Week 27: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

The final week of the Premier League season also sees the final gameweek of the IEFSA Premier division with two relegation spots still to be decided. Add in a Promotion Playoff between 2^nd and 3^rd in the IEFSA Championship, and you have a very tasty Sunday in store. It seems like an age since the last preview where I signed off by saying it looked like the title would go down to the wire. Well that prediction crashed and burned after @FuzzyWarbles lost four games in a row, while @TRKingston romped home with four wins. The only black-spot during the title run-in for Todd was the loss in the IEFSA Cup final to @jforquer11. Joel faces @jasonuk17 this week in the final game of the IEFSA Championship. The winner of that tie will earn promotion along with @BenDinnery who went up as champion.

With the title wrapped up all the action is at the other end of the table where any two from five could still find themselves facing the dreaded drop. The bottom two sides, @nikarg and @FantasyYIRMA, face each other, with the loser certain to go down. The winner of that match-up is not guaranteed safety, but because they both have a high amount of fantasy points scored, it would take three highly improbable results to relegate them. @TAMc10, @EPL_MOstradamus and my own side simply need to win their own ties to assure their place in the top eight. The IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer has been tough on my side all season and this week is no different. To stay up my side will have to beat champion @TRKingston. #IEFSpiracy

@TRKingston’s Team

Not many holes in this squad. All the players average over ten points, with eight players who average over 15 points. David Silva alone chips in with 21.5 points every week. He has a rather good 8 goals and 11 assists from 28 games played. He also has assisted 61 shots for teammates. Teammates like four other players on @TRKingston’s roster. Otamendi, Fernandinho and Gundogan have scored 4 goals each this season; while Oleksandr Zinchenko may not have any goals so far, but he is a good bet to start the remaining game against Southampton after playing against Huddersfield last weekend.

Zinchenko, another shrewd signing from @TRKingston

@TRKingston has only lost five times all season (never to my side I might add) and on those occasions my side would have been the victors against Todd on a losing week only once. He has soundly beaten my team twice already. If he makes it a hat-trick on Sunday, then I’m sure to be relegated.

What I Need To Happen

If Todd could head off to the beach early this year that would be great. With the league wrapped up perhaps a lot of his Manchester City players will be thinking of the beach too, or at least the World Cup. His side is tantalizingly close to scoring 4000 points for the season though and he perhaps will be gunning for that target this week. He needs 125 points.

If my side were to reach 4000 points I’d need to score 1257. I’m not sure Luka Milivojevic can take that many penalties. But like Swansea this weekend, I just have to cross my fingers and hope.

The Palace midfielder has been one of my better players this season. He has top scored with ten goals (the same as Todd’s topscorer!) and been crucial in my side not been totally embarrassed some weeks. The other star player has been Nick Pope of Burnley. 11 clean sheets this season have helped the Clarets to seventh in the league, and perhaps a European place.

That's two more goals than Zlatan has...

Looking through my squad…… well…. It’s a depressing sight. Big money was spent to bring in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who now (occasionally) plays with the LA Galaxy. Serge Aurier was another big signing but failed to cement a place in the Spurs defence. At the start of the season, most of the budget went on the Newcastle pair of Gayle and Shelvey, but by the time they came into form for their club, I had them shipped off to waivers. I even bought back Dwight Gayle for a couple of games, just when he lost his goal scoring touch for a second time. Victor Lindelof was my most expensive defender back then but has only managed to feature in 16 games this season. Tom Ince was due to light up the Premier League this year. Two goals and barely over 9 points per game prove only that I wasted 40m of my budget. Cue the winger being dropped for next season only to be picked up by @TRKingston and go on to win the golden boot.

Predictions

All I can predict at this stage is that there will be no fingernails left on the five managers hovering over the drop zone come five o’clock on Sunday afternoon. In the Championship promotion playoff, perhaps @jforquer11 is the slight favourite after winning the IEFSA Cup final. All the other match-ups this weekend will go exactly against my team, just as they have done most of the season. Just as they have been engineered to, by the dreaded IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer!

It’s been another great season in IEFSA, with the new format I believe going down well. Only 9 points separated third from tenth in the Premier, and only 3 points the difference between all the bottom five. The top of the Championship was a tight run thing too, with only 8 points the difference between @BenDinnery on top and (unluckiest team of the season?) @SportsByGotti in fifth.

 Whatever happens this weekend. Good Luck Everyone, and see you next season. Oh, and go and follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter, you know you want to.

Week 24: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

My unbeaten run came to a screeching halt against @EPL_MOstradamus last gameweek. Two goals from Spurs’ Son Heung-Min (and he only played 70 minutes) did the majority of the damage. His other players also chipped in with three assists and three clean sheets. My side tried their best in accumulating a healthy-ish 119 points. That was never going to trouble the near 150 points that @EPL_MOstradamus ended up achieving.

Carry on...

The IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer really turns the screw on my team this week with a game against second placed @FuzzyWarbles. I did manage to get one over him in our last encounter, so hopefully I can catch his squad cold again.

@FuzzyWarbles’s Team

Going forward the team is very strong. Sergio Aguero has 21 goals this season and Sadio Mane has eight. Eric Dier averages over 15 points per game; while Aaron Lennon appears to be getting a new lease of life at Burnley. He doesn’t have many slouches at the back either. Hegazi, Christensen, Hoedt and Janmaat, all average over ten points a game.

Can Lloris and Spurs bounce back from their Champions League disappointment?

In goals he has the Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris. 13 clean-sheets in 26 games is an excellent return, and he will get a chance to add to those figures in a fixture away at Bournemouth on Sunday.

What I Need To Happen

My side may not have any star names, but at the moment they seem to be getting minutes on the pitch and that’s all I need. My side are third from bottom of the table and miles behind when it comes to fantasy points scored. The 119 points I scored last weekend, even in a loss, was the highest score I’d achieved since Gameweek 11. If I can post something like that for the rest of the season, I’m sure I’d be fine. Would it be enough this weekend though?

Newcastle have a good home record. But will Gayle keep his starting place?

I swapped out Ayoze Perez for Dwight Gayle last weekend after the Newcastle United team sheet was announced. Either, both, or none could play this weekend for the Toon in a game against Southampton. Hopefully Gayle will keep his place and justify it with a goal.

Predictions

Lots of upheaval last weekend with 17 teams scoring in the triple digits. The highest number of teams doing that since Gameweek 9. Because of this my predictions were a paltry four correct from nine match-ups. Here are this week’s predictions. Don’t forget to check out @THE_IEFSA on Twitter as the league looks to be going down to the wire between @TRKingston and @FuzzyWarbles.

Good Luck Everyone

@TAMc10 over @EPL_MOstradamus

@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

Week 23: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

No fixtures for several weeks thank to FA Cup and League Cup action. While I would usually be glad of the break in order for my side to heal up all those injuries, I would probably have been better off if games were being played! Because, barring we’ve entered some bizzaro-fantasy league, it looks like I have the most in-form side in the league with four wins in a row. I ended @jwl_15’s outside change of the league title last time out thanks to two goals from Tom Davies and Luka Milivojevic. Davies is new to the side as I picked him up before kick-off, along with Swansea Defender Mike van der Hoorn. With 18.9 points the Swansea player could well be one to hold onto for a couple of weeks. Swansea play at home to West Ham this Saturday.

Can Tom Davis continue scoring and help Everton away at Burnley?

The IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer doesn’t dole out any easy fixtures, and Gameweek 23 is no different. This week’s opponents are @EPL_MOstradamus. A side that has an identical 9 wins and 13 loss record. @EPL_MOstradamus does have a big advantage in fantasy points scored though. He averages over 110 points per game, my side on the other hand averages a league low 103. The last time we met was before Christmas, and I managed to get the win thanks to a Joe Allen (who else!) goal and assist against West Brom. Chris will be super determined to get the three points this week as he tries to climb away from relegation, and he definitely doesn’t want to fall below my side. (There’ll be no catching me!)

@EPL_MOstradamus’s Team

Chris’s top scorer is Heung-Min Son with seven. Next on the goal-scoring charts is Laurent Depoitre who has netted five times. To help his stuttering Forward line, where Benteke has returned a paltry two goals, Everton’s new Turkish signing Cenk Tosun was brought in for $20. Tosun has struggled for game time under Sam Allardyce in the first two months of the year and could turn out to be an expensive signing who rots deep in the bench. He is not @EPL_MOstradamus’s highest salaried player though, that honour belongs to Nathan Redmond. Like Benteke, he is another player who has failed to reproduce any sort of consistent form this season.

It's all becoming a little too easy for Man City and Danilo.

The player who bags Chris the most fantasy points per game at the moment is Manchester City Defender Danilo. The Brazilian has two goals and an assist from 15 games. @EPL_MOstradamus’s Defence is put together on a budget seeing as big signing ($39) Benjamin Mendy, also of Man City, is a long-term injury absentee. Danilo only cost $1, as did Erik Pieters and Matthew Lowton. The only cash splashed was on Charlie Daniels of Bournemouth, $13. In goals Chris has Ben Foster of West Brom. And as a bit of a trick card, he has Scott McTominay in his squad. If our match-up is pretty close, he could throw the Manchester United youngster into the OF roster slot and hope he and Benteke bring home the points needed for a win on Monday night.

What I Need To Happen

If it does go down to the wire of Monday night, I would think, going on form, McTominay would outscore Milivojevic. It would perhaps be in my best interest in getting as many players who are starting games out early, rather than waiting on the line-ups for that fixture. I wouldn’t want to be leaving a spot for Victor Lindelof for instance. Most of my team are playing away from home this weekend. And on top of that, most of my squad will be facing teams inside the top 10 in the league. Can Tom Ince score away at Spurs? Will Ayoze Perez score away at Liverpool? Nine times out of ten, the answer to these questions has to be a no.

Thankfully there are hardly any throw-ins in the modern game.

In some good news, it does seem that Serge Aurier will be returning to the Tottenham back-line again. Thankfully, Fantrax don’t track foul throws……. do they??? With Aurier against Huddersfield, van der Hoorn against West Ham, and my goalkeeper Nick Pope hosting Everton. It could be the defensive side of that game which gives me a platform in order to have a chance at victory.

Predictions

A lot of big money moves over the last few weeks as a few sides get desperate in their bids to either gain promotion or avoid relegation. @SportsByGotti sweet talked @DFS_Hambazaza into giving him Mo Salah in exchange for Jordan Ayew and some scrubs. @FuzzyWarbles beat @TRKingston in the previous gameweek, meaning both are now tied on 17 wins, with Todd claiming first place in the IEFSA Premier on fantasy points scored.

Five correct from nine last time out once again, so let’s try and at the very least beat that this time out. Here are this week’s predictions. Don’t forget to check out all the action on Twitter from @THE_IEFSA.

Good Luck Everyone

@RotoZdroik over @nikarg

@jwl_15 over @TAMc10

@TRKingston over @FantasyYIRMA

@FuzzyWarbles over @wrigavin

@jasonuk17 over @cjradune

@SportsByGotti over @jforquer11

@RotoWireAndrew over @nealjthurman

@TomSunderland_ over @FPL_MNOP

@BenDinnery over @DFS_Hambazaza

Week 21: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

A hard-fought victory in Gameweek 20 over @nikarg was my side’s seventh win of the season. We are still the bottom side in the table but *whisper it* we are now only a few points from safety. It was a Joe Allen goal that did most of the damage that week and hopefully the Welshman can rediscover his goal scoring touch which seems to have abandoned him these last few,  um, 18, months.

I don't need to caption a picture of Joe Allen surely. Speaks for itself.

Last weekend was a break from the hectic league action as most sides were playing in the FA Cup. That meant midweek fixtures and the return of the IEFSA Cup. We were sitting at home for those of course; but they were entertaining nonetheless and after two high scoring contests, @TRKingston and @jforquer11 will compete in the IEFSA Cup Final. My side had gone out to @TRKingston in the previous round. The round before that I did manage to beat this week’s IEFSA League opponents. Therefore, this is going to be a huge revenge game for @FantasyYIRMA. If YIRMA and my side had been counting scores for the midweek fixtures with our players, he would have squeezed past me by less than two points. On paper I’m coming into this game on the back of two victories and YIRMA two defeats. If you look closer though you’ll see that his team has actually outscored mine in the last three gameweeks. The IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer is once again out to get me.

@FantasyYIRMA’s Team

With the January transfer window now firmly shut a lot of sides were looking to strengthen coming into this gameweek. @FantasyYIRMA has brought in new Everton loanee Eliaquim Mangala. He has also brought in Luke Shaw as cover in his Defence. A couple of players in his squad seemingly got a new lease of life this past week also, as Mesut Ozil signed a new contract at Arsenal, and Daniel Sturridge opted to head to West Bromwich Albion in order to get some game time.

If he scores a hat-trick on his debut, he'll be West Brom's third highest scorer

His top scorer is Jamie Vardy with 11 goals this season. Wayne Rooney who is also in @FantasyYIRMA’s side is not far off with 10. Perhaps Vardy at home to Swansea is the better option in the Forward position this weekend. Rooney does have a good goal scoring record against Arsenal (14 goals) though, so could perhaps be a flex option. Nacho Monreal has four goals this season and is in a great run of form for the Gunners. If there is going to be a goal in the Arsenal Everton game, you wouldn’t put it past Monreal to get it. Oh he also has Dele Alli, Ashley Young, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Ibe and David De Gea in goals…

What I Need To Happen

I need all those players to have an off day. No shots on target, no clean sheets, no goals. I would probably have a better change doing the lottery this weekend I’d say though. My squad has scored a total of 19 goals this season. @FantasyYIRMA on the other hand has 43. Luka Milivojevic is my top scorer with five. One ahead of Tammy Abraham of Swansea. The Swans have been playing better and scoring more goals recently. Not much of that has been down to Abraham though.

Nick Pope saves a penalty against Newcastle's Joselu midweek

Two players I could normally rely on to maybe get me 20 points, or at least double figures would be my goalkeeper and the already mentioned Welsh wizard Joe Allen. Nick Pope has to try and get a clean sheet against Manchester City this weekend though. Something that has only happened once this season in the league. The last time Burnley played Man City back in October they lost 3-0. Joe Allen has to try and work his magic away at one of the most in-form sides in the league, Bournemouth. Burnley against Man City is the early game on Saturday, this week’s fixture against @FantasyYIRMA could get ugly very quickly.

Predictions

Six correct and three incorrect for the last gameweek. @TRKingston still leads the way in the IEFSA Premier, while @BenDinnery also remains atop the IEFSA Championship. Don’t forget to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to get the latest goings on in the league. Here are this week’s predictions.

Good Luck Everyone

@FuzzyWarbles over @RotoZdroik

@TRKingston over @EPL_MOstradmus

@TAMc10 over @nikarg

@jwl_15 over @wrigavin

@SportsByGotti over @FPL_MNOP

@cjradune over @RotoWireAndrew

@BenDinnery over @jforquer11

@jasonuk17 over @nealjthurman

@TomSunderland_over @DFS_Hambazaza

Week 19: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

A battling performance in the IEFSA Cup against @TRKingston, but not enough points to score the upset. Oddly I was hanging in there in the tie until late on in the Liverpool game when Dejan Lovren assisted a Ragnor Klavan goal (both of these Defenders were @TRKingston players) against my Goalkeeper Nick Pope. That is two games in a row where Todd has got the better of my side.

As i said, if it wasn't for bad luck...

It’s back to IEFSA league action this weekend though, as I attempt to drag my side from the foot of the table. So, who has the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer saw fit to put my side up against this gameweek? Why its only third placed @RotoZdroik, who has already beaten me in gameweeks 3 and 10.

@RotoZdroik’s Team

The two highest scoring players on @RotoZdroik’s team have more goals between them than my whole squad. Both of them have nearly three times as many assists as my whole squad too. And to cap it off, they both cost less than five players in my squad. Leroy Sane of Manchester City in Midfield averages over 15 points per game. While up front, Manchester United Forward Romelu Lukaku is just back from injury and will hope to add to his ten league goals this season when he faces Stoke City on Monday night.

Lukaku back from injury, and back on the score sheet in the FA Cup

But even if those two players misfire this weekend, he can call on several other stalwarts to get him through the fixture. Hector Bellerin in Defence is a good accumulator of points. Steven Davis of Southampton in Midfield already has three goals to his name this season, as does Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson. In goals is Huddersfield’s Jonas Lossl, who has achieved seven clean sheets so far this season.

What I Need To Happen

It looks like @RotoZdroik will be able to get a full set of starters in his team and will be scoring points all over the field. My side on the other hand will be struggling once again this week. If Tammy Abraham, (my top scorer believe it or not) is absent this week, that will mean no scoring player for the Forward position. This will force me to look into the abyss of the unclaimed player pool for a goalscorer that everyone else has inexplicably passed by.

Will Joe Allen stay put, go to West Ham, or, retire and move to Celtic?

Mark Hughes has been shown the door at Stoke City. Hopefully this will free up the criminally underused Joe Allen. The Welshman has been a transfer target of West Ham United this January according to reports. Maybe a move to the Hammers would revitalise his fantasy scoring seeing as West Ham score more and concede less than the Potters. Wherever he ends up, his head better be right for Stokes vital clash against Manchester United this coming Monday.

Predictions

Only one from three for the IEFSA Cup games midweek. This was after a rather disappointing showing of five correct from nine during the last gameweek. Things are only going to get harder to predict as we enter squeaky bum time in the season. Remember to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter for all the latest action.

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

@TRKingston over @nikarg

@FuzzyWarbles over @TAMc10

@jwl_15 over @EPL_MOstradamus

@FantasyYIRMA over @wrigavin

@SportsByGotti over @RotoWireAndrew

@cjradune over @FPL_MNOP

@BenDinnery over @nealjthurman

@jasonuk17 over @TomSunderland_

@jforquer11 over @DFS_Hambazaza

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 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_

Week 13: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview 2017/18

So you’re telling me there’s a chance!

Despite having the lowest scoring squad of players in the league (Primary League, @nealjthurman has scored fewer in the Secondary League. Sorry for that mention Neal), a win over @nikarg in Gameweek 12 has shot my side up one place to ninth in the table. Another Nick Pope clean sheet went a long way to gaining the three points. But we all know how I achieved the victory! The return of Zlatan froze the star players on @nikarg’s team into a below average week. And he didn’t even have to get off my injured reserve list!

Zlatan has the knees of a Lion. But the smile of a Cheshire cat

Ibrahimovic will probably be needed this week though, as the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer sees fit to throw my rebounding side against fourth place @wrigavin. A team who in our previous encounter ran away easy thirty-point winners. If I am to fit Zlatan in this week though, I will have to send someone back to Free Agency. Will @wrigavin be as quick to snap up Gareth Barry, as he was Jonjo Shelvey??

@wrigavin’s Team

Harry Kane has not scored in the Premier League since October 22^nd. @wrigavin, (and I’m sure IEFSA/Fantrax!) will be hoping he can end that poor run of form this weekend against West Brom. This barren patch for the striker coincides with Gavin dropping two of his last three games. Kane averages over 20 points per game for Gavin, and behind the England striker, who did score midweek in the Champions League by the way, is another Spurs player; Davinson Sanchez, who averages over 16 points per game.

Kane scores in the Champions League against Dortmund. Or the German Norwich City if you will

Looking elsewhere for points on @wrigavin’s team, the Liverpool goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet has kept three clean sheets in a row at home. This week he is up against Chelsea though, but if he does keep a clean sheet, he will surely be made to work for it. The second top scorer on @wrigavin’s team is Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri with two goals. Stoke City travel to bottom of the table Crystal Palace on Saturday at three o’clock. Shaqiri also has five assists on the season. Though who he’s assisting on the Stoke team I’ll never know. They were probably all for Peter Crouch.

What I Need To Happen

Just give Zlatan the ball. The big Swede will surely make mincemeat of the Brighton defence. The Seagulls haven’t beaten Manchester United since 1981, back when Moses was parting defences. I’m going to make a bold prediction and say the newly promoted side won’t be adding to that win from the eighties on Saturday. In other good Man Utd news for my squad. Marcos Rojo has returned from injury, and Victor Lindelof is getting into the first team. He’s falling over and giving away goals, but it’s a start!

Lindelof settles down to the perfect view of Dwight Gayle's opening goal

In fact, most of my squad now is returning from injury. It’s very refreshing to be able to change around players rather than being worried if it’s even possible to get eight outfield players scoring points. The only injury concern this week (so far) is Swansea’s Tammy Abraham. The young forward has been rated as 50/50 by his manager to start this weekend against Bournemouth. Another who has been absent from his side’s first team recently has been Newcastle’s Ciaran Clark. But with Lascelles injured at the moment, the Irishman should slot into the Toon backline for the visit of Watford.

Predictions

Only @wrigavin and @RotoWireAndrew let me down after I tipped them to win last week. Seven from nine is still a respectable score though.  Please follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to see how my side is fairing. Don’t forget that the gameweek starts on Friday night with Leicester traveling to West Ham for David Moyes first home game in charge.

This midweek will also see the first round of the IEFSA Cup, as eight teams battle it out for a place in the last 16.

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

@TRKingston over @TAMc10

@jwl_15 over @RotoZdroik

@FuzzyWarbles over @FantasyYIRMA

@EPL_MOstadamus over @nikarg

@cjradune over @jasonuk17

@SportsByGotti over @jforquer11

@RotoWireAndrew over @nealjthurman

@TomSunderland_ over @SmokeyLoogy

@DFS_Hambazaza over @BenDinnery

IEFSA Cup

@BenDinnery over @TomSunderland_

@DFS_Hambazaza over @jasonuk17

@RotoWireAndrew over @jforquer11

@SmokeyLoogy over @nealjthurman