Sky Sports Focus

Having put the Fantasy Premier League in focus earlier this week, it’s now time to turn our attentions to the Sky Sports game. We hand out some glory to the top players in the Scout community, examine the rather puzzling Eden Hazard transfer trend and look forward to another episode of the Fantasy Football Club…

Scout League Standings

We’ve a new leader in the Scout League, with Ben Salter’s “Mondeo Man Can” ascending to top spot with 231 points, a total which also has him tied at the very top of the entire game. Mark Hayles holds in second place on 224 points, while last week’s leader Jonathan Lenharth claims third on 223. Interestingly, last week’s overall leader, Niels Koopman, has now joined the Scout League and sits in fourth.

Further down the Scout League table, I can’t help but notice that former Metro winner and Scout League champion, Pascal Evans, now sits ominously in ninth place. Below him, we have our top Scout Contributor; Andy has accrued an impressive 182 points in 20th spot.

In the League of Leagues table, the Scout League remains on top, with an average of 221 points so far.

If you’re playing the Sky Sports game and have yet to join our league, you can sign up to the FFScout League with this Pin: 8004519.

Market Forces

Not only has Eden Hazard continued to command transfers in the Fantasy Premier League game, the Belgian has also been in demand here, despite having a blank fixture this weekend. With over 27% of transfers in involving Hazard this week, no other player can rival his appeal.

While FPL managers can, of course, bench Chelsea’s playmaker, that’s not the case in the Sky Sports game. With no price rise pushing the need to acquire Hazard, the trend is all the more curious and demonstrates the power of points won as the governing factor in the mainstream transfer activity.

It’s no surprise to see that Carlos Tevez, Robin Van Persie and Michu rank next in the transfers in stats, while further down the rankings we find Santi Cazorla and Nikaca Jelavic – both have been part of 5% of this week’s transfers in.

Wayne Rooney (42%) and Sergio Aguero (17%) predictably top the transfers out, while lower down the list, folk have been giving up on David Silva with 5% of transfers out involving the City Spaniard, reflecting the trend we’ve seen in the FPL following his stuttered start to the season.

Inevitably, today’s deadline moves are to have an impact on our future thinking. In particular, Dimitar Berbatov is bound to figure in the next couple of weeks – the Bulgarian sealed his deal to Fulham this afternoon and, at just 7.5 in this game, looks a shoo-in with goals, assists and man-of-the-match awards surely beckoning.

The Fantasy Football Club – 10pm Tonight

Tonight’s episode of the Fantasy Football Club will be on air live at 10pm with David James and Jobi McAnuff in the studio and potential Scout Pick, Steven Taylor, on the other end of the phone. Fenners and Merse will also be examining the day’s transfer dealings and the impact on our Fantasy lineups, no doubt with more input from their “ITK”.