The imminent return of premium powerhouse Sergio Aguero, coupled with the poor form of Alexis Sanchez, ensured there was plenty of advice from our community writers and hot topic posters for those looking to freshen up their squads. Fifth midfielders, team form, Chelsea’s malaise and the best striking options are amongst issues covered, as we also catch up on the best Members stats and latest from our community leagues.
The Community Articles
Our community writers have been full of good advice this week about the key transfers to consider going into the weekend’s matches.
The Sarjeant offered up his latest colour coded look at team form, while YMA was on hand with his latest bookies based predictions. Also keeping a sharp eye on the betting markets was Jarvish, who has looked to spread betting to see if they can help make up our minds for the best options this weekend and beyond.
Meanwhile, Rakkhi has used the international break to take stock and look back at recent history to see what we can learn from Gameweek 12 table toppers of the last four years, in terms of strikers and teams looking to continue their fine form. The week’s key bandwagons are also analysed in Rodellegabomb‘s look at the most talked-about players ahead of this weekend’s games.
Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.
The Hottest Topics
With injuries mounting up over the international break and Manchester City on the verge of welcoming back injured forward Sergio Aguero, the community has been craving advice on freshening up their forward lines.
Owners of Manchester City’s injured striker Wilfried Bony, such as Sin Espinas Comaderia – Havana Gila,  are amongst those pondering whether to draft in Aguero sooner rather than later. Mr Alex though is less convinced the Argentine can hit the ground running.
There are certainly plenty of other strikers to consider, in particular Olivier Giroud, Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane, in our discussion on forward options.
With funds needed for the likes of premium options such as Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane, cheap fifth midfielders are back in vogue. Bournemouth’s out of position budget midfielder Josh King is among those Eden Hazardous is eyeing up. But Scored with a Sheep believes King may find himself back on the bench before too long, according to murmurings from the Dorset coast.
Fifth midfielders were also discussed in our look at how best to free up funds in our squads, which also considers the merits of favouring a cheap defender with kind fixtures to lead our substitutes benches.
Amongst the more expensive midfield options being discussed was Liverpool man Roberto Firmino. Irish Madrista has been leading the praises but even he is wondering if it may be folly to punt on him now.
Another midfielder where caution is being exercised is Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, who, as Saniul pointed out, goes into Gameweek 13 on the back of poor form and possible fatigue after playing 180 minutes for Chile over the international break. The same cannot be said of his team mate Mesut Ozil, who took a break from international duty to spend time on the Arsenal training ground to add to some of the impressive assist and creativity statistics highlighted in Zasa‘s regular pre-Gameweek stat attack.
The entire Chelsea squad, including once prime midfield targets such as Eden Hazard, are being given a wide berth due to their poor form. Despite a fine upcoming schedule, our discussion on Chelsea’s disappointing campaign so far suggest many will continue to distance themselves from Jose Mourinho’s men.
Midfield fears continue amongst Southampton’s ranks for Roscola, who points out that after an international break Sadio Mane is more likely than not to find himself on the bench.
Just how many hours during our working days do we spend chatting about Fantasy Football? Doolittle is about to find out when some changes in his office take effect on Monday and he will no longer be able to access the site at his leisure. As one of our most popular posters, we hope he still sneaks in the odd visit during the day and can still find time in the evening to post.
On the subject of popular posters, this week we revealed who had attracted the most votes from the community for their comments and hot topics. The full top ten can be found here.
The Members Tables
Fantasy Football Frog has picked shots in the box as his key guide to finding the best midfielder to draft in.
Sticking with midfielders, Jose’s Magic Omelette’s latest table looks at the most creative assets, while my assists imminent table attempts to predict those expected to fulfil their promise of points.
If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.
The Community Tournaments
The qualifying round of the FIFFSA 5-a-side competition takes place this weekend. The matches and group selections for this community tournament can be found this update from Balders.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round Ups please email me a brief summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spread sheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
