My EPL Fantasy Team

The English Premier League began this weekend and so did the fantasy football season. I went through dozens of draft team sheets to come to my final selection. This year I changed my team selecting philosophy to shift the spotlight onto known goal-scorers instead of fielding a well-balanced team. Defense is the most inconsistent fantasy points scoring position. Clearly defenders can have great games and score important goals from set pieces, but in the average match there are too many factors that can knock a defenders point down. I avoided spending large sums of money on strong defensive player from the Big 4 by scouring the mid-table teams for goal scoring defenders. It is also in my game plan to field the minimum number of defenders as allowed. Therefore I have more space for the midfielders and forwards. Stacking a midfield full of players known for producing goals and assists is the key to any teams and fantasy managers success. Without a second thought, I had to purchase Frank Lampard, because this man has topped the fantasy league tables for several years now. I splashed £12m each on Lampard, Drogba, and Rooney, but that represents last years first, second, and third place finishers. Let's hope each player stays on track and prove their worth.

Here is my Hassall United squad to begin the 2010/2011 season:

Goalkeepers: £5.5m Gomes (Tottenham Hotspurs), £3.5m Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders: £5.5m Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), £4m Jody Craddock (Wolverhampton Wanderers), £4.5m Roger Johnson (Birmingham), £5m Fabio Aurelio (Liverpool), £3.5m John Mensah (Sunderland)

Midfielders: £12m Frank Lampard (Chelsea), £7.5m Ashley Young (Aston Villa), £5.5m Jack Rodwell (Everton), £8.5m Florent Malouda (Chelsea), £5m Zoltan Gera (Fulham)

Forwards: £12m Dider Drogba (Chelsea), £12m Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), £6m Mauro Boselli (Wigan Athletic)

I have also created a watch list for players I nearly selected. In a perfect world the players I selected at the start of the season will play top-notch football and will be healthy the entire term. Obviously things happens, so I must be prepared to make transfers.

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard, Shay Given

Defenders: Alex Baptiste, Michael Dawson, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Brede Hangeland, Gary Cahill, Aaron Hughes, Phil Jones, Liam Ridgewell

Midfielders: James Milner, Sebastian Larsson, Matthew Etherington, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Lee Chung-Yong, Samir Nasri, Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere, Lee Cattermole, Daren Fletcher

Forwards: David Ngog, Darren Bent, Marouane Chamakh, Kevin Davies, Jermaine Beckford, Javier Hernandez, Craig Bellamy, Carlos Tevez, Jermain Defoe