IEFSA Fantasy League Week 27 Preview

It’s a proper IEFSA Fantasy League week of fixtures this week. Last week I managed to gain a cheeky win thanks to an Arnautovic goal despite having only four players playing! This leaves me on thirteen wins and thirteen losses, a model of middle of the road consistency.

This week I will face @DanRiccio590, who himself sits comfortably in midtable, just one place and three points above me. So this really is a massive game for my squad. Win and things start to look up. Lose, and there are three or four teams waiting behind me for any kind of stumble. Last weekend’s FA Cup affected fixtures left @DanRiccio590 nursing a loss. But if our two sides met then, Dan would have been celebrating a victory.

@DanRiccio590’s Team

Dan has a quality squad that has been unlucky with injuries and inconsistencies of form. Eden Hazard has struggled to find the form that saw him be crowned last season’s player of the year. He is injured for this weekend’s fixture though as Chelsea host West Ham. He does have a fit and inform Hammer though in Dimitri Payet. It looks like he will only have Payet, Antonio (both West Ham) and Imbula (Stoke City) to fill his three midfield positions this weekend, as Shaqiri is due to miss another game for the Potters with injury.

Up front he will be hoping that Graziano Pelle’s recent glut of goals was not a once off, because his other forward options are the injured Connor Wickham, and the out of favour Wilfried Bony. Remember him! He probably wouldn’t want Bony to play anyway as he has a Man United duo in Smalling and De Gea aiming for some clean sheet points when the Red Devils head to battle local rivals Man City.

What I Need To Happen

As I have Courtois in goals, I will need West Ham to be kept quiet at Stamford Bridge. If two of his players are shut out, it will go a long way to me getting the three points. Clean sheets could be crucial this week. Unfortunately most of my defenders will be playing at different times this weekend and this mean a lot of scrutiny of lineups come three o’clock on Saturday. Three defenders play at home in games that are surely ripe for clean sheets. Olsson of West Brom will host Norwich. Nyom of Watford will entertain Stoke. While Angel Rangel of Swansea will welcome Aston Villa to Wales in the Saturday evening kickoff. Swansea will not have a better opportunity to keep a clean sheet for the rest of the season.

Still unbeaten in league, but what have they to play for now??

 

If I’m looking for goalscorers, my best bet is probably in Georginio Wijnaldum when Newcastle play Sunderland in the early Sunday game. Wijnaldum saves his goals for home games and he has been saving up a lot lately, so surely a goal or two are due. Normally I would also look to Andre Ayew to bag a goal. Especially since the Swans are hosting a hapless Villa side this week. Unfortunately Ayew has an ankle injury and will miss the game.

Predictions

There was no post last week because most of the sides were missing players. To make up for that, here is an in-depth look at each of the fixtures in the IEFSA this week. Don’t forget to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to see how each team is doing. And to also follow me, @GarryIrwin, to find out what, specifically, my team isn’t doing!

@DFS_hambazaza V @FuzzyWarbles

@FuzzyWarbles will be looking to bounce back from last week’s defeat when he faces bottom of the table @DFS_hambazaza. He will be sweating over the fitness of Nicolas Otamendi as Man City host an often goalshy Man Utd. But will probably look further up the pitch in that game for points as he has Silva and Mata in that game. @DFS_hambazaza is pretty much reliant on a bumper game from Sergio Aguero again, but I can’t see him getting too many against Man U when LVG parks the Fellaini bus at the Eithad.

@RotoWireAndrew V @nikarg

Baba Rahman, Benteke, Remy, Walcott, Pedro, Navas. This sounds like a list of players you would rarely put in your fantasy team until they actually did something consistent on the pitch. Unfortunately for Andrew, these players make up the bulk of his squad. @nikarg can keep pace with the leaders here thanks to players like Rondon and Eriksen.

@TomSunderland_ V @RotoZdroik

Six wins on the trot has seen @RotoZroik move up to second in the table.  A number of his players have red flags next to their names and are doubts for the weekend. This could see him shuffle his pack and introduce some players from the bench. Tom’s side on the other hand is relatively injury free. He doesn’t have many superstar performers though (Kante, Drinkwater and Schlupp for Leicester are playing well, but not huge point getters) so perhaps wont have enough to upset the inform side this week.

@GarryIrwin V @DanRiccio590

The fixture computer shows it’s continuing bias against @GarryIrwin by making him face a team which contains two of the most inform players in the league at the moment; Payet of West Ham and Pelle of Southampton. Garry will have to play this fixture without one of his top scorers in Andre Ayew too. This all points to @DanRiccio590 picking up the win.

@wrigavin V @Smokey_Loogy

This is the matchup of the weekend as leader @wrigavin face off against third place @Smokey_Loogy. Both sides got back to winning ways last week, but who will pick up the crucial three points this week? Looking at the two squads and the fixtures of each player, my opinion would probably fall on the side of Harry Kane, @wrigavin, over deeney and Ighalo of @Smokey_Loogy.

@nealjthurman V @BenDinnery

Now that Arsenal’s season is virtually over, it’s probably around the time that Olivier Giroud starts scoring goals again. He loves midtable teams and dead rubber games, and Arsenal versus Everton ticks both those boxes. Of course if he does @nealjthurman will be very happy. @BenDinnery on the other hand will be without Diego Costa due to suspension and will be reliant on Patrick Bamford to get the points. Norwich strikers seem to have some sort of hoodoo over them and I can’t see him getting off the mark away to West Brom.

@GalinDragiev V @FantasyYIRMA

Last week’s loss has dropped YIRMA back to sixth. In a desperate effort to get back into title contention he looks like he will deploy Divock Origi upfront when Liverpool head to Southampton.  Origi has two goals this season, but that’s twice as many goals as his other forward Emmanuel Adebayor. With all these crucial stats in mind, it will more than likely be his midfield of Alli, Toure and Ozil will get him over the line this week. @GalinDragiev could cause an upset if Raheem Sterling or Adam Lallana start justifying their high transfer fees. But between you and me, they won’t start doing that this week.

@cjradune V @SportsByGotti

@cjradune is the other team still in the title race. He has been having a Vardy party for most of the season, though the party has been dying down somewhat of late. There should still be enough partytime left to overcome @SportsByGotti. @SportsByGotti’s team has suffered a weird affliction where if his top scorer got to five goals they would go down with a crippling injury (De Bruyne, Wilson, Redmond). His current top scorer has four, Diafra Sakho, will probably not want to score this week. Plus, Sakho-Party, doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

IEFSA Fantasy League Week 25 Preview

Another really tight affair last week saw me squeak a win by only 0.7 points over @nealjthurman. The win was pretty much singlehandedly earned by two goal Marko Arnautovic. That result leaves my still in ninth, with 12 wins and 12 losses. My team gets a chance to perhaps move up a place this week if they can overcome @BenDinnery. Ben’s team might sit four places below me in the league, but he has won his last two games and has actually outscored my side over the course of the season so far.

This weekend will see most of the Premier League teams play their third game in seven or eight days. These leads a lot of managers to rotate members of their squads, as well as the increased likelihood of some players picking up knocks that may keep them out of the starting eleven. My side has been fortunate in not picking up any new injuries, but @BenDinnery doesn’t have any new red flags to worry about either.

@BenDinnery’s Team

The weak link in his team has probably been his goalkeeper. Newcastle seem to pack it in after they concede their first goal and this has effected the points Rob Elliot has been able to gain. The Toon do host Bournemouth this Saturday though and it will be a game that Steve McClaren will be determined to win. At the back he has three defenders who like to get in among the goals. Ivanovic, van Dijk and Kolorov have all scored twice this season, with Ivanovic and Kolorov even providing a couple of assists each. With those two players having a couple of winnable home games this weekend, it could be a very profitable Saturday indeed.

His midfield has been quiet of late, with Mark Noble’s goal against Norwich three games ago being the only bright spot. It’s up front where @BenDinnery’s team has been helping him gain victories of late. Diego Costa has put his early season funk behind him and has scored eight goals in his last ten games. He also has Saido Berahino in the OF position, and with Tony Pulis seemingly abandoning his defence first approach recently (the Baggies last two games have involved 9 goals!). Berahino has played the full ninety minutes in those two games, while also contributing a goal in a win over Crystal Palace.

What I Need To Happen

I was lucky to get the win last time out, especially since I didn’t have a full roster of players playing. Nyom of Watford found himself on the bench again, in what I hope is just a rotation issue. But I will have to keep an eye on the lineups for the Saturday evening kick-off, where Watford entertain table toppers Leicester. My only defender with a favourable fixture is probably Angel Rangel of Swansea, as they host Norwich. The Canaries don’t travel very well, so a trip to Wales could see them camp inside their own box for ninety minutes!

Chelsea (along with 12 other teams) are eyeing a European place again

 

Further up the pitch things have been looking a lot brighter of late. Memphis Depay has been getting more game time, while not exactly pulling in more points it has to be said. Arnautovic has rediscovered his scoring boots, but will face a Chelsea side who have yet to lose under Guus Hiddink in the league this season. My main goal threat will have to come from Andre Ayew and Georginio Wijnaldum again. Ayew as I’ve mentioned will be facing a timid Norwich side. And Wijnaldum saves all his goals for Newcastle’s home games, so will be expected to get back on the scoresheet this weekend against the Cherries.

Predictions

Ouch! Only two correct predictions from seven last week, as everything became a bit unpredictable thanks to a lot of squads missing players because of the league cup final. @wrigavin picked up another win though to move six points clear at the top of the table. Remember, as always, you can follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter for the latest action, and you can also follow me, @GarryIrwin for all the latest overreaction!

@FuzzyWarbles over @GalinDragiev

@cjradune over @RotoWireAndrew

@RotoZdroik over @wrigavin

@DanRiccio590 over @nealjthurman

@Smokey_Loogy over @TomSunderland_

@DFS_hambazaza over @FantasyYIRMA

@nikarg over @SportsByGotti

IEFSA Fantasy League Week 22 Preview

The last time I played @wrigavin, he beat me handily. In fact, if I had faced @wrigavin every week this season, of the 21 weeks so far I would have a total of three victories. So to say that this weekend’s matchup is an uphill task really is a bit of an understatement. He has six players into triple figures for the season (Harry Kane alone has 270 pts) whereas my side has only three. His team has scored a total of 41 goals so far, to my sides lowly 32. And as I’ve often repeated in these previews in the past, ‘Goals win games’.

That’s not to say I won’t have no chance this weekend. I will more than likely have more players in my squad playing at home which is always a bonus. My top three goalscorers are all playing at home and they do most of their goal getting in front of their home fans (75%). His goalkeeper has also struggled for form recently because of Crystal Palace’s run of five straight defeats and shipping of 13 goals. So perhaps all is not lost!

@wrigavin’s Team

It’s tough to look at this side and not be envious of the forward pairing of Kane and Firmino. 20 goals, five assists and over 400 points between them, all makes for intimidating reading. And when you consider I paid 10m more than Firmino and the exact same price for Kane when I purchased Memphis Depay (2G,0A, 82pts) at the start of the season, well, you could understand if I skipped out on watching the Premier League action this weekend and just went drinking instead.

Not only do his strikers put the fear of god in most teams, but his midfield is not too shabby either. Of the five players he can choose from, all are goal threats and have a combined 15 goals this season. I expect him to go with Tadic, Brady and Cabaye this weekend. They pull in over 19 points on average; or he could throw in Heung-Min Son if he starts against Watford

What I Need To Happen

A good start for my side would be if Andre Ayew was to get on the score sheet against Crystal Palace. This would prevent @wrigavin from picking up a clean sheet with his goalkeeper. Similarly, if Wijnaldum and Arnautovic were to score, this would stop two of his defenders from getting a clean sheet bonus. In short, I need goals. Hopefully the goals I get will do enough damage to negate any of the points that Firmino and Kane will pick up when they face Sunderland and Watford respectively.

Steve McClaren will hope Wijnaldum enjoys the comforts of home this week

It would also be good if all of my players actually started for their clubs. I’ve long given up on Memphis being put on the teamsheet for Manchester United, with this weekend’s Chelsea clash being no different. In defence I’ve had to draft in West Brom’s Jonas Olsson. With Johnny Evans out injured, Olsson has been playing regularly. Which is more than I can say for two of my other defenders; Jenkinson (injured), Nyom (lost his place to Paredes). My back three will consist of Olsson, Rangel and Moreno. I expect them all to play, but don’t necessarily expect them to outshine their three or four points per game average.

Predictions

Gameweek 21 saw only four correct predictions, as a lot of tight matchups helped to condense the top half of the league. The top eight could all stake a claim to winning the league, so let’s see how they will do this weekend.

@FuzzyWarbles over @SportsByGotti

@FantasyYIRMA over @RotoWireAndrew

@RotoZdroik over @BenDinnery

@Smokey_Loogy over @DanRiccio590

@nealjthurman over @TomSunderland_

@nikarg over @GalinDragiev

@cjradune over @DFS_hambazaza

Good Luck Everyone, and remember to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter and follow me @GarryIrwin. For a more in-depth preview of these matchups, please head over to FantasyYIRMA.

IEFSA Fantasy League Week 17 Preview

A win! My team posted almost 30pts less than the week before, but this time a victory was achieved. I still sit 12 points behind league leader @Smokey_Loogy back in 10^th place. An Allan Nyom assist and clean sheet for Watford did the damage for me last weekend against @DFS_hambazaza. The 45.2 pts gained would have beaten eight teams in the IEFSA League last time out, but I will surely need to top that total this week against @nikarg, as his side averages 48.7pts per week.

The big news in the Premier League this past week was the dismissal of Jose Mourinho by Chelsea. He becomes the fifth managerial casualty of the season.

Quick Pub Quiz Fact: Chelsea were the first team to sack a manager in the Premier League era back in 1993. After they fell away from the title race post-Christmas, they gave their manager the boot in February. That man? Ian Porterfield!

@nikarg’s Team

In a very tight league, @nikarg is three points off the top in sixth place. He has a squad peppered with great performers. In goals he has the highest scoring shot stopper in the game in Jack Butland at Stoke City. He has seven clean sheets and has only conceded 14 goals in 16 starts. He doubles up with Stoke players at the back with Glen Johnson. The Potters host Crystal Palace on Saturday in a game where a clean sheet is surely a possibility. Up front he will be hoping Wayne Rooney is passed fit for the Manchester United game against Norwich. If he isn’t he can put in Joel Campbell in his Forward slot.

His midfield has contributed a huge amount of assists so far this season. Albrighton (6), Eriksen (6), and Sissoko (5) have each more assists than all my midfielders combined. He also has Matic of Chelsea in his midfield, it will be interesting to see how he will respond to the appointment of a new manager at Stamford Bridge.

What I Need To Happen

Chelsea will have a new man in the dugout this weekend picking the starting eleven, but will surely stick with Thibaut Courtois in goals. They face Sunderland at home in a real relegation six pointer! Hopefully they can post a long overdue cleansheet. Elsewhere at the back I have Nyom and Moreno facing each other when Watford host Liverpool on Sunday. A boring nil all draw would be most welcomed. My remaining defensive slot has drawn blanks for the last few weeks, so I’ll be hoping that with the spate of injuries West Ham have suffered lately, that Carl Jenkinson can get back into the Hammers side.

For those paying attention, Garry Monk got the chop after Swansea won 3 in 16!

 

No goals last weekend for my side, surely this will not be the case this time out. Memphis could well be in the United team as they host Norwich. Georginio Wijnaldum scores all his goals at home and the Toon host bottom placed Aston Villa in the Premier League’s Saturday evening kickoff. Andre Ayew will have a chance to get back on the scoring charts when Swansea host West Ham. Arnautovic has five goals this season and will perhaps get some chances to add to this against Crystal Palace.

Predictions

Another week, another four correct coupled with three wrong. It’s very hard to make predictions in this league, so to keep track of how well my predictions are doing (not doing!) please follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter @GarryIrwin for the ups and down of my unpredictable, yet terribly predictable, midtable fantasy team.

@BenDinnery over @SportsByGotti

@TomSunderland_ over @DFS_hambazaza

@RotoZdroik over @FuzzyWarbles

@DanRiccio590 over @RotoWireAndrew

@Smokey_Loogy over @FantasyYIRMA

@nealjthurman over @cjradune

@wrigavin over @GalinDragiev

Good Luck Everyone

IEFSA Fantasy League Week 11 Preview

An Andre Ayew goal helped seal another win for me last week. That was my second win on the trot but I’m still sitting in a lowly 11^th place, nine points off the top. A points total of 55.7 was the third highest of the week and helped me overcome @BenDinnery. I will need a similar score this week as I face 4^th placed @FuzzyWarbles. His team averages 54.6 points a week, so I’m definitely going to need some goals to have a chance in this matchup.

@FuzzyWarbles could go top with a big win, while I could jump into the top 7 if results go my way. The league table gets tighter by the week; only three points separate the top 5. No one has a winning run of more than three games, and previous top dog @DanRiccio590 has only gone and lost two games in a row.

@FuzzyWarbles Team

@FuzzyWarbles' only injury concern is David Silva who will be out with an ankle injury. But he has more than capable back-ups in midfield. He can call on Mane and Mata, both players average over eight points a game and have six goals and seven assists between them. They also have games against sides who have been leaking goals lately. Further upfield he can call on one , or more likely two, of any of his four forward players. Between Mitrovic, Rondon, Diouf and Gomis he has 11 goals, in contrast my three forward players have only managed three goals this season.

In goals he has the dependable Hugo Lloris of Spurs. Four clean sheets so far this season, and the chance of another at home to an all at sea Aston Villa side this weekend. His back line now includes some players who have just broken into their respective sides, so dangerously they are in good form. Otamendi should be in the Man City side that host Norwich City on Saturday. Marcos Rojo should also feature for Manchester United as they travel to Crystal Palace. With Jagielka injured his third defender will be Leicester’s Robert Huth. Huth has played every minute of every game so far this season and that sequence should continue away to West Brom this weekend.

What I Need To Happen

I need Jürgen Klopp to wait at least another week for his first Premier League win. Chelsea host Liverpool in the weekends early kickoff as Begovic will attempt to keep only a third clean sheet. A nil-all draw would suit my side as I also have Moreno at the back for Liverpool. Speaking of nil-all draws, if that was the result between Watford and West Ham I’d be pretty happy, because I have a defender from each side in that match.

Can Andre Ayew continue his goalscoring form against Arsenal?

I have two players facing each other in midfield too, but I’ll be looking for goals between Newcastle and Stoke, with the goals to come from Wijnaldum and Arnautovic in particular. My top scorer Ayew plays at home to Arsenal, a tough match but he has the class to trouble the Gunners I feel.  Depay picked up a knock in midweek during a league cup tie, so he may not play (he probably wouldn’t have played anyway!), this means Schweinsteiger will start for my side, but he will have to improve on his 2.47 points per game. Making up the remaining spots on my roster will be difficult because I have three Villa players (I know, I know, I know!!) and they will play on Monday night, because of this I’ll try and keep one spot free for a Villa midfielder to play, I’m hoping I won’t have to call on all three of them.

Predictions

5 from 7 in the predictions again last weekend. Let’s try for the full set this week. But as I’ve mentioned the league seems to get tighter by the week and predicting winners will get tighter as a result. Remember to follow all these guys on Twitter and to follow @THE_IEFSA too so you can keep up with all the scores in the matchups as they happen.

@BenDinnery over @GalinDragiev

@DanRiccio590 over @DFS_hambazaza

@FantasyYIRMA over @nealjthurman

@TomSunderland_ over @RotoWireAndrew

@RotoZdroik over @nikarg

@cjradune over @Smokey_Loogy

@wrigavin over @SportsByGotti

Good Luck Everybody.

IEFSA Fantasy League Week 10 Preview

I’ll admit, I was a little worried going into last week’s match-up, but thanks to a Wijnaldum four goal haul, I managed to win with something to spare. If the Newcastle player had not posted any points last week, I still would have got the win against @FantasyYIRMA though. The thing is, I can’t exactly be relying on that to happen each and every gameweek. Some of my other players will have to contribute too. So I find myself worrying this week yet again. Memphis Depay didn’t get a single minute of game time against Everton and only got ten minutes in Man Utd’s midweek Champions League game. Will LVG throw him back in for the Manchester derby? That game is on Sunday, so I may just keep one roster spot for my two Man Utd players, Memphis and Schweinsteiger, and hope at least one of them starts.

This week I face @BenDinnery. Despite the victory in Gameweek 9, my side still sit in 12^th place. One place below me is Ben’s team, with two victories from nine games. Even though I have twice the number of wins, I’ve only managed to score 8.5pts more than him so far this season. Clearly he has had the tougher set of fixtures (until now!) to deal with.

@BenDinnery’s Team

Ben splashed out the big bucks to land Diego Costa and he will be hoping he continues scoring with a game away to West Ham this weekend. His other forward option isn’t too shabby either in West Brom’s Saido Berahino. Between the sticks he has the Newcastle goalkeeper, and with Tim Krul injured for the foreseeable future, that means Robert Elliot holding the fort. Newcastle concedes just over two goals a game on average and head into the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday at noon. That is a game where anything could happen.

In Midfield he has three solid players who start every game for their respective clubs. Howson, Noble and M’Vila have scored or assisted in eight goals this season. They all play at home this weekend too, so Ben will be expecting some points there surely. At the back his standout player has been Man City’s Kolarov. The other players who will make up his three at the back are Skrtel, Van Dijk and Hangeland. Liverpool and Southampton play each other so he may choose one or the other. But Hangeland may lose his place to a fit again Delaney for Palace, so Ben may have to play both at Anfield.

What I Need To Happen

Memphis to somehow find his way back into Van Gaal’s good graces and back onto the team sheet. Maybe he has got the kick up the backside he needed after sitting out the last number of games. But I wouldn’t hold my breath on that. If (when?) he doesn’t play I’ll need goals from my midfield. Arnautovic has been on form for Stoke recently as they won three games in a row. At home to Watford is a good chance to extend that run.

Tim Sherwood is not afraid of losing, in fact he's quite good at it!

I still have three Aston Villa players in my squad (I know, I know!) so if they could maybe show up this weekend at home to Swansea and fight to stay in the Premier League that would be great. If somehow Tim Sherwood’s powers of motivation fail once again and Swansea get the upper hand, I will need Andre Ayew to be involved. At the back, it would be nice if Chelsea could keep another clean sheet. West Ham haven’t been at their best when playing at home, so there is every possibility Begovic could shut them out.

 Predictions

The league got a lot tighter after last weekend’s results. Any of five teams could claim top spot come Monday morning, while any of four teams could be propping up the table. The rest could all move between sixth and twelfth.
5 from 7 predictions last week. Which was an improvement over the last couple of weeks. Let’s try for the full set this gameweek!

@FantasyYIRMA over @DFS_hambazaza

@FuzzyWarbles over @GalinDragiev

@TomSunderland_ over @Smokey_Loogy

@cjradune over @RotoWireAndrew

@DanRiccio590 over @nealjthurman

@nikarg over @SportsByGotti

@wrigavin over @RotoZdroik

As always, make sure you follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to keep up with all the action. And Good Luck Everybody.

Fantasy Football: IEFSA draft overview

 

The new Premier League season gets underway in a few short days, which means most people should have their fantasy teams complete with only a few injury doubts and late fitness tests really impacting on final selections. That is, unless you`ve entered yourself into a drafted league. In which case, you pour over the football news websites for info on the members of your squad with an obsession only Captain Ahab in Moby Dick could understand. If Martin Olsson is your third defender, it`s probably a good idea to follow him on Instagram to see if the pictures he takes give you any insight into that shoulder injury he`s carrying…… right?

The premier Fantasy Football draft league this year is run by IEFSA over at Fantrax. Some of the top names in Fantasy Sports writing on the web are competing for charity over the coming season, and you should follow them all on Twitter here -> @EPL_MOstradamus @RotoWireAndrew @BenDinnery @FantasyYIRMA @GalinDragiev @SportsByGotti @TomSunderland_ @FuzzyWarbles @cjradune @nealjthurman @Ben_Jata @RotoZdroik @nikarg @DanRiccio590 @wrigavin @DFS_hambazaza @Smokey_Loogy

Check out the IEFSA website and for up to the second news and updates follow @THE_IEFSA on twitter. If you fancy giving this fantasy draft game a go, you can enter a qualifier league here too -> First Qualifier League

The draft was completed just over a week ago and I thought it was about time to explain how the ragtag members of my squad came together. The overall theme of my squad was `Out with the Old, In with the New`. In most other fantasy games, a lot of teams will have the old reliables as bedrocks of their teams. Aguero, Baines, Ivanovic, Silva, etc. But in a drafted league, it`s very rare that one team would be packed with such players, and in a draft where everyone knows their Jordan Ayews from their Andre Ayews, it`s even rarer still. So rather than getting caught in lots of bidding wars over players, I felt it was better to just pick out a few players and concentrate on landing them. And the players I wanted to land were all new faces to the EPL. The reasons I will go into individually, but at the outset of the draft I knew this season I wanted to take a chance on these type of players to propel me up the league table, rather than blowing my budget to outbid people on Costa and Hazard. Of course they could all flop, get injured, be loaned off to the championship, etc, and my team will end up propping up the table, but let`s see what happens.

 

I ended up with eight new signings to the Premier League, and a player who is playing with a new club this season. A very untested bunch. This meant that between the sticks I wanted a more proven performer. My first selection of the draft was the Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois. I had hoped to get him at less than the $31 I was eventually bid up to, but I was happy to have him keeping goal every week. Chelsea had the fewest goals conceded last year and 17 clean sheets (11 at home), I realize other keepers gathered more points last season, but if Chelsea get near to less than a goal conceded a game and almost half a season of clean sheets again this year, I’ll be doing okay. Also if the defence falters, I think Courtois is good enough to pick up the slack, plus Begovic is not a bad replacement if Courtois does get sidelined for any reason.

 

 

The most expensive member of my squad ended up being Memphis Depay at $49. Another player I had earmarked for selection. With RVP leaving and Hernandez and Di Maria looking towards the exit door, I thought the goals would fall to Rooney and Depay to collect, with Mata chipping in too. He had a great record for Dutch side PSV last season, 28 goals in 40 appearances. I`m hoping he`ll take to the premier league from Dutch football more like a Ruud Van Nistelrooy rather than like a Jan Vannegoor of Hesselink. Depay was to be my main forward and I would have preferred to have paid something nearer the 31m Man Utd did for him, and paying $49 probably hampered the money I wanted to spend on my defence later in the draft.

 

 

Next up was the midfield, and a player I had my eye on was Newcastle`s Wijnaldum. In Holland he averaged a little under a goal every three games. I`m also hoping that Steve McClaren`s knowledge of the English and Dutch games means he`s fairly confident he`ll adapt quickly to the Premier League. I paid $22 for Wijnaldum and would have probably paid a little more. The other midfielder I wanted was Swansea`s new Ghana international Andre Ayew. At 25 he should be coming into the best football of his career, and what has come before wasn`t too shabby as he averaged around one goal in four games playing in France. He plays more of a forward than a midfielder, and I expect him to shine at Swansea.

 

As a back-up forward I had hoped to get my hands on Leicester City`s Shinji Okazaki, but when @GalinDragiev brought his value up to $12 I felt I had to back off. Okazaki is one of Japan`s most prolific goalscorers and easily got to double figures in goals at Mainz in each of the last two seasons.

My most expensive defensive purchase was West Ham`s Carl Jenkinson at $10. He averaged more points per game in Fantrax last season than both Trippier and Janmaat, who went for $20 and $12 respectively in the draft, so I`ve got to be happy with that. Rounding out my defence I have two players who have joined Watford this summer and a new signing at Aston Villa.

 

Of the three promoted sides Watford came up with the leakiest defence and new manager Quique Flores has moved to shore things up at the back with a few new faces. Jose Holebas comes in from Roma, while Allan Nyom was signed from Udinese (though played in Spain with Granada) and with Flores having been a right back during his playing days, I’m banking on him having an eye for a defender or two. At Villa, Tim Sherwood has brought in Jordan Amavi as left back. He may be only 21 but the Frenchman looks a class act and should hopefully cement his place there. He was my next biggest defensive signing at $5.

 

Back to midfield and another big signing was the $25 I spent on Man Utd`s Bastian Schweinsteiger. He may have a `possibly injured` little red flag beside his name every week and with United`s heavier schedule this season there is always the risk of rotation in a crowed Man Utd midfield, but I thought he would have went for a bit more than $25. He had one of his poorer seasons last year at Bayern where he only managed 28 games and five goals. I actually consider Schweinsteiger the biggest ‘gamble’ of my draft.

 

Rounding out my midfield I have Fabian Delph to come in if a couple of my main midfielders are not firing. People often ask why certain players go to big clubs when it looks like they will struggle to break into the first team and could end up sitting on the bench for prolonged periods, or worse, just forgotten about as their once bright career disappears. But every player backs themselves to compete at the top level and they convince themselves that they can be the main man at any side. If Delph is willing to back himself to be a fixture at Man City, I can back him for a $5 bid. He`s clearly a talented young player and I see no reason why he can`t get at least the same amount of game time as players such as Milner, Fernando, or Navas even!

 

I also added new Villa midfielder Idrissa Gueye for $9. The Senegalese arrives from Lille for 9m and scored 4 goals last season in Ligue 1. As a late addition post draft, I obtained the services of Villa`s Scott Sinclair, just as an extra body as players sit on the Injured Reserve list. He has been in good form in preseason and with Tim Sherwood brining an attacking style to the club, that means possible fantasy points at the right end of the field.

 

To complete my trio of forwards I have Danny Welbeck of Arsenal and Jonathan Walters of Stoke. Welbeck has yet to get a decent run in the Arsenal team, but with the Euros coming up I’m hoping he can force himself into some of Arsene Wenger’s plans and knock in a few goals. He is currently out injured. Walters on the other hand is never very far from Mark Hughes’ plans at Stoke City. He had his most prolific season scoring-wise last year, and something similar would be much appreciated from the $1 acquisition.

 

So that was the thinking behind my squad. Let me know what you think on Twitter @GarryIrwin, and look out for upcoming articles posted on The Notebook. For a breakdown of how each team drafted, Galin Dragiev covers all the bases over at Rotoworld in his comprehensive IEFSA draft review. Until next time, remember to join the qualifier league and to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter.