Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek 9
Welcome to Fantasy Football Top 20 Analysis. Kun? No Can Do! “… Kathmandu?” Ok! That took it a bit too far.
But that’s just how funny I am. Really! Between having absolutely no sense of humour to trying to sound an iota as funny as those other legendary writers on this site, I just don’t know how to go about this. So bear with me guys. Be gentle with me (Yikes! Here I go again!).
So, after what seems to be years and decades of freeloading on FF247’s advice, news, wall-street-level stats, suggestions, rate-my-teams and ‘funny-as-other-people’s-pain’ humour; I decided to crunch some numbers and finally give back. If by giving back, it means that the very cool admins accept this (future) Pulitzer piece. The fact that FF247 sent me a free t-shirt, with their cool logo and everything, shipped it all the way to the backwaters of Thimphu, and the first thing I did when it got here was to rip open the package, shove my head through it and tear a gaping hole in the neck, and then misplaced it somewhere in my black hole of a closet which has also been niggling like Sturridge’s ankles in the back of my head till now.
O.K. So, what’s not funny? I’ll tell you what’s not funny. The fact that one, yes ONE single gentleman (or gentlewoman for that matter) of the top 20 players in the whole of premier fantasy league owns Aguero. With a name like redstar, that fantasy-leaguer must be off the bonkers on cheap Vodka. But hey! Who am I to judge? He (or she) is top 20 as of Gameweek 7. But Aguero? Remember that guy? The guy who scores hat-tricks for fun; who can single-handedly win league titles; the darling of fantasy leaguers (not Pep); the guy who’s most likely to be a Japanese comic book hero. The fact that our little hero tried to do a Prince (yes, the singer Prince) and remove some ribs sometime ago; or that Argentinean football in general, is in some kind of doomsday mode, must be why so few in the top 20 or any of the 5.2 or so million fantasy leaguers own him.
Forwards
Enough of Kun then. Who are the top 20 trying to fill his custom-designed cleats with in the forward positions? As of Gameweek 7 Lukaku, with his size 15s (ahem, no pun intended even though United fans keep reminding us of such), is the lead pretender-to-the-throne, with an enviable ownership of 17 of the 20 top fantasy-leaguers. His league-leading 7 goals and 50 points (second only to Kun) makes him the most owned by in the top 20 as well as nearly 60% of all fantasy leaguers. Kane, yes, the saviour of English football, is a very close second. He is owned by 16 of the top 20 players; has a league-second 6 goals with 45 points and is owned by nearly 39% of all fpl-ers. In addition to these two heavy-hitters, the top 20’s other four preferred strikers (in no particular order of race, gender, income or talent) are Morata (Chelsea), Firminio (Liverpool), Chicharito (West Ham) and Lacazette (Arsenal); each owned by 4, 3, 3, and 3 players respectively in the global top 20.
Midfielders
Unlike strikers, the top 20 do not have a clear preference for any single midfielder. Coutinho, that £200m little magician (for Liverpool fans only), who curls that right footer with more English and accuracy than Angelina Jolie with a Desert Eagle (… go watch Wanted) is somehow the most owned midfielder. 8 of the top 20 own him. How and why, I don’t know. Maybe Neymar has had a private word with those guys (or girls). If he has, I want to officially register my complaint vis-à-vis insider-information-trading and all that. But the little Brazilian (not that Brazilian, you idiots!) is a huge differential, since only 8.7% of all fantasy-leaguers own him. Maybe he is expected to explode with points at some point? (O.k. At this point, I just give up with my puns). He is followed closely in ownership by Mikhitarian (Manchester United), Silva (Manchester City) and Salah (Liverpool); each owned by 7, 7, and 6 of the top 20. An honorable mention for Kante (owned by 5 of the top 20 players) whose ‘quadruple lung’ is the only reason (in my opinion) why Chelsea sold Matic to United. WHY? HOW? Only the master of the dark arts Mourinho knows.
Defenders
Then there’s defence. Like strikers, our top 20 clearly prefer one or two players above all others. Tottenham’s Davies, who wasn’t on most fpl-ers radars (c’mon, be honest), is owned by 14 of the top 20. His fantasy-league-leading 49 points shows why he is so coveted. He is owned by nearly a quarter of all fantasy leaguers and in no way looks to be replaced by anyone, anytime soon; a ‘Rose by any other name’ or otherwise. The next best thing – defense-wise – is Arsenal’s Monreal, who is owned by 10 of the top 20. I think they’ve forgotten the 4-0 drubbing by Liverpool. But they have not lost a game since then, so maybe there is value in an Arsenal defence. Those in the top 20 who own Monreal perhaps know more than us, since again, he makes a very good differential. Not only is Monreal not even in the top 25 of the most selected defenders by fantasy players worldwide, he is also third behind Kolasinac and Bellerin at Arsenal, who have both scored fewer points and cost much more. Make of that as you may. Trippier (Tottenham), Bailly (Manchester United), Hegazi (West Brom) and Mbemba (Newcastle), owned by 6, 5, 5, and 5 of the top 20 players worldwide are the other preferred defenders.
Goalkeepers
Finally, in terms of goalies, there is no debate really. De Gea, who single-handedly kept Manchester United’s season alive last year, the year before that, and … (O.k. enough) is the clear choice between the sticks for 15 of the top 20 fantasy leaguers. This year, he has kept 6 clean sheets (from 7 games!) scored 49 points so far, and is owned by a little over 37% of all fantasy leaguers. Personally, if there is one goalie who stands a chance at breaking the world record fee for a goalkeeper or better yet, become the first £100m goal-keeper, it’s this guy. We just have to wait and see who’s desperate enough to fork out that kind of Mayweather money – Real Madrid, Manchester City, PSG? Anyway, the next keeper no one will be forking out more than £10m for, but is selected by 6 of the top 20 players in fantasy league is Newcastle’s Eliott. Even though he does not even crack top 7 in terms of points scored, he is dirt-cheap at 4.1 million and therefore, owned by exactly a quarter of all fantasy league players. Like Hegazi, West Brom’s Foster gets an honourable mention for goalkeepers owned by 3 of our very own top 20.
So there you have it. If you’ve been left frustrated by your FPL team. If you do a -4 or -8 week in, week out. If you are the joke of your mini-league, mini-bar, your office and your missus, then pay heed to these 20 wise people. Do as they do and improve your standings – fantasy-league-wise and personal fantasy-wise. The winter is upon us. Use that Wild Card judiciously. Copy a team if you must. Unless these people use their WC too and change their teams drastically. Then you’re sh*t out of luck.
Thank you all for hearing me out. I sincerely hope your eyes and ears aren’t bleeding now. My fingers certainly are.
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Top 20 Analysis
This article was written by PunkDragon.
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Gameweek Tracker GW8-11
With Vardy and Hazard safely through international fixtures I’ve decided to avoid any further price changes and do Morata & Mkhi to Vardy & Hazard. So tempted to cappo Hazard.
Haha Banjo, looking at both of those moves right now. I’m just not sure if I need to take a hit. Getting Haz in as a differential could go really well, but if he has no returns and I take a hit for him that will be brutal… Still undecided…
The hit is always a concern, but I think looking at Leicester and Chelsea’s fixtures over the next few weeks it’ll pay for itself. Even if it doesn’t this weekend, surely it will over the course of the next few gameweeks? And there’s a decent chance Hazard & Vardy both score big this week. My main concern is the lack of City cover upfront, but I plan of ditching Laca next week to fix that.
Once you’ve done that Banjo, it’ll be about as perfect a team as you can get in my eyes.
Cheers Milburn. I wish I could afford Laca to Kun, but it’ll have to be Jesus for me… And I’ll hit the panic button when Kun goes mental next 😉
So I could do Morata & Mkhi -> Vardy & Haz for a -4
Thoughts?
Precisely the moves I made last night Pancho, so I think they’re great 😉
I have made the Vardy move and on the fence about hazard.
So I just did Morata to Brady.
Should I do Mkhi to DE Bruyne or maybe someone else maybe?
*Vardy that should be.
Morata to Brady? That’s impressive 😉
Is anything else for a hit? Lack of City cover is a concern, but not sure a hit is justifiable when your current players could score.
Hey Banjo, Yeah anything else is for a hit, but I’m worried about no city cover, KDB for Mkhi could pay off.Not sure though.
If Mkhi wasn’t playing I’d be all for it, but he could well score himself. And KdB could blank. I think I’d go without City cover for one week and get behind that sofa. I’m in a similar boat. My next move will be to ditch Laca for Jesus, but I’m going to wait a week and do it for free. That being said, I’ve already taken a hit to get Hazard & Vardy this week, ironically with Mkhi (and Morata) being ditched, so actually I’m just a massive hypocrite 😉
Lol. It’s a real head wreck. It’s hard to justify ditching Mkhi when he’s playing well. Oh I just don’t know what to do.
Great read again! Thoughts on;
1) Lascelles, Ward and Grob or 2) Monreal, Jones and Carroll
All replies much appreciated.
My initial reaction was number 2, but I’d be reluctant to have to play Carroll every week. Are they all starters?
Thanks Banjo! I believe so. I would just have to play Carroll this week and then going forward it would be Loftus-Cheek. But still not to convinced in that.
Is your team linked correctly, cos I can’t see any of those players in your current team?! I’m not a massive fan of rotating two 4.5. mids, but it’s always good to see the full team for context.
Hey Banjo. This is my team;
Courtois
Davis / Montreal / Jones
Richarlison / Coutinho / Silva / Carroll
Lukaku / Kane / Morata
(Elliot / Mariappa / Mbemba / Loftus-Cheek)
On a WC. Was thinking of doing; montreal -> Ward, Jone -> Lascelles, Carroll -> Grob and Morata -> Vardy. This would leave me enough in the bank to bring Morata back in when fit. But weakens the D I feel.
The team linked is my fiancée’s. She picks a team then dis owns it for some reason every year.
Haha fair enough! The linked team was confusing the hell out of me 😉
Have you already hit the WC button? You probably don’t want to hear it, but I quite like your current team! Couldn’t you just do Morata to Vardy and switch it back if/when you need to?
Yes, I have hit the WC button already to bring in Courtois, Montreal, Jones and Kane. That’s what I wanted to do was Morata -> Vardy but leaves me .2 short as I brought him in when he was 10. Now he is 10.1 on the squad but 10.3 if I wanted to bring him back in? Any thoughts?
Ah I get ya! And that’s good then, as it means I like your current WC team
Morata will be 10.2 by tomorrow, and IF he’s out for another week he’ll drop to 10.1, i.e. you’d be able to afford to bring him back. It’s a bit of a punt though, as Morata could well be back this week!
My main concern would be having no Chelsea attack for the next couple of weeks though, but without major changes there’s not many options I can see.
Your defense is also a bit of a punt, but when you see your starting 11 it seems potentially worthwhile.
Thanks Banjo. Very helpful info. Glad you like it. Who would you down grade out of Montreal or Jones if any or Take the risk of bring Vardy in hoping Morata drops .2 so I can get him back. Also, should I just wait until Friday on news for Morata.
You can afford for Morata to drop to 10.2 without it affecting you, so there’s no hurry to do anything. Out of Jones and Monreal I’d probably drop Monreal. He’s not going to get you goals every week, and I trust a Jose defense over an Arsene every week. Maybe hold fire for now and see how the Morata news pans out?
Right on @banjo! Will do! Thanks again!
Thinking of doing Firmino and Ali to Kane and Doucoure, 2FT, 0itb after doing those transfers I will have 0itb again :p
Any other suggestions? Open for hits and have WC too!
Hi snookie, maybe go for Davis instead of Doucoure, because they have a nice run of fixtures?
Magpies Davies is a defender so not sure how will he fit in
Not speaking about Davies but about Davis from Southampton!!
My bad, Southamption have been poor in attack hardly scores goals so think Douncoure is a better option imo
Hi everyone, I´m currently on wildcard, so your advices are pretty welcome.
This following team leaves me with 0.0 itb.
Another option would be Richarlison and Yedlin to any cheaper midfielder and Maguire/Kolasinac and play 5 at the back.
What do you think?
Alonso and David luiz? Not sure there! Makes your mid look very weak would downgrade one of them and upgrade the mid!
+1
Midfield looks very weak