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

The Premier League in La Liga

Playing Yahoo Fantasy Football and being exposed to the whole gamut of La Liga's playing staff leads to many surprise revelations about forgotten players. Every week, some player I hadn't thought about for years seems to loom into view and asks to be remembered. 


Baptista, Malaga and Arsenal

By my count there are 30 former EPL players currently in La Liga. Where are they now? Naturally we only tend to hear about the headline stars but I'm generally more excited to notice some obscure lurker, who loiters on the periphery untroubled by the burdens of superstardom. The likes of Julio Baptista, Noe Pamarot and Xisco. They barely registered in England. What are they doing in Spain?



And what do their Fantasy Football scores look like? As there's 30, this will need to be a staggered project over the coming weeks. I'll particularly want to focus on the forgotten men: those fly-by nighters who barely caressed our skin before vanishing from view leaving us wondering whether they were really ever there at all. Firstly, allow me to present the comprehensive list. In due course, I will undertake the in depth analysis into individuals' performances this season.



Pamarot celebrates with Hercules

Atletico Madrid

Fran Merida, Jose Reyes, (both Arsenal) Tiago (Chelsea), Diego Forlan (Man Utd)

Barcelona

Gerard Pique (Man Utd), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)

Deportivo

Xisco (loan - Newcastle)

Hercules
Noe Pamarot (Portsmouth, Tottenham)

Levante
Asier Del Horno (Chelsea), Felipe Caicedo (Man City)

Malaga
Julio Baptista (Arsenal), Quincy Owusu Abeye (Portsmouth, Arsenal)


Pandiani, Osasuna and Birmingham



Osasuna

Nico Medina (Sunderland), Ricardo (Man Utd), Pandiani (Birmingham)

Racing Santander

Dos Santos (loan Spurs)

Real Madrid

Xabi Alonso, Arbeloa, Dudek (all Liverpool) Ronaldo (Man Utd), Carvalho (Chelsea), Lass Diarra (Chelsea, Portsmouth, Arsenal), Adebayor (loan - Man City)

Sevilla

Kanoute, Zokora (both Spurs)


Villarreal
Altidore (Hull), Borja Valero (WBA), Rossi (Man Utd)

Zaragoza

Florent Sinama Pongolle (Liverpool), Jiri Jarosik (Birmingham, Chelsea)



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)

Team of the week 31



Soldado (Eurosport)

 FORWARDS

*Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 37 pts*

Hero of the week for second week running. Scored twice and got 37 pts as Valencia thrashed Villarreal 5-0. Gap between Valencia in 3rd and Villarreal in 4th is now 6 pts.

Lionel Messi (Barca) 27.5

Brace ensured Barca eased to victory 3-1 despite going a goal behind to struggling Almeria.

Juan Mata (Valencia) 23.5

The young spaniard registers a long over due big score in the Villarreal rout.

MIDFIELD

Banega (Valencia) 24

Argentinian wunderkid makes his mark with dominant display. Also represents value of the week being 5.24 going into the game.

Bertolo (Zaragoza) 20

Crucial match winning goal to help Zaragoza move 3 points clear of relegation zone.

Jose Reyes (Atletico Madrid) 16
Another heavily involved performance as Atletico hand a 3-0 drubbing to Sociedad, outscoring the Kun Aguero despite not getting on the score sheet.

De Guzman (Mallorca) 16
Scores for the second week in a row in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Sevilla.

DEFENCE

Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid) 19
Scores his first of the season in Atleti win.

Jose Angel (Gijon) 12.5
Another impressive display from the Gijon wing back as they earn a crucial 1-0 home win against Osasuna. (David Barral with the goal)

Drenthe (Hercules) 12
Dutch master appears in top 11 for 2nd week in a row but can't bring Hercules a much needed home win against Espanyol.

GK

Cesar (Val) 18/ De Gea (Atleti) 18
Big displays from the spanish custodians showing their respective sides' victories weren't all down to attacking prowess.

In other news:

Real Madrid made whole sale changes to their starting line up meaning Kaka started and scored 2 pens.

Full side

R. Soldado VAL forward 37
L. Messi BAR forward 27.5
Juan Mata VAL forward 23.5

�. Banega VAL midfielder 24
N. Bertolo RZG midfielder 20
J. Reyes AMR midfielder 16
Jonathan de Guzmán MAL midfielder 16

Filipe Luis AMR defender 19
José Ángel SPO defender 12.5
R. Drenthe HER defender 12

D. De Gea AMR goalkeeper 18
Cesar VAL goalkeeper 18

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 25 preview: The Outsiders

Barca youngsters Pinto (left) and Bojan (right) playing baseball

A look at some of the tempting fantasy football selections from La Liga this weekend in each position.

In Goal

The most tempting GKs have to be - in descending order::

1. Pinto, 9.66 - BARCA @ mallorca (playing in the place of injured Valdes)
2. Kameni, 10.46 - ESP v rso (get him while he's cheap!)
3. Catalyud, 10.11 - HER v get (Getafe v poor away from home)
4. Cuellar, 10.68 - SPORTING GIJON v zaragoza
5. Casillas 14.66 - RMAD @ dep. (Returning from suspension in what should be a routine week. A bit boring though)

Really, its hard to look beyond Pinto. Consider he is the cheapest keeper likely to start as well.

In Attack:

A lot depends on who you're holding on to, but for arguments sake, imagine you're starting from scratch this week:

Top outsider picks

1. S. Fernandez, 11.08, MALAGA v alm
Games involving Malaga tend to involve goals. Fernandez has 11 pts two weeks running from a range of areas (corners, shots, assists, yum)
2. David Barral, 6.59, GIJON v zaragoza
Why not reward this impish striker with a run out? Barral is Gijon's second highest scorer with 3 and 2nd highest SOTer with 11.  Zaragoza are rubbish too. If you're feeling really brave, why not Nacho Novo too. Valued 4.96!
3. Caicedo, 12, LEVANTE v Osasuna
Caicedo didn't get a sniff at the Bernabeau but the lanky Ecuadorian is solid at home. He has 9 goals in 17 overall. Osasuna are poor away.
4. Trezeguet, 14, HERCULES v getafe
The elegant frenchman has 8 in 14 this season. The scoring onus is on the striker with Nelson Valdes missing.

Midfield

1. Valdo and Juanlu for LEVANTE vs Osasuna.
Both at 8 and Levante's most effective attacking options from midfield.
2. Farinos, 7, HERCULE v getafe
A legend who is being legendary. 16 and 5 in his last two games makes this bargain player a massive temptation.
3. WHOEVER replaces Xavi for BARCA @ mallorca
Could be Affellay, but probably Keita. Both a bargain at 3.

Defence
1. Adriano, 7.33,  BARCA@ mallorca
Always does well when he replaces Alves.
2. Botia, 2.66, GIJON v Zgza
3. Ulfalesji, 7, AMAD v sev
4. Any Sporting Gijon or Levante guys.

My team?

GK. Pinto

D. Adriano - Barca
D. Del Horno - Levante
D. Jose Angel - Gijon

M Ozil (5.45) Impossible to drop at this value
M Di Maria (6.11) " " "
M Koke (4.69) a bargain, and a lot of fun
M Reyes (15) solid

(Despite his 400% return (4pts), Almeria's Mbami has to go I'm afraid)

F Adebayor can stay. (at 8.51) He shoots a lot even if he doesn't score. Just hoping Benzema's sudden determination to be good doesn't see the Man City loanee benched.
F Tamudo (11.5, now 15.) An outsider to score at Espanyol but doing a great job up front for RSO and deserves some faith. It will be all about the ex-ESP man.
F Trezeguet (14)

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.

Team of the week 23: Joaquin - phoenix from the flames

Player, team, position, value, points.
The highest scoring team possible this week in la ligafantasy football

Joaquin - return to form

R. Tamudo, RSO, Forward, 11.19, 24.50
D. Trezeguet, HER, Forward, 10.06, 16.00
Ronaldo, Real Mad, Forward, 43.83, 16.00

Joaquín, Valencia, Midfielder, 9.99, 27.00
J. Reyes, Athl Madrid, Midfielder, 14.49, 20.50
Farinós, HER, Midfielder, 3.06, 16.50 11.00
M. Arana, Racing, Midfielder, 7.09, 13.00

Marcelo, Real Mad, Defender, 13.57, 26.50
A. Lopo, Deportivo, Defender, 7.37, 21.00
Arbeloa, Real Mad, Defender, 6.21, 11.00

A. Adán, Real Mad, Goalkeeper, 8.43, 20.00


szólj hozzá: atlético-valencia 1-2


Special mentions:
G. Munúa, LEV, Goalkeeper, 12.30, 16.50
Toño, Racing, Goalkeeper, 8.46, 14.50


Key Points:

Adan - saved the game for Real

• Real Madrid have 4 in the top scoring XI
• 3 are defensive players, including a keeper. Espanyol gave them a good battering but they held on!
• 23 yr old Antonio Adan made his league debut in goal after Casillas was sent off. He made 5 saves - more than any other keeper this weekend - to help secure all three points for Mourinho's men.
• Nice to see Joaquin top score in a very mediocre period for him
• Amazing to see former multimillion pound man, Farinos register a mighty score for Hercules, and valued at a measly 3. This will need further investigation

My team?

• I got a high scoring front 3 with Adebayor, Tamudo and Rondon but was a bit disastrous elsewhere. 
• Prieto was suspended, Di Maria was substituted early on, and Barca had a defensive mare.
• Also Trezeguet had a great week despite my reservations

Week 18: Kaka returns

Kaka came off the bench to score his first goal and points of this season, in only his second game since returning from the knee injury which has kept him out thus far. The Brazilian scored the 4th as Real Madrid extended the gap between themselves and third placed Villarreal to 11 points with a 4-2 victory at the Bernabeau.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick and assisted Kaka to score 37pts and take his tally for the season to 376.5, and his value to 46.84. Like Ronaldo, Messi hogged the points in his side's victory, scoring 25 as Barca tonked Deportivo 4-0 at the Rizor. (Total 330, value 45.83, avg 22 from 14 games.)

Ronaldo and Messi aside, the other striking performance of note was Seville's Freddy Kanoute who booted a mighty 27 as the southerners continued their recovery with their 4th straight victory. The Mali man scored twice in a 3-2 victory at Real Sociedad and Seville now lie 10th.

I had focussed my attention this week exclusively on Real Madrid (v Villareal), Mallorca (v Almeria), and Santander (v Gijon). 5 of my 11 came from Real Madrid. Ozil (paid 5.45, now 11.51) and Di Maria (6.11, 11.15) joined Kaka in midfield, and managed a miserly 4 and 0.5 respectively. I handed Benzema a striker's berth and he coughed up a reasonable 7.5 for his 11.56 value. The Frenchman has scored 10+ only twice (1 goal) in 17 appearances. With Higuain out for another 4 months, it seems likely he'll get another crack at the cherry against Almeria away next week. In defence I replaced card prone Carvalho with bargain R.Albiol, who at 2.81 managed -1 point.

Real Mallorca were an excellent resource this week as strikers E. Nsue (14.5) and M Perreira (8.5) and defender Ivan Ramis (11) all netted for me as the islanders battered lowly Almeria 4-1 in Palma to go 8th.

In goal, Racing Santander's Tono scored me a decent 14.5, despite the home side only managing a 1-1 draw against bottom of the table Sporting Gijon. The lad has done well considering I have him at 8.8 (now worth 12.9). Racing defenders Torrejon and the expensive Henrique were less impressive, registering 0.5 each.

Overall, the pick of the keepers was Osasuna's Ricardo (now worth 14.38), the former Manchester United keeper top scoring with 21 as 15th placed Osasuna held 7th placed Getafe at home in a scoreless draw. Espanyol's Carles Kameni remains second most expensive keeper (15.9 behind Valdes 20.38), scoring 18 as the 5th placed catalans thumped Zaragoza 4-0.

In defence, the top players were:

Didac, Espanyol, 15.00
Jose Angel, Sporting, 13.5
Rafa, Getafe, 13.00
Miguel, Valencia, 11.5

None of these guys scored a goal, and Jose Angel didn't even keep a clean sheet.

Jose Reyes

In midfield, former Arsenal forward Jose Reyes top scored with 20 and got his first goal of the season even while his team, 6th placed Atletico Madrid, were hammered 4-1 by the unpredictable Hercules (now 11th). Malaga's Duda deserves a mention with the 4th highest midfield score of 12.5 as he has emerged as something of a mystery. The former Porto man is the highest price midfielder by far at 20.17 (4 more than the nearest contender, Reyes), but has yet to score a goal this season and averages a relaxed 7.7 from 7 games.

Jose Reyes, A.Mad, 20.00
J. De Guzman, Mallorca, 16.00
Javier Martinez, At. Bilbao 16.00
Duda, Malaga, 12.5

Ex Premier league Quincy Owusu Abeye also plays for Malaga and scored 2.5. The former Arsenal, Birmingham and Portsmouth striker has not scored more than 5 since week 6.



Best possible side this week (not including Messi or Ronaldo)?

Kanoute, Sev, 27.00
Luis Garcia, Espanyol, 20.00
Luis Fabiano, Seville, 16.5

Jose Reyes, A.Mad, 20.00
J. De Guzman, Mallorca, 16.00
Javier Martinez, At. Bilbao 16.00
Duda, Malaga, 12.5

Didac, Espanyol, 15.00
Jose Angel, Sporting, 13.5
Rafa, Getafe, 13.00

Ricardo, Osasuna, 21

Total = 174.5


Winning side:

LUNG - 133pts

Ronaldo, Real Mad, 37
Kanoute, Seville, 27
Trezeguet, Hercules, 13.5

Vicente, Valencia, 2.5
Ozil, Real Mad, 4
Alonso, Real Mad, 2.5
Khedeira, Real Mad 0

Ramis, Mallorca, 11
Pique, Barca, 10.5
Carvalho, Real Mad, 1

Ricardo, Osasuna, 21