Fantasy Premier League Focus – Gameweek 2

With Gameweek 2 done and dusted already, we’re able to roll out our regular article analysing the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) a little earlier than last week. The idea is to give a roll call of the best performing managers in the Scout league so far, while analysing the current transfer patterns ahead of the weekend’s round of fixtures:

Scout League Standings

Asriel Chen leaps to the top of the Scout league after racking up 101 points in Gameweek 2. Already, he has accrued an incredible 226 points and has established a 12 point gap at the summit. Second overall in FPL, Asriel has his City, Chelsea and Swansea contingents mainly to thank for his outstanding start – captain Carlos Tevez racked up 24 points, while Yaya Toure, Eden Hazard, Fernando Torres, Michu and Angel Rangel returned 57 points between them.

Paul Avery sits in second spot on 214 points – 23rd overall. Notching up a ton of points, he has also recorded back-back three figure scores, with a trio of Swansea and Chelsea players the main protagonists. Rangel, Michu and Danny Graham scored 32 points, while Hazard, captain Torres and Branislav Ivanovic boosted Paul’s haul by 41 points.Darren O’Connor has to settle for joint-third spot after picking up 84 points in Gameweek 3. A solid defensive unit picked up four clean sheets, while Michu (captain), Tevez, Hazard and Graham racked up 53 points between them.

Darren’s total of 211 points is equalled by Renoir Buffon, who leapt up the ranking after a 101 point haul in Gameweek 2. Renoir’s side has a couple of differentials compared to the other contenders – Ali Al-Habsi and Steven Pienaar both registered 10 points apiece, with the usual suspects such as Hazard, Tevez, Torres and Toure all chipping in with points aplenty. Mithun Nair completes the top five, despite harbouring a certain Aleksandar Kolarov amongst his ranks. Captain Tevez, along with Torres, Toure, Pienaar, Shinji Kagawa and Nathan Dyer helped him to 87 points in the Gameweek gone by. The average of our top five managers means we are currently number one in the “Best Leagues”, with 214.4 points on the board.

For the Contributors, Anorak takes over top spot this week. Rafael and Ivanovic both played a part defensively, Toure, Kagawa and Michu supplied the points from midfield, with Tevez and Torres doing the damage up front. Anorak currently sits on 170 points overall – 12,601 in the rankings.

The Market Trends

Michu continues to lead the way for transfers in, with over 139,000 Fantasy managers snapping up the Spaniard after he registered 28 points in his opening two matches. The Swansea midfielder has already risen by 0.5 since the start of the season as we scramble to get a piece of the action ahead of a run of games which sees Michael Laudrup’s men play four home matches in the next six Gameweeks. With form and fixtures on his side, the bandwagon shows little sign of slowing – the same applies to Michu’s team mate Nathan Dyer, with over 50,000 bringing in the winger after another assist in the 3-0 win over West Ham highlighted his cut-price potential. Angel Rangel is another big climber after his goal against the Hammers – over 67,000 Fantasy managers have picked up the right-back since the end of Gameweek 2.

With a blank Gameweek on the horizon for Chelsea, 11,000 have transferred out Eden Hazard. On the other hand, the Belgian’s three consecutive double figure points hauls have acquired him over 128,000 new suitors – similarly, Fernando Torres has earned plenty of investment, with over 83,000 managers picking up El Nino. As wildcards are wielded as a result of injuries to the likes of Sergio Aguero and Wayne Rooney, Torres offers a cheaper option to the Manchester duo, while many feel they simply can’t afford to sit back and watch Hazard’s price continue to escalate; he sits at 9.8 with another rise imminent.

Back-to-back goals from Marouane Fellaini has brought the Everton midfielder plenty of attention ahead of a trip to West Brom. Over 101,000 Fantasy managers have clambered aboard the bandwagon, with the Belgian rising 0.2 to 6.7 since the start of the season. Unsurprisingly, the Aguero and Rooney injuries have had a major knock-on effect on Carlos Tevez and Robin Van Persie. The pair look strong captaincy options for the weekend – Tevez entertains QPR and Van Persie travels to Southampton; so far, they’ve received a combined total almost 206,000 transfers in, with Tevez already up to 9.4 from 9.0 after picking up 18 points in the first two Gameweeks.

No surprise, them, to see Rooney as the most transferred out player this week. Over 197,000 have parted company with the United man after his thigh injury at the weekend – bearing in mind that Aguero is second with 52,000, the Rooney exodus is clearly dramatic and has produced an upturn in ownership for Shinji Kagawa as squads are reassembled – the Japanese star has been drafted in by almost 43,000 ahead of a trip to Southampton and home clash with Wigan.

Elsewhere, aside from Hazard, the Chelsea midfielders are being deserted by considerable numbers. Ramires, Juan Mata, Frank Lampard and Victor Moses have a combined tally of over 132,000 transfers out, with 44,000+ getting rid of Ramires alone. John Terry and Ashley Cole are also victims of the blank Gameweek – a total of 55,000 have shipped the defensive duo, while Man City’s rotation at the back, allied with a lack of clean sheets, is causing plenty concern – Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott and Gael Clichy have all seen significant sales ahead of the QPR match.