Witchcraft and sorcery came under the gaze of our hot topic posters this week as the community pondered the credibility of a number of notable Fantasy football curses. Meanwhile, our community writers look at some of March’s best prospects as well as the the Fantasy veterans long march to respectability. We also find time to conjure up some latest league standings in our community tournaments and examine some of the week’s most spell-binding statistics.
The Community Articles
There was some surprise stars in Bowstring the Carp’s latest look back at the previous month in Fantasy Football, which also offers some new names to consider throughout March.
Amongst those to be particularly happy during February were the veterans being tracked by Kavali. His latest update shows how through careful planning they are continuing their slow march up the rankings. Meanwhile, Bolivian Seaman has been trawling the fans’ forums to gather their take on Gameweek 29’s matches.
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. Also there’s still time to vote for your favourite community writer in February here.
The Hottest Topics
The low-scoring midweek fixtures proved to be a sensational Gameweek only for the most superstitious managers as a raft of curses came true and hoodoos were seemingly proved right.
The controversial Mousa Dembele-less curse that reportedly afflicts Tottenham came under the microscope in Gameweek 28 after their midfielder missed out through injury again. Spurs have only lost once this season with Dembele in the starting XI but true to form the likes of Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen failed to register attacking returns without him in their away loss to West Ham. Will the curse strike again should Dembele not make the first XI in the North London derby this weekend?
Bolivian Seaman is another to believe in curses, with some compelling evidence that West Brom defenders are afflicted by a tendency to allow opposition midfielders to score on more occasions than strikers. There were many disbelievers earlier in the week, before Leicester’s Andy King and Danny Drinkwater altered their thinking with a goal apiece on Tuesday night. If this is another curse to be proved correct, then owners of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial ought to be worried this weekend when the Baggies host Manchester United.
Another superstition that cynics sought to crush was Arsenal’s inability to beat Swansea at home in the Premier League. After two seasons of defeats on home turf the Swans proved the hoodoo right by adding a third victory in a row.
But King Nidge believes Arsenal’s failure to secure a centre back of the same quality of Swansea match winner Ashley Williams is to blame rather than magic. Gylfi Sigurdsson’s excellent set piece delivery is another factor, according to many of those who took part in Camp Go Go’s discussion on why the Icelandic international is attracting attention. Their good recent form bodes well for those investing in Swansea’s assets as they embark on a kind run of fixtures.
Inevitably this talk of superstition brought up one of Fantasy football’s oldest discussion points, on how much success is governed by skill or failure. Eunuch Jelly became the latest to stoke the flames of this long running fiery topic.
The consensus is that a lack of skill rather than luck is to blame for a raft of Premier League players failing to live up to their pre-season hype. Jaffaclious took the opportunity to start compiling a list of 2015/16’s fallen stars.
Amongst those stars in the ascendency are Liverpool’s James Milner and Roberto Firmino, according to Lateriser in his look ahead to their favourable run in as the season draws to a close.
With new chips and double Gameweeks still in hand for many, the final games in this season’s Fantasy Premier League offer plenty of opportunity for excitement. However, Beavis is unconvinced and believes 2015/16 may have been subject to a boredom curse. Perhaps he’ll change his mind should his triple captaincy and bench boost chips bring rewards in the coming weeks.
The Members Tables
One of Spurs’ stars has dropped off of Balders’ Midfield Monsters table but there’s still plenty of great options to choose from ahead of Gameweek 29.
His list of hot shot strikers also offers some enticing prospects for those looking to shake up their front lines.
Elsewhere, there are plenty of differentials on offer in my latest goals imminent table.
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
Red Lightning’s Top 10,000 Any Season mini league continues to be led by Chucky77, but with just five points separating the top four this remains a tightly contested competition. In the January to May League, which is also organised by Red Lightning, Sam Isaacs is the new leader, thanks to his faith in Roberto Firmino and Diego Costa.
The Fiffsa 5-a-side tournament is entering its final stages, according to Jaffacilious’s latest update. While one of the community’s newest competitions, Jarvish’s Frequent Posters Cup, has just finished its qualification stage. The first round draw can be found here.
Dusan Citizen retains bragging rights in the @ocprodigy’s Scout Picks Challenge and Andy continues to hang on to top spot in the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league despite a strong challenge from second placed Evs.
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.
