Picking the right blend of individuals is paramount, but which teams are the biggest hitters in the Premier League when it comes to Sky Sports Fantasy Football points?
Along with player trends, form and fixtures, the league table of Fantasy Football points accrued team-by-team(above) can also be a clear indication of where you may want to recruit coming out of the Overhaul period.
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That, of course, ends at 12:30pm on Saturday 17 October, with kick-off in the Merseyside derby between table-toppers Everton and champions Liverpool marking the end of the unlimited transfers.
There have been goals galore in the 2020/21 season so far with no signs of that particular trend stopping. Some noticeable numbers can be taken out of the Fantasy points table, which throws up some surprises at the bottom end as well as the top.
State of Play
There is a strong correlation with the teams who have scored in abundance and its correspondence to Fantasy Football points. The top two are unchanged in relation to the Premier League table, with Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Leicester making up the top four. Three of those sides have plundered 12 league goals, with Villa scoring 11, adhering to the pattern.
Everton are flying high at the top with 260 points, thanks largely to the sublime starts from Dominic Calvert-Lewin (47) and marquee-signing James Rodriguez (40). Aside from these two, eight other Everton players have hit double figures for the year, proving collectively why Everton are ahead of the rest and could be a worthy avenue to venture down for assets post-Overhaul.
Aston Villa’s 7-2 hammering of Liverpool did not only maintain their 100 per cent record, but it rewarded a heap of Fantasy Football managers who risked having those players within their side. No risk, no reward. This tallied a total of 88 points, with Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish posting 26 and 25 respectively.
It is a tale of two opposites at the top and foot of the table. Spurs thumped Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford before the international break and that game alone threw up some key insights.
Tottenham racked up a hefty 95 Fantasy points in their win, which is more than Manchester United have accumulated all season, showing just how bad their start has been. Harry Kane and Son Heung-min scored 37 between them to sink Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Speaking of which, their measly 86 Fantasy Football points puts Manchester United in the relegation places, just one spot ahead of Burnley. Unsurprisingly, 25 of these have come from Bruno Fernandes, who drove Manchester United to third last term having signed from Sporting Lisbon in January. But so far both of his goals have come from the penalty spot and aside from that Man United have mustered just three goals from open play, one of which was an own-goal.
Burnley have notched just three goals for the campaign, while Sheffield United have just the solitary goal to their name, highlighting why they take up the additional two relegation spots. Goals mean points, but so do clean sheets, and these sides have failed to register one between them this term.
The importance of defensive solidity can be emphasised in the case of Wolves, who have had an inconsistent start but have managed to keep two clean sheets out of a possible four. Due to this, Wolves defenders have earned 93 points alone from fixtures against Sheffield United and Fulham, showing how effective those bonus points from the backline can be, as well as how important it is to choose your defensive assets wisely.
If the first batch of Premier League games are anything to go by, then it would be worth investing some time into the fixtures which some of the form sides have in the weeks to come, and making that call as to whether you would back the players who make your XI to deliver for a sustained period of time.
Transfer Trends
Numerous drafts, debates and transfers will have taken place over the past week or so, but we are now at the business end of the international break.
Many players have been performing superbly, with others perhaps going under the radar, but who has been winning the race to be the most transferred in player during the Overhaul period?
Grealish has further enhanced his image and selection within Fantasy Football teams off the back of his role in England’s win over Wales on international duty. Aston Villa face Leeds, Southampton, Brighton and West Ham in their next six, so with that in mind, it may not be surprising to see Grealish at the top of the pile.
In relation to the top point scorers in both Everton and Tottenham’s side, Rodriguez, Calvert-Lewin, Son and Kane make up the rest of the top five players transferred in. Everton do have a Merseyside derby on their hands, followed by matches with Southampton and Newcastle, but with Liverpool conceding seven to Villa, do fixtures now play as much of an important role as they once did?
They must do for some Fantasy Football managers, with Tottenham facing West Ham, Burnley, Brighton and West Brom in their next four outings. Even when are you not focusing specifically on fixtures, these are ones which scream points from a Spurs asset’s perspective. Son, Kane, and dare we say Gareth Bale could prove invaluable during this period.
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