Fantasy Premier League Focus – Gameweek 5

As the dust settles on another Gameweek, we roll out our early-week regular. Once again, we focus on the main protagonists in the Scout League, while casting an eye over the transfer market as trades pick up pace on the back of the weekend’s action:

Scout League Standings

Renoir Buffon remains at the top, despite taking a four point hit to get rid of Robin Van Persie and Carlos Cuellar. Jermain Defoe and Branislav Ivanovic were the replacements, with Defoe then handed the armband for a 16 point return. Elsewhere, Ivanovic, Steven Taylor and Liam Ridgewell all chipped in with clean sheets, while Hatem Ben Arfa and Dimitar Berbatov both provided eight points apiece for a Gameweek total of 59 (after points deductions) to leave Renoir sitting ninth overall in the world on 394 points.

Second place goes to the mysterious MP after he racked up 82 point to move to 33rd overall, on 386 points. A back-three of Rafael, Ivanovic and Leighton Baines accrued 28 points, while captain Gareth Bale, Kevin Nolan and Steven Pienaar all produced in midfield. Up front, Van Persie, Carlos Tevez and Rickie Lambert notched three goals between them.

Andy Fox sits in third position in the Scout League. Chelsea pair Petr Cech and Ivanovic produced clean sheets at the back, while a strong-looking midfield five of Eden Hazard, Pienaar, Ben Arfa, Santi Cazorla and Shinji Kagawa returned 32 points between them. Berbatov and Tevez led the line in, while Rafael’s 11 point haul at Anfield was left on the bench – despite this, Andy accrued 58 points to climb to 37th overall.

Dave Fitzgibbon slips down to fourth place after a 53 point haul last time out. Rafael and Ivanovic were the main protagonists at the back, while Cazorla, Shane Long and captain Defoe all picked up attacking returns as Dave moved to 384 points overall.

Former world number one Asriel Chen makes up the top five. Ivanovic and Taylor returned clean sheets in defence, while Marouane Fellaini, Demba Ba and captain Van Persie all chipped in as Asriel recorded a 52 point haul, moving him to 48th overall.

For the Contributors League, Anorak takes over at the top. A back-three of Rafael, Ivanovic and Baines produced 28 of his 48 points this Gameweek, with Kagawa the only attacking player to pick up attacking points. Andy joins him on 324 points overall but sits second as he’s made the most transfers of the duo.

The Market Trends

Everton duo Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines are picking up plenty of interest ahead of next weekend’s home clash with Southampton. Fellaini is far and away the most popular player this week – over 75,000 Fantasy managers have transferred the Belgian in since his 12 point display against Swansea on Saturday, while Baines has made his way into almost 40,000 new teams.

Ashley Cole and Rafael have both been snapped up by almost 18,000 Fantasy managers as backlines are assessed, while West Brom’s Gareth McAuley continues to prove popular after returning his third home clean sheet of the season in the 1-0 win over Reading. The West Ham backline is tempting plenty right now – Jussi Jaaskelainen, Guy Demel and Winston Reid have been drafted in by a combined 33,000 since last Saturday’s deadline.

Up top, Steve Fletcher and Demba Ba lead the way for transfers in, with 40,000 and 35,000 respectively picking up the mid-price duo, while Rickie Lambert’s brace against Villa has persuaded almost 30,000 to scramble for his signature despite a tricky trip to Everton up next. Dimitar Berbatov continues to climb in price – 21 points in his two starts for Fulham has led to over 20,000 grabbing a piece of the Bulgarian.

In terms of transfers out, the faith in Swansea’s midfield has taken a real battering after another goalless game last weekend. Nathan Dyer has been sold on by over 50,000 Fantasy managers, while Michu has exited over 32,000 teams. Although a trip to Stoke looks tricky this weekend, the Swans them host Reading and Wigan at the Liberty – surely enough reason to hold right now.

Fernando Torres’ failure to notch against Stoke has seen 44,000 transfer out the Spaniard, while Mladen Petric continues to plummet in our estimations. The latter has dropped 0.3 in price over the last two Gameweeks now that he has seemingly lost his place in Martin Jol’s starting XI. Carlos Tevez’s first bench appearance of the season has caused panic – the most popular player in FPL with over 50% ownership, the Argentine been moved on by over 20,000 managers now that Sergio Aguero is back for City.