With six goals in his last five Premier League games, ditching Sergio Aguero seems unthinkable. Nonetheless, with fixture congestion and blank Gameweeks to plan for, our hot topic posters ponder whether there is method to such madness. Manchester United’s poor form and Tottenham’s sensational season also come under discussion, while our community writers take advantage of the weekend off from Fantasy Premier League action to focus on tournament organisation. Elsewhere, our Members Tables takes stock of Stoke, a team guaranteed to swerve blank Gameweeks, while there is also time for further news from across our other community competitions.
The Community Articles
With a break from Premier League action Community tournaments took centre stage amongst our regular writers.
Jarvish popped by with news of a new Cup competition for FFScout’s biggest chataholics. His Frequent Posters Cup is only for those with at least 15 pages of comments over the last 30 days.
Meanwhile, two of our most popular community tournaments are entering their final, nail-biting stages. Balders brought us news of the quarter -final draw in the Fiffsa 5-a-side tournament, while Jaffalicious’ FFS UEFA Champions League themed contest has now reached the final 16 stage.
Many FPL veterans are continuing to struggle to gain ground on league leaders, but as Kavali‘s latest update on their progress shows they have reason to be a little more optimistic after some good scores in Gameweek 26.
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 a blank fixture in Gameweek 27, followed by a tricky away clash with Liverpool in Gameweek 28 and possibly another blank in Gameweek 30, interest in Sergio Aguero is starting to wane. This prompted us to revisit Mark’s no-Aguero policy, in which he sought briefly to shun the Manchester City striker in recent weeks. We took a look back at those strikers who proved a better option than Aguero in recent Gameweeks and ponder whether this could be the time to once again consider ignoring the Argentine.
Another issue worth revisiting in the light of blank fixtures in Gameweek 27 is the fifth midfielder strategy. With so many good mid-price midfielders and the need for a full, playable squad to cope with fixture congestion, is the budget benchwarmer’s time up?
Given their loss against Sunderland in Gameweek 26 and inconsistent form, Reckless not anymore pondered whether we are witnessing the worst time in Manchester United’s recent history. The news regarding Wayne Rooney’s potential six week lay-off, plus the strong chance they will miss Gameweek 30 due to FA Cup commitments, is likely to force even the most hardened Red Devils fans to reconsider investing in their Fantasy assets.
In sharp contrast, Tottenham are a side in good form with a wealth of high scoring Fantasy assets, from the bargain basement points hauls of Dele Alli to the consistent goal scoring of Harry Kane. Tomeister took a closer look at Spurs’ season and wondered whether they really do have world-class players, or they are simply benefitting from good management.
Kane’s strong recent form was once again a key topic under consideration as The Sarjeant took a look at Gameweek 27 captaincy options. He wondered, though, whether in contrast to Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, the Spurs man offers a credible alternative armband option, given his next Premier League clash comes amid a period of heavy fixture congestion.
As our Gameweek 26 Rough with the Smooth round up shows, captaincy is an area of Fantasy management the community continues to struggle with, as many endured a torrid Gameweek thanks to meagre points tallies from popular armband wearers Aguero and Romelu Lukaku. Captaincy choices have also dictated the latest standings in our live Hall of Fame update, which is now available for Members to see.
One of the most talked about football incidents this week was Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez’s perfectly executed pass penalty for Barcelona in La Liga. Andy85wsm’s asked whether such bravado is disrespectful or a bit of fun. The ensuing debate also took in the dire consequences should one of your Fantasy players attempt such a move.
Ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup ties here is a reminder that Balders‘ Team Diagnostic tool for Gwk 30 blanks is a useful way of finding out how likely it is that you will be able to field a full XI. Later in the week there was further discussion as to how this weekend’s FA Cup results may affect our forthcoming transfer plans and Jarvish was also on hand to once again organise his FA Cup Yes/No competition.
The Members Tables
Superdaj has been taking a look at the teams most vulnerable to headed goal attempts, while I’ve been examining the best Stoke options – the Potters are not only one of a small number of teams to escape blank fixtures in Gameweek 27 and 30 but also have a kind set of short-term fixtures.
For those on the look out for a new striker or attacking midfielder that may be off many of your rivals’ radar here is the latest Goals Imminent table going into Gameweek 27.
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 final 16 draw in the Wimbeldon doubles competition was announced earlier this week by tournament organiser Balders.
Meanwhile, in TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing the safety score was 42, which saw 61 players depart and 399 remain and in Red Lightning’s Top 10K Any Season league Chucky 77 has regained the lead after captaining Dimitri Payet. Elsewhere, Nial Akata retains top spot n Red Lightning’s January to May league.
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.
