It’s time to touch base again with our Sky teams ahead of Gameweek 7 this afternoon. As always, we assess the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries, transfer trends, the watchlist and take a look at the Scout team and our future plans.
Gameweek 6 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 |
| Everton vs Chelsea | Steven Naismith |
| Arsenal vs Stoke | Jack Butland |
| Crystal Palace vs Man City | Samir Nasri |
| Norwich vs Bournemouth | Wes Hoolahan |
| Watford vs Swansea | Troy Deeney |
| West Brom vs Southampton | Virgil van Dijk |
| Man United vs Liverpool | Daley Blind |
| Sunderland vs Tottenham | Eric Dier |
| Leicester vs Aston Villa | Riyad Mahrez |
| West Ham vs Newcastle | Dimitri Payet |
Riyad Mahrez continued his excellent form by earning a fourth MoTM award in just five appearances, which highlights the Algerian’s near-essential status at the moment. Jack Butland and Daley Blind also have more than one award after both picked up their second last week. Butland is in sensational form and if Stoke can add some clean sheets to their repertoire he is currently looking one of the strongest options in goal. A final mention for Wes Hoolahan, who has been on our watchlist for a couple of weeks and continues to offer a great budget option at just 5.5m in an attack-minded Norwich team.
Gameweek 6 Bonus Points
Four goalkeepers picked up bonus this week. Jack Butland was the main man once again after making an impressive ten saves and earning the MoTM award to bring home seven points despite conceding two goals. Butland and Alex McCarthy are the current leaders in the bonus stakes, with six apiece.
In defence, nine players grabbed bonus, four for tackles and five for passes completed. Full-back Simon Francis was closest to earning both, missing out by one completed challenge – he joins Alan Nyom, Eric Dier and Jordan Amavi at the top on six bonus points overall.
In midfield, there were 15 beneficiaries in total: 11 for tackling and five for passes. United’s Bastian Schweinsteiger was the man to collect both in an impressive performance, helping himself to six points. Francis Coquelin is the game’s highest bonus earner, with 12 points overall so far.
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 |
| Silva | Man City | 8.9 | 6.5% |
| Aguero | Man City | 10 | 6% |
| Romero | Man United | 5.3 | 3.8% |
| Rooney | Man United | 9.6 | 3.6% |
| Shaw | Man United | 6.5 | 3% |
We have a Manchester exodus on our hands, with injury doubts affecting the sales of David Silva and Sergio Aguero, although both have since played in midweek and look fit for Saturday. Sergio Romero’s brief cameo in the United team looks over after David de Gea’s move to Real Madrid broke down. Wayne Rooney is a doubt for the weekend after picking up a minor injury on international duty, whilst Luke Shaw looks set to miss the season after a shocking leg break against PSV.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Mahrez | Leicester | 6 | 5.4% |
| Ayew | Swansea | 6.5 | 3.7% |
| Kane | Tottenham | 9.3 | 3.6% |
| Gomis | Swansea | 7.7 | 3.5% |
| Toure | Man City | 8.6 | 3.5% |
Riyad Mahrez and Andre Ayew continue to be drafted in by the masses. Harry Kane is a somewhat surprise inclusion, having yet to find the back of the net in five appearances. Bafetimbi Gomis is the second-highest scoring forward in the game and has three home fixtures in the next four to continue his form, whilst the consistent points offered by Yaya Toure have convinced 3.5% to further invest.
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Aguero | Man City | 10 | 18.5% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 9 | 8% |
| Rooney | Man United | 9.6 | 5.8% |
| Sanchez | Arsenal | 9.7 | 5.7% |
| Kompany | Man City | 7.5 | 4.5% |
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 | Simon Francis, 4.8m, 1.1% | Craig Dawson, 5.5m, 1.3% | Aleksandar Kolarov, 7.2m, 5.5% |
| Midfielder | Wes Hoolahan, 5.5m, 0.9% | Kevin de Bruyne, 7.8m, 2.4% | Raheem Sterling, 8.5m, 7.7% |
| Forward | Salomon Rondon, 6.6m, 1.2% | Diafra Sakho, 7.7m, 1.7% | Diego Costa, 9.8m, 8.9% |
My Team
Gomes
Gomez Martin Cathcart
Hazard Silva Ayew Mahrez© Mane
Aguero Sanchez
ITB: 0.2m
Transfers remaining: 31/40
Last week’s points: 51
Overall points: 238
Rank: 30,946
Notes
It was Riyad Mahrez to the rescue, as finally a captain brings home some returns. Alongside my double Watford defence, he was the only source of points as the rest of my team continues to falter. It’s a strange position to be in, though, as I’m pretty happy with the team overall and am fairly confident it will start to deliver shortly. Joe Gomez is one to keep an eye on, if he starts to find himself out of the starting line-up, and Sadio Mane has some tough matches coming up but he should be useful down the line for captain swaps. With far more transfers used then I would have wanted at this stage, I’ll do everything I can to hold off from tinkering for a while.
Captain Plan
In Gameweek 8, I plan on having just one captain, so because of this, I can be a bit more frivolous this week and not worry about who the armband lands on. Even so, I still have a tough choice. I’ll either stick with Mahrez for Saturday’s trip to Stoke and then switch to Mane for the Saints’ tough match at home to Man United or I’ll just go with the one skipper and opt for one of Sergio Aguero/David Silva. In the past, quality has offered outperformed quantity when it comes to captains but this season seems to go against most logic, so perhaps going with the “lesser” players is the way to go this time.
If, unlike me, you have a Liverpool attacker in your team, they look the best way of navigating this Gameweek, with Sunday to Saturday rotation involving two easy home matches on paper.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and we’re sitting second in the rankings at present. 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 18:30 SkySports 1 HD where they will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football and interviewing former Chelsea boss Avram Grant.
