Friday afternoon delivers our first Sky Sports Focus article where we take a look back at the weekend action before preparing you for the incoming Gameweek.
We’ll examine the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, the bonus point beneficiaries, transfer trends and Watchlist, before moving on to the Scout team and our future plans.
Gameweek 1 Man of the Match Awards
Listed below are the players who caught the eye of the Sky Sports reporters and earned an extra five points as a result.
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Arsenal vs Leicester | Alexandre Lacazette |
| Watford vs Liverpool | Mohamed Salah |
| Chelsea vs Burnley | Sam Vokes |
| Crystal Palace vs Huddersfield | Steve Mounie |
| Everton vs Stoke | Wayne Rooney |
| Southampton vs Swansea | Ryan Bertrand |
| West Brom vs Bournemouth | Ahmed Hegazi |
| Brighton vs Man City | Kyle Walker |
| Newcastle vs Tottenham | Kyle Walker-Peters |
| Man United vs West Ham | Nemanja Matic |
There was certainly a theme in Gameweek 1 – eight of the ten players recipients were handed a Premier League debut by their respective clubs.
Another trend of note was that four defenders earned the plaudits; a position usually ignored by the match reporters but one, as highlighted in our MoTM article, that could be in for a boost this year.
Coming in at just 6.2m, Ahmed Hegazi performed heroics with a goal and clean sheet, which helped him to a 19-point haul. He’s owned by just over 2% of managers but looks a shrewd pre-overhaul investment.
Steve Mounie has thrown his hat into the cheap forwards ring. He costs just 8.5m and may be a viable route to breaking up the expensive frontline template.
In fact, those with the injured Wilfried Zaha or the suspended Cesc Fabregas may look to Mounie’s value if they have a forward position available.
Gameweek 1 Bonus Points
Let’s take a look at any player to earn three points or more in bonus.
A firm favourite last season, Harry Arter started where he left off, netting five bonus in his opening game.
He was 6.6m last year but has been buffed up to 8.2m, which will have put a few suitors off. But on this evidence, he could still be a viable option if he keeps up this pace.
Popular pre-overhaul option Granit Xhaka (8.7m) came through his first test with flying colours. After netting bonus on average for every 35 minutes on the pitch last season, he looks to have hit the ground running again.
Fantasy Football Scout members can access all information regarding bonus points using player stats and clicking the Sky Sports tab.
The Transfer Trends
Top Transfers Out
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Zaha | Crystal Palace | 9.3 | 3.6% |
| Coutinho | Liverpool | 11.3 | 2.6% |
| Cahill | Chelsea | 10.2 | 2.3% |
| Kane | Tottenham | 12.9 | 1.9% |
| Trippier | Tottenham | 8.1 | 1.8% |
Wilfried Zaha’s injury makes him the top target out, while Gary Cahill’s dismissal hasn’t exactly aided his cause.
Philippe Coutinho and Kieran Trippier failed to feature due to injury, though Harry Kane’s exodus is a strange one – a one-point return from the most expensive player in the game has obviously provoked a reaction from nearly 2% of managers.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 4.3% |
| Salah | Liverpool | 9.4 | 3.8% |
| Matic | Man United | 8.3 | 3.7% |
| Walker-Peters | Tottenham | 5.9 | 2.2% |
| Hegazi | West Brom | 6.2 | 2.2% |
All five players here scored big points last week and it’s difficult to argue against any of them being brought in ahead of the overhaul in Gameweek 4.
Nemanja Matic picked up the MoTM award but failed to deliver on his expected bonus points. However, the statistics suggest he was very unlucky – just one more completed pass or two more challenges would have netted him the respective bonus.
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Kane | Tottenham | 12.9 | 24.7% |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 20.1% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 3.5% |
| Lacazette | Arsenal | 11.8 | 3.1% |
| Alli | Tottenham | 11.6 | 2.3% |
Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane’s dominance is clear to see here. It’s a brave manager who goes against this duo on the days they take to the field.
Watchlist
In this section I aim to highlight a few differential players with low ownership who I think could be good options before the overhaul in Gameweek 4.
Three specific price brackets will be used to cater for our available budgets.
The players will evolve with fixtures and form, and should offer Fantasy managers a nudge in the right direction.
| Budget | Mid-Price | Premium | |
| Defender | Ahmed Hegazi 6.2m 2.3% |
Phil Jones 7.5m 1.4% |
John Stones 8.9m 3.5% |
| Midfielder | Aaron Mooy 7.5m 2.6% |
Aaron Ramsey 9.1m 1.5% |
David Silva 10.6m 3% |
| Forward | Steve Mounie 8.5m 2.4% |
Jamie Vardy 11.2m 4.5% |
Alvaro Morata 12.2m 5% |
My Team
Forster
Stephens Goldson Hegazi
Zaha de Bruyne Xhaka Salah
Lukaku Kane Jesus
ITB: 0.3
Transfers remaining: 40/40
Last week’s points: 111
Overall points: 111
Rank: 5,845
Notes
I made a solid start, gaining respectable score given that no transfers were used.
A double clean sheet for the Saints duo and a 19-point haul from Hegazi meant my defence couldn’t have achieved much more. I’m hopeful of further returns pre-overhaul and I’m just glad no surgery is required in this area at present.
The Midfield held its own. Kevin De Bruyne failed to gain the attacking points he probably deserved, but still managed tier two passing bonus, while Granit Xhaka also made over 70 passes and picked up an unexpected pair of assists. Mo Salah was the top scoring midfielder with 16 points.
The only dampener was Zaha, who returned just two points and sustained his injury.
At present, I’m weighing up either just leaving him in and saving the transfer for captain swaps later down the line, or going on the attack to acquire Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey.
I’m also considering Manchster United’s Antonio Valencia and a shift to 4-3-3, but will wait for the line-up on Saturday morning before making the decision.
Up front was it was a total let down, with Kane and Gabriel Jesus both getting blanks and bookings.
But their pedigree was there to see and I have total faith that both will come good in the coming weeks. Lukaku grabbing a brace saved the expensive frontline from flopping altogether, but even he was a tad unlucky not to pick up the MoTM award.
Captain-wise, I was fairly successful having gone Xhaka -> De Bruyne -> Lukaku to net a total of 56 points. Opting for Salah instead of De Bruyne would have given me an extra 11 points – but at least I had him in my line-up.
Captain Plan
Sat 19th – Lukaku (swa)
Sun 20th – Kane (CHE)
Mon 21st – Jesus / de Bruyne (EVE)
Weekly Articles and Podcast
As well as the weekly Focus article, I’ll be talking through the week’s action and upcoming plans with FFS posters Buffrey and Lewis on our regular podcast – the latest episode can be found here.
We also have the dedicated RMT community article to exclusively deal with Sky Sports Fantasy teams.
Those looking to get involved should click this link.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
We’ve already set up our Fantasy Football Scout League and, after winning the League of Leagues for each of the last four seasons, we’re looking to defend our crown in 2017/18.
Get your teams in – the name is FFScout and the pin number to join is 8300422.
