Friday lunchtime delivers our weekly Sky Sports summary, looking back on the previous Gameweek and preparing you for the incoming fixtures.
As always, we’ll examine the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, the bonus point beneficiaries, transfer trends and Watchlist, then move on to the Scout team and our future plans.
Gameweek 18 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 |
| West Ham vs Chelsea | Marko Arnautovic |
| Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth | Jermain Defoe |
| Spurs vs Stoke | Son Hueng-min |
| Burnley vs Watford | Johann Berg Gudmundsson |
| Swansea vs West Brom | Wilfried Bony |
| Huddersfield vs Brighton | Steve Mounie |
| Newcastle vs Leicester | Demarai Gray |
| Southampton vs Arsenal | Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg |
| Liverpool vs Everton | Jonjoe Kenny |
| Man United vs Man City | Kevin De Bruyne |
| Burnley vs Stoke | Ashley Barnes |
| Crystal Palace vs Watford | Wilfried Zaha |
| Huddersfield vs Chelsea | Eden Hazard |
| Newcastle vs Everton | Ashley Williams |
| Swansea vs Man City | David Silva |
| Southampton vs Leicester | Shinji Okazaki |
| Man United vs Bournemouth | David de Gea |
| Liverpool vs West Brom | Salomon Rondon |
| West Ham vs Arsenal | Angelo Ogbonna |
| Spurs vs Brighton | Son Hueng-min |
Kevin De Bruyne (five) and Eden Hazard (four) continue their pursuit of Mohamed Salah (six) at the summit of the MoTM table.
Ironically, the awards for the pair of Belgians were questionable on the day, with several other team-mates also in the frame for the gong. This highlights the reporters’ perceived bias, which continues to make creative midfielders great options for our XI.
Elsewhere, Everton’s Jonjoe Kenny, at just 4.3, looks a very enticing option at present.
Price alone is enough of a reason to include him, but delving further into the statistics highlights that he’s started the last nine for the Toffees, including a run of four matches that reads seven, seven, six, ten in terms of points.
A special mention also goes to Son Hueng-min, who picked up the accolade in both his Gameweek outings for Spurs. If only a certain Harry Kane could follow suit.
Gameweek 18 Bonus Points
Let’s take a look at any player to earn 25 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 |
| Morata | Chelsea | 12.2 | 13.8% |
| Ramsey | Arsenal | 9.1 | 5.8% |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 4.9% |
| Jesus | Man City | 12.1 | 4.3% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 3.9% |
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Kane | Spurs | 12.9 | 27.1% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 11.8 | 4.1% |
| Otamendi | Man City | 8.6 | 3.9% |
| Morata | Chelsea | 12.2 | 6.2% |
| Tarkowski | Burnley | 6.1 | 3.3% |
Average Transfers Remaining
Top 10 – 13.00
Top 100 – 16.07
Top 1,000 – 15.98
Top 5,000 – 16.02
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Kane | Spurs | 12.9 | 30.1% |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 17.8% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 7.3% |
| Salah | Liverpool | 9.4 | 6.6% |
| De Bruyne | Man City | 11.5 | 4.6% |
Watchlist
This list aims 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 and should offer Fantasy managers a nudge in the right direction.
| Budget | Mid-Price | Premium | |
| Defender | Mathias Jorgensen 5.7 4.3% | Andreas Christensen 6.4 1.9% | Phil Jones 7.5 5.3% |
| Midfielder | Eric Choupo-Moting 8.2 1.1% | Wilfried Zaha 9.3 3.8% | Mesut Ozil 11.1 1.8% |
| Forward | Dominic Calvert-Lewin 7.8 1.9% | Jamie Vardy 11.2 5.1% | Alexis Sanchez 12.7 3.3% |
My Team
Pope
Gomez Jones Otamendi Christensen
Hazard Coutinho De Bruyne Salah Richarlison
Kane
ITB: 1.0
Transfers remaining: 18/40
Last week’s points: 172
Overall points: 1387
Rank: 182nd
Notes
I’m now up to 182nd in the rankings, but at the cost of a few more transfers. The injury to Kiko Fermenia and the benching of Leroy Sane and Kyle Walker forced my hand somewhat. Though, in truth, I probably jumped the gun and could have attempted to ride out the setbacks.
Having said that, Sane has been a thorn in my side ever since I brought him in back in Gameweek 16; he’s scored just four points in as many matches.
That decision hurts even more given that, at the time, I was weighing him up against David Silva. I’d usually have gone for the Spaniard, given his advantage for passing bonus points, but in this case, I opted for Sane as he was simply on fire.
Silva has subsequently notched up 46 points in those four weeks, meaning that in theory, I could have been 42 points better off and sitting in 44th place overall – a chilling thought.
I’m now looking to limit my transfer activity as much as possible; my line-up looks settled and I’m happy with it.
Having said that, I could be tempted into shifting out Richarlison if injured, along with Liverpool’s Joe Gomez. The aforementioned Kenny and Silva would be drafted in, giving me an all-star attack.
Captain Plan
Sat 16th – Hazard (SOT)
Sun 17th – Salah (bou)
Mon 18th – None
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
After winning the League of Leagues in 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.
