With Gameweek 13 and the international break (Gameweek 14) behind us it’s time to reacquaint ourselves with the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game. We assess the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point magnets and current market trends and, as always, look ahead to the forthcoming fixtures, offering our preferred captain setup, with one eye on Gameweek 16.
Gameweek 13 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 |
| Aston Villa vs Cardiff | Leandro Bacuna |
| Chelsea vs West Brom | Eden Hazard |
| Crystal Palace vs Everton | Danny Gabbidon |
| Liverpool vs Fulham | Luis Suarez |
| Southampton vs Hull | Adam Lallana |
| Norwich vs West Ham | Robert Snodgrass |
| Tottenham vs Newcastle | Tim Krul |
| Sunderland vs Man City | Wes Brown |
| Man United vs Arsenal | Wayne Rooney |
| Swansea vs Stoke | Wilfried Bony |
No real shocks here with perhaps only Eden Hazard slightly fortunate to receive the award after converting a controversial last minute penalty against West Brom. The spread of MoTM awards was fairly even with midfielders claiming four, forwards three, defenders two and goalkeepers picking up a single award. Wayne Rooney and Eden Hazard both now have 3 awards each – only Daniel Sturridge (4) and Curtis Davies (5) have achieved the award more often.
Gameweek 13 Bonus Points
Three goalkeepers managed five saves or more – Boaz Myhill, Maarten Stekelenburg and Tim Krul were the top shot stoppers. Krul managed an astonishing 14 saves in his MoTM display at the Lane, which contributed to a total of 14 points – he now sits atop the overall keeper rankings alongside Simon Mignolet, with both now averaging bonus points every 130 minutes.
In defence, a total of 17 players gathered bonus, eight for tackles and nine for passes completed – full-backs Glen Johnson and Branislav Ivanovic were the closest to achieving both, as they each fell just one tackle short of the required four. Currently John Terry and Joel Ward are the top bonus magnets in defence with an additional 12 points apiece.
In midfield, 24 players earned bonus points, the most in a single Gameweek so far – 14 for tackling and 13 for passes. Liverpool duo Jordan Henderson and Lucas Leiva managed to achieve both as did West Ham’s Mark Noble. Aaron Ramsey continues to be the number one player in regards to bonus with 24 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 |
| Ramsey | Arsenal | 5.8 | 3.87% |
| Eriksen | Tottenham | 7 | 3.17% |
| Sturridge | Liverpool | 9.2 | 3.13% |
| Van Persie | Man Utd | 10 | 3.12% |
| Soldado | Tottenham | 8.1 | 3.00% |
Surprisingly, Arsenal’s in-form Aaron Ramsey finds himself top of the transfers out list. This may be attributed to the hamstring injury and/or illness that kept him out of Wales’ match with Finland, whilst Robin Van Persie’s withdrawal from the Holland squad has had a similar effect. Christian Eriksen’s ankle injury has forced his owners’ hand and a loss of form for Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Soldado has persuaded many Fantasy managers to jump ship – as we’ll see, there are a couple of ready-made frontline replacements.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Lallana | Southampton | 5.9 | 7.63% |
| Suarez | Liverpool | 9.9 | 6.78% |
| Aguero | Man City | 9.8 | 4.06% |
| Lovren | Southampton | 5.2 | 3.49% |
| Davies | Hull | 4.5 | 3.39% |
England’s new recruit Adam Lallana is the most transferred-in player over the last two weeks – whilst his form has been very strong, Southampton’s upcoming fixtures bring a tear to the eye so it remains to be seen if he can keep up his performances. The other four players in the table have featured heavily over the last few weeks and continue to attract substantial investment, with Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero earning plenty new owners over the past fortnight.
Gameweek 15 Proposed Captain Strategy
Looking ahead to the captaincy choices for Gameweek 15, there is an opportunity to have three skippers using a single transfer – our method detailed below also sets us up nicely for Gameweek 16.
Suggested Strategy:
Luis Suarez (Everton Away) → Sergio Aguero (Tottenham at Home) → Christian Benteke (West Brom Away)
For Saturday, we’re backing Luis Suarez to hit form once again in the Merseyside derby at Goodison. Alternatively Newcastle’s Loic Remy could be an option – he’s in great form and squares up to a leaky Norwich backline at St James’s Park.
On Sunday, you could either use a transfer or captain change to give the armband to one of Sergio Aguero or Wayne Rooney. City’s 100% home form speaks for itself and, given Aguero’s recent displays, it’s hard to see him not producing – the only concern may be the absence of their main creative threat, David Silva, against a resilient Tottenham backline. Alternatively Wayne Rooney looks a good option away to Cardiff – the England man is in fine form and with Sky clearly favoring him over ‘sidekick’ Robin Van Persie in the MoTM awards, he gets our nod.
Finally, for Monday night’s game between West Brom and Aston Villa, we’re backing Christian Benteke to rediscover his goal scoring touch. The Belgian (who is expected to recover from a knee knock) has been slightly unlucky in recent weeks, with a missed spot-kick and several spurned opportunities extending his drought to four matches. By using a transfer to bring in your captain for Sunday’s matches, you can then use your captain change in order to switch to Benteke the following day – another factor that tips the balance in his favour is that it leaves you perfectly set up for Gameweek 16, when Aston Villa play at home to Sunderland on the Saturday.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Our own Fantasy Football Scout League is on top of the Private League rankings, while we also have the world number one Ben Broadhurst leading the way. With a £1,000 prize to the winner of our Scout League, 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 Sky Sports One HD where they will be discussing the previous week’s Fantasy Football events, chatting to James Beattie and quizzing England batsman Ian Bell for his #One2Eleven.
