Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 8
Where do I begin? Seriously I’m at a loss at how best to describe the opening seven game-weeks of the season. Words such as carnage, disaster & catastrophe spring to mind but I’m not sure if they would do it justice. In previous seasons we had the old reliables who performed week in week out, they formed the bedrock of your team and you filled the rest in around them. Sergio Aguero has scored once in seven games and this is despite City having scored 13 goals. Last season’s player of the season Eden Hazard has managed just a goal & two assists, the least said about Chelsea the better. Aleksandar Kolarov scored 46 points in the opening five game-weeks which led to a mad scramble to get him in, in the last two game-weeks he’s scored nothing. I could go on! Those fantasy managers who have had the balls to ditch the ‘big hitters’ in favour of the form players are the managers who are doing well this season, while the rest of us wallow in self-pity. I think that’s enough of a rant, here are this week’s tips…
Goalkeepers
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[/three_fourth]Fixtures over form or form over fixtures? Take a look at the next five or six games and ignoring form pick the teams you would expect to keep clean sheets, based purely on the fixtures you’ll be looking at the likes of Leicester, Newcastle (aside from GW8), Chelsea, City & Sunderland. The problem is that Leicester, Newcastle, Chelsea & Sunderland have some of the worst defences in the league, and we’ll get to City in a bit. We’d struggle to put an argument together as to why you should pick a keeper from any of those teams, although Chelsea will surely prove us wrong. Instead we’re going to go with a keeper who is currently in fine form and that is Spurs’ Hugo Lloris. Prior to last weekend’s game against City the Frenchman had kept three clean sheets on the bounce and despite conceding against City he picked up five points thanks to a bonus point and a couple of save bonus points. Despite having the joint best defence in the league Lloris and his defensive colleagues have largely gone unnoticed and while their upcoming fixtures are something of a mixed bag we’d back them to pick another few clean sheets up over the coming weeks.
Prior to last Saturday Manchester City had the best defence in the league so it came as quite a surprise when Spurs knocked four past them at lunchtime on Saturday. Joe Hart missed that game through injury and while I suspect that City would still have lost the game had he been playing something tells me that City would not have conceded four. The good news is that he was back back between the sticks tonight and while he did concede he stopped a penalty and made a number of top class saves. Two weeks ago it appeared that City already had the league won but having lost their last two games conceding six goals it now appears as though they’re mere mortals like the rest of us. Despite this blip their forthcoming fixtures indicate that they will soon be back amongst the clean sheets, particularly as Hart will naturally return and hopefully they can get Vincent Kompany back on the pitch soon.
When West Brom went 2-0 up after 54 minutes at home to Everton on Monday night the majority of us probably assumed that there was a good chance they were set to claim their 5th clean sheet of the season, we certainly didn’t expect them to concede three and to lose the game 3-2! This result shows just how difficult it is to predict clean sheets this season and in fairness you’d have a better chance trying to understand the female psyche. Despite this result our final keeper tip this week is Boaz Myhill. With their next four fixtures against Palace, Sunderland, Norwich & Leicester there is every chance that Myhill could add a minimum of two clean sheets to the four he has already picked up and with Ben Foster having suffered an injury setback and now being ruled out until Christmas the gloves are most certainly Myhill’s to lose.
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Defenders
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[/three_fourth]Having conceded seven goals from their opening seven games Arsenal have one of the better defences in the league and this has seen them keep three clean sheets. When fit, Laurent Koscielny is probably the best option from The Gunners defence but he is also the most expensive and the most popular. Therefore our tips from the goonies defence are Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal. Both appear to be first choice in their respective positions with Bellerin missing just the first game of the season while Monreal has been an ever present this season. Both are more than willing to get forward with Bellerin having claimed one assist and Monreal two, while Monreal has five bonus points and Bellerin four. This leaves Monreal on 33pts and Bellerin on 29 so there is little to separate them after the opening seven game-weeks. Both are attractively priced at £5.6m with Monreal representing a decent differential at 4.3%. Monreal’s underlying stats are a tad more impressive and therefore we would slightly favour him over his compatriot.
Perhaps it’s time we took Eric Dier seriously as a fantasy prospect? Despite being the 4th highest scoring defender over the opening seven game-weeks he features in just 7.4% of teams. Much of the attention on Spurs to date has been directed at Harry Kane and his lack of goals and as a result the fact that Spurs have conceded just five goals from their opening seven games has gone unnoticed. Dier is being played as a defensive midfielder and some may have expected him to lose his position but given his current form that appears unlikely anytime soon. With three clean sheets, two goals and three bonus points to his name he certainly deserves some consideration. I should point out that with four yellow cards Dier is currently walking the suspension tightrope. Another Spurs defender who warrants some consideration is Ben Davies. Priced at just £4.5m he has started six of the seven games and it certainly appears as though he has made the left back spot his own. It’s also worth noting that he features in just 1% of teams.
With just five goals conceded and four clean sheets from their opening seven games Manchester United currently have the best defensive record in the league. Granted they have some difficult fixtures over the next three weeks with trips to face Arsenal & Everton while they also host their nearest & dearest, but given their form I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them pick up a couple of clean sheets from these games. Matteo Darmian had started the first five games but was surprisingly benched for the trip to Southampton, however he was brought on at halftime as United struggled to contain The Saints. With United carrying a number of knocks at the back the Italian is unlikely to be benched anytime soon and despite their tough fixtures he could prove a decent source of points over the coming game-weeks.
Last we stated that the entire West Brom defence was a differential and we highlighted Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley. The Baggies then went and conceded three against Everton while their defensive colleague Craig Dawson went and scored, while McAuley didn’t even start! Now we’re not about to start backtracking and advocate Dawson over Evans but we will once more recommend you get a Baggies defender as their next three games scream clean sheets.
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Midfielders
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[/three_fourth]Without playing particularly impressively Manchester United have somehow found themselves on top of the table. However one player who has impressed to date is Juan Mata. Since joining United back in January of 2014 Mata has failed to live up to the expectations of many United fans, although this may have something to do with the fact that he was in & out of the team. This season he has however started every game and this has seen him become the consistent performer he was during his first two seasons with Chelsea. Despite not playing in has favoured #10 position he has adapted well and is a constant threat on the right of three attacking midfielders. As we’ve noted above United have three tough fixtures in succession but given Mata’s form he should not be ignored, he has delivered returns in five of the seven games to date claiming three goals, three assists and six bonus points. His ownership levels have steadily increased over recent weeks and he now features in 17% of teams, and given his current form he has the potential to hurt those without him. He’s also on penalties which cannot be underestimated and to illustrate that point he grabbed one of those against Wolfsberg to add to an assist which would have seen him probably get all 3 bonus points for an FPL total of 13.
Who could have predicted that after the opening seven game-weeks of the season West Ham & Leicester would be the joint highest goal scorers with 15 goals? Undoubtedly the star players in each team have been Dimitri Payet and Riyad Mahrez. Payet has picked up three goals, three assists and eight bonus points while Mahrez has five goals, three assists and a staggering 14 bonus points. Mahrez is the game’s most popular player with an ownership of over 52% while Payet features in nearly 24% of teams, so clearly neither are a differential but with both West Ham & Leicester both in the midst of a decent run of fixtures it’s still not too late to pick either of them up.
With so many of the so called ‘big hitters’ failing to deliver on a consistent basis it was comforting to witness Alexis Sanchez explode into life with a hat-trick against Leicester last weekend. Prior to the Leicester game he had managed just one assist, although many had persevered with him as his underlying stats were impressive…sometimes patience is rewarded, are you listening Sergio? Arsenal fans would have hoped to kick on from the Leicester result but instead they went and lost to Olympiakos, although from a fantasy perspective it was encouraging to see Sanchez turn in another impressive display. Perhaps ‘shoulders’ is back? The Gunners have a tricky fixture list over the coming weeks but as we saw last season Alexis, when in form, is fixture proof.
Whereas Sanchez exploded into life Kevin De Bruyne has enjoyed a steady but impressive start to life in the Premier League. While City have struggled in the last two weeks De Bruyne has looked every part the player City fans were expecting and this has seen him score in each of those games. Despite their recent slump, three of their next four games are at home to Newcastle, Bournemouth & Norwich, and it’s because of these games that their attacking players remain such an enticing prospect. The Belgians goals have seen his price rise to £10.2m but he still remains a great differential as he features in just over 6% of teams.
Our final midfield tip this week is something of a punt and it’s Spurs Eric Lamela. Since signing from Roma back in August 2013 he has been nothing but a flop. In his first two seasons he made just 38 appearances, scoring only twice and picking up eight assists. Spurs have struggled for goals this season but last time out they found the back of the net on four occasions, with Lamela scoring one and assisting another. His form this season has seen him recalled to the Argentinian squad as a replacement for none other than Lionel Messi! At just £6.8m and with an ownership of 1% those brave enough to take a punt on the Argentine could reap the rewards.
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Forwards
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[/three_fourth]Last Saturday was the first time this season we saw Daniel Sturridge strut his moves in the EPL after finding the back of the net, in fact thanks to injuries we only saw it on four occasions over the entirety of last season. What last Saturday’s game against Villa proved is that if Liverpool are to have any chance of even challenging for the top 4 (/ not being relegated) they will need Sturridge fit for the rest of the season. Unfortunately for Liverpool fans and those fantasy managers with plans to bring him in, the chances of him going injury free for the remainder of the season are quite low. However I wouldn’t let that put you off bringing him in because as long as he’s fit and playing regularly he’ll score goals. Ok, so he’s unlikely to match his returns from 2013/14 when himself and Luis Suarez wreaked havoc on defences around the country but he will score goals. Liverpool have a tough run of fixtures over the next 3-4 weeks but for those of you who have become disillusioned with Aguero and want to try and break away from the template then Sturridge could be the man for you.
The news that Callum Wilson is set to miss the next six months of the season came as a big blow not only to Bournemouth but also to the 30% of fantasy managers who had him in their squad when he picked up a serious knee injury last Saturday. For those of you who are yet to ship Wilson out who should you be considering? The good news is that are quite a number of options in the £5.5m to £7.0m price bracket and our tips from this bracket are Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, West Ham’s Diafra Sakho and West Brom’s Saido Berahino. Vardy has scored six times this season but has been overshadowed by the form of Mahrez. Having scored five in his last four games and given the fact that Leicester’s next six fixtures are relatively straightforward he is the prime candidate to replace Wilson. Just like Vardy at Leicester, Sakho has been overshadowed at West Ham by Payet, but has shown some form of late with three in his last four games. Just like Leicester West Ham have some decent fixtures over the coming weeks and Sakho deserves to be considered. Berahino is probably the longshot of the three but with two goals and five bonus points in his last two games he is clearly in form. As I’ve suggested above The Baggies are a good bet for a couple of clean sheets over the coming weeks but they should also find themselves amongst the goals and if this is the case I expect to see Berahino’s name on the scoresheet.
Our next tip is fantasy footballs most frustrating forward, yes you’ve guessed it, it’s none other than Everton’s Romelu Lukaku. Why frustrating? Well he’s the 2nd highest scoring forward in FPL and this is despite blanking in four of his seven games. However he scored a brace in GW2 and another brace in GW7 and has also picked up a couple of assists. Therefore the moral of the story is that should you pick Lukaku in your team you need to leave him there and learn how to deal with the frustration he causes. The Toffees have a number of difficult fixtures over the coming weeks but they have claimed a number of impressive results to date and I wouldn’t back against them repeating such results over the coming weeks.
As noted in the intro Sergio Aguero has scored just once in seven games and costs £13.2m, so what is he doing here I hear you cry? It’s simple really, I’m going with the old adage of ‘form is temporary, class in permanent’ and the fact that he faces Newcastle, Bournemouth & Norwich in his next three home games, and if these games don’t kick-start his season I’ll call it a day!
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Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 8. This article was written by Kop Warrior
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Evening guys, help me out Im having a f%&@ing shocker this season. Traded Wilson out only to see him hattrick. Traded Sanchez out last week only to see him hattrick too. My morale is low. 2.1 ,millionth. What the hells going on. Please RMT and send suggestions, … a reason to go on…, anything ,,,,:
1FT
Butland (Schm)
Darmian, Williams, Kolarov
Hazard, Yaya, Payet, Mahrez
Kun (c), Gomis, Diouf
(Albrighton, Ricahrds, Gomez)
You’ve just been unlucky Ripsaw, that’s a fine team there. It’s a real gut-kick to miss those two hat-tricks but what can you do.
I’d look at shifting Hazard and Gomis as a priority as both Hazard and Chelsea haven’t been in gear all season and Swansea’s goals have dried right up lately. Can understand you wanting to hold onto Hazard after Wilson and Sanchez though.
If you have enough in the bank then Gomis to Martial would be my suggestion, and if not then Gomis to Vardy. Longer term I’d look at Hazard to Mata or Walcott (if he does well over the next couple) in order to do Yaya to KDB.
Good advice mate cheers. Trying to think long term but the O.R of 2.1million is killing my pride haha Im used to top 50k life. No hits so far either but I’m tempted to overhaul. As you say though, its more tempting to hold my move as my recent moves have hurt me more than anything else.
It’s been a strange start, things will settle and you’ll rise up the ranks. Last season’s winner is currently ranked 1.3 million so hold onto that in the meantime
Can you please take out Kun, like, right now! ?
Haha cant do it
Hi Ripsaw, pull yourself together man 😉 It’s been a sh*t start for the good majority of experienced players. Only some good fortune or the odd risk pay off has seen a few place higher. I’m willing to bet you’ve played it safe all the way so far and it’s just not happened for you? I think the only time anything has gone my way has been when I’ve gone off the safe route slightly but even then it’s not been often and I’m still reluctant to go too far off it.
Your teams good and not much different to many. Anyway, who you capping this week just so we all know who to avoid?
All set? 0ft, 0.3itb
All set if Yaya is given the green light EBC.
Our squads are so similar, it is scaring. me.
How do you feel about playing Clyne against a firing Everton?
Is Ben Davies nailed on to start for Spurs?
Rose will get the odd game but it seems Davies is first choice.
Mitro think he’s started 6 of 7 or something? Has been looking decent but with Rose waiting in the wings I went for Alderweireld instead. Will be great value if he keeps playing though.
Yeah it’s 6 out of 7 as CC said. I have him in my WC team. Rose is getting the Europa games so I’d say he’s fairly nailed on now.
Did Clyne get injured tonight?
Havent heard about it yet.
Only just reading the match reports and nothing specific is being mentioned other than ‘he didn’t look himself’, ‘out of sorts’ etc. Dinnery’s have a rest too so no help there, how dare he!
Hey folks, a quick one:
Silva or De Bruyne?
and defender below 4.7 (need to trade out Gomez)!
Cheers!
KDB!
What about Moreno? 😉
I reckon Davies is the best shout even with his uncertainty as there really isn’t a great option for under 4.7 I don’t think. Watford are great at home but their next 3 at home are ARS, WHU and MUN. Martin won’t keep scoring and also has LEI, mci, che and ARS in the next 7. Bournemouth poor in defence, etc. etc.
Hmm, or maybe Souare if you don’t mind him sitting on your bench for the 4 nasty games coming up after this GW. Has NEW and SUN following those, and Ward should be back by then too.
Good point, Calvin. Hmm. So Hangeland AND Souare will be pretty short term. Damnit.
No I meant Ward should increase Souare’s chances of CSs. They don’t compete for the same place (unless I am totally mistaken?).
No you’re right. just looked back and figured Ward, Dann, Delaney and Souare are first choice defenders with Hangeland and Kelly filling in.
Kelly has struggled but Hangeland seems decent though (and used to get goals back in the day)!!!
Yeah used to love Brede for Fulham!
Thanks, Calvin. Yeah, was thinking Davies (good value if he keeps his spot) or a punt on Hangeland (got man of the match, a cleanie and 2 bonus points last game and he can score, though might not retain his spot when Delaney returns) or Souare as Crystal Phallus got 2 home games coming up. Hmm…
Hi Sanchez, I’m on a WC so been doing a lot of tinkering in that department. I have 4 in that bracket in my new team and they are – Cook, Davies, Souare and Collocini. Bear in mind these aren’t selected to play every week, they’re all there for specific weeks and all rotate well (enough) with each other and the 5th defender (Kolarov) and the keepers. Just thought I’d share where I am on that topic. I’ll throw my team up in a bit when I’m back on mobile along with my defensive working outs!
Oh and KDB.
Thanks, Initt. Good thinking. And nice job on CL btw. I thought I did ok w/ a 74 but 80s is sweet.
Haha, cheers! 70 odd still looks a good start there mate. Even with 80 odd I think I still barely made the top 10 in the FF247 league. It’s close all the way down the top 20 odd though I think. NIN did a great job on the article. Hoping that’ll be a more regular one now ahead of each week. Shout if you fancy doing any as I know you know your European stuff probably better than we do.
*I, not we. Sorry NIN
Yeah, let me know if you want me to chip in w/ the UCL prep talk/writing, Initt. Don’t know how much help I’d be but wouldn’t mind giving it a shot, if NIN and/or others would actually want that or wouldn’t mind. Would love to give back to the site as you guys give so much to us managers, making the Fantasy experience much richer and way more fun!
Wildcard! Any suggestions considered and appreciated. Defence and keepers are built around a rotation. Yes, even Collocini! Drinkwater is basically the cheapest 5th mid but also playing on the top scoring team. Rest of the attack is fairly self self-explanatory. Berahino is a consideration next week as he has Sunderland at home. Could easily come in for Sakho for that one. Shame to lose Pelle but his next 3 aren’t great and may plan for him to return in GW11 as he then has 3 good fixtures.
The second pic is mainly just for Sanchez so he doesn’t think I was bluffing!
Howdy mate. Not a big fan of the defence but the rest looks solid to me. Double WHU with a view to Berahino is nice. Attack the life out of Sunderland!
Agreed. Can you improve it without disrupting the front 7 though?
Begovic to any starting 4.5 and Coloccini to Janmaat is a significant improvement I think.
Who CC, ‘any’ doesn’t cut it really!
Yeah, i’d lose Bego for a 4.5 that works with Myhill (or just run with Myhill as permanent no1) and upgrade Colo.
One that rotates well with Myhill! I’m out now so can’t check.
Name names! Sorry for being a difficult customer
Actually, scrap the 4,5m idea. WBA are the bomb so maybe get a 4m and get a solid defender? Myhill is surely nailed on until Foster gets back…
Hi NIN, on a WC here so I’d want 2 keepers who play ideally. The 1 concept is all too easily unraveled. Show me what that £1M does elsewhere and I’ll consider it. If it’s the difference between Colo and Janmaat (9 points so far, 8 of those in one match) then I’m really not that interested!
Init Janmaat is virtually Newcastle’s best threat going forwards, definitely worth the extra 0.4 over Colly. He got sent off which would account for the similar points so far.
Which brings us back to the original question…
Fine, I’ll look up what it seems you’re to lazy to then! 😉
Begovic&Coloccini –> Butland&Dawson? Leaves a double up but anything is better than Newcastle..
Of the 7 available options, Krul, Schmeichel and Butland rotate best with My hill over the next 7 or 8 GWs. You don’t want to double up with Newcastle (in fact I’d say stay well away anyway if it weren’t for Janmaat’s attacking threat), and Leicester have looked like they don’t care about defending and just want to score more than they let in, so my recommendation would be Begovic and Colly to Butland and Janmaat.
Hardly lazy CC, been there and done that on the whole research thing as you well know. Offering up ‘any’ doesn’t mean anything when you’ve done the leg work already. Happy to consider any alternatives and really appreciate any help. Look forward to your homework answer in the morning
NIN, thanks. I’ll look at that. Initial thoughts with no info in front of me are that any such double up isn’t great. There are no teams over the next 6 or so that’d justify a double from memory. Keeper would have to rotate perfectly as well. Not sure Butland does but will check. Thanks mate.
By saying any I was stressing how you could choose any of the seven 4.5 starters and it would still be an upgrade
out of those Butland does seem the best option. Doesn’t rotate perfectly but then neither do your cheap defenders so it’s kinda moot.
I disagree on the rotation point.
Not sure you are quite getting how they fit into a rotation there in terms of numbers needed each week but may just be that you view the fixtures differently.
What GW’s were you planning on playing Colo? I cant make head nor tail of your scribbling’s
I wasn’t. I’m not getting Newcastle defence, are you mad
Haha, i give up. Cant RMT a team what has phantom players
Anyway, are we being treated with some more of Guy’s writing this week? Bloody MLS team is in a state after last weeks looney bin moves. No idea what to do with it.
Hello Init
I know you said Drinkwater was a cheap option but if you were forced to play him you would have 3 attackers from the same team which isn’t a great scenario.
Team looks good other than that :thumbup:
Who you going to cap this week?
3 attackers from the most attacking and top scoring team. Wouldn’t lose any sleep over that scenario. Who would you suggest instead at that price?
The scribblings of a madman
If you are playing Davies and Kolarov each GW then the other 3 cheap defs will be fine, but if you end up needing two of them sometimes then it’s not ideal imo as per the image below. I think Davies is a great pick but not if you have to rely on him always playing given the Rose situation, but did see you thought above Rose will stick to Europa so fair enough.
Forward 8 looks great.
I know there’s been some banter about team value, but all jokes aside now that you’re on a WC are you feeling the pinch now or do you stand by your convictions that TV is almost irrelevant? I do have my doubts about it sometimes, but shhh…
Think from memory Davies only plays in 10 and 11. My TV is hardly poor and barely relevant to this. Lose Sanchez for example and the defence can accommodate more ‘top names’. Who exactly is another question altogether because the names mean jack sh*t if they’re not producing. 3 of the 5 come from the top 6 teams with least goals allowed.
Haha, nice! (Reaches for scrap paper and takes notes). Looks good, Initt. I’d like to see Mata in there as he’s been Mr. Consistent (and knowing he could become a ‘must have’ like a few season ago) but I can see it’s really tough to fit him in.
Team looks solid for now but I’m not a fan of having 5 of your 8 attacking players from 2 teams, especially if they won’t challenge for atleast champions league spot. I personally think it’s only a matter of time before one of Vardy/Mahrez/payet/sakho drop in form and start blanking in a row of gws, but since there aren’t clear options out there yet, I would be happy with it for now but I think a plan to bring in mata/martial/Walcott/pedro/hazard/sturidge would be wise, as they could start exploding sooner rather than later.
Hi Init.
Any money in the bank?
Prefer Janmaat over Colo if you can squeeze him in
No money mate but CC is about to fix that
How about Myhill->Hennesey Cook->Jevans saving 0.4 and using it to upgrade Colo to Janmaat
It’s a nice idea but Hennessey got some fluky game-time there, he’s far from nailed on.
True! I would be thinking of benching him and playing Bego every week.
Spurs Baggies Chelsea defence with Janmaat and Kolarov offering opportuities at both ends looks nice.
Downside of just having one playing goalie is they get sent off from time to time.
So how about Myhill and Butland, who looks decent and gets a fair amount of save points and assists if not many cleanies. They rotate reasonably well.
Many thanks Horse. Same conclusion as CC above! Will look into this one in the morning as obviously seems to be viable.