December Fixtures - Overview

There are loads of games in December with all teams playing at least 6 times and 1 team playing an incredible 8 times!

In league table order the following teams play 6 times in December:

Manchester United (3 home, 3 away), Chelsea (4 home, 2 away), Bolton (3 home, 3 away), Portsmouth (3 home, 3 away), Aston Villa (2 home, 4 away), Everton (4 home, 2 away), Liverpool (2 home, 4 away), Fulham (2 home, 4 away), Manchester City (3 home, 3 away), Sheffield United (4 home, 2 away) and Watford (3 home, 3 away).

The following teams have 7 games in December:

Arsenal (3 home, 4 away), Reading (3 home, 4 away), Tottenham Hotspur (4 home, 3 away), Middlesbrough (3 home, 4 away), West Ham United (4 home, 3 away), Blackburn Rovers (4 home, 3 away) and Charlton (4 home, 3 away).

And the team who have 8 games in December is:

Wigan Athletic (4 home, 4 away). A note of caution though - their fixtures include matches against Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Plenty to consider ahead of the entry deadline at 12.30pm on Saturday!

Cheers,
Tom @ YTM HQ

Top 10 players so far this week

1=) N Anelka, Bolton Wanderers, 10 points
1=) D Berbatov, Tottenham Hotspur, 10 points
3=) R Carvalho, Chelsea, 9 points
3=) A Faye, Bolton Wanderers, 9 points
3=) S Gerrard, Liverpool, 9 points
6=) G Silva, Arsenal, 8 points
6=) A Reid, Charlton Athletic, 8 points
6=) H Mullins, West Ham United, 8 points
6=) A Lennon, Tottenham Hotspur, 8 points
10=) A Ferdinand, West Ham United, 7 points
10=) G Barry, Aston Villa, 7 points
10=) A Sibierski, Newcastle United, 7 points

With the midweek games we'll be annoucing the team of the week and month on Thursday.

Cheers,
YTM HQ

YTM Prediction Week 15

Apologies if these predictions come on the site a little late. We are having issue with Blogspot and have been caught up in a SpamNet... Sounds all a bit tasty to me...

There have been a few last-minute loan deals that have seen Patrik Berger move to Stoke, and youngster Dave Jones moving on-loan to Derby. No other changes of note to Premiership clubs, apart from the mighty Leeds United stealing Ugo Ehiogu from Boro!
Good week of European football. I thought that Newcastle were very impressive against Celta Vigo, and that may reflect in my prediction... Off we go...

Saturday

Villa vs Boro
Villa got a good point away at Wigan with a very young side. They will be looking for all three here against Inconsistency FC, AKA Middlesbrough. Boro got a point against Liverpool last week. I'm not sure whether that was a good or poor result! Villa will come out firing, and I think they will take the three points.
Dave's YTM Prediction: Home Win

Bolton vs Arsenal
Good win for Arsenal against Hamburg on Tuesday, but it came at a price with Thierry Henry picking up a knock. Bolton have lost their last two games at home, and will be looking to give their fans some pre-Christmas cheer. I think Arsenal will have to play well, but they will steal the win by one or two goals.
Dave's YTM Prediction: Away Win

Charlton vs Everton
Everton have not been in good form recently, but their victory over Bolton last week will have given them a bit more confidence. They really miss Tim Cahill's influence from the midfield, and they will be hoping that Mikel Arteta will be able to keep up the hard job of filling his boots. Charlton sacked Dowie, and Reed took over and quickly realised that it would be a big ask for them to avoid relegation. I think they will get three points tomorrow, on pure desire.
Dave's YTM Prediction: Home Win

Fulham vs Reading
Fulham had been pulling an unbeaten run together, until they rolled over for Man City last Saturday. Reading seem to be gaining more and more confidence that they can survive in this league, and then some! These are the matches that the Cottagers need to win easily if they are to show improvement on last year. I can't see them winning this one.
Dave's YTM Prediction: Draw

Liverpool vs Man City
Liverpool should win this game due to their excellent home form. They had a game in midweek however, which drained their players, and put a few of them on the physio's table. Man City will look to soak up pressure and then hit them on the break. Corradi looked in good touch last week, but he needs to keep it up if he wants to stay in England for a serious period of time. Liverpool win here.
Dave's YTM Prediction: Home Win

West Ham vs Sheff Utd
Takeover complete, and now everyone can concentrate on football. Tevez and Mascherano look like they are on their way, even though Pardew says he wants them to stay. Neil Warnock is looking to strengthen in January, but should probably be concentrating on winning the bunch of games before then! I think the weight will feel a lot lighter on the Hammers, and they will take the three points on Saturday.
Dave's YTM Prediction: Home Win

Sunday

Man Utd vs Chelsea
Big, big game! Man United have to beat Chelsea to stay on top in the race for the title. Chelsea's injury worries are clearing up, and it looks like it will be first choice vs first choice. I think Man U will win this game, and I hope that it is down to Wayne Rooney. He is really the only player in the Man U line-up that Chelsea would probably want to buy if they could, and it would be a bitter pill to swallow if he was the match-winner!
Dave's YTM Prediction: Home Win

Newcastle vs Pompey
The Toon Army performed very well on Thursday night against Celta Vigo. When they went one goal down, I thought that they would just rollover for a strong Vigo outfit. But they stuck to the task in hand, and scored from two good crosses. Luque is certainly trying to get into the English way of playing, and for that reason I think he has to play. Pompey will be looking to Kanu to spearhead their attack, but I think Newcastle will have enough for a win.
Dave's YTM Prediction: Home Win

Spurs vs Wigan
I have back Spurs to win twice in a row now and they have let me down. Not today! Wigan are a difficult prospect away from home, as Fulham and Everton will pay testament to! Spurs got a great 1-0 win at Leverkusen on Thursday, and I feel their players will feel tired, and Wigan will take advantage of this in the latter stages. Draw for me.
Dave's YTM Prediction: Score Draw

That's your lot for this week. Good luck to all your teams. I'm very excited about watching Man U v Chelsea (6-goal thriller) and then the last day of the 1st test (England bat out a draw)...

...We can only hope!

Cheers

Dave @ YTM HQ

Team of the Week 14

Biggest points-scorer this weekend was Geremi, whose fabulous free-kick ensured all three points stayed at Stamford Bridge.

Wayne Rooney and Bernardo Corradi both helped themselves to braces. The two forwards have been under intense pressure of late, and this was the perfect way to reply. Let us not forget that Corradi has played a few times for Italy, and has an impressive scoring record. It would not surprise me if we see a lot more goals from him before the end of the season.

Elsewhere, Kieran Dyer came back from injury and scored. If only all of the Newcastle team could be fit at the same time... I swear it's a curse! Imagine a front six of Dyer, Parker, Emre, Duff, Owen and Martins... Newcastle have that! Roeder is a very unlucky manager.

Personally, I think that Nicky Shorey is an absolute bargain at £2m on YTM. He is a young left-back who loves to go forward, much like Leighton Baines of Wigan. I would expect many people to be getting him in their team at some point this season.

Good luck to the British teams in Europe this week. Hopefully Celtic will really give Man United a good game!

Cheers,

Dave @ YTM HQ

Close but no cigar....

Well my 3 imaginary teams for November would all be in the top 1% of entries but with 1 or 2 players per team not really contributing it looks like a question of close but no £10,000 cigar this time!

Here are the teams I selected in the November preview:

Team 1: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Young, Carsley, Barry, Agbonlahor, Kuyt, Drogba.

115 points which would have put me 405th. Hyypia was on tye bech versus 'Boro and it looks like Agger is playing well.

Team 2: Sorensen, Hughes, Ridgewell, Mellberg, P Neville, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Agbonlahor, Kuyt, Drogba.

121 points which would have put me 193rd. Aaron Hughes didn't play at Wigan and Gabby Agbonlahor is yet to fire this month.

Team 3: Van der Sar, G Neville, Vidic, R Ferdinand, Heinze, Young, Scholes, Valencia, Agbonlahor, Kuyt, Rooney.

113 points which would have put me 519th. Heinze and Valencia are the weak links. Both came on as subs this week.

The top team currently has 155 points which is a fantastic return with 2 sets of fixtures to go.

Just goes to show - you really do need all 11 players to contribute.

Cheers,
Tom
YTM HQ