Friday, 18 September 2009

Week 5 Match Previews


As always I've scoured various websites & pieces of team news to come up with these predicted starting XI's. Please remember that nothing is certain, so only use these as a guide.

If you have any team news you have may contridict these starting XIs then please post them up in the comments section below:-

Week 5 Predicted Line-Ups

Arsenal: Mannone, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Rosicky, Fabregas, Diaby, Bendtner, Eduardo, Van Persie
Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Figueroa, Diame, Thomas, Gomez, Koumas, N’Zogbia, Rodallega

Aston Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Milner, Petrov, Sidwell, Young, Agbonlahor, Carew
Portsmouth: James, Vanden Borre, Kaboul, Ben Haim, Belhadj, Mokoena, Brown, O’Hara, Boateng, Smith, Piquionne.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Ricketts, Knight, Cahill, Samuel, M Davies, Muamba, Steinsson, Gardner, Taylor, K Davies.
Stoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Faye, Huth, Collins, Delap, Whelan, Whitehead, Fuller, Kitson.

Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Carlisle, Bikey, Jordan, Alexander, Blake, Elliott, McCann, Paterson, Fletcher.
Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Turner, Richardson, Malbranque, Henderson, Cana, Reid, Jones, Bent.

Hull: Myhill, McShane, Zayatte, Sonko, Dawson, Olofinjana, Kilbane, Ghilas, Hunt, Geovanni, Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Birmingham: Hart, Carr, R Johnson, Espinoza, Parnaby, Ferguson, Bowyer, Tainio, Fahey, Larsson, O’Connor.

West Ham: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Gabbidon, Parker, Noble, Kovac, Jimenez, Hines, Cole.
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Benayoun, Gerrard, Torres.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Essien, Deco, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba.
Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Bassong, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Palacios, Jenas, Kranjcar, Crouch, Defoe.

Everton: Howard, Heitinga, Yobo, Distin, Baines, Rodwell, Fellaini, Pienaar, Osman, Cahill, Saha.
Blackburn: Robinson, Jacobsen, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Grella, Andrews, Pedersen, Diouf, Dunn, Roberts.

Man Utd: Foster, O’Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, Park, Berbatov, Rooney.
Man City: Given, Richards, Toure, Lescott, Bridge, Barry, De Jong, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Petrov, Bellamy.

Wolves: Hennessey, Stearman, Bera, Mancienne, Elokobi, Henry, Milijas, Jarvis, Keogh, Maierhofer, Doyle
Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Etuhu, Murphy, Duff, Dempsey, Johnson, Zamora.

I'm not sure about Everton (Heitinga) & Arsenal (Rosicky) as I've found 4 or 5 different reports with conflicting news, so take these line-ups with a pinch of salt.

Obviously I'm sure some of you will have heard some team news that may affect other players...if so then please post in the comments section. I'll continue keeping an eye on injury news this afternoon/tomorrow morning and post up any last minute information I find.

Remember, click here for my final Week 5 Analysis & Week 6 Preview and click here to join the Blog Facebook Group if you haven't already...

Good luck!

Cheers,
AM

61 comments:

  1. BREAKING NEWS!!

    Defoe twists his knee in a freak accident!!

    It seems that he was on his way to training and a rider rammed into his side of the vehicle!!

    He's been rushed to the Tynemouth Road Health Centre!!

    Some papparazzi got the pics and it luks NASTY!!

    "http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/defoetwistskneeinroadaccident170909.html"

    Harry reported -
    " The docs say it's really bad and our physios expect him to be sidelined for the next 5-6 weeks.It's a huge blow to us and certainly affects our Top 4 Finish. "

    Looks like i'm gonna have Crouch next week!!..
    But i do pity all thos spurs fans out there..!
    First Modric.. now Defoe..!
    You've got my condolences.. :'(

    Rgds,
    Anonymous Papparazzi

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  2. suggestions for my team?
    myhill
    verma/dunne/warnock
    lamps/fabregas/rosicky/hunt
    drogs/tuncay/ed

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  3. @ Anon Papparazzi - Quit the bullshit...This is a professional blog. Go to Fantasist. You're cut for each other...!!!

    @ AM - Chucho (Benitez) and Diamanti are set to start this weekend...so, as you said, these predicted line-ups are not to be taken for granted, at all...!!!

    Cheers...!!!

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  4. OH OH!

    Major blow!! ... :(

    Looks like i'll be going for Nando and not Defoe..

    So what changes r y'all gonna make for week 6 with Defoe out??

    -Ed

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  5. OH!

    So ignore my post ..
    I'll stick with Defoe

    AND

    @AnonPapparazi -
    STFU C*nt!!

    -Ed

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  6. AM - do you seriously think that Tuncay is not going to start for the Potters this weekend? Especially considering that Beattie is injured?

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  7. Jones or Crouch?

    Both with tough tough matchups...my final forward spot is between them and the Yak but i really doubt if the Yak will start or not..

    What do you guys think?

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  8. Anyone want to give an opinion on this choice?

    Carew

    or

    K. Davies?

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  9. Can anyone give me their opinion about picking one of the following forwards for this weekend?

    Torres or RVP or Rooney

    I appreciate it

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  10. My opinion you can't go wrong with Rooney, RVP has the better match up and he has been producing points at a good clip, but I think if you are going to spend the units Rooney is the guy that does it all for Man U.

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  11. I will make a bad saturday morning change this week :)

    I am 100% sure of it.

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  12. @6:09: Bearing in mind I don't know what I'm doing, I'm sticking with Rooney for the reasons Douchebag United gave. I also have him at a minor discount.

    @Naning: Despite having said on an earlier post that I'd probably leave well enough alone, I've made more changes. I chickened out on Fabregas. I'm remarkably low on Arsenal players this week, but both he and the team overall have looked flat of late. Now of course he'll bag a hat-trick.

    @Doctor Teeth: The lure of the "Tuncay money" isn't paying off yet. Hopefully the higher-priced players I bought with it will make up the difference. Of course, as filler goes, he'd give up fewer points on the bench than Mokoena would on the pitch :). I'd feel better though if he gets the chance to generate a few points. I'm not sure why you'd start Kitson instead.

    -Bradley

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  13. no love for a.johnson this week?

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  14. @Bradley, i'd personally also stick with Rooney (I did the same :D). Interestingly enough the offical PL site fantasy game as a pundit and they tracked on a graph the points scored by Drogs, Defoe, Rooney and Ade, which showed Rooney and Drogs basically staying consistent in point scoring.

    Or basically Rooney has been consistent bar a game or two in getting points so far and i fancy him to keep it going.


    As for me, i'm glad to see Sonko and Heiti are both predicted to start. Was pretty sure on Sonko and a toss up on Heiti.

    An interesting player brought up in that newsletter was Stefan Maierhofer at Wolves. Ended up with a goal for them last week. Not going to pick him up right now but be interesting to watch.

    And supposedly Yak is close to returning and possibly may see Tevez back for City

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  15. Thank you guys for your responses about Torres or RVP or Rooney for my forwards dilemma

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  16. after reading through the recent posts i'm still on the fence about my team selection. 8 spots are filled i just can't figure out the final 3. foster, fabregas and tuncay or myhill, young and rosicky/yakubu. i like both but i would like to hear what others think. thanks

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  17. I am fairly confident that Heitinga will get a start. I am more nervous about Rosicky and RvP. I made the mistake last season to field RvP when he didn't get to play. It really hurts.

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  18. I am quite sure on my team, but having thoughts on Tuncay. I could drop Tuncay, MTAY, Ro-Jo for Hunt, Sonko, and a striker from 9.96 and under maybe Saha? I think I'll give Tuncay some time, though, cuz you gotta love Matty Tay. Anyone else thinking about abandoning Tuncay? Though a filler at 1 is ideal.

    Dan

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  19. @ Dan, I plan to keep him because its allowed me to bring in some players that have been good for points week in/week out, and figure he has to get the start sooner then later.

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  20. There is a good chance that RVP will play this weekend.
    I go this quote from Arsenal website on the injury news:

    ROBIN VAN PERSIE
    September 18
    Robin van Persie has been passed fit to face Wigan Athletic at the weekend. The Dutch international missed the midweek win at Standard Liege with a knee injury but he will make an immediate return on Saturday. “We have Robin van Persie available compared to the game on Wednesday night,” confirmed Wenger. “He is the only player coming back".

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  21. I am taking a bit of a risk this week. I have been on a train from Minneapolis/St. Paul back to Portland for 36+ hours so I haven't been able to set my team. Thus all my choices are friday trades.

    I decided to get major on Arsenal. Since I had Gerrard at near to his current value, I found dropping him easy for this weak to put on the sure bets (However Livepool will win this game).

    So far I arrived at:

    Given, Vermealen, Heitinga, Wilk
    Fabregas, Rosicky, Hunt, BFAY
    RvP, Drogba, Tuncay

    I am concerned I have put too many eggs in one basket and considering dropping RvP for Torres or dropping Fabregas for MTAY. Gabby has burned me so many times before now that I still snub him he will have a 30+ week. Hope BFAY can come up with some of his 20+ performances like last season.

    Good luck guys :D

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  22. Pardon my ignorance but - who is BFAY???

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  23. Ashley Young -> BFAY = Blog Favorite Ashley Young

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  24. I think i just comitted the WORST BLUNDER by changing RvP at 17.41 to a full price Rooney!!

    Will someone plz temme that this aint a dumb move??

    I was hasty and jus swapped them!

    I followed my hunch!

    Rgds.
    Nick

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  25. Kellz - wow, glad to see that someone still rides the train in the States.

    Nothing to be ashamed of with that line-up. It looks pretty similar to mine before I jumped off of the Arsenal bandwagon. The Gunners have looked totally flat recently, RVP is questionable (granted, looks like he will play but he is coming off two knocks from last week), Fabregas seems to have lost his stellar form of the first few weeks and Wigan can be a decent squad...I instead have opted to load my team with Villans with the claret and blue looking great recently and with a home game against Championship-bound Pompey. So, barring any further last second changes:

    Given
    Vermaelen GJohnson Warnock
    MTay Milijas O'Hara AYoung
    Drogba Tuncay Agbonlahor

    I went with this line-up partially with a view towards next week as well....definitely want to have GJohnson on my side for the Reds match against Hull (I would have had to drop him this week if I fielded RVP) and for current prices (i.e. I will BD) I can swap out Agbonlahor and AYoung for Defoe and Lennon (already salivating at Spurs thumping Burnley at the Lane).

    RVP has never brought me big points in the past...true, he can always erupt for a hat trick but given his past under-performance and his injury, it's not worth the risk of spending 18-19 million in my opinion when there are plenty of good Aston Villa options available.

    Good luck.

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  26. By the way, looking for Milijas to finally come through with a goal and more than 45 mins of PT this week at home against The Cottagers...I am queasy about dropping a discounted Jordi Gomez to keep the Serb on my side but Wigan has two tough games in a row (Arsenal and Chelsea) and so I think there is a potential for Gomez to come down a bit in value over the next two weeks in the event I wanted to pick him up again. Gomez also might have been dropped in favor Billy after this week anyway....still, he's a top ten point scorer amongst all MFs thus far and I have him at under 7 million. Tough to drop.

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  27. Need some input on keeping Benayoun cheap or switching up to Hunt or Dunn

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  28. Jensen
    G. Johnson / Vermaelen / Heitinga
    Fabregas / O'Hara / Rosicky / M. Taylor
    Drogba / Tuncay / Saha

    Sticking with Jensen til he tanks. :-)

    Still not settled on Saha or Rosicky but could trade down to Gomez and Chucho or Diamante. Have to decide soon, though. I don't get up before the deadline on Saturday (about 7:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern tme) for anything.

    Why is Yahoo so slow to add JVoH? Is his name too long for their system to handle?

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  29. DT - I'd had Milijas since week 1 but he's gone this week...if he scores I will be FURIOUS ;)

    Kellz - Team looks really good, not bad for someone with no time!

    Nick - If it was your hunch then you've made the right decision. Whether it goes well or badly at least you went for it. Rooney will do well.

    @9:45 - I'd get Hunt in.

    Everyone asking about the abbreviations/nicknames on here, follow the link below to Jeremy & Neal's excellent blog.

    http://fantasyepl.blogspot.com/2008/05/who-is-k2.html

    They were the inspiration for this blog and I still love reading them so if you're not checking them out already, please make sure you do.

    Cheers,
    AM

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  30. Good team bill...out of interest, how much is Johnson costing you?

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  31. Oh I pay premium prices for just about everyone, AM (except Tuncay). GJ cost me 13.10.

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  32. Darren Bent is doubtfoul??

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  33. Just decided to put in MTAY for Fabs. I feel like Stoke will be a rough game, meaning many more fouls which equal more spot kicks for MTAY. Even if he doesn't score atleast hes the kick taker. However Fabs recent poor form YFF wise could see him have a stormer tomorrow. Maybe another criss cross back to Fabs? lol I'll be punished so hard for this choice!

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  34. I feel inferior to you guys at the moment. Partially because I dumped Tuncay (which I don't regret, AT ALL) and partially because missing some bargains at bd...

    Anyway...here is what I've come up with (and I'm fairly confident...surprisingly :D):

    Given
    Verm,Sonko,Distin
    Hunt,Duff,BFAY,Hunch
    Drogs,Torres,Hunch

    Lets just...HOPE...!!!

    See you...!!!

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  35. @Kellz: I already had MTay, so I swapped Fabs out for BFAY. Neither one has been justifying his price of late, but seeing Fabs mid-week vs. Standard Liege scared me off. If he reverts to his Week 1 form tomorrow, I'll be suffering right with you.

    Myhill
    Vermaelen/Distin/Warnock
    Hunt/M.Taylor/O'Hara/A.Young
    Drogba/Tuncay/Rooney

    Despite its lack of any Arsenal players beyond season-keeper Verma, I can't help but be satisfied with that line-up. Hopefully all that talent comes through for me.

    -Bradley

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  36. Hey AM + randoms,

    Can anyone let me know if there are any weak areas of my team & players you don't believe will play, thanks & potential replacements. Thanks.


    B. Foster
    Verm, L. Baines, Warnock
    Duff, BFAY, M. Taylor, M. Jarvis
    Drogs, Tuncay, C. Benetez


    THANKS !

    Crispy

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  37. @Crispy: If your picks pay off I can see you skyrocket in the standings as your team has many players not many are choosing.

    Personally I don't like choosing defenders over 8mil, so I would downgrade Baines to Heitinga and upgrade Benetez to a lower premium striker, and if you can afford it, Torres, possible others that I like KJones/Bent/Jo/Saha/Eduardo (if he starts)/ or maybe outside gamble of Bendtner.

    Otherwise I like the outside picks :D

    Good luck!

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  38. saturday, i am leaving for a waterfall at 8am Sao Paulo-time and might be gone most of the day, so i might not be able to barndoor anyone and this is going to be the week for it. last week i didn't need to barndoor so many people.

    the only question i have is ohara or kightley from wolves or w elliot from burnley,

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  39. Given
    Verm, Heitinga, Dunne,
    Gerrard, Lampard, Benayoun, Rosicky, Rodwell
    Drogba, Tuncay

    Any advise?

    Gordon

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  40. Drop Lampard, pick up RvP or Torres

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  41. Hi AM,

    Thks for this great blog and the efforts put in especially on your match analysis! Pls give me some advise on my team:

    Myhill
    Verm,Warnock,Cuellar
    Jarvis,BFAY,Rosicky,A Reid
    Drogba,Tuncay,RVP

    I'm tempted to change either Rosicky or Jarvis to Hunt... Or even A Reid(but I'm sitting on a gd discount)
    Can I have your opinion on this. Thanks.
    Fr:AOJK

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  42. Bare in mind I have Bent and MTay at a discount .... Nando, Rosiky, Heitinga OR Bent, MTay, Distin?

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  43. @Anon, Personally i'd stick with the 2nd, both MTay and Bent have good match-ups for the next week (from the looks of it). Distin, as long as he starts, will have about 8 weeks before a real tough game pops up.

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  44. Oh, according to Martin O'Neill on the team's website, Reo-Corker will not be playing Saturday (sent home friday due to a spat he and O'Neill had on thursday)

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  45. MTay/Drogs/Moko OR Nando/Warnock/O'Hara

    I'm personally leaning towards the second opt. but would like your opinions.

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  46. Douchebage United, in the derby last week Villa looked like it would settle for a draw until Carew came on and there was more firing power. Young and Abon the Whore have the quickness but Milner the creativity and Carew the target. Counterattack goals come from Young and Gabby.

    I have a hunch that your hunch is K. Davies and so go with him. If anyone breaks 20 pts from Villa, it'll be A.Young or Gabby. I see Carew with 8-12 points.

    Justin

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  47. Would appreciate any advice on the following

    RVP Rooney Drogba with Mokoena

    RVP Drogba Tuncay with Lampard

    basically RooneyMokena vs Lampard/Tuncay

    Justin

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  48. Milijas or Kightly? Which one will start?

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  49. Fr:AOJK - Keep Andy Reid...try getting Hunt in for Jarvis (maybe downgrade Cueller to Sonko)

    @7.28am - Nando/Warnock/O'Hara

    Justin - RVP Drogba Tuncay with Lampard

    8.24am - Milijas

    AM

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  50. Rosicky with Taylor
    or
    Lampard with Rodwell

    Any advise?
    Rick

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  51. DARREN BENT WILL START? HELP ME PLEASE!

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  52. I think Rosicky has a decent change of starting, maybe 70-30

    I'm sure Bent will start.

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  53. @ am
    well in that case i may drop wilko and pick clichy

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  54. Kenwyne Jones, Crouch or the Yak?

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  55. Yossi Benayoun will start?

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  56. i'm thinking of finally dumping lampard. i've had him since week 1 but he's just not as effective in the diamond midfield. i'm just not sure if i wanna replace him with RvP. my current team is:

    myhill
    verm, warnock, sonko
    gomez, o'hara, BFAY, rosicky
    rooney, drogba, RvP

    or i can keep my old line up:

    foster
    verm, warnock, sonko
    lampard, gomez, o'hara, fab
    rooney, drogba, tuncay

    how many of you are still on the tuncay bandwagon? it kinda sucks with him there as i can't get a third striker in my squad but it sure helps having the extra funds to splash elsewhere. what a dilemma! any thoughts? thanks

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  57. Van persie or Torres?

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  58. I sold Tuncay, and I kinda feel relieved. He makes your team more rigid...but,hey, you said it well, he really gives you spare money to play with...

    Follow your...LOGIC!!! Look at his next 5 match-ups and...is he worth the FORWARD spot...!!!

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  59. Fabs, Matty Taylor ... I'm in heaven.

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