We turn to the Sky Sports Fantasy offering now and roll out our regular Thursday evening article. Once again, we assess the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries, the transfer trends, the watchlist and take a look at the Scout team and our future plans.
Gameweek 20 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 Sunderland | Oscar |
| Everton vs Leicester | Riyad Mahrez |
| Man United vs Norwich | Wesley Hoolahan |
| Southampton vs Tottenham | Harry Kane |
| Stoke vs Crystal Palace | Erik Pieters |
| West Brom vs Bournemouth | Adam Smith |
| Newcastle vs Aston Villa | Jordan Ayew |
| Watford vs Liverpool | Troy Deeney |
| Swansea vs West Ham | Ki Sung-Yueng |
| Arsenal vs Man City | Mesut Ozil |
Three likely captain candidates with high ownership returned big scores last time out and undoubtedly had a say in the overall rankings – Riyad Mahrez (37%), Harry Kane (20%) and Mesut Ozil (14.7%) were the men in question. Ozil’s increase in ownership has been dramatic in the last month; he was originally on our watchlist at just 4% owned but his consistent returns akin to team-mate Santi Cazorla’s dream debut season have been difficult to ignore. Oscar may be one to keep an eye on if he can nail down the number ten role under the new manager – the Brazilian also has a hand in the odd set piece and sits on just 0.8% ownership.
Gameweek 20 Bonus Points
Just two goalkeepers picked up bonus this week – Rob Elliot and Petr Cech were the two in question and the Arsenal shot stopper now sits level on bonus alongside Jack Butland (12).
In defence, eight players grabbed bonus, three for tackles and five for passes completed. Ashley Williams returned to form, picking up passing bonus and only narrowly missing out on tackles by just one completed challenge. Cherries full-back Simon Francis is still top of the pile and sits on 16 overall.
In midfield, there were 20 beneficiaries in total: eight for tackling and 13 for passes. Everton’s Gareth Barry was the man to pick up both although is unlikely to see much investment these days. Cesc Fabregas is the games highest bonus earner overall with 28 points 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 |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 9 | 4.3% |
| Cabaye | Crystal Palace | 7.2 | 4% |
| Vardy | Leicester | 7.3 | 3.4% |
| Milner | Liverpool | 7.2 | 3% |
| Sanchez | Arsenal | 9.7 | 2.4% |
All of our quintet were either doubtful or injured after the previous Gameweek. Vardy has since been passed fit, whilst Hazard and Cabaye are still in with a chance of featuring on Boxing Day, though Milner and Sanchez are expected back in the New Year.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Ozil | Arsenal | 8.4 | 8.8% |
| Ighalo | Watford | 6.5 | 5.9% |
| Aguero | Man City | 10 | 5.7% |
| Mahrez | Leicester | 6 | 4.8% |
| Lukaku | Everton | 8.8 | 3.6% |
Mesut Ozil’s form and Monday night clash with City made him the top target last week and he duly delivered with two assists and a MoTM performance. Odion Ighalo shows no sign of regressing and is the second most transferred in player ahead of a tough fixture list. Sergio Aguero was likely another Monday night target and looks to make or break a few Fantasy seasons in the coming weeks, whilst Riyad Mahrez and Romelu Lukaku’s stunning form makes sure they complete the five.
The average amount of transfers remaining amongst the top 100 Sky managers currently is 10, whilst the top 1,000 average is 11 and the top 5,000 is 12.
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Aguero | Man City | 10 | 10.8% |
| Lukaku | Everton | 8.8 | 6.7% |
| Vardy | Leicester | 7.3 | 6.6% |
| Sanchez | Arsenal | 9.7 | 6.2% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 9 | 6% |
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 | Papa Souare, 4.6m, 1.9% | Craig Dawson, 5.5m, 3.6% | Laurent Koscielny, 7.8m, 4.3% |
| Midfielder | Marko Arnautovic, 5.5m, 4.1% | Yannick Bolasie, 6.9m, 7.2% | Aaron Ramsey, 8.2m, 3.4% |
| Forward | Mauro Zarate, 5.9m, 1.4% | Bojan Krkic 7.4m, 1% |
Olivier Giroud, 9.2m, 7.3% |
My Team
Gomes
Cathcart Dawson Nyom
Ramsey© Mahrez Cabaye De Bruyne
Aguero Lukaku Kane
ITB: 0.1m
Transfers remaining: 17/40
Last week’s points: 77
Overall points: 1040
Rank: 2,397
Notes
A fairly solid week for my team with triple Watford defence once again coming up trumps for a surprise 21-point haul. Elsewhere, Harry Kane as skipper bagged 24 and Riyad Mahrez picked up 17 in a bumper weekend. Monday night was not so kind to me, with three players and a captain scraping eight points between them – the lack of Mesut Ozil hurt me here badly. Yohan Cabaye not playing was a kick in the teeth, particularly as Palace earned a penalty that he would likely have taken – I’m awaiting news on his injury and will stick with him if possible for the good fixtures over the festive period.
Next week is, of course, a double and will likely play a big part in which direction our seasons go. With four match days there is even the possibility of four captains if you have the transfers remaining – sadly I don’t but, as detailed below, I can manage to get three skippers in tow without dipping into the transfer kitty.
Captain Plan
With the double Gameweek there is many different routes to take, although I expect most will be using a combination of Man City / Arsenal players to navigate it, given the nice fixtures and the days they fall on.
I’ll have Aaron Ramsey on both Boxing Day away to Southampton and at home to Bournemouth on December 28, then I’ll switch to Sergio Aguero on the 29th for City’s trip to the King Power Stadium. I’ll then ignore Wednesday night’s fixture.
Of course, I could, in fact, go with Riyad Mahrez rather than Aguero on the 29th as both feature in match day one in Gameweek 22, so I’ll likely use Boxing Day as a scouting session to see if the Argentine is a better alternative.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Once again, we’re running our own Fantasy Football Scout League this season and are sitting in first place 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
Be sure to catch The Fantasy Football Club show at 18:00 SkySports 1 HD this Friday, where new host Max Rushden and Paul Merson will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football and putting on a few Christmas surprises.
