Week 18: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

Welcome to the last preview of 2017. And, thankfully we can sign off on a high note, as my rag-tag bunch actually followed up their defeat of @EPL_MOstradamus last weekend with a cup victory over @FantasyYIRMA in midweek. Two wins in a row is rare enough, but not as rare as a Tom Ince goal, which is what we had to thank for keeping our cup dream alive. The IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer has had enough of my team scraping victories and has decided that now is the time that we should play highest scorers and table toppers @TRKingston. Todd has scored a frankly ridiculous 750 more fantasy points than my side so far this season, and has won his last eight games while opening up a six point lead at the top of the IEFSA Premier. The last time we met @TRKingston walked away with the victory by twenty points. If the teams are even that close once again, I guess I can take it as some kind of moral victory.

Joyous scenes as we knock @FantasyYIRMA out of the cup

@TRKingston’s Team

In a rare bit of good luck, the West Ham and Spurs game has been moved to Thursday January 4^th. This means I will be without Serge Aurier this week, but Todd will have to make do without his hottest player at the moment, Marko Arnautovic. The Forward has five goals in his last five games. This means @TRKingston will have to rely on Richarlison or Joselu up front. He could well play both if each of them make their teams starting lineups for what looks like two favourable fixtures. Joselu and Newcastle are at home to Brighton. While Richarlison of Watford (the more likely of the two to play) has a home game against bottom club Swansea.

Every time this happens, @TRKingston gets about twenty fantasy points

His midfield has a very heavy Manchester City influence. On a good day he could put three Sky Blue players into his starting line-up. Fernandinho, David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan have eight goals and 12 assists between them. The majority of these have come from Silva though and he is the only one who is an injury worry going into a game against Crystal Palace. In Defence he has another City player in Nicolas Otamendi, who he will probably pair up with two of the three Liverpool players in his squad, Matip, Lovren and Klavan.

What I Need To Happen

With facing so many Liverpool and Manchester City players this week, if both those sides could have a bad day at the office, or at least see a good chunk of their players rested and rotated, then I may have a fighting chance. Of course, I will need the players in my squad to play from the start for their clubs also. Unfortunately, the big signing of my squad looks to have wasted his opportunity to get some valuable minutes. Last time out Zlatan only lasted the first half of a game against Burnley. Even with the fixture pileup over the New Year, this looks to have been the big Swede’s last chance at getting into the Manchester United starting line-up.

Who'll get to the World Cup first? Steve Cook with England? Or Benik Afobe with DR Congo?

My search for goals will have to come from some unlikely sources to have any chance of victory this weekend. Tom Ince has finally gotten off the mark, so could this be the start of a run where he gets so many goals he propels himself into the England squad for the World Cup?? Speaking of the World Cup; What if Tammy Abraham also starts scoring so many goals that he will have to on the plane to Russia also! And what if Steve Cook started defending so well that…….. I think I need to lie down…..

Predictions

Five correct and four incorrect last weekend, which is an improvement on the week before, but nothing to get too excited about. The midweek cup fixtures saw two correct predictions from three games. I surely would have had a clean sweep if @FPL_MNOP had put in two goal ‘difference maker’ Jesse Lingard like I had told him! I’ll be hoping to improve on these figures this weekend. To follow all the action don’t forget to hop on over to Twitter and @THE_IEFSA. Here are this week’s predictions.

Good Luck Everyone.

@RotoZdroik over @TAMc10

@FantasyYIRMA over @nikarg

@FuzzyWarbles over @jwl_15

@wrigavin over @EPL_MOstradamus

@jasonuk17 over @SportsByGotti

@BenDinnery over @cjradune

@TomSunderland_over @nealjthurman

@jforquer11 over @RotoWireAndrew

@DFS_Hambazaza over @FPL_MNOP

IEFSA Fantasy League Cup Quarter Final Preview

My side comes into this midweek cup fixture high in confidence after defeating @EPL_MOstradamus in Gameweek 17. For once it wasn’t my side that was struggling to get numbers onto the pitch, and thanks to having an extra player earning points I came away with a 25-point victory. That win doesn’t move my battlers off the bottom of the table though, as both the sides in eight and ninth also won. The two of those sides are on a bit of a win streak, as the IEFSA/Fantrax computer proves itself to be trying to keep my side rooted to the table.

A Joe Allen goal and assist helped was crucial for all three points last weekend

The quarter finals of the IEFSA Cup has thrown up the following interesting fixtures.

@GarryIrwin vs @FantasyYIRMA

@FPL_MNOP vs @nikarg

@BenDinnery vs @wrigavin

@jforquer11 vs @jwl_15

Let’s have a look at each match-up.

@FPL_MNOP is the lowest ranked team still left in the competition, currently sitting in ninth in the IEFSA Championship. @nikarg is ninth in the IEFSA Premier and has one win more than his opponent this season, and has scored 140 more fantasy points. @nikarg will be relying on Eriksen and Mahrez, but @FPL_MNOP has the talents of Hazard and Wijnaldum in his team. He also has in-form Jesse Lingard. So, I’m going to back @FPL_MNOP to cause an upset here and reach the semi-finals.

Lingard could be the difference maker in this tie

@BenDinnery is top of the Championship and looking good for a promotion spot. He has been hit by injuries lately though, with both Ryan Bertrand and Wilfied Bony sidelined. He will have lean on the scoring of the West Ham United trio of Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew and Pedro Obiang. @wrigavin is currently in fifth in the IEFSA Premier but suffering through a four-game losing streak. He does have Harry Kane in his team though and with all the injuries to Ben’s side I expect @wrigavin to pick up the win.

Kane is chasing Shearer's goals record. How many this holiday season?

@jforquer11 is fifth in the IEFSA Championship with ten wins this season and is firmly in the hunt for promotion in what is a tightly contested league. He has lots of good players in his squad, but the problem he has is that many them are never assured of a starting spot for their teams. Willian has featured in 19 games this season but only for 967 minutes. Anthony Martial has 815 minutes in 18 games. While Bernardo Silva of Manchester City has only 480 minutes in 17 appearances. @jwl_15 (fourth in the Premier) has the same issue, with Okazaki, Gabbiadini and Mkhitaryan not getting as many minutes as he’d like. Looking at this weekend’s fixtures, I would give @jforquer11 the nod in this one, but only just.

If Okazaki plays he could win it for @jwl_15

My side and @FantasyYIRMA feature in the only all IEFSA Premier clash. (further proof of a bias against my side?) YIRMA is lying in fifth in the table with seven wins. He has also scored almost 400 Fantasy Points more than my side this season so far. He has the strongest side left in the cup. In fact, he really should be higher up in the league table with the squad he has! Rooney and Vardy have 18 goals between them. In Midfield he has Mesut Ozil, Ashley Young and Dele Alli. A group that has 10 goals and 12 assists between them. In reality, @FantasyYIRMA should walk this one. But being the cup….. you never know….

Jamie Vardy scores against Manchester United at the weekend

Good Luck Everyone, and Happy New Year wherever you happen to be celebrating it.

Week 17: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

The IEFSA Fantasy League on Fantrax lets you use one goalkeeper and eight outfield players in any given gameweek. So, imagine me rubbing my hands after the early game of Gameweek 16 when my bitter rival @TAMc10 started off by shipping three goals against his goalkeeper and getting a red card in the shape of Wilfred Ndidi. I smelt blood in the water, and swiftly moved to make sure I had enough players playing to scrape together the 90 odd points I was sure I needed for victory. In came Alex Iwobi and out when Gareth Barry (Barry scored a goal against Manchester United); Ciaran Clark of Newcastle was sent packing and in came Sebastian Prodl of Watford (Clark as I guessed, didn’t play. Prodl shipped four goals at home to Huddersfield). Prodl was joining his Watford teammate Kabasele at the back, and my trio of defenders was completed by Steve Cook of Bournemouth. The Cherries let in four goals against Liverpool, though mercifully Cook was only on the field for one of those. Two more of my players didn’t get any minutes and I slumped to an embarrassing fifty-point defeat.

Barry scores, but not for my side

This week the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer has me facing @EPL_MOstradamus, one of the few sides I can claim a victory over earlier in the season. He also lost last time out, but with a score that would have comfortably beaten my side. It looks like he will be out to exact revenge.

@EPL_MOstradamus’s Team

His three highest scorers face tricky away ties this week, which means I may have a slight chance! Roberto Firmino goes to Arsenal who have one of the best home records in the league. Charlie Daniels will have to head to Man City, who have the best overall record in the league. While Heung-Min Son faces a trip to high flying Burnley.

Firmino could outscore my whole side 

My side has 11 goals to @EPL_MOstradmus’s 22. As I always say, goals win games. I’ll be hoping that his in-form players have a bit of an off week, while I can perhaps sneak one in off of Tammy Abraham’s elbow or something. His side have also registered 21 assists, compared to my sides paltry four.

What I Need To Happen

Iwobi was actually one of my highest scoring players last week, so perhaps he can keep his place against Liverpool on Friday night. Although if he spent the whole game shadowing Firmino, I wouldn’t be against that. Steve Cook will be looking to regain his place for Bournemouth meaning I can perhaps drop Prodl and go searching to bolster a different part of the team. Watford seem to be on a downward slide at the moment and I wouldn’t fancy them to keep a clean sheet. Maybe I should look to offload Christian Kabasele also!

Iwobi will find the Liverpool Midfield more of a handful this week

Zlatan scored in the league cup midweek, and I am desperate in my need for him to stamp his authority on the league side. Manchester United play Leicester City in the late game on Saturday. And when I say late, I mean late. It will kick off at 7:45. Which is a ridiculous time for all us sushi and prawn sandwich eating fans forced to get up at four am to watch it!

Predictions

Only four correct predictions last week as the ‘crazy’ Christmas fixtures play havoc with sides and therefore my normally sage-like predictions. With all the fixtures coming thick and fast, there are also midweek games which means the IEFSA Cup comes around again. It’s the quarter finals and my side will play @FantasyYIRMA, but more on that in a post during the week. Please follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to keep track of every match-ups' scores.

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

@RotoZdroik over @nikarg

@jwl_15 over @TAMc10

@TRKingston over @FantasyYIRMA

@FuzzyWarbles over @wrigavin

@SportsByGotti over @TomSunderland_

@jasonuk17 over @jforquer11

@cjradune over @nealjthurman

@BenDinnery over @FPL_MNOP

@DFS_Hambazaza over @RotoWireAndrew

Week 16: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

Sometimes you ride your luck a little bit, you get the rub of the green, the bounce of the ball, and no amount of IEFSA/Fantrax ‘scoring’ can prevent an upset victory. One such victory occurred last weekend when my side topped the high flying @FuzzyWarbles by a score of 105.3 – 102.6. I had clung onto the lead going into the Manchester Derby on Sunday, knowing I had one player to play (whoever might take the field out of Zlatan, Rojo and Lindelof. It was Rojo who started), yet @FuzzyWarbles still had Aguero to play. But the skillful Argentinian was sitting on the City bench. As the game was going on, Rojo was booked and taken off injured at half time. My lead was slim. If Aguero was summoned to the fray I was surely looking at defeat. City were always in the lead though and were never chasing the game which might have improved the chances of Aguero seeing some action. Ninety minutes came and went, Aguero went unused, and the three points were mine.

Aguero has often sat out the easier games this season

I don’t have time to celebrate that victory though as my team will be thrown straight in against @TAMc10 in a fierce relegation six-pointer. Both our sides have four wins and twelve points. The only thing separating our sides at the moment is fantasy points scored. Oh and @nikarg in ninth place. The last time we faced each other was in Gameweek nine, where @TAMc10 beat my side by over 70 points! I’ll be hoping for something closer this weekend.

@TAMc10’s Team

An Alexis Sanchez goal and assist, as well as a Shane Duffy clean sheet, did the damage that day. He will be hoping for more of the same, Sanchez plays against Newcastle at home and Duffy hosts low scorers Burnley. He can also call on the return recently of Forward Callum Wilson of Bournemouth. The Cherries entertain Liverpool on Sunday, and Klopp’s side have been known to leak the odd goal or two when playing away from home. @TAMc10 may be streets ahead come Sunday though. In fact, he could be out of sight by the time the Saturday three o’clock kick-offs are in view.

If Duffy scores against Pope, @TAMc10 is almost assured of three points

The early kick-off is between Leicester City and Crystal Palace. Normally I would have the ever-reliable Luka Milivojevic in my side, but after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season, he will be suspended for this game. That leaves Tate with two players playing where he can build up a sizable lead. Under the right conditions of course. Kasper Schmeichel will be keeping goal, averaging nearly 17 points per game. While Wilfred Ndidi will be bossing the Midfield scoring an average of over 13 points per game. I expect to be 30 points down before my first player has even laced up his boots.

What I Need To Happen

I need Palace to halt this winning streak that Leicester have been on lately and come away with a victory. Yes, it looks again like I will have to hope that my opponent has a bad day at the office rather than that my players will run up an unbeatable score. The vast chunk of my players are playing with sides struggling in the bottom half of the table, and if they are not, they are not an automatic choice to get into their teams starting eleven. Now would be a good time for managers to start rotating their squads for the busy Christmas New Years games. Fingers crossed some of my squad get rotated into teams, rather than out.

Sanchez is due a good game. Please be due a good game!

If I am within spitting distance of @TAMc10 after Saturdays and Sundays games, I could have three players gaining me points in the Monday night fixture between Swansea and Everton. This includes my top scorer, 4 goals, in Tammy Abraham. My top Fantasy Points scoring player is my Goalkeeper Nick Pope. The Burnley stopper has kept seven clean sheets, and if he can do so again against Brighton, then my side may have a fighting chance.

Predictions

Seven from nine last weekend in what was a very entertaining round. @nikarg scored a week high 164 points, which got him the win and kept my side on the bottom of the table.  I only managed to correctly prediction one of the four midweek cup ties. So, the less said about that the better. The magic of the cup eh?

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

@TRKingston over @jwl_15

@EPL_MOstradamus over @FantasyYIRMA

@FuzzyWarbles over @nikarg

@RotoZdroik over @wrigavin

@cjradune over @jforquer11

@FPL_MNOP over @nealjthurman

@RotoWireAndrew over @TomSunderland_

@BenDinnery over @jasonuk17

@DFS_Hambazaza over @SportsByGotti

Week 15: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

After a win that briefly lifted my side off the bottom of the table in Gameweek 12, following by an agonising late defeat in Gameweek 13; last week saw my side well beaten by @jwl_15 and a return to the bottom of the table. Even if I had rejigged my side to a full complement of outfield players, I still would have been soundly defeated. The only way is up from here, if only my players could grasp the initiative and perhaps get in the starting line-ups for their clubs.

This week the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer really wants my side to suffer as they have pitted me against @FuzzyWarbles. Steve is only kept from the top of the table by virtue of Fantasy Points scored, and has only tasted defeat twice this season. Our previous encounter saw my side lose by over 65 points. I’m not saying that if I were to win this weekend it would be the greatest upset in IEFSA Fantasy League History. But it would be in the top one.

@FuzzyWarbles's Team

Let’s see who we are due to face this week then…..

Oh…..

Ummmm, I’ve seen enough.

Moving on…

What I Need To Happen

I could stay glued to the Twitter feed of @BenDinnery and see if any of my squad actually get a game this festive season. Or, I could just pray that the FA and the authorities err on the side of caution and call off a few games that involve @FuzzyWarbles’s players.

Predictions

@TRKingston won the top of the table clash last week thanks to both of his Manchester City players, Otamendi and David Silva, scoring both of City’s goals in a 2-1 win. This week he will face fourth placed @wrigavin. To keep track of these and more (or just to hurl abuse) please follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter.

Only four correct predictions out of nine last week, as teams battled for precious points coming into this busy new year’s season. Here are this week’s predictions. Good Luck Everyone.

@EPL_MOstradamus over @TAMc10

@jwl_15 over @nikarg

@RotoZdroik over @FantasyYIRMA

@TRKingston over @wrigavin

@jasonuk17 over @FPL_MNOP

@BenDinnery over @RotoWireAndrew

@jforquer11 over @TomSunderland_

@SportsByGotti over @nealjthurman

@cjradune over @DFS_Hambazaza

The IEFSA Cup has reaced round two and it will be played this coming midweek. Here are those predictions.

@BenDinnery over @cjradune

@DFS_Hambazaza over @FPL_MNOP

@TAMc10 over @jforquer11

@wrigavin over @SportsByGotti

Week 14: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

Last week my side's unbeaten run, if you could call it a run, was brought to a screeching halt by @wrigavin with goals from Harry Kane and Xerdan Shaqiri. My side didn’t manage to find the net, but they were still a Nick Pope penalty save away from victory. A penalty save which didn’t materialize as Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez scored and condemned my side to an eight-point loss. @wrigavin stays in the top four while I’m still second from bottom.

If you're thinking,encroachment. Should be retaken! You're right. But there's a conspiracy against my side!

This week my team is up against a side which beat them handily back in gameweek four. @jwl_15 suffered a cruel 0.2 point defeat last weekend at the hands of @RotoZdroik. (scoring 33 points more than my side in that loss by the way) So this week he will be hurting and determined to get back to winning ways as he attempts to climb into the top 2 in the table.

@jwl_15’s Team

His two highest scoring outfield players will be facing each other this week in Aaron Ramsey and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Ramsey has three goals and five assists on the season so far, while Mkhitaryan has one goal and five assists. He also has Jesse Lingard in that Arsenal versus Manchester United fixture. The midfielder scored his first league goal of the season against Watford in midweek. Ramsey is his joint top scorer with those three goals. Also sitting on three goals for Jake are Manolo Gabbiadini of Southampton and Mame Biram Diouf of Stoke City.

I'm not sure how many points this is in the IEFSA/Fantrax scoring system.

It’s actually between the sticks where @jwl_15 gets a good percentage of his points each week. Swansea’s Lukasz Fabianski may have only five clean sheets in fourteen, with sixteen goals conceded, but he has racked up 60 saves and averages over twenty points a game. Swansea travel to Stoke on Saturday. At least if Diouf finds the net it will take points away from the Swans goalkeeper. Other players who chip in with points for @jwl_15 are Jordan Henderson of Liverpool (over 14 points per game) and Harry Maguire at Leicester City (who also averages over 14 points per game).

What I Need To Happen

While it is good to see Victor Lindelof getting starts and seeming settling into the Man Utd side, I would prefer if he kept more clean sheets. Also returning to the United backline was Marcos Rojo after a long injury absence. Do I risk playing both in a game away to in-form Arsenal? That decision may well be made for me depending on which eleven Jose Mourinho chooses to play in the Saturday night game. Hopefully Jose does indeed decide to finally start a game with Zlatan up front though. The big man could well be my best hope of victory (Hell, he could be the only think keeping me from relegation!)

Jose hopefully telling Rojo to keep his head and not get booked.

The Defence was a bit of a sore point last weekend. Ciaran Clark and Michael Keane both saw three goals fly in behind them as they combined for 16.3 points. On the bench was Watford’s Christian Kabasele, who thanks to a clean sheet scored nearly 25 points. A total, which if he had played instead of either Clark or Keane, would have secured victory for my side. With Keane now injured, and the uncertainty around starts for Lindelof and Serge Aurier of Spurs. I will probably be forced to just play any player who starts for their club regardless of fixture.

Predictions

Lots of tight games going against me saw my predictions slip to only four from nine last weekend. But if you factor in the midweek cup games, I actually had a respectable seven from thirteen. The tie of the gameweek in @THE_IEFSA is surely the clash of the top two in the Primary League. @FuzzyWarbles is three points ahead of @TRKingston and is looking to gain his tenth win in a row. He will be tough to stop.

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

@RotoZdroik over @EPL_MOstradamus

@FuzzyWarbles over @TRKingston

@FantasyYIRMA over @TAMc10

@wrigavin over @nikarg

@SportsByGotti over @SmokeyLoogy

@cjradune over @RotoWireAndrew

@BenDinnery over @jforquer11

@jasonuk17 over @nealjthurman

@DFS_Hambazaza over @TomSunderland_