PlayTheGame

Times football writer Nick Szczepanik gives us his verdict on five of the best performing players from the weekends matches. You can have a look at who has picked out here.

PTG Blog feed - Subscribe to a feed of the PTG blog at the following URL and get the latest posts straight to your browser or feed reader. http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/index.xml

Take a look at the Premier League preview videos for the five matches on Saturday, four on Sunday and the evening kick-off on Monday.

VIDEO: Premier League match previews for November 7th, 8th and 9th 2009

Saturday November 07, 2009
Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers, 3:00 pm
Blackburn Rovers v Portsmouth, 3:00 pm
Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland, 3:00 pm
Manchester City v Burnley, 3:00 pm
Wolves v Arsenal, 5:30 pm (ESPN)

Sunday November 08, 2009
Hull City v Stoke City, 1:30 pm (Sky Sports 1)
West Ham United v Everton, 3:00 pm
Wigan Athletic FC v Fulham, 3:00 pm
Chelsea v Manchester United, 4:00 pm (Sky Sports 1)

Monday November 09, 2009
Liverpool v Birmingham City, 8:00 pm (ESPN)

The latest weekly prize winner and the winner for October have now been added to the site. You can see the names and locations of all our weekly winners so far by taking a look at our full weekly winners page and the prize winners for September and October can be seen on the general winners page.

All those winners drawn will receive a letter detailing their win and how to claim their prize however there may be some delays as a result of the postal strikes.

With the exception of the most recent winners, if you genuinely think you are one of the winners listed but you haven't heard from us please reply to this post.

Whilst it's not uncommon these days to have a football stadium name linked with big brand sponsorship, it's usually associated with a new ground rather than one that is 117 years old, but yesterday Mike Ashley angered the Toon army even further by renaming Newcastle's stadium to sportsdirect.com@StJames' Park.

Whilst PTG teams might not have to worry about playing home or away or on a physical piece of grass, it did get us wondering what PTG managers would like to call their hypothetical stadium and any appropriate sponsors they would link up with.

Just for a bit of fun, let us know your team name, what you would call your stadium (including a sponsor if you want) and any reasons for the choice, but please keep it clean!

After the weekend matches, one new player has been added to the PlayTheGame player list. The player was added at around 17.00 GMT on Monday November 2nd and is subject to the the usual 48 hour notice period.

Nathan Eccleston - 18 year old Liverpool striker who came on as a late substitute against Fulham.

PTG Blog feed - Subscribe to a feed of the PTG blog at the following URL and get the latest posts straight to your browser or feed reader. http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/index.xml

Nick Szcepanik gives us his verdict on five of the best performing players from the weekends matches. You can read the full article here and feel free to let us know who the star man was in your team.

PTG Blog feed - Subscribe to a feed of the PTG blog at the following URL and get the latest posts straight to your browser or feed reader. http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/index.xml

FIFA has announced a 23 man shortlist for their Player of the Year award which includes eight players from the current Premier League.

Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres, and Steven Gerrard make the cut from Manchester United and Liverpool, but Chelsea dominate with Frank Lampard, John Terry, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba all in contention. Former Manchester United star and last years winner Cristano Ronaldo has also been shortlisted.

If we take a look at the facts and figures from PTG last season Frank Lampard was the best overall player, Steven Gerrard was second and Ronaldo was third. So far this season, Fabregas of Arsenal is the best performing player in the PTG rankings, but Drogba is second and Lampard third.

For sheer consistency Lampard has to stand out from the players listed from the Premier League, but maybe the winner will come from one of the other 15 players from the rest of the world and therefore a player just out of reach of any PTG manager.

The full list is shown below and the winner will be announced on December 21st 2009.

FIFA World Player 2009 shortlist:
Michael Ballack (Germany)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Iker Casillas (Spain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Diego (Brazil)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
Michael Essien (Ghana)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon)
Steven Gerrard (England)
Thierry Henry (France)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Kaka (Brazil)
Frank Lampard (England)
Luis Fabiano (Brazil)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Carles Puyol (Spain)
Franck Ribery (France)
Wayne Rooney (England)
John Terry (England)
Fernando Torres (Spain)
David Villa (Spain)
Xavi (Spain)

Take a look at the Premier League preview videos for the nine matches on Saturday, and one match on Sunday

VIDEO: Premier League match previews for Octber 31st and November 1st 2009

Saturday October 31, 2009
Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur, 12:45 pm (Sky Sports 1)
Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea, 3:00 pm
Burnley v Hull City, 3:00 pm
Stoke City v Wolves, 3:00 pm
Sunderland v West Ham United, 3:00 pm
Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic FC, 3:00 pm
Everton v Aston Villa, 3:00 pm
Fulham v Liverpool, 3:00 pm
Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers, 5:30 pm (ESPN)

Sunday November 01, 2009
Birmingham City v Manchester City, 4:00 pm (Sky Sports 1)

The latest weekly prize winner has now been added to the site, our seventh weekly winner so far. You can see the names and locations of all our winners so far by taking a look at our winners page.

All those winners drawn will receive a letter detailing their win and how to claim their prize.

With the exception of the most recent winner, if you genuinely think you are one of the winners listed but you haven't heard from us please reply to this post.

Another weekend of Premier League action gives us four new players to add to the PlayTheGame player list.

The players listed below were added at around 17.32 GMT on Monday 26th October and are subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Jeffrey Bruma – 17 year old Dutch centre back debuted for Chelsea against Blackburn
Lucas Neill - A free agent after leaving West Ham last season, the Aussie is back in the Premier League and was pivitol in Everton's two goals against Bolton
Seamus Coleman – 21 year old Irish U21 and U23 defender came on as a sub for Everton against Bolton
Seol Ki-Hyeon – Back in the Fulham team after a loan spell in Saudi Arabia

PTG Blog feed - Subscribe to a feed of the PTG blog at the following URL and get the latest posts straight to your browser or feed reader. http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/index.xml