The Community Round Up

The Community articles and hot topics echoed with the sound of fluttering wildcards and Fantasy managers’ top songs to sum up their season. For those looking without a wildcard, there was some guidance on how to avert a disastrous plummet down the overall rankings, whilst there was plenty of advice on offer in our Members tables for those looking to take advantage of this week’s double Gameweek. Mini-league wrangles also took centre stage, with just five Gameweeks left time is running out for those looking to wrestle top spot away from the current league leaders.

The Community Articles

The case for following advice from FFScout’s many community experts and the power of statistics was forcefully made by Gussy, who explained how he is on the edge of the top 1,000 in his debut Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season without ever seeing a match.

Cesc Fabregas was the focus of Serjeant’s statistical analysis going into the double Gameweek. As Serjeant reveals, Cesc’s new suitors may be a little too hasty, given his second half of the season displays so far.

Elsewhere our latest Rough with the Smooth we looked back on Gameweek 33’s tales of joy and woe from the community and find out who was the week’s smoothest operator.

After a difficult Gameweek 33, The Puntmaster will be hoping to bounce back in with his  Gameweek 34 trio of punts.

Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

The Hottest Topics

With Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester and Hull all playing twice this expectation is high among the community of bumper returns in Gameweek 34. Innsie was among our resident experts on hand to give some top tips for surviving double Gameweek fever.

Having a wildcard in play for Gameweek 34 is set to offer a major boost, if key assets from double fixture sides do well. For those without, though, taking hits seems inevitable, according to Pepin, one of many to take part in Captan Ali Cheesoid’s discussion on how to get one over on wildcarders this week.

For Enzo the Baker, those without a wildcard should focus more on damage limitation in his guide to surviving the double Gameweek. He followed that up with a specific look at the pros and cons for the wildcardless of removing Manchester City man David Silva to take advantage of double Gameweek stars.

One option that many with a wildcard haven’t considered is holding a little longer to take advantage of Arsenal’s double Gameweek 37. Here Bod puts forward five key reasons to save a wildcard another week.

Meanwhile, Sporting offered some crumbs of comfort to those with no wildcard left in this hot topic on the advantages of using it early.

Liverpool assets are top of many Gameweek 34 shopping lists, with Jordan Henderson gaining plenty of interest. We had a closer look at how he fares when other midfielders such as Lucas are on the pitch. This hot topic also contains some interesting links posted by Ryan from Beavis and Accounting on Chris looking in closer detail at Steven Gerrard’s effect on Henderson’s points potential.

Liverpool’s players, in addition to Eden Hazard, also feature high up in Giggs Boson’s handy double Gameweek form guide.

RuthNZ’s latest curveball, after previously putting forward the case for ditching Harry Kane, is to consider placing the armband in the double Gameweek on Hull’s striker Dame N’Doye. As he points out, the Senegalese striker has some eye-catching stats to tempt those looking for something different. RuthNZ was back again later in the week to explore some of the other key captaincy options for the double Gameweek as well offer some advice to wildcarders to ensure they are thinking beyond Gameweek 34.

Looking at the season as a whole, Nabs Kebabs became the latest to ask for our top players so far in 2014/15. The race to be top of our Hall of Fame is also hotting up, as our latest update following Gameweek 33’s matches shows.

And finally, inspired by a question posed by Stilicho to the Scoutcast team, we asked the community to name a song that summed up their season. Tracks from Simply Red, The Byrds, Oasis and Metallica were among those mentioned.

The Members Tables

Sarjeant has been busy this week constructing a raft of tables looking at set pieces in particular. This collection includes a run down of the season’s best corner taking teams, defenders with most attempts from set plays, teams that concede the most set plays plus a more recent look at how many headed and set play goal attempts teams have conceded over the last six matches.

Leicester assets also came under the microscope in Partick Bateman’s look at the Foxes’ deadliest aeriel threats while Andysnlong looked at the relegation battlers most attacking players.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

The Community Leagues

In RedLightning’s competitions Nick Edge took the lead in his FFS January Wildcard League after Gameweek 33, while Aaron Thorburn continues to top his Top 10K Any Season League and now sits in the top 20 overall.

Greenwindmill continues to dominate the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league. He is now 25 points ahead of second placed Mark and sits in 27^th in the overall rankings. Greenwindmill has also taken a 12 point lead going into the double Gameweek in the top 1,000 Any Season League.

This season’s collaborative approach to the Scout Picks, in which a community member and three of the FFScout team come together to form the weekly XI, is continuing to impress. We topped  Gameweek 33’s Scout Picks challenge, the competition organised by @OFCProdigy, and we are also in the lead overall. Mookie and Sticky Mockwell are second and third respectively in the race to win the challenge by the end of the season.

There was less good news for the FFScout team in FFS UEFA’s Cricket themed tournament. The FFScout moderators and contributors team of Sri Lanka notched up their third defeat in a row and their involvement in the competition is now hanging by a thread. Congratulations to those community members that make up the South Africa and West Indies sides, who have already progressed to the knockout stages.