I recently got asked in a comment to tell you my team for this seasons Barclays fantasy football. So here it comes, this is my team for Fantasy Premier League.
My goalkeepers are Given for Aston Villa and Al-Habsi from Wigan. I've never really believed in using too much money in goalkeepers in fantasy football, and that hasn't changed this season.

By Chris Wright

Today is a bit of a 'down day' in footballing terms, so what better way to fill the void than with another ten-strong random selection of intriguing, nostalgic photos from the Pies archive?

Hundreds of fans pour onto the Estadio Centenario pitch at the final whistle to celebrate Uruguay's 4-2 victory over Argentina in the first ever World Cup Final, 1930

England internationals Stanley Matthews, Stanley Mortensen (both of Blackpool) and George Hardwick (Middlesbrough) take part in the filming of an FA instructional film, 1947

'Der Kaiser' Franz Beckenbauer poses with a NASL ball for a photo in front of the Rockefeller Centre in New York after re-joining the Cosmos for the final year of his playing career, 1983

Huddersfield and Charlton play out their Division One game on a dog of a pitch, 1947

The Italian national side pose with Benito Mussolini (centre) after winning the 1938 World Cup in France

England's Terry Venables limbers up during a training session at Stamford Bridge ahead of a friendly against Belgium, 1964

Aston Villa pose for their pre-season team photoback row, 1971

Referee Alan Robinson finds something or other highly amusing, 1985

Arsenal manager Billy Wright (left) quibbles with referee AJ Sturgeon after the latter had no option but to postpone a match due to the ghostly covering of snow on the Highbury pitch, 1962

Flamboyant rock 'n' rollers Little Richard and Screaming Lord Sutch (along with his parrot) enjoy a kick-about on the Wembley turf ahead of a charity game, 1972

[Photos: PA]

The Need For Advanced Football Stats - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

As a sports fan living in America, you're bombarded with statistics of increasing complexity across every sport except football (or soccer, as the US calls it). Media analysis of football still relies on the same statistics we've seen for years, which are generally cumulative totals.

A few days ago, I wrote about different ways of measuring a team's performance - either in absolute or relative terms. Relative metrics are useful if we are interested in drilling a little deeper into what players or teams are able to do, given the resources they have or in relation to some other event on the pitch, not simply whether they do a lot or a little (like scoring or possessing the ball).

George is starting his predictions for the new 2011-2012 English Premier League season. Good luck Georgie!
Saturday 10th September 2011
Arsenal 2 v Swansea City 1
Everton 1 v Aston Villa 1
Manchester City 2 v Wigan Athletic 0
Stoke City 2 v Liverpool 2
Sunderland 2 v Chelsea 3
Wolves 2 v Tottenham 1
Bolton 1 v Man Utd 2
Sunday 11th September 2011
Norwich City 1 v WBA 1
Fulham 2 v Blackburn 1
Monday 12th September 2011
QPR 1 v Newcastle United 3
Tags
World Cup Pens
World Cup Posters
Premiership football predictions

Arsenal v Swansea Everton v Aston Villa Man City v Wigan Stoke v Liverpool Sunderland v Chelsea Wolves v Tottenham Bolton v Man Utd Norwich v West Brom Fulham v Blackburn Here's a summary of the news that can be found behind the links above: Arsenal: The important mention is that Gibbs is fit and Santos is "short of fitness" which leaves fantasy managers with a fairly certain, very

Friday, September 9
2:30pm AC Milan vs Lazio (FSC)

Saturday, September 10
9:30am Borussia Dortmund vs Hertha Berlin (GolTV)
10:00am Arsenal vs Swansea City (FSC)
10:00am Stoke City vs Liverpool (Fox Soccer Plus)
10:00am Sunderland vs Chelsea (ESPN2)
12:00pm Villarreal vs Sevilla (GolTV)
12:00pm Real Sociedad vs Barcelona (ESPN Deportes)
12:30pm Bolton vs Manchester United (FSC)
2:00pm Real Madrid vs Getafe (GolTV)
2:30pm Cesena vs Napoli (FSC)
2:30pm Wolverhampton vs Tottenham tape delay (Fox Soccer Plus)
4:00pm Valencia vs Atletico Madrid (ESPN Deportes)
4:30pm Everton vs Aston Villa tape delay (Fox Soccer Plus)
5:00pm Manchester City vs Wigan tape delay (FSC)

Sunday, September 11
6:30am Juventus vs Parma (Fox Soccer Plus)
7:30am Roda JC vs FC Twente (ESPN Deportes)
8:30am Norwich City vs West Brom (Fox Soccer Plus)
9:00am Roma vs Cagliari (FSC)
9:30am Cologne vs Nuremburg (ESPN Deportes)
11:00am Fulham vs Blackburn (FSC)
11:30am Wolfsburg vs Schalke (GolTV)
12:00pm Rayo Vallecano vs Zaragoza (ESPN Deportes)
2:30pm Palermo vs Inter Milan (FSC)
3:00pm PSG vs Brest (Fox Soccer Plus)
4:00pm Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao (GolTV)

Ayegbeni Yakubu scored twice on his Blackburn Rovers debut as Steve Kean's team shocked Arsenal 4-3 to win their first league match of the season.

Arsenal have now won just 1 of their last 11 away league games and have conceded 12 goals on their last two Premier League away games.

But the Gunners should have wrapped this match up in the first half when they twice held one goal leads as Gervinho and Mikel Arteta scored their first goals for the Gunners.

No team is ever to big to go down. Ask Nottingham Forest, Manchester City or Newcastle United, even Aston Villa were embroiled in a scrap to avoid relegation last season. But Arsenal being relegated? As John McEnroe would say "You cannot be serious man." Well ex Arsenal player Tony Woodcock fears the worst.

Fernando Torres red card vs Swansea 2011 Chelsea Video Torres Mark Gower tackle sent off is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Fernando Torres red card vs Swansea 2011 Chelsea Video Torres Mark Gower tackle sent off is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter This Fernando Torres red card vs Swansea saw the Spanish striker get sent off when Chelsea played Swansea City in the Premier League on September 24, 2011.

As you're probably all too aware, the 1-1 draw at QPR on Sunday was our 5th draw of the season. And we've only played six games. And we remain unbeaten. You knew that, right?

Of course you did.
You might not be aware that this means we've drawn 83.33% of the (admittedly limited number of) games so far, or that we'll finish up drawing 31 or 32 games by the end of the season if this pattern continues.

Liverpool winger Stewart Downing has revealed he hopes to emulate former Aston Villa team-mate Ashley Young and earn a regular spot in Fabio Capello's England squad.
Young has become a regular fixture in Capello's starting XI over the past year, scoring his first international goals against Denmark in February and Switzerland in June.

Transfer Rumors: Last-Minute Deals Galore On Deadline Day - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

So, we've made it to the end of yet another wild summer transfer window. Here's hoping that your favorite side made the additions that you hoped they would, or just as importantly, didn't subtract anyone of great importance without failing to find a proper replacement.

The details of yesterday's terrible transfer attemopts is coming out, and if anything it's even worse than we thought. Mike Ashley Newcastle's version of Scrooge? It seems that Newcastle almost lost Danny Simpson to Aston Villa, and there have been runmors that Danny is not too happy at Newcastle, and is questioning the club's ambitions.

The details of yesterday's terrible transfer attemopts is coming out, and if anything it's even worse than we thought. Mike Ashley Newcastle's version of Scrooge? It seems that Newcastle almost lost Danny Simpson to Aston Villa, and there have been runmors that Danny is not too happy at Newcastle, and is questioning the club's ambitions.

So the dust has settled on the summer transfer of August 2011 and while it was a busy day at Spurs Lodge, was it a satisfactory one?

Five of our fringe players have left the club, albeit two are on loan with seemingly no future at the Lane and while Harry Redknapp said at the weekend that fresh faces were needed, we only ended up with one – Scott Parker who arrived from West Ham.

Stewart Downing claims Kenny Dalglish has given him the confidence to become an England hero.
By his own admission, the winger has had an up and down England career, but he is now aiming to follow former Aston Villa teammate Ashley Young in becoming a regular for Fabio Capello.
Like Young at Manchester United, Downing has been on top form since swapping clubs in the summer - and our new No.

This week it was announced that American midfielder Michael Bradley, who was on the outs with German side Borussia Mönchengladbach, managed to secure a transfer deal to Chievo Verona in Serie A, along with a multi-year contract. Bradley, son of former United States National Team Coach, Bob Bradley, will be the only American playing in Serie A this season.

This week it was announced that American midfielder Michael Bradley, who was on the outs with German side Borussia Mönchengladbach, managed to secure a transfer deal to Chievo Verona in Serie A, along with a multi-year contract. Bradley, son of former United States National Team Coach, Bob Bradley, will be the only American playing in Serie A this season.

Steven Gerrard has praised Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish for replacing high-earning fringe players such as Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic and Christian Poulsen with 'hungry' new talent during the transfer window.
The club captain has suggested Anfield will be a better place without squad misfits such as Cole, who has joined big-spending French side Lille on a season-long loan - in turn freeing up the former Chelsea man's rumoured £90,000-a-week wages for new recruits.

Holy inappropriate Following in the footsteps of the first ever footballer to be canonised, Ian St. John, it appears that the church has decided that Stiliyan Petrov deserves to be sainted. It remains to be seen whether the same honour will be bestowed on all Aston Villa players who played under Gerard Houllier and avoided [.

Holy inappropriate Following in the footsteps of the first ever footballer to be canonised, Ian St. John, it appears that the church has decided that Stiliyan Petrov deserves to be sainted. It remains to be seen whether the same honour will be bestowed on all Aston Villa players who played under Gerard Houllier and avoided [.

Everton's troubles continue as they were only able to name 18 players, seven short of the maximum, in their official squad submitted to the Premier League.

However, that 18 does not include Under-21 players, so the likes of Ross Barkley do not feature but are still eligible to play as clubs can use an unlimited number of younger-age players.

Everton's troubles continue as they were only able to name 18 players, seven short of the maximum, in their official squad submitted to the Premier League.

However, that 18 does not include Under-21 players, so the likes of Ross Barkley do not feature but are still eligible to play as clubs can use an unlimited number of younger-age players.

The Carling Cup is not the most glamorous cup competition in the world but it is a great opportunity for some so called 'smaller' Premier League teams to have success and get into Europe.
For years there has been some discussion about the merits of the Carling Cup, with some managers putting out under strength sides, as they see the competition as a burden, have disrespected it to a fair degree.

Ouch! Doubters have always said that plastic pitches are dangerous but probably not for this reason. Republic of Ireland defender Richard Dunne managed a massive faceplant on a metal grid surrounding the pitch. The Aston Villa man made a sliding tackle on Russia's Yuri Zhirkov, but ended up smacking his face on the drainage [.

Ashley Young gives England a 1-0 lead against Wales at Wembley after great work from former Aston Villa team-mate Stuart Downing setting him up in their crucial Euro 2012 qualifier.

By Alan Duffy

The real, tragic consequences of the collapse of the Celtic Tiger were all too apparent in Moscow on Tuesday night, as Republic of Ireland captain Richard Dunne was forced to wear a number-less replacement shirt after his No. 5 shirt was decimated in a challenge with Yuri Zhirkov.

Photo credits to cfletcher86

This Aston Villa squad list was taken from the official Premier League website.

Yes English or Welsh
No Import

1 Agbonlahor, Gabriel Yes
2 Albrighton, Marc Kevin Yes
3 Bannan, Barry No
4 Bent, Darren Ashley Yes
5 Beye, Habib No
6 Clark, Ciaran Yes
7 Collins, James Michael Yes
8 Cuellar Jimenez, Carlos Javier No
9 Delph, Fabian Yes
10 Dunne, Richard Patrick Yes
11 Given, Shay John James Yes
12 Guzan, Bradley Edwin No
13 Herd, Christopher Yes
14 Heskey, Emile William Ivanhoe Yes
15 Ireland, Stephen James Yes
16 Lichaj, Eric Joseph Yes
17 Lowry, Shane Thomas Yes
18 Marshall, Andrew John Yes
19 Petrov, Stiliyian Alyoshev No
20 Warnock, Stephen Yes
21 N'Zogbia, Charles Yes
22 Jenas, Jermaine Anthony Yes
23 Hutton, Alan No

Aston Villa Under 21 players (Contract and Scholars)
Baker, Nathan Luke
Barrett, Calum Alastair
Barton, Joshua
Bateman, Liam Vere
Bryan, Richard
Burke, Graham Dylan
Caira, Reece
Cameron, Courtney Lee
Carruthers, Samir Badre
Coton, Matthew James
Darkin, Darious Paul
Delete, Z
Delfouneso, Nathan
Devine, Daniel Patrick
Drennan, Michael Joseph
Eminoglu, Umit
Gardner, Gary
Graham, Jordan
Hill, Craig Dennis
Jenkins, Sebastian Stephen
Johnson, Daniel Anthony
Kinsella, Lewis
Lampkin, Jason Severiano
Lewis, Bradley
Melvin, Malcolm Graham
Nelson, Michael
Nelson-Addy, Ebby
Parish, Elliott Charles
Robinson, Callum Jack
Serrano De La Cruz Vidal, Juan Jose
Siegrist, Benjamin Kevin
Steiber, Andras
Stevenson, Oliver
Taylor, Connor
Ward, Charles Patrick
Watkins, Mason Bradley
Watkins, Bradley
Webb, Joshua John
Weimann, Andreas
Williams, Daniel Ashley
Williams, Derrick

The loan window will open tomorrow and it seems that Nile Ranger will be a player targeted by a number of clubs. Nile Ranger in action at Aston Villa Newcastle have said they would prefer to sell the player, and the asking price is said to be £1.5M for the 20 year-old, which seems [...]

The loan window will open tomorrow and it seems that Nile Ranger will be a player targeted by a number of clubs. Nile Ranger in action at Aston Villa Newcastle have said they would prefer to sell the player, and the asking price is said to be £1.5M for the 20 year-old, which seems [...]

Following a drawn-out recuperation process following a groin injury, Steven Gerrard is to re-join his Liverpool teammates in full training this week.
Speaking to the Mirror Football website, the Reds skipper expressed his excitement about returning to the fold after what has been a very exciting start to the season at Anfield.

The starting speed forward for the Rapids All-Time Team is Omar Cummings.
How Acquired: Drafted in the 3rd round (31st overall pick) in the 2007 Superdraft.
Years In Colorado: 2007 through present
This was the trickiest pick of the team. I went back and forth between a 4-4-2 and a 3-4-3, but eventually Cummings won out.

By Chris Wright

Inspired by Amir Sayoud's truly piss-poor effort that we had this misfortune of witnessing yesterday (which, by rights, should be at the top of this list), here's our ten-strong run down of the worst penalties of the modern era...

10.

The new Daniel O'Donnell? Ex-Aston Villa and Manchester United centre-back Paul McGrath seems to be angling for a music career after this video of his rendition of the Gerry Goffin and Carole King song Goin' Back appeared on YouTube. The track is the first single off a forthcoming 11-track album of covers.

The new Daniel O'Donnell? Ex-Aston Villa and Manchester United centre-back Paul McGrath seems to be angling for a music career after this video of his rendition of the Gerry Goffin and Carole King song Goin' Back appeared on YouTube. The track is the first single off a forthcoming 11-track album of covers.

With the pantomime and debacle that was transfer deadline day firmly behind us, we are left to reflect on what that one cataclysmic day has left in its wake. Much like Wolves' last outing against Aston Villa, August 31st was ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article

Three matches in and there are already a few things we know about the Premiership.

1 That Manchester United will hit double figures against some poor unfortunates this season

2 Thanks to some serious spending QPR might just end up being the second most successful West London club this season

3 Gary Cahill will go in the January transfer window for £20 million plus

4 There are at least a dozen commentators hoping that Denis Stracqualursi isn't a success at Everton

5 Shane Long might just make the difference between West Brom staying up

So on to this week's games brought to you in conjunction with our betting sponsors www.

By Chris Wright

Just a few photos of Aston Villa showing off their deadline day signings, Alan Hutton and Jermaine Jenas, outside the club's Bodymoor Heath training complex...

Speaking of fresh meat, it was nice of Villa to put out a plate of breaded cold cuts and breaded ham for the gathered journos at the press conference afterwards.

There is an argument to be made that Gordon Smith is the forgotten giant of Scottish football.
Although his memory lives on with those lucky enough to have seen him play, recognition for his exploits as a player and for his unique acheivements seems to have slipped away.
Yet his was a remarkable career: five league championships with Hibs, Hearts and Dundee.