Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the Gameweek 29 transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
‘The Great and The Good’ this season are the FPL Godfather Mark Sutherns, the BlackBox pair of Az and Andy North, Scouts FPL General, Joe and Tom, the FPL Wire trio of Pras, Lateriser and Zophar, FPL celebrities FPL Harry, Martin Baker, Pingreen, FPL Frasier and Luke Williams, Hall of Famers Ben Crellin, Fabio Borges and Tom Dollimore, and last year’s mini-league winner Huss E.
“It’s a mystery”
If Gameweek 29 had a theme, it was uncertainty. Not the fun, philosophical kind, – the sweaty, anxiety-driven, “why do I even play this game?” kind.
Nothing embodied that quite like Erling Haaland (£14.6m). His availability remained a mystery right up to the wire, WhatsApp groups were formed, press conference quotes were dissected, and live streams were followed with suspicion.
But the uncertainty didn’t stop there. The injury list read like a particularly cruel raffle. Declan Rice (£7.4m), Harry Wilson (£6.0m), Joachim Andersen (£4.5m), and even the usually steadfast David Raya (£6.0m) were all branded “let’s wait and see.”
And looming over everything was the quiet menace of midweek rotation. All this combined to make team selection feel like blindfolded darts.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Midweek Gameweeks are rarely straightforward, and Gameweek 29 was no exception. It turned into a proper enigma, with a 43-point swing between the all scores among ‘The Great and the Good’.
Leading the way was Az’s total of 80, in what has otherwise been a tricky season. His case was built on a formidable defensive trio – James Tarkowski (£5.7m), Jurrien Timber (£6.3m) and Gabriel Magalhães (£7.2m) – helping deliver a 448k green arrow.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m) also chipped in, and Az was even able to keep Elliot Anderson’s (£5.5m) double-digit haul on the bench like an afterthought.
FPL Fraiser wasn’t far behind on 76 points. Without Tarkowski, his star was Ismaïla Sarr (£6.3m), whose two goals against Tottenham Hotspur did most of the damage.
Meanwhile, FPL Harry continues his good run. A fortunate Anderson autosub helped him climb to 64k overall, though his quest for a sixth straight top 10k finish may require a final twist in the tale.
Captaincy was expected to be open in Gameweek 29, with Bruno Fernandes (£10.0m) touted as the favourite. However, the overwhelming majority stuck with Haaland despite such pre-deadline uncertainty. Four managers opted for Fernandes, while Mark Sutherns voted against his own Nottingham Forest by picking Antoine Semenyo (£8.3m), which proved to be the best decision.
Spare a thought for Martin Baker, who didn’t go Salah for change, so obviously the Egyptian scored.
The full table is above, where we have an FPL Bermuda Triangle with three managers on 1,666: FPL General, Pingreen and Lateriser.
TRANSFERS
Gameweek 29 was apparently declared a national “hands off the transfer button” week by the elite. Just five transfers were made across the entire group. Five! In a week full of flags and uncertainty, caution very much won the day.
Az can claim the moral high ground after bringing in Dewsbury-Hall. As for Tom Dollimore, he rolled the dice on Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.7m). On paper: bold. In practice: optimistic.
‘THE GREAT AND THE GOOD’ TEMPLATE
Nothing to see here, carry on.
Dubravka (77.8%), Raya (55.6%)
Gabriel (100.0%), Virgil (61.1%), Andersen (50.0%), Hill (38.9%), Timber (33.3%)
Fernandes (100.0%), Rice (50%), Mbeumo (44.4%), Dango (44.4%), Rogers (44.4%)
Thiago (100%), Haaland (77.8%), Ekitike (66.7%)
RACING FOR THE TOP 10K
With less than 10 weeks to go in FPL, it’s a good time to think about our end-of-season goals.
For FPL traditionalists, the classic benchmark is a top 10k finish, unless you win the whole thing. So I took a look at how many top 10k finishes these have racked up.
Leading the way is Mark Sutherns’ 10, setting the gold standard. Close behind are Joe Lepper, Tom Freeman, Zophar, and Ben Crellin on eight, with Fabio Borges on seven and Lateriser on six.
A few sit have five – Pras, FPL Harry, Tom Dollimore – while others are still building their tally. In fact, a couple of these (Andy North and Martin Baker) are still waiting for their first.
For comparison, some Hall of Fame managers show similar consistency. Mark Hurst leads that group with nine, which is particularly impressive because eight have occurred over the last 10 seasons.
It’s also worth calling out Elevenify, who has accumulated four top 10k finishes in just six campaigns and is currently ranked 5,008th overall, meaning number five could soon be coming.
With a constantly growing number of managers taking part in FPL, adding to that tally gets harder every year. Some might even question whether a top 10k finish is still the right yardstick.
So, the big question for the run-in is whether any of them will add another one this season?
CONCLUSION
It’s now time for the annual spreadsheet dash, as we all rush to work out what the FA Cup fifth-round results mean for the Blanks and Double Gameweeks ahead. The chip rush is coming!
Anyway, that’s all from me for now, and remember: don’t have FPL nightmares.
For those affected by any of the topics raised above, you can find me here on Twitter or BlueSky.
