With Gameweek 6 firmly behind us, we delve into the vital statistics of the Sky Sports game ahead of this weekend’s action. Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point winners and the current market trends are all analysed before we examine the forthcoming Gameweek and our preferred captain setup.
Gameweek 6 – Man of the Match Awards
Listed below are last weekend’s top performers according to the onlooking Sky Sports reporters…
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Tottenham vs Chelsea | Gylfi Sigurdsson |
| Aston Villa vs Man City | Leandro Bacuna |
| Fulham vs Cardiff | Steven Caulker |
| Hull vs West Ham | Abdoulaye Faye |
| Man United vs West Brom | Stephane Sessegnon |
| Southampton vs Crystal Palace | Rickie Lambert |
| Swansea vs Arsenal | Aaron Ramsey |
| Stoke vs Norwich | Anthony Pilkington |
| Sunderland vs Liverpool | Daniel Sturridge |
| Everton vs Newcastle | Romelu Lukaku |
Overall, two defenders, five midfielders and three forwards shared the awards. Tottenham’s Gylfi Sigurdsson weighs in with his second accolade in four matches; the Icelandic midfielder also has three goals to his name and comes in at an affordable 5.5 million – a strong short-term option, then, although doubts persist on his prospects as the season progresses.
Elsewhere, Daniel Sturridge and Aaron Ramsey continue their impressive starts to the season and with form and fixtures in their favour they look difficult to overlook at the moment in time. Certainly, as a £5.8 million midfielder hovering up bonus points, it’s tough to build a case against acquiring Ramsey.
Gameweek 6 Bonus Points
Four goalkeepers achieved bonus points as a result of making five saves or more – the fewest of any Gameweek so far this season. The quartet of players in question were Brad Guzan, Tim Krul, Allan McGregor and Boaz Myhill, who all made five saves in total. They were Krul’s second bonus points of the season, with Fulham’s David Stockdale and Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet still leading the way with three sets apiece.
In defence, eight players fetched bonus, six for tackles and two for passes completed – Newcastle’s Mathieu Debuchy was the closet player to achieving both, but narrowly missed out by a single tackle won.
In midfield, no less than 19 players earned bonus points – twelve for tackles won and nine for passes completed. Enforcers Cheik Tiote and Gary Medal were the two players who managed both – the pair earning tackle bonus for the first time this season. Yaya Toure received passing bonus for the fourth time in six matches and, with his current goal scoring form, he’s more than justifying his price of £8.6 million, despite City’s erratic form.
The aforementioned Ramsey weighed in with his obligatory tackles bonus and is currently churning out bonus points on average of every 35.8 minutes on pitch. Indeed, with a goal, assist and man of the match showing, Ramsey almost achieved the “Holy Grail” against the Swans. He missed out on a 19-point haul and points from all possible scoring methods by just 5 completed passes. Ramsey was successful with 55 of his 69 passes against Michael Laudrup’s side – ironically, in terms of completion, that was his worst passing performance of the season.
A reminder that, if you’re a Fantasy Football Scout member, you can access all information regarding bonus points using the player stats tables, via the Sky Sports tab.
The Transfer Trends
Top Transfers Out
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Van Persie | Man Utd | 10 | 5.38% |
| Aguero | Man City> | 9.8 | 4.66% |
| Benteke | Aston Villa | 9 | 4.28% |
| Rose | Tottenham | 4.7 | 3.42% |
| Soldado | Tottenham | 8.1 | 3.36% |
A trio of pricey hitmen feature at the top of the sales table, as Robin Van Persie, Sergio Aguero and Christian Benteke found themselves omitted from around 5% of Fantasy lineups this week. All three have missed matches in recent games due to injuries and, while Benteke remains sidelined, the former two started in the Champions League in midweek and look likely to feature in their respective sides’ XIs tomorrow.
Elsewhere, Roberto Soldado’s frustrating start to the season sees almost 4% of Sky Sports managers lose faith – the Spaniard had looked a good option at only £8.1 million but, without a goal in four league outings, the confidence is now wavering as the likes of Sturridge, Suarez and Giroud continue to earn strong hauls.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Suarez | Liverpool | 9.9 | 9.10% |
| Ramsey | Arsenal | 5.8 | 6.22% |
| Sturridge | Liverpool | 9.2 | 4.63% |
| Lovren | Southampton | 5.2 | 3.94% |
| Lukaku | Everton | 8.6 | 3.73% |
Indeed, as this table highlights, the lure of Luis Suarez is as strong as ever. Over 9% of Sky Sports managers have immediately jumped on board following his brace at Sunderland last weekend. As the top scoring player in the game last season, there has been little hesitation in acquiring the controversial Uruguayan ahead of the potentially bountiful Anfield clash against Crystal Palace, with the armband looking ready-made for him.
Romelu Lukaku has been snapped up by 3.73% and also deserves a mention after surpassing Suarez as the top scoring player in the Gameweek – he racked up 20 points from his two goals, assist and MoTM performance at Goodison on Monday night.
Further down the list, the continued acquisition of Ramsey is no surprise, while Sturridge’s superb consistency has also earned new owners ahead of the Palace clash. Southampton’s Dejan Lovren, meanwhile, is now the top scoring defender in the game following a fourth clean sheet of the season last time out. Lovren has also earned bonus points on three occasions this term, in addition to earning MoTM in the recent victory at Anfield.
Gameweek 7 Proposed Captain Strategy
If you followed last week’s captain option one (Wayne Rooney -> Luis Suarez -> Romelu Lukaku) you would have netted an impressive 78 points. That underlines the importance of the captaincy and the value of the strategy of using transfers to boost your flexibility with the armband.
With no Monday night fixture, we’re limited to two captains this week. The key here is using your change to set yourself up for the Saturday fixtures of the following Gameweek after the two-week break. We need a captain in Sunday’s matches who faces a fixture on Saturday in Gameweek 8 – preferably a favourable one.
Captain Option 1
You have a captain playing Saturday and use a captain change to a player playing in Sunday’s matches.
Our Strategy:
Luis Suarez → Oliver Giroud
As mentioned, Luis Suarez or Daniel Sturridge are the overwhelming favourites for the armband from Saturday’s fixtures. A move from one of this pair to Arsenal’s Olivier Girioud for the Sunday clash with West Brom looks the best tactic on offer. Giroud faces up to Norwich at the Emirates after the international break.
Captain Option 2
You have a captain playing Saturday and use a captain change to a player featuring in Sunday’s matches. For example:
Our Strategy:
Robin van Persie → Oscar
If you’re without a Liverpool striker, then Wayne Rooney or Robin van Persie look the best fall-back for their clash with Sunderland on Saturday evening. If you don’t have Giroud in your lineup for Sunday’s fixtures, it’s certainly worth considering prioritising him as a Gameweek transfer. Failing that, there’s some value in perhaps looking to a Chelsea midfielder for this Sunday’s trip to Norwich. Chelsea host Cardiff at Stamford Bridge on the Saturday of the following Gameweek.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Make sure you’re joined up to our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season, which is currently second in the Private League rankings. With a £1,000 prize to the winner, there’s every reason get involved. To join, visit Sky Sports Fantasy Football and key in League Name: FFScout, League Code: 8000112.
The Fantasy Football Club
If you missed Thursday’s show, you can still catch Fenners and Merse this evening at 18:30 Skysports One HD where they will be discussing the previous week’s Fantasy Football events, chatting to Muzzy Izzet and quizzing Kyle Walker for his one2evelen.
