The Community Round-Up

Blank fixtures and double Gameweeks dominate the community’s thoughts this week as they prepare for the turbulent season run-in.

Armed with extra fixture information from the most recent round of FA Cup ties, our Hot Topic posters are full of advice on when best to use their Free Hit, Wildcard and other chips, along with the best players to target.

Meanwhile, our community articles offer help to the chipless in navigating this tricky period of the campaign and reveal details about the return of last season’s surprise Fantasy Football success story.

Our Members tables section focuses on players from two of the eight clubs guaranteed to play in Gameweek 31’s reduced set of fixtures.

And we finish off with a reminder about an important event taking place tomorrow in memory of a much-missed community member.

The Community Articles

Buzzy dropped by to offer some guidance to those who have already used their Free Hit or Wildcard chips and are looking in fear at the forthcoming blanks and doubles.

Among his advice is to start stocking up on Liverpool assets now. This is a strategy backed by ‘the crowd’ being tracked by Hutch_James. They are predicting that the Reds will score more goals than any other Premier League outfit in Gameweek 28.

Elsewhere, Mr Klin of Norway and Niemi have teamed up to help those taking part in Norwegian top-flight game Fantasy Eliteserien prepare for the upcoming season. With 500 managers taking part in our league last time out, this proved to be a surprise hit among our community.

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 the FA Cup quarter final draw in place, the community has a good steer on the teams that will face blank and double Gameweeks over the season run-in.

Using chips to navigate this tricky time in the calendar will be key, particularly the Free Hit chip, which was introduced this season and is still something of an unknown quantity for Fantasy managers.

Torres Magic sparked a discussion on the best time to use this chip, with Gameweek 35’s blanks seen by many as the ideal option, easing plans for the two double set of fixtures that surround it in Gameweeks 34 and 37.

The quarter final draw, which will see one of Leicester City or Chelsea progress and also features a favourable tie for Manchester United, adds further weight to using the Free Hit chip in Gameweek 35, according to Rainer.

Meanwhile, Benster’s look ahead to Gameweek 38’s favourable fixtures for top of the table sides suggests that the season finale may prove a more lucrative time to deploy the temporary refresh.

Agueroooooney offers a further alternative strategy by advocating firing up the Free Hit chip during a double Gameweek rather than a blank.

The launch of Fantasy Eliterserien has also added to the chips debate, with the Norwegian game developing its own version of those used in FPL. We asked the community for its thoughts on these alternative chips, which include “Parkere Bussen”, where managers can ‘park the bus’ to gain double points for all their defenders.

Gameweek 31 provides the first major dilemma over the season climax, with only eight teams currently guaranteed to play their fixture. Among them is Liverpool, with Dingo canvassing opinion on whether their erratic winger Sadio Mane deserves a place over one of their defensive options.

Reds options also figured prominently in our discussion on the perfect Gameweek 31 side, while Leicester and Arsenal stars took centre stage in our Hot Topic on whether it is worth drafting inactive Gameweek 31 players with strong fixtures over their next three.

Jurgen Klopp’s troops also earn a favourable mention in Doosra‘s latest team statistics, as delivered by G-Whizz.

Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is topping many of the community’s watchlist, particularly as his team also face favourable home ties against West Ham, Newcastle and Watford over their next four matches.

Making way are likely to be premium defenders from Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, according to our discussion on Gameweek 28’s fixture swing in the wrong direction for these three clubs.

The Red Devils’ poor recent form has also put off investment in their assets, apart from their sensational goalkeeper David De Gea, even though they could have two double Gameweeks on the horizon.

Finally, a reminder that our Live Hall of Fame has been updated. Members can see where they are after Gameweek 27’s fixtures here.

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.

The Members Tables

Guaranteed fixtures in Gameweek 31 make players from the two Merseyside clubs ripe for investment.

To help select the best options, I’ve created this pair of tables looking at the most attacking players from the ranks of Liverpool and Everton.

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

Tomorrow (Saturday) sees the staging of the inaugural Fantasy Football Scout Charity Cup tournament.

My Pretty Pony who, along with TopMarx, has organised the day, has more details of the London-based event here. Please do come along and offer your support if you can. It’s being staged to raise money to combat ocular melanoma after community member Simon Humber (Absinthe) lost his battle with this rare form of eye cancer in 2015.

Elsewhere, the Community Watch tournament has reached the knockout phase, according to Speedyboyz‘s latest update 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 us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.