This week heralded the arrival of inevitable price rises and falls across the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, as the Fantasy Football Scout community sought to replace their failed pre-season targets with the proven bandwagons of Gameweek 1.
Our community writers and Hot Topic posters were on hand to offer advice for those looking to balance the books and off load their flops. We look back on the week’s best advice offered up, whilst also recalling how the community was presented with a powerful argument against discrimination in Fantasy Football and, for the first time, we offer up a regular round-up of the very best of this week’s custom statistics tables created and shared in the Members Area. In a packed summary, there’s also time to check in on the early leaders in a variety of community tournaments and competitions.
The Community Articles
Gameweek 1 was awash with disappointment for those investing in popular pre-season targets such as Man City’s Stevan Jovetic and Tottenham’s Ben Davies. Luckily, Arvin-ation was on hand to sift through the wreckage of our Gameweek 1 selections and recommend some immediate replacements.
Defenders that are capable of producing returns away from home can be valuable assets for those looking to revive early fortunes. Khalad’s article, published this past week, offered up an invaluable summary of the best options for earning defensive points on the road.
Meanwhile, The Puntmaster provided his latest view of the best punts on offer for upcoming Gameweek – look out for these in future weeks as the Puntmaster maintains what looks set to be a regular series.
Elsewhere, AZ was on hand to present this in depth analysis of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa’s goal threat – a timely piece ahead of a weekend that saw both players get on the scoresheet as the Blues maintained their impressive opening to the campaign.
Finally, Lanley Staural was keen to share up his list of the best Premier League fan forums, often a key source of information, speculation and gossip that can prove invaluable when searching out the inside track on team selection ahead of the Gameweek deadline.
Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.
The Members Tables
Over in our members area, the community has been busily constructing some handy tables based on the data collected so far this season. The Sarjeant has been taking a look at some of the most attacking and creative midfielders so far, with a strong focus on successful passing in the final third.
Underlying statistics of forwards was the subject of Nolito’s table, while key figures of Gameweek 1’s most transferred in players came under Kalix’s gaze. Elsewhere, Arvin-ation took a look at Tom Ince in comparison to other midfielders, as well as a detailed look at Chelsea’s midfielders.
The criteria of chances created has helped Mexycan pinpoint some of the biggest threats in the final third and I created a couple of tables this week, examining bonus point magnets in defence and under-the-radar potential goalscorers.
If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how these work. We’re relaunching this feature very soon, boosted by the ability to search, tag and sort the custom stats tables created. Look out for news on that soon.
The Hottest Topics
With so many heavy hitters delivering points hauls in Gameweek one, there was an army of twitching knees on show. I was quick to react to trend, asking just what’s wrong with knee jerking anyway? This prompted to take Hamstergod to take a humourous look at popular Fantasy management phrases, such as the knee jerk, the hunt for differentials and the “essentials”.
It seems that one of the most popular trades carried out this week saw Eden Hazard make way for the acquisition of Cesc Fabregas. Christina’s discussion hit the subject head on prompting much reaction. The Chelsea pair were also among the heavy-hitters discussed in BPLTeam’s “battle of the big boys” Hot Topic.
Meanwhile, the potential of Southampton’s re-invented assets came under expert focus from Lucy with her view on their progress. Lucy also offered an important reminder that there’s a growing interest in Fantasy Football amongst women: this proved to be this week’s most popular post with 65 up-votes at the time of writing.
BThomsen, our resident Norwich correspondent, provided another of the most popular posts this week. He’s been busy scouting their former player and new QPR signing, Leroy Fer on our behalf. His fascinating insight into his goal threat could present yet another mid-price asset in midfield.
The subject of FPL pricing, and in particular the value assigned to Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson, came under scrutiny from Innsie who asked whether so many would have jumped on his bandwagon if he was priced significantly higher? Is the pursuit of a midfield bargain just as big a factor as his Gameweek 1 form?
And finally the key potential transfer discussed this week was undoubtedly Mario Balotelli’s move from AC Milan to Liverpool. The prospect came as bad news for two of our posters, Berbinho’s Forehead and Rayne Wooney, who each pledged to complete an unpleasant forfeit should the Italian arrive on Merseyside.
The Community Tournaments
In Torres Magic’s Last Man Standing competition 1,586 managers were left from the original 1,673 participants after Gameweek 1’s safety score was set at 43.
In the FFS Old Farts Club league, for those of advancing years, Seamy took the lead after Gameweek 1. Meanwhile, Back on the Horse held first spot in the Puffinboy Memorial Cup, a league dedicated to one of Fantasy Football Scout’s first posters. ”The Long and Winding Road” main league is already emerging as one of the most competitive, with Irish Madridista taking first place after Gameweek 1 with a score of 90 and an overall rank of 142.
In “AZ’s Early Bird Cup”, Lunchogonzalez was the top scorer out of its 32 participants, with a huge haul of 80 points. This was enough to dispatch 4vets, who also notched up an impressive score, of 70. Other winners include Ashlie and Baines on Toast.
Finally, watch out for Tuesday morning’s hot topic when we will be asking for nominations and votes for those wishing to follow Tom Fenley and HVT as the community champion in Gameweek 3’s scout picks competition.
