Following on from Month in Review – August, here we take a look at some of the highs and lows from September. We can see the players who have and have not impressed throughout the month, in addition to the usual figures surrounding Wildcards and chips used. Along the way, I will also look at some of the great posts and articles that Fantasy Football Scout (FFS) contributors have shared over the last few Gameweeks.
Goalkeepers
Throughout September, only a few goalkeeper options have impressed. Boaz Myhill has been the most solid option so far this season at 4.6 and boasts a relatively low ownership. He has kept two clean sheets this month with a bunch of saves, and providing Anders Lindegaard doesn’t usurp his position he looks set for a nice October. Hugo Lloris has also kept two clean sheets as Tottenham begin to look more solid in defence, with the Frenchman tallying up the saves too. At 5.0 he remains a decent option.
Lastly, Jack Butland at 4.5 has had a strange September, picking up an assist in one of his matches along with 18 saves for the month. With Stoke’s nice run of games next month he is certainly a worthwhile budget option, capable of returning points when the clean sheets are few and far between. I have put together a table looking at goalkeepers and bonus points for October to try and identify decent options for next month. Please note that I strongly advise using these figures in conjunction with the season ticker for Gameweeks 8-11 along with a table that shows team’s defensive stats (such as Doosra’s table mentioned below in the next section). Ludo’s goalkeeper stats is also worth a read.
Defence
What turned out to be a dream start in defence for Manchester City ended in nightmare. In three games, the Citizens conceded six goals, keeping one clean sheet at the beginning of September. Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala’s absence through injury definitely seemed to have an impact on their returns. Likewise, Chelsea’s terrible defensive display continued as they conceded five goals, bringing their total goals conceded to 14 in seven games this season (in spite of one clean sheet against a nine-man Arsenal).
West Brom and Tottenham have been the most reliable and consistent defensive assets, keeping two clean sheets from their three games in September. Options such as Gareth McAuley and Craig Dawson have been popular and look set to continue their impressive returns under Tony Pulis should the former shake off an injury that forced him to miss West Brom’s last match against Everton. From Tottenham, Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld have gone somewhat under the radar recently at 5.1 and 5.0 respectively, with both managing to get on the scoresheet last match.
Doosra’s dodgy defences table is an invaluable source to identifying defensive assets worth avoiding and bringing in. Giggs Boson also drafted up a table, focussing on CBI (clearances, blocks, interceptions) as a foundation for defenders to return bonus points
Midfield
Alexis Sanchez’ luck finally turned as the Chilean netted a hatrick against Leicester. Many had begun to grow impatient with him, but those that rode the storm were duly rewarded. Other heavy hitters such as Juan Mata, Memphis Depay, Theo Walcott, Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne repaid their owners’ faith in them with goals, whereas Arsenal duo Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil chipped in with the assists. From the mid-priced options, the likes of Sadio Mane, Dimitri Payet, and Riyad Mahrez continued their fine form this season with goals and assists.
There are a number of players here that have gone under the radar in midfield this month. For instance, in the cheap price range there is Dan Gosling, Danny Drinkwater and James Morrison that provide as an alternative cheap fifth midfielder under 5.0. In the low-to-mid range, Mark Walters, Wes Hoolahan and Erik Lamela have also shown decent form this month, with Christian Eriksen as a more premium option starting to come into form.
Attack
There were many goals scored this month from different players but the most value came through the lower priced forwards. Options such as Jamie Vardy, Odion Ighalo, Anthony Martial, Graziano Pelle, Ayoze Perez, Rudy Gestede and Romelu Lukaku all delivered double-figure hauls throughout the month and have caught many people’s attention. Gameweek 7 saw 41 goals scored.
Rodallegabomb’s article on Vardy particularly highlights the striker’s threat, putting many FPL managers on red alert as a replacement to the injured Callum Wilson. The Leicester man remains the top goalscorer for the season, and for the month of September with four goals alone, so watch this space.
Out Of Form
Pooodle’s article on where to place your trust examines the form of popular players, and offers some useful advice when considering ‘stick or twist’ with some of the more premium options. Jonty also put a similar question to the community and received many different views in what was a very popular discussion.
At the start of the month, Belsunz also enquired about the most disappointing players, and we can see if any of these players mentioned have turned it around throughout September. Yet as Ludo points out, this may be just a recent trend we can expect each season for the heavy hitters. Hopefully the light at the end of tunnel is nearby for players such as Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Eden Hazard and Sanchez who delivered at the end of September.
Watchlist For October
Silva (10.2) – Having been injured for the whole month of September, the Spanish playmaker has looked key to Manchester City’s success so far this season. He is pencilled in to return this weekend as Man City hit a lovely run of fixtures in October, including an away derby match to rivals Manchester United.
Berahino (6.2) – The young striker infamously declared he would never play for West Brom again, but since has come back into the team and scored in his last two outings. With a kind run of fixtures for West Brom ahead, he remains a nice budget option for the foreseeable future, especially with spot kicks in his locker.
Janmaat (4.9) – Although Newcastle open October with an away game to Manchester City, their fixtures afterwards look very favourable for the attacking full-back. Janmaat has been operating so far forward recently that he is practically a winger, already notching a goal against Watford. Hopefully Steve McClaren can tighten the backline for these fixtures to grant the appeal of clean sheets in addition to his attacking threat.
Wildcarding
After a series of poor returns for many Fantasy managers, just over a fifth of all players decided to use their Wildcard in August. If we fast-forward to the end of September, we can see that fewer managers have used their Wildcard this month, but overall a third of FPL managers have succumbed to a fresh start.
188,272 – Wildcards used for Gameweek 5 (5.5%)
126,671 – Wildcards used for Gameweek 6 (3.7%)
120,935 – Wildcards used in Gameweek 7 (3.5%)
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435,878 total Wildcards used in September (12.7%)
1,125,971 total Wildcards used (33.2%)
Chips
Chips Used By Percentage [Estimate from random 20,000-team sample]
Gameweeks 5-7
Triple Captain – 4.6%
Bench Boost – 3.5%
All Out Attack – 4.0%
Overall
Triple Captain – 18.6%
Bench Boost – 10.9%
All Out Attack – 9.2%
As mentioned in Jarvish’s article in August, it is probably best to hold onto Triple Captain and Bench Boost for any double Gameweeks later in the season. Opinion is divided on the All Out Attack chip, with some using it as they need to, and others abstaining until Gameweek 38 where historically there has been fewer clean sheets each year.
Captain Distribution
August showed that we just couldn’t get it right as far as captaincy distribution was concerned. Looking at this month’s results, we can see whether the popularity of captaincy-worthy players such as Aguero and Hazard continues to reward or disappoint FPL managers.
Bonus Points Distribution
Following on from last month where I looked at the distribution of bonus points in August, I have done the same for the month of September to try and see if the trend of full-backs benefiting from the BPS continued. What I found is that there has been a drop in returns from full-backs and an increase for forwards, as the results show. Innsie took the time to look at baseline bonus for defenders to examine what players from each team’s defence are thriving from the BPS.
Final Thoughts
It has been another tough month for many FPL managers, though many would agree last month was worse. We have seen a huge increase in the number of correct captaincy decisions, but the likes of Aguero and Rooney are still causing problems for many managers. Things are beginning to get back on track, but dips in form for teams like Man City and Chelsea have impacted on many FPL managers’ decisions. Hopefully October will be the turning point, as the FFS community look to get one over on the ‘casual’.
