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 24 Liga preview: Goalkeepers

Gustavo Munua - great form

• Levante's Munua is the second most valuable keeper (valued 15.17) and has been on an excellent run of form since returning to the first team fold in week 21: 10, 18, 16.5
• But Levante come up against Real at the Bernabaeu this week for whom Antonio Adan will be making his first league start. Adan registered a week high of 20 pts at Espanyol last weekend. Good value at 13.65
• Of last week's losers, several high flying keepers are now representing tempting value. Seville's Palop had a mare at Santander and is now 7.58, Valdes dropped to 18.96, and Atletico's De Gea dropped to 11.45. Palop has a relatively straight forward home tie against Hercules, while De Gea's out of form side travels to Zaragoza.
• Reliable home picks include Ricardo at home for Osasuna against Espanyol, Diego Lopez
  at home for Villarreal and Sociedad's Bravo at home to Mallorca.

Week 21: team of the week. Valdo invited to Messi's party

Buried under all this tedious transfer titilation, was the news last night that Week 21's action was rounded off with an ill-tempered 1-1 draw between Racing Santander and Valencia. The stats suggest Tino Costa and Ever Banega were the men of the hour for Valencia. Costa got a goal and 8 points, while Banega did crosses, corners and assist to get 9 points.


Racing Santander 1-1 Valencia
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Kennedy Bakircioglü got 3.5 for Santander. Goalscorer for Racing was Ariel Nahuelpán with 10pts.

We are now able to announce the team of the week:

L. Messi, Barcelona, Forward, (value)46.46, (points)33.00
G. Toquero, Athl Bilbao, Forward, 14.10, 26.50
A. Negredo, Sevilla, Forward, 16.51, 20.50

Duda, Malaga, Midfielder, 20.96, 21.00
Valdo, LEV, Midfielder, 9.34, 19.00
D. Castro, Sporting, Midfielder 15.48, 18.00
André Castro, Sporting, Midfielder, 7.01, 15.00*

I. Ansotegi, RSO, Defender, 9.20, 18.00
Dani Alves, Barcelona, Defender, 20.39, 17.50
A. Iraola, Athl Bilbao, Defender, 13.89, 17.00

G. Iraizoz, Athl Bilbao, Goalkeeper, 15.62, 24.00

There were three midfielders on 15 points:
N. Bertolo, Zaragoza
D. López, Athl Bilbao
J. Camuñas,Osasuna

Andre Castro deserves the accolade because his current stats suggest he never set foot on the pitch:

So mainly the big hitters, but plenty of new names to learn about, and many of the points concentrating around a few games and teams:

3 from Bilbao @ A. Madrid
2 from Barca @ Hercules
2 from Sporting @ Mallorca

(new feature) Who are you and why were you good?

Valdo 19pts

Valdo - great  week

The Levante midfielder had one hell of a game:

1 Match Winning Goals
1 Goal
2 Successful crosses
1 Corners won
3 Fouls won
3 Shots on target
5 Passes intercepted

Great for a guy who was worth 4.63 at the start of the week. This, along with a sparing Wikipedia entry, suggest it was a one off, a blip. Find out more.

Week 20: Caicedo? Piatti? Adriano?

Barcelona (1st) v Racing Santander (14th)

Adriano, should start for Barca

Of course a home win for Barca over Kennedy Bakircioglu's Racing, who are now under new ownership. The question of course is how many and who will score. They have a full strength side apart from at right back where Dani Alves is out meaning Adriano fills in. The Brazilian has a relatively unremarkable record of 16.5 points in 7 appearances but has appeared in the last two weeks and did score 9.5 in week 18 during the 4-0 win at Depor. Could be worth a punt at 7.25.

Messi is 43.48, Villa 30.88: Pedro still feels like a bargain at 21.16. Xavi is 13.99 but only has scored +10 3 times this year, Iniesta is 15.67 and has scored in 3 of the past 5 weeks.

Real Mad (2nd) v Mallorca (9th)

So Real will look to get back to winning ways against Mallorca who were pumped 3-0 by "the other" Madrid last weekend. Mourinho will have the same selection issues up front with Benzema (11.69) and Kaka (10.21) vying for a starting spot. Strangely, Ronaldo not included, Real still have some of the best bargains around and it seems at once naive and prudent to persevere with having 4 of Real's possible starting 5 forwards in keeping hold of the above along with Ozil (5.45) (6.11) and Di Maria. It's in defence where changes need to be made where card prone Carvalho and Albiol need to be given a rest.

Villarreal (3rd) v Real Sociedad (11th)

Cazorla returns

Should be a straight forward win for Villarreal with no new injury worries. Lovely Ruben has to be kept, his value soaring to 9.56 from 6.55 (1 goal, 1 assist and 3 SOTs last week). It's a case of how many spots are left over from the Real bargains to squeeze in some Yellows. It's tempting to get in Cani and Cazorla and some defenders. Spanish international Cazorla returns and is Villarreal's 3rd highest scorer with 144.5 this season, but pricey at 15.59.

Valencia (4th) v Malaga (16th)

Valencia need to keep winning to keep Espanyol at bay and keep up the heat on 3rd placed Villarreal. Problem is, they're a tough squad to pick from, seeing as it seems to comprise entirely of midfielders. Vicente looks a bargain at 6.67 but the winger scored -1 last week. Rumour has it that top scorer Adruiz will return this week too and that could see Vicente bumped.

Getafe (8th) v Espanyol (5th)

Espanyol need to win over unpredictable Getafe. Espanyol players don't get a lot of points and their best players are pricey - Callejon (16.22) and Kameni (15.88). Could be as well to leave this fixture alone.

Sevilla (10th) v LEV (19th)

This looks like a good fixture to pick up some points. Seville are scoring in the league and the cup. Romaric (only 5.75) is tipped by Goal.com to be the key man for Seville but there's a host of tempting attacking and defensive picks - Kanoute (15.91), Fabiano (18.21), Navas (15.03). Think I'll draft in Martin Caceres in defence. This Uruguayan chap is on loan from Barca having cost the champions 16.5million euros a couple of seasons back but has failed to establish himself at Barca, or at Juve (loan last year). He's only 5.75 and should get a clean sheet.

However, he will need to be sharp to marshal Levante's in form striker Felipe Caicedo (on loan from Man City).  The Ecuadorian, who cost City $7million from Basel and scored 8 goals under Mark Hughes in his first full season, has 7 goals in 13 appearances at Levante this term.


And the rest?

Almeria have a mysterious forward called Piatti (15.67) who is the 5th highest scoring player (165.5) who is not from Barca or Real. They're playing home to struggling Osasuna.




Also, lumbering Llorente, 4th top scorer in the league on 11, has a home game for Bilbao against Hercules.

Sun

Sporting Gijon v Athl Madrid
Real Zaragoza v Deportivo
Almería v Osasuna

Mon

Athl Bilbao v HER

My team:

Diego Lopez (Villa)

Gaspar (villa)
Alexis (sev)
Caceres (sev)

Ozil (Real)
Di Maria (Real)
Kaka (Real)
Cani (Villa)

Benzema (Real)
Ruben (Villa)
Pedro (Barca)

Week 19: preview

Almería (19th) v Real Mad (2nd) (Sat)

Back in November, Barcelona put 8 past Almeria in a ruthless visit to La Liga' s minnows, and surely it will only be a matter of how many for Real. Mourinho has no new injury worries and it seems he will go with the same front 4 that beat Villarreal with Kaka likely to come off the bench again. It seems worth hanging on to the Brazilian (market 11.78, bought at 10.38) whose value is only going to go up, and the same should apply to Karim Benzema (m 12.81, b 11.69) with Mourinho, sort of backing the Frenchman this week.

Barcelona (1st) v Malaga (16th) (Sun)

And surely another routine win and a record for Barca against the recently moneyed Malaga. The Boquerones have added Julio Baptista, Ignacio Camacho, Sergio Asenjo, Enzo Maresca and Martin Demichelis, but this surely will not be enough to resist Messi et al. Unsurprisingly, in fantasy terms there are no great bargains to be had. Of the front three - Messi (45.83), David Villa (28.14), Rodriguez (21.14) - only the latter looks great value. Villa averages 13 but even when he scored last week, he only got 12.5. In midfield, it is tempting to take a punt on new signing Ibrahim Affellay (4.07), who was on the bench for the past two games and is surely due a first team opportunity soon.



Villarreal (3rd) v Osasuna (15th) (sat)

Surely a home win for the Submarine, who by many accounts gave Real a run for their money, despite losing 4-2 last week. With Ruben starting and scoring in that game in the place of the long term injured Nilmar, this unknown quantity looks set to continue up front with Rossi and looks a bargain at 6.55. In midfield, the attacking options of Cani (10.71), Carzola (15.26, averaging 8.03) or Valero (11.77) appeal. Also, Diego Lopez has to come into the fantasy goal, his price having sank to 11.26 thanks to his conceding 4 at Real. But the yellows can take nothing for granted; Osasuna's Ricardo was the top scoring goalkeeper last week at home to Getafe. Although, this may also say a lot about Osasuna's defensive short comings.

Ruben "Warpath" Villarreal, not to be confused with Ruben, Villarreal

Valencia 4th v Deportivo 13th (Sun)

Valencia have to be clear favourites, cruising into the game on a great run of form, while Deportivo will still be recovering from the 4-0 battering at home to Barca last week. Valencia's Juan Mata scored the only goal last week in their one nil win at Levante and, with the striker penning a new deal this week, looks a safe pick. Although, priced at 18.38, there may be some better bargains around (e.g. Ruben).

Sevilla 10th v Espanyol 5th (Sat)

This is the most closely matched tie of the round with both sides in fantastic form heading into this game. Sevilla have won 4 on the trot and in Kanoute and Fabiano have an in form, dangerous strike force. But, Espanyol have one of the best keepers in the league at the moment in Carles Kameni.

Athl Madrid 6th v Mallorca 8th (Mon)

This should be one of the games of the week but both teams are likely to cancel each other out. Forlan is tempting at 17 but the Uruguayan hasn't scored in La Liga for 6 weeks. Likewise, Aguero (20), is unlikey to have a great time against a decent Mallorca defence.

And the rest...

Saturday

Getafe 7th v Real Sociedad 12th 
Zaragoza 20th v LEV 17th 
Sporting 18th v Hercules 11th 
Athl Bilbao 9th v Racing 14th

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