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Will Torres start for Chelsea this weekend? John Walton/EMPICS Sport
conjecture

Fantasyland: Chelsea v Man City and much, much more

Also, be prepared to fill your team with Man United players, as they’re playing QPR.

AFTER AN EXTENDED break for most clubs owing to last weekend’s FA Cup games, it’s nice to have the bread and butter of a full Premier League schedule back again.

And this weekend has some intriguing games for fantasy football obsessives and neutrals alike.

The match of the weekend is undoubtedly Man City v Chelsea, while some Fantasy players may be tempted to fill their side with Manchester United footballers, as they take on bottom-of-the-league QPR.

However, QPR have already gotten positive results against Chelsea, Tottenham and Man City in recent matches, so you never know.

Two players to pick

Robin van Persie: The Dutchman was subdued at times during the club’s recent Champions League game, largely owing to a lack of service from his teammates. But expect RVP to thrive, as he has done most of the season, this weekend. QPR are not exactly Real Madrid after all.

Santi Cazorla: Expect Cazorla to be returned to his natural more central position tomorrow, after playing him out wide in their midweek tie proved unsuccessful. Moreover, there’ll surely be a backlash from Arsenal. The gap in quality between themselves and Villa is similar to the chasm between the Gunners and Bayern Munich, only in this instance, it’s in their favour.

Two players to avoid

Per Mertesacker: In a Champions League game that was full of bad Arsenal performances, Mertesacker was so awful midweek that he still managed to stand out. The defender’s confidence is likely to have been affected if it wasn’t already, and even though they’re playing Villa at home, the German international still always looks like he has a mistake in him at the moment.

Fernando Torres: A recent injury to Demba Ba increased the level of responsibility on Torres’ shoulders, but the much-maligned striker hasn’t exactly flourished as a result. Ba has now returned to full fitness and even if the Spaniard does start, he is likely to struggle against an invariably solid Man City defence.

Predictions:

Fulham 1-1 Stoke City

Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa

Norwich 1-1 Everton

QPR 0-3 Man United

Reading 2-2 Wigan

West Brom 2-1 Sunderland

Man City 2-1 Chelsea

Newcastle 2-1 Southampton

West Ham 1-3 Tottenham

How my team got on two weeks ago

Thankfully, Luis Suarez came through eventually to earn me an exactly average 65 points.

Who’s leading TheScore.ie Primera Division?

Mark Dinan’s the Sultans of Ping FC are on top with 1,599, closely followed by The Flying Elephants on 1,590.

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