Chelsea level with Manchester City, Arsenal back on top

Game-week 24 -
                         Manchester City lost to Chelsea on Etihad Stadium on Moday without scoring a single goal. That was odd considering their recent form at home. But Arsenal managed to win over Crystal Palace and regained top spot with 2 point lead. There was a surprise for Stoke against Manchester United as they won 2-1 against former champions. Liverpool just managed to get a draw with West Brom away from home and still they are safe in 4th spot with 2 points difference. Everton came out victorious against Aston Villa and Spurs only managed to earn a single point with their visit to Hull City.

Game-week 25 - 
                         GW 25 will see league leaders Arsenal travel to Liverpool and Tottenham against Everton at White Hart Lane. With only 14 games to come, Arsenal will want to at-least get something out of these type of games. Manchester City will travel to Norwich this weekend whereas Chelsea will take on Newcastle at home. Manchester United will host Fulham on sunday. There is still chance for Manchester United to secure place in top 4 but they have to win most of these 14 matches and with Rooney, Robin van Persie and new signing Juan Mata United may surprise us. There is very tough competition for 4th spot this season as teams like Liverpool, Spurs, Everton, Manchester United are trying hard for that Champions League spot.

Fantasy - 
                 

GW 25 Defense

I am going to play with this defense for GW 25.All 4 players have matches against strong teams. I just hope they play well. Rooney, Rodriguez and Suarez as forward line. I didn't spend my free transfer for this game-week. But whom to give arm band this gw? Suarez will play against Arsenal but still he's a world class player and may do some serious damage, Rooney against Fulham but he doesn't look very promising for arm band. I am thinking about Hazard (Vs Newcastle) or Yaya Toure (Vs Norwich). But at this time i am not sure about captain. From last 3 game-weeks i dropped nearly 150k in ranking and that's not the good news. I hope team does well this game-week.

Fantasy Advantage -

Terry, Hazard, Cech (Vs Newcastle),
Silva, Toure, Dzeko (Vs Norwich),
Mata, van Persie, Rooney (Vs Fulham),
Suarez, Gerrard (Vs Arsenal).

Gala at Cardiff

Cardiff City  3-2  Manchester City

Fraizer Campbell was the hero as Cardiff City Stadium saw Cardiff team grabbing their first ever premier league win over mighty Citizens. This is Manchester City's first defeat in the season. 

Manuel pellegrini made only one change to their team which won against Newcastle United. Javi Garcia replaced Vincent Kompany who was injured. He may have to sit out for long time. Cardiff manager, Malky Mackay, decided to bring in Andrew Taylor in place of Declan John.

There were no goals scored in the first half of the match. In the second half, Dzeko opened the scoring with right footed shot which was assisted by Sergio Aguero in the 52nd minute. But City could not hold onto the lead and in the 60th minute when Gunnarsson scored. Kim Bo-Kyung was the creator as  dribbled past the city fielders before cutting back to Campbell who tried his luck with a shot but Hart saved his effort. But Hart could not save Gunnarsson rebound.

Cardiff's Defense was impregnable. Citizens were restricted to create only half chances which were not that much threatening. But the game took a turn when Fraizer Campbell headed twice in the interval of 8 minutes. Alvaro Negredo scored in the injury time but Cardiff hung on to register a sensational victory over Manchester City.

This defeat could prove decisive for Citizens title hopes. Manuel Pellegrini already said that his main target is the premier league trophy and he also spent heavily in the transfer market. But this kind of sloppiness may cost them at the end.

Fantasy PL

Nearly 75000 transfer ins were made in the Fantasy premier league for Fraizer Campbell after he scored twice against Manchester City. He scored 16 points from this match including 3 bonus points. 
Managers who handed Dzeko the armband wouldn't be unhappy because he scored a goal and also gained 2 bonus points. 

Who to pick

Fraizer Campbell - His surprise package of 16 points mesmerized many fantasy managers and they spent their free transfer on Cardiff City forward who cost only 5.6m. He was excellent with set pieces, scoring twice. So, if you have budget problems, Campbell is the solution.

Edin Dzeko - He costs 7.7m but he will be a perfect fit if you don't want to sell another big player to include him. He has good fixtures coming up for next 4 weeks and we might see a torrent of points  from him.

See who is moving fast in top scorer, most assists and most clean sheets tables here

Premier League 2013-14 Statistical Season Preview - Part 2

Manchester United
Last Season Finish : 1
Played : 38  Won : 28 Drawn : 5 Lost : 5 Points : 89
Manager : David Moyes (Replaced Alex Ferguson)


The Red Devils manager Alex Ferguson retired after lifting premier league trophy for the record 13th time. Manchester United had an unforgettable season last time. From the start of season they were favorites for the title and they finished 11 points ahead of their rivals Manchester City.
        
Manchester United were defeated only 3 times at Old Trafford this season which included thriller against Tottenham (2-3), Manchester City (1-2), and chelsea(0-1). But their away record was rather better than home as red devils were only defeated by Everton(0-1) and Norwich(0-1).

Their Biggest win by goal margin came against Wigan [both away and home] (4-0) and Norwich(4-0). United scored 86 goals (highest in 2012-13 season) and conceded 43.

Robin Van Persie was Premier League Top Goal scorer with 26 goals. David Moyes, former Everton manager, replaced Alex Ferguson as a manager of Manchester United when Ferguson retired after completing 26 glorious years at Old Trafford.

20-year old Right-back Guillermo Varela from Atletico Penarol was Moyes' first signing at Old Trafford. Red Devils will start their season campaign against Swansea City at Liberty Stadium and it will be interesting to see how United reacts to the departure of Alex Ferguson.

Manchester City

Last Season Finish : 2
Played : 38  Won : 23 Drawn : 9 Lost : 6 Points : 78
Manager : Manuel Pellegrini (Replaced Roberto Mancini)


The Citizens were title defenders last time but they could not defend it and finished on the 2nd place. City's home record was excellent. They only lost 2 matches at Etihad Stadium those included thriller against Manchester United(2-3) and Norwich (2-3). They were defeated 4 times in away matches against Sunderland (1-0), Southampton (3-1), Everton(2-0) and Tottenham (3-1).

Citizens' biggest win by goal margin was against Aston Villa(5-0). City netted 66 goals in total and conceded only 34 lesser than any other team in the premier league.

Edin Dzeko with 14 goals was Manchester City's top goal scorer last season. Midfielder Fernandinho is the first signing of Manuel Pellegrini this season who replaced Roberto Mancini as a manager of City. He also signed Right-winger Jesus Navas and strikers Alvaro Negredo and Steven Jovetic.

Citizens will start their season at Etihad Stadium against Newcastle United and hoping to lift premier league trophy under the realm of Pellegrini.

download/read premier league season review 2012-13.