Our attentions now turn to the Sky Sports Fantasy game, as we take a look at the festive double Gameweeks data. As always, we bring you the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries, the watchlist and a look at the Scout team and our future plans.
Gameweek 21 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 |
| Stoke vs Man United | Bojan Krkic |
| Aston Villa vs West Ham | Jordan Ayew |
| Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace | Scott Dann |
| Chelsea vs Watford | Diego Costa |
| Liverpool vs Leicester | Jordan Henderson |
| Man City vs Sunderland | Kevin de Bruyne |
| Swansea vs West Brom | Leon Britton |
| Tottenham vs Norwich | Dele Alli |
| Newcastle vs Everton | Rob Elliot |
| Southampton vs Arsenal | Shane Long |
| Crystal Palace vs Swansea | Ashley Williams |
| Everton vs Stoke | Bojan Krkic |
| Norwich vs Aston Villa | Dieumerci Mbokani |
| Watford vs Tottenham | Kieran Trippier |
| West Brom vs Newcastle | Victor Anichebe |
| Arsenal vs Bournemouth | Mesut Ozil |
| Man United vs Chelsea | Anthony Martial |
| West Ham vs Southampton | Michail Antonio |
| Leicester vs Man City | Raheem Sterling |
| Sunderland vs Liverpool | Christian Benteke |
Quite a few differential and low-owned players chalked up the MoTM gong over the festive period. Scott Dann (10.5%) , Kevin de Bruyne (17.7%), Dele Alli (8%), Mesut Ozil (16.8%), Anthony Martial (7.4%), Raheem Sterling (9.4%) and Christian Benteke (11.1%) were the main players to make a dent in overall ranking. A special mention to our watchlist tip Bojan Krkic who was the only player to pick up the award in both his matches – the cut-price striker is another in a long list of players in this department to stake a claim for a spot in our teams.
Gameweek 21 Bonus Points
Seven goalkeepers picked up bonus this week. Vito Mannone started both Sunderland’s fixtures and picked up saves bonus on each occasion. Having seemingly ousted Costel Pantilimon from the starting XI, he could become an option if the Black Cats can tighten up at the back. Jack Butland still leads the way for keepers (14).
In defence, 15 players grabbed bonus, 13 for tackles and four for passes completed. Full-backs Eric Pieters and Adam Smith were the two to pick up tackling bonus twice. Pieters now joins Simon Francis at the top of the pile and they sit on 16 overall.
In midfield, there were 25 beneficiaries in total: 19 for tackling and 13 for passes. A number of players managed to pick up four bonus points but a special mention goes to veteran enforcer Gareth Barry, who picked up double bonus in both Everton’s fixtures to earn eight additional points. Cesc Fabregas is the game’s 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.
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 | Angel Rangel, 4.8, 1.1% | Craig Dawson, 5.5m, 3.5% | Laurent Koscielny, 7.8m, 4.5% |
| Midfielder | Marko Arnautovic, 5.5m, 5.3% | Dimitri Payet, 6.2m, 7.6% | Aaron Ramsey, 8.2m, 3.4% |
| Forward | Shane Long, 6.9m, 1.3% | Bojan Krkic, 7.4m, 1.2% | Olivier Giroud, 9.2m, 7.6% |
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: 86
Overall points: 1126
Rank: 4,428
Notes
A drop in rank by around 2,000 places was not the best present from Santa, thanks in large to the captain fails by Aaron Ramsey and Sergio Aguero. The lack of Mesut Ozil, who was skippered by many, was also a big factor in my team’s decline.
Moving forward, I’m still pretty happy with my team, with the exception of Yohan Cabaye, whose one-match suspension has scuppered my captaincy plans. Luckily, talk of Dimitri Payet’s return is in the offing and although I don’t expect him to start at the weekend, I’ll likely draft him in early – I see him as a fairly long-term option if he can pick up where he left off. That transfer will leave me with 1.1m in the kitty for a rainy day.
Captain Plan
Originally my plan was to have Sergio Aguero as my captain for Saturday and then to switch to Yohan Cabaye on Sunday, as the latter plays in matchday one in Gameweek 23.
With the Frenchman serving out a one-match suspension at home to Chelsea this weekend, though, I’ll instead opt for either Romelu Lukaku or Harry Kane, who square off at Goodison on Sunday. This means I’ll deal with only one skipper the following week.
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
This Friday The Fantasy Football Club show, where you can catch new host Max Rushden and Paul Merson at 13:00 SkySports 5 where they will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football and discussing former Arsenal legend Tony Addams #One2Eleven
