Eduardo's most common move, the ankle breaker
This is the most obvious Funny Feeling Friday selection in history - but the selection completely fits the award for the week - an unpopular, out of form, or underrated player who we think will perform over the next few weeks.
Couldn't be more obvious: it's Eduardo (7. Click to continue reading...

The Hand of the Frog
Thanks to the 50 + of you who participated in our World Cup Playoff Prediction Contest sponsored by Soccer Pro, and I'm pleased to announce our winners...
1st Place: Jon (wins a team jacket of his choice from Soccer Pro!)2nd Place: Daniel (wins an official World Cup replica ball! Click to continue reading...

Can he do it on his own without Torres, Benayoun, and Riera?
Steven Gerrard looks set to start for Liverpool this weekend against Manchester City as his long road to recovery from a groin problem looks almost complete...
Gerrard has used the international break to step up his rehabilitation program - and the news will surely make Liverpool fans happy. Click to continue reading...

I wish Arteta was fit so I could replace Lampard with an absolute on the ball genius
This international break has not been meaningless by any means- in fact, it's been quite exciting as Nic Anelka gave France a 1-0 lead over Ireland, and former Fantasy Premier League stars Obafemi Martins (Nigeria) and Amr Zaki (Egypt) got their countries one step closer to South Africa as well. Click to continue reading...

With the Premier League news slowing down, and the World Cup qualification news speeding up, I figured I'd take the down time that so often comes with international breaks, put the Fantasy Premier League to the side, and focus a bit on predicting the European World Cup qualifiers...
Caveat: While my predicting/gambling skills have been refined over the past ten years through various online and offline channels, I rarely go with deep statistical analyses to back up my predictions. Click to continue reading...

If only those scarves were bandages
Fresh news out of Anfield is reporting that Albert Riera and the Israeli Landon Donovan (Yossi Benayoun) are going to be out for a month with muscle injuries.
It's been a rough season for the Merseyside Reds, with most of their stars having sat out for at least a few games. Click to continue reading...

Butt Buddies
Chelsea's captain Frank Lampard picked up a thigh injury while training today and will be out of England's friendly with Brazil this weekend.
Lampard has been a hot topic for us this season - he started off incredibly slow, but then finally scored from open play a few weeks ago and has been on fire ever since. Click to continue reading...

"Look at Nani - his free kick goes right into the wall, again!"
It's been all doom and gloom for Liverpool over the past few weeks - the losses keep mounting, as do the injuries - and the club finds itself in its most precarious state in years.
On the other hand, Chelsea are being touted as "Champions" before we've even hit December, and with over six months of football still to be played, it seems as if journalists, bloggers, and pundits alike are claiming that The Blues have what it takes to win it all. Click to continue reading...

What's been in Butt's Brain over the past few days...

• Benni McCarthy says he has no future at Blackburn under Sam Allardyce. Pompey seem to be in the running for the South African superstar - he would join compatriot Aaron Mokoena at Fratton Park if the move goes through in January [Times Live]

• Only a few days left for you to participate in our World Cup prediction contest and win some great free soccer gear from Soccer Pro [Butt Buddies WC Contest] and [Soccer Pro]

• Liverpool's injury woes continue.

Click to continue reading...

Corrigan Brothers love Trappatoni almost as much as we love Soccer Pro
What's better than free footie gear right before the holidays? Almost nothing, that's right. So we've teamed up once again with our favorite online soccer shop Soccer Pro to run a brand new Butt Buddies World Cup Play-Off Prediction Contest this week. Click to continue reading...

With such blistering pace at just 4.5M, I'd have a silly grin on my face too
Our Funny Feeling Friday this week is Arsenal's left back Kieran Gibbs. With starting left back Gael Clichy out for a month or more with a stress fracture in his lower back, Gibbs should take over the starting spot and comes with the price tag (4. Click to continue reading...

Zavon Hines, grown not made
Zavon Hines is the rare English academy product to make it all the way up the youth ranks and onto the first team - for both club and (almost) country - and today he showed again why sometimes pure speed, will and trickery is really all you need.
While Hines (4. Click to continue reading...

What language is this? The language of beautiful football
Despite his groin problem, Fernando Torres may feel a bit snubbed after Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti and midfielder Frank Lampard both claimed yesterday that Didier Drogba is the best striker in the world. Click to continue reading...

Joe Cole - breathing out of mouth and wearing short shorts, as usual
Joe Cole is fit again - which means that not only are his extra short shorts back on the playing field, but his brilliant creativity and Benayoun-like awareness in close spaces is on display as well in the Chelsea attack. Click to continue reading...

Happy Halloween
Lots of injuries coming out of Premier League training grounds this week that fantasy managers should be aware of going into what looks like a pretty tasty weekend for the Big-4 sides that could produce loads of goals...

• Thomas Sorensen will be back for Stoke.

Click to continue reading...

It was a momentous week in the Premier League, as we saw Arsenal give further ammunition to those who claim they have a soft centre with a late collapse at West Ham, Nemanja Vidic pick up a third successive red card against Liverpool, Harry Redknapp beg Aaron Lennon not to leave him and Liam Ridgewell play his way into the Fantasy Premier League team of the week.

Click to continue reading...

Double the pleasure, double the fun
Let's preview this weekend's matches but also bear in mind that we have a Fantasy Premier League double gameweek on our hands for two teams: Aston Villa and West Ham. But don't get too crazy with excitement: Villa are on the road at Everton while West Ham take on tricky Sunderland before these two clubs face off against each other. Click to continue reading...

Not so tough anymore, actually, you choir boy
What's going around Butt's Brain today...

• Sir Alex Ferguson is calling into question Rio Ferdinand's form. Could this be a fantasy footie opening for last year's favorite bargain Big-4 defender Jonny Evans? [ESPN]

• Cristiano Ronaldo's WAGs.

Click to continue reading...

Bent's quizzical reaction to his "beach ball" goal highlight vs. Liverpool
Sunderland striker Darren Bent will miss tomorrow's Carling Cup tie against Aston Villa through injury.
Bent is suffering from what is described only as a "slight knee injury" but Sunderland fans (or the thousands of fantasy football managers who own him) may be a bit more nervous about this slight knee injury when they check out Bent's past medical history. Click to continue reading...

Handsy's REAL fantasy team
All those David Dunn (5.6M) and Christopher Samba (4.9M) owners may not have been worried when their (clearly benched) players weren't in the squad vs Chelsea this past weekend. But maybe there should be some worrying going forward. Latest reports out of Ewood Park are saying that the duo are suffering from "virus like symptoms" [read H1N1? Click to continue reading...

Handsy's brain on a Friday night
International breaks and Friday nights, there is nothing that will make a fantasy Premier League manager twitch faster...
Idle hands are the devil's playground, if I am anywhere near my computer after having an adult beverage or two there is nothing more tempting than adjusting my fantasy roster. Click to continue reading...

Get on that Kevin Doyle train
This week's Funny Feeling Friday selection is Wolves' Kevin Doyle (5.4M) who has scored 3 goals in his last 4 games, but is only 3% owned in the Fantasy Premier League. He is - what we may call - an "against the grain" selection...
Doyle comes cheap, but will continue to go ignored by thousands of fantasy managers as Wolves take on Aston Villa at home this weekend. Click to continue reading...

In what's becoming a common quarterly occurrence for Steven Gerrard, just as earnings season comes once every three months on Wall Street, Liverpool's Captain aggravates a minor groin injury about 4 times per year as well.
Gerrard has done it again. England's finest midfielder is a major doubt for the team's trip to Sunderland this weekend after aggravating his groin problem - again. Click to continue reading...

An argument for the negative version of bonus points: blunder points.

The Daily Express published some gossip today that may catch Fantasy Premier League managers' attention. David James (4.8M) has been linked with Manchester United.

It makes sense.

Click to continue reading...

He's not really injured, that's just a fashion accessory
Half-way into the international break and while many teams have now qualified for the 2010 World Cup - exciting news for millions of fans - we have also been inundated with dozens of fresh injuries to some of our favorite fantasy footie performers. Click to continue reading...

This may or may not be Toni Brito Sa. I don't read Portuguese well.
Liverpool have trumped Chelsea to sign Portuguese teenager Toni Brito-Sa. The much hyped sixteen year old had a trial period at Chelsea a year ago, but will sign for Liverpool from Benfica.
I've never seen Brito-Sa play, and I'm sure he's no Gai Assulin - but he's another one to keep stored away in the back of your mind for that 2014-2015 Fantasy Premier League season. Click to continue reading...

This could be nothing serious, but the definition of blogging is making something out of nothing, so Fernando Torres' groin injury does seem to offer a bit of a silver lining for Liverpool attacker Dirk Kuyt - from a fantasy footie perspective.
Torres always seems to suffer some sort of niggling injury or another every season he's been at Liverpool - and when he does, it's usually the Dutchman Kuyt who steps in to fill the striker's role. Click to continue reading...

He's back with a bang. Blog favorite Jimmy Bullard returned to action today for Hull's reserves and scored with a blistering 30 yard drive into the upper corner - and even after 9 months out with a horrible knee injury - it looks like he still has that goal-scoring touch.
We've always been big Bullard (5. Click to continue reading...

Foster raising his hand and answering the call to "Overrated goalkeepers"
There have been dozens of players over the years who have failed to live up to expectations. Here in the US, we may have the greatest example in history through Freddy Adu - but few have failed on a brighter stage in the Fantasy Premier League this season than Manchester United's Ben Foster - he has truly been a Fantasy FAIL. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres & Robbie Keane could have been the deadliest double act since Starsky & Hutch, had Rafa Benitez not thought otherwise. As it happens they had to settle last week for separate feats, separate plaudits, and separate points hauls.

Torres could realistically have expected to be the week's king in the Fantasy League with a splendid hat-trick against Phil Brown's tame Tigers, but his eschewed strike-partner grabbed the honour, four goals against Burnley meant plenty of spilt claret for Owen Coyle, as the Fantasy Premier League season took another set of twists and turns.

Click to continue reading...

Two dislocated fingers and a fractured bone in his hand, yup, he's in my team
After a mid-week of what some are calling quite "boring" Champions League fixtures, we return to domestic action this weekend, and to the fantasy Premier League. Last week, our gameweek "picks" - the best team money can buy for under 100M - put up another 78 points led by Bent (18) O'Shea (15) and Huddlestone (8), so let's see if we can keep the hot streak going. Click to continue reading...

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. Click to continue reading...

A few weekend injuries to be aware of as we begin an action packed mid-week of European fixtures...

• Arsenal's injury woes continue as Denilson is out for two months with a back injury. This means more playing time in defensive midfled for the likes of "yellow card machine" Song and "can't finish any of my chances" Diaby.

Click to continue reading...

Hat-trick hero Crouch loves nachos
Let's get right to the weekend preview. Last weekend's primer was chock-full of top fantasy performers - yup, we included Fletcher, Agbonlahor, and Fabregas in the weekend Best Eleven picks which scored a solid 74 points, so let's see if we can keep the momentum going into this weekend. Click to continue reading...

Let's talk Arsenal. They're playing well this season despite a few bumps in the road, and a host of injuries - and more importantly, they have an upcoming fixture list that is just superb: Fulham, Blackburn, Birmingham, and West Ham are the next four. Talk about taking on mid-table mediocrity.
So - if you're looking for some offensive Arsenal investment (and let's leave the injured Arshavin out of the equation for now), and are considering Cesc Fabregas vs Robin van Persie - let's take a look at the pros and cons:
RVP: In February I called RVP the "next Ronaldo," from a fantasy perspective. Click to continue reading...