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This week, four-time top 50 finisher Niall gives advice on how to navigate the fixtures of your Sky team, before the crucial Overhaul period beings after Gameweek 23.
You can also see Niall and Luke’s latest video towards the bottom of this piece.
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A chaotic and Covid-ravaged festive fixture schedule is now in the rear-view mirror, so it is time for Sky managers to plan their final transfers before the second Overhaul, which begins after the games on the 23rd of this month.
With a finalised set of January fixtures – including rearranged games – now in the diary, finally we have all the information we need to plot our way through the next few game weeks.
PICK YOUR SKY OVERHAUL TEAM HERE
Initially, the extra fixtures seemed much easier to manage than many expected, particularly the midweek fixtures on the 18th and 19th, which can be covered with highly-owned Manchester United and Chelsea players such as Cristiano Ronaldo (£11.8m) and Antonio Rudiger (£9.0m).
But the trickier fixtures come this week, especially after Everton v Leicester City was postponed on Sunday evening, leaving only Southampton v Brentford on Tuesday night and a plum tie for West Ham United against Norwich City on Wednesday.
Both Michail Antonio (£8.8m) and Jarrod Bowen (£8.2m) are well-owned and will offer captaincy options to the 70% of top 1k managers who own at least one of the pair.
Those without West Ham coverage may also consider the in-form Manuel Lanzini (£7.6m), who comes in off the back of a monster haul against Crystal Palace and a goal in the FA Cup against Leeds United on Sunday. With Said Benrahma away at AFCON for the remainder of the month, security of starts looks guaranteed for the next remaining games and penalty duties add to the Argentine’s differential appeal. Turning now to Tuesday, where the only remaining team with four fixtures prior to the overhaul feature – Thomas Frank’s Brentford.
The Bees’ only consistent (albeit unspectacular) points scorer in the last six or seven weeks has been budget midfield man Christian Norgaard (£6.2m), who has picked up bonus points in four of his last five starts. A continuation of this decent form could quite easily justify a transfer for an injured or AFCON-bound player, just don’t expect a whole lot more than 15-25 points in this run.
From a Southampton point of view, only James Ward-Prowse (£8.6m) holds any significant appeal but the Saints only have two games after Brentford, which includes a visit from Manchester City. The midfield maestro has racked up 32 points in his last three outings but the onus would be on the England man to deliver on the single game day to justify his purchase.
Personally, I wouldn’t usually fret about skipping games such as Southampton vs Brentford but, with two players in my team out of action until the overhaul in Reece James and Mo Salah, I’ll probably roll the dice on Norgaard or Toney. Purely because they’ll justify a transfer even with a smattering of two-pointers, which I wouldn’t be surprised by in a difficult run of games.
The only other single game day in January involves the other team whose assets I would consider drafting in ahead of the Overhaul – Watford.
The Hornets’ standalone game against Norwich on Friday 21st is sandwiched between appealing fixtures against Newcastle United and Burnley – both of which could be captaincy games.
Emmanuel Dennis (£5.5m) and Josh King (£7.6m) are the only real options, with Dennis the preferred pick after a brilliant season in front of goal. On 104 points, he is the best value player in the game and fourth overall in points scored by forwards. However, the Nigerian talisman was absent from Watford’s FA Cup squad with a minor injury that resulted in his halftime substitution against Spurs on New Years Day. He was also rumoured to be furious about Watford’s decision to prevent him joining up with the national team at AFCON this month, so does come with a reasonable element of risk.
King therefore may be the safer pick for those unwilling to risk Dennis. Though the former Bournemouth striker does come with penalty duties and a guaranteed starting place, he has struggled to find the net as frequently as Dennis and continues to operate wide on the left as opposed to his teammate who plays as a number nine. I would advise waiting for further information on Dennis prior to the weekend’s game with Newcastle.
In summary, I don’t see huge gains to be made from transfers in Sky between now and the Overhaul at the end of the month and would encourage managers to keep purse strings tight where possible, avoiding luxury moves. But strategic picks from the likes of Brentford, West Ham and Watford to cover single game days could yield points returns high enough to warrant a dabble into the transfer market this January.
2 years, 3 months agoObviously not making any moves yet, but what would you do with this squad? 1 FT & 0.5m ITB
DDG
TAA - Cancelo - Reguilon
Son* - Foden* - Bilva - Bowen - Martinelli
Ronaldo - Watkins*
Bachmann - White - Coufal - Locaida
A) FH
B) Son + Foden/Bilva > Jota/Maddison/Mount/Moura
C) Son + Locaida > Jota/Maddison/Mount/Moura + Dennis