We are getting closer to Christmas when Fantasy Managers can look forward to four festive Premier League games in the space of just ten days. For savvy Fantasy managers this is a key time to leap up the rankings as rivals miss deadlines due to a little too much Christmas spirit and turkey.
Over this period minnows can provide a welcome present to Fantasy managers, either offering surprise wins or a Christmas capitulation for opposing teams’ forwards to feast on. This research exorcises the ghosts of Christmas past to see how minnows have performed in festive periods gone by. You will also be visited by the ghosts of Christmas present and future to see what we can learn from these struggling teams over this congested period both this season and beyond.
Fantasy ghosts of Christmas Past
For this analysis I looked at QPR (Based on 2012/13 season) as well as Villa, Hull, Sunderland and Crystal Palace in the 2013/14 seasons. For Burnley I had to rely on their 2009/10 statsistics
Team Played GF GA CS
Crystal Palace 8 6 9 3
Villa 8 7 13 1
QPR 8 7 10 2
Burnley 8 3 13 0
Hull 8 13 10 2
Sunderland 8 11 10 3
GF= Goals for; GA = goals against; CS = Clean sheets
Overall these clubs struggled to score and keep clean sheets. Nothing new. Sunderland, however, did managed to achieve a win and three draws, while Hull managed three draws. Among the shock victories for the minnows were: Chelsea 0 – QPR 1, Hull 3 –Liverpool 1, Everton 0 – Sunderland 1.
Fantasy ghosts of Christmas Present
Looking at the ticker it seems Villa, Crystal Palace, Hull and QPR have the most favourable fixtures for the December to early January period. Here are their fixtures and key players.
Villa: cpal/LEIC/SUN/CPAL/leic
Their defence is under pressure with Ron Vlaar an injury doubt and Alan Hutton still injured. Christian Benteke with only 0.2% ownership could be the best bet once he is back from suspension.
QPR: BURN/WBA/CPAL/SWANS/burn
They have started to score goals lately. If they do find the net Charlie Austin will be involved. Steven Caulker is now more reasonably priced at 4.7m and already has a goal to his name.
Hull: WBA/SWANS/sun/LEIC
While QPR have started scoring, Hull have done the opposite and have failed to score in their last three games. Nikica Jelavic has been a big loss, but should be back in time for Christmas. When they were scoring Mohamed Diame notched four goals in five games and could be a good option as a cheap midfielder.
Crystal Palace: VILLA/STOKE/qpr/villa
Jason Puncheon will be hoping to replicate his early season form, when he scored a goal and three assists in his first six games. With Morocco suspended from the African Cup of Nations, Marouane Chamack will also be available during January 2015.
Fantasy ghosts of Christmas Future
Looking ahead to this Christmas and beyond it is clear that investment in minnows can be key to success over this congested period. A Christmas miracle can happen, although be realistic; most festive periods tend to see the superior squads of the bigger teams prevailing. A key piece of fixture scheduling to look out for though is when minnows play each other, as they do this season. These could be cagey affairs and be a good time to play defenders from teams low down in the table. Also be aware of rotation. All clubs, even though with weak squad strength, are capable of producing some surprise line ups around Christmas.
9 years, 5 months agoGreat piece. I remember in seasons gone by Hull were particularly prone to rotation over Christmas with Bruce keen to rest better players against on paper unwinnable clashes and focus on the minnow match ups.
Certainly got my eye on Charlie Austin after reading this.