We turn our attentions to Premier Punt this dinnertime as the minutes tick away until the Gameweek 10 deadline. Every Friday, I’ll be updating you on my progress as I look to turn an initial £100 pot into profit.

This Week’s Games
Looking at the games available this weekend, Premier Punt have a £200 guaranteed pot available for a £5.50 stake – it’s possible to enter three teams into this competition and the overlay makes it worth considering more than one entry. There are also games with £2, £5, £10 and £20 stakes that cover all ten fixtures and have split payouts, the prize structure being based on the number of entries.

There is also a £100 guaranteed pot on offer in the single match contest for the Manchester derby – this has a £2 buy-in and again three line-ups can be entered. These games focus on one match and have a completely unique scoring system that create contests with an intriguing take on how an individual match can be covered – it’s a fresh format that is quick to enter but provides a different set of criteria for viable strategies.

For example, if you’re backing a Man City victory, as one player must be picked from United, you could go with Morgan Schneiderlin, as the midfielder is likely to pick up plenty of tackle (four) and interception (four) points, even in a loss.

The players have their three previous scores listed so it’s clear who consistently delivers high returns. Kevin De Bruyne takes a place after picking up 116, 69 and 165 points over the last three. The unlimited budget means I can even finish the five-man selection with an attacking trio of Wilfried Bony, Raheem Sterling and Yaya Toure.

My Team
I’m going to run through one of my line-ups for the weekly games. I start with a Stoke side that have quietly been building up a winning run with three successive victories and welcome promoted Watford to the Britannia, so I opt for the full Potters quota. Back-to-back clean sheets makes Jack Butland (7.4m) an easy pick as keeper while Philipp Wollscheid at 6.6m looks a steal in defence, having started the last three. Finally, two goals in four outings for Bojan Krkic (8.6m) earns him a spot up front.

I complete the defence with Arsenal defenders Hector Bellerin (8.7m) and Laurent Koscielny (9.2m). Everton visit the Emirates but clean sheets look thin on the ground this week and the Gunners have looked resilient in defence with five clean sheets in seven. Mesut Ozil also makes the team, at 12.9m the German is a cheaper alternative to Alexis Sanchez (16m), who is classed as a forward.

The Wear-Tyne derby could see some goals, so I go with last weekend’s hero Georginio Wijnaldum as well as Sunderland’s Steven Fletcher – both are budget options at 7.7m. Andre Ayew’s (10.5m) form has dropped off somewhat, with a single goal in five, but could prosper against a porous Villa defence. The midfield is completed with my better buy pick from the Weekly Shop – Christian Eriksen should be integral to Spurs’ attack for the visit to Bournemouth. I finish the team with Jamie Vardy, the nine-goal striker looks excellent value at only 8.2m.

The Bottom Line

I managed a tenth place finish in the £150 pot with 64 points, Wijnaldum and Bony did well but backing a Palace clean sheet and captaining De Bruyne still left me short, just five points off the money places. A 15th spot in the challenge the pro’s game was also not enough – the only small victory of the week was winning £1.35 back from a single fixture game, leaving me with £137.34 for Gameweek 10.

This Week’s Stake
I’m sticking with the guaranteed pots this week, though taking advantage of the multiple line-ups, I enter two in the £200 contest for £10 and will consider entering a third depending on total entries ahead of the deadline. I also put all three teams into the £100 single fixture game for the Manchester Derby.

Stake – £16
Current Balance – £121.34

If you would like to take me on in the £200 guaranteed pot or try out PremierPunt’s unique single fixtures game sign up here.