The first round of fixtures in Fantasy Allsvenskan is done and dusted and we have a summary of some of the talking points from gameweek 1.
Bonus points in midfield
For newcomers to Fantasy Allsvenskan the bonus system might be hard to grasp initially, we’ve covered that briefly in the introductory article here.
The first gameweek of the season has already thrown out some names that might be interesting for us going forward.
Rasmus Elm (7.5m) got the maximum 2 bonus points for offensive contribution and 2 bonus for defensive actions, netting him 6 points in total (!) despite Kalmar losing their game 0-2 and him thus not getting any clean sheet, assists or goals. Very interesting.
Gudmundur “Gudi” Thorarinsson (8.5m) is an expected bonus darling and he got 3 bonus this round thanks to his all-round performance, again no goals or assists.
Jonathan Levi (8.0m) was everywhere against Hammarby and also got 3 bonus but ended up with a total of 4 points, thanks to his yellow card making sure he didn’t quite reach Gudis and Elms bonus heights.
The benefitors of the bonus system will be important to keep track of, as it means we can be slightly less reliant on clean sheets, goals and assists for points potential.
Forward options
Mohamed Buya Turay (9.5m), Marcus Antonsson (11.0m) and Alexander Jeremejeff (9.5m) all delivered attacking returns, while Rasmus Jönsson (7.5m) became the top scoring striker this week with his brace for Helsingborg. Last year’s golden boy Paulinho (12.0m) played only 65 minutes against Malmö and went off the pitch with just the one extra bonus point for his ball recoveries while last season’s runner-up for the golden boot Linus Hallenius (10.5m) netted a goal away to Djurgården.
Vidar Örn Kjartansson (10.0m) struggled to make an impact in his debut for Hammarby and his owners will be hoping the home game against Kalmar on Sunday can provide him with the right platform to get going. Pawel Cibicki (8.5m) for Elfsborg in the same game looked fantastic however and was unlucky not to score at least one goal, hitting both the bar and the post within a 30-second window. On a lot of free kicks, corners and involved in pretty much everything good Elfsborg did, he was very close to getting 3 bonus points but ended up with just the 1 defensive point for ball recoveries. One to watch!
Denni Avdic (6.0m) started his time at AFC Eskilstuna in a great fashion with his goal in the 29th minute. Are the shoes laced correctly this year? Can he provide decent value or is he way past his prime?
The old hero Lasse Vibe (8.5m) has post-GW1 deadline returned to IFK Göteborg where he scored 23 goals and 6 assists in 26 appearances back in 2014. In 2015 he moved to English championship side Brentford where he scored 37 goals and 13 assists in 97 appearances, before going away for an unsuccessful stint at Chinese side Changchun Yatai in 2018. He’s not currently match-fit according to himself as he last played a game of competitive football in November 2018. He will probably be eased into it but he should be on everybody radar if he can rediscover his old form.
Another post-deadline signing Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (9.5m) has arrived at AIK, putting question-marks over who the preferred front two will be. He faces competition from Henok Goitom (10.0m) Tarik Elyounoussi (9.0m) and Chinedu Obasi (9.0m), with Elyounoussi potentially dropping to midfield to accommodate the Icelandic international. Sigthorsson is coming from a period of downtime due to injuries but like Obasi, has qualities beyond this league if fit (and back to his old self…). In the past he’s played regular football for Dutch side AZ Alkmaar (18 goals, 3 assists in 43 games) and Ajax (35 goals, 8 assists in 105 games) while his time at French side FC Nantes since 2015 hasn’t been a success story. For English readers he might be best known as the player who scored the winning goal for Iceland when they knocked England out of the round of 16, in Euro 2016.
Defensive solidity
AIK came through with the usual clean sheet at home to Östersund in an opening day 0-0 draw. Many of the fantasy squads currently on top went with triple AIK defence, some of them electing to deploy the ”Park the bus”-chip giving them double points for all defenders (at the expense of a regular captain). AIK will remain a popular premium option when hunting for clean sheets.
AFC Eskilstuna failed to keep a clean sheet at home to IFK Göteborg, conceding in the 84th minute in their 3-1 victory. Joy was still to be found though in their budget defence, as goalkeeper Mihael Ivanov (4.5m) and defender Kadir Hodzic (4.5m) both netted 4 points despite conceding, thanks to bonus points and saves. Could AFC Eskilstuna be the go-to options for value overall this year or are their opponents IFK Göteborg still too bad to draw any conclusions from?
Helsingborg looks to hit the ground running – but what about Pär Hansson?
Helsingborg wasted no time in establishing themselves back at Swedish top-flight football, beating IFK Norrköping with 3-1. There are a lot of players priced well in this squad and along with AFC Eskilstuna, they can provide value for our squads going forward like Rasmus Jönsson (7.5m), Kalle Joelsson (4.0) and Andri Runar Bjarnason (7.0m) to name a few.
Goalkeeper Pär Hansson (4.5m) will miss the entire first half of the season with his neck injury and no one really knows when he will be back yet. Terrible news for Pär Hansson and Helsingborg supporters alike, for our squads though that does seem to open up for back-up goalkeeper Kalle Joelsson getting the starting spot for a while. Tottenham Hotspurs youth keeper aptly named Tom Glover (4.5m) has been loaned in however and will provide competition for Joelsson.
Malmö and Häcken cancelling each other out
The big game beforehand turned out to contain quite some interesting highlights and talking points to take away from the match. Marcus Antonsson (11.0) lined up in attack for Malmö alongside Jo Inge Berget (9.0m), the former scoring a goal and being denied a brace from the penalty-spot as Häcken’s Peter Abrahamsson (6.0m) saved his close-range effort. Daleho Irandust (9.5m) scored the equalizer shortly after coming on, assisted by the popular striker Jeremejeff, while Paulinho looked threatening but failed to find the back of the net before being substituted in the 65th minute as a precautionary measure (having apparently complained to coach Andreas Alm about a feeling in his knee). His reaction upon being substituted raised a few eye-brows though as he appeared very angry and threw things about, but Alm tried to smooth things over post-game claiming that he simply could not risk letting him play on.
What are your thoughts on the topics above?
What else stood out for you in GW1 of Fantasy Allsvenskan?
How are you preparing for GW2?
Meltens
