As mentioned on Monday, Fantasy Football Scout have teamed up with our partner game Yahoo to introduce the inaugural Holiday Cup contest.
It’s a free to enter, single-entry contest that spans the next four Gameweeks and gets underway this weekend, with the starting times of each round as follows:
Round 1 – Saturday December 23 at 12.30pm
Round 2 – Tuesday December 26 at 12.30pm
Round 3 – Saturday December 30 at 3.00pm
Round 4 – Monday January 1 at 12.30pm
With a total of £500 on offer across the contest, we thought we’d offer some extra insight to help form your line-ups.
So we’ve delved into the data to check out the top performers in the Yahoo game over the opening 18 Gameweeks.
Yahoo Top Performers – All Points
| Player | Points |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 264 |
| Mohamed Salah | 262.65 |
| Harry Kane | 241.85 |
| David Silva | 211.1 |
| Christian Eriksen | 202.25 |
| Raheem Sterling | 196.15 |
| Romelu Lukaku | 190.4 |
| Nacho Monreal | 185.95 |
| Nicolas Otamendi | 184 |
| Sergio Aguero | 183.75 |
| Xherdan Shaqiri | 176.5 |
| Marcos Alonso | 176.25 |
| Alvaro Morata | 174.25 |
| Richarlison | 172.6 |
| Riyad Mahrez | 170.2 |
The top two scoring players in Fantasy Premier League, Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne, are also the standout performers in the Yahoo game so far.
Yet it’s the Belgian who leads the way by a narrow margin, with his style of play clearly benefitting from the Opta-driven scoring system. In addition to his six goals (worth 8 points apiece in Yahoo) and eight Opta assists (each worth 4 points), he sits fourth overall for shots on target (2 points) and second for successful crosses (0.5 points), with 23 and 31 respectively.
Encouragingly for FPL managers on the lookout for a Daily Fantasy game, six of the same players – De Bruyne, Salah, Harry Kane, David Silva, Christian Eriksen and Raheem Sterling – feature in the top ten in both Yahoo and FPL.
Expanding it to the top 15, there are five midfielders and seven forwards in the rundown.
That’s partly down to the classification of Salah, Sterling and Watford’s Richarlison as strikers, indicating that there’s less disparity in the Yahoo game in a season where midfielders have been the dominant forces in FPL.
Richarlison profits from the Yahoo game’s decision to award points to players that are brought down by their opponents – indeed, the Watford attacker is the most fouled player (worth 0.5 points) in the top-flight this term, with 58.
With Eriksen ranked as high as fifth in Yahoo, and Xherdan Shaqiri placed in eleventh spot, playmakers with a penchant for accurate long-range attempts, allied with pinpoint delivery from set-pieces, can be key beneficiaries in the Yahoo scoring system.
Yahoo Top Performers – Without Goals and Assists
| Player | Points |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 184 |
| Nacho Monreal | 169.95 |
| Nicolas Otamendi | 152 |
| Christian Eriksen | 146.25 |
| Harry Kane | 141.85 |
| Fernandinho | 140.65 |
| Marcos Alonso | 140.25 |
| Granit Xhaka | 139.35 |
| David Silva | 139.1 |
| Mohamed Salah | 138.65 |
| Yohan Cabaye | 138.55 |
| Cesar Azpilicueta | 132.1 |
| Aaron Mooy | 129.4 |
| Jan Vertonghen | 127.95 |
| Laurent Koscielny | 127.65 |
Looking at the top 15 players for total points gained without goals and assists, De Bruyne is again the standout contender.
Indeed, with Salah listed as a forward – as mentioned above – the Man City playmaker is the only Yahoo midfielder in the top nine players for shots on target this season.
Tellingly, there are only two forwards in the list – Kane and Salah – which highlights that strikers mainly have to rely on attacking returns in Yahoo.
It’s no surprise, then, to learn that those two sit at the summit for shots on target, firing 36 and 34 respectively.
Defenders feature far more prominently this time, with Nacho Monreal the leading candidate from six backline assets in our assessment.
As many as 91.4% of his total points have been delivered without goals or assists, with the Arsenal man’s defensive actions key to his appeal. Ranked number one for interceptions (worth 0.5 points) over the opening 18 rounds of matches, only five Yahoo defenders have bettered his 41 successful tackles (each earning 0.5 points).
Both Nicholas Otamendi and Marcos Alonso are also ranked highly here – that’s all the more encouraging bearing in mind that they have bagged four goals apiece already.
The Yahoo scoring system awards points for successful passes (0.05 points), which suits the Man City centre-half perfectly – he’s made more of them (1330) than any player this season, with the Gunners’ Monreal (1179) sitting second in defence.
Midfield ball-winners who play for teams that tend to dominate possession are also smiled upon kindly by the Yahoo scoring set-up – Fernandinho and Granit Xhaka sits first and second for successful passes among midfielders, with 1313 and 1287 respectively.
The inclusion of Huddersfield Town’s Aaron Mooy and Crystal Palace’s Yohan Cabaye is further indication that the Yahoo game is much more than just seeking out the likeliest source of attacking returns.
Although a weekend brace at Watford took Mooy onto four strikes for the season, only 36 of his 165.4 points have been from goals and assists.
Like Cabaye, his delivery and ball-winning ability is vital.
The Australian international is ranked fourth overall for successful tackles (53), while only six players have managed more than his 26 successful crosses.
Cabaye, meanwhile, is the second top player for both successful crosses (tied with De Bruyne on 31) and interceptions (42) so far.
To get involved in the Holiday Cup, click here.
If you’ve yet to register, you can open an account and get started immediately.
You must be over 18 years of age, resident in the UK, and of legal capacity to register with Yahoo Daily Sports and open an Account. If you sign up, please always play responsibly.
