By AVI CREDITOR

After a break that definitely seemed longer than two weeks, Premier League action resumes this weekend with a host of appealing matchups.

The Manchesters appear to be the big winners, as United hosts West Brom and City travels to recently promoted Blackpool. The Red Devils and Citizens should provide mounds of fantasy points for managers, Blackpool's decent start to the campaign notwithstanding.

The bottom of the table will see a shifting of teams as well, with 17th-place Everton hosting 18th-place(!) Liverpool in a Merseyside Derby and 19th-place Wolves hosting 20th-place West Ham. Both matches could be some of the more open and entertaining ones on the Matchweek 8 slate.

Here are a few more Fantasy Premier League notes along with our captain pick for the week and an SBI League standings update:

AMERICAN WATCH

Clint Dempsey rewarded fantasy owners with an eight-point performance in his last Premier League game. His matchup this week (against Tottenham) isn't great, but Dempsey's form is rounding into shape. As long as he's starting for Mark Hughes, he can start for you…Stuart Holden, fresh off an impressive showing with the U.S. men's national team, has a great home matchup against Stoke City and is worth a look as a fourth or fifth midfielder…Eddie Johnson is still looking at extended minutes at Fulham but probably isn't worth anything more than a spot on your bench.

Tim Howard has pitched back-to-back shutouts, and he could extend that streak to three with a home match against struggling Liverpool…Brad Friedel's matchup with Chelsea is not good, but with the Blues missing a bunch of star players he's not unstartable…Despite coming up with a clean sheet against Colombia (even though he didn't have that much to do), Brad Guzan will not be playing in a league match for Aston Villa anytime soon…Wolves' Marcus Hahnemann makes for a very strong play at keeper this week (at home against West Ham).

INJURY QUICK HITS

The biggest name that will be missing from lineups this week will be Didier Drogba, who (according to ChelseaFC.com) is sick and won't be traveling with Chelsea to Villa Park. Don't drop him from your team, because this is not a long-term thing, but be prepared to dip into your bench…Chelsea will reportedly also be missing Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou and Alex this weekend…Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas is another prospective captain that is said to be missing in action on Saturday as he continues to let his hamstring heal…Fabregas' teammate, Theo Walcott, is nearing return and could be back as soon as this weekend…Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt will miss the next three or four weeks after suffering a knee injury on international duty…Everton should be without Marouane Fellaini, Phil Jagielka and Steven Pineaar for the Merseyside Derby…West Ham's Thomas Hitzlsperger is out until at least January with a thigh injury…Other doubts this week include West Brom's Peter Odemwingie and Birmingham's Cameron Jerome.

MATCHWEEK 7 CAPTAIN PICK

Carlos Tevez, Manchester City (5×2=10 points)

WHAT I REALLY MEANT TO SAY WAS…

Rafael Van der Vaart, Tottenham (15×2=30 points)

THIS WEEK'S CAPTAIN PICK

Nani, Manchester United, £8.6

The Red Devils have a very appealing home matchup against West Brom, and Nani has been the catalyst for Sir Alex Ferguson's attack throughout the season's opening stretch. He's recorded assists in five of the team's seven matches thus far and has also scored two goals. Should Wayne Rooney not be fit to play, Nani would likely see spot-kick duty as well. Coming off a nice international stint with Portugal, Nani is in-form and armband-worthy.

Other options: Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov; Chelsea's Florent Malouda (at Aston Villa); Manchester City's Carlos Tevez (at Blackpool); Everton's Mikel Arteta (vs. Liverpool); Arsenal's Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri (vs. Birmingham); Newcastle's Andy Carroll (vs. Wigan)

Soccer By Ives League Standings (Top 10)
1. typos by ives…………………….450 points
2. Angel City Rovers…………….430
3. Austin Killbotz!!…………………430
4. vonruedenFC……………………430
5. The 14ers FC…………………..422
6. Theblues………………………….419
7. Ballin Inc………………………….416
8. De Jong's Right Boot………415
9. Very Special Ones……………409
10. scoobys doos…………………409

LAST WEEK'S SBI LEAGUE TOP SCORERS

Watertown Fire (76 points)

———————————-Howard(6)—————————–
–Shawcross(8)————-Jagielka(6)————-R. Johnson(-1)–
–Van der Vaart(C-30)–Dempsey(8)–Essien(6)–Nani(3)–Bale(1)–
—————-Elmander(7)—————–Berbatov(2)—————-

Prussians & Pistols (76 points)

———————————Reina(1)—————————–
–Alex(14)——————A Cole(9)—————–K. Toure(1)–
–Van der Vaart(15)–Gerrard(C-10)–Dempsey(8)–Y. Toure(1)–
—–Elmander(7)———–Obinna(5)———-Odemwingie(5)—-

——————–

Who are you making your captain this week? What's your lineup looking like?

Share your thoughts below.