Yahoo Focus – Gameweek 1

As mentioned previously, Yahoo Fantasy Football are our new partner game for the season ahead.

Powered by Opta data, the Yahoo offering has a scoring system that awards points for a variety of player actions and looks perfectly suited for members of our community on the lookout for a new Daily Fantasy game.

Yahoo have also launched their Premier League £1,000,000 Perfect Lineup Cup, which takes place over Gameweek 1-19.

There’s £40k in prizes on offer, with £30k shared among the top 5,000 and £10k going to the winner. The Yahoo Cup also has a “£1,000,000 challenge”, which gives away £1m to any user who selects the perfect line-up in any given Gameweek to score maximum possible points.

More on the Yahoo Cup later in the article.

To get started, you can sign up and claim a free £50 in credit to your account when you deposit just £5.

Over the last week, we also published a Strategy Guide looking at the mechanics of the Yahoo game and assessing the type of Fantasy targets that tend to profit.

Gameweek 1 contests cover a total of nine matches. This evening’s Emirates encounter between Arsenal and Leicester City is the only exception, thus buying you more time to set a Yahoo line-up after today’s FPL deadline passes.

We’ll discuss our preferred competitions later in the article but, for now, here’s our Yahoo starting XI for the weekend.

My Strongest XI

Jordan Pickford – £15m
Marcos Alonso – £17m
Craig Dawson – £12m
Trent Alexander Arnold – £12m
Jeremy Pied – £10m
Sadio Mane – £25m
Wilfried Zaha – £20m
Willian – £19m
Rajiv Van la Parra – £13m
Harry Kane – £29m
Romelu Lukaku – £28m

The Key Picks

The scoring system is pivotal in our selection of the Toffees’ new number one, Jordan Pickford. As mentioned in our strategy guide, keepers earn points for wins and draws and claim six points for a clean sheet, compared with the three on offer for a defender. Everton won 13 of their home matches in Ronald Koeman’s first year at the helm, keeping a clean sheet on eight occasions at Goodison. Meanwhile, Pickford’s average of 18.5 minutes per save – albeit for Sunderland – was quicker than any other keeper in 2016/17.

Marcos Alonso is one of four forward-thinking defenders in our line-up as Chelsea entertain Burnley at Stamford Bridge. The wing-back was placed third for minutes per point among defenders in the Yahoo game last season, firing more shots (46) and efforts on target (16) on his way to scoring six times. Given that the Clarets conceded more chances down their right flank (180) than any side last season, we expect Alonso to excel once again.

Liverpool’s injury crisis at right-back has us eyeing up Trent Alexander Arnold as a cut-price option for a trip to Watford. Similar to Alonso, we’ve pinpointed a weakness in his weekend opponents – only two teams, relegated Sunderland and Hull, conceded more chances down their left flank than the Hornets. Marco Silva’s side have struggled for a cutting edge over the summer, scoring just once in their final three friendlies.

The aerial threat of West Brom’s Craig Dawson could benefit at home to Bournemouth. Just two sides conceded more headed goal attempts than the Cherries in 2016/17, which bodes well for a Baggies outfit that netted 20 times from set-piece situations last time out. Only four defenders produced more shots inside the box in front of their own fans than Dawson, who netted three of his four goals at the Hawthorns.

In an attempt to free up cash in attack, we’re considering a gamble on Southampton’s Jeremy Pied for the visit of Swansea. With first-choice right-back Cedric Soares late back for pre-season due to international duties with Portugal, Pied could offer a cut-price route into a defence that claimed eight clean sheets at St Mary’s last term. The Swans’ defensive stats also look promising – they conceded 421 crosses down their left compared with 320 on the right last season.

As mentioned in our strategy guide, opting for purely creative players isn’t the wisest tactic and, at a price of £27m, we’ve going to overlook Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne. Instead, we’re calling on Sadio Mane as our midfield big-hitter for Liverpool’s trip to Watford. Joint-top scorer for the Merseysiders last season, the Senegal international’s ability to draw fouls from opponents also boosts his points potential – he was brought down more than any team-mate last term.

Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha has impressed under new manager Frank De Boer, bagging a goal and two assists over pre-season. Unleashed from the left of a 3-4-3 over the summer, the Ivory Coast international looks in fine form ahead of a plum home encounter with Huddersfield. Crucially, Zaha won 121 fouls in 2016/17 – at least 20 more than any other player in the top-flight.

With Eden Hazard still sidelined through injury, we’re turning to Willian for Chelsea’s plum home clash with Burnley. The Brazilian has served up four goals and an assist over the summer and should take advantage of a Clarets outfit that ranked second bottom for minutes per shot conceded (4.8) away from home in 2016/17, Furthermore, Willian’s share of dead-ball duties is another string to his bow –Sean Dyche’s men allowed more efforts from set-pieces on the road (112) than any other side. Chelsea, meanwhile, scored more goals from dead-ball situations (22) than any side last time out.

Huddersfield Town’s Rajiv Van la Parra and Swansea’s Tom Carroll are two of the standout cut-price picks in the centre of the park. Yet with the latter travelling to a resilient Southampton, we’re going to take a chance on Van la Parra, whose trickery out wide could thrive against Crystal Palace’s wing-back system at Selhurst Park. While team-mate Tom Ince (£16m) could also take advantage, the budget friendly Dutchman has already delivered a goal and four assists over the summer.

With Van la Parra on board along with a handful of cut-price defenders, we have the cash to spend big up front. Seven goals in his final two away matches of last season says everything about Harry Kane’s potential. The back-to-back Golden Boot winner travels to a Newcastle side that mustered just eight clean sheets in 23 home fixtures in the Championship in 2016/17. Producing more goals and shots on target than any player last term, Kane could run riot at St James’ on Sunday.

Romelu Lukaku’s record against West Ham is just too good for us to ignore. Manchester United’s new signing scored in nine of his last 10 outings with the Hammers while at Everton and, having netted three times over the summer, has wasted no time in settling under Jose Mourinho. The visitors’ away record merely heightens Lukaku’s appeal – Slaven Bilic’s side produced just two clean sheets on the road in 2016/17.

The Yahoo Cup – £1 Million on offer

As mentioned above, the Yahoo Cup gets underway this weekend and will last until Gameweek 19.

This covers all 10 matches from every Gameweek – aside from those that kick-off on a Friday evening.

So Gameweek 1, for example, takes in the nine matches over Saturday and Sunday, with tonight’s encounter between Arsenal and Leicester City not included.

The Yahoo Cup is a single-entry contest. You must select from a minimum of three different teams but can have up to six players from the same team.

Your team selections are not saved for each round. This means that, for each Gameweek, users must pick a new team from scratch based on the latest player pricing.

Your lowest three Gameweek scores will be dropped from your cumulative tally in the overall standings, allowing you a reprieve when you have a weekend to forget.

Each Gameweek will also count as a freeroll. This means that, during Gameweek 1-3, weekly prizes up to £100 are available to entrants that finish in the top 200. From Gameweek 4-19, weekly prizes of £50 are on offer to those Yahoo managers who claim a place in the top 100.

You can join the Yahoo Cup contest at any point and be in the running to win weekly prizes in addition to overall prizes.

This Week’s Contests

Aside from the Yahoo Cup, there are plenty of contests on offer over the weekend.

You can select the nine-match option, which incorporate the entire weekend schedule. There’s also a six-fixture slate for Saturday that takes in the matches from 3pm onwards, while Sunday offers two encounters to plan for.

The biggest payout is the Premier League £10k Saturday, which costs £5 to enter a team. This is guaranteed to run, with the top 450 places earning cash and £2k going to the winner.

The Premier League £5k Saturday costs £10 to enter a team, with the top 125 in the money. Guaranteed to run, this one offers at least £100 to the top ten.

The Premier League £1k Sunday costs £5 to enter a team and is also guaranteed to go ahead. The top 50 all pick up at least £10 cash, with the winner earning £100 for their day’s work.

You can open an account and get started immediately.

As mentioned, if you register and deposit £5 or more, Yahoo will also give you a £50 bonus to be used as cash to enter paid contests.

Register here to claim the bonus.

You must be over 18 years of age, resident in the UK, and of legal capacity to register with Yahoo Daily Sports and open an Account. If you sign up, please always play responsibly.