After another international break, the Premier League was back up and running last week, with the 10 rounds of fixtures treating us to 40 goals. As always in our Friday afternoon regular, we rinse through the main points of note in the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game, analysing Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries and the current market trends before taking a look at the Scout team and our plans for Gameweek 11.
Gameweek 10 Man of the Match Awards
These were the players that caught the eye of the Sky Sports reporters from last weekend’s fixtures achieving the Man of the Match award (worth an additional 5 points).
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Man City vs Tottenham | Sergio Aguero |
| Arsenal vs Hull | Alexis Sanchez |
| Burnley vs West Ham | Stewart Downing |
| Crystal Palace vs Chelsea | Nemanja Matic |
| Everton vs Aston Villa | Leighton Baines |
| Newcastle vs Leicester | Papiss Cisse |
| Southampton vs Sunderland | Dusan Tadic |
| QPR vs Liverpool | Philippe Coutinho |
| Stoke vs Swansea | Charlie Adam |
| West Brom vs Man United | Criag Dawson |
Incredibly, despite starting just two of his four appearances, Papiss Cisse picked up a third MoTM award and now has more than any other player. The Newcastle striker now has a points tally just one short of Eden Hazard, who has featured in all eight matches for Chelsea, for example, and his displays suggest he is set to become a viable Fantasy force once again. If you are considering him , it’s worth noting that the forward is a doubt for this weekend’s trip to Spurs, though, after picking up a knee problem.
A couple of budget options announced themselves this week. Firstly ,West Brom’s Craig Dawson (4.8m) is ticking over nicely and has a real goal threat from set pieces – one to consider if you’re looking at shipping a non-performer in your backline. Secondly, Charlie Adam, at 5.3m, has reared his head once again. After racking up 124 points and five MoTM awards last season, he has always been a Sky favorite – with concerns over a starting role easing, he’s starting to look a genuine contender as a budget midfield option.
Gameweek 10 Bonus Points
Four goalkeepers achieved bonus points from collecting five or more saves last weekend. Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris was the busiest between the posts – the Frenchman made eight saves in the 4-1 Etihad defeat, and with a penalty stop also thrown in, he still managed to escape with three points. Lloris now joins Robert Green and Kasper Schmeichel with six additional points.
In defence, 11 players grabbed bonus, four for tackles and seven for passes completed – Arsenal’s Nacho Monreal came closest to earning both, just missing out by just one completed challenge. Vincent Kompany still leads the way for defenders with ten bonus points.
In midfield there were 14 beneficiaries in total: five for tackling and nine for passes. Both Oscar and Morgan Schneiderlin came close to earning both again, missing out by just one completed tackle. Schneiderlin, of course, added to his bonus tally and now has 16 extra points.
Fantasy Football Scout members can access all information regarding bonus points using player stats and clicking the Sky Sports tab.
The Transfer Trends
Top Transfers Out
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Costa | Chelsea | 9.5 | 11.14% |
| Delph | Aston Villa | 5.1 | 3.82% |
| Lovren | Liverpool | 6.3 | 3.15% |
| Dier | Tottenham | 6.4 | 2.53% |
| Dzeko | Man City | 8.6 | 2.49% |
Diego Costa’s ongoing injury drama has persuaded over 11% to shed their sides of the Chelsea striker. Villa’s Fabian Delph, a popular budget enabler, is next in line after he was ruled out until the New Year with a shoulder injury. Liverpool and Southampton’s dodgy defensive displays means Dejan Lovren and Erik Dier are also on their way out, whilst Edin Dzeko’s non-appearance in City’s rout of Tottenham has also played a pivotal part in this week’s transfer market.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Aguero | Man City | 9.8 | 7.38% |
| Bertrand | Southampton | 5.1 | 5.71% |
| Pelle | Southampton | 7.4 | 5.60% |
| Tadic | Southampton | 6.7 | 3.84% |
| Falcao | Man United | 9.4 | 3.58% |
Sergio Aguero’s four-goal haul against Spurs has made the City forward the most wanted player on Sky managers’ wishlists. Southampton’s 8-0 demolition of Sunderland has brought a trio of their top performers into contention, whilst those who drafted in Radamel Falcao for United’s trip to West Brom on Monday night now face a dilemma after the Colombian was afforded less than 20 minutes off the bench.
My Team
Fabianski
Moore Hutton Van Aanholt
Hazard Sterling© Eriksen Tadic Di Maria
Aguero Costa
ITB: 0.6m
Transfers remaining: 29/40
Last week’s points: 95
Overall points: 522
Rank: 926
Notes
Into the top 1,000 at last with a storming 95 points thanks in the main part to Sergio Aguero’s 48 points as captain and Dusan Tadic’s 24-point display. Sticking with Christian Eriksen also worked well and he now looks a decent option for the coming weeks so I’m glad I held on. The Elephant in the room is, of course, Eden Hazard; the guy continues to churn our impressive performances yet comes away with no Fantasy points whilst his team-mate Cesc Fabregas just keeps on giving. It’s a transfer I can’t bring myself to make, though, as I know the week I make the switch it will come back to hurt me and so I’m giving Hazard one last chance against United.
My budget defence is starting to be found out and hasn’t returned me any points for a while now, in the near future ill probably have to sacrifice a premium mid and bring in some better defensive options – I’m just waiting for the best long term budget mid to rear their head and then I’ll start the process.
Captain Plan
For Saturday, my captain is locked into Raheem Sterling, who’s at home to Hull City and hopefully he will get over his Champions League woes to perform in front of the Kop.
On Sunday, I’ll captain one of Diego Costa or Eden Hazard for the heavyweight clash at Old Trafford. Depending on any news regarding Costa’s fitness, this will set me up nicely for Gameweek 12, when Chelsea host QPR which, on paper, looks a rout.
I’m not going for the extra captain option on Monday night’s match as to be honest I can’t bring myself to use a transfer to bring in a QPR or Aston Villa player.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and were currently toping the Private League rankings as per usual. With a £1000 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: 8009000.
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 upcoming week’s Fantasy Football, quizzing former Blackburn man Jason Roberts and asking current Swans winger Wayne Routledge for his #One2Eleven.
