FantasyStakes.com - Weekly Fantasy Football

After our pre-season run down of the strikers to look out for when selecting your team, we are now going to take a look at the Premiership’s top midfield talents.

Starting with Man United who have acquired two new talents over the transfer period so far in response to the gaping hole left by Ronaldo, will these new signings be able to fill the void?

Valencia, from Wigan, looks to be the direct replacement for the vacant right midfield position and is likely to start against Birmingham on the first day of the season.

Gabriel Obertan is the other new signing at Old Trafford however he is currently injured, so look out for him in October when he is due to make his debut. We may see United adopt a 4-3-3 this season, with Fergie openly saying that he looking for a new tactical approach, along with a striker selection of Rooney, Berba, Owen, Maceda and Welbeck.

Chelsea are yet to make any midfield purchases, however there are rumours of big offers for Pirlo and Ribery on the table. Lampard will again be a popular choice among the Fantasy Stakes faithful, as the Blues captain regularly puts in a quality performance with goals and assists to his name.

Ballack and Deco will be keen to put last season behind them and show their true quality on the field and if so, Chelsea will have an extremely strong midfield line up.

Liverpool are rumoured to have money in the budget to bring in some big names, however so far we have not seen any movement from the Merseyside team. It looks very much like Alonso will be on his way out of the club and his replacement could come in the form of Wesley Sneijder.

Another name which has been well linked to Liverpool is David Silva from Valencia, so make sure you watch this space!

The Gunners, famous for signing unknown youth instead of big name superstars are once again unlikely to bring in anyone well known to their midfield. However, they probably don’t need to as their team is starting to gel.

The two stand out players in the centre of the Arsenal team are Fabregas and the Arshavin. Andrei is having a strong Emirates Cup run out, with this quite brilliant finish against Atletico Madrid. Wenger also a good selection of players to add to his midfield line up, including Denilson, the now healed Rosicky, Walcott and Nasri once he has recovered from injury. (Expected back Oct)

The best of the rest;

Ashley Young and James Milner set Aston Villa alight at times during last season and they will be looking to do the same again this season as the Villains attempt to break into the top 4.

Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta are key players in Everton’s midfield and if they both hit form this season, the Toffees have a great chance of doing well. Always keep an eye on Fellaini, not that you could miss that hair, who has the ability to change a game.

Fulham’s strong season last time around means that they are a team to keep note of and their midfielders are great value for money, why not chuck one or two into your team?

Moneybags Man City are not short of players in any position, so the likes of Barry, Ireland, SWP and Petrov may be finding their way into your team on a regular basis.

Hit and Miss Spurs will be hoping for a much better start to the season than they had last year and they do have some quality players. Modric, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios and Bentley should all be considered when selecting your FS teams this season.

There are now under two weeks until the new season kicks off, so it is time to start picking your Fantasy Stakes teams for the first round and as you can see there are a lot of options to consider! Good luck!