Sky Sports Focus – Gameweek 21

With the last double Gameweek for a while out of the way, we step into the second half of the season in the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game. As always, we bringing you the latest Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries and assess the main movers in the transfer market before looking at the Scout team and our future plans.

Gameweek 20 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).

One goalkeeper, one defender, 14 midfielders and four forwards earned the awards over double Gameweek 20, with Leicester’s budget midfielder Riyad Mahrez (4.5m) the stand out performer after picking up the gong in both his matches. Frustratingly for Fantasy managers, he now departs for the African Cup of Nations with Algeria, just as he was starting to look an enticing option.

Eden Hazard’s love affair with the MoTM award continued. He’s now earned the accolade on eight occasions and is the highest scoring player in the game with 140 points. The Chelsea winger managed 209 points in 2013/14 and, at just over the half way point in the season, it appears he’s well on his way to bettering that total – alongside Sergio Aguero, he really does appear to be essential.

Gameweek 20 Bonus Points

Six goalkeepers achieved bonus points from collecting five or more saves. Swansea’s Lukasz Fabianski was the only one to manage it twice, racking up an impressive 13 saves over the two matches. Robert Green is still the top of the bonus point rankings on 16.

In defence, 19 players grabbed bonus, 14 for tackles and six for passes completed. QPR wing-back Mauricio Isla put in a great defensive shift over the double, winning ten challenges in total. Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel are joined by Cesar Azpilicueta on 14 additional points at the bonus points summit.

In midfield, there were 27 beneficiaries in total: 16 for tackling and 15 for passes. Four players snagged double bonus including Nemanja Matic, Fernandinho, David Silva and Carlos Sanchez. This means that Matic and Yaya Toure are now the joint top bonus magnets with 30 apiece.

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 In

Harry Kane’s two goals and pair of assists against Chelsea have persuaded plenty to snap up the 6.7-priced forward. Eden Hazard’s recent consistency has forced a midfield reshuffle, whilst Villa’s Alan Hutton and Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand have also been subject to heavy interest due to the kind price tags in defence.

Top Transfers Out

The upcoming international tournaments have played a part here, with Wilfried Bony, Yaya Toure and Mile Jedinak all absent from domestic duties in the meantime. Injuries have forced Andrew Robertson and Nathaniel Clyne owners to act, though the latter is expected to return in time to fact United this weekend.

My Team

Fabianski
Bertrand Hutton Van Aanholt
Hazard© Silva Downing Sigurdsson Sterling
Rooney Costa

ITB: 1.0m
Transfers remaining: 20/40
Last week’s points: 116
Overall points: 1219
Rank: 218

Notes

A decent start to the double was followed up by a poor New Year’s Day but overall my team did fairly well rising in overall rank to 218th. Raheem Sterling’s solitary assist as captain was a letdown, bearing in mind Liverpool scored six goals whilst he had my armband – a case of targeting the right team but the wrong player unfortunately.

Andrew Robertson’s ill-fated stint in my team (he managed a total of 5 points since swapping him in for Patrick Van Aanholt) is over and I’ve already re-purchased the Sunderland left-back. At 4.4m, Van Aanholt offers a decent attacking threat and hopefully can continue to earn the Black Cats shut-outs. More transfers are also on the horizon as I seek to refresh my team – after Diego Costa and David Silva play on Saturday, I’ll likely bring in Olivier Giroud and Angel di Maria for Sunday’s matches as I seek out a couple of differentials. Sergio Aguero will also likely be coming in for Wayne Rooney but I’m targeting City’s home clash with Hull in Gameweek 26 in order to take advantage of Rooney’s fixtures and to give Aguero time to get back to full fitness.

Captain Plan

The game’s top scoring player Eden Hazard will be my captain for Saturday in a real no-brainer as Chelsea host Newcastle

For Sunday I’ll swap the armband to Wayne Rooney, who plays at home to Southampton and hope Di Maria helps his goal potential.

Opting for Rooney over an Arsenal player has the added bonus of setting us up nicely for Gameweek 23 – United play on Saturday away to QPR, whilst Arsenal don’t feature until Sunday in a heavyweight clash at the Etihad.

The Fantasy Football Scout League

Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and were currently topping the Private League rankings. 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 18:00 SkySports One HD where they will be making the first round draw of the Fantasy Football Club Cup.