After last weekend’s schedule was blighted by FA Cup postponements, we’re back to a full slate of ten fixtures this time around. FantasyBet roll out their latest biggest pot of the season for Gameweek 31, which sees £3,000 up for grabs with a £22 stake for entry – I’m planning to enter a team to stand a chance of getting amongst the money.
The first match of the round is at Goodison, as Everton host an out-of-sorts Arsenal side that have picked up a single win in eight matches over all competitions.
There are four 3pm kick-offs on Saturday. League leaders Leicester City visit Selhurst Park looking to inflict a sixth consecutive home defeat on the Eagles, West Ham attempt to boost their bid for a top four finish away to Chelsea, while West Brom players should see plenty of Fantasy interest ahead of Norwich’s trip to the Hawthorns.
Swansea City host Aston Villa in Saturday’s evening match, with the midlands outfit’s dire form ensuring that their hosts will be subject to extensive investment.
The outcome of Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby could make a significant difference in the battle to avoid relegation for the North-East clubs. Spurs host a Bournemouth side that have won three successive outings, while Liverpool travel to Southampton with both neck-and-neck on 44 points. Finally, Manchester United travel to the Etihad hoping to reduce the gap on their neighbors in the hunt for Champion’s League qualification.
If you are unfamiliar with FantasyBet it is particularly accessible for those who play Fantasy Premier League, as it uses a similar scoring and pricing system.
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MY TEAM
Heurelho Gomes (4.5m)
Ashley Williams (4.5m)
Christian Fuchs (4.5m)
Craig Dawson (5m)
Bertrand Traore (5m)
Riyad Mahrez (6.5m)
Gylfi Sigurdsson (7m)
Christian Eriksen (8.5m)
Salomon Rondon (6.5m)
Jamie Vardy (7.5m)
Harry Kane (9.5m)
KEY PICKS
Heurelho Gomes: Watford’s keeper has been beaten just once in his last three matches at Vicarage Road, only conceding to Leicester City, while keeping out in-form Bournemouth and Chelsea. Gomes’ 26 saves over the last six matches also bodes well as Stoke visit the Hornets having failed to net in four of their last eight away ties.
Christian Fuchs: Leicester City have dropped points only twice in their last eight outings, with five clean sheets over that run indicating a resilience that should be enough to nullify a struggling Crystal Palace team. Fuchs has picked up 16 bonus points this campaign, double that of any other Foxes defender, and also has a trio of assists to his name so far.
Gylfi Sigurdsson: The Icelander is now Swansea’s top scorer after an impressive run of seven goals in 11 league appearances. Looking at the data, Sigurdsson is the man most likely to deliver at home to Aston Villa – he’s played a part in over 50% of his side’s goals since Gameweek 20, compared to only 21.4% goal involvement in the first half of the season.
Salomon Rondon: The club record signing is finally delivering for the Baggies, with four goals and an assist over his last six outings. Rondon looks set to continue that run with visitors Norwich failing to keep a clean sheet on the road so far this term.
THIS WEEKS 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 and Flash format.
There is a DoubleUp contest covering all ten fixtures that has a £3.30 buy-in with a £150 pot on offer.
The Triple Grand contest only misses the match at Goodison, so line-ups can be entered right up until the 3pm kick-offs. It’s £22 to enter for a chance to win part of the £3000 guaranteed prize money.
There is also a Weekend Flash game, a format that gives participants a unique list of players to select from and a three-minute window to pick your line-up. It’s a £5.50 stake for entry into a £250 guaranteed pot.
LAST WEEK
With my captain pick Sergio Aguero failing to deliver, I encountered a difficult week and remain with a pot of around £150.
AllezleChef won a place in the triple grand game by topping the qualifier free-roll. His team picked up 94 points – Harry Kane earned 26 points with the armband, while Graziano Pelle provided 13 after auto-subbing in. A solid defence with players from four teams also helped secure the big pot ticket, with John Ruddy, Gael Clichy, Danny Simpson and Kevin Wimmer all picking up six or more points.
THIS WEEK’S STAKE
I’m entering the free-rolls, the Double-up contest, the 50p challenge and entering a team into the FFScout Picks League for a total outlay of £4.95, I’ll also consider entering the Triple Grand or Big Flash games on Saturday morning.
In addition, I’ll be going up against GAWA 11, the Community champion in this week’s Scout Picks. He will be taking me on 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
Nick topped the Scout Picks League with a score of 86 points, captain Harry Kane was the biggest source of points, while a double-up of Vincent Kompany (nine) and Bacary Sagna (nine) in defence also helped secure the win.
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.
