A Gameweek 4 average of 40 points, with Robin Van Persie returning a two point armband haul, sums up the type of weekend many of us have just endured. Let’s quickly draw a line under it, then, as we review the Scout League leaders and analyse the current transfer patterns ahead of next Saturday’s deadline:
Scout League Standings
Renoir Buffon is the new leader of the Scout League after racking up 47 points in the previous Gameweek. His decision to draft in Dimitar Berbatov for a four point hit paid off and slightly made up for Robin Van Persie’s two point captaincy return, while the likes of Jussi Jaaskelainen, Steven Pienaar and Carlos Tevez all chipped in with attacking points as Renoir moved to 11th in the overall rankings.
Asriel Chen had a bit of a miserable week. The previous world number one accrued just 28 points, with only three players – Tevez, Branislav Ivanovic and Mark Noble producing the goods. Asriel still sits second in the Scout League and 28th overall. Dave Fitzgibbon is a new entry at number three after accumulating 54 points. A strong defence, which includes Ivanovic, Rafael and Kyle Walker racked up two clean sheets and an assist, which Santi Cazorla, Jermain Defoe and captain Carlos Tevez were his main protagonists as he moves up to 33rd overall.
Andy Fox sits in fourth, with 58 points accrued – the most of our top five this Gameweek. Doubling up on the Chelsea defence, with Ivanovic and Petr Cech, proved a masterstroke, while Kieran Gibbs and Rafael also picked up points at the back. Further up the field, Pienaar, captain Cazorla and Tevez provided four assists between them.
Nick Morley makes up the top five. The third of our featured players not to have Van Persie amongst his ranks, Nick had Chelsea duo Ivanovic and Ashley Cole to thank for 14 points in defence, while Kieran Gibbs and Asmir Begovic also chipped in with 13 between them. Jermain Defoe and Carlos Tevez were the men to do the damage up top as his team returned 56 points – enough to earn him 55th spot overall.
For the Contributors, Big Dunc holds steady at the top after a 41 point haul. Rafael, Ivanovic and Guy Demel produced clean sheets at the back, while Pienaar, Cazorla and Tevez all produced assists.
The Market Trends
It’s no surprise to see Dimitar Berbatov lead the way for transfers in after his brace against West Brom last Saturday. The Bulgarian has already risen twice in price to 7.1 after 70,000 Fantasy managers snapped up his services. West Ham pair Jussi Jaaskelainen and Winston Reid have been acquired by a combined 75,000 new owners after the Hammers registered their third clean sheet in the opening four Gameweeks – with (SUN, qpr, SOT, wig) amongst their next five, Sam Allardyce’s side have every chance of maintaining their defensive resolve.
Arsenal trio Kieran Gibbs (29,000), Santi Cazorla (20,000) and Lukas Podolski (31,000) have also seen a rise in ownership after picking up the points last weekend, while elsewhere in north London, Jermain Defoe’s brace at Reading has enticed 27,000 Fantasy managers to take a punt on his services ahead of (QPR, AVL, sot, WIG) in the next six Gameweeks.
Alexander Buttner and Alex Kacaniklic have been drafted in by 16,000 and 23,000 respectively, though question marks hang heavy over their first-team prospects for United and Fulham – rotation looks likely to affect both players. With three goals in his first two matches for Sunderland, Steven Fletcher has acquired 19,000 new suitors; priced at 7.0, he offers a strong mid-price option for our front three.
Mladen Petric has been the most offloaded player thus far – 37,000 have moved on the Fulham forward, with a transfer to Berbatov the most obvious one here. The Newcastle defence has been deserted in their droves – injuries to Tim Krul and Danny Simpson has seen a combined 40,000 managers jump ship, while Fabricio Coloccini has also been sold on by nearly 12,000.
David De Gea’s owners have had enough. Benched for both United’s last two games, he has dropped in price since the weekend, having been transferred out by 23,000 – the cut-price security offered by the likes of Jaaskelainen frees up plenty cash for investment elsewhere. Shinji Kagawa has also seen something of an exodus – his failure to feature in the win over Wigan saw 18,000 move on the Japanese midfielder. Fernando Torres has also seen a loss of faith; a blank at QPR convinced 20,000 to part company with the Chelsea forward, though with home clashes against Stoke and Norwich in the next three, he could well be set to capitalise.
**We’ve rolled out this article a second time around due to some technical gremlins earlier. Apologies for any inconvenience.
