Fantasy Premier League Focus – Gameweek 3

Once again, we take time out to analyse the consequences of another Gameweek in Fantasy Premier League. Looking at the performances of the top five in the Scout League, we also cast an eye the current transfer trends, with bandwagons picking up pace over the international break:

Scout League Standings

Asriel Chen not only remains at the top of the Scout League, he climbs to number one overall in the world – despite transferring out Santi Cazorla as part of a four point hit. The decision to part with the Gunners’ playmaker helped fund a move for Robin Van Persie and with captain Carlos Tevez, Michu, Yaya Toure and Thomas Vermaelen all producing the goods, Asriel boosted his total to an incredible 303 points to proudly sit atop the standings ahead of the two-week international break.

Renior Buffon moves into second place in the Scout League and sixth overall after scoring 81 points in the Gameweek gone by. Captain Van Persie and Tevez were the main protagonists, while Hatem Ben Arfa and Moussa Dembele also chipped in from midfield along with Toure – Renoir will be happy with his wildcard after a strong contribution from the new acquisitions.

Alex Henshaw edges ominously into third place after returning 105 points in Gameweek 3 – the only member of our top five to register triple figures. Six of his front seven – Van Persie, Tevez, Ben Arfa, Michu, Toure and Cazorla – all grabbed goals, while at the back, Ciaran Clark and Guy Demel registered 17 points between them, though he’s yet to acquire Eden Hazard ahead of Chelsea’s trip to QPR next time out.

Moving onto fourth position, we find Kelly Gosson. Once again, the Van Persie-Tevez combination worked wonders, while Toure and Nathan Dyer produced the goods from midfield. Kelly racked up 77 points over Gameweek 3 and sits in 77th overall, with a wildcard now played. Darren O’Connor makes up the top five after returning 64 points last week. Going against general consensus, he opted for Lukas Podolski alongside Tevez up top, while Thomas Vermaelen and Michu also helped boost his tally to 275 points overall – enough to earn 94th place in the FPL standings.

Finally, the Scout Contributors league has a new leader. Big Dunc’s decision to take a four point hit paid off handsomely, with the usual suspects such as Tevez, Van Persie, Toure and Michu, joined by Cazorla and Jermain Defoe, helping Dunc rack up 93 points – he now sits on 240 points overall, and in 9,044 place in the rankings.

The Market Trends

With wildcards continuing to be wielded at a frantic pace, player prices are more volatile than ever. Eden Hazard is the most popular player this week – over 105,000 Fantasy managers have picked up the Chelsea midfielder after a blank Gameweek 3. Hazard has already leapt 0.6 in price and looks set to rise again, with a week and a half still left before the Premier League kicks back into action.

Carlos Tevez is hot on Hazard’s heels, with over 91,000 grabbing the City striker. Tevez has scored in three of his side’s matches so far and has accrued 33 points, more than any forward – that price of 9.8 continues to rapidly escalate. Top scoring player in FPL, Michu shows little sign in slowing down after yet another goal last weekend – the Spaniard has acquired over 83,000 transfers in and has found a place in over 31% of Fantasy teams thanks to his endeavours thus far.

Certainly, it’s no surprise to see Robin Van Persie amongst the most popular players around. With a hat-trick against Southampton, the Dutchman’s steady climb in ownership shows no sign of abating – he’s been snapped up by over 80,000 new owners and is a massive armband favourite for the Gameweek 4 home clash with Wigan.

Elsewhere, Yaya Toure (50,000) and Fernando Torres (46,000) are tempting plenty, while the cut-price route into the Arsenal defence offered by Carl Jenkinson has seen over 70,000 Fantasy managers scramble aboard the bandwagon, despite the imminent return of Bacary Sagna at right-back. Gareth McAuley and Winston Reid have also received significant investment at the back after both returned goals and clean sheets last weekend.

For transfers out, Gareth Bale has taken the biggest hit this week, with over 54,000 Fantasy managers losing faith in the Spurs midfielder. The Welshman’s failure to produce in the first three Gameweeks, despite a kind schedule, has already seen his price drop to 9.4; with (rdg, QPR, AVL) amongst his next four, though, the potential is clearly still there for Bale to produce.

David Silva and Samir Nasri have been sold on by a combined 57,000+ with a sideways move to Yaya Toure offering a cheaper and more consistent alternative in City’s midfield. Many have also lost patience with Shinji Kagawa, despite a home clash with Wigan up next – 30,000 have moved the former Dortmund man on as midfields are drastically re-assembled.

At the back, City’s failure to produce clean sheets has seen many dispose of Gael Clichy and Vincent Kompany’s services, while Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to drop David De Gea was enough to convince over 20,000 to sell off the United stopper.

Newcastle pair Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse have been slow out the blocks this season and, after a blank apiece against Villa, the Magpies pair have been dismissed by over 64,000 teams. While a Gameweek 4 trip to Everton looks tricky, the following two fixtures – (NOR, rdg) – still look prosperous for Alan Pardew’s side.

The transfers out continue to rack up for Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero. Both could well be huge differentials if they return to action over the next few weeks; at present, they have 6.9% and 6% ownership respectively, compared to Van Persie’s 29.2% and Tevez’s 47.3%.