We move onto Gameweek 3 and, as always, take a look at the Sky Sports game, assessing the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries, the transfer trends and also cast an eye over the Scout team and our future plans.
Gameweek 2 Man of the Match Awards
Listed below are 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 five points).
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Aston Villa vs Man United | Daley Blind |
| Southampton vs Everton | Romelu Lukaku |
| Sunderland vs Norwich | Nathan Remond |
| Swansea vs Newcastle | Jonjo Shelvey |
| Tottenham vs Stoke | Stephen Ireland |
| Watford vs West Brom | Odion Ighalo |
| West Ham vs Leicester | Riyad Mahrez |
| Crystal Palace vs Arsenal | Santi Cazorla |
| Man City vs Cheslea | Sergio Aguero |
| Liverpool vs Bournemouth | Christian Benteke |
Six midfielders and four forwards claimed the awards last week. A number of budget/mid-price options in midfield are staking a claim for a spot in our squads. Riyad Mahrez now has back-to-back MoTM awards and is the top scorer with 29 points, all for just 6.0m – with a kind fixture list to come, he’s the stand out option at this point. Nathan Redmond, at 5.5m, is also looking a great option – tipped as a MoTM magnet in our previous article, he seems to have also added more goals to his game and looks another good acquisition. Jonjo Shelvey, at 6.3, also looks great value – at 0.2 less than Andre Ayew, he also has the potential for bonus points in his locker and is in fantastic form right now.
Gameweek 2 Bonus Points
Five goalkeepers picked up bonus this week – Boaz Myhill was the only one to also manage a clean sheet and brought in nine points for his owners.
In defence, 14 players grabbed bonus, nine for tackles and five for passes completed. Ashley Williams managed a staggering 102 successful passes and was just one tackle short of picking up both bonus points on offer. His team-mate Kyle Naughton can count himself unlucky as he just missed out on both by six completed passes and one tackle – at 5.3, he is currently looking the best budget defender on offer.
In midfield, there were 14 beneficiaries in total: nine for tackling and seven for passes. Cesc Fabregas and Aaron Ramsey were the two to pick up both and are always in the mix for bonus to help them tick along.
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 |
| Rooney | Man United | 9.6 | 3.1% |
| Bertrand | Southampton | 6.5 | 2.17% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 9.0 | 2% |
| Adrian | West Ham | 4.8 | 1.97% |
| Kane | Tottenham | 9.3 | 1.9% |
Adrian’s three-match ban and Ryan Bertrand’s ongoing injury have seen both subject to heavy sales. A lack of form from Eden Hazard, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney has persuaded their owners to look elsewhere.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Gomez | Liverpool | 4.7 | 3.72% |
| Mahrez | Leicester | 6.0 | 3.59% |
| Aguero | Man City | 10.0 | 2.87% |
| Gomis | Swansea | 7.7 | 2.61% |
| Kompany | Man City | 7.5 | 2.561% |
Fantasy managers are clearly keen to acquire City’s in-form pair Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany. Bafetimbi Gomis has netted in each of Swansea’s opening fixtures, whilst Liverpool left-back Joe Gomez and Leicester’s Mahrez offer budget-friendly options further back.
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Aguero | Man City | 10.0 | 16.09% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 9.0 | 10.86% |
| Rooney | Man United | 9.6 | 8.59% |
| Benteke | Liverpool | 9.0 | 7.1% |
| Sanchez | Arsenal | 9.7 | 6.54% |
Watchlist
Here I aim to highlight a few differential players with low ownership that I think could be good options in the coming weeks to help you climb the rankings. These will be looked at in three specific price brackets to cater for our available budget. These names evolve with fixtures and form and offer Fantasy managers a nudge in hopefully the right direction.
| Budget | Mid-Price | Premium | |
| Defender | Jordan Amavi, 4.9m, 4.2% | Glen Johnson, 5.8m, 3.1% | Aleksandar Kolarov, 7.2m, 1.8% |
| Midfielder | Marc Albrighton, 5.1m, 4.2% | Jonjo Shelvey, 6.3m, 3.6% | Yaya Toure, 8.6m, 6.3% |
| Forward | Jamie Vardy, 7.3m, 5.5% | Mame Biram Diouf, 7.5m, 1.7% | Olivier Giroud, 9.2m, 4.3% |
My Team
Adrian
Martin Cathcart Morgan
Hazard Mane Payet Gradel
Aguero Benteke© Sanchez
ITB: 0.4m
Transfers remaining: 36/40
Last week’s points: 67
Overall points: 94
Rank: 51,391
Notes
It’s taken four transfers but I’m happier with my team now and getting it right early is important, so I always afford myself extra changes at the beginning. There’s more to follow in the coming weeks before hopefully – injury permitting – it settles down. With some nice fixtures to follow, David Silva will be coming in for Christian Benteke as the little Spaniard has continued where he left off last season. Sadio Mane and Max Gradel will stay in for now until their schedules turn for the worse and then I’ll reasses the pair, with Swansea assets, Yohan Cabaye and Xherdan Shaqiri on my radar. Adrian managed to pick up a red card against Leicester and is now banned for three matches but I’ll stick by him and just take the hit as I don’t want to use a transfer on a goalkeeper if I can help it.
Captain Plan
I’m undecided whether to bring Memphis Depay in as captain for Benteke in United’s clash against Newcastle. If I do, it gives me two captains for this week but at the expense of a transfer and I’m not sure I would want him long term, so potentially that’s two transfers and I have already used four. It’s one for me to ponder on Saturday morning but at this stage I’ll likely just opt for one captain – in the form of Sergio Aguero – for Man City’s match away to Everton on Sunday. This works out nicely as Aguero will then be my skipper next week on Saturday at home to Watford.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and are currently sixth in the Private League rankings. 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 17:00 SkySports One HD where they will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football, quizzing former Newcastle player Steve Watson and asking him for his #One2Eleven.
8 years, 10 months agoAnybody taking the plunge with Shaqiri?