The flutter of wildcards from last week turned into a full blown hurricane as many in the community look to take advantage of the double Gameweeks. Our community writers were on hand with some expert advice for wildcarders and those determined to use their chips. Meanwhile, our hot topic posters assessed both the key double-fixture targets and ones to avoid. In our Members section, a raft of tables have emerged to offer further guidance on the best players to consider for the hectic season run-in. There was also some shock news from our own moderators and contributors league this week in our run down of our latest community league standings.
The Community Articles
To help with some key wildcard questions the Fantasy Football Scout contributors and moderators put their new squads up for scrutiny in a series of Rate My Wildcard Team articles. My Phil Jagielka focused effort was first up, while Kevin De Bruyne figured prominently in Andy85wsm’s midweek article and today Spencer took over the discussion, with a look at budget goalkeeper options.
All three of our contributors are looking to field 15 double-fixture players in a bench-boosted Gameweek 34. According to Mr T’s chip analysis, though, it may not offer the spectacular returns many envisage.
There was plenty of further advice on key transfers from our community writers during the week. The Fantasy Football Frog investigated whether popular wildcard differentials in midfield can match the returns of the Fantasy Premier League’s highest scoring players. He also carried out the same analysis for forwards.
There was also more colour coded team ratings from The Sarjeant ahead of Gameweek 33 and Bolivian Seaman‘s regular look at the fans’ forums.
Among the best advice over the last month on tackling the double Gameweeks was Balders’ two articles on fixture and chip strategy. These helped him scoop a £20 Amazon voucher prize after being named by you as the best community writer in March.
April has already started well for the FPL veterans being tracked by Kavali. His latest article on their march up the rankings found that 18 of the 34 being tracked are now installed within the top 20,000 managers.
Finally, for those looking to play Indian Premier League Fantasy Cricket Pompey Fan was on hand to look over the rules and key strategies. Meanwhile, Team Cruel also dropped by to offer his thoughts on the best players to draft in.
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 lacklustre Aston Villa and clean sheet-shy Crystal Palace visiting in Gameweek 34 Manchester United have emerged as an important team for wildcarders to focus on. According to Woodsy Owl, Anthony Martial looks a great acquisition due to a track record of punishing minnows at Old Trafford.
In defence, though, options are scarce, with Chris Smalling and David De Gea the only sure starters. YMA lamented the precarious minutes of Manchester United’s full backs, while Balders revealed the cost to FPL managers of centre back Daley Blind’s classification as a midfielder.
There were even doubts, from Alli is the new Mahrez, about the value of drafting in Dimitri Payet ahead of West Ham’s double Gameweek 34. However, many who responded to his discussion believe his free kick prowess is too good to ignore.
Further to Mr T’s community article on the value of chips we asked those who are bench boosting in Gameweek 34 to predict how many points those riding the pine will bring in.
Many of these key Gameweek 33 wildcard issues were also addressed in Beavis’ survey of the community’s plans for tackling the double Gameweeks.
Finally, those who wildcarded early in Gameweek 32 offer hope of strong returns for those taking the plunge this week. These early birds featured prominently in our Rough with the Smooth look back at last weekend’s fixtures, while Balders’ research into their transfers highlights the top-performing players.
The Members Tables
For those eyeing up a Crystal Palace defender The Fantasy Football Frog has compiled this table of their most attacking centre backs and full backs. Ahead of Gameweek 34, Andreimkh has been taking a look at Manchester United’s most attacking assets.
Sinik has been seeing how Sergio Aguero stacks up against the other form strikers and bezzer provides good news for Romelu Lukaku suitors, in his investigation into teams that are conceding the most big chances.
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.
In addition, with blanks and double Gameweeks now here it is wise to sort by matches rather than Gameweeks to give a fairer gauge of form,
The Community Tournaments
Evs has finally overtaken Andy, by a slender margin of three points, in the Fantasy Football Scout moderators and contributors league after nibbling at his heels for most of 2016.
Jarvish’s Frequent Posters Cup quarter final draw sees Icon square up to Spectrum, Sepp Blattered take on Juggos, Ayew Serious faces Jonty (ie, me), while Spineless Weasel clashes with Feed Feo.
James Ollerenshaw has regained the lead in Red Lightning’s Top 10k Any Season league, which now has eight teams in the overall top 1,000. In Red Lightning’s January to May league Nial Akata retains top spot.
Those that wildcarded early were amongst the high fliers in the first week of the inaugural Going out with a bang league. Shane Griffin and Rob Ziegler took joint first with their wildcards netting them a score of 96 in Gameweek 32. Set up by Kings of Lyon, this league has the dual aim of gathering research about the use of end of season chips as well as providing those with a low rank with something to play for.
In TorresMagic‘s Last Man Standing competition, Ruth_NZ hit the top score in Gameweek 32 with 91. There are now 85 teams left after 43 were eliminated when the safety score was set at 68.
Meanwhile, Jaffalicious dropped by with news of the semi-final clashes in the FFS UEFA Champions League tournament that gets underway this weekend.
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.
