Another weekend of Premier League action looms large and Fantasy Football enthusiasts will be studying the fixture list to identify who might be the best transfer options.
High-flying Aston Villa will fancy their chances of a home victory against a Bolton side still reeling from back-to-back defeats by Chelsea, while Arsenal also start as firm favourites for their away clash with promoted Wolves.
Hull City will hope the appointment of Adam Pearson as chairman has a galvanising effect on the players for their KC Stadium encounter against a Stoke team that has become increasingly difficult to beat on their travels.
Everton and Fulham are both on the road following midweek Europa League games as they visit West Ham and Wigan respectively, but there can be no doubts about which is the biggest game of the weekend.
The top two do battle at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea and Manchester United return to domestic action after high-scoring draws in the UEFA Champions League, and we should be in for another exciting contest.
The likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov can almost be guaranteed upon to provide plenty of points in Fantasy Football over the course of a campaign but selecting such stars does not leave much room to manoeuvre in terms of budget.
Trio of tips
It is therefore important to look out for bargain buys to complement the heavy scorers and, with this in mind, skysports.com's latest trio of transfer tips are cheaper alternatives who can still do a job, namely Craig Bellamy, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
Bellamy (£6.0m) has been one of the players of the season so far and has established himself as an integral member of the Manchester City side when perhaps some thought his place could be under threat.
The Welshman has scored a number of crucial goals already and set up several more for his team-mates, while he is such a willing runner that it is difficult not to consider him when it comes to adjudicating Man of the Match awards.
Man City will be determined to return to winning ways after a run of draws when they entertain a Burnley side that has still not picked up a point away from home and has been on the receiving end of several drubbings.
Boateng may seem a bit of a long shot but he is good value at £3.4million and playing regularly at Portsmouth following his summer move from Tottenham.
Pompey have suddenly found their form in front of goal and the creativity of midfielder Boateng might help them to build more momentum with a good result at struggling Blackburn this Saturday.
Assou-Ekotto (£3.9m) is one of Tottenham's unsung heroes at left-back and has consistently impressed this season with his dynamism and ability to get forward.
Spurs' defensive unit has looked vulnerable so it is a gamble to include any member of their backline at this stage but the loss to North London rivals Arsenal last weekend could end up being a turning point.
Harry Redknapp will have demanded an improved performance against Sunderland and they are probably due a clean sheet after just one in 11 games to date.
Bans and injuries
Last weekend saw a staggering nine red cards in the Premier League and seven remain banned for the latest round of fixtures after Villa's Carlos Cuellar and Radoslav Kovac of West Ham served their suspensions in the midweek match between the sides.
Jlloyd Samuel (Bolton), Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Everton), Geovanni (Hull) and Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland) are all missing for their sides, while Liverpool duo Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher sit out Monday's match against Birmingham, who are missing Barry Ferguson.
Gael Clichy is set to be sidelined for a month after suffering a suspected stress fracture of the back and his Arsenal team-mate Nicklas Bendtner will be out for a similar period due to a groin strain.
Tottenham's Sebastien Bassong may take a few weeks to recover from a hamstring problem, while anyone looking forward to the return of Everton playmaker Mikel Arteta should be aware he has had a setback following knee surgery.
High-flying Aston Villa will fancy their chances of a home victory against a Bolton side still reeling from back-to-back defeats by Chelsea, while Arsenal also start as firm favourites for their away clash with promoted Wolves.
Hull City will hope the appointment of Adam Pearson as chairman has a galvanising effect on the players for their KC Stadium encounter against a Stoke team that has become increasingly difficult to beat on their travels.
Everton and Fulham are both on the road following midweek Europa League games as they visit West Ham and Wigan respectively, but there can be no doubts about which is the biggest game of the weekend.
The top two do battle at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea and Manchester United return to domestic action after high-scoring draws in the UEFA Champions League, and we should be in for another exciting contest.
The likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov can almost be guaranteed upon to provide plenty of points in Fantasy Football over the course of a campaign but selecting such stars does not leave much room to manoeuvre in terms of budget.
Trio of tips
It is therefore important to look out for bargain buys to complement the heavy scorers and, with this in mind, skysports.com's latest trio of transfer tips are cheaper alternatives who can still do a job, namely Craig Bellamy, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
Bellamy (£6.0m) has been one of the players of the season so far and has established himself as an integral member of the Manchester City side when perhaps some thought his place could be under threat.
The Welshman has scored a number of crucial goals already and set up several more for his team-mates, while he is such a willing runner that it is difficult not to consider him when it comes to adjudicating Man of the Match awards.
Man City will be determined to return to winning ways after a run of draws when they entertain a Burnley side that has still not picked up a point away from home and has been on the receiving end of several drubbings.
Boateng may seem a bit of a long shot but he is good value at £3.4million and playing regularly at Portsmouth following his summer move from Tottenham.
Pompey have suddenly found their form in front of goal and the creativity of midfielder Boateng might help them to build more momentum with a good result at struggling Blackburn this Saturday.
Assou-Ekotto (£3.9m) is one of Tottenham's unsung heroes at left-back and has consistently impressed this season with his dynamism and ability to get forward.
Spurs' defensive unit has looked vulnerable so it is a gamble to include any member of their backline at this stage but the loss to North London rivals Arsenal last weekend could end up being a turning point.
Harry Redknapp will have demanded an improved performance against Sunderland and they are probably due a clean sheet after just one in 11 games to date.
Bans and injuries
Last weekend saw a staggering nine red cards in the Premier League and seven remain banned for the latest round of fixtures after Villa's Carlos Cuellar and Radoslav Kovac of West Ham served their suspensions in the midweek match between the sides.
Jlloyd Samuel (Bolton), Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Everton), Geovanni (Hull) and Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland) are all missing for their sides, while Liverpool duo Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher sit out Monday's match against Birmingham, who are missing Barry Ferguson.
Gael Clichy is set to be sidelined for a month after suffering a suspected stress fracture of the back and his Arsenal team-mate Nicklas Bendtner will be out for a similar period due to a groin strain.
Tottenham's Sebastien Bassong may take a few weeks to recover from a hamstring problem, while anyone looking forward to the return of Everton playmaker Mikel Arteta should be aware he has had a setback following knee surgery.
