Sky Sports Focus

Our Sky Sports Fantasy Football community come into focus on Fridays, having given the Fantasy Premier League frontrunners some oxygen way back when Gameweek 7 came to a close – a distant memory. As always, we focus on the top of the Scout League, track the latest movements in the Sky Sports transfer market and check on Fenners and Merse before tonight’s Fantasy Football Club episode…

The Scout League

There’s movement on top of the Scout League, with Jonathan Lenharth toppling long-time leader, Paul Hennessy, to nudge back to the summit. Jonathan’s “BetterThanLastYear” lineup nicks the lead by six points with a total of 488 points. That’s enough to place him in eighth place overall, a full 28 points behind the leader in the race for the 25k top prize.

Ben Salter is settled in third place in the Scout League, with Gary Paterson and Chris Tuck breathing down his neck. Scout contributor Andy has slipped to 24th spot in the league – a decline, but still a fine showing.

Fantasy Football Scout’s top five still sits comfortably on top of the Private League leaderboard – with a ten point gap on the league in second.

A reminder that 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

Santi Cazorla was the apple of our eye in this week’s ScoutCast and, it seems, our enthusiasm has leaked across into the Sky Sports transfer market. Arsenal’s Spaniard has been the most popular target over the international break, claiming over 6% of the transfers in since Gameweek 7 drew to a close. His goal and a third man of the match award of the season at West Ham, no doubt whipping up the enthusiasm for a player who looks well placed to reward investment for a modest fee of 6.7 in this game. Cazorla is now in the top five most owned players, with over 26% of managers acquiring his services.

Cazorla’s team-mate, Carl Jenkinson, goes on attracting suitors who are either oblivious to the threat of Bacary Sagna or confident that the young full-back will retain his start in the coming weeks. Jenkinson ranks second for “transfers in” this week with Chelsea pairing Branislav Ivanovic and Petr Cech coming next. With Leighton Baines in fifth, it’s significant that four of the top five targets this week are defenders – a reflection of the value they are currently offering in this game.

At the other end of the market, Carlos Tevez continues to top the transfers out as frustration builds on his recent rotation and lack of returns, although he is clinging to a 24% ownership, second only to Robin Van Persie who has amassed 38% coverage amongst the forwards.

Fantasy Football Club

Out of position Fantasy Football hero, Ryan Taylor, shimmies into the studio with Fenners and Merse ahead of Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby for tonight’s episode of the Fantasy Football Club. You can clock in from 10pm tonight and look out for the ITK’s tips for the weekend.