Fantasy Premier League Focus

Our weekly regular is rolled out again, as we take a look at the main protagonists from the Scout League while checking up on the current transfer trends ahead of next Saturday’s deadline:

Scout League Standings

Iyad Zahlan not only remains at the Scout League summit, he has also moved to number one in the world after racking up 55 points last weekend, despite taking a four point hit. Captain Robin Van Persie produced the goods, as did Luis Suarez, Dimitar Berbatov, Santi Cazorla and Kaspars Gorkss. Iyad now sits on 681 points, eight points clear in the overall rankings.

T.I. is a non-mover in second spot, though he’ll be disappointed by a Gameweek 10 score of 32 points. Cazorla and Berbatov were the only player to pick up attacking returns, with his decision to captain Gareth Bale failing to pay off. Nevertheless, T.I. is still in ninth overall but now sits 25 points behind Iyad on 656 points.

James Fitzgerald holds steady in third after a Gameweek 10 score of 39 points. Van Persie’s armband haul of 16 points helped boost his tally, with Berbatov also chipping in with a late assist against Everton. James is 10th in the overall rankings with 656 points to his name.

MP keeps his place in fourth with a 45 point haul last weekend. He also chose to captain Van Persie, while Cazorla and Rafael also produced – he sits in 19th overall on 652 points.

Jaydeep Karale makes up the top five. His team “Rising Stars” produced 52 points – captain Van Persie and Rafael were joined in the points by Marouane Fellaini, with the giant Belgian boosting Jaydeep’s tally by 15 points.

Thanks to the efforts of our top five, Fantasy Football Scout remains at the top of the Best Leagues – their collective endeavours earn us an average of 658.8 points, keeping us 13.8 points ahead of our nearest challengers.

As far as the Contributors League goes, Greek Fan has returned to the top – Van Persie, Cazorla, Rafael and Jussi Jaaskelainen were his main protagonists.

Market Trends

No surprise to see Marouane Fellaini at the top of the pile for transfers in after the Everton midfielder’s 15 point haul last weekend – over 110,000 have snapped him up ahead of the Toffees home game with Sunderland. United duo Robin Van Persie and Rafael are some way back in second and third respectively – they’ve both been acquired by just under 40,000 Fantasy managers as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side prepare for a kind run of fixtures.

Luis Suarez is also probing popular – over 30,000 have drafted in the Liverpool forward after he found the net yet again last weekend, while Swansea midfield duo Michu and Wayne Routledge have picked up a combined 35,000 new owners ahead of their visit to struggling Southampton. The mid-price appeal of Peter Crouch and Dimitar Berbatov has earned them 15,000 and 13,000 transfers in respectively, while City’s Carlos Tevez has mirrored the tally of Berbatov, having started nine of his side’s first 10 matches and offered greater consistency than Sergio Aguero.

A clean sheet at home to City has earned the West Ham backline plenty new investment, despite a horrendous run of fixtures to follow. Jussi Jaaskelainen, Winston Reid and George McCartney have been snapped up by a combined 36,000 Fantasy managers, while Kevin Nolan (13,000) and Mark Noble (9,000) continue to see investment. With an eye-catching schedule to follow, Stoke pair Asmir Begovic and Ryan Shawcross have both been acquired by 13,000 new suitors, while the cut-price appeal and recent scoring exploits of Chris Baird and Kaspars Gorkss have earned them 14,000 and 11,000 new owners.

Bacary Sagna’s return to fitness has seen the sales of Carl Jenkinson snowball. He’s the most offloaded player so far this week, with over 33,000 getting rid of the Arsenal right-back. Yaya Toure is not far behind him; the City midfielder has now gone seven Gameweeks without attacking returns and has subsequently been sold on by 31,000 Fantasy managers.

Further down, the transfers out have mainly been dominated by players either currently injured or rated doubts for the weekend. Demba Ba and Juan Mata have been shipped out by 26,000 and 21,000 respectively – with both more than hopeful of weekend returns, that could be a decision those sellers will come to regret. Injured trio Michel Vorm, Gervinho and Moussa Dembele have all picked up significant sales, while Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard, Steven Pienaar and Nathan Dyer have both been sent packing by over 10,000 Fantasy managers as midfields are restructured.

Up top, Jermain Defoe’s blank against Wigan was enough to see 25,000 pull the trigger, while a trio of out-of-sorts forwards are hot on his heels. Steven Fletcher (21,000) has failed to score in his last four, Fernando Torres (19,000) has drawn blanks in Chelsea’s last three, while Lukas Podolski (18,000) has just one assist in the last six Gameweeks.