Week 7: IEFSA Fantasy League 2017/18 Preview

As the old saying goes, ‘one step forward, twelve steps back.’ That’s precisely what happened last weekend, as @FuzzyWarbles gave out a 65-point shellacking to my side. All the optimism that had been around in the build up to the gameweek evaporated in a haze of red cards and injuries. Unfortunately, that haze tends to stick around for a while so this week we are not in the best shape as we prepare to face @EPL_MOstradamus. After a poor start to the season Chris has rattled off four wins in a row and probably won’t have to exert himself too much to make it five. The IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer will see to that!

Aurier's tackle on Carroll may have been from behind (VAR needed)

Serge Aurier only lasted seventy minutes against West Ham before receiving his marching orders for an incredibly boneheaded challenge that earned him a second yellow card. The $45 spent on him the week before looks like as sound an investment as those AOL Time Warner shares I bought back in the day. He will find himself suspended this gameweek meaning I will have to bring in another defender; but all my defenders are injured! Well that’s a lie, Ciaran Clark is fit, but has to face a free scoring Liverpool side. A team with only one defender has pretty much no chance of victory in IEFSA, so I might be forced to look at Free Agency if my side are to compete in this one.

@EPL_MOstradamus’s Team

My side are not the only ones to suffer the injury jinx. Chris recently lost his Forward Christian Benteke and Defender Benjamin Mendy. @EPL_MOstradamus does have the squad depth to be able to absorb those injuries though. Firmino will lead the line, against my only defender no less! while Charlie Daniels should be a more than capable deputy for Mendy at the back. Daniels already has a goal and assist this season and gets to face a rather shaky Leicester City at home on Saturday. Apart from those changes, it looks a pretty settled side. Manuel Lanzini is still side-lined with a knee injury, and Heung-Min Son will likely sit on the bench for Spurs, and therefore Chris, during the early kick-off.

Firmino may outscore my whole team this week!

Looking around for where the points will come from; Firmino is an obvious candidate, as are Harry Maguire and Nathan Redmond, who average over 16 points a game each. Solly March of Brighton averages over 13 points per game, but has to travel to an Arsenal side who like to hog the ball at Sunday tea-time. In goals will be Ben Foster of West Brom. The Baggies are usually a good bet for a clean sheet at home and they face a kind fixture against Watford on Saturday at three o’clock. Even when conceding two goals to the Gunners last time out Foster still managed 15.2 points.

What I Need To Happen

@EPL_Mostradamus might be down to the bare bones nine players to fill his roster, so perhaps if a few managers where to start tinkering with their formations or starting elevens then now would be an ideal time. The Aurier suspension leaves me in quite a bind. Steve Cook is still recovering from injury, so will perhaps remain on the bench for Bournemouth. Michael Keane looks like he won’t recover in time to take part in Everton’s next fixture. Victor Lindelof played 90 minutes in midweek for a Champions League game and is probably still out of the starting line-up when the Premier League rolls around. This paints a far from rosy picture of my prospects this weekend.

Sometime in the last century Gareth Barry played for a side called Aston Villa (ask your grandfather)

If we try to find the positives, you could say that Tammy Abraham scored last week and should perhaps force himself back into the Swansea eleven. Gareth Barry reached a record 633rd appearance in the top flight since football was invented in 1992, so there’s that…

Ummm…. Nick Pope kept a clean sheet recently…

Moving on…

Predictions

A more than respectable seven from nine in last weekend’s predictions. Can we do any better this time out? Follow @THE_IEFSA to find out. Also follow @GarryIrwin on Twitter also to keep up to date on all the goings on of my hobbled together WorstSquadInIEFSA™.

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 @SmokeyLoogy

@RotoWireAndrew over @DFS_Hambazaza

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