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With the matches coming thick and fast, it’s time to stop trying to second guess Premier League line-ups for a few days.
Why? Because managers are chopping and changing their starting XIs so much this week (what with there being three rounds of fixtures in seven days) that trying to pick out potential high performers is even trickier than usual.
This is as true on Football Index as anywhere else.
Football Index is a kind of stock market where people use real money to bet on football.
You buy shares in individual players whose value can rise or fall depending on their performance both on and off the field.
I’m actively using FI this season with more than a nod to FPL, seeing which aspects of each game marry up, and which don’t.
One area where the two games most definitely overlap is how FI determines which players can earn their owners extra money through Match Day Dividends (MDD).
These pay-outs are awarded to the best performing players in goal, defence, midfield and attack using criteria very similar to those FPL base its bonus points system on.
So scoring a goal earns a player 45 MDD points on FI, while hitting the winner gains them an extra 35 points.
FI doesn’t just focus on the major events either.
MDD points can be earned for a last-man tackle (20 points), a foul won (4) and even a humble pass (1).
And the MDD lord can both giveth and taketh away, with a chunky -30 for a red card, -10 for a missed big chance and -3 for a giveaway (aka sloppy) pass.
Certain players in FPL have earned a bit of a reputation as bonus point magnets – Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a good example from the last couple of seasons.
So studying the MDD performance breakdowns of players should be a valuable way of spending your time before committing to buying shares.
The full MDD scoring table is available here, while clicking on a specific player and then the ‘Stats’ tab gives you access to a complete breakdown of their performances, from the most recent 24-hour period through to an entire year of their best and worst moments.
Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell (£1.84) took home the MDD among Tuesday night’s defenders on duty – even though he was part of a backline that conceded twice at Molineux.
But he wasn’t just saved by his attacking output, even if his assist for the opening goal earned him 20 points and he also forced two corners (10 points) and completed a successful dribble for a further two points.
Chilwell still brought in points from recoveries, interceptions and clearances and his distribution stats went a long way to helping him score 196 MDD points on the night, with 57 points for crosses and 68 for passes.
Meanwhile, in FPL, the only Chelsea player to earn bonus points (or point, to be precise) on the night was…Ben Chilwell.
And he did so thanks to much the same stats that elevated him in FI’s dividend ranking.
The ‘MMD equals FPL bonus awards’ equation doesn’t always ring true, however.
FPL’s leading bonus point winner this season is Harry Kane, who has hoovered up 18 extra points. On FI, his MMD awards for the past three months have brought in 28p per share.
That’s way off the 58p per share Bruno Fernandes has racked up, but he’s earned only 14 bonus points on FPL.
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3 years, 4 months agoVardy > Kane (-4) yes or no?