Welcome to the Christmas edition of the Fantasy Football Scout Gameweek Guide.
If festive distractions are keeping you from your beloved FPL, I’m delighted to point you in the direction of Simon March’s Guide to the Christmas Period. Simon is a Pro Pundit and former FPL winner and, in his article, he gives away the secret of his success. It’s a gift to us all.
The pressing question this week for many FPL managers has been what to do with Son?
Replacements were debated on site with many looking at an upgrade to Salah. As Joe revealed on the Scoutcast that is exactly his plan, and David provided some comforting statistics to back up his decision.
Over the last four matches Salah is top for Shots in the Box (16), Shots on Target (9), and has an expected goals of 2.4 – again the best for any player.
Other options were discussed with Antonio, Martial, Willian, Grealish, and Alli all mentioned. Indeed, Meet the Manager guest Phil Ampleford (aka Philman) advised in the chat to keep it simple and get Alli. Although other FFS managers were less convinced.
Captain candidates were also debated and following the success of Danny Ings against an injury-hit Aston Villa side, Teemu Pukki was highlighted as a potential armband pick.
In Gameweek 18 Danny Ings made up for his misfortune in Gameweek 17 with a 13-point haul. Az began a festive-themed hot-topic on the in-form forward, “Jingsle Bells” (brilliant or dreadful, make your own mind up) – with the fixtures stiffening for the Saints, should we keep or sell?
Teemu Pukki is the next talismanic forward to face the Villains. Their abysmal backline was highlighted by David in his Captain Sensible article:
Aston Villa’s defence continues to be the worst by a considerable margin over the last four matches. They are bottom of the league for shots conceded in the box (55) by a total of 15, bottom for big chances conceded (14) by a total of three and also the worst for expected goals conceded (xGC). Their total of 11.17 is 4.97 greater than any other side in the last four Gameweeks.
– David Munday
Not pretty readying for Villa fans.
Conversely very pretty reading for owners of our favourite Finn. To bolster his case, the Norwich City forward was twice denied by Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patrício in their 2-1 defeat last week and boasts two goals in his last four matches.
Although there was a word of warning from Neale in his Predicted Line-Up notes:
The absence of Tyrone Mings (hamstring) and John McGinn (ankle fracture), both of whom have made big contributions to defensive efforts this season, may force Dean Smith into a more conservative shape when a slightly resurgent Norwich attack come to Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
– Neale Rigg
Harry Kane tops the Captain Poll, and a timely analysis from shniklas added to research by Pro Pundit Lateriser last month.
Over the past five seasons Kane has played 13 games during this Christmas period. He has scored 19 goals and been awarded 7 assists.
– shniklas
Brighton-fan Joe was fairly pessimistic about his team’s chances at White Hart Lane.
Gameweek 17 hero Kevin De Bruyne put in another impressive performance, as Colm Hayes (aka CHayes) reported in his take on the key stats from last weekend:
Kevin De Bruyne managed four attempts against the Foxes, 75% of those coming from inside the penalty area. That goal threat complements De Bruyne’s creative genius – only Norwich’s £6.0m midfielder Emi Buendia (9) fashioned more opportunities for his team-mates than the Belgian (7) across the Saturday games.
– Colm Hayes
In his new advanced role he certainly presents an easy captain pick.
There are also reasons for picking Marcus Rashford at home to Newcastle. Aside from the expected return of Paul Pogba to the starting XI, Rashford tops the points predictions on this site’s Rate My Team.
And if you are looking for a reason to hand the armband to Tammy Abraham, G-Whizz provides you with ammunition in the latest DS stats, fixtures and clean sheet odds with Chelsea top of the ratings for Boxing Day.
Everton appointed their new manager in the shape of Carlo Ancelotti, what will this mean for their fortunes?
Gregor began a hot-topic on the subject, while the Scoutcast trio of Joe, David, and Andy debated the potential impact.
The eyebrow-raising Italian favoured a 4-4-2 formation at Napoli which could mean good news for Richarlison according to David, while Joe enthused about Calvert-Lewin, who has notched 12 goal attempts in four matches. There were also positive quotes from Ancelotti about Moise Kean, who he tried to buy while he was at Napoli:
Moise Kean did really well last year. When I was at Napoli we tried to buy him. A really good player with a lot of talent. You have to consider that he’s 19 years old, for every player that change countries and teams, you need sometimes adaptation.
– Carlo Ancelotti
Finally, Greyhead was in reflective mood in the latest installment of The Great and The Good. Using the What If Machine he reported that Neale has been the transfer king so far this season, gaining an impressive 165 points with his wheeler-dealing.
He also revealed that the famously patient Ville Ronka finally played his Wildcard. The Finn sold Jamie Vardy and tripled up on Man United players. Interestingly, World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen also bought Harry Maguire. If their success is anything to go by, perhaps that’s a move we will all be copying very soon.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.
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.
Rolling monthly subscriptions are now available, with the first month costing only £1.99 for a limited time only. Click here to sign up or upgrade your account.
Community Competitions
For an update on all FFS Mini-Leagues and Community Competitions, please click here to read the latest round-up.
For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 19 can be found below:
Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.
Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.
Enjoy your Christmas and best of luck for Gameweek 19!
4 years, 4 months agoThat Maupay benching comes as no surprise given the priority must be the Bournemouth game on Saturday.
Likewise why I won’t be surprised to see Ings and Tammy benched today for the same reason.
Maupay in on GW20 WC is a shoe in now anyway as should play next 2 and fixtures are good.