Following the dizzying festive period – if the sherry didn’t make your head spin, the quickfire succession of gameweeks probably did – there’s been a welcome break thanks to last weekend’s FA Cup matches. This has given users and writers on Fantasy Football Scout plenty of time to gather their thoughts and assess their options.
J0E took the opportunity to provide us with a summary of his superb ‘Meet the Manager’ series of interviews. The videos have provided invaluable insights into how these managers achieved their success in FPL. Despite the similarities, there isn’t one magic formula, success can be achieved with differing approaches.
Rotation’s Alter Ego began a discussion on premium assets, a topic which has interested me amongst others. David delved into the numbers, looking at various performance indicators and upcoming fixtures to provide his take on which of these elite performers to own.
There’s also been a members’ table put together by FPL Virgin focusing on the six players – he examines their expected goal involvement. Neale (aka Skonto Rigga) looked at some lesser used key performance indicators (KPIs), in which the premium assets inevitably featured quite highly. In my members article, I aimed to provide a bit of context to the expect goal numbers to help assess the individual merits of the £11.0m+ players.
But this is far from the only topic of interest this week. Camzy questioned how Son’s departure to Asia Cup could impact upon Kane’s fortunes in the wittily titled hot topic – Will Kane still shine with no Son?
Meanwhile Dredd put together a Son replacement members’ table to find out who could succeed him in our midfields. He’ll be a hard act to follow.
Following Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Liverpool both Camzy and Rotation’s Alter Ego initiated hot topics on the Sky Blues – will the victory inspire a new dawn? Are we risking overlooking their assets?
In terms of planning ahead, David and Neale both penned articles on the possible blank and double gameweeks: City’s nine-goal victory in the first leg of the league cup all but confirms a Gameweek 27 blank; while Liverpool’s cup defeat to Wolves confirmed that they will have a fixture in Gameweek 31.
Gameweek 31 clashes with the FA Cup quarter finals, which will no doubt feature a number of Premier League teams, resulting in a fixture blank for those taking part and their Gameweek 31 opponents.
Will Liverpool and Salah benefit from the extra rest thanks to going out of both domestic cup competitions?
Salah was the subject of our FPL Question Time this week, as our panel of FPL luminaries grappled with the big issues. Expert opinion was provided by the FPL General, Tom from Who Got the Assist?, and Holly from Fantasy Football Community.
On the topic of blank and double gameweeks, Holly advised planning ahead:
“With double and blank Gameweeks starting to come on the horizon, an early look at the clubs to target could make the decision making process even easier.”
Upcoming fixtures were the subject of an article by Neale as he took the first regular “frisk” of the Premier League fixtures of the New Year. And G-Whizz was once again on hand to provide us with the latest fixture and clean sheet odds ahead of Gameweek 22.
Taking the upcoming fixtures one stage further, David dived into the stats to unearth any ‘chinks in the armour’ of opposition defences. Which players are set to benefit over the next few gameweeks? Where FPL teams concede the most chances from – Part 1 & Part 2 draws up a list of likely contenders.
Of course no gameweek would be complete without David’s insightful Captain Sensible article – which player will you trust with the armband?
Finally, spare a thought for chris_k who, like many of us, puts umpteen hours into FPL, and yet is losing to someone who doesn’t even watch the games. To make matters worse this person is his wife!
Famously, of course, Simon March won FPL in 2014/15 watching very few live matches, so it’s not a prerequisite for success. It’s also worth pointing out that chris_k’s wife is an auditor with a Master’s degree in accounting, so she’s obviously very adept at using the stats.
Whilst a judicious use stats can deliver success, to dismiss the eye test would be foolish. I can only hope that the second half of the season brings chris_k better fortune.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.
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.
Community Tournaments
The latest cup results are in, the headline news is that Mark has been eliminated from the FFS Cup and that competition will now have a new name on the trophy. The draw for the next round in that competition and in the FFS Members Cup have taken place. At this stage there are still 16 managers left in each cup, the finals will take place Gameweek 25.
In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing the safety score in Gameweek 21 was 39, this saw 101 managers depart leaving 881 still standing. It is still possible to enter the competition – provided you meet the qualification criteria – entries must be in before 8.00pm on the 14th January.
Miroslav Pujic has increased his lead to an impressive 28 points at the top of our main FFS League and is third overall. He features the likes of Salah, Kane, Aubameyang, and Son in his team, which would help explain his recent points tally. This is his fourth FPL season and he is improving each year – he will certainly beat last season’s rank of 10,316 overall.
Tore Bjørheim has regained his lead at the top of the FFS Members League, taking over from fellow Norwegian Aleksander Våge Nilsen. Manchester United fan Tore signed Rashford (£7.3m) in Gameweek 19. He clearly has faith in his fellow countryman Ole Gunnar Solskjær to bring the best out of the young striker.
Marlen Rattiner is the new leader of the FFS Live Hall of Fame. In the second instalment of The Great and The Good v The Hall of Fame, in which Greyhead and I go head-to-head, I take a look at the recent developments in Marlen’s team.
Ragabolly is the new leader in the FFS Mods & Cons. Last season he managed a career best 2,821 overall rank, currently at 4,723 he will be looking to beat that this year. Similar to Miroslav, he has a trio of premium players – Salah, Kane, and Aubameyang – supplemented by Pogba and Son in midfield. Easy to understand why he has done well recently.
Luke Aiello has maintained his 16-point lead at the top of RedLightning’s Top 10k Any Season and has moved up to 30th in the overall standings. He played a mini-wildcard (three transfers for -4) in Gameweek 20 removing Ederson, Kolasinac, and Balbuena for Button, Digne and David Luiz. Luke has Salah, Hazard, and Kane as his trio of players costing over £11.0m.
297 managers joined RedLightning’s January to May League ahead of Gameweek 21. Following an impressive 81 points Desislava Nikova is the early leader.
The draw for the quarter-finals of the FFS Manager Melee Community Tournament has been made, the matches will take place this gameweek. Good luck to the eight remaining teams!
It was announced this week that the 2019/20 season will see a return of the FFS Head to Head leagues. They will be run by long time FFS user MIR. More details will follow later in the season.
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 geoff@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk
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