Sky Sports Fantasy Football – A Beginner’s Guide

This article is aimed primarily at those seasoned Fantasy Premier League managers who have yet to try Sky Sports Fantasy Football.

Even though there are different rules and strategies the fundamentals are very similar.

As with FPL if you pick players that earn attacking points or clean sheets in their Premier League games then you’ll rack up the points.

Fixtures, can be analysed just as they are in FPL and following form is important.

In some respects it is simpler. The Sky game has no bench, so there are just 11 players, rather than 15, to worry about.

Here,  I’ll go through some of the fundamentals of the Sky game, paying particular attention to the differences to FPL.

Finally, please keep in mind this is all from my perspective. Like FPL there are hundreds of ways to play the game, so I’m sure everyone can find their own style.

Sky is a great game to play alongside FPL

Sky fits nicely alongside FPL for any Fantasy Football lover. Here are the main reasons why I think everyone should play.

1. There is a real chance of a great rank and even winning. With a £50,000 top prize the rewards are significant.
2. Continuing on the money theme, the mini league entry and system is well organised with Sky managing the prize money for you.
3. There are multiple ways of scoring points. The main ways are throuogh the usual goal, assists and clean sheets, but there is an added bonus point system that gives the game a new dimension.
4. Unlike in FPL certain player categories are not completely ruled out, with defensive midfielders particular adept at collecting bonus points for passing and tackling.
5. Multiple captains mean your weekend can be salvaged if you get a captain blank early on in the Gameweek.
6. There is a great community of Sky players, like FPL, albeit a bit smaller.

Bonus points

One of the main attractive qualities of the Sky game is their bonus points. It is not worth planning your whole team around these, as I know some players have done very well without even considering them at all, however, I find it gives added credence to the less glamorous options and can be a good decider between players.

Bonus can be obtained from saves, tackles, passes as well as shots on target and they are in two tiers. Without going into the exact numbers it is worth considering defensive midfielders for both passing and tackle bonuses. A good player last season for collecting these was Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson (9.8).

Defenders as well can get these bonus points, so it’s nice to look out for those that might get these extra points. Shots on target are also a nice little bonus, however ,I generally find that the ones that grabs the big hauls get this in addition, but shot hungry midfielders are also worth looking out for. Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho (11.3), like Henderson, is another player that Sky’s bonus system favours.

If you can manage to get a player that can grab two or more of these bonuses on a regular basis it’s the equivalent of an assist or goal, so it’s a lovely addition. It also can make cheap defensive midfielders for less desirable teams actually great budget enablers. Last season Bournemouth midfielder Harry After (8.2) regularly picked up pass and tackle bonus making him a great buy.

Instead of points per saves Sky has a bonus for five or seven saves. This is harder to achieve for the bigger team keepers as they often don’t face that many shots, however the midrange and lesser teams can benefit. Burnley’s Tom Heaton (6.5) was brilliant last season in Sky, with clean sheets supplemented by regular bonus for making five or more saves.

Man of the Match

The final but most important bonus is the Man of the Match (MoM). This is worth five points, so the equivalent of a goal for a striker. This is decided by match reviewers, who can have their favourites. For those who remember FPL’s ‘man in the stand’ bonus awards, Sky’s system will be familiar.

Picking a strong player from the mid range sides can often yield benefit in this instance. So Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha (9.3) is one to consider after earning seven MoM awards last season, way above any other Palace player. Players like West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini (8.6) are other strong options in this regard.

If a player scores a hattrick the rewards are immense in the Sky format. This usually brings in a MoM award, and conses with shots on target bonus as well as points for the goals themselves. So for example with three goals worth 15 points for a striker, their

Multiple Captains

Another exciting difference to FPL in Sky is multiple captains. They give double points but you get to pick a captain for each day of the Gameweek. So if there are games on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, that’s’ four captains over the weekend.

It really does allow you to quickly get over an early captain fail depression.

This does mean that planning is required and the televised fixture announcements are key for Sky players. I’ll be on hand to update you throughout the season on these announcements. When announced you can plan ahead for two months to ensure you have strong captains for each match day.

This week the dates of the first set of televised fixtures were released, covering August and September.

So, for example, we now know that in Gameweek 1 Arsenal play Leicester on the Friday, Newcastle take on Spurs and Manchester United face West Ham on the Sunday, with the rest playing Saturday. Shrewd management will mean you have three good options for the captaincy that Gameweek.

Don’t worry too much about missing the odd captaincy day, but don’t make a habit of it, especially if it’s a popular player as a big score by rivals can really dent any title challenge. Imagine missing captaining Kane for his four goals against Leicester last season for example. He scored 66 points on his own in that game for those that handed him the armband.

Team structure

The format of the game allows the same formations as FPL, with the most popular being 3-4-3 and 3-5-2. Another popular one is 4-4-2, as it all comes down to team spread.

But don’t fall into the trap of thinking three up top is a must have. Strikers are priced high in Sky and personally I think midfielders are where the value is. A mid range striker will be the same as a top midfielder. While 10m buys you a good midfielder, at best you’ll only get a ropey striker for that outlay in Sky. 3-5-2 is normally my preferred starting formation, but sometimes it’s a must to squeeze in the top guns so keeping it versatile is essential.

Pricing

A key difference is that there is no price changes, which can be liberating for those used to FPL’s active and sometimes frustrating transfer market.

Player prices can also seem a bit strange in Sky.

Premium defenders can be as much as premium midfielders, which makes them poor value and avoidable. Midfielders receive around 50% of the MOM awards which makes them generally better assets.

This year there has been a tweak to the Sky points scoring system, with goals against no longer as costly. This makes cheap defenders even better value in Sky. Finding these budget gems at the back is key to success in Sky, with Tottenham’s Kieren Trippier (8.1), who has attacking points in his locker as well as clean sheets, a strong option. Personally, Idon’t think I’ll ever spend the 10m on a premium defender – I just don’t think it warrants the budget.

As mentioned above the strikers are quite highly priced so normally some big hitters are the way to go. Last season’s golden boot winner Harry Kane (12.9) looks a strong captaincy option and will be popular, even though he is Sky’s most expensive player.

Making sure you can cover as many of the players that can hurt you is a good tactic. Look at the fixtures, look at the prices and make sure you’ve got most of the people you worry might get big hauls.

Transfers and wildcards

Another key difference is that this is a limited transfer game. You get 40 transfers and once they have gone that’s it. This means you have to be patient with players, and avoid those with a poor history of injuries.

This season is slightly different with Sky getting in line with FPL by also offering two wildcards. The first is available in Gameweek 4 in September, which means managers may be best advised to select an initial squad that is stocked full of strong captaincy picks and players for the opening three Gameweeks. The next is scheduled for February.

Achievable targets

Sky is a bit different to FPL in that it does reward those that know their Fantasy Football stuff and aere willing to put the effort in to research underlying statistics, form, fixtures and TV scheduling.

If you are thinking that’s for you then great. For a new player I’d say a top 1k finish is achievable. But remember it’s a limited transfer game so don’t worry at the start if you appear to be out of the equation – ‘marathon not a sprint’ is a key phrase.

I know some newbies last season that came top 10 based on FPL knowledge and it will happen again, and when you start tasting possible title glory you’ll get hooked, I promise.

As an extra little bit, there are also weekly and monthly prizes and a cup. So keep your eyes out for them.

So, what you waiting for, go and make a team.

Give me a shout if you have any questions, I love talking about Sky Fantasy Football so will answer when I can. In addition, you can hear more of my thoughts on the upcoming Sky season via the latest Sky Fantasy Podcast, which is also presented by Disable and @lewinick and available via Facebook and Soundcloud.

Disable has also launched a Sky Rate My Team article where you can gain further advice once you’ve created your team.