Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfers and strategies of some noted Fantasy managers, from serial top 10k finishers to well-known faces.
The Great and The Good this season are the BlackBox pair of Mark Sutherns and Az, Scouts Joe Lepper, Tom Freeman, Neale Rigg, Geoff Dance, Pro Pundits Pras, Zophar and FPL Harry, FPL “celebrities” Magnus Carlsen, FPL General, LTFPL Andy, Ben Crellin, from the Hall of Fame, Fabio Borges, FPL Matthew, Finn Sollie and Tom Stephenson and of course last year’s mini-league winner and overall no. 2 Suvansh.
“Don’t you want me baby?”
Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m) may not have been working as waitresses in a cocktail bar five years ago but they certainly have had the FPL world at their feet during the last few seasons. Now it feels like they are only human after all.
Those amongst ‘The Great and The Good’ who stayed faithful to these two Reds suffered reds themselves this weekend as they failed to perform and – with news of Alexander-Arnold’s injury joined by Reece James‘ (£6.1m) European misadventures – no wonder the theme of this week is desperately seeking defensive cover.
READ MORE: Injury updates on James, Alexander-Arnold and more
In other news, Erling Haaland (£12.2m) made life difficult for Hibbo, the talented writer of Captain Sensible articles who had to write five or six paragraphs about the Gameweek 10 decision, Chelsea’s team sheet made us all dizzy with rotation, and everyone wanted to forget the Monday night game between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Finn Sollie continues to exert a vice-like grip on the number one spot, as he moves effortlessly into the top 5k. The Norwegian has yet to suffer a red arrow all season if you discount the non-playing Gameweek 7.
This week brought him 79 points and his surge up the rankings has coincided with a well-played Wildcard in Gameweek 8 which saw him focus his investment on the mid-priced midfielder bracket.
James Maddison (£8.3m), Jarrod Bowen (£8.2m) and Phil Foden (£8.2m) have all skyrocketed him to the top of the ‘Great and The Good’ table. Just be thankful that he moved out Gabriel Martinelli (£6.6m) this week, otherwise he would’ve probably won FPL by now.
Magnus Carlsen continues his up-and-down season as he hit 80 points, although it’s interesting to note he remains on the ‘threemium’ path with Kevin De Bruyne (£12.4m), Son Heung-Min (£11.7m) and the inevitable Haaland.
TRANSFERS
Here is the full list of ins and outs:
- Az – Zaha, Guehi (Gross, Dias)
- LTFPL Andy – None
- Ben Crellin – None
- Fabio Borges – None
- Finn Sollie – Solanke, Zaha (Mitrovic, Martinelli)
- FPL Harry – None
- Joe Lepper – None
- Geoff Dance – Martial, Zaha (Jesus, Martinelli)
- FPL General – Zaha (Saka)
- Magnus Carlsen – Solanke, Cresswell (Isak, Digne)
- Mark Sutherns – None
- FPL Matthew – None
- Neale Rigg – James, Zaha (Xhaka, Alexander-Arnold)
- Pras – None
- Suvansh – Zaha, Guehi (Perisic, Bailey)
- Tom Freeman – Dunk (Digne)
- Tom Stephenson – None
- Zophar – None
There was a rush on Wilfried Zaha (£7.4m) transfers this week. Az was even-minded to take his first hit, although I suspect most will be disappointed with just an assist for their outlay.
Magnus Carlsen and Finn Sollie joined the Dominic Solanke (£5.7m) shuttle at the right stop as he finally lived up to the hype with two assists – goodness knows what the reaction will be when he actually scores a goal.
Neale Rigg, king of the team news, clearly has a new adversary in Graham Potter who gave no hints of the weird but wonderful Chelsea teamsheet, thereby leaving our dear editor fuming at James’ one-point cameo, which cost him a minus four. I dare not ask how he feels after Tuesday’s injury news.
Meanwhile, Geoff Dance kept faith in Manchester United because someone has to, bringing in Anthony Martial (£6.9m) who delivered an assist but then hobbled off after 28 minutes.
TEMPLATE
Pope (12), Ward (10)
James (17), Trippier (16), Cancelo (14), Williams (10), Alexander-Arnold (7)
Andreas (18), Martinelli (15), Maddison (14), Zaha (14), De Bruyne (9)
Haaland (18), Mitrovic (16), Kane (6)
The template remains unmoved, with the presence of three Manchester City players and Martinelli creating a Blank Gameweek 12 conundrum. Fixtures would suggest some sales but the form says otherwise.
There’s a surprising lack of Foden in the template, with only three owners, although I suspect that will change come Gameweek 13. Glamorous defensive names like Lewis Dunk (£4.6m), Marc Guehi (£4.3m) and Eric Dier (£5.1m) are entering the discussion.
BENCH
This weekend showed the value and frustration of having a decent bench, as we saw good fortune for those who have Andreas Pereira (£4.6m) coming in for Aleksander Mitrovic (£6.8m). I see you, Magnus and FPL Matthew!
However, others had to suffer from various players trying to block the Fulham midfielder’s goal-den points with a James cameo, Trent half-time withdrawal and a brief Neco Williams (£4.1m) run out keeping that return firmly on the sidelines.
So, who has benefited most over the season from such auto subs (see table below)? Well, FPL Harry stands out with 32 points from four occasions, including Solanke’s eight points coming in this week, but he has to be disqualified due to bench wizardry in Gameweek 8.
For some reason, Joao Cancelo (£7.3m), De Bruyne and Kieran Trippier (£5.6m) were initially benched, later coming in with a combined 24 points.
Ben Crellin and Magnus seem to have got it right, only calling to the pine a couple of times but getting decent returns. Crellin was particularly fortunate to get Tyrone Mings‘ (£4.4m) nine points of Gameweek 8.
When looking at benched points, Magnus’ low score shows he has paid little heed to his full 15 while Crellin’s tally of 82 shows more strength in depth.
I suspect he will be happier with that squad, with the flow of defensive injury news coming out this week.
CONCLUSION
This feels like a big week in the season, as we have to decide what to do about our wing-backs and Salah. Injury news may mean we ignore the Mo issue and force our hands with Alexander-Arnold and James, so do we keep the faith in the Egyptian knowing that he plays Gameweek 12?
The other big call is how to prepare for life after the blank as, from Gameweek 13, it seems a priority to have a full set of Arsenal and Man City players. Maybe those who saved their Wildcards had it right after all?
Anyway, that’s all from me for another week and remember – don’t have nightmares.
For those affected by any of the topics raised in the above article then you can find me here on Twitter.
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