PlayON – The Weekend Player Picks

Sunday brings us the final opportunity of the season to indulge in www.playon.co.uk, a new weekly Fantasy Football game built around Opta data, a neat pricing algorithm and a live matchday experience. Not only is PlayON rather fun to play, it’s also primed for Fantasy Football Scout visitors to win some cash. Take from it us, the FFS team came fourth in the £1,000 guaranteed game last week, grabbing £80, whilst winning another £30 in one-on-one challenges. Interested? You really should be.

PlayON’s points scoring will be familiar enough, whilst throwing in some new statistical variables that give those with Members Area access a nice little advantage. Similarly, if you’re well briefed on the team news and likely lineups, you can spot some real bargains amongst the player list. Once you’re settled on your selection, the live matchday experience is also a joy – particularly if you happen to be watching your team competing at the top as it updates.

Gameweek 38 Player Picks

Last week’s picks came good, with goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Hatem Ben Arfa, while Simon Mignolet also broke the 1000 point mark, despite conceding at home to Southampton. With form on our side, then, let’s look to the PlayON player list ahead of Sunday’s matches and pick out some likely lads.

Goalkeeper
Anders Lindegaard
Sir Alex Ferguson has conveniently signposted some of his West Brom teamsheet in this morning’s press conference, assuring us Fantasy managers that Lindegaard will be between the sticks at the Hawthorns. That will disappoint David De Gea owners but, for those shopping for a PlayON bargain in goal, it’s a godsend. Available for just 6.7, the big Dane looks an essential bit of business this weekend.

Defender
Pablo Zabaleta
With City rotating their defence for the win at Reading, the PlayON pricing algorithm has lessened their cost and made a string of assets available for a snip. You can pick up Matija Nastasic for 8.9m and, while he’s certainly worth considering, his start is perhaps less secure than Zabaleta. The Argentine is a little more pricy at 9.4m but offers some attacking threat for the visit of Norwich and, having scored on that legendary final day last season, he may just choose Sunday to deliver another goal.

Midfielder
Jonjo Shelvey
A ready-made bargain. With Fantasy managers expecting an avalanche of goals for Liverpool against relegated QPR, it makes sense to stock up on Brendan Rodgers’ assets. While Shelvey won’t be the first name that springs to mind, at just 6.8m he looks a shoo-in. He may not get more than an hour but at this price you can get yourself a player bristling with attacking intent against a fragile defence, whilst freeing up a bundle of cash to spend elsewhere. For bargain heavy-hitters, look to David Silva (8.5m) and Michu (9.2m) this week.

Forward
Javier Hernandez
We tipped Emmanuel Adebayor in this article last week and he duly delivered the winner at Stoke – he’s still a bargain at 9.9m for Sunday’s matches but, for the sake of something different, we’ll go with the “Little Pea”. Hernandez will be expected to start for United at West Brom with Wayne Rooney out of favour and, with a price tag of just 10.1m, the Mexican looks a decent option for those hunting for a differential with proven goal power.

How To Play

Once your starting XI is built (you can keep changing your team as many times as you like up to 10 minutes before the first kick-off – it’s your last saved team that gets entered in all your games) you can compete for cash. Entering a multiplayer game for a set stake, you’ll have a chance of winning your share of the pot should you finish high enough in the rankings – once again, there’s a £1,000 guaranteed pot this week.

Similarly, you can challenge another player one-on-one, selecting the amount at stake. The likes of Robbie Fowler, Gareth Southgate and Opta Joe are all playing the game and are there to be challenged for £1. There are also some high-roller one-on-one challenges about, offering £5, £10 and £50 games.

Challenge Your Mates

You can also set up your own multiplayer game with your mates. While we have some Fantasy Football Scout games to enter, there’s an incentive to set up your own this week.

If you set up a £2 entry game and get 10 players and £20 in the pot, then PlayON will add an extra £5 in prize money to your game.

Create your own game at www.playon.co.uk.

For more details on PlayON and just why you should be playing it, check out our “Introducing” article from earlier in the season.

PlayON is a form of gambling so you have to be aged over 18 and over to play and, if you do wager some cash, please remember to gamble responsibly.