Earlier this month, the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game was launched for the campaign ahead. After winning the League of Leagues for each of the last three seasons, we’re now looking to defend our crown in 2016/17.

What’s more, Sky Sports have kindly pledged £1,000 to the manager who finishes top of our league. Win that, and you might just be in line to claim an even bigger prize.

We’re proud to say that the Fantasy Football Scout league has supplied the winner of the overall Sky Sports game in each of the last two seasons – for some handy research, those looking to get involved should check out this interview with 2015/16 winner Alan Wood from earlier in the summer.

In an incredible 2015/16, Alan emerged victorious with a 100+ points winning margin over his nearest challenger and collected £20,000 for his season’s work.

This time around, the top prize is £25,000 – incentive enough to assemble a team in time for kick off on August 13.

For those playing the Sky Sports game, we’ve set up an official Fantasy Football Scout league – the name is FFScout and the pin number to join is 8183867.

It’s also worth noting that Sky Sports have introduced a handful of tweaks to their rules and scoring system for 2016/17. We take a look at the main implications below.

Captains

Undoubtedly the biggest change to the Sky Sports game is the new captain rule:

• Captain changes must be made before each Match Day deadline to score points for your team. This means managers can make unlimited captain changes in a Game Week.
• Throughout the 2016/17 season, the Sky Sports Fantasy Football Game Weeks will run from Friday to Thursday.

Out goes a single tactical armband swap, with Sky Sports Fantasy managers now afforded unlimited changes in a round of fixtures. Similar to how we have previously made transfers in the middle of a Gameweek, each captain selection must be finalised prior to each Match Day deadline.

Last season’s Thursday night deadline has been changed to move into line with the new batch of Friday evening fixtures.

Essentially, then, having a captain for each Match Day is far easier to achieve and the planning element of the game will now centre on ensuring we have sufficient armband coverage in any given Gameweek. Just like last season, we expect transfers to prove key to this strategy.

Bonus Points

Further reading on the new scoring system can be found here, though we’ll go through the main changes one-by-one below.

Bonus Points – Tier 1 (+2 points for each)
5 saves made (GK only)
3 tackles won (All)
60 completed passes (All)
3 shots on target (All)

Bonus Points – Tier 2 (+3 points for each)
7+ saves made (GK only)
5+ tackles won (All)
70+ completed passes (All)
5+ shots on target (All)

The Tier 2 Bonus section is new for this season, as is the shots on target section in Tier 1. Jonty’s recent community article, which assessed the new implications, is worth swatting up on.

The main difference here is that a player needs to make three successful tackles to earn +2 points this term, whereas he was required to register four last season. This could be a valuable source of points for full-backs and central midfielders in the main. Taking the time to delve into our members data on offer could reward the shrewd manager here.

Scoring

• Goalkeepers and defenders now qualify for a clean sheet after a minimum of 60 minutes rather than 75.

This rule change could be quite influential and bring the Sky Sports game in line with the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) ruling on pitch time required to earn a shut-out. Those defenders prone to early substitutions are now slightly more appealing options again.

• Goalkeepers are now awarded +7 points for a clean sheet instead of +5.

Combining a premium keeper in a defensively sound team who also makes a lot of saves seems the best way to exploit this new scoring system, particularly when you consider the relatively low price of the premium keepers compared to the premium defenders (who still receive only +5 for a clean sheet).

• Penalty saves are now worth +5 instead of +3.

The likes of Watford’s Heurelho Gomes, who made more spot-kick stops (three) than any keeper in 2015/16 and West Ham number one Adrian (who has registered more penalty saves (five) than any other keeper in the last two seasons) will likely benefit from this change.

• Defenders now get +7 and Midfielders +6 for goals scored, forwards remain on +5.

All three classifications earned five points apiece last year, so the improvement certainly smiles kinder on the defenders.

Patrick van Aanholt led the way for goals scored amongst defenders in 2015/16, with six to his name, which would have earned him an extra 12 points under the new rule. Palace’s Scott Dann, with five goals, would have been the only other defender to earn at least ten more points from this ruling.

Eight midfielders would have earned at least ten points more in 2015/16. In saying that, only two Sky Sports midfielders (Riyad Mahrez, with 17, and Andre Ayew, with 12) were at least on a par with Van Aanholt’s tally of 12, with Alexis Sanchez (13 goals) classified as a forward.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be rolling out Player Price List analysis articles, breaking down the options position by position and offering insight into each player’s potential.

We’ve also set up a new community article to exclusively deal with Sky Sports Fantasy teams. Those looking to get involved with the discussion should click this link.