Sky Sports Focus – Gameweek 25

With Gameweek 24 left firmly in our wake it’s time to reassess our Sky teams using the usual info, including the Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, the bonus point beneficiaries and the current market trends. As always, we also look ahead to the forthcoming fixtures, offering our preferred captaincy setup for Gameweek 25 and keeping one eye on Gameweek 26.

Gameweek 24 Man of the Match Awards

Here’s a match-by-match breakdown of the players that won the plaudits from the Sky Sports reporters last time out, earning five additional points for the Man-of-the-Match award.

The awards were fairly evenly distributed this week with one goalkeeper, two defenders, four midfielders and three forwards claiming the plaudits. A couple of players have come to the fore in recent weeks, namely Ben Arfa and Benteke, who look worthy of some consideration if they can rediscover their early-season consistency. Budget-friendly goalkeeper Adrian at 3.9m could also be a savvy investment ahead of a kind run of games for West Ham. Eden Hazard is still the player to have gained the most MoTM awards with eight to his name.

Gameweek 24 Bonus Points

Five goalkeepers managed five saves or more this week – Tim Howard, Asmir Begovic, Vito Mannone, Maarten Stekelenburg and Adrian were the top shot-stoppers. Adrian churned out nine saves at Stamford Bridge, which was the highest number in the week, helping him to an impressive haul of 14 points. Mannone is now the top goalkeeper for bonus points, with 12 so far.

In defence, a total of nine players gathered bonus – six for tackles and four for passes completed. Full-back Angel Rangel was the only player to manage both –as has been highlighted in previous articles, the Swans backline continues to attract bonus points. Full-back Joel Ward and centre-back Chico still top the bonus rankings with 18 additional points.

In midfield, 17 players earned bonus points – eight for tackling and 11 for passes. Fernandinho and Gareth Barry were the two players to sweep up points for both passing and tackling, continuing the trend of holding midfielders picking up bonus – the current top three midfielders overall are Aaron Ramsey, Lucas and, the current leader with 32 additional points, Cheick Tiote.

A reminder that Fantasy Football Scout members can access all the data regarding bonus points using player stats and clicking the Sky Sports tab.

The Transfer Trends

Top Transfers Out

Of all the above players, only Alvaro Negredo looks likely to feature at the weekend after recovering from a shoulder problem and could be heavily transferred in again after the recent injury to Sergio Aguero.

Top Transfers In

Whilst Juan Mata, Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana provided decent returns this week, those that opted for Sergio Aguero and Aaron Ramsey have been stung by recent injury setbacks and will probably be looking to transfer these players out once more depending on injury updates.

Gameweek 25 Proposed Captain Strategy

Looking ahead to the captaincy choices for Gameweek 25 there is an opportunity for three captains if you choose to use a tactical transfer.

Our Strategy:
Robin van Persie (Stoke Away) → Luis Suarez (West Brom Away) → Alvaro Negredo (Chelsea at Home)

For the fixtures on Saturday 1st, we can’t look beyond one of Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney as they make their way to The Britannia. The Sky reporters often favour Rooney for MoTM awards but, as his start seems less secure at this point, van Persie gets the nod.

For the matches on Sunday 2nd, you could either use a transfer or a captain swap to move the armband to Luis Suarez who will be taking on the West Brom backline fresh from conceding four goals to Aston Villa. For this reason, we opt for him over Santi Cazorla – Arsenal have another admittedly mouth-watering fixture at home to Crystal Palace and the Spaniard looks your best bet here if you fancy going against the grain.

Finally, for Monday 3rd, captain swapping or transferring in a Man City or Chelsea player looks a smart move as both teams play again on Saturday 8th in Gameweek 26.

The Fantasy Football Scout League

Our own Fantasy Football Scout League is on top of the Private League rankings. With a £1000 prize to the winner, you’d be mad not to get involved. To join, visit Sky Sports Fantasy Football and key in League Name: FFScout, League Code: 8000112.

The Fantasy Football Club

This Friday The Fantasy Football Club show, where you can catch Fenners and Merse at 18:30 Skysports One HD where they will be discussing the previous week’s Fantasy Football events, quizzing ex-Newcastle winger Peter Lovenkrands and asking Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna for his #One2Eleven.