For the final time this season, we take a look at the Sky Sports game ahead of Sunday’s ten fixtures. As always,we assess the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries, the transfer trends and also cast an eye over the Scout team.
Gameweek 40 Man of the Match Awards
Listed below are 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).
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Southampton vs Aston Villa | Sadio Mane |
| Burnley vs Stoke | Jack Butland |
| QPR vs Newcastle | Charlie Austin |
| Sunderland vs Leicester | Kasper Schmeichel |
| Tottenham vs Hull | Danny Rose |
| West Ham vs Everton | John Stones |
| Liverpool vs Crystal Palace | Jason Puncheon |
| Swansea vs Man City | Yaya Toure |
| Man United vs Arsenal | Ashley Young |
| West Brom vs Chelsea | Saido Berahino |
| Arsenal vs Sunderland | John O’Shea |
The penultimate week threw up lots of differentials, with only Yaya Toure (9.9%) owned by a significant amount of managers. Arsenal were the real let-downs, with managers drafting in their assets in droves to take advantage of the double but were left frustrated by their lack of goals.
Gameweek 40 Bonus Points
Five goalkeepers managed to pick up saves bonus this week. Costel Pantilimon was the real hero – he earned bonus for eight saves and also managed two clean sheets to pick up 16 points for Sunderland’s double. QPR’s Robert Green looks like earning the bonus equivalent of the golden glove, as he sits on 32 additional points.
In defence, six players grabbed bonus, five for tackles and one for passes completed. Pablo Zabaleta has the most bonus points(24) amongst defenders, whilst Cesar Azpilicueta is just two behind.
In midfield there were 21 beneficiaries in total: 15 for tackling and 11 for passes. Five players managed to earn both – all central midfielders, one of those was Nemanja Matic, who is the game’s highest bonus point earner with 54 points credited – almost the equivalent of 11 goals!
No forwards earned bonus this week but Wayne Rooney remains at the summit with 10 bonus points – all earned from passing.
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
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Fabregas | Chelsea | 8.6 | 6.8% |
| Kane | Tottenham | 6.7 | 6.2% |
| Rooney | Man United | 9.4 | 5% |
| Aguero | Man City | 9.8 | 4% |
| Sterling | Liverpool | 7.8 | 3.9% |
Cesc Fabregas is banned for the weekend following his red card, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling’s form has been poor in recent weeks, Wayne Rooney is doubtful after a leg injury whilst Sergio Aguero is a victim of the acquisition of Arsenal players as we see below.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Sanchez | Arsenal | 9.5 | 6.5% |
| Aguero | Man City | 9.8 | 5.3% |
| Cazorla | Arsenal | 8.3 | 4.8% |
| Giroud | Arsenal | 8.9 | 4.6% |
| Ramsey | Arsenal | 8.6 | 3.6% |
Arsenal dominate after being involved on Wednesday night and unfortunately it was the attacking assets that were targeted for their 0-0 draw. Fantasy managers (myself included) will be sweating on them featuring on the final day after Arsene Wenger looks set to shuffle his starting XI.
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Costa | Chelsea | 9.5 | 13.4% |
| Rooney | Man United | 9.4 | 9.7% |
| Aguero | Man city | 9.8 | 7.1% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 8.9 | 6.8% |
| Fabregas | Chelsea | 8.6 | 6.5% |
My Team
Fabianski
Bertrand Dawson Schlupp
Hazard Silva Coutinho Mane
Sanchez Giroud N’Doye
ITB: 0.3m
Transfers remaining: 0/40
Last week’s points: 73
Overall points: 2296
Rank: 36
Notes
My entire week can be summed up by the word “Mane”. The Southampton winger came good with an astonishing hat-trick, assist and MoTM award to earn 25 points – long overdue after watching him tease me for weeks. Aside from him, only David Silva managed to deliver, picking up ten points away to Swansea. My captains, in particular, produced nothing but I imagine it was the same for many. On a more positive note, we’re in the penultimate week and I’m sat in 36th position overall, continuing my decent Sky game record – at one stage I didn’t think I would make it but the acquisitions of Schlupp, Dawson, Silva and Mane in the later weeks really helped my cause. My concern is going into the final week without Sergio Aguero. Considering that many will have him – and very likely as captain – there’s still a chance I’ll slip out of the top 100 if he racks up another huge haul. The sofa will be firmly in place!
Captain Plan
With all matches on Sunday at 15:00 and so many questions over final day line-ups, it’s a real lottery. Of course, those holding position will likely opt for Aguero but if you’re chasing, I fancy a punt on Romelu Lukaku or David Silva to try and make a late climb to victory.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
The Fantasy Football Scout League looks set to win the overall prize again this season and a £1,000 is up for grabs. 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, chatting to West Ham striker Carlton Cole and asking Liverpool midfielder Lucas for his #One2Eleven.
8 years, 11 months agoAfternoon fellas.
Best defenders to have this week? I thinking Kolorov or one of the Everton boys (I have enough dosh to get them).
I have Skrtel, PVA, Geoffrey, Wolly & Clark (the latter two not been playing recently). I'm looking to replace Clark (who defo won't play) and stick PVA on the bench. I then have two bench playing players to cover me if Sanchez and Giroud don't feature.