The search for value, in particular among defenders, was a central focus of this week’s discussions, which also covered the prospects of La Liga stars in the Premier League and marked the premature retirement of one the Fantasy Football’s most successful Spaniards.
Our community writers also focus on player pricing, top tips for success in Fantasy Premier League’s draft game as well as ownership trends.
Bonus magnets in the Sky Sports game are among the topics covered in our Members table round-up and we finish off with a look at the latest community tournaments available.
The Community Articles
With more than 700,000 now signed up to the Fantasy Premier League, the ownership trends have been fluctuating markedly since its launch. Milvus’ community article on ownership trends takes a key look at the significant early movement.
One group of players that are seeing significant activity are premium defenders, including wing-backs that offer potential returns at both ends. Whether this group of players offer better value than mid-price midfielders is the subject of FPL Virgin’s debut community article.
Positively priced punts are the focus of The Boose’s latest piece, as he considers those who offer considerable bang for their buck from FPL’s player list.
Elsewhere, Spreadsheet has turned to his abacus to assess whether misfiring attackers one season are able to dramatically improve their goal conversion rate over their next campaign. This follows on from Prokoptas’ article earlier this month on the Plexiglas Principle, which seeks to find out if underperforming players can strengthen their returns over time.
To help those playing FPL’s draft game, our resident expert Pav A Nice Day dropped by to offer his guidance on constructing the perfect player list for the forthcoming draft nights.
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
The community articles section’s focus on rearguard options spilled out into our Hot Topics with That Posh Bloke casting his monocled eye over some spiffing chaps in defence.
Bournemouth defenders have piqued the interest of Miguel Sanchez, who canvassed views on whether centre back Nathan Ake or full back Charlie Daniels are the best options from the Cherries backline. While Lucy made a triumphant return to offer guidance on the best Southampton defenders to invest in, as part of her look at Saints assets.
Newcastle and Swansea’s kindly priced defenders are on Teddy’s radar, after his research found that the two sides rotate strongly for those who track the fixtures and are looking to save funds in defence.
There was further consideration of defensive rotation in our discussion of the best goalkeeper strategy.
Pre-season friendlies offer Fantasy managers the perfect opportunity to gather vital clues on whether their picks will be sure starters and offer returns.
However, so far the 19.6% of FPL managers who own Paul Pogba been left disappointed by his performances, according to our discussion on lessons learned from the summer fixtures played so far.
The dream of a more attacking role for the Frenchman is still yet to be realised.
In contrast, Pogba’s team-mate Henrikh Mkhitaryan has impressed, with a goal and an assist midweek during the Red Devil’s US tour. We wondered why, given his advanced role and strong summer form, he is still only in 4.3% of FPL squads.
Crystal Palace kicked off their summer preparations with a 2-0 loss to Liverpool to dent interest in their assets. But with a strong opening set of fixtures Andy8wsm ponders whether their newly appointed captain Jason Puncheon may at last turn his enticing underlying statistics into Fantasy points. As followers of the Scoutcast last season will know, that is an issue I may be reluctant to revisit for a second successive campaign.
At least the 5.0 priced Eagles midfielder is cheap, even if he doesn’t offer good value based on his history. This difference between a player’s price and their real value is an issue that Deulofail addresses in his latest discussion.
The price tag of Chelsea’s incoming new recruit, Alvaro Morata, was eagerly awaited this week. But, as Ownership Tactic asks, can the Real Madrid striker do it on a cold windy night in Stoke? He added to this discussion with a roll call of those who have made a successful transition from La Liga to the Premier League, as well as those who failed to make the grade.
If Morata, who is also the subject of this discussion by Prokoptas, gets off to a good start, team plans may need to change to accommodate him. This is where a flexible FPL friend can help out, says our Hot Topic on players that can easily be jettisoned to make way for an early season bandwagon.
One such bandwagon in FPL’s past is Michu, who scored an incredible 18 Premier League goals for Swansea in the 2012/13 season and this week sadly announced his retirement through injury. Wild Rover was among those who dropped by to pay their respects to the Spaniard.
Bargain hunters were once again out in full force this week as they rummaged through the player list in search of gems. Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal’s 7.0 valued midfielder who has scored once and assisted another goal in pre-season, is among those garnering interest. But Drip Doctor warns that patience may be needed with the Welshman, who he doubts will be able to produce frequent attacking points.
Chelsea’s development squad is proving an attractive source of budget midfielders. New Watford signing Nathan Chalaboah and Reuben Loftus Cheek – who is on loan at Crystal Palace – have attracted the attention of Scotty B, based on the promise of more game time at their new clubs. Both are priced at 4.5 but AceKn1ght urges Fantasy managers to make sure they also consider the potential of midfielders priced at 5.0.
Southampton are proving another prime route for those in search of value, with the south coast outfit figuring prominently in Pukka-Geoff’s discussion on teams to double, or even triple up, on.
Meanwhile, value from third strikers is the subject of Pele Alli’s latest Hot Topic, with Triggerlips adding to the debate by asking whether Newcastle forward Dwight Gayle deserves to be in our frontlines.
Sales shoppers are steering clear of Liverpool this season with their stars of 2016/17, including Philippe Coutinho, suffering value hikes. Given that the Reds look set to rotate around Champions League games, we asked whether their assets may be best avoided. The no-Liverpool player strategy of last year’s FPL winner and Everton fan Ben Crabtree certainly offers a powerful case for adopting this potentially risky tactic.
123thro is looking to go further than Ben by basing his team around avoiding players from last year’s top six sides and asked for your tips of other assets to consider.
Finally, Athletico Timbo asked the community to dust off their crystal balls and predict who will be next season’s Fantasy hits and misses.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.
The Members Tables
Spreadsheet has created a table entitled, ‘should have scored more’, in support of his community article on misfiring attackers’ potential for improvement.
For those playing Sky Fantasy Football Disable has made a table dedicated to players who have dominated the game’s bonus point allocation.
Elsewhere, Mynjdusta has constructed two tables looking at the best defender prospects and goalkeepers with impressive underlying statistics.
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
PDM is looking for those who have finished at least one FPL season within the top 1,000 to join his Top 1K Any Season league (21265-6670), and those with at least one top 10,000 finish are invited to join Red Lightning’s Top 10,000 Any Season league. (757-400).
Finally, a reminder that Torres Magic’s Last Man Standing contest (44937-13340) is still open for entries.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-ups, please email us summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
