Fantasy Allsvenskan – Gameweek 21

Gameweek 20 review

Only ten more gameweeks to go and we’re swiftly moving on to the “end game” part of the proceedings. Gameweek 20 saw plenty of chips flying about, with 33.5% of the top 1k managers choosing to deploy a chip (credit @FantasyGuiden). Of the current top 1k managers 865 have played two captains, 797 have parked the bus, 778 the second wildcard and 485 the “Attack! Attack!”-chip. Hope it went well for all you fellow chip-players, I parked the bus and got a bunch of points from my three Djurgården defenders but both Victor Wernersson (5.7m) and Lars Krogh Gerson (6.4m) failed to deliver!

Other than that, it was a week where pretty much all the teams you’d expect to win did so, with one notable deviancy in AIK who lost 2-1 at home to Kalmar. With a particularly strange line-up from coach Rikard Norling, even the TV-companies switched the formation around as they didn’t believe what they saw when presented with the team sheets. Turns out they got it wrong and centre-back Felix Michel (4.9m) actually started up top along with Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (9.2m)! It seems the fit wasn’t great though, and he came away from it without registering a single shot, being substituted at half time for Henok Goitom (9.8m). Michel keeps popping up in positions further forward than the backline so that’s something to monitor for the run-in. Tarik Elyounoussi (9.1m) scored his first goal since GW11, set up by increasingly influential Nabil Bahoui (9.6m).

For Djurgården (who many turned to for their “Park the bus”-chips) there was plenty of delight as Marcus Danielsson (6.1m) delivered a 13-point haul, Aslak Fonn Witry (5.4m) an 11-pointer and Elliot Käck (5.9m) a solid 7 points. We also saw another attacking return from Fredrik Ulvestad (6.5m), another goal from Mohamed Buya Turay (9.7m) and new signing Curtis Edwards (8.7m) was very involved with one assist, one defensive bonus point and two offensive bonus.

For Hammarby who beat Sundsvall three goals to none, it was just another day at the office. Goals from Muamer Tankovic (9.5m) and Alexander Kačaniklić (8.9m) plus an own-goal from Juanju Ciércoles (5.7m) established the scoreline, with Richard Magyar (5.0M) and Nikola Djurjic (10.6m) chipping in with assists. The thing most worthy of note is Aron Jóhannsson (8.8m) starting the game ahead of Imad Khalili (6.9m), though he didn’t produce any attacking return this could very well be the start of him making that position his own, meaning Khalili owners need to pay close attention and perhaps already this week concede that the fun is over, before it even really started.

Malmö ran through Falkenberg 5-0 and other than Arnór Ingvi Traustason (8.4m) as well as Romain Gall (8.0m) both having great weeks, the big talking point was Anders Christiansen (10.1m) getting substituted off at half-time due to injury concerns. Any potential fears were alleviated on Thursday though, as he played the full 90 in Malmös European game against Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv FC. Rumours of a move abroad refuse to die down however so that’s something to keep an eye on.

Some gameweek 20 stats, courtesy of GoktugErce;

The three most popular captains in the top 1k were all Hammarby lads:

Muamer Tankovic; Captained by 71.3%, Effective Ownership of 149.0%, scored 9 points.

Nikola Djurdjic; Captained by 11.3%, Effective Ownership of 99.3%, scored 6 points.

Alexander Kačaniklić; Captained by 5.0%, Effective Ownership of 74.2%, scored 9 points.

Top 1k average points for the gameweek was 79.8, compared to the overall average of 53 points.

Gameweek 21 preview

There was plenty of action for Swedish teams in midweek as AIK and Malmö played in Europe yet again, while most other teams had a game in the Swedish cup. Few results from the cup stood out but it was particularly worth noting the minutes and results for the Hammarby players. Imad Khalili played the full 90 in the cup game against Luleå on Wednesday but had no goal-involvement as Hammarby wasted little energy in a pretty routine 3-1 win. Muamer Tankovic (9.5m) played 56 minutes and got a goal, Nikola Djurdjic (10.6m) played 72 minutes and got one goal and one assist, while Alexander Kačaniklić (8.9m) came on for Tankovic and scored a goal. Crucially Aron Jóhannsson was completely left out of the squad and both he and coach Stefan Billborn say that he will get more game-time going forward, further indicating Khalili’s days are numbered.

Malmö won their European qualifier against Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv FC 3-0 while AIK, who travelled to Glasgow for a game against Celtic, lost 2-0. Continued rotation in Allsvenskan looks likely for AIK, but Malmö might have to play their best 11 as they’re faced with league-leaders Djurgården in GW21. Hammarby travel to Falkenberg and will be big favourites yet again as the green and whites try to squeeze the most of a nice fixture run that’s about to end. Göteborg will face a Kalmar side who managed to shock AIK, will they be able to do it again? Unlikely in my opinion but we’ll see. Häcken have a nice fixture on paper as they travel to Eskilstuna, while Norrköping are tasked with dispatching of Helsingborg at home.

Players to target

Have you heard of this bloke called Robin Söder (7.9m)? It appears he’s in quite a decent form as mentioned in previous weeks, he’s now up to six goals and one assist in his last six games. Kalmar (H) followed by Sundsvall (a) should mean his prospects continue to look good.

Curtis Edwards has started life at Djurgården off with a bang, getting 17 points from two games. Owned by just 1.4%, the biggest issue is the fact that many will have at the very least a double up on Djurgården defenders, an then one of Jonathan Ring (7.9m), Mohamed Buya Turay or a third Djurgården defender, blocking Edwards from contention. The two next fixtures are also horrible (Malmö and AIK away) but depending on your own team’s specific situation and your faith in Djurgården to get something from those two games, he could be a good pick. It might just be two weeks too early though and you could be better of holding on until those games are in the rear-view mirror.

Aron Jóhannsson is another pick that is very team-dependant (probably wouldn’t get rid of Djurdjic for him unless in huge need of the cash) but he could come in big time over the next couple of weeks. He’s just 8.8m and only getting better, playing furthest forward in the team that’s topping the offensive charts. Khalili will continue to sneak some game-time off him but it seems that Jóhannsson is firmly the first choice once fully fit. Fixtures medium to long term aren’t great so it also depends on how invested you want to be in Hammarby attack for the run-in.

Captaincy thoughts

Can you really look past Muamer Tankovic, Alexander Kačaniklić or Nikola Djurdjic against Falkenberg? I think it might be difficult and I’ll continue to push for Kačaniklić as the best option, though he hasn’t necessarily shown it in the points the last couple of weeks he’s still been the most threatening player for Hammarby. Tankovic and Djurdjic remain top options with high EO but if you want to make up some ground, Kačaniklić could be your man.

Looking outside Hammarby both Robin Söder and Giorgi Kharaishvili (9.1m) seems solid picks for a “home banker”.

As always, best of luck to you this gameweek and if you want to chat about fantasy football either comment here below or hit me up @FF_Meltens on Twitter! I’ll eventually get around to some FPL stuff as well but for the time being, Allsvenskan is the main focus. Cheers all!