Barclays Premier League: Festive football round-up

The title race is well and truly on as Manchester United drew level on points with their rivals Manchester City. Mancini’s side were held to a goalless draw against West Brom on Boxing Day and are now only top of the table on goal difference.

Despite being plagued with injuries Ferguson’s side thrashed Wigan at Old Trafford 5-0. Dimitar Berbatov took advantage of a rare start by scoring a hat trick and consequently earning the most fantasy football points during the exciting dosage of festive football. Wigan had to play the majority of the game with ten men after Conor Sammon was sent off in the 39^th minute. The decision was a dubious one and meant the six of you who have Sammon in your dream team were unlucky to score minus two.

The Wigan striker wasn’t the only footballer to get sent off, as Wolves Nenad Milijas saw a straight red for a reckless challenge on Mikel Arteta. Nevertheless, the ten men held on to gain a point at the Emirates as Gervinho’s opener was ruled out by Stephen Fletcher who equalised in the 38^th minute. Both players raked in seven fantasy football points as a result of their goals.

If Berbatov was the star of the show on Monday night then Gareth Bale certainly was last night as Tottenham faced Norwich at Carrow Road. The Wales international scored 16 fantasy football points as he scored the only goals in the 0-2 win. Spurs played some exquisite football and opposition manager Paul Lambert has tipped the North London side to be genuine title contenders.

For the North East teams it was a case of super subs as Ben Arfa and Jack Colback both came on and opened the scoring for Newcastle and Sunderland respectively, earning five points each. Newcastle were taking on Bolton at the Reebok arena, and Demba Ba piled on the misery for Owen Cole’s side when he extended the Magpies lead. The Senegalese striker now has 103 fantasy football points and is certainly proving his worth. The Black Cats weren’t as fortunate as their Geordie rivals. They couldn’t hold on to their 1-0 lead as Leighton Baines tucked away a penalty for Everton in the second half. As a result the defender scored nine fantasy football points, however Moyes later admitted that his side were lucky to have been awarded a penalty kick in the first place.

Baines wasn’t the only defender to score big fantasy football points on Boxing Day. Newcastle’s Ryan Taylor and Manchester United’s Patrice Evra both scored an assist and kept clean sheets, adding nine to their fantasy tally. However, it wasn’t good news for those of you who have selected Norwich player Leon Barnett. The defender was brought on at Carrow Road in the 64^th minute only for Bale to score three minutes later, as a result he scored minus two.

To see how well your fantasy football team did this weekend head to <a href=”http://www.theteamofyourdreams.co.uk/”>www.theteamofyourdreams.co.uk</a>. Don’t forget to log in to your account between Monday and Friday for an extra three points.

Premier League round- up (Monday 26^th December – Tuesday 27^th December)

Arsenal 1 – 1 Wolves

Norwich 0 – 2 Tottenham

Swansea 1 – 1 QPR

Bolton 0 – 2 Newcastle

Chelsea 1 – 1 Fulham

Liverpool 1 – 1 Blackburn

Man Utd 5 – 0 Wigan

Stoke 0 – 0 Aston Villa

Sunderland 1 – 1 Everton

West Brom 0 – 0 Man City