The community welcomed a new face to the comment sections this week when the newly-crowned leader of our Hall of Fame dropped by to offer his words of wisdom for the first time.
Our regular hot topic posters were also out in force to offer guidance on issues such as second half of the season stars and formation tweaks.
Elsewhere, our community writers have been getting some early double Gameweek planning in, considering coverage and taking a look at what the latest fixture and form data is saying about the weekend’s best captain choices.
Our Members tables look at the teams who are looking easy prey for the Premier League’s most attacking sides, while we also find out who will be looking for top of the table glory in the next stage of one of the community’s toughest tournaments.
The Community Articles
With the saying “to be forewarned is to be forearmed” in mind, Bobby F has been taking an early look at how the FA Cup schedule could play havoc with the fixtures later this season. This assesses the teams that are at risk of postponements and in with a chance of a place in subsequent double Gameweeks, based on last weekend’s Cup games.
The threat of impending blank fixtures means Fantasy managers will have to be careful when considering investing heavily in players from the same team. This doubling and trebling up on players is among the issues to come under under scrutiny in Ruth NZ’s look at the nuances of coverage.
Looking ahead to this weekend, YMA is back with a revamped article on what the form, fixtures and clean sheets say, which now takes into account explosiveness when considering the captaincy.
Finally, the mid-season point in the Sky game has seen D1sable take a stock check on the game’s latest bonus point magnets, man of the match recipients and transfer activity of the top managers.
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
This week saw a major change at the top of our Hall of Fame round up of FPL’s most consistently high scoring managers, with Jay Egersdorff replacing long-time leader Ville Ronka.
The news was of particular interest to Sir Edo Nygren, who is sixth in this all time greats list and was swiftly on hand to let the community know of developments at the top.
We were also quick off the mark to ensure we quizzed Jay on his top tips for success and the man himself marked his achievement by making his first ever post on the site, after years of lurking.
By the end of the week, Jay was in his stride as a community regular and dropped by to offer his advice for those wildcarding this month.
A key factor in Jay’s success this campaign has been his use of a 3-5-2 formation since Gameweek 6. We followed this up by canvassing your views on the merits of opting for this midfield-focused line up.
Those who find themselves with four Chelsea players, following Nathan Ake’s loan recall back to the London side from Bournemouth, may not have the luxury this week of being able to carry out the change to a five-man midfield, says Moin. He offered a timely reminder for those in this unlucky position that under FPL rules they will have to jettison one of their Blues assets when they make their next transfer.
Could Eden Hazard be the player to make way? In our discussion on the Chelsea schemer’s travel sickness as a Fantasy player, there were a number of community managers contemplating showing him the door, particularly as Antonio Conte’s troops face Liverpool and Arsenal over their next four matches.
Another player that the community is having second thoughts about is Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, who relinquished penalty duties in last Friday’s FA Cup tie against West Ham. Brunt is the New Baines questions whether a £12.8 player without spot kicks and a poor disciplinary record is worth a place in our teams.
Question marks were also raised about whether Everton defenders are worth the outlay, ahead of a kind run of games that includes trips to Crystal Palace, Stoke and Middlesbrough and home ties against Sunderland and Bournemouth. Bunk Moreland believes the absence of their influential defensive midfielder Idrissa Gueye due to Africa Cup of Nations duties will hamper their clean sheet prospects.
In spite of this, Toffees penalty taking left back Leighton Baines is among those you believe will emerge as one of the second half of the season stars.
The departure of Liverpool winger Sadio Mane to the AFCON tournament this month is also leaving some to reconsider Reds attackers. In both games since he departed, the Merseysiders have been less than impressive going forward, according to our discussion on their sudden goal drought.
The Members Tables
Delhidynamo’s latest table takes a look at the weakest Premier League sides, whose concession of shots and chances makes them easy prey for attackers.
To add to the debate about whether Eden Hazard is worth keeping, I’ve constructed this table looking at Chelsea’s most accurate attackers. This is set to a global filter to allow searching by home and away.
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
This weekend sees the quarter-finals in the Fantasy Chili Bowl team tournament get underway, according to Cheesoid’s latest preview from the organising committee.
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, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
