No player is bigger than Fantasy Football, as some of the game’s most famous stars found out this week.
Our hot topic posters explore the reasons behind their fall from grace and analyse the emerging stars replacing them.
We also look at the pitfalls of failing to press the Wildcard button in time, while our community articles investigate why caution should be exercised before investing in Liverpool players.
Finally, we drop in on our community competitions where investing in low owned players reaped rewards for one of our contributors in particular.
The Community Articles
Liverpool are about to embark on a sensational run of fixtures, but Bobby F’s latest analysis suggests their forthcoming kind run may not be as fruitful as Fantasy managers think.
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 wildcards in play for many in the community, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is among those to find himself persona non grata, with more than 136,000 Fantasy Premier League managers jettisoning the big Swede. According to our hot topic it looks like the need for funds to afford Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez is a key factor.
Eden Hazard is another to be handed their marching orders, according to our discussion on the Chelsea midfielder’s sudden dip in form and tough fixtures ahead.
With Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling’s form going in the opposite direction, it is no wonder Hazard is struggling to compete. Our discussion on City’s sensational early season form considers whether doubling, or even tripling up, on their attacking assets is a viable option.
Getting the right blend of players is proving the chief concern of those Wildcarding this week. Luckily Lyonnais was on hand to help outline some of the key questions those using this chip ahead of Gameweek 6 need to consider.
Going light in defence to channel funds into attack is looking key to success so far, particularly when the lack of clean sheets this season is factored in. Don Corleone’s latest hot topic takes a look at the extent to which shut-outs have dipped in 2016/17 compared to previous campaigns.
Promoting cut-price midfield sensation Watford’s Etienne Capoue to fourth midfielder status is another tactic to free up funds. Smurf urged the community to look at the form of FPL’s surprise leading points scorer rather than his lowly price tag.
The Hornets player is also helping many to consider opting for a 3-5-2 line-up, but our discussion on this formation shows that many would much prefer the opportunity to take risks with the array of mid-price strikers that are emerging this season.
Balders is among those to doubt whether Capoue’s returns are sustainable. He says we should forget likening him to previous centre of the park Fantasy legends such as Yaya Toure and instead compare him, unflatteringly, to short-lived stars like Leon Best. Remember him? No, we thought not.
For further insight into Watford’s players, Give the Todd Some Love was on hand to run the rule over their best assets to consider.
A few of the 303,617 FPL managers that benched Capoue were among those to tell us about their bad Gameweek 5 in our Rough with the Smooth round up. Among those who also had a nightmare last weekend was Zizoo10, who forget about the Friday deadline and ended up with a heartbreaking 24-point hit after failing to press the wildcard button in time.
The 1.5% of FPL managers with Nacer Chadli in their team were among those who had a far better Gameweek. The West Brom midfielder’s stellar 21-point FPL haul prompted us to canvass your views on who Gameweek 6’s surprise differential will be.
Finally, penalties are already looking key to success this season with 19 handed out so far. The Fantastic Mr Fox takes a look at the referees who have been the keenest to award spot-kicks this term.
The Members Tables
Doosra’s deadly assassins table should provide happy reading for owners of a certain Everton striker, but bad news for those shedding a couple of FPL’s other big name sharp-shooters.
With five strikers on my goals imminent table scoring last weekend, it may pay to keep tabs on its latest array of high potential forwards. My assist imminent table is also up and running to showcase Gameweek 6’s most explosive prospects from midfield and the wings.
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 Tournaments
Applebonkers is the toast of the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league after Chadli’s handsome points haul propelled him to the top of the table.
In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing the safety score was 40, which saw 192 players depart and 2710 remain.
Stefan Malinov is the new leader of Red Lightning’s Top 10K Any Season mini-league.
This week also saw Jaffalcious reveal the group draw in his FFS UEFA Champions League tournament.
In Teddy’s Ironman competition, for those who play multiple games, Bonz has taken a lead in the FPL league, while Jonty (that’s me) has top spot in the contest’s Dugout FC draft league.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round Ups please email me a brief summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.