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Learning from ‘The Great and The Good’ FPL managers – Gameweek 6

Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead continues with his series of articles analysing the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfers and strategies of some noted Fantasy managers, from serial top 10k finishers to well-known faces.

The Great and The Good this year are the Scouts Joe LepperNeale RiggGeoff Dance and Tom Freeman, FPL Wire’s Zophar, from the Hall of Fame Fabio BorgesFPLMatthewYavuz Kabuk and Tom Stephenson, Blackbox’s Az and Mark Sutherns, FPL “celebrities” LTFPL AndyMagnus Carlsen and FPL General plus last year’s mini-league winner Les Caldwell.


“Cause the players gonna play, play, play, and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate.

Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake.

I shake it off, I shake it off”

Another week, another series of injury woes to deal with, as Patrick Bamford (£7.9m) fell victim to the mid-priced striker curse but at least Raphinha (£6.5m) managed to take Taylor Swift’s advice and shake it off.

This was also the week many lost patience in the £7-8m price bracket with several of us selling Ferran Torres (£7.0m) and Jack Grealish (£8.0m), as we saw the emergence of cheaper midfield options like Ismaila Sarr (£6.3m), Conor Gallagher (£5.7m) and Bukayo Saka (£6.2m).

Then there was the captaincy call, surely that was an easy one with Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.7m) ready to go, but Dean Smith’s men played the villains at Old Trafford to deliver red arrows for many an FPL manager.

OVERALL PERFORMANCE

Tom Freeman and Les Caldwell were the chart toppers with 60 points this week, although Tom left it late with Joel Veltman’s (£4.4m) 95th minute assist taking him to the heights of the hit parade.

Les’ strong showing was based on a Wolves double-up and his Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) captaincy; he was in good company as Mark and Magnus were the others to walk like an Egyptian.

Az was a very brave boy putting the armband on Michail Antonio (£7.9m) and it paid off; he is now only two points behind his Blackbox buddy. Could he finally overtake him?

Geoff Dance deserves a mention as he has yet to have a red arrow, although the size of the climbs are getting smaller with a sub 4,000 place jump this time round.

Wildcards are still burning a hole in the majority of The Great and The Good’s pockets, there seems to have been no discernible advantage to those who played early and it’s worth noting that none of the top three of Tom Stephenson, Andy and FPL Matthew have overhauled their squads.

TRANSFERS

Sarr underlines differential potential as Chelsea earn another clean sheet 10

This is a summary of the transfers for this week:

Az – Sarr (Grealish)

LTFPL Andy – Jimenez (Bamford)

Fabio Borges – None

Joe Lepper – Sarr, Armstrong (Bamford, Traore)

Geoff Dance – Gallagher (Torres)

FPL General – Saint-Maximin, Sarr (Bamford, Raphinha)

Les Caldwell – Gallagher (Torres)

Magnus Carlsen – Foster (Gunn)

Mark Sutherns – Alonso (Ayling)

FPL Matthew – Sarr (Greenwood)

Neale Rigg – None

Tom Freeman – Sarr (Gundogan)

Tom Stephenson – Sarr (Torres)

Yavuz Kabuk – Lukaku, Gray (Calvert-Lewin, Grealish)

Zophar – Sarr (Torres)

A blur of activity with Sarr a popular and wise choice if his goal against Newcastle was a sign of returns to come.

Joe and FPL General took hits to bring in the Watford wonder as they also had the Bamford blip to deal with, both made eyebrow raising moves with Allan Saint-Maximin (£6.8m) and Adam Armstrong (£6.0m) trotting onto their respective fantasy fields.

Yavuz’s dealings also caught the eye as he is the first to hit the high rollers with the “threemium” of Romelu Lukaku (£11.7m), Ronaldo and Salah.

I suspect Magnus will be soon going that way with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£9.9m) a placeholder, but I’ve tried and failed before to predict the Grandmaster’s groves.

TEMPLATE

Salah on target as Liverpool assets prosper at Leeds 1

The template for The Great and The Good is as follows with the number in brackets showing how many teams in which they appear:

Sanchez (12), Steele (8)

Alexander-Arnold (15), Shaw (12), Ayling (7), Livramento (7), Veltman (5)

Salah (15), Raphinha (11), Sarr (9), Jota (9), Benrahma (8)

Antonio (14), Ronaldo (12), Lukaku (4)

You sense bigger change is coming to the template, but for now Sarr and Lukaku were the new entrants replacing Bamford due to injury and Mason Greenwood (£7.7m), who proved expendable despite hitting an impressive eight shots against Villa.

CAPTAIN CALLS

At this early stage, captaincy decisions are proving crucial in the respectability of your rank and Mark Sutherns leads the way with 126 points, which equates to an impressive 21-point average.

Fabio is having an uncharacteristically mediocre start to the armband action sitting on 88 points, his decision to move off his favourite Salah this week proved costly.

The chart below shows that Salah continues to be the popular pick over the season at 54% pick rate, Ronaldo is chipping away at that lead on 22% and I would suspect Lukaku will start to worry the leaders as his dream run of fixtures begins this weekend.

No doubt the heavy hitters have rewarded those who have stuck with the tried and tested in the opening weeks, but Az’s foray into differential choice Antonio shows there is ground to be made up if you look beyond the “threemium”.

CONCLUSION

Jimenez ends goal drought as Arsenal claim convincing north London derby win

An interesting week ahead with fixture swings on the horizon, with Chelsea’s mouth-watering matchups meaning heavy investment in the Tuchel Tombola.

The collapse of the mid-priced market and the rise of the cheaper options of Emile Smith-Rowe (£5.3m), Demarai Gray (£5.8m) and Sarr also means that more might be tempted with the three heavy hitter option as this becomes more manageable as we look to balance the books and unbalance our squad structure.

Plenty of options ahead, plenty of ways to play the game and catch those greens but remember if you do have a bad week then just shake it off as a good one can be just be around the corner.

Anyway, that’s all from me for now and remember: don’t have nightmares.

For those effected by any of the topics raised in the above article then you can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Greyhead19

1,672 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Eleven Hag
    • 6 Years
    2 years, 6 months ago

    Any update on James injury ?

    1. Jimmers
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 6 months ago

      See Scout tweets above

  2. Oscar Slater
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 6 months ago

    Googled "adductor injury recovery time" and this was the headline search result...

    "Usually, you will be able to return to sports after three to six weeks. If you have torn the adductor muscle between the tendon and bone, which is less common, recovery can take much longer ─ between 10 and 14 weeks."

    I'm selling.

    1. Big_Andy_GAWA
      • 12 Years
      2 years, 6 months ago

      That's Trent's rumoured/actual injury diagnosis, I take it?

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

      A young lad would probably be fine after 3 weeks with an injury like that provided it's not torn.

      Don't forget there is an international break after the City game.

  3. JamTart
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    2 years, 6 months ago

    What's the update on R.James?

    Looked online but couldn't see much clear cut, wondering if I'm just missing it.

    1. JamTart
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      2 years, 6 months ago

      Ignore - See top post beat me on the page!

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

    Who to sell this week?

    Greenwood (Eve H, Lei A)

    Jota (Manc H, Wat A)

    1. Dexters Laboratory
      • 3 Years
      2 years, 6 months ago

      Jota

    2. @persecuted_by_mods
        2 years, 6 months ago

        Gotta wait closer to the time to try to guess who will start

        1. RamaJama
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Jota started today

          1. Rainer
            • 7 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Might you have a better idea by tomorrow then?

            1. RamaJama
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 11 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Maby

          2. @persecuted_by_mods
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Yeah but he's probably gonna come off at 60, so could start or be benched

              Greenwood will be more telling, if he plays or not, how well the replacements do

        2. Gunneryank
          • 2 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          From watching the games it's Greenwood for me. He has no chemistry with Ronnie and they don't pass to each other, and his production is suffering as a result. Jota is going to be a part of Liverpool's attack going forward along with Firmino, and is playing well.

      • @persecuted_by_mods
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Anyone know where I can get Reece James news? :p

        • Dexters Laboratory
          • 3 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Next Gw only
          A) Son and Marcel
          B) Raphina and Alonso

          1. Rainer
            • 7 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            B could look a whole lot better or worse come Friday. Too early to tell.

          2. Snooze ya lose
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            B subject to news on raph

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

          Trent + Jimi> Duffy+ Lukaku -8 worth it?

          1. Big_Andy_GAWA
            • 12 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            You want to lose Jimenez ahead of a plum home fixture with Newcastle?! 😮

          2. DycheDycheBaby
            • 8 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Not even worth a -4.

          3. Snooze ya lose
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            No

        • Rainer
          • 7 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Mo G
          Jones FPL A

          1. Rainer
            • 7 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Not even defensive error.

        • MIGHTY JOE
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          A. Ederson/Douglas Luiz

          B. Sanchez/Doucoure

          Cheers!

        • Ragabolly
          • 14 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Salah is a machine!

          1. Rainer
            • 7 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Still haven't forgiven him for trying to lob Raya 🙁

            1. Ragabolly
              • 14 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Yeah but I forgave him 😛

        • FOO FIGHTER
          • 4 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          (S)alah GW7 🙂

        • Gunneryank
          • 2 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Jam for Salah.

        • SADIO SANÉ
          • 8 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          I like doing things different on purpose, like not having Salah, because *IF* he goes on a barren run the rank gains can be huge - but the guy is a machine

          1. Gunneryank
            • 2 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            That's the most ridiculous justification for not having Salah i've ever seen.

            1. SADIO SANÉ
              • 8 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              I knew someone would say something like this, choose any other highly owned player and the same applies - if Bruno and Salah had blanked the first 3 GWs (BIG if) then people without both would have (probably) been flying - contrarian systems are very popular in certain money leagues for a reason, you can beat A LOT of teams with just one player not performing as you'd usually expect

              1. Gunneryank
                • 2 Years
                2 years, 6 months ago

                I'll grant that, but the tone of your original comment suggests being different just for the sake of it, which is a dreadful strategy if you like points.

                1. SADIO SANÉ
                  • 8 Years
                  2 years, 6 months ago

                  the tone? I started it with 'I like', emphasised *IF* AND finished it with 'but the guy is a machine' - nothing is guaranteed in this game, even Salah scoring (although it does seem a near certainty at the moment 😆 )

              2. Salan
                • 14 Years
                2 years, 6 months ago

                Your team should not have Ronaldo, Salah, Lukaku, Antonio, Raphinha, Chelsea and ManC defenders.

                Good luck.

                1. SADIO SANÉ
                  • 8 Years
                  2 years, 6 months ago

                  I was talking about one player - do you have all of those? some rank you must have, well played!!

          2. Eh, just one more thing ...
            • 12 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Hmmmm.

          3. Gross Blank Point
            • 3 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            I've not bothered with Lukaku or Ronaldo and had green arrows every week since they arrived. 'IF' Bruno had scored that penalty it would have been a huge jump, his EO was only around 19% for me

            1. SADIO SANÉ
              • 8 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              I did the opposite, went Lukaku and Ronaldo - no Salah. Jota missing that sitter and then Raya wonder save, as well as Ronaldo blanking hasn't helped - yeah you'd have been flying if Bruno had buried that, unlucky!

              1. Gross Blank Point
                • 3 Years
                2 years, 6 months ago

                Have a feeling Aubu and Vardy will outscore Ronaldo and Lukaku the next 6 weeks but not sure if I've got the cohones to back it up lol

                1. Gross Blank Point
                  • 3 Years
                  2 years, 6 months ago

                  Aubameyang

                2. SADIO SANÉ
                  • 8 Years
                  2 years, 6 months ago

                  haha tbf I wouldn't be super surprised if that happened - United really don't look good

        • FOO FIGHTER
          • 4 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          So who starts CF for City GW7.

          Foden or Torres 🙂

          1. SADIO SANÉ
            • 8 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Jesus 😀

            1. FOO FIGHTER
              • 4 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Ha ha

          2. JONALDINHO
            • 6 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Rodri
            Kdb foden
            Bernardo Jesus Grealish

          3. Dthinger
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            could be Sterling

        • C_G
          • 8 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          trent injured?

          1. Rainer
            • 7 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            "Sore groin" big doubt for City.

          2. FOO FIGHTER
            • 4 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Yup, Klopp saying he ain't looking good for City match.

          3. Steve The Spud
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 4 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Yes, groin

        • DBW - Slug's Mortgage …
          • 3 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Madrid losing to Sheriff.

          At home

          1. Gunneryank
            • 2 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            You love to see it.

            1. GROBARI
              • 3 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Cry

          2. Big_Andy_GAWA
            • 12 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            They were 1/10 at start of match. No doubt they'll come back in second half...

        • Flynny
          • 9 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Hi....might this be worth a roll of the dice before gw8 wildcard please?

          Taa jota and king to rudiger sissoko and lukaku (c)  - 4

          Would rely on shaw to be fit and greenwood featuring and playing 433

          Sanchez
          Taa shaw white ayling livra
          Salah greenwood jota benrahma gilmour
          Ronaldo Antonio king

          1. waltzingmatildas
            • 13 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Thinking of similar. I like it

            1. Flynny
              • 9 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Cheers....a lot depends on the status of shaw and if I think greenwood starts...

              1. Flynny
                • 9 Years
                2 years, 6 months ago

                Could even start sissoko over livra....

        • C_G
          • 8 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          i have 1 FT, who should I get rid of for CHE def?

          Shaw or Trent?

          1. Jimmers
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 13 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Shaw probably available for CL tomorrow

        • Steve The Spud
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Dcl, bamford, James, shaw, Trent, Raph

          Luck with injuries so far this season has been rotten

        • nerd_is_the_werd
          • 4 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          False 9 scoring a false goal. 😀

        • Steve The Spud
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          2 years, 6 months ago

          Isn’t the IB 2 weeks? So in theory tenet could only miss 1 league game ?

          1. Eh, just one more thing ...
            • 12 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Yup … perfectly plausible … so no biggy. Even from a price drop perspective, ,OST people have 0.1 on him … and even so, he’ll go back up. Most should just hold him through the IB.

          2. DARK SIDE OF THE LOON
            • 7 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            And the question is who do you transfer in for him if you already have a Chelsea defender? The other obvious team to target is City but not the right week to get their defender. And Trent might be back the week after. Best to hold and assess.

            1. Eh, just one more thing ...
              • 12 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Exactly this.

          3. @persecuted_by_mods
              2 years, 6 months ago

              But when people return from injuries that are more than a week they usually come off the bench first instead of starting

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

            TAA and bamford to christensen and lukaku - 4?
            Then wc gw8
            A) yay
            B) nay

            1. Tinfoil Deathstar
              • 3 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Yay if WC in GW8 and Bamford confirmed out.

          5. Viper
            • 14 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Do you reckon Sarr & ASM will rise in price again this week?

            Bought both earlier on WC before the first rise & probably won't keep either

          6. The-Red-1
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Anyone know when potential blank or double game weeks are likely to be?

            Thinking of saving my first WC for around gw15, but is this too late / close to when we might want to use the second wildcard?

            1. Rainer
              • 7 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Bar Covid issues, snow etc nothing till FA Cup 5/6th round weekend. Usually around mid March for blanks.

              Doubles in the following weeks.

              1. The-Red-1
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 6 Years
                2 years, 6 months ago

                Thanks

                1. Rainer
                  • 7 Years
                  2 years, 6 months ago

                  Forgot Carabao Final, not sure when that is this year. That can be moved to the following midweek too. Too early to be worrying about blanks/doubles yet.

          7. Ze_Austin
            • 5 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Ah yes. Courtois

          8. DA Minnion (Former great)
            • 11 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Think I'm gonna captain Salah on Sunday.

          9. JONALDINHO
            • 6 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Trent injured, Shaw injured, Jota rotation risk, Barnes rotation risk, Benrahma rotation risk, Raphinha injured, no bench. I’m mudded for GW7

            1. Steve The Spud
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 4 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Wc?

            2. Hy liverpool
              • 10 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Benrahma not rotation risk, shaw is fit for the weekend , Raphinha may be fit too.

              Even Taa has a chance, don't panic.

              1. Salan
                • 14 Years
                2 years, 6 months ago

                Taa's chance is less than 20% I suppose.

            3. C_G
              • 8 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              i have all those players too.

          10. DBW - Slug's Mortgage …
            • 3 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Do we think Raphinia is fit weekend?

            1. Steve The Spud
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 4 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Yes, will be fine and probably will haul in that game

            2. Eh, just one more thing ...
              • 12 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              I’m leaning in the direction of optimism … Beilsa should clear it up in his presser though ..

            3. DycheDycheBaby
              • 8 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              Bielsa will tell us.

            4. Big_Andy_GAWA
              • 12 Years
              2 years, 6 months ago

              They seem to be managing his injury complaint by playing him for 65-70 minutes. Enough time for him to contribute to their cause...

          11. Steve The Spud
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 4 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Bite your hand off for a grey arrow in game week 7 right now!

          12. Rainer
            • 7 Years
            2 years, 6 months ago

            Kevin de Red?