Digest

The Digest – Gameweek 3

Our final look at the previous round of fixtures sees us reassess one of Swansea’s many Spaniards, acknowledge Liverpool’s options at both ends of the field, while bracing ourselves as wildcard-wielding Fantasy managers force player prices up over the international break.

The Player

Last term, it was all about Michu at the Liberty. Michael Laudrup’s acquisition of the former Rayo Vallecano player proved one of the canniest pieces of business in 2012/13 as the Spaniard racked up the goals in his debut season for the Welsh outfit and offered Fantasy managers a mid-price gem for their five-man midfields.

Initially, though, it was the acquisition of Pablo Hernandez from Valencia that was regarded as the real coup. Arriving in a £5.5 million deal, the playmaker added a real touch of class to the Swans’ wide areas but with injuries and indifferent form plaguing his displays, Hernandez flattered to deceive. Although he turned out 30 times in the league, the winger managed the full 90 minutes on only 10 occasions and, with three goals and eight assists to his name, registered 110 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points – only fourth best in the Swansea midfield.

This time round, it’s been a little different. After an impressive pre-season, Hernandez has been the standout Fantasy performer for Laudrup’s side – Sunday’s goal and assist in the 2-0 win at West Brom highlighted his growing influence as he becomes more accustomed to the rigours of the Premier League in his second season on English soil. Having supplied the assist for Wilfried Bony’s consolation in the Gameweek 1 home defeat by United, Hernandez has played a part in all three of the Swans’ league goals so far – factor in two assists in two Europa League games and it’s clear his consistency is on the up.

Granted, while Hernandez is no Michu in terms of finding the net, he has targetted “seven or eight” strikes after his impressive start. Certainly, we’re not expecting double-digit goal returns but with a relatively budget-friendly price tag across the Fantasy games, he could be a real value contender over the campaign. Fantasy managers have been quick act on the back of his Hawthorns exploits – Hernandez has already risen by 0.1 since the weekend and as the bandwagon picks up pace, another price hike looks imminent over the break.

The Team

Perhaps, upon reflection, the Luis Suarez situation was somehow a blessing in disguise. The media circus surrounding the Uruguayan’s domestic suspension for the first six games of the season, twinned with Arsenal’s ultimately fruitless chase for his signature, kept the focus off the players on the field and allowed Brendan Rodgers’ side to quietly prepare for the campaign ahead.

So far, it’s worked wonders. Three successive 1-0 wins have sent the Reds to the top of the table and with options right across the backline and further up the field, there’s every reason to invest in Rodgers’ side ahead of a kind run of upcoming fixtures.

The arrival of Mamadou Sakho will further strengthen a backline yet to concede and put Kolo Toure’s owners on edge. The Ivorian’s current groin injury hardly helps but with Rodgers labelling the £15m Frenchman “a marquee signing”, he looks odds-on to become a regular alongside Daniel Agger at the back, with the new Bonus Points System boosting the Reds’ defensive appeal.

Philippe Coutinho may have yet to pick up the attacking points after a strong pre-season but his owners will be intrigued by Rodgers’ comments yesterday. After signing Victor Moses on loan from Chelsea, the Reds boss suggested the Brazilian could occasionally be moved to the centre behind Daniel Sturridge, with Moses capable of filling in on the left.

Sturridge’s prolific start, which has seen his bag the winner in all three Gameweeks, is making him an irresistible Fantasy force right now as managers scramble to acquire his signature. At 9.1 to Suarez’ 10.9 in FPL, Sturridge is doing more than enough to suggest he’ll be the better value of the two and could easily outscore the Uruguayan upon his return in Gameweek 6 at Sunderland, given his more advanced role. Suarez, with an ownership of just 0.5%, however, looks a real differential in the making for that Black Cats’ showdown.

The Talking Point

The first international break of the season always brings with it huge temptation. A two-week break affords the time to reassess our initial line-ups and contemplate the deadwood in our 15-man squads – for many, the lure of that first wildcard proves irresistible.

This season, the introduction of the new Bonus Points System in FPL has also proved significant. Plenty have been persuaded to restructure their sides and opt for some premium-priced options at the back; after three rounds of matches, only two midfielders, six forwards and three keepers have scored more than 17 points, compared to 14 defenders.

The influx of new signings over the last few days has also proved alluring. Mesut Ozil’s arrival at Arsenal and Tottenham’s acquisition of Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela hands up top-class talents to consider for our midfields, while Samuel Eto’o’s switch to Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku’s loan move to Everton have altered the Fantasy landscape. Indeed, such is the multitude of in-form options up front, Robin Van Persie is losing owners despite a schedule which sees him welcome Palace, West Brom, Southampton and Stoke over the next six Gameweeks.

Since the weekend’s action, the frantic market activity has inflated several players’ prices. With Olivier Giroud also firing in the goals, the Arsenal man – along with Sturridge – has earned himself a substantial Fantasy bandwagon and could, conceivably rise the maximum 0.3 before the next round of matches. The likes of Yaya Toure, Hernandez, Jose Enrique, Pablo Zabaleta and Fraizer Campbell continue to acquire plenty new owners, while this afternoon’s addition of the new players is likely to spark further frenzy amongst the Fantasy fraternity, with the deadline still 11 days away.

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1,774 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Stupendous
    • 11 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    How does this look for a WC squad? Re-post from wrong spot

    Boruc Migs
    Gabbidon Shawcross Zaba Coleman Sakho
    Ozil Erikson Silva Kim Brady
    Benteke Giroud Sturridge

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    1. World XI
      • 11 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      Playing 4 at the back?

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      1. Stupendous
        • 11 Years
        10 years, 6 months ago

        Yea basically. Kim is on the bench for injury mare weeks, and Brady plays when he has a good fixture and one of the defs i.e Shawcross has a tough away one. 343 or 433 depending on fixtures

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    2. banskt
      • 10 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      I would not actually like to go with Silva in long term. Walcott / Ozil - I am still confused.

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    3. Jack Frost
      • 13 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      Check Gabbidon starting status with new acquisitions at his club. I think it's an unknown now.

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  2. banskt
    • 10 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    Benteker or Lukaku till GW10?

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    1. Stupendous
      • 11 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      Benteke til the cows return

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    2. Captain Fantastic
      • 11 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      No competition. Benteke.

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  3. Stupendous
    • 11 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    How am I looking for this week....

    Pretty excited, currently 66k and gone up 700k in three weeks.

    Boruc
    Chester Coleman Zabaleta Vertonghen(CAPTAIN!)
    Brady Silva Walcott
    Soldado Sturridge Dzeko

    Mignolet, Nolan, Kim, Gabbidon

    Already spent 4pts on doing Toure to Vertonghen.......Ramires to Brady. Would love to do Dzeko to Benteke but not for another 4pts. 🙁

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    1. banskt
      • 10 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      City is playing Stokes. No need to change. Dzeko deserves another week.

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  4. Assisting you all day
    • 11 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    Aguero to girourd

    2.3 mill in bank

    Team is
    Boruc Westwood
    Zaba coleman Shaw whittaker Collins
    Michu Walcott Silva Hba Barkley
    Soldado Girourd lambert

    What shall i do with 2.3 (keeping lambert to lukaku later)

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    1. Captain Fantastic
      • 11 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      It was still early for you to transfer Kun Aguero out. He will come good in the coming weeks. I can sense it.

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  5. New Post
  6. Saniul
    • 11 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    Imagine a situation where Arsenal hadn't sold RVP to United, and we had an attack line of Walcott, Özil and Cazörla, led by RVP in front.

    Probably could have won us the league.

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    1. Gaz Downright
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      Nope. You need a proper Anchör Män for that.

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      1. pedrofroes79
        • 10 Years
        10 years, 6 months ago

        Song with Wilshere!

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      2. Captain Fantastic
        • 11 Years
        10 years, 6 months ago

        +1. Fellaini would have improved the midfield tremendously.

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        1. richmoore1604
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          10 years, 6 months ago

          Song is at barca and has been for over a year!!

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  7. Total Foot 5 - romario 11
    • 10 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    Quick question best (2) DEF $10 Combo: A or B or C
    have Zabaleta,Jose Enrique,Coleman...cheers

    A--$6 DEF Walker/Terry/Vidic/or Agger + $4 DEF (choice of: Gabidon, Chambers, Chester, Ward)

    B--$5.5 DEF Merts/Sakho/RFerdinand/Jagelka + $4.5 DEF (choice of: Collins, Mbiwa, Whitaker 4.2,Clark Avl,Hughes)

    C--TWO $5 DEF (choice of 2:Dawson,Colocini, Distin, Williams, BDavies, Hangeland, Olson)

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  8. Sess!
    • 13 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    Blashphemy I know, but I entered a second team at start of season just to take punts with. Anyways I forgot about it but just logged on and Wildcarded, achieving the following team with a measely team value of £99.6m. Still not a bad effort I reckon:

    Mignolet Lewis
    Zabaleta Terry Collins Chambers Chester
    Ozil Walcott Lampard Hernandez Jedinak
    Sturridge Benteke Giroud

    Thoughts?

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    1. Leaf
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      It's not overly punty if you don't mind me saying

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  9. LowerManhattan
    • 11 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    G1 - Migs - fixtures look good, already banked .2, Liverpool invested even more in defense
    (G2) - Daniels - best option at 4.0

    D1 - Zab - continuing on incredible form from last year
    D2 - Walker - looking great in live games and steady producer for Tot
    D3 - Enrique - could consider other options here, not sure what to expect from Sakho
    D4 - Dawson - great value at 5.0
    (D5) - Turner - best option (IMO) at 4.0, watching Baker at 3.9

    M1 - Ozil - have to have some differential, like the fixtures
    M2 - Eriksen - process of elimination, he can facilitate, other Tot mids can't
    M3 - Walcott - too Arsenal heavy but don't see an obvious solution
    (M4) - Barkley - looks great in games, just waiting for it to translate
    (M5) - Brady - fixtures are decent, could consider 4.5 options instead

    F1 - Benteke - consistent, consistent, consistent
    F2 - Giroud - with Ozil feeding him, won't he do even better?
    F3 - Studge - Liverpool look great and they must be confident coming off the ManU win - could consider Negredo for any of these slots

    Have .1 in the bank. I'm sure this is a team that many of us are considering. Are known entities like Silva, Lampard, Hazard better options than Eriksen and Ozil?

    Any thoughts on Sakho? If he's nailed that would give me .5 more to deal with than with Enrique.

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    1. Captain Fantastic
      • 11 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      Reading about Sakho's background, he will be a sure starter. The guy doesn't fany sitting on the bench,

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      1. Captain Fantastic
        • 11 Years
        10 years, 6 months ago

        *fancy

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        1. richmoore1604
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          10 years, 6 months ago

          Sakho is nailed on. 15 mil for a centre back, no way he will be on the bench. Very arsenal heavy but I'm having the same issue. Ozil is the signing of the summer. What a player. With cazorla and him feeding giroud and Walcott there will be goals goals goals. The problem might be picking 3 from the 4.

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  10. Gooner Kebab
    • 11 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    Downing is dropping today, who should i switch to for a hit for 6 quid?
    Am resisting WC.

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    1. richmoore1604
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      10 years, 6 months ago

      Hernandez

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  11. jc77
    • 10 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    Mignolet
    Mertesacker, Coleman, Shawcross (Garrido,Baker)
    Ben arfa, Noble, Fellaini, Ozil, Hernandez
    Aguero, Giroud, (Anelka)

    I have 2.3 in the kitty after downgrading baines to coleman now i dont know whether to upgrade ben arfa to coutinho or noble to nolan or Hernandez to lampard

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  12. WHY ALWAYS MESUT?
    • 10 Years
    10 years, 6 months ago

    At a complete loss if someone can help me.

    Here's my team:

    Mignolet (Boruc)
    Mertesacker, Coleman, Shaw (Whittaker, Collins)
    Walcott, Silva, Coutinho, Michu (Barkley)
    Giroud, Soldado, Dzeko

    Looking at Negredo's performances as well as City's fixtures, I can't risk keeping Dzeko. I want to upgrade him to Sturridge. However, doing that means I need to downgrade someone else. I'm willing to remove either Silva or Michu but I don't know who to get instead.

    One option would be to remove both Silva and Michu and replace them with something like Eriksen + Oscar. Not sold on this either though. I have 2 Transfers so this would hit me with a -4. Thoughts on what I could do would be great.

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