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Thursday, August 30, 2012

What if...Today Fantasy League have started?

2 weeks in Barclays Premier League, and there's been lots of goals and controversies to talk about....but Today Fantasy League is only kicking off 1 month after the start, on 15th September.

So instead of waiting at the sidelines, why not take a look at the on-form players of the current season based on the Today Fantasy League scoring system? Some are pretty obvious if you have been following the games...

Note: Stats are obtained from Fantasy Premier League. Assists determined by TFL may differ from FPL.


Top Goalkeepers (What if...) - 12/13
Michel Vorm & Petr Cech topped the charts with 10pts each, thanks to their 2 clean sheet, though Chelsea have played 1 extra game in the midweek. 9 other keepers managed to obtain 4-6 points for their team, thanks to 1 clean sheet.

Interestingly, the 2 highest priced keepers, Joe Hart & David De Gea, are not found in the Top Goalkeepers chart. With their team's leaking goals, they would have gotten 0pt and 1pt respectively. Man Utd are able to lay the blame on their central defencer crisis, but it might be worrying for some to see Man City's 1st choice defence allowing 2 goals to Southampton and Liverpool.

Nevertheless, most of the top team tend to concede less from mid-season, so fantasy managers need not panic too much into this small sampling size.


Top Fullbacks (What if...) - 12/13
Chelsea's fullbacks Branislav Ivanovic & Ashley Cole occupy the 1st 2 places due to their extra game played, while Swansea's goal scorer Angel Rangel is at 3rd place with 12pts. With his price at 3.4 combined with the Swans easy fixtures, his ownership looks likely to increase before TFL commences.

One thing to note about the scoring system: unlike other fantasy games which rewards defenders more points for scoring, TFL awards 4 points for all players, regardless of position. Even though Tottenham's Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Man Utd Rafael scored, they ain't featured in the Top Fullback list. Hence for this game,

OBTAINING CLEAN SHEET should be your main consideration while choosing Fullbacks & Centrebacks. Goals and Assists are a sweetener.


 Top Centrebacks (What if...) - 12/13
With John Terry out of the Newcastle match due to injuries, no Chelsea centrebacks played more than 2 games. Instead, Arsenal and Swansea's 2 clean sheets with no cautions meant that Thomas Vermaelen, Per Mertesacker & Ashley Williams are tied at the top with 10pts.

Just in case anyone's wondering, any selection of QPR defenders would cost managers -3pts! Another reason why not to scrimp on the defence...


 Top Midfielders (What if...) - 12/13
As mentioned in my Midfielder's analysis, there's bargains galore at the moment, with 5 of the top 6 midfielders costing 4.0pts or less, and 3 from the rampaging Swansea (Pleased to Michu, Nathan "I'm not Kieron" Dyer & Wayne Routledge)

Juan Mata & David Silva had a vigorous summer due to Euro & Olympics (even though both didn't play much), and have only 3 & 2 appearance points so far.

A word of caution for those being tempted by Frank Lampard: Yes, he is appearing in the Top Midfielder list, but both his goals are from the penalty spot, and he only managed 1 other blocked goal attempt in 3 games...and he came off the bench against Newcastle. Unless Chelsea get awarded with a penalty every other game, Lampard's gonna be pretty quiet, especially with their current hotshot....


 Top Strikers (What if...) - 12/13
...Eden Hazard. If only he was classified as a midfielder....then his price would likely be similar to Mata's (5.3)....sigh.

Remember I mentioned Rooney & Aguero injuries meant less headache for fantasy managers? Well, it does push Robin van Persie & Carlos Tevez to the forefront, which shows in the Top Strikers chart. But can you afford to leave out Chelsea's duo of Hazard & Fernando Torres? How about cheapies Mladen Petric & Bryan Ruiz, after looking at Fulham's upcoming schedule? Their on-form teammates have been scoring quite well, so shouldn't it be Everton's Nikica Jelavic or Swansea's Danny Graham turn to fire up?

Uurgh, even more decisions....

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