There’s been no let-up this week in the community’s preparations for the Gameweek 31 blanks.
Our regular writers look at how the top Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are gearing up for the four-fixture week and also find time to preview the start of Norwegian top-flight action this weekend.
The best use of our chips around the forthcoming blank and double Gameweeks have been keeping our Hot Topic posters busy. What to do with Manchester City assets and some recent surprising bonus point hauls have caught their eye as well.
Teams that are due set-piece rewards are among the subjects covered in the latest Members tables and we finish our round-up with a look at the standings in the community leagues and tournaments.
The Community Articles
Ragabolly has been delving into the line-ups of the Top 10,000 FPL managers to find out how well prepared they are for blank Gameweek 31. His excellent analysis reveals how many players from this reduced set of fixtures they own, how many free transfers they have left and data on their Free Hit chip deployment.
Meanwhile, Top Marx’s latest look at the Career Hall of Fame top five also includes an analysis of their preparations for Gameweek 31. He returned later in the week to serve up a fascinating interview with Matt Kearney aka Bowstring the Carp, who is currently 10th in the overall rankings.
Given that Manchester City are among those to blank in Gameweek 31, their clash with Stoke on Monday could be their final chance to shine in many of the community’s teams. According to Hutch_James‘ latest look at the crowd’s predictions this trip to the Bet365 stadium should be a high scoring swan song for the Sky Blues.
For those considering using the Free Hit chip in Gameweek 31, FPL Virgin urges caution. His latest article looks at the merits of saving it for Gameweek 37 to take advantage of the likely double set of fixtures taking place then.
Elsewhere, preparations for this weekend’s start of Norwegian top-flight game Eliteserien picked up, with Tacalabala posting an interview with Bodø/Glimt striker Kristian Fardal Opseth, who reveals his top Fantasy picks.
In addition, Niemi delivered the fourth part of the Eliteserien previews he has been writing with Mr Klin of Norway. Congratulations to both these scribes, who have been voted the best community contributors in February for this beloved series. A £20 Amazon voucher is on their way to each.
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
Gameweek 31’s blank fixtures dominated discussions this week, with SW6 focusing on the best defensive assets in his look at the clean sheet odds for this set of fixtures.
The Scoutcast’s discussion on players worthy of a Gameweek 31 hit then spilt out onto the boards. This Hot Topic also sees Mark and I continue our exchange of statistics regarding the pros and cons of investing in Everton winger Theo Walcott, who is among the limited number of players taking to the field that weekend.
For Twisted Saltergater, taking hits in Gameweek 31 is not even on the agenda as he puts forward the case for deploying the Free Hit chip then instead. Best_07 is also wondering if this would be the best time for this chip in his Hot Topic questioning the current consensus of using it in the next blank set of fixtures, in Gameweek 35.
Numb was another to wonder whether deploying this chip in Gameweek 31 may well be the savviest move, particularly as early targeting of players such as Walcott, who has blanked in his last four run-outs, has yet to bring rewards. Chips also come under scrutiny in Red Lightning’s discussion on changes FPL could consider next season.
Another Gameweek 31 asset currently frustrating early adopters has been Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson, who is on a four-match run of blanks. Toby Lerone is among those who are considering handing this misfiring striker his P45.
Our Hot Topic on lessons learned from the last set of fixtures highlights Wilson’s team-mate Josh King as a possible replacement, particularly after he scored from the spot against Leicester last weekend.
Manchester City players are also being considered for the chop as a result of missing Gameweek 31, rotation fears due to Champions League involvement and the possibility of having the title wrapped up by Gameweek 34.
We asked those still with Sky Blues assets about their plans, especially those who are holding on to Raheem Sterling, who has only recently returned to training following injury.
However, the winger’s absence in Sunday’s 1-0 home victory over Chelsea proved a blessing in disguise for those with a strong bench – one of the tales from our “rough with the smooth” round-up of your latest scores.
All the talk around Gameweek 31 means it has become easy to lose focus on this weekend’s matches and, in particular, the captaincy conundrum. On paper, Harry Kane looks the best candidate ahead of a visit to Bournemouth, but we also opened discussion on whether there were other compelling options for the armband.
Among these could be Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who hosts Watford and has emerged as a potential bonus point magnet after bagging a maximum against Brighton last weekend despite being on the losing side. Individual dropped by to offer his explanation as to why the Gunners forward scooped this surprising award.
Meanwhile, Doosra’s number crunching predictions for Gameweek 30, as delivered by G-Whizz, also suggest that investment in Arsenal assets could be advantageous.
To view all our discussions, please visit our Hot Topics page.
The Members Tables
Mark’s latest table focuses on teams that are most likely to score from set-pieces, while FPL Virgin’s research into the best Gameweek 31 assets has seen him create this collection of tables sorted by expected goal involvement depending on whether they play home or away.
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 snatched back top spot in the FFScout moderators and contributors league, pushing me into second spot with an eight-point cushion.
But I still lead QPR Utd’s FFS Frequent Summer Posters league, with Zoumas Bloomers in second, closely followed by QPR Utd himself in third.
It’s also business as usual in Red Lightning’s competitions. Elvarus still dominates his Top 10K Any Season league, despite dropping to 58th overall, while Shirin Nizar has increased her lead in his January to May league and is now up to 279th overall.
FFS Members league leader Paul Gee clings on to top spot and moves up to 14th place in the overall standings. But Damir Te Nay has been unseated at the summit of the main FFScout league by Rizwan Chaudhry, who is up to seventh overall.
In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing, the safety score was 49, which saw 77 players depart and 308 remain.
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.
