Having cast an eye over the Sky Sports Fantasy Football player price list and also looked at captaincy tactics, we now turn our attentions to the Man of the Match (MoTM) awards:
The MoTM award is worth five points in the Sky Sports game – the same amount as a goal or clean sheet – and warrants some attention when selecting our lineup. As the MoTM is selected by the Sky match reporter, and can sometimes differ from the televised award, it’s far more difficult to predict and quantify than likely goals or clean sheets. Using last season’s data, however, we can look to highlight certain players and positions and their potential chances of securing future awards.
TOP OVERALL RECIPIENTS
Let’s take a look at the players who gained five or more MOTM awards last season.
| Name | Starts | MOTM | Starts – MOTM % |
| Luis Suarez | 33 | 9 | 27% |
| Eden Hazard | 32 | 9 | 28% |
| Wayne Rooney | 27 | 9 | 33% |
| Curtis Davies | 37 | 7 | 19% |
| Yaya Toure | 35 | 7 | 20% |
| Adam Lallana | 37 | 7 | 19% |
| David Silva | 26 | 6 | 23% |
| Aaron Ramsey | 20 | 6 | 30% |
| Yannick Bolasie | 23 | 6 | 26% |
| David Marshall | 37 | 5 | 14% |
| Hatem Ben Arfa | 13 | 5 | 38% |
| Charlie Adam | 20 | 5 | 25% |
| Raheem Sterling | 24 | 5 | 21% |
| Ross Barkley | 25 | 5 | 20% |
| Daniel Sturridge | 26 | 5 | 19% |
| Emmanuel Adebayor | 20 | 5 | 25% |
Here are a few points to note:
- Creative midfielders and hardworking forwards (who can also score) look the most likely to receive the award.
- Wayne Rooney achieved MoTM in 33% of the games he started after claiming 45% the season before. The United forward is always a favourite due to his all action style and would be my tip for most awards in the coming campaign.
- Hatem Ben Arfa had the highest overall starts-MoTM ratio, with 38%. Given Alan Pardew’s summer spending spree, it seems unlikely that the Frenchman will force his way back into the picture – new boys Remy Cabella and Siem de Jong will be hoping to catch the eye in the Frenchman’s likely absence.
- Curtis Davies’ displays at both ends of the pitch were key. The Hull centre-half was second for Clearances, Blocks and Interceptions (CBI) and third for touches in the opposition box last year.
- For someone who failed to score a single goal all season, Yannick Bolasie achieved a surprisingly large amount of MoTM awards.
- With Luis Suarez now departed, I would expect to see Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge claim even more awards this time out.
- Eden Hazard dominated for Chelsea but with the additions of Diego Costa (another hardworking forward) and playmaker Cesc Fabregas, expect to see a more even spread.
AWARDS BY POSITION
By breaking down the player list by classification, we can see which positions received the MoTM awards last season:
| Position | Total MOTM awards | % of total MOTM |
| Goalkeeper | 23 | 6% |
| Defender | 57 | 15% |
| Midfielder | 199 | 52% |
| Forward | 101 | 27% |
These stats showing that midfielders very much come out on top. Defenders claimed almost half the amount of forwards whilst goalkeepers were rarely awarded MOTM awards.
LOOKING FORWARD
As MoTM awards are harder to predict than goals or clean sheets, we shouldn’t get too carried away and start picking players on the basis that they are MoTM “darlings”. However, combined with passing and tackling bonus, the chances of earning these awards can certainly help settle some internal struggles we may have when choosing between two players. The Robin Van Persie vs. Wayne Rooney debate is a good example.
As for this season, we can expect similar trends to last. Creative or box-to-box midfielders who play a major part in their team’s attacks should regularly receive MoTM gongs along with forwards who not only score but put a good shift in, hassling the opposing defence. For the lesser sides, dominant centre backs or agile goalkeepers who are kept busy can stake a claim as Curtis Davies and David Marshall showed last season, despite their respective side’s struggles.
THIS SEASON’S BENEFACTORS
I’m going to put my neck on the line here and offer my view on a few of the likely benefactors for this season. Barring injuries, here are the players I feel are most likely to claim awards for their respective sides:
| Team | Player |
| Arsenal | Aaron Ramsey |
| Aston Villa | Christian Benteke |
| Burnley | Scott Arfield |
| Chelsea | Eden Hazard/Cesc Fabregas/Diego Costa |
| Crystal Palace | Yannick Bolasie |
| Everton | Ross Barkley |
| Hull | Robert Snodgrass |
| Leicester | Kasper Schmeichel/Danny Drinkwater |
| Liverpool | Raheem Sterling |
| Man City | Yaya Toure/David Silva |
| Man United | Wayne Rooney |
| Newcastle | Siem De Jong/Remy Cabella |
| Queens Park Rangers | Loic Remy/Steven Caulker |
| Southampton | Jay Rodriquez |
| Stoke | Marko Arnautovic/Steve Sidwell |
| Sunderland | Vito Mannone |
| Swansea | Gylfi Sigurdsson/Wilfried Bony |
| Tottenham | Christian Eriksen |
| West Brom | Saido Berahino |
| West Ham | Mark Noble/Mauro Zarate |
Sky Sports Fantasy Football Scout League
We’ve already set up the official Scout League with a top prize of £1000 to the winner. If you’ve tinkered with your Sky Sports team and are looking to get involved, our league name is FFScout and the code is 8009000.
