Perhaps the toughest question of this year's EPL fantasy preseason is which of the biggest EPL strikers should be used. They are all costly, and there is uncertainty over starting lineups and succeptibility to injury. But choosing the right striker force early is vital, particularly as many opening fixtures provide the opportunity for some big points.

After the opening round's somewhat surprising outlay of points, there is already a wave of activity happening on the fantasy transfer market. This means some players are set to rise in value, and if you are after a short term monetary gain, then jumping on these players at the earliest opportunity is the way to make it happen.

Gameweek 17 is fast approaching, and for the unprepared may cause something of an issue as four teams do not play. And as the four teams represent some of the more popular value players, there is a risk your team may contain several players who earn no points that week. Now is the time to make some strategic use of transfers to plan ahead.

Now the first EPL round has been played we get a clearer idea of which lowest priced players are getting game time. From the defenders, Wilkinson earned 6 points in Stoke's clean sheet against Burnley. Their fixtures are something of a mix, facing Liverpool on gameweek 2 before playing a pair of lower teams.

On the back of Tottenham's 9-1 trousering of Wigan, Jermain Defoe's 25 point, 5 goal haul means his price is set to skyrocket over the next week or two. The unwashed masses believe any player earning a double-figure points total one week guarantees the same result the following week, and Defoe will be transferred in so many times before the next gameweek that his price should spike by £0.

Guillermo Franco is a 33-year-old Mexican striker acquired as a free signing for West Ham, and has been a starting forward since Gameweek 10. Over the last 5 games he has scored twice. At £5.0m, he represents a player who may make an excellent cheap third striker. With the long list of injuries hitting the major strikers (Drogba, Van Persie, Torres, and a possible hamstring injury to Darren Bent) and the forthcoming absences of Stoke, Fulham, Everton and Hull from Gameweek 17, active strikers may be thin on the ground.

Michael Owen has been a polemic figure throughout his career. At 29 years of age many critics claim that he is already past his prime; that his workrate has slowed, his injuries have multiplied and his goal scoring has come to a shuddering halt. Others believe that his best is yet to come; that he has plenty of energy left, that his injuries mostly come down to bad luck and that he is still, statistically speaking, one of the most lethal English strikers around.

Manchester United's fixtures are approaching a golden period of unprecidented easiness. Over the next 9 weeks, the toughest fixture may well be Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
West Ham v Man Utd
Man Utd v Aston Villa
Man Utd v Wolverhampton
Fulham v Man Utd
Hull v Man Utd
Man Utd v Wigan
Birmingham v Man Utd
Man Utd v Burnley
Man Utd v Hull
A fixture list like this makes Manchester United players definately worth having.

The season is coming to a close, and although clinching the premiership crown remains a possibility, it seems more likely that we will end the season empty handed once again. Despite this, Eoin Sheridan believes that the club should think twice about splshing the cash and warns against signing a raft of new players.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

As we hit the quarter pole of the MLS season, it is time to take a first look at some of the races for MLS awards. While there is still plenty of soccer to be played, and candidates can still rise and fall, eight games is enough of a sample size to start getting an early idea about serious contenders and the strength of a field.

Carrying on from our look at the goalkeepers and defenders in Part II, it's now time to address the midfield and forwards. Once again, note that I'm including the loanees and injured reserve guys in this roundup. Midfielders John DiRaimondo: With...

This is the fourth in a recurring series where we look at the DC United season, five games at a time.
Results: 1-2-2. 9 GF, 11 GA
Standings: Third place in the Eastern Conference
Statistical Leaders: Christian Gomez (3 goals, 2 assists), Luciano Emilio (3 goals), Bryan Namoff, Jaime Moreno, and Fred (1 goal, 1 assist each)
Most frequent lineup:

What we liked:

• The Christian Gomez of 2007 - In the first half of the season, there was a wide variety of candidates for DC United's MVP: Quaranta, Pontius, Moreno, Gomez, maybe even Wicks or Jakovic.

Sure, I'm angry. Yes, I'm pi**ed. But, really, what can you do?

Chelsea left it all on the pitch Wednesday, coming within seconds of a second consecutive appearance in the Champions League final. Those who wanted football got it; the Blues, for large portions of the match, toyed with the Barcelona defense.

Here's a tactic that Alex Ferguson may need to add to his repertoire.Pep Guardiola showed this video to his team just before they went out to meet Man U at the Champion's League final game.The rest is history. The film used images of Barca's finest moments of the season - featuring every member of the squad - interspersed with clips from the Russell Crowe film Gladiator.

This is the best our team has looked in quite a while. DC United just worked harder in this match, which is great to see. We won most of the 50-50 balls tonight, which has been rare the past few months. The team's first win against an MLS opponent since 7/18 couldn't have come at a better time.
The only thing I didn't like about our performance was the number of fouls given in close range.

After dropping three straight matches at home to MLS opponents, and with our most consistent defender and our two most dynamic attackers out, most fans didn't really expect DC United to win this match. Especially not against the soon-to-be back-to-back Supporters' Shield winners. And it may not have been an attractive victory, but it was a victory none the less.

Steve Davis of MLSnet.com writes about MLS clubs that are using tactics like low-pressure defending to slow down their opposition.
Watching the Los Angeles Galaxy right now is a little like eating institutional food. You know, that drab grub served up school cafeterias and hospitals. It's not anything you'll find in glossy gourmet magazines, but it provides calories and a few nutrients and gets the job done.

According to Jamie Redknapp, Ronaldo is into "individual awards" and will be pressuring Sir Alex Ferguson this week because he will want the golden boot for the EPL's top scorer. Obviously. But will Sir Alex listen to C-Ron?
Ronaldo's competitor, Nicolas Anelka, is more likely to feature for the full 90 minutes against Sunderland as Chelsea hope to sneak into 2nd place over Liverpool (incredibly unlikely but possible with a comfortable win over Sunderland and a Tottenham upset at Liverpool.

This is the third in a recurring series where we look at the DC United season, five games at a time.
Results: 2-1-2. 8 GF, 6 GA
Standings: First place in the Eastern Conference
Statistical Leaders: Christian Gomez (2 goals), Jaime Moreno (2 goals), Fred(1 goal, 1 assists), Santino Quaranta (1 goal, 1 assist), Luciano Emilio (2 assists),
Most frequent lineup:

What we liked:

• Goalkeeper controversy resolved - The only low point that I wrote about in both of my first two posts in this series is an issue no longer.

ATTACK THE LEFT SIDE

The left side is where you attack Brazil. Under Dunga, Brazil essentially plays without a left sided midfielder. The left back position for the Brazilians has been a similarly problematic as it has been for the United States. Andres Santos and Klebar are both below the acceptable standard and we saw Dani Alves inserted on the left side late against South Africa despite being right footed.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team beat Honduras just two weeks ago in Gold Cup group play, but it will be much more difficult this time around.

Frank Rijkaard has enjoyed an absolutely brilliant start with Galatasaray. The team has NOT lost one single game since he has been appointed. Won all the 6 games in the Super League and qualified to the group stage in UEFA Europa league. Along with his assistant, Johan Neeskens, he has probably created the best coaching staff in club's history.

Attackers Davy Arnaud and Claudio Lopez are both up twice for the AT&T Goal of the Year award. Davy is nominated for his long-range, left-footed bomb in Week 1 and a give-and-go and give-and-go effort in Week 13. Lopez is up for his free kick in Week 10 and his past-the-halfline bomb in Week 19.

From Moltomanager
Today's breakdown will be on the famous and very popular 3-5-2. 3 defenders, 5 midfielders, 2 attackers. It is a formation i run into with increasing regularity at the club and high school level.I confess i am a 4-4-2 guy. Footballs most balanced formation is easy to teach from in short amounts of training time.

Both Stoke and Fulham have a double header on Gameweek 20, after missing out on Gameweek 17. Arsenal and Bolton are the other teams that gameweek who benefit from the revised fixture list.
The tricky part for a lot of players is that by now many have shaped their teams into something close to what they would like, making the dilemma not so much about who they should transfer in, rather who they will transfer out.

That game totally and completely qualifies as "pulling one out of your ass".

As a Galaxy fan, this game was a tie that felt like a victory. Not only are we the first team to take points at Rio Tinto this season, but pulling it out in the 95th minute AFTER conceding a penalty kick showed the major difference between this year's team and the previous two.

LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images

FC Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola prior to his team taking the field in the Champions League Final against Manchester United used some "Hollywood Magic" to inspire his team on to victory. Guardiola along with Catalan journalist Santi Padro put together clips of each Barcelona player showing their greatest moments on the pitch and then incorporated the clips into scenes from the Russell Crowe movie Gladiator.

Costa Rican football has undergone a transition with the star players who led the Ticos to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup largely moving on and fresher blood coming in. Some of the fresh faces in Costa Rica's setup are not all that young however.

The generation of Wanchope, Medford, Fonseca, etc have given way to players of lesser stature and largely playing in the Costa Rican domestic league.

We know, we know... it is only July but hey - you weren't doing anything else during the Summer break were you?
Yes, it's the wonderful return of the official Fantasy Premier League competition for 2009/10 and more specifically SPAOTP's very own mini-league, custom-made just for you.
This'll be the third year SPAOTP has had a Fantasy Premier League running and we're hoping to attract even more competitors than the 67 we had in 2007/08 and the 121 we had in 2008/09.

Today, pickings are a little slim in regards to big transfer rumors, but even so, you know you can count on me to bring you what's in the news.

A few Premier League sides are busy trying to strengthen their numbers at the back as the season gets ready to kick off, and as a result, today's roundup is filled with defender news and rumors.

Rafa Benitez blasted Steven Gerrard and Co after Liverpool lost 3-1 at home to Aston Villa.

The Reds suffered their second league defeat in three games, having lost only twice last season and Liverpool are already six points behind Chelsea after only three games.

Rafa was not happy with Liverpool's performance and said after the game:

"Lucas scored an own goal but Gerrard gave away a penalty and each player will have to analyse a lot of things.

Manchester United have a fantastic run of fixtures until the end of January, as we have mentioned before. So it would be no surprise to learn that 9% of teams have persisted with John O'Shea in their teams defence, despite him not playing in the last 3 weeks. However word from Old Trafford today is that both O'Shea and Jonny Evans will be out until the New Year.

There is no debate that Carlos Johnsons bonehead foul in the box cost the Red Bulls a point or three in the standings. The play was deliberate, late, and made in desperation. So the question is not whether the PK was deserved.

The question, rather, is whether or not this interference was cause for a red card.

There won't be a sympathy vote PFA award for Sami Hyypia as he ends his ten year career with Liverpool FC, but for Reds supporters his legend will remain as large as the 6′4 Finn himself.

Bought from Willem II in 1999 for a mere £2.5m, Hyypia is easily one of the greatest bargains in Liverpool's rich history.

Bob Bradley shook up the US squad and formation today in preparation for a critical qualifier in Chicago against Honduras. The Hondurans were missing two key elements: David Suazo one of the top players in CONCACAF and the solid Julio De Leon of Parma in Italy.

Bradley's changes reflected the caution of a manager under heavy fire who did not want to make a mistake.

Well the deal is done. After a lot of speculation and rumours, Kaka' has signed for Real Madrid with a record transfer fee of about 58 million pounds. The new world record eclipses the previous one, also held by Real Madrid for when they purchased Zidane from Juve back in 2001. It could've been much higher if he'd joined Man City in the middle of the season (around the 100 million pound mark!

Well, it looks like Toure to Manchester City is a done deal, for a rumored £15 million. Brace yourself for the surprise of what I'm about to say, but Citeh will also reportedly close to double Toure's wages.

I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Toure was really pretty poor for most of the second half of last season he's never been an overly physical defender, instead relying on pace and positioning to keep attackers away from goal.

Unless you were a fan of Real Madrid, Manchester City or a couple of other clubs dotted across the continent, this summer's transfer window was a major anti-climax, nowhere more so than at Liverpool FC.
Glen Johnson's arrival was a welcome improvement to the squad, but this was undoubtedly offset by the departure of Xabi Alonso.

We should see a bit more of this in the near future: Gerrard scoring
Steven Gerrard has been used as a traditional, rather than attacking central midfielder so far this season - curbing a bit of his attacking enthusiasm in Liverpool's lineup as he has stayed deeper alongside Lucas while allowing Benayoun - Kuyt - Riera to roam in front of him and pick up attacking returns.

One thing is really starting to infuriate me as a watching fan; our persistence with Cesc and Van Persie as our only set piece takers. Do not get me wrong, some things are working fine, confirmed by the goals from Gallas and Vermaelen. However we can still improve.

Sometimes I think the knowledge that he will get go after go means that Robin uses many to get his aim in.