read, for what it’s worth, is when asked, he talked immediately of Hennessey and then thought to also include McCarthy. It may mean nothing and it may have been Pardew being clever. Pardew clever? Yeah you’re right. Marouane Chamakh will miss the first couple of weeks of the season, but Yannick Bolasie has trained this week and is expected to prove his fitness and Yohan Cabaye is definitely available after successfully returning to full training.

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Chelsea vs Swansea (Sat 8 Aug 17.30)
Coming off a loss to rival Arsenal in the Community Shield, Chelsea will come into this game looking for revenge. Poor Swansea. Chelsea has won the last five meetings between these teams and has kept a clean sheet in all but one of those victories. Add to that the fact Chelsea scored at least one goal in every one of its home games last year, and things do not look promising for the Swans. Want more? Chelsea have won 9 of their last 10 opening day games. Poor Swansea.

“The real football starts tomorrow” quipped Mourinho to open his presser. Jeez Jose, let the Gooners enjoy their fun for a bit longer! As per usual the Chelsea presser was dominated by questions regarding the fitness of Diego Costa. Cheekily, Mourinho said he would know more when Chelsea train this evening. So, it looks doubtful and Mourinho quicjkly pointed out that he would happily select Loic Remy or Radamel Falcao if Costa doesn’t make it. The rest of the squad is healthy with Jose implying that the club were likely to sign another left back to provide cover and competition for Cesar Azpilicueta after the departure of Felipe Luis.

Garry Monk expects to have a fully squad available for the daunting trip to Chelsea. Fully fit that is except for defender Jordi Amat who is still recovering from a broken metatarsal. Many an eager FPL manager will be keen to see how he introduces his new recruits into the team and who wins the left back spot between Neil Taylor and Frenchman Franck Tabanou. Striker Bafetimbi Gomis has shrugged off a knock.

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Arsenal vs West Ham (Sun 9 Aug 13.30)
The Community Shield champions will take the field with all the confidence in the world after beating Chelsea. Haunted by slow starts to its last couple of campaigns Arsenal will be looking to take maximum points against the Hammers. West Ham start the season with a new manager and a more offensive-focused philosophy, but that will not be enough to beat Arsenal at home on the opening weekend. The Gunners have won their last 10 matches against the Hammers and are unbeaten in the last 15 between these sides.

It’s as you were at the Emirates. The trophy cabinet is being filled nicely with more meaningless silverware, leading the ever-optimistic Goonies to be looking forward to another “successful” season. To complete the déjà vu, Spurs taunter and part-time mascot Jack Wilshere has been ruled for a few more weeks – likely to be around eight – after suffering further ankle misery. Some may suggest he should be put out of this misery. But not me. He’s still the future of English football for me. And always will be. Played well vs Barcelona once, don’t you know? Oh hang on, Danny Welbeck is still injured. And Tomas Rosicky. Honestly, I wrote this today – I didn’t just copy and paste a TeamTalk from last season. Meanwhile, Alexis Sanchez is back from his holidays and has trained well, but still has got some catching up to do and Wenger says he will not be thrown in on Sunday. He will however be ready to play in 10 days, which if true would rule him out of GW2 also.

Having been dumped out of the Europa Cup on Thursday by the part timers from Malta, Slaven Bilic and his men can now concentrate on the league – which to be honest was probably his intention all along, looking at the side he put out last night. And so onto Sunday and a trip to the Emirates, where they will be without loan expert Carl Jenkinson who cannot play vs his parent club. The Hammers have concerns over Winston Reid, Joey O’Brien and Pedro Obiang who will all need to be assessed closer to kick off. Up front the responsibility lies with Diafra Sako with Enner Valencia ruled out for 10-12 weeks and Andy Carroll not quite ready to return.

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Newcastle vs Southampton (Sun 9 Aug 13.30)
After losing 10 of their last 13 matches last season Newcastle will be happy just to have reached another opening weekend in the Premier League. Newly-appointed boss Steve McClaren will be looking for Papiss Cisse to stay healthy and replicate the form that saw him score 11 goals in just 22 league games last season. For Southampton, it was business as usual over the summer – lose their best players, bank huge profits and bring in replacements most football fans have never heard off. They weathered a much worse fleecing last summer but at some point they will have to start keeping their best players. The good news for Saints fans is Southampton have won the last three between these teams by a combined score of 10-1.

Steve McClaren will make a late call on Fabricio Coloccini, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Chancel Mbemba – Coloccini has not played a preseason match although he has been training, while Mitrovic and Mbemba only arrived late to the club. Definitely out are Paul Dummett and Emmanuel Riviere.

The Saints completed a routine two-leg Europa Cup victory over Vitesse on Thursday, but Koeman shocked many an FPL manager by playing Fonte, Mane, Wanyama and Pelle. All came through unscathed fortunately with Mane and Pelle both on the scoresheet. Gaston Ramirez, Jordy Clasie and Shane Long are all doubts for the trip to Tyneside, while Fraser Forster is obviously still missing. With Ryan Bertrand still missing, Matt Targett will cover at left back.

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Stoke vs Liverpool (Sun 9 Aug 16.00)
The Liverpool squad traveling to Mordor to face the Orc Rugby XI will not resemble the side that lost to the Orcs 6-1 on the final day of last season. A £75mln spending spree has infused much-needed fresh blood and talent to a team that underperformed last season. The only concern is how quickly the new recruits can gel with Brendan Rodgers’ system. On the other end of the pitch, the Mouthbreathers managed to punch, kick and maim their way to a top 10 finish last season. If chief despot Ryan Shitecross misses out Liverpool could well reverse last season’s scoreline. Fun fact – this is the only match in Premier League history to be played consecutively.

Stoke have been hit by the news that their captain Ryan Shawcross has been ruled out for around two months after undergoing surgery for his persistent back problem. Mark Hughes, although disappointed, is confident that he has enough cover in the squad. Everyone’s preseason favourite Bojan Krkic has been working well on his fitness but is not quite ready to start. Aside from those two perennial Jack Wilshire wannabes, Marc Wilson is touch and go with a knock while there is also a doubt over Marko Arnatouvic.

Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen will miss out after being ruled out for around four weeks with a hamstring injury. He joins Daniel Sturridge and Jon Flanagan on the sidelines. Nathaniel Clyne will make his league debut for the scousers and will likely be joined by Christian Benteke and maybe also Joe Gomez at left back. Roberto Firmino is a less certain starter as he lacks match practice.

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West Brom vs Man City (Mon 10 Aug 20.00)
Last season Saido Berahino scored 14 goals, which represented 37% of his team’s goals. The next highest goal scorer netted just four times. When the defence can key your one offensive threat you are not going to win many games. The arrival of a pacey winger (James McLean) and another legitimate goal scoring threat (Rickie Lambert) should make life easier for Berahino…after GW1. Manchester City have beaten West Brom seven times in a row and in nine of the last 10 matches between the teams. It does not matter if Sergio Aguero plays in this one, Manchester City have more than enough firepower to win this one.

Joleon Lescott is a doubt to face City after missing two days of training this week with an undisclosed injury but manager Tony Pulis is hopeful he will return to face his former club. Rickie Lambert, James McClean and James Chester stand by to make their debuts, while Gareth McAuley should return to the squad but the loan deal for Arsenal’s Serge Gnabry went through after the registration deadline and he will be unavailable for the game.

Manuel Pellegrini says that Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and David Silva are both training at 100%, though he did counter by saying that “maybe the South Americans are not 100% fit to start the season”. Draw your own conclusions. Kun on the bench is mine. Gael Clichy and Fabian Delph are the only definite absentees for the opening week of the season.

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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 1. This article was written by LawDogg and Cookie

Follow @PlaneGooner

Follow @SteveCook9

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FanTeam- daily fantasy football (formerly known as WoofBet)
Remember all that money you won with WoofBet on daily fantasy football last season? Well the good news is that they are back! They’ve have a bit of rebranding and a facelift and are now known as FanTeam. We will have an article next week explaining it all properly but for those familiar with WoofBet it’s basically the same format, only better. You can visit them here FanTeam They are hoping to launch properly today.

We are also delighted to announce that they are very kindly sponsoring our main FPL league. The code to join is 2038-877. The prize pool is a whopping €500 and this will be split between the top 6 places –

1st place €200
2nd place €125
3rd place €75
4th place €50
5th place €30
6th place €20

Any winnings will be credited to an active FanTeam account. This must be an active account as of 31.12.15. You can withdraw the winnings immediately if you so wish. We will close the league to new entrants on 31.8.15 so as to avoid anyone suddenly jumping in and claiming a prize in a league that they have not been a part of from the beginning.

The league itself has approximately 2,500 participants at the time of writing so suffice to say it will be fiercely competitive!

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Don’t forget to vote in our Captain Poll!

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