Trends From The Top Gameweek 8
Welcome to this week’s edition of Trends From the Top. It’s always fascinating to see the ways in which the leader board changes as well as the trends that evolve just over the course of a couple of weeks! Did you know for example that for GW 7, only two of the top 10 players had Aguero on their team? So… what trends did we see this week? What are the leaders doing and will they continue to maintain their leads?
Who was the most captained player by the top ten for Gameweek 8?
This week, 100% of the top ten managers selected… AGUERO! As many of you know, captaining him would have brought you 50 points but for the three top managers who decided to play their triple captain chip, kudos to you! At the time of writing only 33.9% of managers have been able to bring Aguero onboard as he carries a very heavy price tag of £13.2m but if this week’s performance is indicative of what’s to come, Aguero may be the one man up front to permanently invest your money in. (Next three matches are BOU (H), MUN (A) and NOR (H)).
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What recent trend have most of the top managers been deploying?
In researching this week’s leaders, it was interesting to see that once again, most managers have used many if not all of their chips! What’s even more fascinating, however, is the fact that Struthious D, currently holding position #2 has neither used a chip nor a wild card! His game play therefore may be more ‘credible’ and reflective of good managerial skills than others. (Struthious D has played for 10 seasons and his highest rank was 39,890). And, as the week’s progress, I do believe we will see the downfall of those who were eagerly ambitious to deploy and exhaust their chips within the first few weeks of the season.
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What are some other interesting findings regarding the leaders?
– NONE of the top 10 for this week were in the top 10 last week! This may be the new norm with all the new additions and modifications to the game but it is indeed very interesting to me as last year’s leader, stayed at the top for the last 15-20 weeks.
– Our leader brought in 145 points (ranked 72nd for GW 8) and was savvy enough to use his triple captain chip. While I do suggest above that they deployment of all your chips so early in the season may not be wise, the use of the triple captain chip for this week was clearly most fortuitous.
– Our leader also ranked 1,505,612 in GW 2! (There’s hope for us all?)
– Our leader went from 896th to 1st in one GW.
– Our current leader finished 408,298 for the 2014/2015 season.
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Goalkeepers: For this past gameweek 50% of the top managers selected Cech while 20% had Hart and 10% had Boruc and Butland.
Defenders: This week we saw 19 defenders make the cut for top managers. Interestingly enough, Kolarov (70%) was the only defender with an ownership rate of over 50%. Azpilicueta came in at 40% while Alderweireld was the next most popular pick with 40% ownership followed by Bellerin with 30%, Dann, Souare and Darmian with 20% and Hangeland, Morgan, Clyne, Williams, Mertesacker, Cedric, Cresswell, Skrtel, Fonte, Gabriel, Walker and Reid each with 10%.
Midfielders: When you look at midfielders, the top 10 managers had 20 different picks with several getting only 10% of the vote such as Morrison, Walcott, Mata, Sinclair, Countinho, Silva, Navas, Bolasie, Wanyama, Hazard, Eriksen, Puncheon, Barkley, Matic and Ozil. Payet was the most popular pick with 90% ownership followed by Sanchez at 40%, De Bruyne, Ayew and Cabaye at 30%. On a personal note, this is the most variety I have ever seen for midfielders while doing this piece over the past 3 years. The fact that only one player has an ownership of 50% or higher suggests that the midfield is ever evolving and/or has yet to plant stable and reliable choices.
Forwards: This week, the front line consisted of a 8 picks among the top managers which again seems to indicate that such spots are not yet solidified. Aguero came in with 100% while Vardy was the next popular pick as he received 70%. Ighalo was selected by 40% of the top managers with Pelle receiving 20% and Jerome, Sakho, Lukaku and Martial each receiving 10% a piece.
In summation, the Must-Haves for top managers for Gameweek 8 were not many. They were Cech, Kolarov, Payet, Vardy and Aguero as they all had an ownership rate of 50% or higher.
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Other interesting facts:
Other interesting facts:
– The average score for Gameweek 8 among the top 10 was an insane 123.5 points which is 68.5 points above average for the week. Yes, that’s 68.5 points above the average!
– England dominated the leader board once again as 50% of the top 10 were from England. The remaining three countries were Turkey (currently in 1st), Scotland, Northern Ireland, India and Indonesia.
– The average team value was £102 with £103.3 being the highest team value and £101.1 being the lowest value.
– 19 points separates 1st place from 10th.
– Best of luck in Gameweek 9 and a special birthday shout out to my #1 fan…
Happy Birthday Dad!
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what do you think about my team below? 0 FT, nothing left in the bank
i’m aware that olsson and target have to go, gonna do it next gw
will myhill get rotated with lindegaard?
any view is appreciated
Would play Begovic in place of Mcgarthy, WHU away have been excellent. Also Bellerin, Kolarov, Cresswell is too much money in defense for my liking would downgrade cresswell to dawson or davies and upgrade targett to Ward (if fit) or Souarre or any good cheap defender !
yes i forgot to change my keeper. i should deal with mcCharty later too, if he keep warming the bench.
agreed, kolarov is the one i want to keep. i expect cs from cresswell last GW as they play away at sunderland, but…
thanks yash, i’ll consider a spurs defender
what do you think a safer bet? get dawson or myhill?
Dawson for me !
ok, thanks yash!
I see that you are still denying the fact that McCarthy has lost his place.
Hhaha
Yeah, i had hennessey earlier this season, then switch to mcCarthy after WC, kinda frustating
Repost
Ok so REALLY need to get shot of Wilson as his drops are eating my TV. Problem is I’ve only got 1FT. Here’s some ideas I’ve had. Comments / ideas / abuse from fellow managers would be great.
1. Wilson ? Ighalo, Couthino ? Payet / Mane. (Worried about Mane not starting after IB)
2. Wilson ? Ighalo, Couthino ? Ozil. (Loving Ars’ fixtures over the next 6 GWs)
3. Wilson ? Vardy, Couthino ? Tadic (Allows me Soth cover as well as freeing up cash to get Vardy in)
Are there any other forwards I’m not thinking about?
After the IB I would then look at perhaps Muniesa ? ??? as defence is in trouble, but might try and last 1 more GW and do it with a FT rather than taking a second hit.
I was leaning towards 2 because of Ars fixtures But after looking at it, Ighalo has a torrid set of games coming up (ARS, stk, WHU, lei, MUN) in comparison to in form Vardy (sou, CRY, wba, WAT, new) so now I’ve started favouring 3. I’m 1mil off Ozil and Vardy, anywhere you think I could shave it?
Thanks for any tips / advice.
team below
I’m not keen on losing Coutinho just yet, through 8 EPL games he has the highest shots on goal % in the whole of the league, I think he’s not far from having the Aguero/Sanchez monster game haul, I’d just focus on ditching Wilson for now.
I think hes a bright spark in a dark room, but with tough fixtures, new management and an unknown formation as of yet, I think there may be better options over the next 5. I’m really feeling Ozil, Vardy and shaving kolarov…..
Need to be talked out of it.
Ah the old treble double attacking coverage tactic, (2 from Lei, Arsenal, Citeh) might be too many eggs in the same basket there for my liking.
you could shave a bit by losing begovic for myhill / butland
I was thinking of shaving 1mil off Kolarov.
yeah you can do, i’ve got him and i’m thinking of DG him to use the money elsewhere.
Morning guys! Who are the best 5 million or less defenders? I’m on a wild card and need a mixture 5 million and less
Color me daft but I’d take a NUFC defender as a budget 4.5 as one of my defenders/GK if I was on a WC, they’ve probably had the toughest start out of all the teams but now that the fixtures have started to ease I’m hoping that CS potential can increase.
Don’t forget that we were all over Citeh before Aguero scored five
Interesting on Newcastle. They have had a tough start. They were good defensively against United. I think I’ll wait and see how they do in next few weeks.
Dawson, Naughton.
ashley williams or dawson
Hey Smash how are we , Oh to have a WC
Cedric/Naughton/Souare/Davis/Cameron.
Yeah not too bad. Around. The 500k mark now. Have been struggling. All good options thanks.
Crisis averted!
Was thinking of doing an early transfer Sagna>Janmaat to bank on Sagna’s 0.2M profit, turns out Janmaat got injured. B)
Sagna will fall though. I have him and I’m debating either Monreal or Bellerin, just can’t decide which is more nailed on long term.