With Gameweek 31 safely navigated, we turn our attentions to stats that matter in the Sky game including the usual info; the Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, bonus point beneficiaries and current market trends. As always, we also look ahead to the forthcoming fixtures, offering our preferred captain setup for Gameweek 32.
Gameweek 31 Man of the Match Awards
Listed below is a match-by-match breakdown of the players who won the plaudits from the Sky Sports reporters last time out, earning five additional points for the Man-of-the-Match award.
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Hull vs Man City | David Silva |
| Everton vs Cardiff | David Marshall |
| Fulham vs Newcastle> | Steve Sidwell |
| Southampton vs Norwich | James Ward-Prowse |
| Stoke vs West Ham | Stephen Ireland |
| Sunderland vs Crystal Palace | Damien Delaney |
| Swansea vs West Brom | James Morrison |
| Aston Villa vs Chelsea> | Fabian Delph |
| Man United vs Liverpool | Steven Gerrard |
| Tottenham vs Arsenal | Laurent Koscielny |
As is often the case, midfielders claimed the majority of awards with seven out of the ten fixtures, whilst defenders earned two and goalkeepers one. It was a weekend for differentials as reflected in the MoTM awards; Steven Gerrard (8.49%), Laurent Koscielny (5.65%) and David Silva (4.54%) ownership were the only players of note to have a reasonable effect on overall rankings.
Gameweek 31 Bonus Points
Four goalkeepers managed five saves or more this week – Adrian, Joe Hart, David Marshall and Vito Mannone were the men in form. Mannone and Marshall lead the way overall with 20 and 18 bonus points respectively.
In defence, a total of 14 players gathered bonus, 12 for four tackles or more and two for 60 completed passes – centre-back Sylvain Distin was the closet to earning both, missing out by 12 completed passes. Angel Rangel is now the top bonus point earner with 24 extra points so far.
In midfield, ten players earned bonus points – five for tackling and five for passes. Morgan Schneiderlin was the player closet to achieving both, falling just one tackle short of the required four – he is also now the top bonus point earner, with 38 additional points.
A reminder that Fantasy Football Scout members can access all the data regarding bonus points using player stats and clicking the Sky Sports tab.
The Transfer Trends
Top Transfers Out
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Ozil | Arsenal | 8.8 | 6.45% |
| Dawson | Tottenham | 6.2 | 5.76% |
| Adebayor | Tottenham | 7.6 | 5.67% |
| Negredo | Man City | 8.6 | 5.06% |
| Gabbidon | Crystal Palace | 3.7 | 4.23% |
The top three players for transfers out are all carrying injury concerns and have been shipped by over 5% of Fantasy managers. Alvaro Negredo and Danny Gabbidon have had limited first team opportunities in recent weeks and also find themselves in the top five.
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Sturridge | Liverpool | 9.2 | 6.10% |
| Sterling | Liverpool | 4.8 | 5.44% |
| Gerrard | Liverpool | 8.1 | 3.98% |
| Hazard | Chelsea | 8.8 | 3.53% |
| Shaw | Southampton | 5.3 | 3.52% |
Liverpool dominate again this week with three of their attacking assets at the summit of the most wanted list ahead of an enticing couple of fixtures. Eden Hazard and Luke Shaw make up the remaining numbers as their strong form continues.
Gameweek 32 Proposed Captain Strategy
Looking ahead to the captaincy choices for Gameweek 32 we have a multitude of options available due to the double Gameweek. If you have a surplus of transfers you could even opt for four captains.
Our Strategy:
Luis Suarez (Cardiff Away) → Luis Suarez (Sunderland at Home)
It’s a tricky Gameweek to navigate the captain choices and this is mainly due to Liverpool’s appealing fixtures and the dates of the ties. As Liverpool do not play until Sunday in Gameweek 33, swapping the armband during this Gameweek will make it all the more difficult to finish with Luis Suarez as your captain in Wednesday’s home clash with Sunderland. Therefore we opt to forgo the lure of extra captains and instead recommend using the captaincy swap in a more tactical way, retaining it on Suarez from Saturday to Wednesday and then, when the Gameweek has ended, swapping to a player featuring on Saturday March 29 – of which one of Eden Hazard/Wayne Rooney look good options.
Of course if you have the transfers or prefer to go for the short term option of points in the bag and rectify later – going with a player from one of the Manchester clubs for their two games and then a captain switch to Luis Suarez would result in three captains for the week and could potentially be more profitable. At this point in the season, though, few will have the trades left for such a tactic.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Our own Fantasy Football Scout League is on top of the Private League rankings. With a £1000 prize to the winner, you’d be mad not to get involved. To join, visit Sky Sports Fantasy Football and key in League Name: FFScout, League Code: 8000112.
The Fantasy Football Club
This Friday The Fantasy Football Club show, where you can catch Fenners and Merse at 18:30 Skysports One HD where they will be discussing the previous week’s Fantasy Football events, quizzing Nottingham Forest legend Trevor Francis and asking him for his #One2Eleven.
