Competition for places in the community’s squads is hotting up with the return of Manchester United’s top scorer from suspension, Leicester City’s resurgence and Spurs’ increasing wealth of options.
Our hot topics look at the key players in demand as well as those being ushered into the departure lounge, and we’ll look back at one of the most controversial bonus awards in FPL history.
For our statisticians in our Members’ area, Spurs star Dele Alli and Crystal Palace’s high-flying assets take centre stage, while our community scribes delve further into the numbers to find the best captain for Gameweek 32.
We finish off with a look at who has found the right team balance at the top of our community leagues and give an update on our cosmopolitan community’s growing interest in Norwegian football and Indian cricket.
THE COMMUNITY ARTICLES
The wealth of options this week was particularly apparent in YMA’s latest look at what the form and fixture data has to say about the captaincy, which details a number of strong options for this weekend.
The career hall of fame’s elite are also struggling to fit in all the best options, according to TopMarx’s regular update on the five best managers in this list.
But it’s not just Premier League stars that the community is pondering over. Norwegian top flight football has also captured the imagination, with more than 476 of you taking part in the Fantasy Eliteserien contest that kicked off this week.
Team Cruel’s efforts in introducing this format earned him the accolade of best community writer of March following this week’s vote. His latest despatch from the competition, and top tips for Gameweek 3, can be found here.
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
Jamie Vardy has been in fantastic form, scoring five in as many matches, but with the fixtures turning for the Foxes we asked whether now might be the time for his owners to switch allegiances to another premium powerhouse.
Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a key candidate to replace him, after returning to scoring ways in his comeback match against Everton in Gameweek 31 and with a double Gameweek 34 on the horizon.
But Harry Kane could also be in the frame for one of three striker slots after it emerged the Spurs forward had recovered earlier than expected from injury and could even start against Watford at the weekend. Mark is among those who has torn up their transfer plans after hearing the news.
With doubts around a starting berth for Kane, he is unlikely to attract interest for the armband. For Jmcclory123 and a quarter of those voting in our Gameweek 32 captain poll, that honour deserves to go to Spurs’ in-form midfielder Dele Alli.
There were further arguments in favour of the England international in Cruz88’s Gameweek 32 captaincy stat attack hot topic.
With Alli and nine other players earning double-digit FPL hauls in Gameweek 31, there were plenty of happy community members responding to our Rough with the Smooth round-up.
But those who backed Alexis Sanchez with the armband had less to smile about, the Chilean failing to register attacking returns for the second match in a row from a left wing berth. With the Gunners’ top scorer continuing to be shunned by Arsene Wenger as a central striker we asked whether he really is an essential player to own, even with two double Gameweeks to come.
Another player the community is considering turning their backs on, according to InSaneMane-e’s hot topic, is Chelsea’s left wingback Marcos Alonso, who last earned clean sheet points in Gameweek 22.
Double Gameweek planning was under discussion, with Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough joining Manchester United in enjoying an extended Gameweek 34. Bunk Moreland believes this may be the best time to deploy a Bench Boost chip, with his reasoning being that a number of single Gameweek teams, including Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs have strong fixtures at that time.
Finally, Jesus Navas’ maximum bonus point return from a right-back role for Manchester City against Arsenal in Gameweek 30 raised a few eyebrows. Mark was on hand to explain why the much-maligned Spaniard did so well. This also sparked a lengthy discussion on ways the bonus points could be altered.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page. We are also still keen to hear from you about how this can be further developed.
THE MEMBERS’ TABLES
Alli’s sensational form, accruing five double-digit FPL hauls on the back of 12 goals and four assists since Gameweek 17, has been put into context by Sir James Hunt, who has constructed this table allowing Members to compare the England international’s key statistics with other midfielders
To take into account blanks and double Gameweeks, I’m sticking with a five-Gameweek threshold for my goals imminent table. Here is the latest batch of players getting closer to finding the net.
With Crystal Palace managing to score and keep clean sheets, I’ve also taken a look at some of their best players ahead of their double Gameweek 34.
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
In Red Lightning’s Top 10K Any Season league, HuttonDressedAsLahm remains in the lead, as does Aneesh Kamat in his January to May league. Since Gameweek 19 Aneesh has climbed from 127,407 to 1,373 in the overall rankings.
The tussle at the top of the FFS Members League continues, with 39th-placed Ogie Nolan regaining the lead from Billy Ketsu, who nevertheless has a healthy 60-point lead at the summit of the FFS Old Farts Club league for our older community members.
Jon Pears’ 12th green arrow in a row ensures he stays at the summit of the FFScout Main League and moves to third in the overall rankings. However, he is still 48 points behind overall leader Uwais Ahmed, who regained top spot from Knut Hebaek.
With the Indian Premier League getting underway this week, community regulars Eden Hazardous and Speedyboyzzz have created leagues for its official Fantasy game.
Mark’s lead at the top of the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league has been cut to three points, with TorresMagic hot on his heels in second place.
For the first time in 2017, my Millionaires Club, for those with a rank above the million mark in Gameweek 12, has a new leader. Oli Ottey GM has overtaken Gilles Wanlin by a single point and is now 17,433 in the world after languishing in 1,555,323th-place when he joined.
Finally, in TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing competition, World XI hit the top score in Gameweek 31 with 81. There are now 140 teams left after 50 were eliminated when the safety score was set at 46.
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, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
