Another round of fixtures arrives promptly on the back of Gameweek 28 as we re-assess our FantasyBet squads ahead of tonight’s deadline. Leicester City will be looking to extend their lead at the top and a full quota of Foxes assets is likely to remain a prevailing tactic despite the visit of a West Brom side that have recorded back-to-back wins. There’s also liable to be heavy interest in Everton and Chelsea on Tuesday evening as they travel to bottom four sides Aston Villa and Norwich respectively.
On Wednesday, Spurs face a tricky trip to Upton Park where West Ham are unbeaten in 11 league outings – the Hammers have won four of the last five in front of their own fans. Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from the defeat to Manchester United as they host a Swansea side that have scored in four successive road ties. Louis Van Gaal may have to rely on youth again for United’s home clash against Watford, with a lengthy injury list reducing his options at both ends of the pitch. Manchester City, meanwhile, are only three points ahead of their local rivals and must win a second encounter with Liverpool in four days, this time at Anfield, to maintain that slender gap.
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MY TEAM
Petr Cech (4.5m)
Christian Fuchs (4.5m)
Patrick Van Aanholt (4.5m)
Branislav Ivanovic (6.5m)
Wahbi Khazri (6m)
Marko Arnautovic (6m)
Riyad Mahrez (6.5m)
Willian (6.5m)
Ross Barkley (7m)
Jamie Vardy (7.5m)
Olivier Giroud (8.5m)
KEY PICKS
Petr Cech: After conceding three goals at Old Trafford, Arsene Wenger will be expecting a more resilient performance as Arsenal host Swansea at the Emirates. The Gunners have three clean sheets in five at home, conceding a single goal to Leicester and Chelsea, and their number one has averaged three saves per game over that period.
Branislav Ivanovic: A weekend winner against Southampton took the Serbian’s tally to two goals and three assists since the departure of Jose Mourinho as he belatedly find his form of old. Prior to conceding at St Mary’s, the Blues had kept four consecutive shut-outs on the road and a trip to Carrow Road should see normal service resume.
Marko Arnautovic: The midfielder has established himself as the go-to Stoke asset, with a brace against Aston Villa bringing his tally to nine goals for the season, four more than any other Potter. The arrival of a Newcastle side that have the joint-second worst record for away goals conceded and leaked five at Stamford Bridge in their last outing makes Arnautovic an excellent value prospect.
Olivier Giroud: Despite being dropped to the bench against United on Sunday, the Frenchman looks in line to start against Swansea after Theo Walcott failed to impress at Old Trafford. Despite failing to score in each of the last four Gameweeks, Giroud has fired more attempts inside the box than any other player and faces a defence that have managed just a single shut-out on their travels.
THIS WEEK’S GAME PICKS
As always the best place to start if you’re new to FantasyBet are the free-rolls – there is a £50 pot available for this Gameweek in both the standard weekly fantasy formatand Flash format.
For the fixtures on Wednesday evening, there is a £1000 contest, which has a £11 buy-in, and there’s also a £75 pot on offer for just a £1.10 entry fee.
If you enjoy the flash format, where there is a limited time to pick your squad, there is a £5.50 game covering all ten of this round’s matches that requires a £5.50 stake.
LAST WEEK
Another week with little progress, backing a West Brom clean sheet proved to be a mistake while all the main Spurs attacking assets failed to deliver as well, leaving me on a little over £150.
FantasyBet’s £2000 pot, their biggest so far, had joint-winners, both ending on 75 points. Vish captained Danny Rose to bring in 18 points, while Marko Arnautovic (15 points) and Mesut Ozil (11 points) helped deliver the win. FantasyAlex also had all three of those players and despite putting the armband on Riyad Mahrez, picked up 10 points from Cesc Fabregas. Both collected over £350 for their efforts. Read an interview with the weekly fantasy winners here.
THIS WEEK’S STAKE
I’m entering the midweek Flash contest, the Cheap Wednesday game, the free-rolls and of course entering a team into the FFScout Picks League for a total outlay of £7.70.
There’s no Community Champion for Gameweek 28 due to the quick turnaround in fixtures. In Gameweek 29, I’ll be taking on the selected Community Champion in a specially set up head to head game for a chance to win free entry into a £500 Guaranteed ‘Big Weekly’ game worth £22. Also the eligible Community Champion who beats the Scout Picks by the highest margin every month will win a free entry into the £600 guaranteed ‘Boss’ game worth £55.
FFSCOUT PICKS LEAGUE
Pirttiniemi topped the Scout Picks League with a score of 75 points last time out. Captain Mesut Ozil delivered 22 points, while Michail Antonio (11), Branislav Ivanovic and Charlie Daniels (both nine points) all came up trumps.
Once again, FantasyBet have provided a £100 pot for the FFScout Picks League – with a £1.10 stake for entry, it is now possible to enter two teams into this contest. I will enter our Scout Picks as closely as possible, given a 15-man squad is required with the 100m budget and a captain also needs to be selected.
Feel free to go up against them this week and pick your own squad on FantasyBet.
