I absolutely love this time of the year. We’re all out of school (or just about) and we get to enjoy the most compact run of games in the entire schedule.
And while that’s good for our entertainment, it can mean noodley legs for the players, most of whom will have played a full 90 minutes just three days ago. Traditionally, midweek fixtures make for sloppy football, and I expect this week to be no exception.
The fatigue in these fixtures could go either way. Sometimes, tired legs equal tired shot, and goal droughts stretch throughout the fixtures. Other times, defensive knees look wobbly, with bad positioning and technical mistakes opening up lanes for even more goals than normal. This week’s list of games and the recent form of some of the league’s high scoring teams leads me to suggest a defensive dominance.
This week, I chose players for my dreamteam who are both in form and loaded with energy. Carlos Tevez is perhaps the best example of this: a player whose boundless electricity will run right by Spurs, who looked sluggish against Wolves even with a full week’s rest. Midweek fixtures against Wigan are made for Dirk Kuyt, who despite demonstrating some of the most hazardous touches of his entire career, will continue to hustle himself into ideal trash-goal positions.
Take a look at THIS:
Another thing to add: The Fantasy Cup!
The Fantasy Cup offers another competition within the premier league fantasy system. It mirrors the way the Champions League works within the Barclay’s Premier League season, or the FA Cup perhaps. Here’s how it works (taken from the site itself).
Think your season is over? Think again!
The fantasy cup starts in Gameweek 17 (15 Dec) and all existing teams are automatically entered
Qualifying
Gameweek 17 (15 Dec) is a qualifying round. The top 2,097,152 scorers in Gameweek 17 will enter the first round in Gameweek 18 (19 Dec).
If there are more than 2,097,152 qualifiers then there will be a random draw between the lowest scoring teams to see who qualifies.
The knock-out rounds
Each qualifying team will be randomly drawn against another in the first round. The winner (the team with the highest gameweek score minus any transfer points), will progress to the second round and another random draw, the losers are out! This process continues until the final gameweek when the two remaining teams contest the fantasy cup final.
Remember, transfer points will be deducted from the following round’s cup score.
If a cup match is drawn, then the following tie-breaks will be applied until a winner is found:
- 1. Most Goals scored in the gameweek
- 2. Fewest Goals conceded in the gameweek
- 3. Virtual coin toss
Prize
The cup winner will receive a digital camera, an mp3 player, and a Premier League club replica kit of the Winner’s choice.
Sounds legit to me. Get your team ready, and remember, games start tomorrow!
Straight-Red 