Once again this Thursday evening, it’s time to take our regular look at the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game. We assess 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 13 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 |
| Chelsea vs Liverpool | Philippe Coutinho |
| Crystal Palace vs Man United | Wilfried Zaha |
| Man City vs Norwich | Nicolas Otamendi |
| Newcastle vs Stoke | Jack Butland |
| Swansea vs Arsenal | Hector Bellerin |
| Watford vs West Ham | Odion Ighalo |
| West Brom vs Leicester | Riyad Mahrez |
| Everton vs Sunderland | Arouna Kone |
| Southampton vs Bournemouth | Graziano Pelle |
| Tottenham vs Aston Villa | Delle Alli |
Jack Butland’s heroics between the posts saw him move up to second in the keeper standings – he now has three MoTM’s to his name. City’s Nicolas Otamendi, meanwhile, has earned the award in each of the last couple of Gameweeks.
Aside from Arsenal’s raiding right-back Hector Bellerin, four midfielders and three frontmen were the other recipients, with Spurs’ Delli Alli continuing to look an outstanding option in the centre of the park at a price of just 4.0.
Gameweek 13 Bonus Points
As many as five keepers earned a pair of save bonus points this week. Asmir Begovic, Jack Butland, David de Gea, Tim Howard and Kasper Schmeichel are the men in question, with the Stoke number one now leading the way for save bonus with ten accrued so far.
In defence, 18 players grabbed bonus, 11 for tackles and eight for passes completed. City’s Otamendi was the only player to earn bonus on both accounts, adding to his goal and MotM award for a total of 15 points against Norwich. Eight of the top nine defenders for bonus are full-backs, with Erik Dier – who is stationed in central midfield for Spurs – the odd man out.
In midfield, there were 15 beneficiaries in total: four for tackling and 11 for passes. Cesc Fabregas is the game’s highest bonus earner overall with 20 points so far – he’s followed by fellow central midfielders Santi Cazorla, Lucas and Fernandinho on 18 apiece.
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 |
| Martial | Man United | 7.5 | 5.5% |
| Walcott | Arsenal | 8.0 | 3.9% |
| Darmian | Man United | 6.7 | 3.9% |
| Depay | Man United | 7.9 | 3.7% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 9.0 | 3.5% |
The Man United exodus is in evidence here, with Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay and Matteo Darmian all featured. Martial’s single assist in five underlines his poor form, whilst Depay’s bench-warming duties and Darmian’s one-match suspension have persuaded owners to look elsewhere. Theo Walcott’s injury and Eden Hazard’s lack of form and minutes have also forced many managers’ hands here.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Kane | Tottenham | 9.3 | 7.3% |
| Vardy | Leicester | 7.3 | 6.6% |
| De Bruyne | Man City | 7.8 | 4.1% |
| Pelle | Southampton | 8.1 | 3.8% |
| Lukaku | Everton | 8.8 | 3.8% |
Harry Kane was the most sought after option, given that Spurs hosted Villa on Monday evening. Similarly, Graziano Pelle and Romelu Lukaku were snapped up for Sunday fixtures against Bournemouth and Sunderland, whilst the consistent Jamie Vardy and Kevin de Bruyne are also on many a radar.
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Sanchez | Arsenal | 9.7 | 11.9% |
| Aguero | Man City | 10 | 10.1% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 9.0 | 6.6% |
| Rooney | Man United | 9.6 | 5% |
| Kane | Tottenham | 9.3 | 4.4% |
Watchlist
Here I aim to highlight a few differential players with low ownership that I think could be good options for the next six fixtures. These will be looking at 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 | Allan Nyom, 4.0m, 7.3% | Virgil van Dijk, 6.1m, 4.2% | Nacho Monreal, 6.7m, 5.2% |
| Midfielder | Gerard Deulofeu, 6.6m, 0.8% | Willian, 7.5m, 1.4% | Mesut Ozil, 8.4m, 5.2% |
| Forward | Odion Ighalo, 6.5m, 5.8% | Bojan Krkic, 7.4m, 0.7% | Olivier Giroud, 9.2m, 3.4% |
My Team
Gomes
Monreal Cathcart Nyom
Ayew Mahrez Mane(c) De Bruyne
Sanchez Pelle Lukaku
ITB: 1.7m
Transfers remaining: 25/40
Last week’s points: 87
Overall points: 664
Rank: 1,184
Notes
After a fairly poor start to the season my team is now hovering just outside the top 1,000 and hopefully will continue to rise up the rankings. More transfers have been used than I would like at this period but when I look back, I can only point to maybe a couple of wasted ones, mainly in defence acquiring the likes of Joe Gomez, for example, but the rest have been either enforced through injury or of good tactical benefit. On that note, I will my best to avoid using many more for a while, with only the acquisition of Sergio Aguero – upon his return from injury – on my mind.
In terms of this week, swapping Russell Martin to Nacho Monreal paid instant dividends as the former was sent off and the later picked up nine points. Likewise, Theo Walcott to Romelu Lukaku netted me 13 points. Moving forward my team is looking in good shape for form and fixtures and – aside from the lack of Jamie Vardy – I’m fairly content.
Captain Plan
My captain for Saturday’s round of fixtures will be Sadio Mane as the Saints travel to the Stadium of Light. I’m hoping he outscores Graziano Pelle here after I chose him over the Italian last week.
For Sunday, I’ll be swapping to either Alexis Sanchez – who is at home to Spurs – or Kevin de Bruyne, who travels to struggling Aston Villa. I’m still not sure which way I’ll lean here and will make the decision closer to the deadline. With the Gameweek after being a blank for international fixtures, it means I don’t have to consider the knock on effect.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and have moved into fourth 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 you can catch The Fantasy Football Club show at 18:00 on SkySports 1 HD, where new host Max Rushden and Paul Merson will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football and chatting to former Leeds and Liverpool defender Dominic Matteo.
