Fantasy League

How FFScout team have fared so far in augural Fantasy League season

Blink and you’ll miss it. How are we now a couple of fixtures past the halfway point in the season? No doubt you’ve all been waiting with bated breath to see how your favourite team of Scout writers and experts are getting on in their inaugural season of playing the ultimate form of Fantasy Football that is Fantasy League (FL).

Are Geoff and Ted (Rotation) still fighting it out for top-pot. Is Chris (El Fozzie) still languishing at the bottom of the table? I’ll put you out of your misery:

Position Manager Points
1 David 277
2 Chris 231
3 Neale 223
4 Will 219
5 Ted 218
6 Clouseau 210
7 Geoff 207
8 Mat 199

Let’s just gloss over the fact that the Scout’s ‘FL expert’ (yours truly: there would be multiple laughing emojis here if I could add them…..) is a massive 67 points off the top and move onto David’s meteoric rise to the top of the table with a very significant cushion over everyone else.

How did he do it? I have two words for you: Jamie Vardy. Remember, that’s the beauty of FL: Vardy can only appear in one team. No one else can jump aboard the bandwagon as that ship sailed when David outbid everyone else at the auction, confident, even then, that the Leicester man would have a groundbreaking season.

Despite missing the latter half of the festive chaos, Vardy still sits 12 points above the next best player, Sadio Mané, who is the only player keeping Mat afloat (having accounted for almost a quarter of his total points).

Beneath David, you could throw a relatively small blanket over the rest of us and the positions from two to eight frequently change as someone has a stellar week or one to send you back to bed for a couple of days.

Although points are harder to come by in FL compared to FPL, 30+ points in a week isn’t unheard of (probably on a par with a 100+ point week in FPL) and that could see anyone from Geoff up to Neale overtaking Chris in second spot.

David’s success to date really does highlight how FL is all about the long game as it’s amazing the difference a couple of months can make. Last time out, I looked at the best team which could, in theory, have been acquired at our auction. Of the 15 players in that ultimate squad, only three (Mané, Pukki and Abraham) would still be in the best team as of this point in time, which looks like this:

GW21 Cost £m Points
Henderson 0 16
Doherty 3 21
Baldock 0 28
Kelly 0 18
Evans 0 23
Mane 19 49
Son 13 31
Mahrez 0 33
Vardy 29 61
Rashford 13 46
Abraham 5 42
Grealish 0 20
Calvert-Lewin 0 24
Pukki 10 33
Ings 3 43
Total: 95 496

The original team would still have a very impressive 358 points, 81 more than our own table-topper, David, but 138 fewer than this latest team.

To give that context, you’d have to score 46 unanswered goals to overtake a lead of that magnitude.

However, will this still be the best team as of the end of the season? My money says it won’t be although we could probably safely lock in Vardy and Mané!

If Kevin de Bruyne continues his current form then he will probably feature too but his price at the auction (£27m) means that other midfielders represent better value for money (vfm) for now, as is the case too with Trent Alexander-Arnold who tops the fullbacks chart with 42 points (his partner in crime, Andrew Robertson is next highest with 32 points), who cost £18m.

Given that you’ve only had my view of things up to this point, it’s time for a fresh perspective and fortunately the Scout’s very own Will (aka TopMarx) was kind enough to give me his own take on both the game and the season to date:

The challenge I’ve found with Fantasy League is grasping how it differs from FPL. 

For instance, it’s much harder for defenders to score points. They only get three points for a clean sheet and if they concede more than once, each goal costs them minus one. When Southampton lost 9-0 to Leicester their defenders scored minus eight.

So with defenders frequently getting negative points, I’ve decided that non-playing defenders – who are guaranteed zero points – aren’t a bad choice! However, my best transfer this season has undoubtedly been Kasper Schmeichel. The Leicester City ‘keeper has kept six clean sheets since I’ve owned him. 

The Super Subs feature means that the concept of a bench is very different in Fantasy League, as most of your squad will play each week. You also aren’t limited to owning just three forwards, as you are in FPL. 

Because goals are worth three points irrespective of whether a forward, midfielder or defender scores, it makes sense to me to load up on strikers – the players most likely to score goals. My squad of 15 currently contains six forwards and four midfielders.

How is my season going? Well, fairly average.

At the auction last summer I decided to go for balance and avoided splashing out big money on one player. I spent roughly an equal amount on Paul Pogba, Christian Eriksen, Marcus Rashford and Son Heung-min. The first two have been a big disappointment.

It was a mistake to pick Eriksen. I thought he would stay at Spurs but he still hasn’t re-integrated into the team. I finally got rid of him this week as it has become clear his situation is unlikely to change under Jose Mourinho.

The reason I held onto Eriksen for so long is that he has the potential to do well and there aren’t a huge amount of alternatives. It’s the same reason I still have an injured Pogba in my team. 
Nonetheless, I remain hopeful players like Wilfried Zaha, Neal Maupay, Sébastien Haller, and Joshua King will score a few goals to propel me up the table. Although with David running away with it, I’ll be happy to finish second.
Will makes some interesting points, the most significant of which is the situation with defenders this season; I’ll come onto this in a minute.

However, I’d like to start with what he says about Eriksen. Will is a Spurs fan (boo/yay/meh/haha: delete as necessary) and so he knew as well as anyone that the Danish international was looking for a move abroad last summer having refused to sign a new contract. Picking up Eriksen at the auction was still a perfectly reasonable thing to do because until a player has actually signed a contract elsewhere, there is always the possibility that they will stay put.

In Eriksen’s case, that turned out to be the case, albeit with severely limited playing time, particularly for a player of his supreme ability. Taking a calculated punt is often what Fantasy Football in any guise is all about as that’s what enables you to steal a march on your opponents, and pick up players who are undervalued and have sneaked under the radar.

Unfortunately, the key word there is ‘calculated’. Not to pick on Will at all but this example is too good not to use: Will paid £15m out of his £100m budget for a player who was, ultimately, a massive punt. To put that in context, Will is also the proud owner of Son, for whom he paid £13m.

A couple of seasons ago, that pricing would probably have been roughly spot on, but what has to be factored into the equation is the likelihood that the whole sum could be wasted on a player who leaves the Premier League or rots in the reserves all season.

I’m not suggesting that you build spreadsheets to model a fair price for such players (although I’m sure that there will be people who have done precisely that!), but if you think a player who is 99% certain to stay put is worth £15m, then the same player with a 50% chance of leaving should only be worth £7.5m (and before some pedant points it out, I’ve rounded down to the nearest half million). Fantasy football, be it FL or FPL, is all about risk/reward. There are no certainties but using some simple maths can help maximise the risk/reward balance.

Will’s observation about defensive points in FL cuts to the heart of one of the biggest differences between FL and FPL. Last season, seven of the top 20 highest scoring players in both FL and FPL were defenders/goalkeepers. The table below shows the current top 20 players for each game and their respective points:

Rank FL FL Points Rank FPL FPL Points
1 Vardy 61 1 Vardy 144
2 Mane 49 2 De Bruyne 141
3 De Bruyne 47 3 Mane 140
4 Rashford 46 4 Aubameyang 123
5 Aubameyang 43 5 Rashford 122
6 Ings 43 6= Salah 118
7= Abraham 42 6= Ings 118
7= TAA 42 8 Abraham 115
9 Salah 40 9 TAA 112
10= Sterling 37 10 Sterling 110
10= Kane 37 11 Jiminez 106
12= Aguero 36 12 Kane 104
12= Jiminez 36 13 Maddison 103
14= Mahrez 33 14 Pukki 100
14= Pukki 33 15= Lundstram 98
16 Robertson 32 15= Richarlison 98
17 Son 31 17 Robertson 95
18 Jesus 30 18 Grealish 94
19= Richarlison 29 19 Pereira 92
19= Van Dijk 29 20 Baldock 91

Predictably, there is a lot of overlap between the two lists even if the players’ ranks vary slightly. The FL list has three defenders (the big three from Liverpool’s back line), and the FPL list five.

Lundstram is listed as a midfielder in FL and so doesn’t make the list but, if he had been classified as a defender, he’d have pushed Virgil van Dijk into the 21st spot (who, strictly speaking, makes the FPL list in 20th equal position with Baldock and Firmino).

What’s more telling, and cuts to Will’s point, is at the opposite end of the points-scoring table. At present, there isn’t a single player in FPL who has a score below zero and whilst I haven’t had the time to go through every single player currently on zero, I’d wager that there won’t be more than a handful of them who have actually made it onto the pitch this season.

In FL, there are 75 (yes, seventy-five!) players with a minus score, ranging from -1 to -16. Unsurprisingly, the eight players with double digits’ worth of minus points come from Norwich, Southampton and Watford.

For anyone ‘unfortunate’ (I’m being kind here!) enough to own one of these players, they would need one of their other players to score at least a brace of goals and assists (10 points) to cancel out the negative impact of each of these defenders. I often see the word ‘assets’ used to describe players in FPL but, in FL, defenders can also very much be ‘liabilities’.

Of course, this season has been highly unusual. It would have been a very brave manager who, at their auction (or when selecting their initial FPL team), would have loaded up on Leicester, Sheffield United and Palace defenders. Is there anyone who went into their auction not wanting both Liverpool fullbacks?

Yet Watford only have one fewer cleansheet than Liverpool (albeit Liverpool tend not to ship eight goals when losing their cleansheet!). Do I expect that to be the case come the end of the season? Of course not. Even if normal service isn’t fully resumed in terms of the ‘big’ teams keeping their anticipated level of clean sheets, I suspect that the teams listed above will keep fewer (relatively) than they have to date.

The real difficulty can be knowing when to get aboard an unexpectedly good defence and, equally importantly, when to know that the run is over. Most seasons, at least one of the promoted teams will surprise everyone. They will have some standout players who make exceptional Fantasy players (particularly from a vfm perspective) and one of the teams will have a defence which is as watertight as the proverbial duck’s rear orifice.

In part, I suspect it’s the surprise factor, given that 17 of the 19 teams against whom they play won’t have had recent first-hand experience of playing them. But it’s rare that the clean sheets last the full season.

Lots of people climbed onto the Wolves defensive bandwagon last season and whilst the likes of Matt Doherty and Willy Boly offered good attacking threats too, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men only kept nine clean sheets all season, with four coming in the first eight games of the season.

That’s 30 games with only five shutouts and from December to May it was literally just one a month with the exception of March. Surprising? It certainly surprised me because I had it in my head that Wolves were a good defensive shout for this season, yet at this latest rate they’ll struggle to match last season’s tally (four in 21 to date).

Everton kept 14 clean sheets last season. 10 of these came in their last 17 matches of the season. If they’d had that form in the first half of the last season, they’d have surpassed Liverpool’s table-topping defensive form of 21 shutouts.

Remember before the start of this season when the Everton defence was ‘essential’ in FPL circles, and the only question was Lucas Digne or Seamus Coleman or both? How did that work out? I remember it all too well because as well as my FPL team (which kicked off with Coleman), both my FL teams started out with an Everton defender (Yerry Mina and Michael Keane: both freebies).

It won’t surprise anyone to hear that all three teams are currently devoid of Everton defenders, but only after taking too many minus points in my FL teams.

It’s very easy to live in the past in Fantasy Football. Historically, Arsenal were one of the best teams defensively. Even long after their Invicibles season, they still had a number of defenders who regularly topped the defensive charts or scored the sorts of points you’d expect from a premium defender. I’m talking about Thomas Vermaelen. Laurent Koscielny. Hector Bellerin.

Those days are gone. Long gone.

Arsenal managed eight shutouts last season. That was two fewer than Cardiff, who got relegated. This season I could make the same point about Chelsea, Spurs and Manchester United, another three teams you’d have previously put your house on keeping plenty of clean sheets and having high-scoring defenders.

This leads me into the final point I’d like to make: the worst thing about living in the past is that nostalgia can creep in. Nostalgia is probably the worst emotion of them all when it comes to Fantasy Football in any guise.

That player you loved watching at your club for numerous seasons. Or that player who singlehandedly won you your FL or FPL league years ago. You know the guy. He now needs a walking stick to make it from the subs bench to the pitch but you’ll include him in your team anyway in the way that you hate sprouts but still stick them on your plate every Christmas. Because it’s what you do. And when you pick him up at your auction, other managers will hide their smirks or smile at you with pity. Many years ago, a fellow FL manager was a Leeds fan and built his team every auction by acquiring every former Leeds player he could lay his hands on. He never won.

Trying to remove emotion is a reason I’m so pleased I don’t support a Premier League team. For those of you who do, I honestly don’t know how you do it. For me, it would make my brain crash. It would be like asking a calculator to divide by zero. Huge ‘error’ message.

The worst conundrum I face when watching a match is when I have an attacker playing against a goalkeeper, so I know that, barring a freak assist from the goalie, I’m not going to be scoring points from both players.

If I had my Fantasy player scoring against my real-life team, which caused the latter to lose, I suspect I’d spontaneously self-combust. Ditto seeing my team win courtesy of goals by players owned by my closest Fantasy rivals. Seriously, I don’t know how you stay sane. That said, I very much hope that you do all stay sane.

Simon March wrote an excellent piece last month on the impact Fantasy Football can have on your mental health. It is just a game but it can be a big determinant for many of us, myself included, of our mood on any given weekend or matchday. So I hope you all had a very successful festive period from an FL/FPL perspective and will take some of the cheer into the short January days ahead. Happy New Year!

Clouseau Serious (for which you can read \'stressy\') fantasy football fan. Have been playing the auction-based version with its unique squads (fantasyleague.com) for over 20 years but more recently branched out into FPL. Follow me on Twitter @FFSClouseau

812 Comments Post a Comment
  1. MC Hammer
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    What is this?

    1. Snevitz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I think it's an article about a draft fantasy league.

      There may have been a flawed assumption regarding how interesting it is for those not participating in this particular league.

      1. MC Hammer
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        The article certainly kills any pique of interest by the end of it

        1. Eddie
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          I'm just impressed you made it to the end.

      2. Wild Rover
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        That’s an understatement

      3. Pumpkinhead - I'm ITK …
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Some inflated egos on here if they think people do. You will always get one with a box of kleenex by their side as they read it 😆

    2. Now I'm Panicking
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I think it is something to do with their game of Dungeons and Dragons, but I fell asleep after the first sentence.

  2. Rotation's Alter Ego
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Not a fan of how this article was published right as I slipped down the standings....

    1. Rotation's Alter Ego
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Cheers Clouseau for running this by the way. Do recommend other managers give it a go with friends / family next season, the draft especially is a great laugh and has a nice different dynamic to other fantasy games.

    2. Clouseau
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Sorry mate but I had to wait until I had climbed off the bottom of the table! Anyway, it’s been really good fun playing against you guys and hopefully I’ll have the measure of you all next season.....

  3. Marty McFly
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Which Brighton defender and why?

    1. afsr
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Dunk - BPS magnet

    2. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Dunk

    3. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      SlamnDunk

  4. afsr
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Hey everyone! Need help with transfer planning for DGW24. Want to get Salah in my team to join Mane and TAA. Current team is:

    Guaita
    Soy, TAA, Sidibe
    Mane, Martial, KdB, Grealish, Maddison
    Vardy, Rashford

    Button, Lund, Greenwood, Rico
    0FT, 2.0 ITB

    Plan A is:
    GW 23 Rashford -> Calvert-Lewin
    GW 24 Martial -> Salah

    Would ideally like to keep one ManUtd player in my team being a fan and Rashford having a good season. Any good option for Plan B (keeping Rash/Martial and getting Salah)?

    1. Ian J
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Unfortunately no.
      Use you head rather than your heart with FPL - Man Utd’s fixtures soon turn difficult & they’ve been so Jekyll & Hyde.
      I’m getting rid of Rashford & Martial - Mane & Ings are better.
      Plus you have Greenwood

  5. JJeyy
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Alli to Mahrez or Maddison? Risky or safe pick

    1. Jullepuu
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Cant go wrong with Maddison

    2. St Pauli Walnuts
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Madd, loads of competition now at City.

  6. thepuntmaster
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Anyone tempted by Sarr?

    1. Cruz88
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I bought him in this week. A good option for the next few I reckon. Playing him over Ings currently this week as he's against Bou (I don't learn my lesson about Ings)

  7. DannyDrinkVodka
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Best sub 6.5 mid for DGW24 to accommodate Salah/Mane:

    A)Grealish
    B)Traore
    C)Noble
    D)Cantwell

    1. RAFA THE GAFFA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Grealish vs Watford

    2. Coys96
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      C or B

    3. Fpl Richie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Well A obviously if you aren't hard up

    4. D.Glynn
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      A

  8. RAFA THE GAFFA
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Looking G2G this week? Kev for the armband? Thinking of rolling my other FT.

    Fabianski
    TAA • Söyüncü • Lundstram
    KDB • Salah • Mané • Richarlison • Grealish
    Vardy • Maupay
    (McGov. Greeny. Rico. Aurier)

    1. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Looks great!

      KDB or Vardy for captaincy is a tough one.

      1. RAFA THE GAFFA
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        It certainly is mate. Vardy uncertainty has me on KDB as it stands

        1. Karan14
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          Its Vardy's birthday that day though.
          And with Dilva fit now it could mean KDB plays a bit deeper.

    2. Fpl Richie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Looks lovely Rafa. Equally split on captain.

      1. RAFA THE GAFFA
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Cheers boss 🙂

  9. Igor-Stimac
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Thinking of gambling on a West Ham player.

    Anyone else taking the plunge and if so, who?

    Fornals looks tempting.

    1. Klein
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Why westham? Fixtures are sooo bad. You think he can be good vs liv and lei in dgw?

      1. Igor-Stimac
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        New manager bounce and worth the punt on a DGW. I've been lingering around 150k most of the season, need a good differential to climb.

        1. Klein
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          Its your call but for me
          Next 3 gwks are
          Shu: top 5 on defensive stats
          Eve: also have new manager bounce and looking improved bar last night.
          Liv: best defence in the league
          Lei: highest cleansheet in the league.

          If you think he will do well vs them then he is probably worth it. I dont see much though.

          1. Igor-Stimac
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 2 months ago

            Good point. Really need to mix it up though.

            The obvious for me is:

            Ali to Traore and then Greenwood to Ings. But that will do literally nothing for overall rank. Which is why I was thinking Ali to Fornals instead.

            Winning my cash leagues though, so probably should play it safe....as I have done all season :/

    2. RAFA THE GAFFA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I’ve got Fabianski in. Not sure on any others. Nobel at a push

      1. RAFA THE GAFFA
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Noble

      2. Igor-Stimac
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Fab scares me - makes me think he's going concede big both DGW games ha.

  10. UnitednationsXI
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Have 2FTs, 1m itb but really confused on how i want my team to look for gw24 and beyond...should i stick with my double utd attack? upgrade one of them to Mane to sit alongside Salah or focus on getting robbo instead....thoughts here?

    Ryan
    Taa Otamendi Aurier -- Lundy Rico
    Grealish Kdb Salah Martial -- Stephens
    Vardy Rashford Ings

    A: Otamendi >> 4.2m def...which would allow me to do Aurier >> Robbo Or Martial/Rashford >> Mane/DCL
    B: Ryan >> Fabianski...and aim to do Otamendi/Rashford >> Robbo/Jimmy
    C: Something else

    1. Ian J
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Keep Ryan- has great fixtures & BPS magnet - waste of a transfer imo

  11. xHaTr
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Which looks better? (Have Trent and Mane regardless)

    A: Webster, Salah, Calvert Lewin

    B: Robertson, Grealish, Rashford

    1. RAFA THE GAFFA
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      B is more rounded and better. Depends if you want Salah TC for 24

    2. MC Hammer
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      B gives you a stronger team

    3. xHaTr
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Thanks for replies, was thinking similar myself but people seem to be obsessed with Salah!

  12. HuttonDressedasLahm
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Who to replace Pope with??
    Only got 4.8 mil though

    1. dshv
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Ryan

      1. HuttonDressedasLahm
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Potentially or Foster maybe?

    2. xHaTr
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Mccarthy at 4.3 worth a look

      1. HuttonDressedasLahm
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Not the worst idea actually

        1. xHaTr
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          Looking at him myself, rarely do you get a starting keeper for that cheap, plus they have decent fixtures and have had some solid clean sheets recently

  13. dshv
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Which one sounds better

    1. Alli to Salah
    2. Defender to TAA

    1. The Polymath
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      both

  14. The Polymath
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Best 4th and 5th Midfielders to have after Mane, Salah and KDB?

    1. Klein
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Whats the budget like?
      Maddi and Grealish if you have enough.
      Sarr/Douchure good too.
      Rich can sub 1 if you fancy.

      1. The Polymath
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Only one of Maddi and Grealish

        1. The Polymath
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          budget enough for

          1. Klein
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 2 months ago

            Grealish and Sarr then. But i like leicester's fixtures.

            1. Klein
              • 8 Years
              4 years, 2 months ago

              Cantwell for 5th if you want cheaper.

    2. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Grealish & Sarr

    3. Pep's Money Laundry
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Depends how much you want to spend. Maddison, Grealish or Sarr as your 4th midfielder.

      If your 5th midfielder is a bench fodder then it's one of the Norwich boys Cantwell or Tettey

    4. st4rty
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I've gone Sarr.

    5. JoeSoap
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Cantwell a good enabler as well

  15. dunas_dog
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Both moves would be free transfers in weeks 23/24- which option do you think best suits my present team below?

    A Kelly to Robertson
    B Rashford and Richarlison to Mané and Ings

    Ryan
    TAA Söyüncü Lundstram
    Salah KDB Richarlison Grealish
    Vardy DCL Rashford

    Button Cantwell Rico Kelly

    1. The Polymath
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      B

    2. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      B

  16. HuttonDressedasLahm
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Spurs are so bad currently that they’re almost guaranteed to break Liverpool’s invested streak this weekend
    Classic Mourinho

    1. HuttonDressedasLahm
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      **Unbeaten

      1. Klein
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Yup. Derbys are so hard to predict. I wouldnt be shocked if they did.

        1. HuttonDressedasLahm
          • 14 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          Derby?!

        2. Eddie
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          Derby what?

  17. JoeSoap
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    A. Pope>Fab/Ryan (neither great for this week)
    B. Dend>Cantwell
    C. Other (2FTs & 0.9)

    Over next few weeks planning on Rash/Aurier/Jimmy/Lundy or Soyu to Ings/TAA/DCL/Robbo (only 0.3/0.4 to spare)

    Pope
    Rico, Soyu, Lundy
    Maddy, KDB, Ali, Salah
    Vardy, Jimmy, Rash
    Gazza, Kelly, Dendo, Aurier

    1. Pep's Money Laundry
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Mccarthy would be my pick in goal, cheap and good fixtures coming up

      1. JoeSoap
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Thanks. Seen a few picking him.

  18. Jullepuu
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Digne or Sidibe for the next five game weeks? Anyone better at max 5.7mil?

    1. Klein
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Sidibe.

      1. Jullepuu
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Cheers. May I ask why him over Digne?

        1. HuttonDressedasLahm
          • 14 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          In fashion

          1. Jullepuu
            • 4 Years
            4 years, 2 months ago

            On here or is Sidibe actually playing better in real life?

            1. Camino Aleatorio
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 5 Years
              4 years, 2 months ago

              Sibede has better stats and lower price. Also Sidibe has been fielded in midfield without defensive duties

  19. omuire
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Have 8.4M for midfielder #2.

    Martial, Maddison or Mahrez? Or other?

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Maddison

    2. HuttonDressedasLahm
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Martial or Richarlison maybe?

    3. Pukki Blinders
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Rich

    4. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Maddison the safe pick.
      But Mahrez is tempting given the fixtures he could explode.

  20. aborg
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Anyone who is saving a FT playing Alli this GW?

    1. HuttonDressedasLahm
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Can’t decide.
      It’s him to Richarlison it Pope to another Gk
      Depends if any injuries Tues/Weds

      1. aborg
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Can't decide what to do with Alli too.
        Either I loose him and another 3 players (for -4) to replace Salah till GW24, or Loose Rashford to bring in VVD as 3rd liv player without taking a hit.

        In the meantime I can play Alli next GW or play Ayew instead....not sure.

        What do you think?

    2. teneighty
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Yep. Haven't decided my strategy for the DGW yet.

  21. gomez123
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    4 weeks of green arrows....what to do now? 1ft 0.2m in bank
    Fab/Button
    Lundstram /Soyuncu / Dunk/ Kelly/Aurier
    KDB/ Mane/Grealish/ Cantwell/Shelvey*
    Rash/ Aubameyang/Kane*

    A) Shelvey & Kane to Madda & Jimmy (Cantwell first sub)
    B) Kane & Kelly or Aurier to Jimmy & TAA/Robbo
    Thoughts??

    1. Malkmus
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I'd say B with pool dgw coming up. Get TAA

    2. Alton E.
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      What about Firmino in for Kane. Would be a differential for sure.

  22. Malkmus
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    A'noon all. Here is my plan up to DGW 24, no hits. 1.5 ITB, 1FT.

    GW22: Rico to Holgate
    GW23: Pope to McCarthy
    GW24: Abraham to Firmino, gives me:

    McCarthy (Button)
    Holgate - Trent - Lundy - Kiko - Kelly
    Mane - KDB - Maddison - Richarlison - Dendonk
    Vardy - Firmino - Rash

    Thoughts? Ta

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Not sure about Firmino to be honest, even as a DGW punt.

      Alternative plan:

      GW22: Save FT
      GW23: Pope to McCarthy
      GW24: Abraham and Rico to Dominic/Deulofeu and Robertson

      1. Malkmus
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Thanks for that. I'm not set on Firm, not sure he's nailed for the dgw really. I could actually do tammy to ings, bar a 0.1 swing, which may be better. I can see who is more in form pre gw24.
        Cheers, food for thought.

  23. Forza Papac
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    How do these moves look?

    Alli, Aurier > Sarr, Saiss(-4)?

    I have to take a hit at some point between now and gw24 if I want both Mane and Salah so figured Saiss at home to Newcastle would be a good time to take it.

    1. Pukki Blinders
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Saiss works, Holgate worth a shout too

    2. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Wolves def is not that good.

    3. claretparrot
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      No way. Has disaster written all over it (e.g. Mane or Salah get injured this week)

    4. Konstaapeli
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Think I'm doing Alli + Aurier to Maddison + Stephens. Leaves cash to get Mane for 24.

  24. Pukki Blinders
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Need a midfield enabler 5.9m or under to fit in Salah... Doucore and Traore the standouts, who's the better pick?

    1. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Traore best one. Easily.

    2. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I would punt on Docoure honestly.

    3. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Doucoure for more than 2 GWs, Traore for only 2.

      Look at Snodgrass as well.

      1. Pukki Blinders
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Will look into Snodgrass, cheers

    4. aborg
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Have your same scenario if I decide to bring in Salah. A big punt I was considering was Jahanbakhsh of Brighton...he has scored two goals in two games from when he started playing. Last goal was a bycicle kick.

      1. Pukki Blinders
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Good shout, hadn't even considered Jahan... my only issue is starts for him. Brighton attack has plenty of depth

        1. aborg
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          yes me too...I'm just worried about his starts but it would be crazy for coach not to play him after such a performance in both games.

  25. D.Glynn
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    G2G? Bench correct and order? C on KDB.

    Ryan
    TAA Lund Soy
    Salah KDB Grealish Martial
    Vardy Ings Deulofeu

    4.0 Cantwell Rico Kelly

    1. claretparrot
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Looks good. I'd captain Vardy

    2. xHaTr
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Must have quite a lot in the bank!

    3. D.Glynn
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Yeah, Martial to Mane after this GW

  26. Johan Queef
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Best set and forget GK to replace Pope for the next 6-10 gameweeks?

    A) Fabianski
    B) Foster
    C) Ryan
    D) Other???

    Thanks!

    1. Cruz88
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Henderson perhaps

    2. xHaTr
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Look at McCarthy at 4.3

      1. Johan Queef
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Will he stay as first choice for long? Not sure I trust SOT defence but he's certainly an option.

        1. xHaTr
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          Should do, Gunn hasnt played since the 9-0 and Soton looked a lot better recently

  27. plt
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Can't decide - need help please!

    Current team:
    Pope / McGovern
    Rico / Kelly / Soy / Lund / Saiss
    Grealish / Richarlison / Mane / De Bruyne / Alli
    Vardy / Rashford / Ings

    I have 2 FT and 0.5 in the bank. Looking ahead and thinking I should bring Alexander-Arnold in, so maybe Rico to AA and Alli to Perez?

    1. xHaTr
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Downgrade Alli to a bench fodder like Cantwell, you dont need 8 expensive attackers, and then upgrade Saiss to TAA, and look to use the extra money elsewhere

    2. plt
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Thanks - I'll have a look at that

  28. Popcornharen
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Benching headache, who to bench??

    Current line-up

    Pope
    Robbo Lundy TAA
    Mané Grealish KDB Maddison
    DCL Vardy Abraham

    Bench: Soy - Cantwell - Rico

    1. aborg
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      I'd have to say Pope 😉

      1. Popcornharen
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        Haha yep I would if I could 😉

        1. aborg
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          hehe, you probably have perma Button on the bench like me 🙂

          1. Popcornharen
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 2 months ago

            Exactly haha

    2. aborg
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      On a serious note, I think i'll play Soy for 4th def instead of Grealish, just because he plays against Man City !
      Otherwise a good team set up.

      1. Popcornharen
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 2 months ago

        I have thought about that move, but Man city's defense has not impressed me

        1. aborg
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 2 months ago

          Me either....I own Grealish and Soy too.
          Torn apart between the fear of Ings scoring again (I hate that guy in FPL) and Grealish getting a goal or assist against a weak city defence, although they might just about nick one if any!

  29. NorMina
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    I have TAA and Mane
    which player should be the third for the double gw

    A) Firmino
    B) Robbo

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      B

    2. La Roja
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      B

    3. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      b

    4. plt
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      B

    5. Pukki Blinders
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      B

  30. iL PiStOlErO
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 2 months ago

    Can I get some opinions on what to do with Maupay? Got him 2gw ago, he looks good so should I give him next few? Have 1.3itb and 1ft so can shift to Ings or DCL if needed.

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 2 months ago

      Keep