With the Gameweek 1 deadline fast approaching, our hot topic posters and community writers have been busy offering their expert, last-minute advice. Among our community scribes, hyped and budget-friendly midfielders are the key issues, while our hot topic posters have been taking a look at Liverpool’s prospects, surprise differentials and set piece takers. Meanwhile, goal scoring defenders feature in our Members tables round up and we finish with news of some of the latest community tournaments to launch, including one which may well be one of Fantasy Football’s toughest ever contests.
The Community Articles
With a final Fantasy Premier League tally of 240 points, it is hard to believe that Riyad Mahrez started 2015/16 priced at just 5.5m. YMA has been taking a look at this season’s FPL player list to see if he can uncover another 5.5m hidden gem in midfield to cement a place in our starting XI.
Midfielders have also come under the gaze of Concentration who has looked back at some of last season’s most talked-about midfielders to see if we can learn any lessons regarding 2016/17’s crop of much-hyped options.
For TM245, getting the right balance in defence is crucial to success. This week he has been examining whether a collection of cheap, rotating defenders can trump their high-priced peers.
Elsewhere, pre-season form has pre-occupied Bowstring the Carp, who this week launched the first and second parts of his team-by-team assessment of the summer friendlies.
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
Investors in Liverpool’s assets will be hoping they can do well despite a tough set of early fixtures. Berbinho’s Forehead has analysed the Merseysiders’ key picks, and also refers back to Bowstring the Carp’s detailed look at the Reds’ pre-season form.
New Liverpool recruit Sadio Mane comes under scrutiny in Beavis’s look at some big name heavy-hitters who have emerged as surprise differentials for Gameweek 1.
Prior to confirmation of his one-match suspension by the FA earlier today, Paul Pogba had been garnering considerable interest from Fantasy managers, as our hot topic on the former Juventus midfielder showed.
His team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic features in Ludo’s look at the effective ownership of some of the game’s most popular players. The big Swede is currently owned by four out of ten FPL managers.
Meanwhile, around one in five own Tottenham’s Harry Kane, with Ludo anticipating that ownership figure could climb if Dele Alli is allowed an advanced role against Everton to assist him, in the absence of the suspended Mousa Dembele. His analysis gives an added insight into Kane’s failure to find the net last term whenever the influential Belgian was missing.
Another much talked about player is Southampton’s new recruit Nathan Redmond. Bowstring the Carp urges the community to invest in the midfielder, who has been fielded up front in recent matches by Claude Puel.
Set-piece takers, such as Redmond, who took free kicks for his former club Norwich, are often a good source of points in Fantasy Football. However, Eden Hazardous reckons that targeting free kickers and penalty specialists may be overrated.
There was further Fantasy Football advice, particularly aimed at those new to FPL, handed out by Giggs Boson earlier this week. Among good advice for beginners is to ensure you select guaranteed starters. Luckily Couti and the Below5th was on hand with his updated look at each Premier League team’s likely first XIs.
Advice on getting the most out of our Members area Rate My Team tool, as well as understanding our Hall of Fame, was also on hand this week from their developer The Professor, who took part in a busy live Q&A session.
Meanwhile, The Shoemaker issued a plea for the community to help out with a survey he is conducting that aims to find out more about how Fantasy managers’ decisions are made. One community regular that won’t be around to take part is Daniel. The veteran FPL manager shocked the community this week with his announcement that he is taking a break from the game.
The Members Tables
Among our latest tables is this from Tiger, which looks at the best goalscoring defenders.
For those playing FanDuel I’ve created this table looking at those who are making a mark on the game’s key points scoring criteria.
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
Jac the Cat is running what may by FPL’s toughest Head to Head league, where 10 of the community’s top ranked managers over the years take on 10 Fantasy Football Scout moderators and contributors.
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.
