Fantasy Football Tips
The Watchlist Updated – Hleb, Cleverley and Konchesky Arrive
The Watchlist has now been updated to reflect the movements during Monday’s transfer deadline day. You’ll find the updated rankings at the bottom of the right column on your frontpage.
The update finds both Tom Cleverley of Wigan and Alexander Hleb of Birmingham registering in the midfield rankings. Right now, with tactics and formations unknown they remain a gamble although their ranking may improve once we can gather some information from Gameweek 4. Early investment is certainly a risk then and in the case of both Wigan and Birmingham, the fixtures are kind enough over the next month to allow for a patient wait-and-see policy.
Tottenham’s Rafeal Van der Vaart is a notable exception at this point. We’re showing caution here as it’s unclear right now just how early Harry Redknapp will utilise the Dutchman and of course, where he will deploy him in his lineup. There’s also the small matter of the Fantasy Premier League price – Van der Vaart is yet to arrive on the player list.
Liverpool’s new recruit Paul Konchesky also arrives in the Defender rankings, slotting in above team-mate Glen Johnson due to his favourable price tag. Konchesky will likely climb over the coming weeks once Liverpool have their next two fixtures out of the way. Trips to Birmingham and United appear to offer Konchesky limited returns in the short-term.
Read more...The Watchlist Returns
The keen-eyed amongst you may have noticed that the Watchlist feature has now been restored in the right-hand sidebar on your frontpage. You’ll find it below the Next Five Ticker.
For those new to the site or those who may have missed this feature, this table represents our currently view on player recommendations over the next five gameweeks for each position. You can get a clear definition of how this works right here.
The Watchlist returns then and along with will be now be looking to include a regular Watchlist articles outlining key players that may have just arrived or climbed in our rankings. Look out for the first of those later this week.
Read more...The Scout Picks – Gameweek Three
While I’m already getting sick of coming up with words to justify the inclusion of Didier Drogba and Gareth Bale in the weekly Scout Picks lineup, I’ve made every effort to shy away from other obvious names this week. With Cesc Fabregas set to return for the Gunners at Blackburn, Wayne Rooney fit to face a struggling West Ham and Fernando Torres set to start at Anfield against newly promoted and recently spanked West Brom, it would have been easy to flood the selection with proven talent.
There are doubts surrounding the short-term potential of all three of those names however, and between them they’ve yet to complete 90 minutes this season. Their moment in the Scout Picks sun will inevitably arrive; for now I can perhaps afford to overlook them, follow some hunches and face the consequences of ignoring class for the merest flicker of form. Here’s this week’s Picks…
Read more...Breaking Down The McDonalds Bonus
Normally the idea of dissecting what McDonalds has to offer would prompt a gag reflex – just get the Big Mac down you – don’t ask questions. However, when it comes to putting their Fantasy World Cup offering under the microscope, we’re more than a little interested. Much healthier – despite what the other half may say – so join us as we waltz through the golden arches and try to get to grips with the new Bonus Points system we’ve been dealt…
Read more...The Scout Picks
According to Sir Elton John, Saturday night is alright for fighting. The trouble is, I’m not much of a fighter. So instead I thought I’d see what it’s like for selecting Fantasy footballers. It turns out it’s okay for that too. Each to his own eh Elton? Here’s the final Scout Picks of the season…
Read more...The Scout Squad
Sunday’s finale presents us with a problem – a real lack of motivation. After last night’s result at Eastlands, the only remaining Premier League question mark hovers tenuously over the very top of the table. What’s more, the fixture list has fallen kindly in favour of home wins for the two sides that are charged – Chelsea and United. It’s going to take real balls of steel to overlook those two and gamble on a budget or differential signing this week.
With relegation and European places settled, all the smart money is piled high on the likes of Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba to come out of the week with decent points hauls. That’s a predictable scenario that hardly helps chasing managers close that mini-league gap with some shrewd transfers.
Even if you have the inclination to make a number of moves, finding the budget and worthwhile candidates as differentials looks difficult. There are a couple of relatively cheap, but favourable options to explore in my Scout Squad however…
Read more...The Gameweek 38 Effect
Defenders have been unfashionable all season. Heavy-hitting strikers and midfielders have continued to punish back fours and eat away at clean sheet tallies week after week and only Villa’s Richard Dunne and United’s Patrice Evra has enjoyed sustained investment from Fantasy Managers. The end of season scramble for relegation and European places can turn form and logic on its head at this time of year but is there a “Gameweek 38 effect” and will it produce a last minute swing in favor of defenses come Sunday or further compound the defensive woes we’ve seen all season?
With relegation already resolved this season and there being no more than four teams with games that are truly going to matter in Gameweek 38 (potentially reduced to only two teams if Tottenham beat Manchester City on Wednesday), I’ve taken a look at whether there is a “Gameweek 38 effect” on clean sheets. Although the question of “why” this is occurring may remain unresolved, a quick look at the scores from the final day games throughout this decade reveal some interesting facts and make a strong case for keeping your focus and investment on the attack….
Read more...On The Radar – Emmanuel Adebayor
With double gamers at a premium, Adebayor stood out early in the week as a worthy consideration for those willing to double up on City forward or those searching for a differential to Tevez to close a gap. He’s gone on the backburner in the past 24+ hours with doubts about his fitness due to a thigh injury, but with the unofficial news putting a positive spin on things, he remains a viable punt. That’s certainly the case when you consider that City’s finale looks to be a wide-open, attacking affair with an away trip to visit a West Ham squad that has secured its position outside the relegation zone…
Read more...The Scout Picks
So I decided to put the entire Scout Picks squad up for sale. I was going to tell Gianfranco Zola but couldn’t be asked. He’ll understand I’m sure.
Alright then. Following on from Wednesday’s Scout Squad article (blink and you missed it in this busy week), here is the final Scout Picks eleven for the coming gameweek with some blurb on how they come to claim their starting roles..
Read more...On the Radar – Cameron Jerome
With four teams participating in upcoming double game weeks, there’s perhaps a chance that many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers may overlook players with a very favourable single fixture that could, potentially, see them rack up more points than a player with two games.
One such player is Birmingham City’s Cameron Jerome. Playing at home to a deflated and just-relegated Burnley side still licking their wounds over the drubbing dished out by Liverpool that consigned them to the Championship, Jerome will be looking to add to his current tally of ten goals before the season is over.
Read more...The Scout Squad
With a certain Summer festival of football looming, 23-man squads are all the rage right now. That’s prompted yet another new regular, one which allows me to offer an early preview of Friday’s Scout Picks selection.
The Scout Squad will arrive every Wednesday, bringing you my earlyish thoughts on the week’s potential key players by means of a selection of players as a provisional squad for Friday’s Picks. Newcomers may yet make the cut and players will doubtless drop out following Friday’s team news, but it should give you a decent idea of players under consideration.
Just like the “On the Radar” articles, I thought I’d roll this one out early as a taster of things to come for next season, so here goes…
Read more...On the Radar – Heurelho Gomes
When Heurelho Gomes came to Spurs in June 2008, it didn’t start well. He was brought in on the back of a bad season for Paul Robinson and after a cloddish own-goal against Fulham it seemed that all Spurs had managed to achieve was swapping Coco the Clown for Bozo.
After a series of match-winning performances though, Gomes is no longer a figure of fun but perhaps the spectre of that tomfoolery still lingers; he is only selected by a meagre 4% of the Fantasy Premier League population…
Read more...
