In ‘The Great and The Good’, Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the Gameweek 12 transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
The Great and The Good this season are the FPL Godfather Mark Sutherns, BlackBox pair Az and Andy North, Scouts FPL General, Joe and Tom, the FPL Wire trio of Pras, Lateriser and Zophar, FPL celebrities FPL Harry, Martin Baker, Pingreen, FPL Frasier and Luke Williams, Hall of Famers Ben Crellin, Fabio Borges and Tom Dollimore, and last year’s mini-league winner Huss E.
“Things that make you go meh”
It was a week that promised drama with Gabriel Magalhaes‘ (£6.4m) groin issue and Antoine Semenyo‘s (£8.0m) engagement to an influencer causing a disturbance in the template, and with it an opportunity, especially with the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) transfer giveaway on the horizon.
There was also a genuine debate over the captaincy call with the Norwegian robot Erling Haaland (£14.9m) facing a difficult away game, just ask the cameraman that Pep Guardiola berated. The likes of Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.9m) were subsequently in the mix.
Yet, in the end, it all fell a bit flat apart from those who owned Eberechi Eze (£7.7m), and that was only the annoying person in your work mini-league. I really do hate Colin from accounts.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Ben Crellin was the best of the bunch this week after an uncharacteristically poor start to the season. He had double-digit hauls from Yankuba Minteh (£6.1m), Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m), Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m) and Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) to give him a green arrow of over 848,000 places.
Az played his Bench Boost after taking a minus four, with the results less than optimal. The signs were there when he included Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.5m). He scored seven off the sidelines, which is below the average of 13 from the rest of The Great and The Good who have played that chip so far, with only Tom Freeman and Joe Lepper to go.
To be fair, though, it was a good week overall, with everyone getting some form of green apart from Martin Baker, who had a stinker. Congrats to Pingreen who now has 10 in a row.
TRANSFERS
Virgil Van Dijk (£6.0m) was the template transfer this week based on fixtures and xMins; however, the state of the Liverpool backline, not helped by injuries of course, was possibly not considered. Tom Freeman was the smart one as he went for Lacroix instead, who added an assist to his clean sheet points this week. He did transfer out Eze, however – ouch!
Gabriel was sold in droves, with only FPL Frasier and Fabio Borges holding him. I expect the latter did it out of exasperation, having been late to the party as he only bought him in Gameweek 11.
Elsewhere, Manchester United seem to be picking up interest in the FPL stock market with Bryan Mbeumo (£8.6m) and Fernandes increasing in ownership. I suspect the display on Monday night may dissuade further investment.
TEMPLATE
With the injury to the previously 100% owned Gabriel, there was always going to be a shake-up in the template, with van Dijk coming in to replace him.
Semenyo keeps his place for now but let’s see how long the patience lasts should his recent injury cause any further absences.
Dubravka (94.4%), Pope (50.0%)
van Dijk (77.8%), Senesi (77.8%), Rodon (50.0%), Timber (44.4%), Andersen (44.4%)
Saka (77.8%), Sarr (72.2%), Semenyo (72.2%), Fernandes (66.7%), Enzo (66.7%)
Haaland (94.4%), Mateta (94.4%), Guiu (22.2%)
CHIP CHECK
A look now at who should be winning if everything in FPL fell in line with the algorithm.
Please note this is based on data up to Gameweek 11, but it shows that Huss E has outperformed the model by a healthy 58 points. FPL General probably wishes that things had been a little more predictable as he is down by 64 points.
Fabio is top in terms of projected points and also near the top of the mini league overall.
CONCLUSION
Do you hear that? That is the noise of thousands and thousands of Free Hit drafts heading our way, as this is no doubt due to be the favoured chip this week thanks to the fixtures. There may even be a few Triple Captain chips. Well, at least it can’t be any more meh than Gameweek 12.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now and remember, don’t have FPL nightmares.
For those affected by any of the topics raised above, you can find me here on Twitter or on BlueSky.
