Sky Sports Focus – Gameweek 1

There’s a slightly new approach to our weekly look at the Sky Sports game this season. Like last time out, we will be assessing the previous week’s data – including the Man of the Match (MoTM) recipients, the significant bonus point allocations and the up-to-date market trends, but on top of this I will be taking you through the Fantasy Football Scout’s team (managed by myself) as I discuss my plans for the week ahead with regards to captains and transfers.

Highest Ownership

Just for this week we will take a gander at the highest owned players in the game to get an idea of where the masses are hedging their bets.

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

Similar to the Fantasy Premier League game, then, firm favorites Tim Howard, Dejan Lovren and Wayne Rooney come top of their respective positions, whilst in midfield, Aaron Ramsey, Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley are three of the five most popular options. Of that bunch, Rooney looks most likely to cause serious damage from the off with favorable fixtures and good form on his side.

My Team

Fabianski
Moore, Hutton, Van Aanholt
Mata, Hazard, Toure, Ramsey, Mutch
Rooney, Sturridge

0.4 in the bank

Breakdown

• Lukasz Fabianski (3.8) – Picked simply because he’s the cheapest starting goalkeeper, I don’t envisage too many clean sheets but save bonus could be a factor.

• Liam Moore (3.5) – Terrible fixtures and to be honest probably a poor option but a massive enabler due to his price, will likely be replaced as detailed below.

• Alan Hutton (3.8) – Again it’s the price that has drawn me in here, hopefully Hutton can step up with some tackle bonus and avoid the red cards!

• Patrick Van Aanholt (4.4) – Sunderland are fairly solid at home and the Dutch full-back seems intent on attacking, which Gus Poyet tends to encourage. He’s cheap and could chip in with the odd assist.

• Juan Mata (8.4) – Chance for goals, assist, passing bonus and great fixtures; seems a no brainer from the off.

• Eden Hazard (8.9) – Second highest scoring midfielder last season and now with a proper forward to put away his crosses, also the prospect of all penalties rather than Frank Lampard chipping in.

• Yaya Toure (9.0) – 274 points last season only bettered by Luis Suarez, the all-action midfielder is a must in the Sky game.

• Aaron Ramsey (8.6) – The fourth highest scoring midfielder last season despite missing four months of the season; similar to Toure, points come from all areas and he seems a must.

• Jordon Mutch (5.0) – despite playing for relegated Cardiff last season, the midfielder still scored seven times. Handed the role in “the hole” in a 3-4-1-2 on his debut for QPR, he’s my favorite budget option.

• Wayne Rooney (9.4) – The highest scoring forward remaining from last season, as mentioned above he has form and fixtures on his side and potentially a more advanced role.

• Daniel Sturridge (9.8) – A goal scorer, Liverpool’s attacking style suits him and he’s now the main man. He scored 209 points last season I expect him to better it this campaign if he can keep himself fit.

Theory
I’ll be honest, I have taken a bit of a risk here by massively skimping on my defence but I believe there is some method in the madness. With the vast majority of decent starting defenders coming in at a higher price than last season (around 5.5 compared to 4.5 previously) and the chance of picking the correct option straight off the bat being slim, I have opted for the cheapest available options that appear to be nailed on at this stage, fully expecting to reap very minimal rewards – this, of course, is to fund my heavy-hitting midfield and attack.

Basically my plan is to sit back and see which mid-price defenders appear to be in good form and represent good value and then downgrade Juan Mata after his good fixtures to whichever cheap midfield option has started well (I have my eye on James Ward-Prowse) and then use the funds to upgrade my defence. Hopefully by then I’ll have my blueprint team and use the majority of the rest of my transfers for injuries and captain swaps.

Captain plan
The plan for Gameweek 1 is to captain Wayne Rooney on the Saturday, use my swap to Daniel Sturridge for the Sunday and then transfer out Sturridge for Diego Costa who plays Monday night, giving me three captains. As a bonus, Costa plays on Saturday in Gameweek 2 at home to Leicester and so sets me up perfectly.

The Fantasy Football Scout League

Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and we’re hoping to top the Private League rankings once again. With a £1,000 prize to the winner, you’d be mad not to get involved. To join, visit Sky Sports Fantasy Football and key in League Name: FFScout, League Code: 8009000.

The Fantasy Football Club

This Friday The Fantasy Football Club show, where you can catch Fenners and Merse at 18:30 SkySports One HD where they will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football, quizzing former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood and asking him for his #One2Eleven.