As with last week, Wildcarders have once again hogged the limelight amongst the community chatter as they worked to finalise their revamped squads.
Our Hot Topic posters are full of eleventh-hour tips, although according to one of our community writers, those deploying this chip may be better off sitting on their hands.
Elsewhere, our scribes also investigate the most creative players, while our community discussions chew over other issues, including the best Chelsea options, bonus points stars and the origins of the Fantasy Premier League.
There’s further analysis of Antonio Conte’s assets in our Members tables round-up, while we finish off by showcasing a couple of community competitions that have been overlooked to this point.
The Community Articles
Stilicho has decided to take it easy this season in FPL by setting up a “ghost ship” team based around a power-five defence, which will sail through the 2017/18 fixture list without a single transfer or line-up change.
The community article on his (lack of) endeavours shows that he’s faring very well indeed and is even on course to top the Fantasy Football Scout moderators and contributors league, which he joined ahead of Gameweek 8.
Double Gameweek fever is taking Norwegian top flight game Fantasy Eliteserien by storm this week with Niemi on hand to run the rule over the best options.
Football’s chief creators are the focus of André94PT’s Members exclusive community article as he looks at a range of measures to discover more on these maestros.
Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas are among such players who are backed for success in Gameweek 8 in Hutch_James‘ latest canvassing of the crowd.
Meanwhile, Top Marx has been voted by you as the favourite community writer for the month of September. His latest article plotting the progress of the Hall of Fame top five 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 Topic
Wildcarders are making the final tweaks to their overhauled squads tonight but, with so many expensive options across all positions, Legomane asked those deploying this chip ahead of Gameweek 8 what sacrifices they are making.
We have also helped out with a rate my Wildcard team Hot Topic for those seeking and willing to give last minute advice.
As Sully 29’s discussion on this chip points out, there are still a number of big decisions remaining, including how we configure our strikers.
Manchester City’s options are the main concerns. Earlier this week, Ktk_Interista considered whether Gabriel Jesus is worth acquiring in the light of Sergio Aguero’s speedy recovery from a rib injury. Spartac Mac also takes a look at the Brazilian and how he compares with his team-mates for points potential.
Our discussion on forward line strategy also shows that there is still no consensus on how many heavy-hitters to field up front, let alone which attackers warrant selection.
For those considering transferring in Jamie Vardy, the Leicester striker’s aerial threat could prove pivotal, says our hot topic on the best headers of the ball.
The Foxes frontman is among this week’s most popular players in FPL’s transfer market, claiming more than 225,000 new owners. But being the latest bandwagon has not proved a guarantee of success, according to Page 302‘s ”beat the knee-jerkers” update, which looks at the performance of a team he is compiling each week based on the most popular transfers.
Among the latest flops in this series is Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata, who following a double-digit haul in Gameweek 6, lasted just 34 minutes due to injury last time out to return just a single point.
His likely absence this weekend could see Blues midfielder Eden Hazard fielded in an advanced attacking role, which is among a number of reasons we give on why the Belgian should be a target.
However, Kysersosa’s analysis of his toils on the road may put some off, especially as he has four away days in his next six.
Other Blues options worth considering are Cesc Fabregas and Cesar Azpiliceuta, who both feature prominently in our look at FPL’s baseline bonus point stars, which is calculated by stripping out goals and assist points. Ludo added to this topic later in the week by analysing why forwards tend to do so badly using this measure.
While Chelsea’s fixtures look far brighter from this weekend, Manchester United’s worsen. This prompted Cheese to wonder whether it is worth hanging on to Red Devils defenders over the coming Gameweeks.
Finally, Skooldaze dusted off his time machine to take us back to the origins of FPL, when a budget teenage striker by the name of Wayne was among the emerging bandwagons.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.
The Members Tables
The best Chelsea defenders are the subject of FPL Virgin’s most recent table, while FPL Shotlas has been focusing on cheap midfielders.
Elsewhere the latest baseline bonus points stars are revealed in my bonus magnets table and I’ve also taken a look at Manchester City’s key players, in particular their sharpest shooters.
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
With no Premier League action last weekend we thought we’d provide an update on a couple of community tournaments that we haven’t covered for a while.
The Ironman leagues have been created by Teddy to cover a range of Fantasy formats and currently PDM is the man to beat, as he is currently top of both the FPL and FPL draft leagues. Elsewhere in the competition, I’m top of the Ironman Dugout draft contest.
PDM also tops the FFS Old Farts Club, which has been set up for our community’s oldest and wisest members.
Meanwhile, this weekend sees the second set of matches in the Community Watch tournament, according to Dreams‘ latest update from on behalf of the organising committee.
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.
