Vranny

I haven't been following other leagues for a couple of years, but a few players from the Premier League spring to mind: Per Mertesacker - Rightly slated for being off the pace in his first season at Arsenal. Too slow, turning circle of a tank, not dominate enough in the air. But his turn around in his second and so far third season in the prem have seen him become the leader in defence that Arsenal have been screaming out for for years. Has been the most solid and reliable of Arsenal's centre-backs over the last year or so and provides a nice contrast to Koscielny's rashness in the gunner's back-line, with his own defensive solidarity and composure. Morgan Scheindlerlin - Flies right under the radar this fella. Seems to have avoided all the hype that other Southampton youngsters like Shaw and Clyne have received after the Saints debut season in the Premier League, but provides a solid base (along with Wanyama this term) for Southampton's midfield to be built upon. Great young deep-lying playmaker that still brings a lot to the table defensively (bit like Barry in that regard). I'd absolutely love him at Everton if we could some how steal him away. Fabian Delph - Seems to have finally found his feet this season after his move to Villa from Leeds all the way back in 2009 at 19 years of age. Shows a great deal of class on the ball for central/defensive midfielder (comparable to Dembele at spurs), probably a relic from his days spent as a winger at Leeds. Provides a good amount of energy in the centre of the park with his interceptions and tackling when off-the-ball, while his dribbling is a great asset for the villians in their favoured counter-attacking style of play. Could be a smokey for the English world cup squad, though I doubt he'll get the amount of attention he deserves while plying his wears at Aston Villa.

New table following the Villa game. Only one perfect score last week from PeterH. Also does anyone know how to create a code on excel to give automatic positions (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd) in a column based on the TotalPoints tallies?

Apparently Phil Jones has looked much better than him in midfield, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know

Aston Villa 1 - 2 Everton Lukaku

No problem. It's good to know I have back-up if I ever forget to do a week

Updated table. Give me a message if you have any issues

He's also surprisingly good in the air for a wide player. Something that Hull might look to exploit with Baines likely to line up on him. Wouldn't mind it at all if he can't get up for this one.

Everton 3 - 0 Hull City Lukaku

Done. Noticed at least one mistake though, so I'll give it another going over.

That was the best solution I could find, but it'd be good to have the full table on display without having to click on it, like your's and Josh's have been presented.

Had a look through the entire topic and scrounged together a table of total points (including some predictions that were omitted for not confirming to the correct format). I was thinking from now one that "Own Goal" can just be a prediction in it's own right considering the low amount of own goals scored in a season. Having to predict the opposition player to actually score the said own goal makes it a bit too hard to predict and makes it a bit of a non-option. Any thoughts?

Wasn't trying to do Josh a disservice, just trying to be honest and admit I had an unearned extra point

Fernando is another player available on a free in the summer, so if we did get him you'd hope it'd me on a pretty minimal fee anyway.

You won't get any disagreements from me. Don't know why he's never been given a chance behind a lone striker tbh.

Might even be worth giving him a loan for the second half of the season and giving him some confidence. There'll be some relegation candidates absolutely desperate to get in a No. 9 with a record for scoring at the highest level in the past.

Naismith's been in good form playing up front for the Scots from all accounts. Could be an option for us to use him there in the case of any Lukaku injury, especially considering Jelavic's terrible last 12 months.

Good Lord, I didn't even notice that one! I think your in the clear Romey and that I've been taken for a fool

There's a big difference between being defensively solid for an attacking mid/winger in a 4-2-3-1 formation, than a centre mid in the 4-4-2 formation Monchengladbach usually roll out. He is naturally left footed however, so playing him on the right could be an interesting option anyway (would also get Mirallas back to his favoured left winger position.

Not trying to rock the boat too much, but just to give some insight: He was hyped up as a quality youngster prior to his move to the Bundesliga, but the wheels seem to have fallen off a bit since then. From what I've heard it's likely due to having been forced into a deeper midfield role and not really cutting it defensively, having been primarily an attacking mid at Basel. Would still be a quality young signing if we could snatch him, but I'm not sure where he'd fit in our current midfield with the emergence of Barkley. Might be a potential Pienaar replacement, seeing as how narrow he plays in the LM position these days though.

It'd be the first time this season that we've got our first choice XI (imo) on the pitch. Hoping it all comes together as nicely on the weekend as that team looks on paper.

Just noticed this. I'm pretty sure I've been given an extra point for the last match. Only got the result right, not the first scorer or correct score.

He won't play it, but it'd be interesting to see it happen. Fixed the above post btw. Bloody smart phones.

I'd actually be very tempted to play 3 at the back if the squad could manage the formation adjustment. There's a lack of wide players in the squad and it'd allow Baines and Walker to bomb forward freely. Something like Hart, Jags, Cahill, Jones; Walker, Gerrard, Carrick, Baines; Barkley; Sturridge, Rooney would look ace.

He was only on a youth loan. Don't know why though. Guessing it was a case of the Premier league reserves being at a lot higher standard than those of the Portuguese league.

Bristol City Colchester match from a a bit over a week ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkAUaoNaHAo Put in a decent cross for their first, but was in no-mans land for the equaliser. Got beaten and caught out of position a couple of times in these highlights too, but hopefully we see some continued defensive improvement with more game time.