This season we’ll be running a couple of weekly articles which focus specifically on our two supported Fantasy games, the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and the Sky Sports Fantasy game. While those articles will differ in content, they both give us the opportunity to recognise the front-runners in our respective leagues, giving a nod to our community’s outstanding Fantasy managers. We’ll also use them to examine trends and patterns in the games, with particularly emphasis on transfer activity. We start with this week’s FPL focus…

Scout League Standings

David Byers leads the way with a monster 95 point haul on the board already. Michu and Mladen Petrov chipped in with 34 points between them, while a trio of City players earned him 14 points. With three Chelsea players still to feature tomorrow evening – including captain Branislav Ivanovic – he looks set to improve upon his overall ranking of 19 already.

Sitting in second place, Steve Woods is another to benefit hugely from Petric and Michu, with Ivanovic also handed the armband. He also heads into tomorrow’s match with three Blues players, though while our top two both have Juan Mata, Steve has Ashley Cole to David’s Fernando Torres.

Mark Durham is in third place, thanks to Michu and Petric amongst others; he has two Chelsea players for the Reading clash, though Eden Hazard arrives at the Bridge with the armband. Will Chen is next up on 93 points, despite having Fernando Torres as captain – Michu, Petric, Samir Nasri, Kevin Nolan and Ivanovic all returned double figures for him, while Neil Glenister completes the top five – again, Petric, Michu and an armband on Ivanovic was crucial to his cause.

For the Contributors, Greek Fan has been quickest out the blocks. West Ham pair Jussi Jaaskelainen and Kevin Nolan returned 16 points, while Ivanovic, Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez all produced attacking returns. He still has three Chelsea players for tomorrow, with Torres handed the armband.

The Market Trends

Unsurprisingly, Michu leads the way with almost 100,000 Fantasy managers snapping up the Spaniard’s services on the back of his 18 point debut haul at QPR. With Swansea now facing five home games in the next seven, Michu has increased in price to 6.6 in FPL and, given his side’s added attacking thrust under Michael Laudrup, the trend in ownership looks set to continue. Nathan Dyer is also proving popular – priced at 5.5, he has been acquired by nearly 55,000 teams since returning a brace and maximum bonus points at Loftus Road.

Carlos Tevez has proven to be the second most popular Fantasy target. With doubts surrounding Sergio Aguero’s knee problem, Tevez has been transferred in by over 80,000 Fantasy managers and is the only other player to have risen in cost, up to 9.1 after his opener against Southampton. Mladen Petric has picked up 41,000 new suitors after his 16 point haul against Norwich on Saturday but, with three away trips in the next four, including a Gameweek 2 visit to Old Trafford, he could struggle to justify the investment right now.

The respective displays of Branislav Ivanovic and Eden Hazard against Wigan on Sunday has seen the pair make their way into a combined 84,000 teams, despite the fact that Chelsea have a blank Gameweek 3 on the horizon. Newcastle pair Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba make their way to the Bridge this weekend and have also featured highly in Fantasy managers’ estimations after they both found the net against Spurs – a combined total of almost 68,000 have jumped on board for the Magpies duo.

Unsurprisingly, Sergio Aguero is top for transfers out, with over 109,000 already selling on the Argentine after he pulled up early with a knee problem against Southampton. Juan Mata and Fernando Torres have both been subject to significant sales – despite having a game against Reading tomorrow, many Fantasy managers have already lost patience, with a combined 30,000 shipping the Blues pair out.

Ramires’ absence through illness at the DW on Sunday has seen 35,000 part company with the Brazilian – priced at 7.0, a move to Michu has been the likely trade to make here ahead of Swansea’s fixtures, though he has since been fit to play in tomorrow night’s match with Reading. Liverpool new boy Joe Allen has lost over 30,000 Fantasy backers already, while at the back, Fabricio Coloccini and Jose Enrique’s weekend absences has seen almost 17,000 and 16,000 move on the pair already.