Jose Mourinho’s departure raised uncertainty over Chelsea players’ Fantasy potential amongst our community writers and hot topic posters this week. We also take a look at what the fans and bookies are predicting for Gameweek 17, delve into some controversial statistics and look at the points chasm opening up between our Scoutcast regulars Mark and Granville.
The Community Articles
Stamford Bridge is set to be a battle ground for the form-over-fixture debate this weekend, when the woefully out-of-form Chelsea take on Sunderland.
For those who believe form trumps good fixtures, then The Sarjeant’s colour-coded look at team form ahead of Gameweek 17 will find lots to like.
Those clinging onto Chelsea stars such as Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, who is an injury doubt, can be full of hope for the future, according to Rakkhi’s analysis on the most and least fixture-proof players. The Blues pair are among the Premier League’s best flat-track bullies, but whether they can raise their game after Mourinho’s departure remains in question.
Meanwhile, there will be little hope of finding a Chelsea player in TM245’s latest plan, to select a dream Fantasy Premier League with only overall points rankings as his guide.
For those looking to get further help with transfer decisions ahead of Gameweek 17, YMA is once again on hand with his bookie-based predictions, while Bolivian Seaman has been casting his eye over the fans’ forums for inspiration.
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
Mourinho’s departure has raised hopes amongst the Fantasy community that Eden Hazard will finally return to his form of old. Portsmouth Bubblejet post on Jose’s final few days at the helm shows there is considerable uncertainty as to whether Hazard will start this weekend and whether Chelsea are a team Fantasy managers will be able to trust again.
In contrast, Liverpool and Arsenal players continue to impress the community with Bromhead particularly keen to discover which of their midfield assets are the best.
The Gunners are so impressive that some of the community, according to Anon88’s discussion, are even considering trebling up on their midfielders, with Alexis Sanchez possibly returning to action for Monday night’s clash with Manchester City.
Staying in North London, Harry Kane’s recent poor form is starting to worry his owners. As my analysis shows, though, help could be at hand in the shape of Moussa Dembele who has been instrumental in much of the build up play for Kane’s goals this season.
With the Scoutcast cancelled this week, this Kane research was moved over to the hot topics section, as was the revived Fantasy Island Risk and Clean Sheet predictions, which the community gave their thoughts on ahead of Gameweek 17.
Another Scoutcast section, the Rough with the Smooth, can also be found in the hot topics this week when the community detailed their tales of woe and joy from Gameweek 16.
Those that captained one of Romelu Lukaku or Riyad Mahrez in Gameweek 16 had plenty of reason to be cheerful. As Giggs Boson’s discussion on the Gameweek 17 captaincy shows, both players remain key armband contenders going into this weekend’s fixtures.
Arguably, the downfall of many Fantasy veterans this season has been a failure to put faith in cut-price or emerging players such as Mahrez. Kavali’s look at the top picks amongst Fantasy veterans, selected by their Hall of Fame placings or involvement with FFScout, shows that slowly, but surely, these more experienced managers are learning to adjust to this term’s twists and turns.
Finally, a word of warning this week around rotation. Do please ensure you have a strong bench in place as the festive team sheet merry go around picks up the pace. Here, Abel Xavier looks back at the Boxing Day and pre-New Year fixtures of 2014 to show just how much of a spin Premier League managers get in with their Christmas team selections.
The Members Tables
For those in the market for a defender who offers the chance of attacking points, Doosra’s wingbacks table will come in handy, despite courting controversy this week over its omission of a certain goal-scoring West Brom defender.
Bowstring the Carp had a number of notable successes, particularly among Bournemouth’s ranks, on his two-Gameweek based goal and assist imminent tables last week. Here’s his latest tables ahead of Gameweek 17.
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
Baby B dropped by to deliver the latest update from the FIFFSA 5-a-side tournament and Jaffalicious served up the most up-to-date standings and a preview of the next set of fixtures from the FFS UEFA Champions League tournament.
In TorresMagic‘s Last Man Standing competition, Chucky77 hit the top score in Gameweek 16 with 88. There are now 1100 teams qualified after 110 were eliminated when the safety score was set at 49.
Meanwhile, in Red Lightning’s Top 10K Any Season league Ralf Buckemaier is still leading.
Those looking to write off the first half of the season and hope the second half brings joy should be aware that Red Lightning is starting up a January to May League (870-507). Scoring starts from Gameweek 20.
Finally, in the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league Mark has taken a 49-point lead over his Scoutcast nemesis Granville, while Andy continues to lead with a staggering 94-point lead over second-placed Greenwindmill.
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.
