W17 preview

With Barcelona proving they’re the best team in the world by beating
useless sides no-one’s heard of in Japan this week, Real Madrid have
an ideal opportunity to reclaim their 3 point cushion at the top of
the Liga before the winter break. Egos in the Real dressing room are
bruised and battered after last week’s humbling in El Clasico. Despite
the increasing feeling that the power balance may have been shifting
at the top after years of Catalunian dominance, Barca’s 3-1 victory,
and Cristiano Ronaldo’s ineffective display were an all too familiar
return to the status quo. All Real can do in response is do what they
have been doing all season (before last week’s interruption) and win.

Sevilla have been awkward opposition for Los Merengues over the past
few years, having won four of their last six Liga meetings between the
two sides at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium. Saying that, Jose
Mourinho bucked the trend when his side registered a 6-2 thrashing in
this fixture as recently as May this year with Ronaldo scoring four.
This season, Los Blancos have been devastating away from home with 21
goals from 8 games. However they come up against a Sevilla defence
that has looked far more organised this year and put in a magnificent
display to earn a clean sheet at Camp Nou earlier this term.

Real have no new injury worries, with just Ricardo Carvalho out
long-term. Sevilla’s Argentine winger Diego Perrotti is struggling
with a knock. This should be a victory for Real. 3-1 Real, look out
for a vengeful display from Ronaldo.

Third placed Valencia also had a wobble last week when they stopped
playing after 89 minutes and conspired to lose against Real Betis.
This week, It’s a case of “old money” (maybe that should be, “no
money”) versus “new money” as they take on the nouveau riche Malaga.
Los Che need to get back to winning ways with Levante rediscovering
their form and breathing down their necks in fourth place. Unai Emery
welcomed back the classy Ever Banega during the midweek Copa del Rey
visit to Cadiz and the Argentinian schemer could be back in the
starting line-up this weekend. I’ll tip a Valencia win. 2-1 Ones to
watch: Soldado and Tino Costa.

Levante have a tricky visit to Granada but should prevail against the
promoted side who have one of the meanest defences in the Liga. This
is likely to be a low-scoring affair with Aruna Kone the best bet to
nick a goal.

Osasuna have had an excellent start to the season in stark contrast to
Villarreal who they host this weekend. The Pamplonans have been free
scoring and great entertainment value. They welcome back born-again
midfield maestro Raul Garcia this week, and in tandem with attacking
dynamo Alvaro Cejudo, Los Rojillos are more than capable of heaping on
further misery for the Yellow Submarine. 2-0: Ones to watch: Nino,
Ibrahima.

Espanyol and Sporting Gijon go head to head after both sides recorded
impressive wins last week. Expect a low score draw. Ones to watch:
Romaric (Espanyol), Nacho Novo (Gijon)

Athletic Bilbao take on the struggling Zaragoza at San Mames. This is
an ideal opportunity for Bilbao to get back to winning ways after a
stuttering spell in La Liga. Underachieving wing-wizard Jermaine
Pennant suffered some kind of anterograde amnesia in 2009 after he
signed for Zaragoza: he was always late; forgot where he parked his
car and seemed to lose all footballing ability during his stint on the
continent. A similar collective sickness appears to have gripped a
side who have become totally devoid of talent, ambition or desire and
are now rooted to the foot of the table. Bilbao are without suspended
captain Andani Iraola and Fernando Llorente is a doubt. 3-1 home win.
Ones to watch: Ander Herrera, Toquero, Muniain and Susaesta.

Atletico Madrid come galloping into their home tie with Real Betis off
the back of their triumphant Europa Cup performance in midweek.
Despite the fact their fans hate them, Gregory’s Manzano’s boys love
playing at home and with Falcao, Ada Turan and Diego all starting to
purr, expect another home win. 3-1 Atletico.

On paper, Mallorca versus Getafe may look like the sort of game that
any neutral would rather poke their own eyes out than endure. However,
it excites me, if only because Mallorca are starting to look like they
can win and this could be one of the most one-sided games of the
weekend. Getafe are useless. Victor knows how to score

Racing Santander versus Sociedad is up there in the tedium rankings.
Sociedad keep squeezing out the points and Carlos Vela is starting to
fulfill his potential as the poor man’s Lionel Messi. Racing Santander
can’t excite me unless Kennedy Bakiricoglu is playing, and he’s still
a doubt. A deathly 1-1. Snooze fest

This weekend. Clasisco, Valencia and more

Predictions and probabilites

Real Madrid v Barcelona

Whisper it quietly, but for the first time in a long while, Real Madrid feel like favourites for El Clasico.

Pep Guardiola is unbeaten at the Bernabeu since he took over in 2008, with two wins and a draw. However, Barca's current away form is poor by their high standards. They have only won two from six away Liga games, and their last outing ended in a humbling 1-0 defeat at Getafe.

Meanwhile, Real have gone through an unstoppable spell and are looking
for their 16th consecutive victory in all competitions. In La Liga,
they have scored 49 goals in 14 games, and have not dropped a point at
home all season.

However, Mourinho cannot boast the impressive home defensive record of his foes: while Barca have yet to concede at the Camp Nou, Real have conceded at least a goal a game so far at home this term.

In terms of personnel, both sides will be close to full strength having been able to rest their stars in midweek. Ricardo Carvalho (Real) and Ibrahima Affellay (Barca) are long term absentees. Adriano could return for Barca.

Mourinho has declared he will opt for one of Benzema and Higuain in a three-pronged attack with Ronaldo and Di Maria. Guardiola has something of a selection headache in attack,where the returning Pedro will be vying for a spot with the in-form Alex Sanchez.

Prediction: A win for Real, but Barca will score. Top picks: Ronaldo, Di Maria; Messi. 2-1

3rd place Valencia visit Real ”the slump” Betis. Valencia whimpered out of the Champions League after being given a good seeing to by
Didier Drogba and Chelsea in midweek. But that humbling is nothing
compared to that which Betis have received since daring to visit the
summit of the Liga standings in week 4. They are on a dismal downward
spiral and haven’t won since winning their four opening games – and
they’ve lost 10 of their last 12 meetings with Los Che. You get the
idea.

Valencia are big favourites and the only tricky bit will be
predicting the right players for the win. Tino Costa is loving it in
central midfield after getting more regular starts and is a reliable
pick. Roberto Soldado can be expected to net. Prediction: Away win 0-1

A fairly titillating tie involves Valencia’s plucky neighbours,
Levante. The fourth placed upstarts take on a sparkling Sevilla side in one of the most exciting games of the weekend. If Sevilla were to win, they would leapfrog their opponents into 4th.

The southerners have only scored three away from home all season, but they’ve only conceded two so they will provide awkward opposition to a Levante side with a healthy home record.

Neither side have any new injury worries. Levante have to be sure to suppress Ivan Rakitic and Jesus "the chosen one" Navas who were devastating in Sevilla’s 3-0 defeat over Getafe last weekend.

Prediction: low score draw: 1-1. Ones to watch: Aruna Kone and
Barkero; Rakitic, Negredo.

Malaga v Osasuna is the next match of interest, and by my calculations should be the most one sided fixture of the round. Malaga like to score, and Osasuna tend to concede away from home. Don’t get me wrong, Osasuna love to pull a shock win as much as Malaga like to pull a
shock defeat but the stats favour the home team.

Malaga have a number of injury problems with Wellington, Julio Baptista and Joaquin all confirmed as unfit for the game, but have the squad to cope. Osasuna are missing midfield maestro Javad Nekounam through suspension. Prediction: a win by a couple for Malaga. Ones to watch: Cazorla, Isco, Rondon. 3-1

Espanyol v Atletico Madrid. A close match to call with both sides
stumbling along inconsistently. While Atletico are healthily placed in
8th, they have terrible away form and Espanyol know how to scratch out
the home wins. It’s going to be tight.

Atletico welcome back first teamers Arda Turan, Diego "the liability" Godin and Thibaut Courtois. Espanyol are without Manchester City loanee Vladimir Weiss and the injured Javier Marquez. A home win is expected but a surprise upset could be worth a punt: 1-0

Atlethico Bilbao should ease back in to winning ways against Racing
Santander, but star striker Fernando Llorente is doubtful. The onus
will be on the likes of Iker Muniain and Markel Susaeta to bring the pain. 2-0

Rayo Vallecano v Gijon. A home win for Vallecano. Look out for goals
for Michu and Raul Tamudo. 2-0

Getafe v Granada. Granada and their mean defence have been on a tidy
run, lifting them to 12th. Getafe are missing Dani Guiza and Pedro Leon. Should be a slim home win but Granada more than capable of an upset. 1-0. Getafe's Miku and Castro to star.

Villarreal v Sociedad. Two of this season’s slow starters trying to
claw their way up the table. Javier Garrido welcomes back Nilmar and Cani from injury, but defender Mussachio is suspended. 1-1. Look out for: Ruben, De Guzman and a goal from the half-way line for Sociedad's Inigo Martinez.

Real Zaragoza v Mallorca. A grim prospect for the neutral but look out for forgotten Portugeezer Helder Postiga. 1-0

Tuesday night action: Granada 0 - 1 Barcelona, Sevilla 2-2 Racing

Key points:

• 1 goal from Xavi.
• Lots of bookings and cards all round
• Good points for Barca defenders. Notably Maxwell.
• Barca youth striker Cuenca played 90 mins but not available for FF selection yet.
• Fabregas back from injury. Played 71 mins.
• Out of form Pedro now injured.
• Granada seem pretty handy at keeping the scores down.

Teams and FF points scores:

Barca team and individual FF scores v GRN

Granada team and individual FF scores v Barca

Predicted number of goals:

Barcelona to score 1 and Granada to score 0 was the most likely outcome.


Sevilla 2-2 Santander

Predictions

Sevilla were expected to score 2 goals or 1, with an 81% chance of winning the tie. Santander were heavily favoured to score nothing so upset the odds with their 2 away goals. Essentially, for FF pickers, the sensible money would have been on goals and points for the home side players, which came through in the shape of Rakitic, Manu. Trochowski was the value pick, the former Hamburger Pole scoring 12 pts from a value of 4.

Day 10 preview

Barely time to pause and reflect on the weekend's action. Especially if you've been off-line in Tallinn all weekend. The predictor has put in a sound performance though. The major shock only really being Varas' astonishing GK performance for Sevilla (although, Kaka's ability to score 0pts as Real routed Malaga 4-0 caused some consternation. The Real Betis bubble seems well and truly burst with their dour home defeat to Vallecano. Raul Garcia is quickly becoming an undroppable demi-god for Osasuna. I need him




Key points for Matchday 10.

• The huge favourites are Real Madrid, Sevilla and Levante 
• Where do I trust the goals be: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Seville, Mallorca.
• I haven't had time to change my team this week, but if I had, I would have liked any from:
• Barcelona: Iniesta, Villa, Messi, Fabregas
• Sevilla:Rakitic, Manu, Navas
• Real Madrid: Ronaldo, Ozil, Higuain, Kaka
• Levante: Kone, Juanlu, Valdo
• Mallorca:Hemad, Castro, Nsue
  

Week 8 review: Postiga!

The results are in. Higuain has broken my heart, but there is little else to complain about. Forgetting my own lack lustre performance, there's plenty to enjoy about jornada 8's action.



The spreadsheet predicted a 4-1 demolition for Real Madrid over Betis and the Madridistas duly delivered. Higuain lashed 40pts and rendered Ronaldo a bystander with the portuguese notching a paltry 10.5pts. The Argentine was great value at 26.  



Kaka got the fourth and was good enough to prove me right in one sense, continuing his good form and getting me a goal, meeting his 16 pt value with 16 pts. The Brazilian has-been was also top scoring mid of the week.

Messi gave a tidy return of 31.5 for his 45.2 value. Barca cruised to a 3-0 win, not doing quite as well as the 7-0 drubbing predicted and not doing much to get excited about. I had Thiago and Pedro who got paltry scores of 1.5 and 7 respectively.

For me, the most exciting attacking display of the weekend came in one of the most uninspiring fixtures as ex-spurs man, Helder Postiga banged a brace and 24 pts from a value of 9 as Zaragoza overturned Real Sociedad 2-1. Dreamy. If only I could have been brave enough.

It is nice to see Reyes back doing what he does best and scoring loads of points without getting a goal. The ex-Arsenal forward got 15.5 pts and 4 sots as Atletico and Granada bored everyone to tears in their 0-0 draw. Reyes and his buddies were good enough to see that Granada's GK Roberto was the highest scoring keeper of the round giving him 8 saves and 24 pts.

Roberto is now tied with Roberto of Real Zaragoza for the most number of saves made in the league this season with 36. Spooky

Check out this hugely stimulating footage of failed goal attempts from both sides:



Romaric is starting to shine at Espanyol and is the third highest scoring midfielder of the week. Having done nothing all season, the former Sevilla schemer put in a match winning performance as the Catalans upset Vallecano 1-0. Romaric got the only goal and 14.5 pts. See how calmly he slots it in:



Espanyol got their first away win in 9 month. In goal for the Catalans, the bargain Alvarez got a delightful 12.5 from a 1pt value.

The final midfield magus was Bilbao's Gabilondo who pumped in his second of the season and scored 14.5 pts as Bilbao impressively eased past Osasuna 3-1.

In defence, Valencia's Rami invites us to marvel at his mastery in defence with a goal to give his side a 1-1 drawer at Mallorca.

Sevilla's Caceres got the match winner and 15 points as the Orange eaters beat Gijon 2-1 to keep the southern side sniffing around the top spots.

Getafe's Cata Diaz is the final defender in the line up scoring 12 points without a goal. Always a nice touch. Getafe held Villarreal 0-0 at home.

Levante's stunning 3-0 crushing of Malaga is the actual story of the week but didn't throw up a lot of points to get excited about.

Team of the week:

Higuain, 40
Messi, 31.5
Postiga, 24

Kaka, 16
Reyes, 15.5
Romaric, 14.5
Gabilondo, 14.5

Rami, 15
Caceres, 15
Cata Diaz, 12

Roberto, 24

Team of the week: 6

Top players in each position this week were:

Top forwards

Messi, (BAR 5-0 AM) 40
Ronaldo, (RMA 6 -2 RVA) 23.5
Villa, (BAR 5-0 AM) 22.5

The only surprise about this trio appearing as the outstanding strikers of the week is how infrequently the undoubted superstars achieve this in unison. Villa is especially guilty of not achieving his place at the top as often as he should. The Barca strikers feasted on a characteristically poor Atletico Madrid defence plundering 5 for no return, Villa with one and Messi with the hattrick. Ronaldo steered Real to victory over Rayo Vallecano with their second 6-2 home win in 4 games.

Top midfielders:

Michu (rma 6-2 RAYO VALLECANO) 19.5

Midfielder Michu takes the Man of the week award with his 2 goals and 19.5 points at the Bernabau - all from a value of 6.57. Real Madrid has been a happy hunting ground for losing attackers, with Getafe's Miku grabbing a brace even as his side went down 4-2 in the opening week.

Castro (MALLORCA 2-1 real sociedad) 18
Castro gave Michael Laudrup's Mallorca a much needed win, only for the Dane to resign at the start of the week.

Raul Garcia (Granada 1-1 OSASUNA) 17
His first goal since returning to his home town on loan from Atletico Madrid.

Ozil (REAL MADRID 6-2 rayo vallecano) 15.5
2 assists for the German, who predictably filled his boots against promoted Vallecano.

Top defenders

Moreno (levante 3-1 ESPANYOL) 13.5
An all but irrelevant compensation goal as Espanyol went down to highflying Levante.

Francis (sporting gijon 0-0 RACING SANTANDER) 11.5
An intriguing 11.5 points which included 10 intercepted passes. Contributed to a rare steely display from the Racing defence at struggling Gijon.

Varane (REAL MADRID 6-2 rayo vallecano) 11
A super goal from the French youth already fulfilling the promise that earnt him his big money move from Lens.

Top GK

Varas (SEV 1-0 val) 22
Javi Varas' 22 points show how close Sevilla's 1-0 victory over Valencia was. Sevilla edging their way into the top 4.

Team of the week: jornada 35

This is the best performing star XI from La Liga's games of week 35 (May 7th/8th) according to Yahoo Fantasy Football.

3-4-3 formation

Strikers

Ronaldo, Real Madrid, 49
Flat-track bully takes out his frustrations on Sevilla with 4 goals in 6-2 victory

Adrian, Deportivo 26
2 goals for U21 star almost gave Deportivo a much needed win. 2-2 draw at Gijon

Negredo, Sevilla 25
2 goals as Sevilla lost 6-2 at home to Real

Mids

Gio Dos Santos, Racing Santander, 25.5 pts
Spurs loanee scores twice, moving racing 4 points clear of relegation zone and keeping Hercules in 19th. Hercules 2-3 Racing

Thiago Gomes, Hercules, 20.5 pts
A goal and assist but all in vain

Camunas, Osasuna, 18 pts
Always a surprise - goal and an assist in relegation 6 pointer 3-1 win at Zaragoza.

A. Iniesta, Barcelona, 17.5 pts
Match winning goal, as Barca ease closer to the title with 2-0 win over Espanyol. "Espanyol had not won for 111 days; practically the entire second half of the season." (Forzafutbal)

Defs

Pique, Barcelona, 15 pt
Goal against Espanyol

Mathieu, Valencia 14.5
1 assist and clean sheet in 3-0 win over Sociedad

Mane, Getafe, 13.5
1 assist and clean sheet for Getafe in 2-0 win over Almeria

GK

Diego Lopez, Villarreal, 17 pts
Clean sheet in 0-0 draw at Mallorca

Special mentions
M.Ozil, Real Madrid, 17.5 pts
3 assists enabling Real's 6-2 rout of Sevilla. Same points as Iniesta but not as good value

Julio Baptista, Malaga, 14.5
Another goal (8 in 9 games now!!!!!) as Malaga shock Atletico Madrid 3-0.

Pedro Rios, Getafe, 14.5
U21 midfield starlet with another vital goal in Getafe's 2-0 win to lift them out of the relegation zone.

My team?

Quite pleased but got scorched by Guardiola's decision not to rotate.

Week 33 predictions

Week 33 predictions using Spiegelhalter's model + players I like this week:

Valencia CF 0-1 Real Madrid

FC Barcelona 2-0 Osasuna**
(BAR) Affellay, Bojan, Keita

Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Real Sociedad*
(BIL) Muniain, Toquero, Amorebieta

Racing Santander 1-1 Málaga CF*
(RAC) Munitis, Dos Santos

RCD Mallorca 1-0 Getafe CF
(MAL) Aouate, Nsue, Ramis, De Guzman

Sporting Gijón 1-0 RCD Espanyol
(SPO)Eguren

Hércules CF 1-0 Deportivo La Coruña
(HER) Portillo, Trezeguet

Atlético Madrid 1-0 Levante UD*
(ATL) Aguero, Reyes, Diego Costa, De Gea

Sevilla FC 1-1 Villarreal CF
(SEV) Rakitic

Real Zaragoza 1-0 UD Almería*
(ZAR) Jarosik, Braulio, Ponzio, Bertolo


*Asteriksed wins are rated +50% likely. i.e. best results to back.

Last weeks predictions: (actual results in bold)

Sat, Apr 16 MGA 1-1 MAL 3-0
Sat, Apr 16 MAD 1-3 BAR 1-1
Sat, Apr 16 ALM 0-2 VAL 0-3
Sat, Apr 16 GET 2-2 SEV 1-0
Sun, Apr 17 OSA 1-1 BIL 1-2
Sun, Apr 17 RSO 1-0 SPO 2-1
Sun, Apr 17 DEP 0-0 RAC 2-0
Sun, Apr 17 LEV 1-0 HER 2-1
Sun, Apr 17 ESP 1-1 AMR 2-2
Mon, Apr 18 VIL 1-0 RZG 1-0


1 correct score
5 correct results (win,draw, or loss)

Ivan Rakitic (sevilla): Who are you and why are you good?

Rakitic

This week, I'm thinking about Ivan Rakitic. He is 22, Croatian international midfielder and cost Sevilla $1.5m when he signed from Schalke in January 2011.

I like to think I'm fairly well up on the hot prospects around Europe but this youngster arrived out of the blue at Sevilla at the end of the winter transfer window to take La Liga by storm.

His value has rocketed and he is now worth 19.5m (in YFF terms). I have the Sevilla midfielder at 16.4 having brough him in last weekend for Sevilla's 3-1 home win against Zaragoza. He returned 16.5 without a goal. This weekend, 6th placed Sevilla are away to 10th placed Mallorca who have been in a bit of form themselves. But Sevilla won their last away game 1-0 at 3rd placed Valencia. Rakitic scored the winner.

He has played 9 Liga games in a row since an inconspicuous start to his career in a 0-0 home draw against Malaga at the start of February (Week 22). In the 9 games he's played, Sevilla have won 4, drawn 3, lost 2.

His vital stats are: 9 games, 3 goals, 2 Assists, 2 Match Winning Goals, 8 shots on target, 19 Successful crosses, 5 Corners won, 5 Fouls won

He has 85.5 pts at an average of 9.5.

So the dilemma is: Rakitic is awesome and his value grows and grows and Sevilla are on a great run of form. But, it is much harder to return his value away from home, talismanic Kanoute is missing, and Mallorca are in good shape too.

In the same ballpark I could have Reyes, 16.92, at home to Real Sociedad. Gio dos Santos, 14.31, at home to Levante. How good is Rakitic going to get?

He also scored goal of the season 06/07 when playing in the Swiss league:

Week 29: Team of the week

Varas, Sevilla - Golden Man

Javi Varas was Week 29's golden player and his 28 points shows us just how good he and Sevilla's defence had to be to secure their surprise 1-0 win at Valencia. A staggering points haul from the Sevilla no. 2 who was worth just 4 a few weeks ago, and worth just 11.9 at the start of this week.

Osasuna have the most representatives in the top 11: 2 defenders and one midfielder. This reflects the dominance they exerted in their emphatic, and somewhat astonishing 4-0 win at Hercules. Los Rojillos are in a rich vein of form and with 11 points, even without a goal, no wonder defender Nacho Monreal is being targeted by the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal.

A worthy mention must go to Osasuna's Goalkeeper Ricardo who had another inspired game between the sticks and racked up an excellent 22 points with 6 saves. Man Utd, in the hunt for a replacement for Van der Sar, could do a lot worse than "doing a Wenger" and bringing back an ex-golden oldie goalie. 39 yr old Ricardo was barely given a sniff in his brief stint at United between 2002 and 2005.

Sergio Aguero and Jose Reyes once again proved that you don't have to be a winner to get a good points haul. While Atletico went down 2-1, the Kun, Aguero, continued his outrageously good form with a goal and 22 pts (4 goals in his last 3 games). No clamours for the wunderkid to move to a bigger club keep bubbling to the surface.

The Guardian's Sid Lowe suggested that Aguero played virtually by himself against Real in the derby, but Reyes' total of 15, without a goal would tells us the ex-Arsenal forward showed plenty of attacking threat even if he couldn't trouble the scorers. Whilst wearing the Arsenal shirt he once got a 30pts in a week in the EPL version of the game without scoring a goal.

Rondon (left), Malaga

Malaga stiker Jose Rondon also continued his excellent form, bagging a brace to help Manuel Pellegrino's relegation threatened side ease to a 2-0 over European hopefuls Espanyol and secure their second win on the bounce. Rondon now has 12 goals, as many as Aguero and Peppe Rossi.

Racing's Kennedy and Sociedad's Griezmann were the dominant forces for either side, scoring a goal apiece as Santander edged a 2-1 win over the Basques. Spurs' Giovanni Dos Santos sealed the win to get his second in eight Liga games for Racing.

After a quiet few weeks Jonathon De Guzman popped up to re-assert himself as Mallorca's leading points scorer with the only goal in Mallorca's 1-0 win over Zaragoza. His 15 points takes his tally to 158 for the season.

The surprise package of the week has to be Villarreal's defender Musacchio. Without scoring a goal, and from a value of just 2.79, Mussachio registered 12 points, as the Yellow Submarine capitalised on Valencia's loss to re-capture 3rd place

Personal Higlights?

Farinos

FARINOS (HERCULES)

Despite Hercules' taking a 4-0 pasting at home to Osasuna, the midfield maestro almost made the team of the week, managing 14.5 points from a value of 5.79.

Team of the week 29

How the best scoring XI would have looked:

Name,team,position,points
J. Varas SEV Goalkeeper 28.00

Nelson OSA Defender 19.50
M. Musacchio VIL Defender 12.00
N. Monreal OSA Defender 11.00

J. Camuñas OSA Midfielder 17.00
J. Reyes AMR Midfielder 15.00
K. Bakircioglü RAC Midfielder 15.00
J. de Guzmán MAL Midfielder 15.00

S. Agüero AMR Forward 22.00
J. Rondón MGA Forward 21.00
A. Griezmann RSO Forward 16.50

Total: 192

My team:

The winning team:

Week 28: Early thoughts

Marcelo: exciting

Early thoughts on this weekend's matchups:

Picking as many as you can from Real represents the biggest temptation this weekend - their match features the biggest disparity between two rivals with Los Blancos at home to struggling Hercules. With injuries still lurking for Ronaldo and Higuain, it makes Fantasy selection a lot more straight forward.

Benzema has been in fine form since the arrival of Adebayor and Mourinho started the two together against Santander. With Kaka perplexingly out of favour, there's every reason to expect the front four of Ozil, Di Maria, Benzema and Ade will start and amass a wanton load between them. If money allows, it would be prudent to squeeze in fullback Marcelo - sensational in the 7-0 drubbing handed to Malaga at home a fortnight ago.

On paper, Villarreal v Sporting Gijon should be a reliable source of points for the home side. However, since Sporting love an upset and Villarreal have been in such stumbling form, it could easily be a damp
squib. Nilmar at 18 and Rossi at 23 feel off-puttingly overpriced. Cazorla at 16 feels plausible, while Cani has dropped to 9 and in goal Diego Lopez has dropped nicely in price to 12.

Levante v Mallorca should be an exciting game for goals. Levante have been in fine fettle, especially at home, and it feels like Caicedo always scores at home. It is tempting to go for the Ecuadorian (14) and AN other. Perhaps the mysterious goal scoring wing-wizard Valdo - in midfield at just 8. Maybe Juanlu - highest scoring midfielder for LEV with 125 enjoys an SOT and an SC.

The rest of the ties feel murky and unpleasent. A standard routine win for the increasingly unlikeable Barca at the expense of Seville (missing Luis Fabiano for 6 weeks now). Almeria could upset the easily upsettable Atletico Madrid. Interesting to see what Piatti can do in this one for Almeria. Valencia look increasingly good and will surely triumph at Zaragoza. Never know where points are coming from with Los Che though. Not tempting enough to invest in this week.

Espanyol will surely get back to winning ways at home to the obdurate Deportivo. Looks like a good time to bring in Kameni in goal. Priced just 11. Also Galan is a perpetually good value defender at 1.

Sociedad will surely triumph over stinky Malaga. The only certainty is that Sociedad will score. Xavi Prieto is a temptation at 13. Agirretxe is the only fit striker and should start in place of injured Tamudo. Bravo in goal at 8.24 looks excellent value. Griezmann takes corners and scores goals. Valued 12.5. Expect Osasuna and Racing to be tight with a clean sheet for Ricardo. Getafe v Bilbao feels dreary.

Sat, Mar 12 ALM versus AMR
Sat, Mar 12 RZG versus VAL
Sat, Mar 12 MAD versus HER
Sun, Mar 13 SEV versus BAR
Sun, Mar 13 VIL versus SPO
Sun, Mar 13 LEV versus MAL
Sun, Mar 13 ESP versus DEP
Sun, Mar 13 RSO versus MGA
Sun, Mar 13 OSA versus RAC
Mon, Mar 14 GET versus BIL

Tuesday Night: Day 26

Espanyol 1 - 2 Mallorca
Sevilla 3 - 0 Gijon

Mallorca registered the upset of the evening defeating 5th placed Espanyol 2-1, while Sevilla joined Mallorca in the climb towards European football places, easing to a 3-0 win over Gijon.

There were no wonder scores: all round team work was the order of the day. Mallorca's Nsue was the top scoring player of the evening with 16pts. But, Seville's players dominated the top scorers, with 7 out of the top 11 coming from Southern side.

Perotti (14), Fabiano (13.5) and Negredo (8) did the damage up front, Varas (10) kept up his good form deputising in goal, but the defenders truly excelled with Navarro (10.5), Dabo (10) and Fazio (9.5) all returning excellent value. Dabo was worth 3 at the start of the day, Navarro, 6.

I only had Sevilla's Rakitic and Gijon's Jose Angel playing last night. Rakitic got a reasonable 6.5 off a value of 8. Angel didn't turn up unfortunately. Hoping for a big night Thursday from Real with Ozil, Di Maria, Marcelo and Adebayor lining up. Tonight looking to Sociedad's Tamudo and Atletico's Koke can keep up their goalscoring form and Barca's GK Pinto to keep up the good work in a tricky away tie at Valencia.

Week 25 preview: Atletico Madrid v Sevilla

Ok Koke?

Atletcio Madrid 9th v Seville 7th

A massive game for two of the liga's most unpredictable sides. Both sides having an up and down season, with inconsistent form, although both scrapped 1-0 wins last week. Some are billing this as a Europa Cup 6 pointer. A win for either side would be a massive boon.

Predictions:
Atletico are favourites.

• Reyes is a persistent threat even when Atletico struggle, and especially at home. Has scored 20+ in three of his last seven appearances.
• Aguero is back amongst the goals, but expensive at 22.
• One outsider it may be worth taking an inexpensive punt on is Koke. This youngster had a great game at Zaragoza last week and may well have more responsibilities if Forlan misses the game with injury. He's had four appearnaces, averages 3, and got 3 pts last week. Priced only 4.68.
• For Seville, the main temptation would have to be GK Varas, but only if he was drafted in for 4.8 the week before last. He kept a clean sheet and made a few saves to earn 16pts. Palop has a knock.

Fantastic statistical forecast here at Accuscore

Predicted score: 2-0. Goals for Kun and Reyes.