The Community Round Up

With winter wildcards now in play, our community articles and hot topics focus on the best options to consider across the player classifications. Goalkeeper rotation, Cesc Fabregas’ previous form in the second half of the season and a host of budget strikers are among the key issues discussed. We also catch up on the latest Members tables and community league news and discover that Harry Kane was among the lucky few to escape the Gameweek 20 heartbreak of seeing his 18 point Fantasy Premier League haul on the bench.

The Community Articles

This week saw the launch of our regular Winter Wildcard discussions, where one of our contributors mulls over the key players and strategies we should be considering. I got the series underway with some deliberations over the best mid-priced forward to draft in. Among the potential options is Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who is one of The Puntmaster‘s Gameweek 21 trio of differentials. Later in the week Spencer took over the winter wildcard discussion, this time focusing on the potential benefits of doubling  up in defence.

Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez’ exploits in the final third are set to cement themselves in the majority of wildcard teams. But who should slot in beside them in midfield? Kroos Kontrol was on hand to offer his take on the best options. Meanwhile, Ruccells delivered this staunch defence of 3-5-2 to get the most out of the array of midfielders on offer.

For those looking at goalkeeper combinations in their wildcard, Sticky Mockwell’s update on the performance of the best rotating pair of goalkeepers in the first 20 Gameweeks will prove essential reading.

Banana Shaquiri also dropped by with some statistics as part of his long-running comparison between foxes in the box, who like to shoot from close range, and the more eye catching displays of long distance shooters.

After a Christmas break the Scout Picks community champion vote returned this week, with Tony Hibbert selected to represent the community for Gameweek 21.

This week also saw the conclusion of the vote for the best community article in December. This was won by Applebonkers, who earns £25 Amazon voucher after impressing you with his Art of Team Selection article.

The Hottest Topics

Steven Gerrard’s move to LA Galaxy at the end of the season was arguably the top football story of the week, but despite four goals in his last two appearance and great fixtures throughout January he is still proving an unpopular choice among the comminity. According to our discussion on the Liverpool captain, rotation, a deep-lying role and price tag are still significant barriers to drafting him in.

Another player the community is reluctant to recruit is Theo Walcott. In our discussion on the Arsenal midfielder, Seaman was among those to believe other similarly priced players simply offer better points potential.

Still on the subject of midfield recruits, Limpar wondered whether Cesc Fabregas could be ditched during the January wildcard. His analysis of Fabregas’s flagging second half of the season displays for Barcelona suggest he could be. But Greenwindmill believes his owners could be too hasty to wave goodbye, given his strong form in the latter stages of campaigns during his first Premier League spell with Arsenal. Nickofoz was similarly passionate about the importance of Diego Costa for the second half of the season, despite his lack of assists and bonus points.

Given the wide array of premium midfield options, cheap defenders are likely to be continue to be needed in our wildcard teams. Zasa  took a look at the best three way defensive rotation options, while Ludo believes Hull defenders could offer good value for the second half of the season. To add to the discussion The Tinkerman presented his top tips on goalkeeper and defensive strategies.

Rotating cheap goalkeepers continues to be a popular strategy, with Sunderland’s Costel Pantilimon among the most wanted for this role. But, JK asked, which similarly priced goalkeeper rotates best with the Sunderland man?

There’s value in attack as well, says Ludo, who popped back with this hot topic on whether a 3-5-2 formation utlising budget strikers is a viable option for the second half of the season.

Could Burnley’s returning striker Sam Vokes be another strong budet forward option to add into the mix, wondered King Nil Miss, who also pondered how his return will effect the points potential of team-mate Danny Ings.

Among the best budget striking options is Tottenham’s Harry Kane, whose 18-point haul in Gameweek 20 still haunts the many community members who chose to bench him. As a footnote to those dramatic events, Paul has discovered that even Kane handed himself a starting role in his own FPL team. Sadly, though, he did not have the foresight to captain himself, instead giving the armband to David Silva. The Tottenham players’ league is currently led by Tom Carroll – the midfielder, who is on loan at Swansea, sits in a very respectable 3,268^th overall.

Elsewhere, Sergio Aguero’s return to fitness and the transfer rumours surrounding Wilfried Bony’s possible move to the Etihad were among a range of issues covered in our Manchester City discussion.

It is not just in FPL where teams are being transformed. The Ultimate Fantasy Premier League game’s transfer window is now open, with three a week allowed over four weeks. If you are making any last minute transfers this week be sure to check our hot topic on transfer plans and to see Goonerbyron‘s list of the teams with the most Sunday and Monday fixtures.

Finally, we were given a fascinating insight into the community’s taste in films thanks to Fissh’s movie based discussion. Within just a couple of hours of being posted this had already garnered around 300 replies from our many movie buffs.

The Members Tables

Marx has been looking at shooting accuracy in an attempt to find the forwards who are most likely to score over the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Patrick Bateman’s focus was on team statistics with this handy table looking at key defensive and attacking indicators. This has a global time frame so can be filtered to include home and away as well as more recent figures.

The Community Leagues

A final reminder that Red Lightning’s FFS January Wildcard League (352700-723212) starts from Gameweek 21 to the end of the season. This aims to see how well our January wildcards will work out long term. Fantasy managers are urged to enter their team into the league ahead of tomorrow’s Fantasy Premier League deadline even if they do not plan to play their wildcard until the end of the month.