Next up, it’s time for our Sky Sports Focus article this Thursday afternoon. As always, we take a look back at the previous action before preparing you for the incoming Gameweek by bringing you the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries, the transfer trends and our Watchlist before casting an eye over the Scout team and our future plans.
Gameweek 31 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 |
| Tottenham vs Arsenal | David Ospina |
| Chelsea vs Stoke | Giannelli Imbula |
| Everton vs West Ham | Dimitri Payet |
| Man City vs Aston Villa | Sergio Aguero |
| Newcastle vs Bournemouth | Joshua King |
| Southampton vs Sunderland | Jan Kirchhoff |
| Swansea vs Norwich | Gylfi Sigurdsson |
| Watford vs Leicester | Riyad Mahrez |
| Crystal Palace vs Liverpool | Dejan Lovren |
| West Brom vs Man United | Salomon Rondon |
One goalkeeper, two defenders, five midfielders and a couple of forwards grabbed the awards last week. Popular options in Dimitri Payet (15.4%), Sergio Aguero (31.8%) and Riyad Mahrez (40.6%) all earned the gong to considerably boost the average score. Former Fantasy great Gylfi Sigurdsson presents as an enticing option right now. The Swansea number ten has picked up 47 points in his last seven matches at an average of 6.7 points per game and with clashes against Bournemouth and Villa up next, his ownership looks likely to rise.
Gameweek 31 Bonus Points
Five goalkeepers picked up bonus last week. Arsenal’s stand-in stopper David Ospina was the star performer with nine saves and a MoTM helping him to negate the two goals conceded. Petr Cech is now joined by Jack Butland at the top of the pile with 16 bonus points.
In defence, ten players grabbed bonus, six for tackles and four for passes completed. Dejan Lovren was the closest to picking up both, just falling short by 13 completed passes. Stoke full-back Erik Pieters currently leads the way for defenders with 22 bonus points.
In midfield, there were 16 beneficiaries in total: nine for tackling and eight for passes. Manuel Lanzini was the player to pick up both with an all-action display – 81 completed passes and four tackles afforded him an extra four points. Cesc Fabregas is dominating the bonus tables with 52 points overall from passing and tackling, that’s the equivalent of ten goals!
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 |
| Cech | Arsenal | 5.9 | 16.2% |
| Ighalo | Watford | 6.5 | 5.4% |
| Fonte | Southampton | 6.5 | 4.5% |
| Giroud | Arsenal | 9.2 | 4% |
| Koscielny | Arsenal | 7.8 | 3.6% |
All five players here are without a fixture this time around. Arsenal duo Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny are both currently sidelined through injury, whilst Southampton skipper Jose Fonte serves a one-match suspension at Stoke. Olivier Giroud and Odion Ighalo, meanwhile, have paid the price for their recent lack of output as Sky managers restructure their frontlines.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Aguero | Man City | 10.0 | 5.5% |
| Firmino | Liverpool | 8.0 | 4.7% |
| Hart | Man City | 5.8 | 3.8% |
| Payet | West Ham | 6.2 | 4.5% |
| De Gea | Man United | 5.9 | 3.7% |
Joe Hart and David de Gea have garnered plenty of new owners as a result of the Cech exodus, though the latter is without a fixture this weekend due to United’s cup clash with West Ham. At a price of just 6.2, Dimitri Payet’s value for money is impossible to ignore, whilst Liverpool’s trip to Palace last Sunday looks the likely cause of the Firmino trades. Aguero’s home clash with Villa last week, prior to Saturday’s trip to Norwich, made him an obvious target up top.
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Aguero | Man City | 10 | 15.5% |
| Vardy | Leicester | 7.3 | 6.4% |
| Kane | Tottenham | 9.3 | 5.7% |
| Lukaku | Everton | 8.8 | 5.4% |
| Sanchez | Arsenal | 9.7 | 5.4% |
Watchlist
Here I aim to highlight a few differential players with low ownership that I think could be good options in the coming weeks to help you climb the rankings. These will be looked at in 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 | Christian Fuchs, 5.3m, 2.5% | Federico Fernandez, 5.4m, 1.7% | Nicolas Otamendi, 7.1m, 1.9% |
| Midfielder | Marko Arnautovic, 5.5m, 6% | Gylfi Sigurdsson, 7.1m, 3.3% | David Silva, 8.9m, 7.3% |
| Forward | Alberto Paloschi, 7.0m, 0% | Graziano Pelle, 8.1m, 5.8% | Diego Costa, 9.8m, 7.4% |
My Team
Hart
Cathcart Dawson Dier
Alli Fabregas Mahrez Payet
Aguero© Kane Vardy
ITB: 2.7m
Transfers remaining: 8/40
Last week’s points: 78
Overall points: 1673
Rank: 1,196
Notes
I earned another slight rise in the previous Gameweek as we move into the business end of the season. It was a great Saturday for me due to Sergio Aguero as skipper (28 points), Dimitri Payet (15) and Riyad Mahrez (12), whilst Harry Kane and my new goalkeeper, Joe Hart, also picked up seven points each.
My defence is the biggest let down at present with the three of them combined earning me a net one point! Craig Cathcart is injured but hopefully should be back soon and is so cheap he won’t be going anywhere. Craig Dawson is also an injury doubt after hobbling off last week and denying me a clean sheet but still looks a decent option moving forward, given his goal threat. Eric Dier has been disappointing of late and is just one card short of a ban so he may be the one to go in the future – this is dependent on me having the transfers to spare, though, as captain swaps towards the end of the season are usually the smarter choice for transfers. Having said that, Liverpool and Everton assets are on my radar also for Gameweek 34 onwards, where extra fixtures and decent run-ins make them all the more desirable.
Captain Plan
This week looks a great week for captains, assuming you have Man City, Spurs and Leicester assets. With each team playing on a separate matchday and Leicester featuring on matchday one next Gameweek, it could be a good option to utilise three captains via a transfer to enable you to skipper Sergio Aguero (nor), followed by Harry Kane (avl) and then Jamie Vardy/Riyad Mahrez (NEW), for example. This is, of course, dependant on you not owning these players already and having the spare transfers. I will be choosing one of Kane or Aguero before Thursday night’s deadline and then ending with the armband on Jamie Vardy.
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 18:30 SkySports 1 HD where they will be discussing the upcoming week’s Fantasy Football, chatting to former Arsenal and Everton front man Kevin Campbell and asking Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey for his #One2Eleven.
