With many people writing off their 2011 seasons and resigning themselves to the odd tweak and a charge towards the finals- or worse, a charge towards the "minor cup", it gets to the point in the year where we start thinking about the Summer sports.
And with just 4 weeks to go, its probably time to start checking out the EPL.
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Now, what we played in these parts last year were both the official Barclays comp, and the Virtual Sports offering, however, since these two comps havent quite opened yet, I figure Ill fire up a <A href="http://fantasyfootball.metro.co.uk">Metro league</A> for anyone champing at the bit to get into it.
Anyways, the comp can be found here: <A href="http://fantasyfootball.metro.co.uk">HERE</A>, and the TooSerious league number is 11241.
Alright, so now thats done, lets take a quick look at the three new teams to move up to the Premier league this year, as you usually find, one of these teams will more than likely perform above the odds, so picking the right guys from them will be very important.
Swansea City
Its amazing how much a difference the home/away advantage is in Soccer and its none more pronounce than with Swansea, at home, they managed 41 goals while conceeding 11- the best in the Champions league last year- however away from home they scored just 28 while conceeding 31 goals, a huge change. It does mean than a cheap Swansea defender will probably be on the cards for all- just make sure hes on the bench when playing away. (This advice doesnt quite carry through to the VS comp with its 3 game rolling averages!).
Pick of the lot: I gotta say Scott Sinclair, he played 42 games last year for 22 goals- including a hat-trick. However, youll want to watch Swanseas signing of Watfords Danny Graham, who kicked 24 goals last year for the Hornets. On the defencive front, youll want to keep an eye on signing, but assuming nothing, keep an eye on Angel Rangel- what a name! He played 30 games last year after missing the start of the season with a thigh injury, for 2 goals and 4 assists. Could definitely be a decent bench option.
Norwich City
Norwich City finished the top scorers in the Championship league last year, but were attrocious in defence- think Essendon under Knights, but less crap. They kicked 83 goals last year (compared to Swanseas 69), while conceeding 58 goals (compared to 42). In fact, theyve already started off strongly winning a friendly against Gorleston 7-0.
Pick of the lot: While youre probably going to want to avoid the defenders, a good bargain option would be Russell Martin, he played every game in defence last year and found the net on 5 occations- which is just delicious. That said, up forward, it will be tough to go past Grant Holt, 44 starts for 21 goals and 14 assists will see him a desirable option, particularly in such an attacking outfit! That said, he certainly gives up a lot of fouls!
Queens Park
Finally, QPR, the most dominant team of the Champions league last year, they scored 71 goals while only conceeding 32, so loading up on a few Rangers will be good value. One thing to note is that the home/away schedule for both QPR and Swansea are coupled, so picking up a keeper and maybe even a defender from both of these squads could be great value.
Pick of the lot: Adel Taarabt is the name on everyones lips, the Moroccan played in 43 games last year for 19 goals and 16 assists- coupled with the potential cleanies from QPR could see him being delicious value. In defence, Kaspars Gorkss looks good value, played in 42 games last year for 3 goals and an assist.
Of course, those three squads are likely to have some quality signings come on board between now and the seasons start, so well want to keep an eye on the ground for these!
EPL for the 2011/2012 season.
Discussion in 'Blog' started by robclayton86, Jul 18, 2011.
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Discussion in 'Blog' started by robclayton86, Jul 18, 2011.