Just two more GWs to go as Fantasy Allsvenskan is drawing closer to a really dramatic finish (no, thankfully not talking about Pukki). FFS league’s very own Daniel Sebestyen is currently top of every imaginable chart and number one in the world – hugely exciting and we’re all pulling for you to go on and win it!!
That is everyone besides his closest competitors in the FFS league: Jan Inge Nordby, Simon Eriksson, and Henrik Mäkitalo who are at OR4, OR7 and OR10 respectively. Regardless of who wins it, I hope all of you are able to keep your impressive seasons alive and well for two more weeks!
Gameweek 28 review
The race for the title went into overdrive as Hammarby, AIK, Djurgården, and Malmö all stay in it, though Djurgården grabbed the wheel back from Malmö and are now heading towards the golden finish line (or a cliff) with a three point lead ahead of the chasing pack. The fixtures that remain indicate there’s every chance that three clubs will go into the final game dreaming of a being crowned champions..
The headline fixture of GW28 was Hammarby-Malmö and the implications of the possible results were huge; a win for Malmö and they would be in a great position to go all the way, while Hammarby would effectively be ruled out of contention. A win for Hammarby (with a sufficient margin of goals) would mean they leapfrog Malmö and involve themselves even further into the race for first place, as well as top three which means European games next season. The stakes were high and Hammarby had to make do without suspended duo Jeppe Andersen (7.3m) and Muamer Tankovic (9.4m) while Malmö missed the injured playmaker Anders Christiansen (9.9m). Ultimately, Hammarby’s insane goal-scoring form and in particular their impressive record at home (11 wins, 2 draws and a goal difference of 43-14 ahead of this game) proved to be too much for a Malmö side that lacked clinical finishing, as Hammarby went on to win the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Alexander Kačaniklić (8.5m) and Richard Magyar (5.0m) – despite Malmö firing 14 shots (8 on target) to Hammarby’s 6 (4 on target).
Djurgården had an interesting evening away to Göteborg where the home side will feel more than a little bit annoyed at the referee who had a big impact on how the game developed. First, they were denied a penalty when Jacob Une Larsson (5.4m) took down Giorgi Kharaishvili (9.0m). A little bit later, the goal for Djurgården came from a corner that probably never should have happened, given the offside situation that precluded it. Even the referee himself went out after the game and apologised for making the wrong call, and many voices wishing for VAR have been raised in the aftermath. Nevertheless, the age-old saying that “the markings of a title-winning side is that they win even when they’re playing badly” has never rung more true and the three points that Djurgården got thanks to Mohamed Buya Turay’s (9.7m) goal are absolutely massive, ensuring they have it all within their own hands – if they get 4 points from Örebro (H) and Norrköping (a), they’ll be champions.
AIK did their bit as we expected, though Falkenberg keeper Hampus Nilsson (4.5m) made it too easy for them by getting sent off after just nine minutes played. Star of the show was undoubtedly Henok Goitom (10.0m) who got a massive 21-point haul courtesy of four goals and one assist, by far the most successful captaincy recommendation this column has produced! Sebastian Larsson (9.1m) was no slouch either, getting 11 points thanks to a couple of bonuses and two assists.
Here are some gameweek 28 stats, gathered from @poohdini59 on Twitter.
The three most popular captains in the top 1k were:
Sead Haksabanovic; Captained by 61.8%, EO 150.0%, scored 1 point.
Lars Krogh Gersson; Captained by 7.0%, EO 60.2%, scored 8 points.
Cristoffer Nyman; Captained by 4.2%, EO 37.5%, scored 2 points.
Gameweek 29 preview
Malmö find themselves yet again in the big fixture of the week, as they entertain a travelling AIK side in a game that will determine both clubs fate this season (without trying to sound too dramatic). Both are on 59 points, trailing Djurgården by three points – a draw and they could be completely out of the race as Djurgården looks a pretty safe bet to beat Örebro at home. Whoever wins will keep their title hopes alive ahead of the final game while the loser might struggle to even reach top three, the importance of this fixture can’t be stressed enough! Fantasy wise, captains in this game should probably be avoided but by all means, field your players unless you have especially tasty benches.
Hammarby travel to Östersund in a bid to keep their form and hopes alive. Östersund have well-documented problems on and off the pitch and they need points to ensure continued survival – that is, if they can get the money required to stay up. Motivation should run high on both sides then, though Östersund managed to create a bit of breathing space with their GW28 win at home to Sirius, and could still be safe even if they lose their final two games. Muamer Tankovic will be back and he joins forces with Kačaniklić, Vladimir Rodic (8.3m), and Nikola Djurdjic (10.5m) which should be too much offensive power for Östersund to be able to hold out.
Djurgården face off against Örebro in what on paper looks like an absolute home banker; it remains to be seen if it plays out like that as well. Treble Djurgården in one configuration or another seems a good bet for points! Given the fact that the title bizarrely could come down to goal difference, I wouldn’t be massively surprised if Djurgården try to polish the numbers a bit ahead of their final game away to Norrköping.
Kalmar have a chance to save themselves from the relegation battle at home to Falkenberg, should they lose however they’d be well into it so expect emotions to run high. Fantasy options are few and far between for Kalmar as Nils Fröling (5.7m) has taken it upon himself to completely drop off the radar, but one that could spark to life in the final two games is Norrköping loanee Alexander Jakobsen (7.2m). Which leads us to..
Players to target
Alexander Jakobsen wanted to get some game time and Norrköping weren’t able to give it to him this season, as such he went to Kalmar halfway through it. After scoring away to AIK in GW20 things have been rough for Jakobsen who’s struggled with form and fitness up until GW27 where he came back into the starting line-up. Away to Norrköping last week he put up some interesting stats shooting twice (one on target), providing 7 successful crosses and 3 key passes, along with 8 ball recoveries. Falkenberg at home is exactly the kind of game where Jakobsen could shine, and he’s owned by just 0.5% overall… Kalmar also finishes the season away to Sirius, another potentially high scoring game, so as a two-week punt this could be a player to look into.
Jonathan Ring (8.1m) may only have one assist in the last four but the bonus point system seems to appreciate what he’s doing. Like Jakobsen he’s got a great home fixture and as previously mentioned, Djurgården might be trying to put themselves in a good position as far as goal difference goes as we saw with AIK last week. Currently on +31 to Hammarby’s and Malmö’s +33 and with a tough final fixture, this is the week to claw that back against an Örebro side with nothing to play for.
Captaincy thoughts
Mohamed Buya Turay seems to remain first choice with Emir Kujovic (8.9m) firmly rooted to the bench and as such, Turay looks like an interesting captaincy option at home to Örebro. A caveat here is that he’s not reached double digits so far on the season, failing to score more than once in any given game which is kind of bad to be honest, though Djurgården hasn’t gotten this far by blistering attacking football but rather by a rock-solid defence and one/two-nil wins. Still, the circumstances are a bit different this week and if he can put some more of his chances away, this has a brace minimum feeling to it. He had four shots, all on target away to Göteborg.
Muamer Tankovic is back in the squad and despite dropping off a bit in attacking output, he’s still very involved and on penalties (unless Djurdjic is feeling extra selfish or going for a hattrick) for the best attack in the league. Away to Östersund, this is his time to shine again and keep Hammarby in the race all the way to the finish line. Slightly more differential alternatives to him from the same squad are any of the other blokes in the quadruple – that is Kačaniklić, Rodic, and Djurdjic. Any of them could have a great week, but I’m backing The Tank to do some heavy damage!
If you want to go really, really rogue and chase a big differential captain this week though, I’m going out on a limb here and suggesting none other than Alexander Jakobsen! Falkenberg are truly awful and now without the suspended Hampus Nilsson in goal (although that’s arguably not a disaster) 22-year old Johan Brattberg (4.1m) with just 12 senior appearances will most likely step in. If you count his U21 and U19 games (which you might as well just to get something to discuss on a lazy Friday afternoon) he’s played 72 games all in all – conceding 172 goals and keeping 10 clean sheets…
As always, good luck this gameweek and if you want to chat about fantasy football either comment here below – or hit me up @FF_Meltens on Twitter!
4 years, 5 months ago
Great article, once again.
I might sell Haksa and go for a punt. Can't believe we're nearly at the end of the season!