With Sunday morning’s deadline approaching, we roll out our late-week look at the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game once again. Three of the top five in the Fantasy Football Scout league are in the top five overall as we head into the last Gameweek of the season, while we also cast an eye over the transfer market, with plenty of movement in midfield and up top as Fantasy managers throw the dice for one last time:
Scout League Standings
Kelvin Travers remains at the Scout League summit after a 50 point return last time out. Leighton Baines, captain Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie were his key performers as Kelvin moved to 2,405 points for the season. Unfortunately, he slipped to second in the overall standings after City stand-in boss Brian Kidd dropped Vincent Kompany for Tuesday’s 2-0 win at Reading; Luke Shaw replaced the Belgian and picked up a single point instead. Just two points off the summit, though, Kelvin remains firmly in contention heading into the weekend’s matches.
Matt Martyniak is a non-mover in second after also registering 50 points in Gameweek 37. Again, Baines and Maloney proved crucial, as did his decision to captain Van Persie in United’s home win over Swansea. Matt slipped from second to fourth overall but is a mere four points off the top on 2,403 points and, having been part of the overall top 10 for all but two Gameweeks since Gameweek 17, has shown an incredible consistency this season.
Evs maintained his title bid with a 60 point haul last week. Our site regular relied on Baines, Walcott, captain Van Persie, Joe Hart and Eden Hazard to do the damage, though the latter’s hamstring is a real concern ahead of Sunday’s home game with Everton. He slipped slightly from fourth to fifth in the overall pecking order but with 2,399 points accrued, is only eight points behind the world number one.
Former world number one Julian Zipparo continues to fall after a 48 point haul in the Gameweek gone by. Captain Walcott and Van Persie produced the goods along with Norwich skipper Russell Martin – with 2,398 points on the board, Julian sits in sixth spot overall now.
Paul Van de Kerkhof completes the top five. He earned 59 points over the penultimate round of matches and had Baines, Maloney, Walcott, captain Van Persie and Dimitar Berbatov to thank as he climbed up to 12th in the world on 2,378 points. Intriguingly, none of our five have acquired Daniel Sturridge as of yet – the Liverpool forward is way ahead in this week’s Captain Poll and will surely make his way into most, if not all, of those sides, though a home clash against Fulham may see Michu snapped up – similar to Sturridge, the Swansea midfielder isn’t owned by any of the quintet.
Thanks to the endeavours of our featured five, Fantasy Football Scout retain our position at the top of the best leagues. The FFS Members league is our nearest challenger, some 20.6 points behind – Evs and Julian lead the way there, along with T.I, Jimmy Smith and Rich Akers.
For contributors, Andy is still top as we approach the final stretch. He relied on Baines, Martin, Walcott, Maloney and captain Van Persie last week and now sits in 611th spot, 23 points ahead of Anorak in second.
Finally, commiserations go to Fantasy Football Scout league member Tuomas Kahara, who was knocked out at the semi-final stage of the FPL Cup by 49 points to 47. Tuomas’ decision to bench Norwich skipper Russell Martin for a home clash with West Brom prove costly, while Chris Hughton’s selection of John Ruddy ahead of Mark Bunn between the sticks for the Canaries ultimately swung the tie his opponents’ way.
Market Trends
A hat-trick at Fulham last weekend has earned Daniel Sturridge huge interest ahead of his home match with QPR this Sunday. Over 114,000 FPL managers have snapped up the Liverpool forward, who has now notched five times in three games since Luis Suarez was suspended – as mentioned above, he is the runaway leader in the Captain Poll with over 40% of votes cast so far.
Rickie Lambert and Lukas Podolski are also proving popular forwards. Over 15,000 have drafted in the Southampton forward for a home clash against Stoke – despite a recent blank, Lambert has already produced a 15 point return against the Potters this season. Podolski’s brace at home to Wigan has persuaded a similar number to take a punt, though question marks remain over his game time now Olivier Giroud is back form suspension. The likes of Dimitar Berbatov (12,000), Gabby Agbonlahor (11,000) and Emmanuel Adebayor (9,000) have also proven popular, though just 5,000 have snapped up Robin Van Persie for Sir Alex Ferguson’s final match in charge of United.
In midfield, Philippe Coutinho is the number one target. Having produced a pair of assists in two of his last three, the Brazilian – subject of our earlier Monitor article for members – has been snapped up by over 25,000 and looks set to torment QPR’s dire defence this Sunday. With a goal in each of the last three Gameweeks, Theo Walcott (19,000) has also received plenty interest, while fit-again Michu’s home game against Fulham has over 18,000 lining up for a piece of the action.
The Gameweek 37 exploits of Frank Lampard and Santi Cazorla has helped both earn over 13,000 new owners, while a home game against Sunderland brings Gareth Bale onto Fantasy radars as he looks to recover from back-to-back blanks. Investment at the back is understandably low, though Liverpool full-backs Jose Enrique and Glen Johnson, along with Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen, have proven relatively popular.
For transfers out, Christian Benteke’s one-match suspension looks to have made the move to Sturridge an obvious one – over 109,000 have parted company with the bustling Belgian after he collected a pair of yellows against Chelsea last Saturday lunchtime. Romelu Lukaku is next up, with 31,000+ getting rid of West Brom’s top scorer as United make their way to the Hawthors, while over 19,000 have lost patience with Carlos Tevez, despite a home game with Norwich on the horizon.
The uncertainty surrounding Eden Hazard’s hamstring has persuaded 17,000+ to bid farewell to the Chelsea star – more than any midfielder so far. Steven Gerrard’s shoulder injury makes him second most unpopular and while it’s slightly understandable that 14,000 have rid their side of Marouane Fellaini due to Everton’s tough trip to Stamford Bridge, the 13,000+ who have sold Michu may be ruing their decision as he welcomes Fulham to the Liberty.
