The community has run out of patience with the template, and in particular misfiring midfielders.
New blood is needed to climb up the rankings and our Hot Topic posters are full of advice on the best replacements for those players past their sell by date.
Some among the community are even daring to suggest removing Harry Kane across the week’s often heated discussions, which also take in the upcoming blank fixtures, or rather the lack of them.
Goalkeepers come under scrutiny in our Members Table round-up, while our community scribes focus on player value and get some early planning in around the upcoming blank and double Gameweeks.
We finish off with a look at the latest standings in our community competitions.
The Community Articles
For those looking to get more bang for the buck from their players, Wesmantooth’s research into points per million will prove useful reading.
Spare change will certainly be needed to afford the premium options that ‘the crowd’ are predicting will prosper in Gameweek 25, according to Hutch_James‘ latest canvassing of the masses.
Among the most sought after luxury players is Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero, who scored a hat trick against Newcastle last time out but so far has been unanimously ignored by the Career Hall of Fame top five being tracked by TopMarx.
Meanwhile, Morph is urging the community to start planning now for the season run-in’s blank and double Gameweeks. His community article on the upcoming fixture changes also puts forward some potential strategies for getting the most out of chips at this crucial time for Fantasy managers.
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 Topics
The community had been expecting Gameweek 28 to feature blank fixtures for those teams that made it through to the Carabao Cup Final.
But Chelsea’s defeat to Arsenal in the semi-final means the Blues’ league clash with Manchester United will progress as planned that week.
Meanwhile, the Gunners’ league encounter with fellow finalist Manchester City looks set to go ahead in Gameweek 28 as well, after being moved back a few days. Only the long shot of an FA Cup replay for City can see that match dip out of the schedule.
Powell got the discussion started about these latest developments, while we asked how the lack of impending blanks will alter the community’s best-laid plans.
We also considered whether the scarcity of blank fixtures on the horizon has helped or hindered veteran Fantasy Premier League managers who are used to planning for such fixture alterations.
Among transfer plans already underway is the replacement of Spurs assets who were drafted in for Gameweek 22’s double fixture, but may now be surplus to requirements given that they face Manchester United and Arsenal at home and Liverpool away in their next three.
Harry Kane has already been handed his P45 by more than 102,000 FPL managers keen to invest in Sergio Aguero, who scored a hat-trick against Newcastle in Gameweek 24 and also found the net in the Carabao Cup midweek.
Jet5605 wondered whether the Spurs striker can be successfully ditched for the Argentinian, given how the last time the Spurs man was sold in large numbers, over Christmas, he notched consecutive hat-tricks.
With Kane facing Manchester United and Aguero colliding with West Brom this week, the fixture list certainly favours the City man. But Ludo suggests the Sky Blues striker may not perform as well as expected after delving into the Baggies’ defensive statistics. There was further mention of the West Brom backline in our Hot Topic on budget defensive options.
Consideration of the best Spurs replacements earned its own Hot Topic during this week, while YMA offered further insight into Manchester City’s credentials during a scouting mission to see the Sky Blues’ Carabao Cup victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate this week. Jonahaldinho added to this by comparing the prospects of Aguero and creator-in-chief Kevin De Bruyne.
Mark wondered if anyone is considering recruiting Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez and new Gunner Henrik Mkhitaryan, who swapped clubs last week. There was further chat about the best options among Jose Mourinho’s troops, as well as a look at whether investing in the Chilean upsets squad balance.
There are also a raft of new players to consider, according to Rainy’s latest update.
Stoke midfielders are also in demand, but Stimps is curious as to why Potters playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri is a key target, given the Swiss playmaker last scored in Gameweek 15.
Ludo has also been looking at Paul Lambert’s troops and believes Joe Allen is being unfairly overlooked, while Ibracadabra prefers Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
As well as Spurs assets, another midfielder being jettisoned is Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard. A price fall this week, after two blanks in a row, indicates that his bandwagon may have derailed, a notion backed up by some of those taking part in We Will Klopp You’s discussion on the England international’s prospects. However, his goal against Yeovil in the FA Cup on Friday served as a reminder of his attacking threat.
Finally, managers who had earmarked their Free Hit chip for Gameweek 28’s potential blanks are now considering using it another time. Dino dropped by to urge Fantasy managers to consider deploying it in the final set of matches to either steal a surprise march on mini-league rivals, or protect a lead.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.
The Members Tables
Manchester United’s newest recruit is among those who are due to score, according to my latest goals imminent table. Meanwhile, for those who listened to this week’s Scoutcast discussion on goalkeepers, here is the table we were using to assess the best options.
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
Jack Wain has extended his lead over Az in the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league to 25 points, while there’s a change at the top in Red Lightning’s Top 10K Any Season league where Elvarus has overtaken Anders Lium thanks to an 86-point haul in Gameweek 24.
Redlightning’s January to May league also has a new leader, Sleepy LaBeef, who has netted an impressive 242 points so far this month and has climbed from 1.2m to 380,000 in the overall rankings.
It’s business as usual in the FFScout Members league, where Heroes and Villains retains first place, but Ian Mannion has taken over from Bowstring the Carp at the top of the main FFScout league. Ian is now up to sixth in the world following an impressive Gameweek 24 tally of 84.
In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing competition, Syd hit the top score in Gameweek 24 with 89. There are 705 teams left after 86 were eliminated when the safety score was set at 45.
Finally, Speedyboyz delivered the latest news from the Community Watch tournament, which is edging nearer to its conclusion.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-Ups, please email us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
