Our packed Friday schedule continues with our regular switch to focus on the Sky Sports Fantasy game, as we look back at the weekend action before preparing you for the bumper incoming 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 38 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 |
| Liverpool vs Stoke | Kurt Zouma |
| Newcastle vs West Brom | Matt Phillips |
| Crystal Palace vs Leicester | Wilfried Zaha |
| Southampton vs Bournemouth | Dusan Tadic |
| Huddersfield vs Everton | Idrissa Gueye |
| Burnley vs Brighton | Mathew Ryan |
| Swansea vs Chelsea | Cesc Fabregas |
| West Ham vs Man City | Raheem Sterling |
| Man United vs Arsenal | Ainsley Maitland-Niles |
| Tottenham Hotspur vs Watford | Kieran Trippier |
Raheem Sterling (14.9%) was the highest-owned player to earn the MoTM award this week.
Somewhat surprisingly, it was only his third of the season, but when your team-mates include Kevin De Bruyne (ten), David Silva (six) and Sergio Aguero (four), it becomes more apparent as to why that’s the case.
The second most popular player – Wilfried Zaha – sits at a lowly 4.2%. He’s long been touted in our watchlist and now has three double-figure hauls in his last four fixtures.
This was his fifth award of the season and, if it were not for injury costing him a large chunk of the season, I suspect this figure would have been even higher.
He certainly has our attention with the next campaign in mind.
Gameweek 38 Bonus Points
Let’s take a look at any player to earn 50 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 |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 16.1% |
| Walker | Man City | 9.5 | 5.8% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 3.8% |
| Firmino | Liverpool | 11.6 | 3.8% |
| Son | Spurs | 10.8 | 3.6% |
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Kane | Spurs | 12.9 | 9% |
| Jesus | Man City | 12.1 | 6.1% |
| Sterling | Man City | 9.8 | 6.1% |
| Firmino | Liverpool | 11.6 | 4.8% |
| Sanchez | Man United | 12.7 | 3.6% |
Average Transfers Remaining
Top 10 – 0.70
Top 100 – 1.52
Top 1,000 – 1.77
Top 5,000 – 1.93
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Kane | Spurs | 12.9 | 31%% |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 15.8% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 6% |
| Salah | Liverpool | 9.4 | 3.9% |
| De Bruyne | Man City | 11.5 | 3% |
My Team
Karius
Ward van der Hoorn Christensen
Ramsey Sterling Zaha De Bruyne Salah
Kane Sanchez
ITB: 0.6
Transfers remaining: 0/40
Last week’s points: 82
Overall points: 2993
Rank: 148th
Notes
I’ve moved up to 148th place ahead of what feels like the most important Gameweek of the season.
In truth, it could have been even better had I stuck with my original plan of Sterling as captain over De Bruyne.
I will try not to dwell on that too much, however, as owning Sterling over the more popular choice amongst the top 100, Gabriel Jesus, has worked wonders so far and is probably why I jumped 30 places in rank.
Looking forward to this week, it feels like captains will play a massive part in my top 100 hopes.
This is where I really need my differential Alexis Sanchez to finally step up – I’m going to be handing him the armband twice – but given his lack of points so far, I’ll be happy enough if he starts both matches. With Romelu Lukaku out injured, I hope his chances of that are increased.
The other big decision will be on Wednesday, when Harry Kane and both my Man City players feature.
Many managers will be in the same boat, and it feels like mini-leagues could be decided on that evening.
Luckily, we get a warm-up match for both teams prior to that, as well as a look at the teamsheets on the evening before we commit, so hopefully a clear favourite will emerge.
If I can come out of this week with a top 100 rank, I will be delighted.
See you on the other side…
Captain Plan
Fri 4th May – Alexis Sanchez
Sat 5th May – Harry Kane
Sun 6th May – Raheem Sterling
Tues 8th May – Mike van der Hoorn
Weds 9th May – Harry Kane/Raheem Sterling
Thurs 10th May –Alexis Sanchez
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.
