Week 38: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

My team is entering into the final game of the season on the back of a loss after they were unable to overcome the Phillipe Coutinho inspired @TomSunderland_. Tom posted the highest total of the week thanks to Coutinho earning a crazy 54.95 points from two goals and an assist away at West Ham. The 120 points my team posted would have been enough to beat 12 other sides in Gameweek 37, including this week’s opponents @EPL_MOstradamus.

An actual bubble making machine couldn't have done any worse than the West Ham defence last weekend

Chris and I will be in a straight winner takes all game for a fourth-place finish. Looking around the league, apart from winner @RotoZdroik and the two sides at the bottom, every other team can move up or down depending on their result. My squad currently hold the advantage over @EPL_MOstradamus because of Fantasy Points For (FPtsF) over the season, so if I can just avoid defeat, I can get my hands on the fourth-place trophy that everyone wants to win. Chris though will be out for revenge after I beat his side in Gameweek 19.

@EPL_MOstradamus’s Team

Minding the net for Chris is Watford stopper Heurelho Gomes. The Hornets have failed to keep a clean sheet since April 15^th. That was a month in which Gomes kept three clean sheets in four games, but May has not been as kind to the keeper and Watford have slumped to five defeats in a row. They face a Manchester City side seemingly intent on finishing the season on a high. City have scored ten goals in their last three games and will be looking for a win so as to cement a Champions League place. On the flipside @EPL_MOstradamus does have Aleksandar Kolarov in his Defence, so will perhaps be looking for a nice boring nil nil draw. If there must be a goal, perhaps Chris will hope it comes from an unlikely source in midfielder Abdoulaye Daucoure of Watford. That’s if Daucoure can break into his starting Midfield.

Roberto Firmino could be @EPL_MOstradamus' Ace card this week

Lots of firepower going forward has helped @EPL_MOstradamus to 23 wins in IEFSA this season. In Midfield he can call on Lanzini of West Ham, Puncheon of Crystal Palace, and Heung-Min Son of Spurs. These three players have 20 goals between them. What’s surprising about that is Jason Puncheon has precisely none of those goals (he does have five assists). Puncheon has not gone a full season without a goal since his days at QPR and he did score on the final day of last season, so could be due a goal against a ‘depleted’ Man Utd side this weekend. Up front he has Puncheon’s Palace teammate Christian Benteke. The Belgian is Chris’s top scorer with 15 goals, but if he does find himself frustrated at Old Trafford on Sunday, he will probably get more joy from Roberto Firmino at Liverpool. The Brazilian faces a Middlesbrough side that were pretty much relegated the day they fell into the bottom three, and who have conceded eleven goals in their last three away games.

What I Need To Happen

Joe Allen had a bad day at the office last weekend against Arsenal. Stoke lost 4-1 and he contributed a paltry 5.7 fantasy points. He has gotten my side out of a number of scrapes this year, and I will be calling on the Welsh wizard once more to deliver away to Southampton. Unfortunately, his, and Stoke’s end of season form has been atrocious. They have only won one game in their last ten and Joe Allen didn’t even play in that game! To cap it off Marko Arnautovic went off with an arm injury in the Arsenal game and is a doubt for this Sunday.

Women want him. Men want to be him. Fantasy Managers  want to *******

Looking across my back-line; Kevin Long might have just started two games this season and conceded four goals, but that’s good enough for a call up to the Irish squad this summer. I’m hoping this recent good news will spark a flurry of fantasy points from Long, as it seems he will once again be playing in the place of the injured Michael Keane. Another of my defenders has a tricky away tie against outgoing Champs Leicester City. Steve Cook of Bournemouth has been solid all season and he averages 14 points per game. My final defensive spot will be a toss-up between Leighton Baines and Hector Bellerin. Arsenal play Everton at home, so if Bellerin starts, he may just get to nod.

Fabio Borini Hattrick 

Goals are the key to winning games, but I just can’t see where they will come from this week. Both Manchester United and Chelsea have bigger games to think of, so will perhaps not risk playing Mkhitaryan and Pedro. As I mentioned Arnautovic is an injury concern, but Stoke seem to have gone on their holidays already this season anyway. Fabio Borini is due a goal. Could he spring a hattrick to ruin Chelsea’s day and put himself in the shop window to be snapped up by one of the Champions League playing clubs? "Borini to Monaco" You heard it here first! Probably the best chance of a goal will be from the player who scored from the penalty spot last weekend. Milivojevic of Crystal Palace has two goals for the season and if , or when, Palace are gifted a penalty at Old Trafford by an error from one of the U-14 Youth team players Jose Mourinho has been forced to start because of the bias of the Premier League IEFSA Fantrax Fixture Computer (PLIFFC for short), then the Serbian is just the man to take it.

Predictions

Big improvement in predictions last weekend with seven correct from nine. It should be easier to call winners in games this weekend as all the Premier League games kick off at the same time. This means managers will have very little room for blame if they end up with someone who doesn’t play any minutes in their starting roster. The problem will be putting together your strongest starting team. Now, while everyone is not as spoilt as me in choosing between Borini or Arnautovic for the Forward slot, some tough decisions will still have to be made. To follow all the action please point your internet finding…. thing (there must be a better word?) to @THE_IEFSA on Twitter.

It’s been an exciting, if occasionally skewed against my team, season. Here are the final gameweek predictions.

Good Luck Everybody

@TRKingston over @TomSunderland_

@nikarg over @jasonuk17

@jwl_15 over @nealjthurman

@FuzzyWarbles over @BenDinnery

@RotoZdroik over @jforquer11

@RotoWireAndrew over @DFS_Hambazaza

@SportsByGotti over @SmokeyLoogy

@wrigavin over @TAMc10

@FantasyYIRMA over @cjradune

Week 30: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

Finally, the international break is over and we can get back to the nitty gritty of league football. What seems like an eternity without fantasy football will come to an end with Liverpool facing Everton at Saturday lunchtime. My side won a nineteenth game of the season in the last gameweek, thanks largely to another clean sheet from Tom Heaton. That win keeps my side in second place, nine points behind @RotoZdroik.

Tom Heaton is the only goalkeeper with over 100 saves this season

This week the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer gives me a change to get revenge on a two-point loss from Gameweek 12. That painful loss was inflicted by @wrigavin. Gavin is on a run of three losses which has seen him drop down the table to ninth place. He knows a win, coupled with the right set of results, could move him into fourth though.

@wrigavin’s Team

@wrigavin has only one red flagged injury, but unfortunately for him it is to his most valuable player. Harry Kane has more goals than the rest of Gavin’s squad put together. Now without the Spurs forward, he will have to rely on Alvaro Negredo for goals. Normally this would be a pretty vain hope, but with Middlesbrough sacking their manager, perhaps they can start scoring goals off the back of that new manager bounce. Negredo heads to the worst defence in the league on Sunday, Swansea. The next top scorer on the team is his Defender Craig Dawson. The West Brom player will get a change to add to his three goals this season at Old Trafford on Saturday.

It was only Arsenal right? We can't read too much into this??

Gavin has made a few changes to his squad since the turn of the year. He overhauled his Midfield with the signings of Robbie Brady (Burnley), Lazar Markovic (Hull), and Luciano Narsingh (Swansea). All three have yet to cement places in their respective sides, but in only nine starts between them, they have contributed a goal and three assists. At the back he has added Bryan Oviedo. The Costa Rican defender joined Sunderland from Everton in January and averages over twelve and a half points per game.

What I Need To Happen

Tom Heaton will not have to face Harry Kane, but will have to contend with the rest of a potent Spurs attack. If not a clean sheet, then hopefully many save points will be coming his way. Michael Keane at the back will also be kept busy in the same game and should reach his thirteen point average. In Midfield, it would really help my side if Henrikh Mkhitaryan got back into the Manchester United starting lineup for the visit of West Brom. Scoring a goal would also take points off Craig Dawson. Elsewhere across the middle of the park; Jack Wilshere is slowly recovering from an injury, yet may get more minutes for Bournemouth this weekend; Ibrahim Afellay travels to the champions Leicester City but it would be a surprise if he gets into the Stoke first team.

If I had any hair it would have went white waiting for Borini to score too.

I may be reaching a bit, but it’s April now and Sunderland a running out of time to start trying to stay in the division. With that in mind, someone is going to need to help Defoe score goals, and that someone may as well be Fabio Borini! Failing that, I may have to fall back on Chelsea’s Pedro. He has a game at home to Crystal Palace come three o’clock on Saturday. If Borini and Pedro draw blanks, all my eggs will be in the Kevin Mirallas basket. Everton have a shockingly bad record against Liverpool recently though, so I’m not going to expect too many points from either Mirallas or defender Leighton Baines.

Predictions

Six from nine last time out. Lots of close games keep the league table nice and tight. Only six points separate the team in third from the team in eleventh. The big match-up this gameweek pits leader @RotoZdroik against fifth place @nikarg. Here are this week’s predictions.

Good Luck Everyone. Also go follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter.

@FantasyYIRMA over @SmokeyLoogy

@RotoWireAndrew over @cjradune

@TAMc10 over @jforquer11

@FuzzyWarbles over @SportsByGotti

@nealjthurman over @DFS_Hambazaza

@RotoZdroik over @nikarg

@BenDinnery over @TomSunderland_

@EPL_MOStradamus over @jwl_15

@TRKingston over @jasonuk17

Week 19: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

I’m not sure what got into my players at the start of this festive season, but they went a bit goal crazy during Gameweek 18. Six goals were scored by my squad. Which is crazy considering they only managed fifteen in total from the previous 17 gameweeks! Unfortunately two of the more spectacular goals, Fabio Borini and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s efforts at Old Trafford were scored while sitting on the bench. Luckily the 50+ points which didn’t contribute to my weekly total were not needed, as I managed to overcome @TomSunderland_, who could only respond with a James Ward-Prowse assist and two defensive clean sheets.

You can't be offside if you flick the ball from behind you, it's in the rulebook

The @THE_IEFSA and Fantrax fixture computer is clearly not happy with my team gaining a tenth win for the season, and on top of the injuries, will be adding suspensions to my selection headache going into this gameweek. The standout player for my side was Chelsea’s Pedro last time out with two goals. I’ll have to do without him this week though, as after picking up a yellow card, he will now miss a game. He joins Arnautovic on the bench who is also serving a suspension. This will leave me very light in the Forward position when I play against @EPL_MOstradamus this week. @EPL_MOstradamus was the front runner in the league up until recently. He has gone three games without a win and has dropped down to eighth.

@EPL_MOstradamus’ Team

Despite my glut of goals recently, I’m still a few shy of Chris’ sides 26. Benteke missed a penalty last week, so is hardly going to repeat the trick two times out. In fact, Chris has three players with more goals than my current top scorer, Joe Allen (5). Benteke has eight on the season, closely followed by Firmino of Liverpool and Heung-Min Son of Spurs, who both have six. Next on the list of goal scorers is Manuel Lanzini of West Ham United, with three. He has been in and out of the side lately but faces a tempting fixture in a trip to out of form Leicester City on Saturday.

Benteke with a weak penalty, helping Gomes earn some points

Christian Beneteke may have missed his spot kick in the last game, but @EPL_MOstradamus picked up the save points thanks to having Watford’s Heurelho Gomes as his keeper. The Brazilian averages 8.14 points a game. In fact, if all of Chris’ players hit their averages this gameweek, I will need my side to score more than 127 points to beat him. Something my team hasn’t managed to do in the last eight gameweeks. You still think @THE_IEFSA and Fantrax fixture compiler is not out to get me?

What I Need To Happen

The ‘Claudio Yacob Experiment’ is over. Please welcome the new and improved ‘Ibrahim Afellay Experiment’. The Stoke City player has just returned from a knee injury, and while he may not get much joy against Chelsea this weekend, he may do enough in the coming gameweeks to force his way into my Midfield. His inclusion does mean if you divide my squad by the divisor of ‘Stoke players’, the resulting quotient is ‘Too many Stoke players’. If Afellay is to be included going forward, it could be at the expense of a Mr Jack Wilshere. The Bournemouth player is still due that elusive first goal for the Cherries. If it doesn’t come against Swansea on Saturday, I may just have to give up on it happening at all!

Afellay made sure he was wrapped up warm for his few minutes against Liverpool

If @EPL_MOstradamus’ forwards can be kept quiet in tricky fixtures against Man City and Arsenal, that would be a good for me in this matchup. Benteke will be determined to make amends against the Gunners, but perhaps Chris will get more points from Firmino at home to Pep’s, Man City. City may have kept a clean sheet against Hull, but Liverpool are on fire in front of goals. In my side, looking for goals might be a thankless task with Pedro being absent. Lingard and Mkhitaryan will surely get chances against Middlesbrough, but the question is, will either of them start the game? The first game of the gameweek is on Friday night when Hull City host Everton. With Baines and Mirallas in my team, a positive result here will surely put Chris on the back foot.

Predictions

The league is still really tight. The current top 7 all won in Gameweek 18, which means that @RotoZdroik remains six points clear. A whole host of teams are only separated by points scored. The table may even be tighter than it looks. When @SportsByGotti gets the points owed from the performance of Joel Robles for Everton against Leicester, he would leapfrog bitter rival @RotoWireAndrew and be in ninth position. Also, the transfer window opens soon, so expect a scramble as most managers make crazy bids to take Fabio Borini off my hands.

Five correct and four incorrect, in what was a repeat of the predictions from the week before. The predictions are not getting worse, which is a good sign. Will this week’s be any better? Let’s see. Follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to keep up with the three days of Fantasy Premier League action.

As always, Good Luck Everyone, and Happy New Year.

@TRKingston over @TomSunderland_

@nikarg over @jasonuk17

@jwl_15 over @nealjthurman

@FuzzyWarbles over @BenDinnery

@RotoZdroik over @jforquer11

@RotoWireAndrew over @DFS_Hambazaza

@SportsBtGotti over @SmokeyLoogy

@wrigavin over @TAMc10

@FantasyYIRMA over @cjradune

Week 17: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

The fantasy gods threw injuries, penalties and red cards against my team in midweek, but fortunately my players were able to overcome and eke out a win. 27 points leaves me 9 points off table topper @RotoZdroik and stuck in a tight tussle of teams separated by only six points between fifth and eighteenth. The fantasy gods do not take these slights lying down though, so this week the IEFSA Fantrax fixture computer pits my side against a team with three of the most in form players in the Premier League. A team that scored the highest points total in Gameweek 16 with 178 points. @nikarg can call upon nine goal Zlatan Ibrahimovic (my whole team has only managed 16!), West Brom’s Salomon Rondon who is fresh off a midweek hattrick, and Christian Eriksen who only scored two goals midweek. If you were a betting person, I might struggle to convince you that I had a chance in this matchup. It seems like @nikarg has been given a slam dunk here!

@nikarg’s Team

I’ve already mentioned three of @nikarg’s strongest players, but even if one or two of them have an off day, he has a few more names to call upon. Liverpool’s Georginio Wjnaldum has started most of the Reds games this season and has added a goal and two assists so far. Elsewhere in midfield he can call upon Marc Albrighton of Leicester or Wayne Routledge of Swansea. Both these players have started over ten games for their clubs, and they average around ten points each.

Can Boruc claim a fifth clean sheet this weekend?

At the other end of the pitch he has Bournemouth’s keeper Artur Boruc. He will be up against Southampton at home this weekend. The Saints have been rather goal shy of late so the Polish international should have no problem reaching his average of over eight points per game.

What I Need To Happen

I simply need to get a fully fit squad of players out onto the pitch. This may call for the need to play four Defenders again. With Mykitaryan still out injured, and now Arnautovic missing through suspension, my side will be missing some of its most potent goal threats.  Joe Allen does not seem to get forward as much lately but may be able to get some joy against Leicester on Saturday. Second top scorer on my team (3 goals), Pedro heads to Crystal Palace with his Chelsea team and could have a shot or two if he plays.

Fabio Borini getting stuck in against Chelsea midweek

Looking elsewhere for goals, Fabio Borini got about ten minutes midweek and can surely force his way into the Sunderland side. Jack Wilshere had one of his better games for Bournemouth midweek but is still due to score a goal. With all the players I have sitting on the IR, Claudio Yacob still finds himself in my squad, will he do anything that makes him worth keeping? Only time will tell.

Predictions

Only three of the nine matchups predicted correctly midweek. @RotoZdroik has opened up a six point gap at the top and has the longest current winning steak with five victories in a row. @jwl_15 has lost his last two games but still hangs on in second place. It’s very tough to call these games, but I’ll give it another try. To see how good, or bad, I do, please follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter.

Good Luck Everyone

@nealjthurman over @TomSunderland_

@EPL_MOstradamus over @FuzzyWarbles

@TRKingston over @jforquer11

@RotoWireAndrew over @jasonuk17

@jwl_15 over @SmokeyLoogy

@wrigavin over @BenDinnery

@RotoZdroik over @FantasyYIRMA

@cjradune over @DFS_Hambazaza

@SportsByGotti over @TAMc10

Week 4: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

A weekend of international fixtures is not really a time of rest for fantasy managers, but a period of worry and apprehension as you wait for news of your players as they play games in far flung corners of the globe. Will they come back injury free? How many minutes will they play? Will Kevin Mirallas come off the bench for Belgium in Cyprus?? These kinds of questions have been keeping me up all night. And of course some of my worst fears were realised when my star signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan limped off after 38 minutes in a friendly against the Czech Rep. Mirallas didn’t get on the pitch against Cyprus though, so a small plus point there I guess.

In Week 3 my side picked up a tough victory against @jwl_15 to get to six points and remain in ninth place. A Cazorla goal and consistent double points hauls from most of my players saw me beat out Hazard and Fer goals, and a Courtois clean sheet, by just over six points. My lowest scoring player was Fabio Borini. The Italian played just over an hour and is now injured for three months. My most expensive forward will need to be replaced. But I don’t need to mention injury tales of woe to this week’s opponent @BenDinnery. His side currently has five players on the sidelines.

Fabio Borini is a 'Spot The Ball' generators dream

@BenDinnery’s Team

Outside the injuries, Ben’s starting side average over 12 points per player in the right combination. Injuries will restrict his options this week. But Ben loves injuries, this won’t faze him! He has come up against three tough fixtures so far and is looking for his first win of the season. Spearheading his attack will be in form Forward Diego Costa. Costa has a good record against Swansea and Ben will be hoping he can continue his good run at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday. The only other player to score for his side is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Arsenal host an out of sorts Southampton side. If these two players do score though, it will hamper his backline as he has Amat (Swansea) and van Dijk (Southampton) in Defence.

His Midfield is very Hull heavy. Livermore and Meyler are two of the handful of fit Tigers players that have made such a good start to the season. They travel to Burnley this weekend and will be facing off directly with my goalkeeper and one of my defenders. A goal from either of these players would give him a leg up in our match-up. Even if they do not manage a goal between them, they still put in a lot of work that has helped them average over 13 points per game so far this year. Speaking of work rate, his highest scoring midfielder is Stoke’s Glenn Whelan, average over 15 points a game. This weekend the Potters host Spurs.

What I Need To Happen

As I’ve mentioned, Burnley keeping Hull out would give me the advantage in the tie. I will also need my Arsenal and Stoke Players to outperform those belonging to @BenDinnery. Cazorla is my highest scorer to date and will surely get more opportunities for points against the Saints. Marko Arnautovic still has to get off the mark this season and it would be most welcomed if he did so this weekend. With Mkhitaryan red flagged with injury, I’ve drafted in Wanyama of Spurs. With lots of options in Midfield I will reserve judgement on the make-up of my three M and one OF slots until team sheets are announced.

Now I know what everyone is thinking this weekend. With Borini out injured, where will the goals for my team come from? Arnoutovic has so far drawn blanks and Pedro is struggling to get into Chelsea’s starting 11, but I have an ace up my sleeve. You see Bournemouth have secured the services of one Jack Wilshire. England’s most promising midfielder will be pulling the strings for the Cherries attack for the rest of the season. Hopefully he can return to the form of 2013-14 which saw him score three league goals…

Predictions

Four correct and five wrong for the games two weeks ago. It’s not getting any easier to predict these matchups in @THE_IEFSA Fantasy League on Fantrax. All eyes this weekend will be on the game between first placed @cjradune and top scorer (4^th placed) @TomSunderland_

Follow all these guys on Twitter to keep up with the action.

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

@EPL_MOstradamus over @TAMc10

@FuzzyWarbles over @SmokeyLoogy

@TRKingston over @SportsByGotti

@cjradune over @TomSunderland_

@jasonuk17 over @DFS_Hambazaza

@RotoWireAndrew over @jforquer11

@RotoZdroik over @jwl_15

@wrigavin over @nealjthurman

@nikarg over @FantasyYIRMA

Week 1: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

The new season begins this weekend on Fantrax for the IEFSA Fantasy League. After last year’s respectable midtable finish, I will be hoping to mount a challenge for the title this time around. I wrote about the thinking behind the squad I drafted earlier in the week. But now it’s time to run a preview over the opening fixture. I lost more games than I won in finishing ninth back in May, so I know how important a win and a good start will be for 2016/17.

That opening fixture pits me against @TRKingston. Todd has put together a fairly balanced squad, but will I be able to get the better of him and start the season with a victory? This year also sees the league expand to 20 teams, and Todd is one of the managers competing for the first time and had to put his team together from scratch. In the first twenty picks of the draft, Todd went out and secured three players for his team. He clearly means business.

@TRKingston’s  Team

Todd’s first move in the draft was to acquire David Silva of Man City. The Spaniard had 11 assists last year in a mostly injury hit season. If he can stay injury free and recapture the form which saw him score 12 goals the season before, then the $52 that was paid for him will seem like shrewd business. To complement Silva in Midfield, the next signing in the draft was Yohan Cabaye. Pulling the strings in the Palace side, Cabaye is doubly important because @TRKingston’s side also features Connor Wickham up front. At the moment he is the only fit Forward that Alan Pardew can call upon, and any goals at Selhurst Park this weekend will surely come through him.

Valdes will have Ben Gibson getting a Carles Puyol haircut soon #Influence

Between the sticks we see Middlesbrough stopper Victor Valdes.  ‘Boro had the best defence in the Championship last year. Valdes wasn’t part of that squad, but if anything his experience will help them tighten up enough to compete in the Premier League. Even if he doesn’t grab a load of clean sheets, his saves should gain plenty of points. In front of Valdes we have Liverpool new boy Joel Matip, Spurs left back Danny Rose, and Burnley’s Ben Mee.

What I Need To Happen

Even if it benefits Todd’s Ben Mee, I will hope that Burnley can keep a clean sheet at home to Swansea. I have Tom Heaton in goals and Michael Keane at the back. My other two players at the back are in direct opposition to @TRKingston’s defenders. Rose will be up against Baines. While Matip will face Bellerin. So if the home sides can score in the matchups of Everton V Spurs and Arsenal V Liverpool, then that will help me a lot. Some of our other players will face off too, this time in the Monday night game between Chelsea and West Ham. Todd’s Mark Noble is probably more assured of a starting place than Pedro. If I’m behind going into Monday, it could be tough to pull it back.

As I’ve always said, it’s goals that decide these fantasy games more often than not.  My Midfield might not be able to compete goalwise this week though. With Mkhitaryan probably a week or two away from starting for Man United, Mirallas having to find his place under new manager Ronald Koeman at Everton, while Joe Allen is hardly known for his goalscoring exploits. I’ll be looking to my Forward to score the goals to take me to victory. And the forward to do that, while ruining the first game of the Pep Guardiola era at Man City, will be Fabio Borini… hmmm come to think of it, I’m starting to think that Marko Arnautovic overcoming his hamstring injury would be a better option for my nerves, my team, and my prospects of victory. An Arnautovic goal or two past Valdes on Saturday would be a great start to the season.

Predictions

It will be tough to predict how sides will start out the season (but that won’t stop me from trying!). Please remember to follow these guys on Twitter to keep track of all @THE_IEFSA action. Plus they give the best advice on your fantasy strategy and up to date football news, day in, day out. Also, give some positive vibes to Fabio Borini on Twitter, he caries the hopes of my season on his shoulders!

@BenDinnery over @nikarg

@FuzzyWarbles over @DFS_Hambazaza

@wrigavin over @FantasyYIRMA

@RotoZdroik over @nealjthurman

@jforquer11 over @SportsByGotti

@TAMc10 over @RotoWireAndrew

@cjradune over @SmokeyLoogy

@EPL_MOstradamus over @jasonuk17

@jwl_15 over @TomSunderland_

Good Luck Everyone

IEFSA Fantasy League 2016/17 Draft Recap

Recently the draft for the IEFSA Fantasy League for the upcoming season was held on Fantrax. I was determined to assemble a better squad than the one I saddled myself with at the start of last season. Even though I claimed a respectable midtable position, I was constantly battling with injuries, out of form players, players not making it into their teams starting elevens, and of course, fixture bias against my team.

Things get a little more complicated with this year’s draft though, as there are more teams involved, and some players can be held over from last year’s game. For my part I held on to Marko Arnautovic for his salary of $1. The Stoke City top scorer was one of my best performers last season and I hope he can keep up that form into 2017. Let me explain the make up for the rest of my squad after the draft was completed.

In goals I went with Tom Heaton of Burnley. I got burned badly last year after spending $31 to get the Chelsea goalkeepers and didn`t feel like over spending in this area again. Burnley did not have a bad defensive record in the Championship and I’m hoping Heaton can emulate someone like Gomes, who gained lots of points for Watford in their first season back in the top division. With all the fantasy teams taking a team each, if things go wrong then he will be very hard to trade away. I could very well be stuck with him.

I`ve coupled Heaton up with his teammate Michael Keane in defence. Keane is a regular at the back and could perhaps be fancied to get three or four goals this year. I only spent $3 and won`t be too hurt if I have to jettison him later in the season. I put most of my money into two other players to make up my defence. Arsenal`s Bellerin cost $25 and is one of the highest scorers in the game, while Leighton Baines cost $19 and is looking to bounce back this year after an injury hit 2015/16. Everton should improve at the back under new man Ronald Koeman, plus I’m hoping Baines' frequent attacks forward can bring some joy too.

Last year my marquee signing was Memphis Depay…….. This year I spent even more money on another Manchester United player. I ended up in a bit of a bidding war for the services of Mkhitaryan and when the dust had settled he was in my squad for $71, which is way more than I had planned to pay. But I felt I had to secure a signing after seeing a number of other big names slip away. I will need the Armenian to play every game and to continue the form that saw him score nearly once every three games in the Bundesliga last season.

 

If he's half the player Tom Cleverley was then my money was well spent.

To compliment him in midfield I picked up two (currently injured) Arsenal players, Wilshire and Cazorla. I`m banking on them breaking into the Arsenal team sooner rather than later, and they are definitely an upgrade on the two Arsenal players I had last year in Welbeck and Coquelin. To round out the midfield I brought in Kevin Mirallas for $12, again this is a player I expect to be rejuvenated with the arrival of Koeman at Goodison Park. The last midfielder I took a punt on was Joe Allen. If he had stayed at Liverpool I would have never touched him, but at Stoke he will surely be given more game time. He likes to keep possession and I hope he will be able to set up a good few chances for my other Stoke player, Arnautovic.

All that`s left is to look at are the players who will supply the goals in my squad, the forwards. Arnautovic has already been mentioned. The two other Forwards did not have great seasons last year in the Premier League, but under the guidance of new managers maybe it will be their time to shine. Pedro was signed for $9 and as he is not a guaranteed starter at Chelsea, he will probably occupy a bench spot on my team. The main Forward I have will be Fabio Borini.

No, hear me out! Borini got five goals last year in a largely hopeless Sunderland side. This year they should be a bit tighter and more organized under David Moyes. If Moyes can get goals out of Jelavic and Anichebe, he can surely get goals out of Borini.

 

Borini is due a goal, and I'm due a huge slice of luck!

I still have some money to dabble in the free agent market if there are any transfers to the Premier League before the end of the month. I will probably look for a defender to rotate into my side, or perhaps a more consistent midfielder if my Arsenal players end up spending most of their time on the treatment table.

The opening matchup is fast approaching. Look out for a preview before the weekend. And to keep up with all the goings on in the league, follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter.