Sergio Aguero’s festive suspension dominates transfer decisions this week as our hot topic posters mull over how best to spend the Argentine’s sizeable 13.0 price tag.
Volatile price changes and the emergence of ‘super-teams’ also come under discussion, while our community writers are once again on hand to run through the best captaincy options, with a little help from club supporters, the fixture list, form guide and the bookies.
Elsewhere, our Members tables look at how attackers adapt when playing home or away.
We finish off with a look at those riding high in our community leagues, whose close eye on the market have helped them assemble prolific squads to send fear through the hearts of their rivals.
The Community Articles
Fantasy Premier League managers have been falling over themselves to draft in Alexis Sanchez after his hattrick against hapless West Ham last weekend.
But while the Chilean has accrued around 320,000 new owners so far this week, it is a player who doesn’t even make the top ten transfers in list that the fixtures, form and bookies recommend as captain this week.
YMA’s look at the armband options using this trio of factors has a six out of eight success rate following Harry Kane’s brace in Gameweek 14, making his latest despatch vital reading once again.
At least Sanchez owners can take comfort from Bolivian Seaman‘s latest look at what the fans are saying about the weekend’s games. The Gunner is among a raft of premium picks predicted to do well against obliging opponents in Gameweek 15.
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
Sergio Aguero’s four-match ban sent shockwaves through the community, as his price continues to plummet while the value of his replacements rocket.
These volatile changes in the FPL market has not pleased everyone, with Hands Guber concerned that price rise chasing has become too much of a focus in the game. Meanwhile, Pukka argued that the difficult decisions the market creates make the game more enjoyable. The risk and reward element to making early transfer moves was also discussed later in the week by Burton.
In Aguero’s absence many in the community had expected a template of similar players to emerge.
But as our hot topic on your post-Aguero frontlines and midfields showed, Fantasy teams are set to remain varied, with a raft of differing formations and players mentioned.
This discussion also showed how those with a close eye on the market have been able to assemble so-called ‘super-teams’: elite squads that could be set to dominate the game over the coming weeks.
Among the cheaper players mentioned in this hot topic was Liverpool midfielder Emre Can, who has scored three times in his last five Gameweeks. With such strong form Andy85wsm wondered whether the 4.9 priced German is now a viable fourth midfield option.
Cheap strikers also came under consideration, with Tokyorisingsun issuing a warning regarding West Ham’s Andy Carroll (6.1). While the striker has fixtures on his side, including home ties with Burnley and Hull City in the next four, his woeful injury record makes him arguably a risk too far, according to the community regular.
Sanchez’s strong recent form puts his name firmly in the frame to join your Aguero-less squads. As our Rough with the Smooth round up of Gameweek 14 highlighted, the Chilean is already looking pivotal to success or failure this season.
However, according to Dino, the Gunners midfielder may be set for regression, with a shots to goal rate that is arguably unsustainable in the long term.
There was further rain poured on the Arsenal asset’s parade by the aptly named Dirty Sanchez. His close look at the defences suggests Sanchez may struggle to deliver his third successive double-digit haul when the Potters drop by the Emirates on Saturday.
For Ktk_interista those banking on Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (10.8) to shine during Aguero’s absence should also be cautious.
He argues that the Belgian’s recent form and his hefty price tag make him a gamble.
Many in the community agreed with his lukewarm interest in the flame-haired schemer, in our discussion on City assets over the festive period. Although this hot topic did highlight emerging interest in their cut-price striker Kelechi Iheanacho (6.6), who looks set to deputise for Aguero up front for the rest of the month.
Elsewhere, having a strong fifth midfielder came under the spotlight in The Special One’s look at festive rotation, which, as he points out, is set to arrive earlier this year with a midweek programme looming in Gameweek 16 prior to Christmas.
Middlesbrough could prove a happy hunting ground for those looking to invest in a cheap bench player, who can be relied on to step up during December’s hectic schedule. Up the Boro is particularly impressed with his team’s defensive options in his latest report from Teesside.
The Members Tables
Nuedd’s latest tables focus on the marked differences among attacking players when they home and away. This may prove vital reading for those pondering the merits of bringing in Sanchez this Saturday.
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
The Fantasy Chili Bowl team competition reaches its fourth round this weekend, and already a handful of teams will already be confident of progressing to the next stage, according to Jarvish’s latest report from the organising committee.
Raul Seleccion is the new leader of Red Lightning’s Top 10k Any Season mini-league. A Sanchez captaincy and use of his Bench Boost chip gave him a Gameweek 14 score of 102 and propelled him to 112th place overall. This was also one of the highest scores in the third round of our FFS Cup last weekend, which earned him a £10 credit from the competition’s sponsor FanDuel.
In TorresMagic‘s Last Man Standing competition, DelhiDynamo hit the top score in Gameweek 14 with 123. There are now 1505 teams qualified after 134 were eliminated when the safety score was set at 43.
There’s still no change at the summit of the FFS Moderators and Contributors league either, which long time leader Facer continues to dominate.
In my Millionaires Club, for those with a rank below the one million mark, Carlton Dzingirayi is the new leader after notching 110 points in Gameweek 14. He took his sixth hit of the season to bring in Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen and is now 401,963 overall, more than a million places higher than he was in Gameweek 12.
If you are running a community tournament and you 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, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
