Time for our weekly 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 our line-up and future plans.
Gameweek 6 Man of the Match Awards
These were the players who caught the eye of the Sky Sports reporters and earned an extra five points as a result.
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Bournemouth vs Brighton | Jordon Ibe |
| Crystal Palace vs Southampton | Mario Lemina |
| Watford vs Man City | Sergio Aguero |
| Liverpool vs Burnley | Nick Pope |
| Huddersfield vs Leicester | Aaron Mooy |
| Newcastle vs Stoke | Matt Ritchie |
| West Brom vs West Ham | Michail Antonio |
| Tottenham vs Swansea | Federico Fernandez |
| Chelsea vs Arsenal | Aaron Ramsey |
| Man United vs Everton | Antonio Valencia |
Sergio Aguero was the headline act this week, netting 27 points against Watford.
The Argentinian is now the highest-scoring forward in the game and just one point behind the top player overall, Mohamed Salah.
Aguero is also priced at 12.8, the second most expensive player behind Harry Kane, making him difficult to acquire with one transfer unless you’re looking at a direct swap or multiple trades.
However, many Fantasy managers will doubtless be tearing up their plans in order to shoehorn him in ahead of a home clash against the struggling Crystal Palace.
Aaron Mooy, Matt Ritchie and Michail Antonio all earned their second accolades for the season and continue to look the strongest options in their respective teams.
Gameweek 6 Bonus Points
Let’s take a look at any player to earn eight points or more in bonus for the season.
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 |
| Pogba | Man United | 11.2 | 13.2% |
| Mane | Liverpool | 11.0 | 7.8% |
| Mounie | Huddersfield | 8.5 | 3.4% |
| Hernandez | West Ham | 10.7 | 2.8% |
| Firmino | Liverpool | 11.6 | 2.3% |
Paul Pogba and Sadio Mane are again the top targets out, while Steve Mounie takes up third place after failing to make the weekend due to injury. He’s ruled out again for Gameweek 6.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 7.3% |
| Salah | Liverpool | 9.4 | 5.2% |
| Mkhitaryan | Man United | 10 | 4.3% |
| de Bruyne | Man City | 11.5 | 4.2% |
| Eriksen | Tottenham | 10.8 | 4.0% |
Unsurprisingly, Aguero is the top target this week, while the remaining four midfielders look to have been drafted in to replace Paul Pogba or Sadio Mane and promise to be great options in the coming weeks.
Average Transfers Remaining
Top 10 – 20.70
Top 100 – 26.49
Top 1,000 – 29.44
Top 5,000 – 30.99
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 30.2% |
| Kane | Tottenham | 12.9 | 23.5% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 7.6% |
| Lacazette | Arsenal | 11.8 | 3.1% |
| Morata | Chelsea | 12.2 | 3.0% |
Watchlist
Here I aim to highlight a few differential players with low ownership who I think could be good options for the coming six weeks.
Three specific price brackets will be used to cater for our available budgets.
The players will evolve with fixtures and form to offer Fantasy managers a nudge in (hopefully) the right direction.
| Budget | Mid-Price | Premium | |
| Defender | Ciaran Clark 6.6m 1.4% |
Cedric 7.9m 3.5% |
Sead Kolasinac 8.3m 6.1% |
| Midfielder | Pascal Gross 7.3m 3.7% |
Aaron Ramsey 9.1m 2.8% |
David Silva 10.6m 5.1% |
| Forward | Joselu 7.9m 0.8% |
Jamie Vardy 11.2m 4.1% |
Alexis Sanchez 12.7m 2.6% |
My Team
Forster
Naughton Jorgensen Suttner
Coutinho Matic Knockaert Salah
Lukaku Kane Lacazette
ITB: 0.6
Transfers remaining: 35/40
Last week’s points: 85
Overall points: 385
Rank: 4,297
Notes
The consistent Salah (10 points) and Nemanja Matic (eight) brought home some decent returns, while Fraser Forster and Kyle Naughton both bagged nine points for me at the back.
My captains were Jermain Defoe (14), Harry Kane (four) and then Romelu Lukaku (20), which is more than I have got in recent weeks from my armband.
In a couple of last minute decisions, I opted for Philippe Coutinho to replace Paul Pogba rather than Ben Davies or Christian Eriksen. He returned just four points, but so did Eriksen and Davies didn’t even feature. Moving forward, I feel I have the right choice in Coutinho if he can rekindle last season’s form.
The other swap was Defoe out for Alexandre Lacazette, which I was going to leave until the Gunners played West Brom this Monday.
But having watched the Friday night fixture, I thought I would rather make the trade early to get Arsenal’s Sunday match versus Chelsea. It didn’t work as he blanked, but things could have been so different if the Frenchman hadn’t missed a glaring opportunity.
I’m pretty happy with my team and rate of transfers in relation to the average, my main worry is, of course, the lack of Man City attack, namely Aguero for this week.
Although City have some favourable fixtures, they’re still not really essential captain-wise, with Harry Kane or Romelu Lukaku a viable alternative in each matchday they play.
As mentioned above, Kane and Aguero are so close in price it almost feels like a head-to-head decision involving Kane +1 transfer v Aguero.
Such is my blind faith in Kane; I think I have made my choice.
Now, to take my seat behind that sofa…
Captain Plan
Sat 23rd – Kane (whu)
Sun 24th – Knockaert (NEW)
Mon 25th – Lacazette (WBA)
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.
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.
