It’s time to get back into the swing of things and start preparing for the season ahead with the first of our Sky Sports weekly articles. Like last time out, we will be assessing the previous week’s data once the action gets underway. This includes which players picked up the Man of the Match (MoTM) award, the significant bonus point allocations, the up-to-date market trends, the favoured captains, our Watchlist and, to top this off, we will be managing our own Fantasy Football Scout team and talking you through our weekly selection plans.

Highest Ownership

Just for this week we will take a gander at the highest owned players in the game to get an idea where the masses are hedging their bets.

Goalkeepers

Spending big on the man between the sticks is generally not advised but, as you can see from above, many have chosen to spend quite a chunk of their budget in this area. Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois are, of course, safe choices for points throughout the season and make up our top two. England man Joe Hart is the third highest owned and actually outscored the former two last season. Fraser Forster look like the casual’s choice, as the England man is expected to spend a significant time on the sidelines, whilst last season’s top scoring keeper Lukasz Fabianski sneaks in at fifth after his significant price hike.

Defenders

The mid price bracket seems to be the focus of many managers’ expenditure at the back and it’s not without logic, seeing as every goal conceded results in a single-point deduction. Southampton’s Jose Fonte is the top target and with some good fixtures and the high chance of bonus points, he still looks reasonable value at 6.5m. Carl Jenkinson is by far and away the budget option of choice and, with some decent opening encounters to start the campaign, could hurt those who look elsewhere. He is, of course, unavailable to face parent club Arsenal in Gameweek 1.

Ashley Williams is the third most chosen on the back of 13 clean sheets and looks a reasonable option, although the Welshman only managed 12 bonus points in 2014/15, which is somewhat surprising. Nathaniel Clyne picked up 122 points at Southampton last year and was the sixth highest scoring defender overall, so his owners will be hoping he can surpass that mark at new club Liverpool. Joleon Lescott is owned by just under 13% as Fantasy managers look to jump on the Tony Pulis clean sheet bus.

Midfielders

You have to ask what the other 58.27% of Sky Fantasy managers are doing without Eden Hazard in their team. Whereas his inclusion in your FPL side can be argued due to his inflated price, the fact he has returned the most MoTM awards (worth five points) in the last two seasons makes him a no-brainer in the Sky Sports game. United’s new signing Memphis Depay looks heavily favored and has an astonishingly high ownership of 17.86% – with free-kicks and an advanced position looking likely, he could be undervalued if he hits the ground running. Yannick Bolasie sits in third place and is a favourite of Sky after racking up seven MoTM awards last season – playing in an attack-minded team and, at times, in an advanced position, means he could improve on his 144 points last campaign. James Milner and Santi Cazorla make up the final two and offer similar prospects with bonus points, MoTM awards and assists looking the most likely source of steady returns.

Forwards

Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez’s ownership is in question right off the bat – the latter misses Gameweek 1 through a lack of fitness, whilst Aguero is struggling with a virus and hasn’t played a single minute for his side over the summer. Christian Benteke and Wayne Rooney’s prospects look far better this season, whilst Harry Kane – despite a significant price hike – is still backed to replicate last season’s form by 16.6%

Watchlist

Here I aim to highlight a few differential players with low ownership that I think could be good options in the coming six weeks. These will be looking at three specific price brackets to cater for our available budget. These names evolve with fixtures and form and hopefully offer Fantasy managers a nudge in the right direction.

My Team

Adrian
Morgan Van Aanholt Amavi
Hazard Cazorla Abdi Mane Payet
Rooney Kane

1.9 ITB

Breakdown

• Adrian (4.8) – For me, the Spaniard or Costel Pantilimon are the two stand out options, offering potential for around 12 clean sheets and lots of saves bonus. I actually think Pantilimon is probably the better choice but I don’t want to double up with Patrick van Aanholt.

• Wes Morgan (4.9) – Good initial fixtures and a threat from set-pieces. Clean sheets may be a concern under the new manager but still looks good value.

• Patrick van Aanholt (5.1) – I think it’s a good price for a player who flirts with bonus and is extremely attacking. I’m not expecting a massive amount of clean sheets and he does get the odd booking but I think he offers better attacking potential than the more popular Carl Jenkinson at 5.0m

• Jordan Amavi (4.9) – A big risk to be honest, considering Aston Villa’s clean sheet potential under Tim Sherwood looks bleak, but the young Frenchman has great attacking threat and averaged 3.9 tackles per game in France, meaning bonus points look likely.

• Eden Hazard (9.0) – Essential

• Santi Cazorla (8.2) – A secure Arsenal midfield option who will churn out bonus and has penalty duties. I have toyed with Theo Walcott instead but it’s the risk of captaining him one week then having the armband stuck on him for the next without him starting. Perhaps I’m playing too safe…

• Almen Abdi (3.5) – Nothing more than an enabler. If fit and starting he does have some set-pieces but in all likeliness I will look to upgrade to whatever cheap midfielder in form comes to light.

• Sadio Mane (7.6) – Southampton have a good fixture list to start the season and I’m backing Mane to produce the goods. Goals and MoTM awards were in abundance last term and hopefully that continues. Will likely downgrade him to James Milner when the fixtures turn.

• Dimitri Payet (6.2) – Of all the new acquisitions to the Premier League this season, he looks the best value to me, given his reputation. Set-pieces, assists and MoTM awards seem likely if he can adjust to the league in time for West Ham’s good fixtures.

• Wayne Rooney (9.6) – Good early schedule, back up top for United and a MoTM magnet in the past. He will be a captain for my side frequently in the opening Gameweeks.

• Harry Kane (9.3) – Again, he has decent fixtures to start the season and will likely be on penalties, too. Forms part of my captain strategy and will be in and out of the team.

Notes
I have opted to spend a little more at the back this season in an effort to save transfers throughout the campaign. Selecting the cheaper options from promoted teams mean you can spend more in attacking areas but they often end up letting you down, either through shipping high numbers of goals or dropping out of favour, as managers struggle to tighten up. This, of course, means I have a possible non-player in Almen Abdi but I would prefer this than a player who can get me minus points.

With 1.9 million in the bank, the plan is for the majority of this side to be static throughout the season, barring injury or major form concern. I will use this spare money to bring in and out big hitting midfielders/forwards, occasionally switching to 3-4-3 with my transfers, meaning I only need to use one to make adjustments. I’ll also likely have to use it on upgrading Abdi at some stage. Sergio Aguero will be the top priority when he’s fully fit and I’m targeting Gameweek 3 for his introduction.

Other players heavily considered:

Costel Pantilimon 4.8
Simon Francis 4.8
Joe Gomez 4.7
Russell Martin 4.3
Kyle Naughton 5.3
David Silva 8.9
Theo Walcott 8.0
James Milner 7.2
Yohan Cabaye 7.2
Rolando Aarons 5.0
Jose Manual Jurado 4.3
Christian Benteke 9.0
Graziano Pelle 8.1

Captain plan
The plan for Gameweek 1 is to captain either Wayne Rooney or Romelu Lukaku (if fit) on the Saturday, then use a transfer to swap out my skipper for Christian Benteke on Sunday. I’ll then forgo a captain on Monday night and use my swap after the fixtures have finished to have Harry Kane set up in place with the armband for Gameweek 2.

As a final note, it’s worth remembering that with people going for the weekly and monthly prizes and using 40 transfers to aid them, your overall rank will be severely skewed to start with and will likely start rising after the Christmas period, when the more balanced approach starts to take hold.

The Fantasy Football Scout League

Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and were hoping to top the Private League rankings once again. 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 new host Max Rushden and Paul Merson at 17:45 SkySports One HD where they will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football, quizzing former Newcastle midfielder Lee Clark and asking him for his #One2Eleven.