Week 3: IEFSA Fantasy League 2017/18 Preview

A slight improvement from the opening weekend, but unfortunately it was still a loss to @FantasyYIRMA in Gameweek 2. Fifteen extra points were scored, and even better, all of my players stayed on the field, but it wasn’t enough, as a failure to get a clean sheet out of any of my defenders or goalkeeper cost my side dearly. It leaves my side deep in relegation trouble and we haven’t even reached September yet. So, this week what has the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer in store? Why it’s only the second highest scoring team in the league, @RotoZdroik.

Dwight Gayle  has had some early season struggles in front of goal

The international break can’t come fast enough. It might give my players a chance to rest and recuperate! As I mentioned many times, goals win games. With no goals so far this season, I’m starting to think Dwight Gayle is not as good Romelu Lukaku. My side also has failed to register any assists, with only three assists of actual shots from my whole squad. Compare this to @RotoZdroik’s squad who has assisted 23 shots and it looks like it might be a long weekend.

@RotoZdroik’s Team

Everton have scored two goals this season and both were assisted by Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The youngster must surely have moved himself up the pecking order in Adam’s Midfield. This week Everton have a difficult trip to Chelsea though, so perhaps Calvert-Lewin will be held over in the OF position until Sunday. A lot of his players, at least on paper, have difficult ties. The majority of them have an away fixture this weekend. His highest scoring player has a home fixture on Saturday though.

Can @RotoZdroik be tempted to rest Lukaku??

Romelu Lukaku has scored 48 points in the first two games of the season, scoring three goals. The Belgian has had eight shots and will hope for a few more at Old Trafford when Manchester United face Leicester City. @RotoZdroik could pull a trick on everyone though and play Ayoze Perez in the Forward position. At three o’clock on Saturday, Newcastle will play West Ham United. The Hammers have shipped seven goals in two games and it could be fruitful for Adam to find a spot in his roster for the Spaniard.

What I Need To Happen

I really need my side to break the 100 point barrier. @RotoZdroik averages 154 points, which is only 18 points less than I have managed in two Gameweeks. I`m in desperate need of some goalscorers. Dwight Gayle didn’t even last an hour last time out and has only one shot on target this season. The players who have taken the most shots in my squad, (and are therefore due a goal this weekend!) are Tammy Abraham of Swansea and Tom Ince of Huddersfield.

Gareth Barry will face Joe Allen in the game of the weekend

Looking elsewhere around my squad for points, you have top point scorer Michael Keane, who faces a tough away day at Chelsea with Everton. In Midfield Gareth Barry has settled in well with West Brom who have won two games to start their campaign and have yet to concede a goal. Barry and his side face a resurgent Stoke City on Sunday. Joe Allen has not has as good a start as he managed last term, but hopefully he can pick up some points in this game, which should be a tense midfield battle.

Predictions

Those of you following @THE_IEFSA on Twitter (and you all should be) will see that a lot of sides have been busy in the transfer market in the hope of unearthing that $1 gem that can turn a loss into a win. Six sides including mine have yet to get off the mark. In the prediction stakes, last weekend was a bit of a bust as only four of the nine predictions were correct. Let’s hope for better this Gameweek. Here are this week’s predictions.

Good Luck Everyone

@nikarg over @TRKingston

@FuzzyWarbles over @TAMc10

@jwl_15 over @EPL_MOstradamus

@FantasyYIRMA over @wrigavin

@SportsByGotti over @BenDinnery

@cjradune over @TomSunderland_

@jasonuk17 over @RotoWireAndrew

@jforquer11 over @SmokeyLoogy

@nealjthurman over @DFS_Hambazaza

Week 2: IEFSA Fantasy League 2017/18 Preview

Gameweek 1 was nothing short of a disaster. Joe Allen had a below par performance. Luka Milivojevic was hauled off at halftime. Big signings Lindelof and Gayle didn’t contribute any points. And finally Jonjo Shelvey got sent off for Newcastle on the way to a suspension and minus two points. The one upside was the performance of Michael Keane, who in his debut performance for Everton picked up a clean sheet and 24.1 points. @nikarg barely had to break into a sweat as he took all three points in our match-up.

There was good and bad on both sides, but Shelvey sees red #unfair

But don’t worry fans as there is a ray of hope on the horizon, in the shape of Gareth Barry. The 36 year old midfielder has recently signed for West Brom and will be playing in his 21^st Premier League season. The Baggies usually play with around six midfielders so surely he will get some minutes under Tony Pulis. Barry can also play at centre back if needed. I will probably need Barry to go straight into my side this week as the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer sees fit to pit my team against @FantasyYIRMA. Only four teams outscored YIRMA last weekend, unfortunately for him though, he was in a match-up with one of them. He will be determined to get his season underway with his first win.

@FantasyYIRMA`s Team

All bar one of his players scored double figures last weekend. He even had two goal Steve Mounie resting on the bench (his inclusion wouldn’t have altered the result). He also had two goals from Jamie Vardy and one from Wayne Rooney. His forward line has hit the ground running this season it seems. In Midfield Dele Alli earned over 20 points and Mesut Ozil over 15. Top this off with a David De Gea clean sheet and he can be very happy with his opening weekend performances, if not with the final result.

Mounie can't possibly score another brace can he??

Gameweek 2 will see his squad face some favourable fixtures. Vardy and Leicester City will host new boys Brighton on Saturday. Ozil will get to display his silky skills against the plethora of Champions League winning stars that currently ply their trade at Stoke City. Mounie continues his chase for the golden boot against Newcastle on Sunday; and Wayne Rooney gets a chance to add to the 11 goals he has scored against Manchester City in his career to date, when Everton head to the Etihad Stadium on Monday. @FantasyYIRMA will have a choice to make though, as he can only play two from Mounie, Vardy and Rooney. But that’s why YIRMA is paid the big bucks!

What I Need To Happen

A lot of my players could well find themselves facing off against those starting for @FantasyYIRMA. Joe Allen (the best player not to win the Champions League?) will be tasked with shackling Ozil and also causing problems for YIRMA`s defender Nacho Monreal. Summer signing Tom Ince of Huddersfield can hopefully have more luck this weekend when he comes up against Newcastle United and defender Jamaal Lascelles. In another game of attack versus defence, that will help determine the winner of our match-up; will see David De Gea face Tammy Abraham of Swansea. Abraham will hope to get his first goal for his new club after scoring 26 goals in all competitions for Bristol City last season.

West Brom love an aging star in the heart of midfield

Jonjo Shelvey being suspended until September will leave my Midfield relatively thin. Allen and Ince seem assured of starting places. Milivojevic will hopefully keep his place in the Crystal Palace midfield as they hope to bounce back from a poor opening result. West Brom might pick an unchanged eleven for their trip to Burnley meaning Barry will have to be content with a place on the bench. Of the five defenders in my squad, three of them didn’t play last weekend. The best chance of getting three players on the pitch is probably Jose Fonte of West Ham breaking into the team. With the Hammers shipping four goals at Old Trafford, if he can`t break into that backline soon, he won`t get in there all season.

Predictions

A solid start of five correct and four incorrect last time out. This week will hopefully go a bit better. To keep track of all the scores this weekend don’t forget to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter. The big clash this weekend will see the top two scorers from last week going head to head. @FuzzyWarbles (171) and @RotoZdroik (182) is also a clash of Aguero v Lukaku.

@DFS_Hambazaza over @jforquer11

@jasonuk17 over @TomSunderlad_

@BenDinneryover @nealjthurman

@SmokeyLoogy over @cjradune

@RotoWireAndrew over @SportsByGotti

@jwl_15 over @wrigavin

@nikarg over @TAMc10

@TRKingston over @EPL_MOstadamus

@RotoZdroik over @FuzzyWarbles

Week 1: IEFSA Fantasy League 2017/18 Preview

Is it just me, or did that summer break seem to pass by in the blink of an eye? Barely have I had time to celebrate finishing fifth in the IEFSA league when Gameweek 1 rolls around and I’ve to cobble together a team to face @nikarg. It seems I’m not the only one who the new season has snuck up on. Spurs have sold four players and loaned out another four, but as of yet haven’t replaced any of them with a game against Newcastle looming. The Toon manager Rafa Benitez for his part has been complaining about his side’s lack of summer signings (they have only brought in seven players). Perhaps the summer break isn’t long enough and the Premier League should copy what happens in Germany, Italy and Spain, where everyone gets an extra week of down time in in order to entice Phillipe Coutinho into a transfer request? Or they could do what they do in Andorra, where the league doesn’t bother to start until the middle of September. That would have given me plenty of time to get an unbeatable squad together.

To see my thoughts on the IEFSA Fantrax draft from earlier in the month, please scroll down and read the previous post.

This season there has been a shake-up to the league. Instead of all 20 teams playing each other. The league has been split into two divisions of ten teams, with promotion and relegation at the end of the year. There will also be a Fantasy Cup which will happen during gameweeks that have midweek fixtures. Thankfully I’ve earned a bye in the cup until the second round. It should be a very interesting season.

@nikarg’s Team

Nik has a team which shouldn’t be short of goals. He splashed out $75 for the services of West Ham’s Chicharito to compliment the attacking threat of Bournmouth’s Jermain Defoe. In Midfield he can call on the talents of Christian Eriksen, who scored eight goals last season. @nikarg will be looking for Riyad Mahrez to rediscover the form he showed in Leicester’s title winning season, where he scored 17 goals. Elsewhere in Midfield he has Jesse Lingard of Man Utd, and Andros Townsend of Crystal Palace. Both players are capable of hitting the back of the net when given the chance.

If Huddersfield can score, Hennessey has problems.

Between the sticks he will have the Palace goalkeeper. Probably Wayne Hennessey for this weekend’s clash with newly promoted Huddersfield. The Terriers were the lowest scorers of the top eight teams in the Championship last season. They are actually the lowest scorers to gain promotion since Birmingham City in 2009. With all this in mind, it looks like Palace have one of the better chances of keeping a clean sheet on Saturday. In Defence, With McAuley out injured, Nik will have to start the trio of Ryan Shawcross, Stoke City, Rob Holding, Arsenal, and Leighton Baines, Everton.

What I Need To Happen

If I can’t score more goals than @nikarg, my players are going to have to out-work his to give me any chance of winning this match-up. Thankfully I have retained the services of the biggest workhorse in world football, Joe Allen. Helping the Welshman in Midfield will be this seasons star signing, the most expensive player in my squad, Tom Ince of Huddersfield. Another new signing in Jonjo Shelvey of Newcastle will join an old face in Palace’s Luka Milivojevic. Up front I will have to choose between Newcastle’s Dwight Gayle or Swansea’s Tammy Abraham. Neither player is assured of a starting spot for their respective teams, so I will have to keep an eye on the matchday squads.

New Premier League  season excitement encapsulated in one picture

In goals this year will be Tom Heaton again. The Burnley stopper unfortunately has to travel to the champions Chelsea for the opening game of the season on Saturday. At the back, and hopefully pulling in a clean sheet or two, are Steve Cook of Bournemouth (a holdover from last year), Victor Lindelof of Man Utd (a new $34 signing), Michael Keane now of Everton (another survivor from last year’s squad), and Jose Fonte of West Ham (central defender who cost $15). Lindelof and Cook and not assured of starts, but Keane and Fonte should get 90 minutes. It would be great if three of those four could find their way onto the field this weekend.

Predictions

With so many changes after the draft it’s going to be difficult to call all this weekend’s games. I haven’t even figured out how the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer is clandestinely sabotaging my team yet! To keep track of all the action this season please follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter.

Here are this week’s predictions. Good Luck Everyone.

@EPL_MOstradamus over @FuzzyWarbles

@jwl_15 over @FantasyYIRMA

@RotoZdroik over @TRKingston

@RotoWireAndrew over @SmokeyLoogy

@SportsByGotti over @cjradune

@TAMc10 over @wrigavin

@BenDinnery over @TomSunderland_

@DFS_Hambazaza over @jasonuk17

@nealjthurman over @jforquer11

2017 IEFSA Fantrax Draft Recap

Two weeks ago saw the  IEFSA Fantrax draft happen in Las Vegas (and China, and Greenland, and Antarctica. It was online). Now that the dust has settled and managers get a sober view of their picks, let’s take a look at all the big moves, and some of the little ones. First up, let me explain the reasoning behind the four players I decided to keep in my roster from the previous season.

Tom Heaton was retained in goals. I didn’t want to pay much money for a goalkeeper after spending far too much to get Courtois two seasons ago and enduring a year where the Belgian only managed five clean sheets, sandwiched in between seasons of 12 and 16 clean sheets. It`s just as good to keep a competent No.1 who is kept busy, than a keeper from a top club where you become very clean sheet dependent. If you can get a keeper for $1, and stay out of a scramble for the scraps to complete a roster during the draft, all the better.

Can Keane handle Joe Allen on the opening day of the season?

Steve Cook of Bournemouth, $1, and Michael Keane now of Everton, $3, were both kept. These are two defenders who averaged over 13 points a game and who should be regular starters for their clubs. It`s vitally important to get a full roster playing every week and I didn’t want to take any chances with my salary cap on defensive players.

The final player I kept was Crystal Palace midfielder Luka Milivojevic for only $1. He averaged a solid 13.5 points a game when he arrived in the Premier League in January and even chipped in with a few goals. I kept Milivojevic over last season`s player of the year Joe Allen purely because he was costing me less cap money. Allen was $4. But then…. during the draft I brought Allen back into the squad for $10 in some sort of Pogba-esque divine reclamation.

 

I would have paid double, nay triple, what he cost #bargain

For the draft itself I had my eye on a few players. Mostly new signings to the league as managers had kept a hold of their best assets. I also didn’t want to overpay for any players and had set myself a limit of around $50 because the big signings of the last few years for my side were not runaway successes. Paying over $50 for a player wouldn`t give you a huge advantage over a player you could pick up for $1 in my eyes. Only a handful of players, the Aguero`s, Hazard`s and Sanchez`s of the league are worth a big outlay in salary cap.

I would also bid up any players that I had last season. If I picked them up cheaper, then it was all good, as I had a pretty solid season last year. I was just making sure no one underpaid for them. Mkhitaryan went for $82, which was $11 up from last year, and I wasn`t too broken up to see him go.

The one that got away....

My first selection in the draft was a Forward, but I didn’t end up getting him as my phone had some early teething problems making bids. I was always frustrated last year getting a consistent goal scorer, or even a forward who would get consistent game time. I still wanted a way into an improving Man Utd side, Mkhitaryan I was happy to let go, Lukaku was held by @RotoZdroik for $30, while Pogba (last year’s biggest signing) was kept by @RotoWireAndrew for $125. With this in mind I really wanted to sign Marcus Rashford, but thanks to my fat thumbs, (ProTip: don’t draft on your phone) @jasonuk17 picked him up for a bargain $23. I would have happily bid up to $50 for him. When this happened I felt I had to chase a Forward because most of the goal scorers will be gone. As a result of this I ended up paying $37 for Dwight Gayle. Gayle was the top scorer for promoted Newcastle last season. As a backup, I took a chance of $19 on Swansea loanee Tammy Abraham. These are my only two forwards as you can only play two on any gameweek, but you must have one. It`s a waste of space holding too many forwards, so I hope at least one of these guys works out so I don’t have to go looking on the waiver wire in search of goals.

Gayle was not my most expensive player though, as I went for another newly promoted player in Tom Ince at $40. The Huddersfield midfielder has scored 25 goals in the Championship over the last two seasons (playing for Derby County) and I’m hoping he will have improved from his previous spells in the Premier League, which were with Hull and Palace.

My next big signing was $34 for Man Utd`s new defender Victor Lindelof. As I already mentioned, I believe Man Utd will improve this year. I also think Jose Mourinho is closing in on his preferred backline and perhaps Lindelof is the final piece. If the Swede does find himself in and out of the Utd side, I picked up Jose Fonte for $15 to fill in, providing that he cements his place at his new club West Ham.

My last big signing was in midfield where I paid $31 for Jonjo Shelvey. He proved he can score at this level when he played for Swansea, and as a vital cog in the Newcastle Utd team I know he will want to be on the ball a lot. To fill out my squad I have a number of $1 signings. Marcos Rojo is currently injured, but if he can fight his way back into the Man Utd lineup he could be a valuable addition. And lastly Gareth Barry at Everton; he is the player most at risk of being cast aside if I need to shake things up after gameweek one. Barry did start 23 games last season, but I expect this to be reduced with all the new signings that Ronald Koeman has made in the summer.

This season the IEFSA league has been split into two divisions of ten teams each. There will be promotion and relegation and of course a cup competition during the season. I find myself in the Primary League battling for the title. I`ll be honest though, I`ll be looking to avoid relegation. Looking through the squads, the side I assembled is the only one that features no players from teams who finished in the Top-5 last season. Every other team has at least three; @TRKingston could play a whole outfield of Top-5 team players! I`ve pretty much a shoestring side on a small budget, but I have kept a sizable salary in case a big new signing enters the Premier League before the end of August, or failing that, during January.

The draft did see some managers’ splash the cash like never before (must be the TV money). Eden Hazard went for $102. Lacazette for $113. Salah was snapped up for $116. But the biggest deal, and now the most expensive player in IEFSA is Alvaro Morata. The Chelsea new boy cost @SportsByGotti $126.

$126 doesn't mean he can take a penalty

The new season gets underway on Friday the 11^th of August when Arsenal hosts Leicester. So remember to get your fantasy teams sorted before then.

@IEFSA preview coming later in the week. Good luck everyone.