The rush to acquire Eden Hazard on the back of last week’s performance against Everton has been a key issue for our hot topic posters this week.
Chelsea’s in-form midfielder also took centre stage in our community articles round up, after he helped one of our scribes win top honours for his soothsaying skills.
Elsewhere, we get the latest on the state of Alexis Sanchez’ injury straight from Chile and found out what we can learn from the elite managers at the summit of our Hall of Fame.
Finally we check in on those who are also doing well in our community competitions.
The Community Articles
Since its launch last month, YMA’s regular Gameweek captaincy analysis article has had a 100% success rate in predicting the best candidate for the armband.
Using a combination of bookies odds, form and fixtures, Hazard’s triumphant Gameweek 11 became his latest success story, with the Belgian’s 19-point Fantasy Premier League haul easily trumping Captain Poll leader Sergio Aguero. With this in mind it was no surprise to see YMA win your vote for the best community writer of October.
We eagerly await his next prediction next week.
Meanwhile, it was Hazard’s team-mate Diego Costa who emerges as one of the stars of TM245’s latest look at whether explosiveness or consistency is the best way to pick a captain.
Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.
The Hottest Topics
With such an impressive Gameweek 11, Hazard has been drafted in by more than 216,000 FPL managers at the time of writing and is on his way to a third price rise since last weekend. As our hot topic on the Belgian’s recent good form shows, many in the community have been willing to take early hits to secure his services.
One of the players to make way has been Alexis Sanchez, after it emerged he picked up an injury during international training. Fortunately, we were given an up to date, accurate report from Chile, thanks to regular poster RuberX, who is based there.
Even without injury concerns, Sanchez’ high price of 11.3 means many in the community were looking elsewhere for Arsenal coverage, with Mesut Ozil among the more budget friendly alternatives. Our hot topic on the German revealed that, in terms of value, he is more than a match for his Chilean team-mate.
The need to draft in Hazard is so great that some should even consider unsaddling Fantasy Football white knight Sergio Aguero from their teams, according to Rhino.
Without two free transfers such a move would require a hit, which for many in the community has become a key way to climb up the rankings. Anon’s discussion on spending points looked at some of your successes and failures in adopting this tactic.
One group that rarely has the need for hits is the top ten of the Hall of Fame.
Our analysis of their strategies found their forward planning is so good some even have time to regular save their FPL transfers to ensure they can make two at a time without the need to spend points. Leaf pondered whether this elite group of veterans’ dull approach to the game can ever be beaten as a tactic for success.
During our HoF analysis it emerged that half of the Hall of Fame top ten have already made transfers, indicating that Hazard has been secured early ahead of Chelsea’s kind run that starts in Gameweek 15. We looked in detail at this point in the season, as it also marks a significant switch in the fixtures for a number of other teams.
This HoF analysis also showed that many elite managers are relying on their selection of Jordan Pickford (4.1) to see off the imminent threat of Vito Mannone for a place in Sunderland’s starting XI. The Italian returned to action this week for the Black Cats’ reserve side and prompted us to ask whether you are also relying heavily on a bargain basement stopper.
The Members Tables
Last week I carried out an experiment in my goals imminent table to see if Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s failure to convert any of his many big chances was a temporary blip or part of a season long problem.
With a brace at Swansea, the former turned out to be the case and my Zlatan rule of ‘miss four big chances and you’re out’ has been duly abandoned. With humble pie duly scoffed, the latest goals imminent table can be found here.
For those in the market for an attacking defender Robbie Lynch’s latest table looks at the best options, sorted by chances created.
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.
The Community Tournaments
Recruitment was in full swing during the week to take part in forthcoming community team contest the Fantasy Chili Bowl, says Jarvish’s latest update.
In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing the safety score was 39, which saw 142 players depart and 1848 remain with entry currently open.
Facer continues to lead the the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league but the real star of the Gameweek was Red Lightning who scored 94 FPL points and leapt around one million places up the rankings. This impressive tally followed a risky, but ultimately rewarding, 40 point hit over October.
Meanwhile in Red Lightning’s Top 10k Any Season league Sahil Sud has retained top spot.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round Ups please email me a brief summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spread sheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
