Four weeks down on a new season of EPL Fantasy Football and I feel pretty satisfied that the majority of my advice from last time held up pretty well over the course of the first few game weeks (GW’s). Despite this, my eternal Achilles – picking a captain – came back to bite me a few times, I made some mediocre transfers and also left around 35-40 extra points sitting on the bench. Alas.
So what have we learned in the first few weeks? Picking Aguero as a captain on a GW where he plays one of the weakest is still a strong play, most of the managers that did this sit a full 50 points ahead of the pack. Watford currently look to be way better than I (or any of the experts) expected. Man United won’t be challenging for the title this season, Sarri’s Chelsea are good but perhaps not top class yet and Liverpool are (as predicted) the closest challengers to Pep’s City.
More importantly, I learned that I have some catching up to do in my own league table where I sit 11th and 62 points behind Lewis Wood-Thompson who wins a fiver from me by being the manager who scored the most points in my ‘Best in fives’ league in the first four GW’s. Here’s the top half of that table:
Fancy joining my league and be in with a chance of winning a fiver? Then join my league (1872220-628148) and score more points than any other manager during game weeks 5-8.
As it’s the international break, a time where I like to take stock and freshen up my team, I’m playing my Wildcard in GW5 hopefully the great injury crisis of Christmas 2017 (9 injuries) doesn’t ruin my season again. Additionally, Lewis has kindly agreed to share some of his thoughts to this post too. Our thoughts are below:
Goalkeepers
Kev Lawson: After hedging my bets with Ederson in my first set of recommendations for the first blog, I’ve decided that I’m sticking Dubravka (£5.0m, Newcastle) who, despite having to face Spurs, City and Chelsea, managed to score a respectable 12 points. With slightly less tricky fixtures on the horizon, he’ll score some steady points. However, my top keeper pick for this upcoming month is Hennessey (£4.5m, Palace), he’s already bagged 21 points so far this season and with games against, Huddersfield (A), Newcastle (H), Bournemouth (A) and Wolves (H) it seems likely that he’ll keep at least two clean sheets along the way.
Lewis Wood-Thompson: Ederson (£5.6m, Man City) – Hardly a left field shout picking a keeper from the reigning champions, but if you can stretch to afford Ederson then he should be a shrewd pick for September with three ‘easier’ games for City in Fulham (H), frugal Cardiff (A) and Brighton (H)
Defenders
Kev Lawson: Playing in a team with just one clean sheet, I can do no more than recommend Perriera (£5m, Leicester) for a second month on the trot he’s already racked up two assists and has some fixtures that, on paper, look easier. Elsewhere, I cannot stress enough how valuable that Wan-Bissaka (£4.1m, Palace) is to Fantasy Football Managers. On the evidence of the first few weeks, he’s a starter for Hodgson making and like Hennessy is likely to keep a clean sheet or two. If you have the transfers available take advantage of his low-low pricetag.
Lewis Wood-Thompson: Alonso (£6.8m, Chelsea) – Again, not a hipsters choice in picking the top scoring defender in the game… However, this is the first year I have gone for a top-shelf defender and the rewards have been evident so far. Two goals and five assists as he dominates the left side for Chelsea. They also have two easier games this month before a trickier tie against Liverpool at home.
Midfielders
Kev Lawson: After a fairly indifferent opening month for Spurs, my hot tip this month is Eriksen (£9.4m, Spurs), not only did he look back to his best for Denmark during the international break, but his value has slipped making him just that little bit more affordable, with some winnable games on the horizon, take the value while you can. For the frugal managers out there, Maddison (£6.6m, Leicester) looks a steal on current form and upcoming fixtures.
Lewis Wood-Thompson: Maddison (£6.6m, Leicester) – Not in my team but one I have my eye on. Playing just in behind the striker this season – everything seems to be coming through Maddison. A goal and an assist so far but could rack up some decent returns against Bournemouth (A), Huddersfield (H) and Newcastle (A).
Strikers
Kev Lawson: Still gleaning from picking Mitrovic as a potential standout performer last month, I can’t help but be a little disappointed that Morata still looks waaaaaay short of confidence (although I’ll be keeping an eye out for this to chance). So as part of my own Wildcard mix-up, I’m transferring in Ings (5.6m, Southampton) based on the data from the boffins at Statsbomb. Also, because I’m redistributing the money in my team I can now afford a marquee striker, so for the run of fixtures which includes Fulham (A), Cardiff (H) and (Brighton (A) Aguero (£11.3m, City) is going in my team.
Lewis Wood-Thompson: Ings (5.6m, Southampton) – After his injury-stricken time at Liverpool, Ings has settled into life at Southampton rather well. Everyone wants that cheap gem of a striker, and at just 5.6m Ings has returned two goals in three starts this season. A snip at that price if that form continues in September with games against Brighton (H), a return to Anfield with a point to prove in Liverpool (A) and then newly promoted Wolves (A). Not the easiest games, but worth a gamble at that price.
