Manchester City’s rampant attack, and in particular Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick against Watford, have set pulses racing among the community this week.
Our community writers consider how best to cover the points potential Pep Guardiola’s charges, as well as whether Harry Kane owners need to be ushering him out of their squads to make way for City’s Argentine hitman.
Strategies for coping with the wealth of premium forward options take centre stage among our Hot Topic posters, with Wildcards and an elaborate hokey-cokey among the tactics under consideration.
Budget enablers to free up funds for the attack are the focus of our table builders, and we conclude our round-up with a look at those who may have already constructed the perfect frontline to lead the way in our community competitions.
The Community Articles
When Manchester City find their groove there is always a strong temptation to double, or even treble, up on their attacking players.
As Mepplefield’s analysis of coverage reveals, such an ambititous strategy is not without risk, but according to ‘the crowd’, whose views are tracked each week by Hutch_James, it is certainly one worth taking when it comes to Pep Guardiola’s impressive troops.
With heavy sales this week, Harry Kane is among the major fall guys for those eyeing up Aguero. Pooodle’s article delves deep into the Spurs striker’s statistics to see if swapping him out for City’s goal scoring hero can be justified.
Elsewhere, players who should have done better in Gameweek 5 come under the gaze of AceKn1ght, who also reveals exclusively to members the latest statistical stars ahead of the weekend.
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 Topic
Is Aguero really essential to own, ahead of City’s home encounter with Palace? According to our Hot Topic on the striker’s potential for continued points hauls many clearly think he is a player that demands inclusion in our squads.
Among his chief flag bearers is Accounting on Chris, who urges community members to ignore their lingering concerns about rotation among City’s ranks and recruit him as a priority.
However, PKW wonders whether Aguero’s strike partner Gabriel Jesus could be an even better option, especially with his superior home form. It is worth noting though that this was posted before the Brazilian played for 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. FPL Virgin is also pondering whether Aguero’s points potential can be covered elsewhere among City’s array of options.
Gameweek 5’s 6-0 demolition of Watford showed the dangers of underestimating City, according to our look at the lessons learned from the last set of fixtures.
Many of those with poor scores who chimed up for our latest “rough with the smooth” collection will know all too well the dangers of shunning City’s stars, as will some of the elite managers in our Hall of Fame, according to our latest update.
In the clamour to recruit Aguero, Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino is among those making way. Champione supports those who are letting the Brazilian go, particularly after he failed to find the net at home to Burnley in Gameweek 5.
Kane is another struggling to retain popularity after blanking against Swansea at Wembley last weekend. But Liegitty wonders whether the Spurs man has just been unlucky in such games and should be retained. FantasyFootballSprout is another who urges patience with heavy hitters.
There is further analysis of the Spurs striker in TheFantasyFreak’s discussion on how he compares with Aguero. In addition, Ludo has been looking at possession statistics and wonders whether Kane may perversely prosper against the teams that Spurs fail to dominate.
Even Romelu Lukaku is being deemed surplus to requirements by FPLFreddie, despite returns in four out of five matches.
As well as moving other premium strikers on, other strategies being considered to tap into City’s form include a ‘captaincy hokey-cokey’. This tactic of transferring in and out the week’s most likely scorer has backing from among others Chelsea Guy.
Those considering such a move are advised to read MT Pocket’s list of the best captaincy options each week, right the way through to Gameweek 20.
Wildcarding is another tactic being considered to switch to a heavy hitting frontline. Noquarternt canvassed the community’s views on what their revamped team would look like if they used this chip ahead of Gameweek 6. Our discussion on the teams with the best set of fixtures for the rest of September and into October should also prove valuable reading for those considering the overhaul.
However, Team Cruel is against using a Wildcard so soon into the season in his hot topic on the benefits of deploying it well into winter. For those thinking of Wildcarding during next month’s international break we offered a reminder to invest in Chelsea’s assets, due to their lengthy run of kind fixtures from this point.
Using the Free Hit chip is also being considered to load up on City’s talent against Palace, enabling us to release them ahead of Gameweek 7’s far tougher encounter with Chelsea. Wild Rover has been chatting to FPL Towers and now has official confirmation of how this chip affects transfers already made.
With premium strikers dominating our thoughts, there appears to be no room for top-priced midfielders. We asked whether, in stark contrast to 2016/17’s midfield dominance, this season will continue to be a year to avoid expensive centre of the park picks.
Eden Wizard believes such a tactic may be a mistake in his discussion on the strong potential of Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, who has scored more than 200 points three times over the previous five seasons.
Finally, Mike Wall dropped by to voice his outrage over football commentators failure to pronounce Arsenal’s rampaging wing back Sead Kolasinac’s name correctly.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.
The Members Tables
The latest goals imminent table is dominated by budget friendly midfielders, who may appeal to those looking to free up funds to afford the wealth of strong premium forwards. There’s further insight into the underlying statistics of cheap centre of the pitch options in union_jacks’ latest table and gunister’s look at wildcard enablers in midfield.
Teams creating the most chances come under the microscope of ambergambler, while stubrown114 has been tracking premium defensive options.
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
Jason Hargreaves is the new leader in Red Lightning’s Top 10,000 Any Season. This is his 10th season, with 2014/15’s 104 finish his best yet.
In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing the safety score was 42, which saw 214 players depart and over 3,300 remaining.
QPR Utd is at the summit of his own FFS Frequent Summers Posters League, with Urchin and Jallegere in hot pursuit.
Last year’s FPL runner-up Uwais Ahmed has taken the lead from Evs in the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league.
Kneejerks is top of HeelsOverHead’s R U Smarter than the 10,000 Club (9355- 102577), for those who have never finished among this elite group. This contest is still open for entries.
Finally, Wakey dropped by with news about the launch of the World Cycling Championships fantasy game.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-ups, please email us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
