Speculating on the Fantasy Premier League player prices is a time-honoured summer past time that resurfaced this week with a community article launching a value prediction game.
Elsewhere, our scribes also take a look at 2016/17’s Gameweek 1 successes and failures to help us prepare for the new season kick-off, while our hot topic posters are shopping for potential bargains.
Blunderous goalkeepers and penalty box nuisances at set-pieces are the focus of our Members’ tables, while we round off with further good news about out community’s performance in the Euro U21 Fantasy game.
The Community Articles
Achieving a flying start in Fantasy Football can be tough, as my community article looking back at last season’s opening day results highlights. This focuses on the 2016/17 Gameweek 1 Scout Picks to find out to what extent we can rely on fixtures, previous season’s form and the summer friendlies, to hit the ground running.
The Fantasy Premier League game launches come the week of July 10, with the prices eagerly anticipated. Ahead of that revelation, Pundit of Punts has created a player value prediction game to see who in the community can second-guess the FPL price setters.
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
Some of the most sought-after assets in the FPL player list will be budget assets – both in defence and midfield. Not only do they free up funds for high scoring premium players but they can also be lucrative acquisitions in their own right, as 4.5 priced Etienne Capoue of Watford demonstrated last season with four goals in his opening five fixtures.
We asked who you think will be next season’s budget-friendly midfield gems, while Stephen T joined in the bargain hunting with his discussion on three-way defender rotations.
With four goals in his previous campaign, West Brom defender Craig Dawson looks an enticing early prospect. However, with a likely price tag of 5.0 next season those who prefer an uber cheap defence may be reluctant to invest more, according to hot topic on rearguard spending.
Another popular defender likely to be priced at around the 5.0 mark is Nathan Ake, who has sealed a move from Chelsea back to Bournemouth, where he excelled last season. However, Ludo believes that it is one of his new team-mates who could benefit most from that transfer.
Pep is pondering spending even more on his defence, with likely 6.0 priced players from last season’s premium backlines on his early watchlist.
Meanwhile, Mark asked for your views on unearthing budget strikers, with those at the promoted sides, Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town, likely locations to start hunting.
With 25 goals conceded at home last season, Crystal Palace could offer an immediate reward for those investing in the Terriers’ budget attack when they visit Selhurst Park in Gameweek 1. We asked whether you are backing the Eagles to soar or falter next season as well as advice for their new manager Frank De Boer.
We also canvassed your views on Everton’s prospects – another side managed by a Dutch manager, Ronald Koeman.
To help assess the possibility of early attacking and defensive returns, Bedknobs and Boomsticks has been dusting down his abacus out to discover who is most likely to find the net and keep clean sheets over the opening five Gameweeks.
Finally, Niemi was on hand to deliver his latest thoughts on the best players to consider transferring in for the next set of fixtures in Norwegian top flight game, Fantasy Eliterserien.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page. We are also still keen to hear from you about how this can be further developed.=
The Members Tables
To add further information to my community article on flying starts, I’ve made a table looking at the underlying attacking statistics of last season’s opening day heroes.
Mynjdusta has been taking a look at calamitous goalkeepers from last season to find out who was responsible for the most clangers between the posts. In addition, he’s also examined 2016/17’s leaping salmons, who prospered at set-pieces.
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
Our community’s league in the Fantasy Euro Under 21 FFScout league claimed the top rank, with Krokstad pipping Ryan Seechurn at the league’s summit by just three points.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-ups, please email us summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
