Four of the top five battle it out with each other this week while Man City travel to bottom of the table West Ham. Arsenal could end gameweek 17 in fourth position, having started it Top of the table. Chances are it will be as you were. It has been such an unpredictable season that this has to be the weekend where the top five match each other and pick up a point a piece.

Having written off the Premier Leagues big hitters I’m looking further down the table for points this week. Fulham need to take three points off an in form Sunderland on Saturday. Midfielder Clint Dempsey(6.8) leads the way with 69 points this season. Man mountain Brede Hangeland(5.6) has also performed well picking up 53 points.

Sunderland are flying at the moment, due to the form of Ghanaian goal machine Asamoah Gyan(7.1), Jordan Henderson(5.5) and Nedum Onuoha(5.3). The Black Cats good run can also be attributed to the return of stopper Craig Gordon(4.5), the Scot has amassed 21 points in five games keeping two clean sheets along the way.

In gameweek 14 I said that Stoke’s Matthew Etherington(5.8) was worth a gamble. The winger has notched 27 points in his last three games, his good run is sure to continue against a Blackpool side that has conceded 29 goals in 16 games.

Alan Pardew’s first task as Newcastle boss is to address their inconsistent home form. Next up at St James Park is Liverpool in Saturday’s late game. Steven Gerrard(11.2) could feature, Fernando Torres(11.9) finally looks interested, Joe Cole(8.3) is nearing full fitness and most surprising of all Ryan Babel(6.7) played 90 minutes and scored a goal. The Magpies will be hoping that Kevin Nolan(6.1) will return from injury and that Andy Carroll(6.2) can add to his fantastic tally of 94 points.

Everton find themselves stuck in no man’s land. Right now their season could go one of two ways – An assault on the top eight, or a scrap in the bottom six. David Moyes men need to follow on from their point at Stamford Bridge with victory at home to Wigan. Centre Back Phil Jagielka(5.8) has reached a half century of points for the season, Tim Cahill(9.1) is doing for the Toffees what Steven Gerrard so often does for rivals Liverpool and Jermaine Beckford(5.1) may just be getting the knack of top flight Football. The Latics welcome back Hugo Rodallega from suspension, but I feel Roberto Martinez men will leave Goodison Park empty handed.

Last mention goes to Blackburn’s Chris Samba(5.1), one of those defenders who is imposing at the back and a genuine goal threat from set plays. Rovers have responded well after having their bottoms well and truly spanked by Man Utd and big Chris is an integral part of a normally(Old Trafford annihilation apart) tight defence.

That’s your lot for this week. If you feel like joining in the fun then join the EPL League by visiting: http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ the code you need to join is 13413-5300

The big freeze and the dismal failure of England’s 2018 World Cup bid will not stop the Premier League from rolling on. Its game week 16, time to forget the disappointment, put the heating on and enjoy another weekend of Football.

Spurs enjoyed a much needed rest midweek and will be hoping to capitalise on any signs of a Birmingham hangover following their Carling Cup exploits. Both sides are on a good run and Harry Redknapp will be desperate to keep the pressure on the teams above them. The Blues have a fantastic home record but I have a feeling Tottenham are going to leave with all three points.

Birmingham will be relieved to see that Rafael Van der Vaart is once again doubtful, but Jermain Defoe(8.6), Aaron Lennon(7.5) and Luka Modric(7.2) are looking good, and they will need to be on their game if they are to breach a Birmingham back line that boasts some impressive points tallies. Ben Foster(5.0) 71 points, Liam Ridgewell(5.8) 65 points and Roger Johnson(5.2) 56 points, are in the top five points scorers so far this season in their positions. “If you score two we will score three” seems to be Spurs attitude, so there will be chances at the other end too. Cameron Jerome(5.7) and Nikola Zigic(5.3) are the cheaper alternatives in a match that promises goals.

Man Utd have been on the receiving end of a fair amount of criticism this season, yet they are undefeated and top of the Premier League table. United are off to the seaside Saturday evening and a certain Wane Rooney(11.5) will be desperate to get back in the goals after failing to get on the score sheet during the massacre of Blackburn Rovers last week. A special mention this week for Rooney’s team mate Nani(9.3) for reaching the 100 points mark this season.

Game week 16 concludes with a slightly rejuvenated Liverpool hosting a Villa side that are on the slide. The Reds are still missing inspirational Captain Steven Gerrard but the usually ineffective Lucas has added some steel to Liverpools midfield. The Brazilian is available for a mere 4.5 million and could be a shrewd acquisition in Gerrards absence. Jamie Carragher is facing three months on the sidelines after dislocating his shoulder against Tottenham. It could mean a recall for Sotirios Kyrgiakos(5.1) and the Greek will be hoping to recapture his early season form.

Villa rallied well in the second half against Arsenal but they are struggling without Marc Albrighton, skipper Stiliyan Petrov and punch-line Emile Heskey. Robert Pires(5.0) who has a wealth of experience and young Ciaran Clark(4.5) could prove to be important players for Gerard Houllier in the run up to Christmas.

That’s your lot for this week. If you feel like joining in the fun then join the EPL League by visiting: http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ the code you need to join is 13413-5300

The Premier League has plenty of incredibly talented players, but who is getting more praise or attention than they merit, here is a countdown of the Premier League’s most overrated players. Feel free to add your suggestions.

10- Matthew Upson –West Ham

Played a key role for England during the 2010 World Cup, Upson was often seen as England’s third choice centre half. However at club level Upson hasn’t excelled, and has made some costly mistakes.

9- Charles N’Zogbia – Wigan

The controversial French winger has had some excellent performances over the last few years but is a real hit or miss player. On his day N’Zogbia is a real handful for defenders, but more often than not he frustrates. The former Newcastle United man has only played 45 minutes for his country, despite all the turmoil that has surrounded the France squad.

8- James Milner – Manchester City

After a couple of good seasons at Aston Villa, England midfielder James Milner made the move to Manchester City this summer, but the price tag surely isn’t a reflection on his ability. At a reported £26 million Milner has a world class price tag, but is far from world class, and while he may develop over the next few seasons, at present his transfer fee has made him very overrated.

7- Joe Cole – Liverpool

Another player who on his day has the ability to cause defences some real problems, but often frustrates. Cole’s move to Liverpool in the summer was supposed to be a time where he re-launched his career after been frozen out of the frame at Chelsea, but has struggled to find any real form in Liverpool’s disappointing start to the season.

6-Joleon Lescott – Manchester City

After a couple of good seasons at Everton, Manchester City made Lescott one of their top transfer targets in the summer of 2009. They signed the defender for a massive fee of between £22 million and £24 million, but since then Lescott has never really found any level of consistency and looks to be amongst one of the Premier League’s biggest transfer flops.

5- Ashley Cole – Chelsea

Cole is often labelled as the best left back in the World, but when he has come up against real quality Cole has often come up short. He has never really lived up to the hype, and for his country Cole disappoints on a regular basis, however he does have 85 caps to his name. For Chelsea, Cole is consistent but when things go wrong for him, he can become a real weak link in their back four.

4- Fernando Torres- Liverpool

There is no doubting that on his day, Torres is amongst the most deadly players in the league, however over the last few seasons the Spanish striker has struggled with injuries and a general lack of form. But despite just five goals this season Torres is still seen as talisman for Liverpool and amongst the world’s best forwards.

3- Steven Gerrard- Liverpool.

Liverpool’s second talisman and a player that could walk in to every single Premier League side. But Gerrard is another over-hyped player and is labelled amongst the world’s best midfielders, but in big games often struggles to impress. On his day, he can win Liverpool points on his own, but on others can go missing and make no impact whatsoever.

2-Wayne Rooney- Manchester United

Another English player who struggles to live up to a tag as one of the world’s best. At the World Cup in South Africa, Rooney made no impact at all, and has since struggled to find any sort of form. Rooney will need to consistently perform for the next few seasons if he is to really establish himself amongst the world’s footballing elite.

1-Glenn Johnson- Liverpool

The former Chelsea and Portsmouth man has been labelled as the league’s best right-back for the last few seasons now, but is so often exposed for his lack of prowess in the Liverpool defence. While very good going forward, his lack of awareness gets Liverpool in to trouble on a regular basis, and has often lead to dropped points. Johnson arrived at Anfield for a fee of around £17.5 million, which only emphasises how overrated he is.

England’s poor 2010 concluded as they slid to a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to France, but the night may be remembered for the “Club v Country” debate returning once again. Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry and captain Rio Ferdinand all picked up injuries for the Three Lions, summing up a generally miserable year for the Italian.

But it is the injury to Gerrard which has sparked fury. Liverpool fitness coach Darren Burgess was far from happy with the England manager after he didn’t substitute Gerrard around the hour mark as planned.

On his Twitter account, Burgess said: “Unbelievable from all associated with England and English FA with regard to SGs [Gerrard's] injury. Completely ignored agreement and past history, Completely amateurish and now we pay for their incompetence. Absolutely disgraceful.”

While the comments were later removed from the Australians account, Capello did admit that he hadn’t stuck to an agreement with Liverpool. He said: “I told Liverpool he would play for an hour if possible. They asked that he can play one hour if it’s possible. They can’t decide how long a player plays with the national team. If it’s possible, he’d have played an hour.

“I understand why they’re upset and I’m also upset. The problem is that, when you play this game on Wednesday after a lot of Premier League, Europa League or Champions League games, it’s possible there might be an injury for a player. The Premier League, every time, is a tough league for the players.”

While Liverpool will quite rightly be disappointed with the injury to their talisman, as Capello suggests, there is very little that can be done to avoid it, especially if England insist on playing meaningless friendly games.

Capello took the opportunity to give the likes of Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Kieran Gibbs a chance, he still won’t have learnt a great deal from the game. You have to feel that a training camp would have surely been gave him an adequate chance to view some potential additions to his squad.

This isn’t going to happen though, especially with the constant need to make the most out of Wembley and pack in as many friendly games as possible to boost revenue. So the unfortunate fact is the long running debate will run on.

Steven Gerrard gave us all a timely reminder of his quality with a stunning hat-trick to help Liverpool overcome a stubborn Napoli side. Will this performance mark the general return to form of midfielder and could he be the inspiration for another England star to return to form?

We all know the ability that Gerrard has, and there is no need to harp on about the number of times he has come to Liverpool’s rescue. However even Liverpool’s inspirational captain has struggled to produce displays resembling his usual self this season.

In many ways I think Gerrard has suffered with the same World Cup hangover that has seen Wayne Rooney desperately lacking in form during the opening stages of the Premier League campaign. Excluding the Napoli game, there hasn’t been any standout displays from the Liverpool skipper and generally there has just not been the same intensity in his performances.

Intensity is what makes Gerrard and Rooney so important to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively, and with the pair obviously short of confidence after the World Cup, it is only understandable that they looked to almost play in their comfort zone when they returned to domestic football.

But it was inevitable that Gerrard would show us that form really is temporary as his confidence grew. In many ways though you feel he struggled so much because of the general feeling of disappointment around the club during the opening weeks of the season.

In the last few weeks though things have gradually picked up for Liverpool both on and off the field, and it was only a matter of time before Gerrard joined the party.  With United also beginning to reach their top form, Rooney should also find it easier to perform at his best when he returns from injury.

Gerrard’s return to form should give Rooney confidence because it demonstrates that it can be done. As an England fan, and more importantly a football fan it is crucial that we see the both of the England stars firing on all cylinders in the not so distant future, because the Premier League is definitely a better place as a result.

There was finally some joy for Roy Hodgson after his Liverpool side gained a potentially vital victory over Blackburn at Anfield. While it might not have lifted Liverpool out of the bottom three, the result will certainly act as a real confidence boost, and will give Hodgson something to build on.

The former Fulham boss recalled all of his big names after making a whole host of changes for Liverpool’s Europa League trip to Napoli. Hodgson came in for substantial criticism for resting the likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for the trip to Italy, but the win today was the perfect answer to his critics.

Torres looked like a completely different player after his rest as the striker ended his recent goal drought with the goal that proved to be the winner. While Gerrard was once again back to his influential best.

But Reds boss Roy Hodgson was just delighted to see his side finally get a victory. He said: “It was a deserved victory and one that was really needed. If we had come in at half-time several goals up no-one could have said a word.

“So I told them at the break they were going the right way and if they carried on they would be fine, which they were. It’s the three points that count and I’m very happy with that.”

Liverpool fans will be hoping that this result will finally mark the start of their season. By all accounts it’s been a rotten start to the campaign both on and off the field for the Anfield club, but the performance today was much better.

The question that remains is where can Liverpool finish after such a disappointing start? We all know the quality that they possess in the squad and with Torres looking somewhat like his usual self, there is no reason why they can’t at least challenge for another Europa League spot.

But to do that they need to find consistency, one thing that has been desperately lacking under Hodgson so far, and in many ways under his predecessor Rafael Benitez too. However the signs from today are good, Liverpool managed to grind the result out in the second half, and if they can keep doing this on a regular basis the momentum will build. The whole club needs momentum at the moment, now it is up to Hodgson to create it.

What do you think? Where will Liverpool finish this season?

Liverpool produced an improved display to gain a well earned 0-0 draw against Napoli. Reds boss Roy Hodgson opted to make a whole host of changes for the game, but his fringe players certainly impressed with notable performances from Jay Spearing and Jonjo Shelvey.

While I don’t want to take anything away from the Liverpool display you have to question the Liverpool side that Hodgson put out. He opted to leave star men and Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard at home, claiming it was important they got rest before the ‘crucial’ game against Blackburn on Sunday.  While Torres and Gerrard have both had problems with injuries in recent times, surely a win in any competition would be a just what the club need.

Yes Liverpool are in the bottom three of the Premier League, but in reality we know that it would take a miracle for them to still be there come the end of the season. They are already out of the Carling Cup, and Premier League success does look a million miles away. So surely the Europa League is of quite high importance for Hodgson.

Well apparently not. Despite his success in the tournament with Fulham last season, it looks as if Hodgson isn’t particularly fussed about another challenge for the trophy this term. But given their dreadful start to the season, I don’t think he is in a position where he can pick and chose what trophies he goes for.

At Fulham he could have probably got away with a lack of competitiveness in a European tournament, but at Anfield expectations are much higher and the Liverpool fans who travelled over to Naples will surely have been left bemused at the sub-standard side that Hodgson fielded.

I think in many ways Hodgson is still adjusting to life on Merseyside and coming to terms with the expectations of the fans, and while they may have been forgiving during the turbulent times where a takeover of the club was in the balance they will be expecting to see results improve very soon.

Hodgson can still succeed at Liverpool, I have no doubt about that. But he needs to start turning things around quickly. The new owners will be looking to make a statement of intent, and if the Reds are still languishing around the foot of the Premier League, or out of Europe in December, it would certainly demonstrate their expectations and ambition if Hodgson was shown the door.

I don’t want to see Hodgson used in this way, because he doesn’t deserve it. But unfortunately football is a cruel world, and results talk. Wins on all fronts for Liverpool in the next few weeks will be crucial for Hodgson and in my opinion vital to his tenure.

It is never surprising to hear Sir Alex Ferguson saying something ‘controversial’. Whether it’s emotional, pointless sniping at a beleaguered enemy or an attempt some kind of Jedi Mind Trick deployed to ‘psych out’ Liverpool and their players is up to you. An interesting point with Ferguson’s ‘Torres is the biggest cheater ever, EVER’ (possible paraphrase) comments is that they made headlines in most of Monday’s (English) newspaper sport sections – and this is indicative of the apparent need for character-centric narratives for much of the English press.

Of more interest however, rather than his ‘diving’, is his lack of incisiveness when playing alone up front. His two integral moments in Liverpool’s temporary comeback (winning the free kick and penalty) came with the entrance of David N’Gog alongside him at 2-0. The former was created largely with N’Gog drawing Jonny Evans out of position, allowing Torres to play off the dozing O’Shea and run behind Vidic. For an hour, without a partner alongside him, Torres was ineffectually drifting along the back-four, as Liverpool’s midfield struggled to find him with the ball. Roy Hodgson’s initial reaction to that may well be to partner Torres with N’Gog for the forseeable future – and it will probably end up being a popular move with the Sky Sports/Match of the Day punditocracy, as it necessitates a change from The Purveyor Of All That Is Ever Wrong With Anything Ever, Rafa Benitez, and necessitates Steven Gerrard moving into his ‘best position’ (where, curiously, he rarely plays well enough to stay for an extended period of time) in the middle of midfield.

But that not only moves Gerrard from the position where he has been most effective for his club (in the ‘hole’ behind Torres), but also means Roy has to play a 4-4-2: yes, the very same 4-4-2 that was routed by Manchester City and their fifty holding midfielders at Eastlands. And yes, the same 4-4-2 that became unable to get the ball back off United yesterday once the score went to 3-2. Well, one could argue, he has to leave Torres up front on his own then – to maintain a midfield worthy of preventing a complete massacre – even if it reduces Torres’s efficiency, at least he won’t lose games, and Torres will surely start scoring sooner or later.

But what if he doesn’t? Jurgen Klinsmann stated when in charge of Bayern Munich that he will play two strikers at every opportunity, partly to help keep his strikers fresh. The strain upon a lone striker is so great, in terms of the physical stature, pace, technique and concentration needed to perform the role effectively, that playing the role without a significant break would soon be detrimental. ‘I wouldn’t like to be Torres in two years’ was the general idea, and the strain on Torres may be akin to that placed on Ronaldo at Inter Milan – as from a silky, quicksilver forward he too tried to become a buccaneering lone striker, with injured consequences. And now we look at the Spaniard. From his arrival at Liverpool in 2007 he has been working almost without a break: in 2008 he played in the Euros (a major tournament generally means a truncated break for players), then the next season he spent playing (without a winter break) and working hard recovering from injuries, then the Confederations Cup before the same story the next season, before the World Cup.

And it has taken its toll: once fresh-faced, blond and smiling, then blond and powerful, now Torres lopes around defences, unfit, brown haired and non-threatening, like a late-era Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United. With a partner alongside, the strain is less apparent, as he is not having to work as hard against four defenders – but playing N’Gog or Kuyt alongside him leaves the midfield often unable to cope against teams with 3 central midfielders. Perhaps the solution is give Torres an extended break, perhaps for a month or two, in order to recharge his batteries. Roy can try and muddle through with Babel, N’Gog, Jovanovic and Kuyt – and maybe Torres could well come back refreshed and (at least) as good as ever.

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With the pressure on Fabio Capello,  England finally delivered a performance to make the country proud. But was this result and the performance the start of a change in fortunes for Capello or another result that get’s our hopes up only to be disappointed down the line?

England may have gone some way to igniting some confidence amongst fans last night. While it wasn’t a faultless performance it was a lot better. They played with the pace and confidence that was so desperately lacking in South Africa.

Jermain Defoe showed the sort of clinical finishing that nobody was able to show at the World Cup, and in midfield Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry were easily dominating the midfield battle. At the other end of the pitch Joe Hart looked assured between the sticks. Wayne Rooney was also looking somewhat like his usual self.

The negatives for Capello’s side were that 4-0 probably flattered England a little. Bulgaria had plenty of chances themselves. While Michael Dawson and Phil Jagielka didn’t look out of their depth Capello will have been concerned at the amount of chances the visitors had.

But we should probably take in to consideration the missing experience at international level of both defenders, and I highly doubt whether Bulgaria would of had so many chances if John Terry was representing the Three Lions last night.

So the signs are good looking forward ahead to England’s potentially crucial qualifier in Basel on Tuesday night. This will be the result that will really indicate just how far, or how little Capello’s side have progressed since the disastrous defeat to Germany in South Africa.

England are going to have to improve on last night’s performance if they are going to get anything from Switzerland.  But the pleasing thing is for Capello that some confidence will have been restored in his management.

Had England dropped points last night or even stuttered to a win last night the knifes would of been out for Capello, but a convincing win may just have bought Capello more time to please the ever doubting English faithful. But after a desperate World Cup, Capello’s tenure is very much one game at a time, and a disappointing result in Switzerland will see the knifes out for the Italian once again.

Can Raul Meireles (Right) add some bite to the Liverpool midfield?

Fernando Torres returned to goal scoring form to give Liverpool’s season a much needed kick-start against West Brom. But will this be the start of a bright season for Roy Hodgson’s side or will the men from Merseyside disappoint once again?

It’s been a bit of strange week for Liverpool. It started with midfielder Javier Mascherano apparently going on strike and refusing to play in their embarrassing 3-0 defeat to big spending Manchester City. But the week ended with their first league win of the season and a couple of very astute from Hodgson.

Hodgson has wasted little time in spending the money that will come when Mascherano completes his move to Barcelona and while neither Paul Konchesky nor Raul Meireles are of quite the same standard as Mascherano they will make the Reds a stronger side.

Meireles is very much in the Mascherano mould and would appear to be a like for like replacement. He was criticised by the Portuguese media before the World Cup for not having enough guile in his game, but this could be exactly what Liverpool need. He will add the steel and protection to the midfield that looked so desperately against Manchester City.

Konchesky is another who will improve Liverpool. He may not have the glamour of an Ashley Cole  type full back, but he is steady and will be a reliable player for Hodgson to turn too.

I would argue that Liverpool are in a better position for a successful season then they were at this time last week. Although losing Mascherano is a blow he was an almost a luxury player to have in midfield, and other players can do equally as good a job but for considerably less of the price. Namely Meireles.

I still don’t think Liverpool will have enough to challenge for the title, but if they can keep Torres and Steven Gerrard fit, the likes of Meireles and Konchesky will add a stern resolve to their side which was so bitterly missing during the Rafa Benitez era and I expect them to pose a much greater challenge for a Champions League spot.