With Gameweek 12 done and dusted, we bring you the vital statistics of the Sky game, assessing the recent Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries and current market trends. As always, we also look ahead to the forthcoming Gameweek, offering our preferred captain setup, with one eye on Gameweek 14.
Gameweek 12 Man of the Match Awards
Listed below is a match-by-match breakdown of the players who won the plaudits from the Sky Sports reporters last time out, earning five additional points for the Man-of-the-Match award.
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Newcastle vs Chelsea | Mathieu Debuchy |
| Fulham vs Man United | Adnan Januzaj |
| Hull vs Sunderland | Curtis Davies |
| Man City vs Norwich | Sergio Aguero |
| Stoke vs Southampton | James Ward-Prowse |
| West Brom vs Crystal Palace | Saido Berahino |
| West Ham vs Aston Villa td> | Stewart Downing |
| Arsenal vs Liverpool | Aaron Ramsey |
| Everton vs Tottenham | Michael Dawson |
| Cardiff vs Swansea | Steven Caulker |
After the previous weekend’s awards were dominated by forwards, it seems we have returned to normality somewhat, with attackers only managing two awards between them. Defenders and midfielders, on the other hand, split the other eight awards evenly with four apiece.
The phenomenon that is Curtis Davies picked up his fifth MoTM in 10 games, as his displays at the heart of the Hull defence continue to impress. There are a few other players listed above who have now been declared MoTM more than once: Adnan Januzaj, Steven Caulker and Sergio Aguero all have two awards secured, whilst Aaron Ramsey has managed three so far.
Gameweek 12 Bonus Points
Four goalkeepers managed five saves or more – Petr Cech, David De Gea, Tim Howard and Simon Mignolet were the men in form; perhaps surprising, considering you would expect to see goalkeepers from the ‘lesser’ teams racking up the bonus. Mignolet now sits atop of the bonus points table with eight additional points to his name.
In defence, a total of 13 players gathered bonus, six for tackles and eight for passes completed – John Terry was the only defender to achieve both which helped to cover the -2 points from two goals conceded. Full-back Joel Ward is the top defender in regards to bonus, with an additional 12 points earned due his tackling ability.
In midfield, 23 players earned bonus points, the most in a single Gameweek so far – 11 for tackling and 14 for passes. Arsenal’s double-pivot of Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey were the two players to achieve both, having managed 169 passes and 12 tackles between them. Ramsey also continues to be the number one player in regards to bonus with 22 additional points earned.
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
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Luna | Aston Villa | 4 | 3.26% |
| Ben Arfa | Newcastle | 5.9 | 3.11% |
| Mignolet | Liverpool | 4.9 | 2.92% |
| Paulinho | Tottenham | 6.6 | 2.68% |
| Giroud | Arsenal | 8.5 | 2.66% |
Villa’s Antonio Luna is the top transfer out this week – over 3.26% have parted company with the 4.0m full-back after he was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Hatem Ben Arfa’s lack of starts has sufficiently worried 3.11% of Fantasy managers as they look elsewhere in this price range. The remaining three players, Simon Mignolet, Paulinho and Olivier Giroud, have all seen their recent returns diminish after strong starts to the season.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Aguero | Man City | 9.8 | 6.75% |
| Ramsey | Arsenal | 5.8 | 4.99% |
| Davies | Hull | 4.5 | 4.64% |
| Lovren | Southampton | 5.2 | 4.08% |
| Townsend | Tottenham | 4.6 | 3.24% |
It could be argued that the five most popular players this week are starting to form something of the ‘template’ team in the Sky game – especially if you’re using the 3-5-2 formation. The value offered by Curtis Davies and Dejan Lovren in defense and likewise Aaron Ramsey and Andros Townsend in midfield really does help towards funding some of the performing bit hitters such as Sergio Aguero and Mesut Ozil. With this in mind it might be worth scouting out a few differential picks in order to aid your climb up the overall leader board. A look at the member’s fixtures ticker shows us that Chelsea and Aston Villa benefit from a kind fixture list in the next six, with Christian Benteke (9m) and Oscar (7.6m) looking shrewd acquisitions.
Gameweek 13 Proposed Captain Strategy
Looking ahead to the captaincy choices for Gameweek 13, there are a couple of real mouth-watering fixtures on the horizon. As we will see, though, the next Gameweek’s schedule plays a part in how we assess this weekend’s options – it may well be that using a transfer, followed by a tactical captain change after Sunday’s fixtures, may prove the best approach:
Our Strategy:
Luis Suarez (Fulham at Home) → Sergio Aguero (Sunderland Away)
We can’t look beyond Luis Suarez as our choice for Saturday’s games, given that the Uruguayan hit a stunning hat-trick in his last Anfield outing. The only other stand out option would be Romelu Lukaku against a Crystal Palace backline that is yet to keep a clean sheet all season.
If you think a Man City player (likely Sergio Aguero) is the best option from Sunday’s games, you are probably best off using a transfer to acquire him, therefore keeping your captain change intact – this means you could then use your captain switch after Sunday’s games. The reason being is that City do not feature again until Sunday November 24 – essentially, you would miss out on two captains in the next Gameweek unless you ‘banked’ your captain change via this transfer method.
If you’re a bit light on transfers after some Claudio Ranieri-like tinkering, then a switch from Luis Suarez to a player from one of Newcastle, Sunderland, Arsenal, Swansea or Stoke will stand you in good stead for the next Gameweek. These five clubs not only feature this Sunday but also play on Saturday November 23 (ie, the first day of the following Gameweek). Swapping to Olivier Giroud on Sunday, for example, would not only hand the Arsenal forward the armband for the trip to Old Trafford but have him poised for the captaincy for the Gunners’ next game at home to Southampton.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Our own Fantasy Football Scout League is back on top of the Private League rankings. With a £1,000 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, chatting to Charlie Adam and quizzing Manchester City midfielder Jack Rodwell for his #One2Eleven.
