As mentioned previously, we’re taking a new approach to the weekly games this season. Armed with an opening pot of £100 for each game, I’ve been tasked with turning that cash into profit and will be updating you on my progress every Friday.

On Tuesday evening, we rolled out our Weekly Shop article, giving you a fair idea of the main targets for my teams this weekend. In addition to the names mentioned, I’m also mulling over Bafetimbi Gomis and Diafra Sakho as alternative forwards, whilst midfield Dusan Tadic, Nacer Chadli and James Milner also have favourable home matches and could yet force their way into my plans.

There are four time frames available this week in PlayON – these are Weekly, Saturday and Sunday Daily games and also the Monday night match. The main weekly competition – that includes all ten matches – has a £1000 guaranteed pot. The daily Saturday games (that do not include the early kick-off between Southampton and Everton), allow teams to be entered up to 3pm. In addition, there are two fixtures in the Sunday timeframe and teams can also be entered for the single match on Monday evening.

The Bottom Line

I had a slow start in the challenge to increase my £100 pot in PlayON last week. One of the tenets of Fantasy Football is that not every week can be a good week, however – mistakes are a chance to learn, improve and attempt other strategies, so onwards and upwards.

Last week’s disappointment left me ruing my decision to enter the £5.50 pots on both Saturday and Sunday. This £11 was 64.7% of the opening week’s stake, which is too much to be risking so early on in the challenge on just two entries. My new approach, a bit less gung-ho, will be to enter the free games and lower-priced entry games attempting to build the pot back up and, if successful, re-evaluate the competitions with higher entries later down the line.

Gameweek 1 Stake – £17
Winnings – £3.15
Current Pot – £86.15 (-£13.85)

This Week’s Stake

Here I run through which contests I’ll be entering and the associated fees. This is subject to change – I may well enter more games but I will update the situation if that happens in the bottom line next time we cover PlayON.

Weekly – There is another £100 free entry game allowing five entries. With 1266 entries last week, I reckon these five teams are an ideal opportunity to go with differentials and left-field punts. Like last week, I’ve entered two more balanced teams into the £100 guaranteed pot for a £1.10 fee. I entered 10 teams into 25p games last week but I’m reining in my spending again and only going with five this time around. There’s also a Fantasy Football Scout league for the community to enter, so I’ve also put a team in there for £1.10.

Daily – For the Saturday and Sunday games rather than the £5.50 contests, I’ve entered two £1 challenges. There’s also a free entry game on Sunday, so five entries go into that for the £25 pot.

Match – Five entries into the £25 free pot game covers the Monday night match between Liverpool and Bournemouth.

Total Stake: £6.85

As a PlayON Pro, it’s possible for you to challenge me one-on-one in all four timeframes. These games are not included in the £100 challenge and operate separately. You can also take on other PlayON Pros, current FPL champion Simon March and OptaJoe.

If you’ve finished tinkering with your Fantasy Premier League team, why not enter the £100 free PlayON game this week.