Operation Sports and EA Sports are teaming up for a weekly giveaway of signed Barclays Premier League shirts! That’s right, footie fans, every week, from now until the end of the Premier League season, we are giving one lucky winner a signed jersey from a BPL club, courtesy of The EA Sports Official Sports Technology Partnership with The Premier League.

How do you win said shirts, you ask? Read on.

First, get posting here on Operation Sports. Only members with 10 posts or more are qualified to enter.

Next, check out the EA Sports Player Performance Index and how it works. Study it thoroughly, and then do it again. Ready? Good.

Because every week we will offer up three players from the index for you to choose from, and your goal is to pick the player who gains the most points for that week in the PPI (or, in rare cases, who loses the least points). Those who picked the winner will be entered into a random draw to see who gets the signed shirt.

That’s all there is to it, really, so get your crystal ball out and get ready to make your picks!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Better late than never! Here is this week's contest.

As always, first head on over to the EA Sports Player Performance Index, give it a good look, then make a pick for this week’s contest. For this round we’re featuring the midfielders from the (not-so, in hindsight) “Golden Generation” of English football.

Steven Gerrard



Frank Lampard



Paul Scholes

(If for some reason Sven Goran Eriksson comes across this, apologies for stirring up some bad memories. But man, did you screw up royally by pushing Scholes out left.)

These aging warriors from that overhyped, underdelivered period of the English squad are still battling week in and week out. Scholes, after being coaxed out of retirement by Ferguson, has once again resumed the task of dictating tempo in United’s midfield. Lampard, after being frozen out by the now departed Villas-Boas, has found new life under Roberto Di Matteo in the Chelsea Squad. And Gerrard, well, even if he hasn’t played his best football this season, he’s still a shoo-in for the first team considering he plays with the likes of Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson.

Fixture-wise, Chelsea gets a tough away draw against Arsenal after that battle of a win against Barcelona-- will fatigue be a factor? Liverpool, a team which has struggled occasionally against the bottom feeders this season, take on West Brom at Anfield. In an already disappointing season, surely the last thing they need is Roy Hodgson coming back and grabbing a point or three? United, meanwhile, look to keep their lead in the title race against Everton at Old Trafford. It’s a game that looks easy on paper, but really, no games against Everton are easy.

So who is your choice? Check out the PPI and submit your pick as to who will gain the most points for this week in the comments section below. Good luck!

FAQs:

What if I post my pick, and then change my mind before the submission window closes?

Sure, change your mind (but please, don’t go overboard). We will go with your last submitted player as your official pick, as long as you got it in before the deadline for that week, of course.

When is the weekly window, and when will I know if I won?

Good question. It depends on that particular round of matches. Premier League rounds usually start Saturdays and end Mondays. The winner will be drawn after the PPI is updated, which is after the last fixture of that round is played.

The weekly window will start late Tuesday or early Wednesday, when we post the three players for the following round of matches, and you will have until 12:01am Saturday (EDT) to get your picks in.

There is an exceptions to this, on the Round of Matches starting April 6 and April 9. This “weekend” that starts on Friday and ends on Wednesday are actually two back to back rounds of matches, but we will be combining the two since it’s just too complicated to make picks for two different rounds simultaneously.

What if the player I picked gets injured, or doesn’t play?

If a player gets hurt at the last minute, unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about that. Same with club managers’ selection policy, though the players we offer up for selection are normally in the starting XI. If a player gets hurt, say, a day before the window closes for that week, then yes, we will nominate somebody new, and you may enter your pick again.

What if two (or all three) players gain the same amount of points?

Then everybody who picked those two (or three) players gets entered into the draw.

Here are a couple of images, showing off the jerseys to be won. Good luck!