There’s a Friday evening deadline of 19:00 GMT – a good idea to set your bus team now (well, you never know) – and then come back for all the latest team news, opinion, and delights from Fantasy Football Scout.
The headline from today’s pressers is that Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson has been ruled out of the mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool this Sunday.
Already a hot topic of discussion this week as Holly asked: “Are we overlooking Salah and Mané?” could the pair now be serious captain contenders…
Even before the injury to Ederson was confirmed, Irbox felt there was an opportunity given that Man City need to press and win the game, and therefore could be exposed to the Liverpool counter-attack.
Pro Pundit Sam Bonfield, who finds herself pushing for a place in the top 5,000 in Gameweek 12, is trying to decide between Salah or Mané with concerns over Salah’s problematic ankle. The Egyptian was substituted early last weekend. And in this week’s Scout Picks it’s the Senegalese who makes the starting XI at the expense of Salah:
Sadio Mané is top of the charts among his colleagues for big chances afforded in the last four Gameweeks and you have to go back until Gameweek 3 for the last time he blanked at home.
However, there was better news in midweek for Salah’s declining ownership as the top-FPL-points scorer for the past two seasons completed the full 90 minutes in Liverpool’s win over Genk. Neale noted:
The Egypt international’s sharpness was also encouraging and in many ways, this could have been a Salah performance from at any point over the last year: dangerous, full of running, plenty of shots and ultimately a bit wasteful.
On the Scoutcast this week Joe revealed to great fanfare (a background of loud bangs from Tuesday evening’s firework displays) that he is considering a Liverpool double up of Salah and Mané. This would involve getting rid of Raheem Sterling.
Fellow Scoutcaster and Pro Pundit Andy is considering selling Sterling in order to switch formation and bring in Jamie Vardy.
With many contemplating a move away from Manchester City players as their run of nice fixtures comes to an end, and as Liverpool start theirs, Az asked what are managers looking to do with their City assets?
Although Wild Rover agreed with Question Time panellist Darth_Krid, who observed:
I think ‘tough upcoming games’ doesn’t exist when talking about City’s attacking prospects. Yes, Liverpool away is their toughest fixture, but they’re perfectly capable of scoring in that game and will be coming up against Dejan Lovren. After that they have Chelsea at home who can’t keep a clean sheet for toffee, then they’re up against a temperamental Newcastle and a leaky Burnley.
City players continue to divide opinion. Greyhead, in his review of The Great and The Good, noted of Jules Breach – currently the best performing manager of this elite group:
Jules has been Sterling-less all season, will others follow as the City fixtures stiffen and the added jeopardy of the City star only being one yellow card away from suspension?
Who is the best FPL captain for Gameweek 12?
With Liverpool hosting Man City, the captaincy debate opens up this week.
David channelled his inner Rebekah Vardy when announcing that her husband currently heads the captain poll. He concluded in his Captain Sensible article:
[Arsenal] are also the division’s worst side for giving up chances through the middle in such encounters. That very much plays into the hands of Vardy, especially with so much of Leicester’s creativity in midfield also coming from the middle in James Maddison (£7.4m) and Youri Tielemans (£6.6m).
Meanwhile, in a members-only article, Neale examined the form of Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham, who has been far more productive away from home:
It is very clear from the data we have analysed that Abraham has been unfortunate not to find the net more times at Stamford Bridge this season.
Could he be a viable armband contender for those without or unwilling to trust Jamie Vardy?
In Case You Missed It
The return of Anthony Martial has brought the best out of team-mate Marcus Rashford, and the pair were on good form last night in the Europa League. There was some debate about the importance to give Mark’s Wildcard but for those of us who value his insights, it’s notable that both United players feature in his fantasy team.
One outstanding manager it’s good to see returning to the website following illness is former Hall of Fame number one, Kenneth Tang. A manager with five top 1,000 finishes over his career, he commented on Pro Pundit Zophar’s hot topic on how to predict clean sheets.
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 Competitions
For a full update on all FFS Mini-Leagues and Community Competitions, please click here to read the latest round-up.
B Bodega: Holly’s Hamster reviewed MatchWeek 3 in the Pundits Playoff community tournament.
For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 12 can be found below:
Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.
Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.
Best of luck for Gameweek 12!
