Wanted

My final change before the New Year’s double-gamers: Benni McCarthy.

A little extra persuasion from thedailymail.co.uk:

McCarthy told he’s wanted at Blackburn

Benni McCarthy has been told his future lies with Blackburn after manager Mark Hughes ruled out a January exit for the striker.

McCarthy, 30, has been reduced to playing a bit-part role behind in-form Roque Santa Cruz, but Hughes will recall him to the starting line-up against strugglers Derby tomorrow.

Hughes said: “He’s a top player, one of our most technically gifted.”

So Benni wins the match between the 8 dollah players – the runnerups include Joe Cole, Kanu, Bianchi and Kevin Davies. I’m faced with the prospect of a total Blackburn blowout on my face if they do not perform to my expectations. Why? ‘Cos I have Friedel, Mokoena and Savage (the latter two for budgeting purposes).

Good luck folks!

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

EPL Results Update – Sunday, 25th September

Draws galore! Here’s last Sunday’s final score update.

Click here to see last Saturday’s scores.

Today’s EPL Fixtures

Sunday, 25th November 2007

West Ham vs Tottenham [Live on ESPN CH 812: 9.25pm Malaysian time]
A resurgent Spurs to register a win – Jenas on form

Fulham vs. Blackburn [Live on ESPN CH 812: 12.00pm Malaysian time]
Blackburn to light up a possible dull game

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)

Day Job and the EPL Fantasy Football Guide to Week 6

Go where? GoFloyd! Here

This blog is dedicated to the man who re-energized the Barclays English Premier League, the man who re-ignited the passions of football for EPL fans across the world – Jose Mourinho. May you spend your 25 million wisely! (And don’t breathe too closely behind Martin Jol’s back)

Please don’t ask me why Avram Grant’s face is splashed across this entry – don’t take anything away from my Mourinho dedication; I just wanted to show you how scary this guy looks.

with Mourinho leaving, I am obliged to say that the Chelski era has ended sooner than expected. I anticipate that this is the beginning of the end for the Londoners – Roman Abramovich is continuously learning the hard way that money can’t buy him love:

1. Departed with 50% of his wealth as part of his divorce settlement
2. Losing Moanrinho and another 25 million pounds (little love there)
3. Expect Drogba, Lampard, Carvalho, Ferreira and Malouda to lead the way out of Stamford Bridge.

Part 3: The Dish on Defenders, England vs Russia

The Game Predictions for this week’s EPL fixtures are out! And you can check out part 3 of our YFF guide to this week’s EPL fixtures below.

But first, here’s the England vs Russia highlights (couldn’t find a better quality video sorry!)

Part 2: What about the Middies?

Make shure you check out Part 1 if you haven’t done so already.

Midfielders

They are the essential group of players in your YFF squad. But in reality, here’s where the bargains are to be had. The first order of business is to balance out the el cheapos with a premium player like Cristiano Ronaldo (21.72) or Mikael Arteta (17.10). There are some really awful matchups for the premium players:

Gerrard (Away to Pompey)
Fabregas (Away to Tottenham)
Pedersen (Away to Chelsea)
Giggs (Doubtful AND Away to Everton)
Lampard (Home against Blackburn but nursing a thigh injury – extremely doubtful)

So I’d say go with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Hope I’m not selling too hard here

So here are the GOOD-BAD matchups for each salary brackets:

Milner (12.15) vs The rest of the middies in the 10-13 bracket
Jason Koumas (7.38) vs Shawn Wright Phillips (7.43)
Nani (8.30) vs Clint dempsey (7.87)
Elano (6.80), Malouda (6.31), Geremi (7.10), N’Zogbia (7.34)

• Milner is looking good for the matchup against the Rams. But as I said before, Newcastle away -> dubious.
• There is word that Koumas might not make it for this weekend’s fixture against Fulham due to injury, but I will only seriously consider dumping him if soccernet previews rules him out. If you have bought him at the cheap as I have (1.96 below market value), keep him. Else put in a few extra pennies for the on-form SWP.
• Nani versus Dempsey? I’m not entirely convinced of the latter making an impact against the resurgent Wigan. If Giggs is out, then Nani’s your man (I’m keeping him regardless).
• I’ve put out Elano, Malouda, Geremi and Zogbia due to the fact that may already have been neglected and you might wanna take a 2nd look at these poor fellas. Elano should be up and running at home (but I’m betting against him because of my keeper pick), while Malouda is bound to be part of the Chelsea team intent on a swift comeback from that horror loss to Villa. Geremi’s taking a lot of free kicks and corners for the team (more than Milner!)!

Up next: Part 3 and 4!

The Groin

This following medical fact of a football player’s most common injury area …

Groin

The groin is the crease at the junction of the torso with the legs and the adjacent region that includes the external genitals. The term may be used as a euphemism for genitals, since the names of the latter are taboo words in some cultures. When someone has “pulled his/her groin muscles”, usually, this person has pulled a muscle in the inner thigh.

… is the most intellectual explanation I can give to the bitchin’ deal dealt at this man during the Arsenal vs Blackburn game.

Scratch him off your Fantasy Football list. He’s out for three weeks.

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