Friday lunchtime has us turn to the Sky Sports game as we take a look back at the previous set of fixtures, before preparing you for the forthcoming 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 23 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 |
| Huddersfield vs West Ham | Marko Arnautovic |
| Watford vs Southampton | Troy Deeney |
| Newcastle vs Swansea | Kyle Bartley |
| Crystal Palace vs Burnley | Timothy Fosu-Mensah |
| Chelsea vs Leicester | Harry Maguire |
| West Brom vs Brighton | Craig Dawson |
| Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton | Son Heung-min |
| Bournemouth vs Arsenal | Callum Wilson |
| Liverpool vs Man City | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain |
| Man United vs Stoke | Paul Pogba |
Harry Maguire (11%) was the most popular player to win the accolade in Gameweek 23.
The Leicester City defender has successive clean sheets ahead of a favourable three fixtures (WAT eve SWA) and a trip to Man City before the Overhaul becomes active.
The twinkle-toed centre-back has two goals and two MoTM awards for the season, so could be a wise addition.
The second most owned player featured is Paul Pogba (10%); his 16-point Monday night haul will have been captained by many Fantasy managers, making the Frenchman’s impact probably the most significant in the Gameweek.
Gameweek 23 Bonus Points
Let’s take a look at any player to earn 35 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 |
| Ward | Burnley | 6.2 | 5.5% |
| Coutinho | Liverpool | 11.3 | 4.6% |
| Morata | Chelsea | 12.2 | 4.4% |
| Sanchez | Arsenal | 12.7 | 3.7% |
| Richarlison | Watford | 7.6 | 2.9% |
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 7.1% |
| Lingard | Man United | 8.8 | 6.4% |
| Salah | Liverpool | 9.4 | 5.3% |
| Kane | Spurs | 12.9 | 4.5% |
| Jones | Man United | 7.5 | 4% |
Average Transfers Remaining
Top 10 – 11.30
Top 100 – 12.11
Top 1,000 – 11.92
Top 5,000 – 11.60
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Kane | Spurs | 12.9 | 38.2% |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 15.9% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 6.2% |
| De Bruyne | Man City | 11.5 | 3.7% |
| Lacazette | Arsenal | 11.8 | 3.2% |
Watchlist
Here I aim to highlight a few differential players with low ownership who I think could deliver until the Overhaul in four weeks time (Gameweek 28).
Three specific price brackets will be used to cater for our available budgets.
The players will evolve with fixtures and form, and offer Fantasy managers a nudge in the right direction.
| Budget | Mid-Price | Premium | |
| Defender | Andreas Christensen 6.4 4.1% |
Chris Smalling 8.3 1.6% |
John Stones 8.9 3.2% |
| Midfielder | Eric Choupo-Moting 8.2 1.1% |
Marko Arnautovic 8.8 2.2% |
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 8.9 1.9% |
| Forward | Glenn Murray 9.3 0.5% |
Callum Wilson 10.1 0.3% |
Cenk Tosun 11.1 0% |
My Team
Pope
Jones Otamendi Christensen Kenny
Hazard Silva Sterling De Bruyne Salah
Kane
ITB: 1.7
Transfers remaining: 13/40
Last week’s points: 77
Overall points: 1928
Rank: 190th
Notes
A slight drop in rank despite a respectable 77 points – mainly due to Paul Pogba netting 32 points as captain for my rivals – until then I’d been hovering just outside the top 100.
I missed out on Pogba, but Phil Jones still got 14 points and I kept a transfer back, so I’m in a fairly good place considering that I’m attempting to bank my trades ahead of the February Overhaul in four weeks’ time.
One transfer I’m very glad I made was to bring Mohamed Salah back into my squad – despite initially considering waiting until this coming Gameweek.
The Egyptian netted 13 points and is so highly-owned it would have killed my overall rank had I not backed down. However, removing Christen Eriksen could still hurt me on Sunday as the Dane has sustained his convincing form.
As mentioned, I’m hoping to make it to the Overhaul without spending any further transfers.
But some players are on thin ice, with Jonjoe Kenny and Nick Pope possibly losing their first-team berths soon, while Eden Hazard, David Silva and Andreas Christensen have had their minutes limited of late.
If I have to use a couple then so be it, but if I can get to Gameweek 28 with 11 or more, I’ll be very happy, given the average transfer data listed above.
Captain Plan
Sat 20th – De Bruyne (NEW)
Sun 21st – Kane (sot)
Mon 22nd – Salah (swa)
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
Our Fantasy Football Scout League is currently topping the League of Leagues as we look to defend our crown in 2017/18.
