Today’s Astro EPL Fixtures

ESPN

01 Dec 2040 Chelsea vs. West Ham United
01 Dec 2255 Blackburn Rovers vs. Newcastle United
02 Dec 0130 Wigan Athletic vs. Manchester City(Delayed)

Starsports

01 Dec 2255 Portsmouth vs. Everton
02 Dec 0110 Aston Villa vs. Arsenal

The EPL Fantasy Football Guide to Week 10

Lotsa craziness in store for this weekend’s EPL games, and we’ve already been served a juicy appetizer of Martin Jol-being-sacked.

Everyone already knew that the Dutchman’s head was on the chopping block. That’s the easy prediction. So who’s next in the firing line? Chris Hutchings? Steve Bruce? Or perhaps that forgettable Derby manager?

I’d first like to indulge on the repercussions of European club football:

3-5-2 or 3-4-3

Welcome to our Late Edition to the EPL Fantasy Football Guide!
Better late than never? I’m Cantona Kickems, here to provide you some vital news to helpcha out with your YFF picks. Most of my tips are based on guestimating which team will win their matchup, and the number of goals scored in the process. Usually I’m biased towards the performing teams, ‘cos let’s face it, Koumas isn’t gonna earn much points if he’s up against a rampaging Red Devils frontline. He was largely absent in my 101.50 point performance on Week 8.

The big impact news are as follows:

Prominent Number 7s in the EPL

Presenting the current crop of number 7s in the EPL – and as mentioned in our last post, the number 7s are typically midfielders renowned for their speed and creativity in the flanks.

Well … except maybe for seasoned hit-man Schevchenko, who’s more likely to pull the trigger rather than loading the ammunition!

[Top Left--Bottom Right] Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal), Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd), Harry Kewell (Liverpool), Joey Barton (Newcastle), Andriy Schevchenko (Chelsea), Fredrik Ljungberg (West Ham), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Andy Van der Meyde (Everton), Brett Emerton (Blackburn), George Boateng (Middlesbrough)

The Weekend thus far

It’s halftime at Stamford Bridge and I’m convinced that Chelsea does not have that X-factor to pull out a win.

So far, we’ve seen the Gunners produce a resounding victory over Tottenham, while the Red Devils scored a classic late goal to deflate a spirited Everton side. Liverpool’s draw with Pompey was as expected. Rafa’s squad are clearly not championship-winning material yet, unless they can start grinding out victories like how Manchester United did.

Do take note that Arsenal is playing Derby next weekend, thus being the most attractive fixture for you fantasy football enthusiasts. Take your pick from the impressive Arsenal starting lineup ASAP, before the scores are updated.

Here are my Early Bird Changes:

Part 4: Grandmother Stories, Goalkeepers and Gobbledeegook

Welcome to Part 4, the final segment of our EPL Fantasy Football Review for this weekend’s fixtures. It’s a little less than 4 hours to game time, so just as a reminder:

Barclays English Premier League; England

(LIVE on ESPN CH81)

15 Sep 1900 Everton vs Manchester United

Stephen Ireland is a class act. You have to hear what he had to say about his grandmothers.

Footballers. Sometimes you just forget how young (and stupid) they actually are.

The Early Bird Changes

What a drubbing. It looks like the bloggers got swept by the rest of the pack. With Small Potato mired in the relegation zone, my team didn’t do much better, barely surpassing the cumulative 200-point mark. The BLUNDER of the week was Robin Van Persie which made it a 13-point swing for my team with that penalty miss.

The new guys Looprevil and Highgate FC deserve their places at the top with some astute buys, but I’m hoping that my Number Seven pointer will turn the tide in my favour.

At times like this, you’ve got to immediately look forward to the next round of games. Focus your attention on these two games in particular:

Liverpool vs Derby [Saturday 1st of September 2007 at 10.00pm Malaysian time]

Manchester United vs Sunderland [Saturday's late game at 12.15am Malaysian time]

Shut up and Touch the Monkey

The Astro EPL schedule is out, with the game predictions to follow on Friday afternoon. I’m all pumped up to discuss the latest midweek EPL headliners, some which may be significant to your YFF lineup:

Yakubu (10.81) is our numero uno talk of the town. His imminent departure from Middlesbrough will leave Gareth Southgate with one of the worst strikeforces in the Barclays English Premier League, consisting of huff-and-puff Mido (8.98), Tuncay Sanli (if you say “who?”, I say “don’t bother”), Dong-Gook Lee and Jeremie Aliadiere (pronounced Ah-Lee-Ah-Dee-Yeh). Feel free to add the Teesiders as another lousy team for this week (but don’t expect Newcastle to win that easily away from home).

I’m sickintired of hearin bout this Gabriel Heinze. I’m not even gonna bother listing his price in order to save you the trouble. Here’s the LATEST news on him. Moving on…

Did someone say Leroy Lita??

Yup, word is that he’s back from the freak injury and he’s an el cheapo at 7.88. No, I ain’t gonna vouch for him to go loco

The Good, the Bad, and the Injured

I’ve recently got an update of injury-stricken Rooney’s recent activities:

This weekend’s Game Predictions are out! I am glad to announce that Small Potato has returned unscathed from his wee trip to the Bintulu ghetto. Along with Scouser-for-life raZor^r3dz, they complete this week’s mamak panel of football experts. There are some big games in store for you football fans this weekend: Sunday’s double header in particular.

If you’ve got time to burn on a quiet Saturday night, keep a close watch on the Newcastle vs. Aston Villa game. Regardless of the result of this crackerjack

I’m seeing the light

For newcomers, welcome to Malaysia’s Premier Football Blog!

My predictions and the schedule of the mid-week games on Astro are out and listed on the Game Predictions page. The season’s opening weekend was certainly a sign of greater competitiveness and with that, a greater amount of uncertainty in the results. I have also invited two guests in kaka_bangku and raZor^r3dz to form the ["mamak" panel of football experts], and to give their predictions for the upcoming games.

Getting it right on 4 games was a start, but definitely not good enough to get the bookies running scared. Slowly but shurely, I’m seeing the light on who are likely to make the grade in the EPL. Expect the same story among the top 4, but more drama.

Many are saying that Darren Bent will start, but I can’t see that happening unless Martin Jol can cater for him in an extraordinary three-man strikeforce that’s bound to include Captain Robbie Keane and Spurs MVP Berbs. On a YFF perspective, it may be time to grab Berbs while his points value is still low from the weekend drop-off.

Most probable lineup for tonight’s game:

Tottenham Hotspurs

Paul Robinson, Younes Kaboul, Michael Dawson, Pascal Chimbonda, Paul Stalteri, Didier Zokora, Jermaine Jenas, Steed Malbranque, Darren Bent, Robbie Keane (c), Dimitar Berbatov

Everton

Tim Howard, Alan Stubbs, Joseph Yobo, Phil Neville (c), Jolean Lescott, Phil Jagielka, Lee Carsley, Leon Osman, Steven Pienaar, Mikel Arteta, Andy Johnson

AND REMEMBER TO PICK UP TEVEZ!!!