The first Gameweek deadline of the season is now just hours away and our community writers have been busy sharing their thoughts on the urgent issues to consider, such as where to find value and whether to trust players from promoted sides.
For our Hot Topic posters, this week has been a final chance to collect the raft of data from pre-season and help address concerns such as the best defenders to draft in and whether Paul Pogba will be capable of finding the net in 2017/18.
Southampton’s backline comes under scrutiny in our Members’ tables round-up and finally, there’s a reminder to sign up to a new team-based community competition.
The Community Articles
Hutch_James has been canvassing the opinion of thousands of football fans on where Fantasy managers should be investing their 100m Fantasy Premier League budget. According to his analysis, Manchester City looks the sure-fire place to find goal scorers in Gameweek 1.
Investing in the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus is costly though, which is why Red Arrows’ insight into how to get the biggest bang for your buck will come in handy.
Those looking at Spurs’ pricey assets are advised to read FPL Poker Player’s analysis of which Spurs players are likely to suffer most when they play at Wembley – the North Londoners’ temporary home this summer.
Similar buyer beware warnings are the theme of Firetog’s article on players from promoted sides Huddersfield, Brighton and Newcastle.
There are no such fears of failure surrounding Southampton, who embark on a stellar run of games that stretches well into autumn. FPL Chief dropped by to cast his eye over a trio of Saints to consider as they kick off the season at St Mary’s with a visit from Swansea City.
Elsewhere, Milvus has submitted his latest analysis of the winners and losers in the pre-season FPL transfer market, while Cisco Kid served up four top tips on making Fantasy Draft leagues fun.
Finally, congratulations to Prokoptas ,who has scooped the accolade of Community Writer of the Month for July and a £20 Amazon voucher after our latest vote, for his examination of the Plexiglas Principle and how it can be used to predict an upturn in fortunes for last year’s poor performing teams.
His talents have also been acknowledged by us and this week we saw the publication of his analysis of Arsenal’s Community Shield performance, which is the first of many articles we have asked him to write for the site’s main pages this season.
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
Gameweek 1 is a minefield. It is the set of fixtures which Fantasy managers have the most time to prepare for, but we also have the least knowledge to hand, with no recent competitive Premier League form to review.
Nevertheless, analysis of pre-season performances can be a useful guide and already many of the community have used this to alter their opinion about certain players and teams, according to Sleep Talk’s Hot Topic on the summer schedule.
A prime example is a drop in interest for Paul Pogba, who some are now doubting will ever become the rampaging midfield dynamo he has threatened to be at times. Certainly, the inclusion of Nemanja Matic in a defensive midfield role for Manchester United has done little to unleash the Frenchman on opposition defences, says theBoose’s analysis of the Red Devil’s 2-1 Super Cup loss to Real Madrid.
There were also questions raised in our discussion on last Sunday’s Community Shield on whether Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette will hit the ground running following his lacklustre attacking display.
At least both Pogba and Lacazette are set to start, even if they may not get on the scoresheet, according to Couti and the Below5th’s incredible round-up of minutes played over pre-season.
There was further chat about pre-season from Bowstring the Carp, who has put together his own opus, having collected all the key manager quotes over the summer, and Lyonaais, who has been getting his abacus out to compile a FFScout template team from mentions in rate my team posts.
In addition, Evs dropped by to offer a timely reminder that for every success story from pre-season, like Swansea’s goal scoring midfielder Michu, there is also Wigan’s Mario Boselli, who excelled in friendlies over the summer of 2010 but did not find the net in the Premier League until late October that year.
Marcos Alonso has scored over Chelsea’s summer schedule, but he hardly needed that strike against Bayern Munich in July to prove his Fantasy credentials.
But why, Granville wonders, are so many shunning him and instead recruiting his midfield team mate Willian, who is also priced at 7.0 but gets less clean sheet points. Trogg’s Hot Topic on defence spend certainly indicates Alonso is not a popular pick among the community.
As Enzo the Baker points out, even if premium defenders like Alonso let down their suitors, at least their hefty price tags can be put to good use by being sacrificed to divert cash into emerging midfield assets.
Among cheaper defenders that could prove worthwhile replacements for underperforming premium defenders is Southampton’s Jack Stephens, who has the edge over his team-mate Maya Yoshida, according to responses to Keno’s discussion on the Saints backline.
Scott Dann, Crystal Palace’s 5.0 priced central defender who has scored in his last six Premier League campaigns, is another to consider, suggests Whazza.
There is clearly a wealth of options in defence this year, but the same cannot really be said of third striker options.
Our forward thinking Hot Topic laments the lack of worthwhile options  in the 6.0 to 8.0 price bracket, although Ludo points out that Bournemouth’s Josh King (7.5) may just be unfairly overlooked since his reclassification from midfielder to striker.
Just above that price bracket sits Jamie Vardy (8.5) of Leicester, who was a controversial ‘Fantasy Island Risk’ Scoutcast pick by Disable for Gameweek 1. His co-hosts’ displeasure at this former heavy hitter being classed as a risk prompted this discussion on how we should better define a risk on future episodes.
There are certainly lots of options for risk takers among cheap midfielders, says Andy85wsm, including Swansea midfielder Tom Carroll, who has excelled in pre-season and Lilmessipran believes Fantasy managers are underestimating due to his lowly 4.5 price tag.
The amount of time and mental energy being used up by the community in the search of the perfect Gameweek 1 team can be frustrating sight for their friends and families. But as Tamagotchi’s discussion on how Fantasy management is viewed by the outside world, most loved ones are understanding of our obsession.
That is perhaps until the time reaches today’s 6:45pm deadline and the panic levels increase. Our community was on hand with some key advice to tackle such last minute nerves and ensure all the summer’s careful planning is not wasted.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.
The Members’ Tables
For those struggling to select the best Southampton defender, I’ve constructed this table looking at statistics such as baseline bonus and CBI, and FPL Virgin has also being delving into the Saints rearguard’s key figures.
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
Those running the Community Watch tournament have asked us to remind you that the deadline for their team-based tournament is approaching. Those wanting to take part as a manager have until August 14 to put their name forward. The deadline for taking part as a player is August 21.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-ups, please email us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
