I can make two free transfers this week, and have decided to utilise both to bring in players who can potentially score more points. Lee Cattermole (Sunderland) and Frederic Piquionne (Portsmouth) makes way as they have not been scoring more than the two points for playing in each match, and Jack Rodwell (Everton) and Andrew Keogh (Wolverhampton Wanderers) take their places. Rodwell has been surprisingly ever-present for Everton this season and Andrew Keogh is playing against Portsmouth this week. Some transfer funds have also been freed up as a result.
Goalkeeper:
Ross Turnbull (Chelsea)
Defenders:
Vedran Corluka (Tottenham Hotspur)
Joseph Yobo (Everton)
Gael Clichy (Arsenal)
Midfielders:
Tim Cahill (Everton)
Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham)
Jack Rodwell (Everton)
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)
Forwards:
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) captain
Andrew Keogh (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Cech (suspended) makes way for Chelsea's reserve keeper Turnbull. Collins, Cole and Bent are also sidelined as they face difficult games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United respectively. Rooney takes the armband in anticipation of the visit of Sunderland.
My Team
Fantasy Premier League Team Selection for Gameweek 8 03 October, 2009
Betting Tips for Round 8 (03/10/2009 to 05/10/2009)
Wolverhampton Wanderers - Portsmouth
Home : 2.00 | Draw : 3.40 | Away: 3.75
Bet: £15 on Home Win
Couldn't resist a bet on Portsmouth's point-less run.
Hull City - Wigan Athletic
Home : 2.87 | Draw : 3.30 | Away: 2.40
Bet: £10 on Away Win
Taking a small gamble that these would be one of Wigan's better days.
Burnley - Birmingham City
Home : 2.20 | Draw : 3.30 | Away: 3.30
Bet: £10 on Home Win
Another small gamble, this time on Burnley's home form.
Aston Villa - Manchester City
Home : 2.62 | Draw : 3.30 | Away: 2.62
Bet: £10 on Away Win
I have no choice but to make smaller bets on longer odds this week, and this match completes the selection of bets.
Match Predictions for Round 8 (03/10/2009 to 05/10/2009)
Wolverhampton Wanderers - Portsmouth
Prediction: 2 - 1
I just can't see Portsmouth getting an away win at the moment.
Barnsley - Birmingham City
Prediction: 2 - 0
Barnsley should take all three points from this game at Turf Moor.
Hull City - Wigan Athletic
Prediction: 1 - 3
Wigan continues to confound me. They have been unpredictable this season. Nevertheless, I fancy them to beat a very poor Hull City.
Bolton Wanderers - Tottenham Hotspur
Prediction: 2 - 2
Spurs are definitely the better team here, but they don't particularly enjoy trips to the Reebok Stadium in recent times. Bolton might be able to force a draw. A high-scoring affair.
Manchester United - Sunderland
Prediction: 3 - 1
United on a run with players clicking into form. Should be a comfortable victory for them. That said, Sunderland with Darren Bent should be good for a goal.
Arsenal - Blackburn Rovers
Prediction: 3 - 0
Not much of a chance for Blackburn to cause any surprise at the Emirates.
Everton - Stoke City
Prediction: 2 - 1
Everton seemed to have put their early season woes behind them, and are starting to get points under their belt. Should be a home win here.
West Ham United - Fulham
Prediction: 1 - 1
After impressively over-performing last season, both teams now find themselves in the same boat around the relegation zone. I fancy Fulham to be able to get themselves out of trouble earlier, starting with a crucial away point.
Chelsea - Liverpool
Prediction: 2 - 2
Chelsea will want to bounce straight back after their shock defeat to Wigan last week. Liverpool are in excellent goalscoring form, averaging more than 3 goals a game so far. Going into this game, I feel that Liverpool has the slight edge and should be able to take a point away from Stamford Bridge.
Aston Villa - Manchester City
Prediction: 1 - 2
Another intriguing tie. Villa's run was brought to an end last week while City continues to rumble on. The return of Adebayor, and the form of Tevez and Bellamy should give them a firm advantage.
Summary Review: Round 7 (26/09/2009 to 28/09/2009) 02 October, 2009
Chelsea finally dropped their first points of the season, and it was actually quite a convincing win for Wigan Athletic. That was a major shock as Wigan had showed a tendency to struggle against the better teams this season, having previously shipped four and five goals to Arsenal and Manchester United respectively. While there is no doubt that Chelsea will bounce back from this defeat (what, you expect them to go on a losing streak?), it did demonstrate some of their vulnerabilities and their rivals can certainly take heart.
Liverpool racked up the goals against a pathetic looking Hull City as Torres waltzed his way through the opposition's something (I'm not sure what you call it, but it doesn't look like defence) three times. Speaking of hattricks, Robbie Keane did that, and went one better, as Tottenham Hotspur put five past Burnley. It's amazing how a team with a perfect record at home (against the likes of Manchester United no less) can be so rubbish away from it. Rubbish then leads us naturally to Portsmouth who, well, actually did show improvement against Everton, and could even be considered slightly unlucky not to take at least a point. But the cold hard fact is that they now still have no point. At this rate they are going, they will still have zero points at the end of the season (extrapolating the trend that is).
Sunderland put five past Wolverhampton Wanderers for an impressive 5 - 2 victory with Darren Bent continuing to find the net. He's starting to display the kind of scoring prowess previously on show at Charlton. Manchester City recovered from derby drama with Tevez scoring a brace to leave West Ham United in the relegation zone. How he must have wished he had scored against another of his former club last week instead.
Arsenal narrowly beat Fulham while Manchester United left Stoke City's home ground with more points that what most other teams could muster from the same encounter. Bolton Wanderers won a crucial relegation six-pointer at Birmingham City, but I guess both teams should be quite confident with realistically only two relegation places up for grabs this season (see Portsmouth, above). Finally, Blackburn Rovers ended Aston Villa's run with a last minute winner.
Predictions
Portsmouth - Everton
Prediction: 0 - 2
Result: 0 - 1
Blackburn Rovers - Aston Villa
Prediction: 1 - 1
Result: 2 - 1
Tottenham Hotspur - Burnley
Prediction: 2 - 0
Result: 5 - 0
Birmingham City - Bolton Wanderers
Prediction: 1 - 0
Result: 1 - 2
Wigan Athletic - Chelsea
Prediction: 0 - 3
Result: 3 - 1
Stoke City - Manchester United
Prediction: 1 - 2
Result: 0 - 2
Liverpool - Hull City
Prediction: 4 - 0
Result: 6 - 1
Fulham - Arsenal
Prediction: 1 - 3
Result: 0 - 1
Sunderland - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Prediction: 2 - 1
Result: 5 - 2
Manchester City - West Ham United
Prediction: 2 - 0
Result: 3 - 1
Round 7 Tally: 10 Predictions; 0 Correct Scores; 7 Correct Outcomes
Season Tally: 66 Predictions; 2 Correct Scores; 37 Correct Outcomes
Betting
Portsmouth - Everton
Bet: £20 on Away Win at 1.83
Result: Away Win (Won £16.60)
Birmingham City - Bolton Wanderers
Bet: £15 on Home Win at 2.25
Result: Away Win (Lost £15.00)
Sunderland - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Bet: £15 on Home Win at 1.72
Result: Home Win (Won £10.80)
Manchester City - West Ham United
Bet: £20 on Home Win at 1.40
Result: Home Win (Won £8.00)
Round 6 Tally: £70.00 in Bets; £20.40 in Takings
Season Tally: £465.00 in Bets; -£35.65 in Takings
Fantasy Football
My Team
55 points is not a disastrous gameweek total, but still poor enough to cause me a drop in overall rankings. The main cause of this would be Chelsea's unexpected result - Cech sent off and Cole conceded three. Fortunately, my other defenders all responded with clean sheets.
With an assist and a clean sheet, Lennon wasn't half bad a choice of captain, but what might have been if I had given the armband to Bent! One goal, three assists and maximum bonus for a total of 18 points!
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