Sky Sports Focus – Gameweek 3

With Gameweek 3 up next, we asses our options in the Sky Sports game by bringing you the usual info – Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries and the current market trends – before taking a look at the Scout team and our plans for the week ahead.

Gameweek 2 Man of the Match Awards

Here are the players that caught the eye of the Sky Sports reporters from last weekend’s fixtures, achieving the Man of the Match award (worth an additional five points).

Two defenders, five midfielders and three forwards picked up the awards last weekend. Budget defenders Jordi Amat (4.7) and Alan Hutton (3.8) staked a claim for consideration, with perhaps Hutton the better option due to his security of starts and a cheaper price. Mid-price Argentine Erik Lamela (6.9) looks one to keep an eye on after picking up two assists – fielded behind the forward in a fluid system installed by Mauricio Pochettino, he really caught the eye and looks a great option with only 7% ownership.

Gameweek 2 Bonus Points

Only two goalkeepers achieved bonus points from collecting five or more saves. Julian Speroni and Kasper Schmeichel were the pair in question, with Schmeichel churning out the most saves in the Gameweek with eight – the Leicester keeper is likely to keep a high save rate and offer a good chance for MoTM. If you’re considering a keeper change already then the Dane looks good value at 4.3m.

In defence, 12 players grabbed bonus – seven for tackles and five for passes completed. Spanish full-back Cesar Azpilicueta came closest to achieving both, missing out by 11 completed passes.

In midfield there were 17 beneficiaries in total – nine for tackling and ten for passes. Central midfielders Dean Marney and Morgan Scheiderlin were the two to pick up bonus for both – Scheiderlin picked up 46 points in bonus last season and looks set to replicate that total once again.

Fantasy Football Scout members can access all information regarding bonus points using player stats and clicking the Sky Sports tab.

The Transfer Trends

Top Transfers Out

Sky Sports Fantasy managers have been quick to restructure their front lines this week, with four of the top most most transferred out players plying their trade up front. Alexis Sanchez looks set to benefit as Arsenal’s lone forward as a result of Olivier Giroud’s lengthy injury absence, though, and those who parted company with the Chilean could quickly regret their decision.

Top Transfers In

Back-to-back clean sheets bring Tottenham pair Eric Dier and Younes Kaboul onto Fantasy radars, with the former’s pair of goals making him the most sought-after player in the Gameweek. Hutton’s 3.8 price tag, allied with two clean sheets and a MoTM display, has afforded the Villa right-back a place in many new teams. Stevan Jovetic’s brace against Liverpool makes the 7.9-priced City forward an obvious target for the visit of Stoke, whilst Costa’s new owners are sweating over his fitness after Jose Mourinho confirmed he is a “big doubt” heading into the trip to Goodison.

My Team

Fabianski
Moore Hutton Van Aanholt
Silva (c) Hazard Toure Ramsey Mutch
Rooney Costa

ITB: 0.4
Transfers remaining 38/40
Last week’s points: 80
Overall points: 160
Rank: 2,550

Notes
I’ve picked up 80 points two weeks on the trot and a reasonable rank to go with it. This is thanks, in part, to Alan Hutton and Eden Hazard’s MoTM displays both netting me 12 points – also a last minute change of heart meant after my captain Diego Costa banged in a goal, I switched the armband to Juan Mata rather than Wayne Rooney and the Spaniard also came up trumps. I then swapped out Mata for David Silva who unfortunately failed to return any points but hopefully sets me up nicely for the weekend, as detailed below.

The main concerns with my team currently are Yaya Toure and Jordan Mutch who are yet to contribute anything of note. Again, I’m going to hang fire for now and hope they repay the faith with Cesc Fabregas, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Raheem Sterling, Siem de Jong and Erik Lamela are winking provocatively at me.

Captain plan
David Silva is my captain for his match at home to Stoke and I will then switch the armband to either Aaron Ramsey or Raheem Sterling on Sunday. Of course, if I go with Sterling I’ll have to transfer him in for Silva after City’s clash with the Potters on Saturday.

It’s worth noting that even though the upcoming Gameweek is a fixture-less one, we can still use our allocated captain swap for free if need be, setting up up nicely when the domestic action resumes in a fortnight’s time.

The Fantasy Football Scout League

Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and were hoping to top the Private League rankings as per usual. 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 with Fenners and Merse gets underway at 18:30 on Sky Sports One HD. The duo will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football, quizzing former England forward Les Ferdinand, and also asking the uncompromising Terry Butcher for his #One2Eleven.