Before we get started on the preview for Fantasy Allsvenskan I have some minor updates ahead of the new Fantasy Premier League season. I’ll hopefully be able to churn out a few decent FPL-articles as well going forward and will become more active on Twitter, going from consumer to contributor… I’m @FF_Meltens if you want to discuss anything there, either Allsvenskan or FPL-related. I’ve very much enjoyed the community’s response to these articles so I’ve also started an FPL-league for you Fantasy Allsvenskan devotees, the league-code is dlo2nj if you want to join!
That’s enough of that, let’s get into the review/preview!
Blank Gameweek 18 review
BGW18 had reduced fixtures with AIK, Malmö, Norrköping, and Sundvall all without a fixture. That left us with a heavy emphasis on Djurgården, Göteborg, Hammarby and Häcken to deliver, along with some budget alternatives from AFC Eskilstuna. Hammarby had a tough game away to Kalmar (highlights can be seen here for those who want to see some howlers) and besides the fact Hammarby always seem to struggle at Kalmar, the main problems can be summarised in three points (bear with me, it’s therapeutic somehow):
- The physicality of Kalmar. Kalmar wasn’t afraid to really get stuck in and played very aggressively in their press, breaking up Hammarby’s intentions early and forcing the long ball frequently – a notoriously bad strategy for Hammarby when your main striker is Imad Khalili (6.9m) who doesn’t really win that many headers.
- Questionable refereeing. It’s all subjective of course but to me the referee Victor Wolf had a game to forget and looked a bit out of his element. With just ten games at Allsvenskan-level under his belt his inexperience showed, and unfortunately he became the main talking point after the game. The red card on Davor Blazevic (4.3m) was completely correct but the following situation which resulted in a penalty for Kalmar is, in my opinion (as well as both teams coaches), soft at best. Overall the refereeing lacked consistency and both sides got away with playing a bit too rough (Hammarby were in no way blameless by the way, they just handled it worse).
- Weak goalkeeping from Blazevic. Not only did he get himself sent off for a reckless challenge outside of the box, but he was also at fault for most off the horrific defensive situations that Hammarby got themselves into. He had to be bailed out by the defenders on multiple occasions, Mads Fenger (5.2m) putting in a real shift and saving certain goals more than once when Blazevic was outsmarted. Even though he conceded twice, Johan Wiland (4.9m) provided Hammarby with a lot more stability when he came in.
Muamer Tankovic (9.4m) netted a class goal on the break but was otherwise not that influential. Nikola Djurdjic (10.4m) had a good first half but vanished in the second, also getting his third yellow card of the season which results in a suspension for GW19 against Helsingborg. Imad Khalili didn’t see much of the ball on the ground and was the obvious fall guy as Wiland had to be subbed on. Alexander Kačaniklić (8.6m) had plenty of intentions but kept getting stuck on the last defender, great pass for the Tankovic goal though. All in all, not a great game for Hammarby but next two games (Helsingborg and Sundvall at home) should be a whole other ball-game so no need to rip up your teams just yet.
For Göteborg Robin Söder (7.6m) scored a brace and is now on four goals from his last four games, emerging as a potential Jordan Larsson replacement for the ones strapped for cash. Giorgi Kharaishvili (8.9m) meanwhile is on just three assists from his last ten games, being held up points-wise by his fantastic ability to get bonus points pretty much every game. It is a concern though (perhaps not this GW at home to Falkenberg) and something to look at when you play your second wildcard. Göteborg as a whole has actually only scored 8 goals in their last 10 games, in comparison to the 18 goals scored in their first 8 games. The loss of Benjamin Nygren to Russia and Patrick Karlsson-Lagemyr (6.6m) to injury along with Lasse Vibe’s (8.2m) continuing fitness-issues really has derailed Göteborg as an attacking force and they might need to bring someone in to help remedy this issue.
AFC Eskilstuna provided some sparks of life as Adi Nalic (5.6m) scored a brace and budget defender Kadir Hodzic (4.4m) came away with surprising eight-pointer. No luck for all the Gustav Jarl (4.3m) owners however as he blanked when called upon from the depths of our benches. Djurgården are now the league-leaders after their impressive win away to Elfsborg which finished 1-0. Their defence continues to impress (just three goals conceded in their last ten games!) and thankfully for fantasy managers, there’s been no rotation to take into account as they don’t play in Europe. Marcus Danielsson (6.0m), Aslak Fonn Witry (5.3m), Elliot Käck (5.7m), and forgotten man Jacob Une Larsson (5.4m) all start every game and they’re all bossing it, in different ways. Two home games against Sirius and AFC Eskilstuna looks promising, followed however by Malmö and AIK away which looks a lot less attractive.
The three most popular captains in the top 1k for gameweek 17, courtesy of GoktugErce:
- Muamer Tankovic; Captained by 37.9%, Effective Ownership of 134.2%, scored 7 points.
- Alexander Jeremejeff (10.0m); Captained by 24.7%, Effective Ownership of 83.0%, scored 9 points.
- Nikola Djurdjic; Captained by 18.1%, Effective Ownership of 98.1%, scored 1 point.
Top 1k average points for the gameweek was 56.3, compared to the overall average of 36 points.
Gameweek 19 preview
The “big boys” + Sundsvall returns, and we now have a full set of fixtures to look forward to! AIK, Norrköping and Malmö are still in Europe though (games on Thursday) so that needs to be monitored, expect the rotation to unfortunately not be over. New league-leaders Djurgården will look to start the gameweek off by putting pressure on the rest with a three-pointer at home to Sirius. Djurgården has won five of their last six games against Sirus and will be fancying their chances, but Sirius need to start worrying about just how close they’re getting to the bottom three in the league. AIK travel to AFC Eskilstuna with question-marks about the fitness of Chinedu Obasi (8.6m) with no news at the time of writing. How they will line up in defence (or overall) is a tough task to predict now and unfortunately (unless any game is re-scheduled) we won’t have the luxury of AIK going first in the GW until GW26, so no last-minute changes with line-ups released I’m afraid.
Malmö faces a tough task as they travel to Häcken, a home-side very much in need of proving their credentials against their top opponents and not “just” the likes of Sirius. Hammarby tries to bounce back at home to a Helsingborg side that isn’t looking especially solid, conceding seven goals in their last three games. No Djurdjic is a big loss and it begs the question; will this be the first game where we see new striker Aron Johansson (8.9m) get a start? What does that then mean for Khalili, is he shunted back into attacking midfield? We could also see Vladimir Rodic (8.2m) get a rare start if they want to keep Khalili up top.
Norrköping plays against an out of sorts Elfsborg side (four straight losses), where you do wonder just how the latter is going to rediscover their flow, with Jonathan Levi (7.7m) out injured for a long time and main threat Pawel Cibicki not getting to stay after the loan-deal expired earlier this summer. Göteborg host Falkenberg and Robin Söder will be eager to prove Göteborg are back at it, although the reverse fixture in GW15 ended as a 1-1 draw.
Players to target
Daleho Irandust (9.5m) got another assist and two offensive bonus points and with Häcken now out of the European qualifiers, rotation shouldn’t have to be a worry for him. Next four read Malmö (H), Örebro (a), AFC Eskilstuna (a), and Falkenberg (H) and he’s the chief creator in a side that’s got plenty of attacking talent and now could be a wise time to get him in.
Muhamed Buya Turay (9.5m) may not have been banging them in lately but Sirius and AFC Eskilstuna at home provide him with a solid platform to get some more points on the board and his linkup play with in particular Witry is nice to see. Robin Söder is however an almost two million cheaper alternative and in great form, and he’s also got good fixtures with Falkenberg (H), Helsingborg (a), Kalmar (H) and Sundsvall (a).
Captaincy thoughts
I fully expect Hammarby to be back at it and while it remains to be seen how they deal with Djurdjic being suspended, both Muamer Tankovic and Alexander Kačaniklić seems an as solid a bet as ever to keep returning. In fact, neither has blanked in the last five games and I don’t see Helsingborg at home as the one where it all falls apart (famous last words). Alexander Jeremejeff has only one blank in nine games at home, providing six goals and four assists. He might also feel like he has something to prove against Malmö who he failed to make an impact on before moving back to Häcken last season.
One final tip is, if you haven’t played the “Park the bus”-chip, GW20 looks an ideal time to do it with fixtures like; Djurgården-AFC Eskilstuna, Malmö-Falkenberg, AIK-Kalmar and Hammarby-Sundsvall (if you have any faith in Hammarby’s defence at all…). If you want to wildcard before that now GW19 is your last chance, however, if you can manage to get a decent back five out with just transfers that might be preferable and then you’d be able to save the wildcard for the fixture swings that’s impending. As always, best of luck to you this gameweek and if you want to talk fantasy football either comment here below or hit me up @FF_Meltens on Twitter!