Sky Sports Focus – Gameweek 18

With a somewhat sobering Gameweek 17 behind us, we pick ourselves up and refocus our attentions on the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game once again. We focus on the Man of the Match (MoTM) awards and bonus point beneficiaries before taking a look at the Scout team and our plans for Gameweek 18.

Gameweek 17 Man of the Match Awards

These were 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).

Aside from Hull keeper Allan McGregor, midfielders and forwards had a monopoly on the awards this week, earning four and five respectively. Yannick Bolasie and Papiss Cisse both received their fourth accolade of the campaign so far – incredibly in Cisse’s case, he’s only started four matches, underlying his potential if he can get back to full fitness.

Gameweek 17 Bonus Points

Only two goalkeepers achieved bonus points from collecting five or more saves. Kasper Schmeichel and Jak Alnwick were the men in question, with the latter only needing 45 minutes to earn himself the additional two points. Robert Green still leads the way for keepers with 14 bonus points.

In defence, 13 players grabbed bonus, nine for tackles and four for passes completed. Villa’s budget centre-back Jores Okore came closest to grabbing both, missing out by just ten completed passes. Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel are the top performing defenders in terms of bonus with 14 additional points so far.

In midfield, there were 15 beneficiaries in total: six for tackling and 12 for passes. Lucas, Samir Nasri and, of course, Cesc Fabregas picked up both – the Chelsea playmaker is now hot on Morgan Schneiderlin’s heels and is just two points behind the Frenchman’s impressive 28 points so far.

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

The Sergio Aguero exodus is in full swing, with a massive 22.6% getting rid after the news of his four-to-six week absence hits us. Cesc Fabregas is suspended for the weekend’s action having picked up five bookings, whilst Angel di Maria remains on the sidelined as United prepare for the visit of rivals Liverpool.

Top Transfers In

All three of these look direct replacements for the stricken Aguero here. Wayne Rooney is the favoured option, whilst Diego Costa and Alexis Sanchez look set to start this weekend – the Chelsea frontman is aiming to improve his match sharpness after turning in some average displays upon his return from injury, whilst the in-form Sanchez was nicely rested from midweek duties ahead of the visit of Newcastle.

My Team

Fabianski
Bertrand Hutton Robertson
Hazard© Downing Sigurdsson Sterling di Maria
Rooney Costa

ITB: 1.5m
Transfers remaining: 24/40
Last week’s points: 27
Overall points: 860
Rank: 2,283

Notes

A poor week for me but I’m assuming it was the case for most others with Stewart Downing and Alan Hutton’s five points proving my main source of returns. Last week, I talked up Yaya Toure and Aaron Ramsey as options and both delivered – the pair were massive players last season and have still accumulated a decent amount of points this time, despite subdued performances so far. With Ramsey now unfortunately injured, I’m looking at drafting in Toure for Raheem Sterling or Angel di Maria this week – the only things holding me back are his Suspension Tightrope status and the impending African Nations Cup. I’ll wait right up until deadline before making the decision.

Captain plan

For Saturday, I’ll stick with MotM machine Eden Hazard at home to Hull and hope Chelsea don’t miss Cesc Fabregas’ creativity too much. Diego Costa is the other obvious choice but his diminished returns of late have swayed me.

On Sunday, I’ll hand the armband to my new shiny acquisition Wayne Rooney, who also has a penchant for MoTM and will be up against a Liverpool team in poor form and hopefully pretty tired after their midweek exertions.

This means Rooney will be my captain for Saturday Gameweek 19 against Villa, as good a choice as any on that day.

If you fancy the three captains option and want to take advantage of Monday night’s match, then an Everton player looks a good shout – they also play on Saturday Gameweek 19, meaning only one transfer is needed.

The Fantasy Football Scout League

Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and were currently toping the Private League rankings as per usual. With a £1000 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 Reading manager Brian McDermott and asking Newcastle legend Alan Shearer for his #One2Eleven.