Week 4: IEFSA Fantasy League 2017/18 Preview

Three matches and three defeats. And while performances have improved week on week, I can tell the fans are getting restless. I’m not sure how long it’s acceptable to be rooted to the foot of the table, but thanks to the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer we may just find out. Firstly, I’m not sure how I lost my match-up last week when @RotoZdroik’s biggest threat to goal was a Lukaku missed penalty?? I had two goal scorers, as Tammy Abraham got off the mark for Swansea, and late signing Ciaran Clark netted for Newcastle. But lose I did, which leaves me bottom of the table with zero wins and the lowest points scored in the two divisions of IEFSA.

Ciaran Clark clearly delighted to have signed with my team this week

When times are tough you can always count on the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture compiler to give you a little kick. This week I will have to face @jwl_15, who would be undefeated if not for an Aaron Ramsey horror show against Liverpool two weeks ago. What makes this worse is that his star man is a player I let go at the end of last season!! And I’m not talking about Jack Wilshere (though he does have him too!).

@jwl_15’s Team

That star man of course is Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Last season he managed a total of one assist and barely a paltry ten points per game. In only three games this season, he has five assists and averages over 26 points per game. (anyone who points out I seem to have replaced the Armenian with Jonjo Shelvey, -2.1 ppg, will immediately be blocked on Twitter!) As has been mentioned, he also has Ramsey in midfield, who is usually good for a decent haul of points, last gameweek aside. Partnering them he has the workhorses of the Chelsea and Liverpool midfield's in N’Golo Kante and Jordan Henderson.

How many assists can he provide this season?....or this weekend?

Up front @jwl_15 has Southampton’s Manolo Gabbiadini who recent got off the mark and will be looking to score again at home to Watford on Saturday. He could also play Andre Ayew, but seeing as West Ham don’t play Huddersfield until Monday night, @jwl_15 may not have the luxury of waiting on the Ghanian’s fitness until then. But seeing the numbers my side has posted so far this season, he probably could afford to! At the back it looks like Cedric Soares, Southampton, Stephen Ward, Burnley, and Mamadou Sakho, Crystal Palace. Between the sticks will be Swansea’s Lukasz Fabianski. Putting him in direct opposition to two of my star players!

What I Need To Happen

Well, I’ll need both of these star players to make the first eleven for a start! It’s Newcastle who travel to face Fabianski and Swansea, but seeing as the Toon won 3-0 last time out without Shelvey or Dwight Gayle, I won’t be holding my breath. As I mentioned earlier, Ciaran Clark was a late signing who came good for me last week. He was brought in after I gave the heave-ho to Jose Fonte after he failed to make it back into the West Ham side. Looking around my squad, there are a few names under pressure to perform. Joe Allen is not his usually box-to-box self and is averaging a woeful, by his standards, nine points per game. Big signing Tom Ince has yet to trouble the oppositions net. While Victor Lindelof has yet to even feature in a Premier League game.

Abraham may have scored but are his other stats letting the side down?

Times are getting desperate. If a heavy defeat is suffered this week, I could be forced to abandon the whole squad that was carefully assembled during the draft. I will need to replace them with grafters. Players who are ready for a scrap. Who can play dirty for ninety minutes and get you all those much-needed tackling and accurate passing points. Tammy Abraham has 26 accurate passes in three games. 26?!? My goalkeeper has more! If, as I presume, he’s generally around for the kick-offs, that’s a quarter of his passes. Wholesale changes could be on the horizon if results don’t improve. If there is no reaction this week I will have no qualms about replacing an expensive signing with….. checks Free Agency list…… squints….. Solly March?

Predictions

To send me general abuse for my team/signings/predictions follow me on Twitter @GarryIrwin. Though you should really direct your ire @THE_IEFSA who seem to find new ways to undermine my carefully thought out plans every week. Before the international break I managed a rather poor four from nine. Will it be any better this weekend? Let’s find out.

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

@RotoZdroik over @EPL_MOstradamus

@FuzzyWarbles over @TRKingston

@FantasyYIRMA over @TAMc10

@nikarg over @wrigavin

@SportsByGotti over @SmokeyLoogy

@RotoWireAndrew over @cjradune

@jforquer11 over @BenDinnery

@jasonuk17 over @nealjthurman

@DFS_Hambazaza over @TomSunderland_

Week 33: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

A third loss in a row sees my side drop to fifth in the table. I have the worst form in the top half of the table at just the wrong time of the season. In true premier league manager fashion, I need someone to blame for the latest loss, and unfortunately that someone is my player of the season Joe Allen. The Stoke midfielder went off injured against his old club Liverpool after only gaining a paltry 5.45 points. If he had been replaced in the lineup with the two midfield players that sat on the bench, my side would have picked up the win. Kevin Mirallas had two assists on his way to 31.6 points, while Luka Milivojevic converted a penalty against Arsenal when he scored 22.25 points. I also had to content with @RotoWireAndrew lucking out and getting a third start of the season from Kieran Trippier, who posted a total of 37.55 points. This total is the highest Trippier has ever gotten in Fantrax Fantasy Football. Amazing how the IEFSA/Fantrax Points Computer rates a clean sheet against Watford. For those wondering, Plan B Jack Wilshere scored 13.45 points (his second highest score in over two months). I never said Plan B was a good plan.

Deeney was on the bench and Trippier wasn't? Bizzaro world at White Hart Lane

This week my side is made face @jforquer11. The IEFSA/Fantrax *cough* biased *cough* fixture computer knows that Joel has one of the most inform strikers in his squad at the moment in thirteen goal Joshua King. My highest scorer is seven goal Chelsea man Pedro. If all @jforquer11’s players simply get to their average points total, I will need to score 117 points to beat him this week. That’s a total which my side has failed to achieve sixteen times this season already. Did I mention that I have three midfielders on Injured Reserve too?

@jforquer11’s Team

Joshua King is key to success or failure here. The Bournemouth Forward has scored 10 goals since the turn of the year. None of these goals have been assisted by Jack Wilshere by the way, so I’m going to presume he gets all his chances from defensive mistakes, meaning King puts in lots of work and gains lots of points. In goals he has Stoke keeper Lee Grant. They may have let up two goals last weekend, but this week they face Hull City, who are the lowest scorers away from home in the league with only eight goals so far. He also has Erik Pieters at the back for Stoke, as he looks to double up on the cleansheet.

It wont matter who @jforquer selects if my players can't stop getting injured

Also at the back he has West Ham’s new signing Jose Fonte. He hasn’t had the brightest start to life with the Hammers, but this weekend gets to play against Sunderland, which is pretty much a gimme these days. Filling out @jforquer11’s backline is Man Utd’s Daley Blind. The Dutchman averages a little under 16 points per game, and on Sunday faces Chelsea at home. Two players in Midfield will be playing for Josh on Monday night. Marten de Roon of Middlesbrough and Alex Iwobi of Arsenal. If I’m not 25 points clear at that stage, (if I’m in the lead at all!) my side will be in big trouble.

What I Need To Happen

Hull City need to improve on their average of half a goal a game away from home against Stoke. When pressing for those goals, if they could let Marko Arnautovic sneak in at the other end for a goal or two, that would be great. Kevin Mirallas must surely be certain of a start for Everton. But who knows the mind of Ronald Koeman. Unfortunately, if he does start, and score, he will be taking points from my goalkeeper, Burnley’s Tom Heaton. I also have two Burnley and Everton defenders in Michael Keane and Leighton Baines, so this will be an interesting match. Hopefully they will keep each other busy and rack up the points.

I feel Moyes' struggle in getting the best out of Fabio Borini

With three midfielders injured now in Allen, Winks and Cazorla, it looks like I will have no choice but to start Jack Wilshere. But there is an upside. Bournemouth are playing Spurs, and the Arsenal man will be doubly determined to score. He is a due a goal after all. Perhaps he has been saving it for this game. Some of my other players will be playing against each other on Sunday too. Pedro travels with his Chelsea teammates to Old Trafford to face Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Neither of these two players are assured of ninety minutes though, so I might have to fall back on Plan… ummm… C. That would be… aaah… Fabio Borini…

Predictions

Six correct predictions last Gameweek as the league tightened up again. Nine points separate second from tenth. @RotoZdroik is still 12 points clear at the top and faces a stiff test against @BenDinnery this week. That’s not the tie of the round though, which is probably the fixture between @TRKingston in third and seventh placed @TAMc10 who is six points behind him. Don’t forget to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to see how my side is being screwed… every one of the matchups is panning out. Here are this week’s predictions.

Good Luck Everyone.

@FuzzyWarbles over @RotoWireAndrew

@Smokey_Loogy over @nealjthurman

@nikarg over @wrigavin

@FantasyYIRMA over @TomSunderland_

@EPL_MOstradamus over @cjradune

@TRKingston over @TAMc10

@SportsByGotti over @jasonuk17

@jwl_15 over @DFS_Hambazaza

@RotoZdroik over @BenDinnery

Week 32: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

The trio of Mahrez, Redmond and Deeney combined for a total of over 75 points, and as a result my side suffered their second defeat in less than a week. This defeat drops my side down to third in the league and means I was not able to capitalize on the loss suffered by table topper @RotoZdroik. Though I suppose things could have been worse, as @Smokey_Loogy left midweek Liverpool goalscorer Divok Origi on the bench for our match-up. That recent run of results means that only three points separate the team in second from the team in eighth.

The IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer have engineered a very interesting league table, and will try and send my side tumbling further down this weekend when I have to play a side who scored more points than mine in midweek, should have its best player back from injury, and will have three Man Utd and two Arsenal players, who are playing sides in 20^th and 16^th respectively. That side is managed by @RotoWireAndrew. Andrew’s team sits in 13^th place and is hoping for a late season push to rise up the table.

@RotoWireAndrew`s Team

Andrew spent most of his transfer budget on one man. Paul Pogba. The French midfielder has been recovering from a hamstring injury, but after a 45 minute run out on Tuesday, he seems poised to return to the Manchester United starting lineup. Pogba is Andrew`s highest scoring fantasy player, and the sixth highest player in the league overall. Pogba also has the third highest score per game average with 22.28 points. A total only beaten by Alexis Sanchez and Christian Eriksen. In comparison, my side`s highest scorer and highest per game average player, is Joe Allen. Helping Pogba out in Midfield for @RotoWireAndrew will be in form James Ward-Prowse of Southampton.

Only @RotoWireAndrew will have a bigger smile this week.

Another player on a positive run of late for Andrew is Theo Walcott. The Arsenal player has scored in his last two games, after having not previously scored since before Christmas. The 25.4 points Walcott scored against West Ham was his second highest total of the season, and you would be confident he could earn a similar score away to Crystal Palace on Monday night. @RotoWireAndrew will also have defender Nacho Monreal in that game. I could only have Milivojevic for that fixture, so I will probably need a sizable lead going into Monday.

What I Need To Happen

The only goal that Forward Fabio Borini scored in his 16 games this season came against Man Utd. Thankfully, Sunderland play the Red Devils again this weekend, but this time at home, meaning a Borini goal is bound to happen. Please mark your calendars for this occasion. With Pogba being back fit, he could impact the chances of my player Henrik Mikhitaryan getting 90 minutes at the Stadium of Light. Seeing United suffering a spate of injuries lately, it should have been the time the Armenian shone and repaid some of the $72 I paid for him at the start of the season. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to have been the case and Mikhitaryan can't be assured of a starting spot.

Wilshere is not even Arsenal's Plan B (do Arsenal have a Plan B?)

I may have to search for goals in other areas. Normally, with two players getting to take on Liverpool, I would be licking my lips at the prospect of goals. Sadly, Stoke City have only scored one goal in their last four games and seem to be clueless as to who to play up front. At various times, Walters, Crouch, Bony, Berahino, Diouf, and even someone called Bojan, had a stab at being a striker. Most of the Potters goals have actually come from the two other players in my squad. Joe Allen has six goals and Marko Arnautovic has five. I will need them to bail me out this week once again. If not, Plan B, as always, will be Jack Wilshere.

 

Has his time at Stoke prepared Bojan for a Bundesliga relegation battle?

Predictions

Nearly a perfect set of predictions last week, only ruined by @EPL_MOstradamus upsetting leader @RotoZdroik! I’m going to say that the match-up of this gameweek is the tie between @FuzzyWarbles (19-12) and @wrigavin (18-13). Here are this week’s set of predictions. Plus, don't forget to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to keep track of all the action.

Good Luck Everyone.

@Smokey_Loogy over @jforquer11

@FuzzyWarbles over @wrigavin

@FantasyYIRMA over @nealjthurman

@nikarg over @cjradune

@TAMc10 over @TomSunderland_

@EPL_MOstadamus over @SportsByGotti

@TRKingston over @DFS_Hambazaza

@RotoZdroik over @jasonuk17

@jwl_15 over @BenDinnery

Week 29: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

Kevin Mirallas helped seal a victory against @cjradune with a goal against West Brom. Both our sides were missing players thanks to the F.A. Cup games, but C.J. was really set back when Raheem Sterling was rested. In the end I managed to field eight players to his five and win by over 18 points. That victory keeps my side in second place, nine points off leader @RotoZdroik.

Mirallas with a.... wait.... why is Morgan Schneiderlin wearing number 2??

This week the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer has decided that I need to face a side that has won four games on the trot. A team with a host of star players who all seem to be hitting form going into the last few months of the season. A team that is out for revenge after our match-up in Gameweek 10 saw my team triumph in a week where he would have beaten every other side in the league. That team, @FantasyYIRMA.

@FantasyYIRMA’s Team

Recent surgery to his side has seen @FantasyYIRMA acquire Jamie Vardy and Vincent Janssen in the Forward position. Vardy has rediscovered his scoring boots in Leicester City’s upturn in results, which has seen them get to the Champions League quarter finals. The Janssen pickup is probably due to the fact that Spurs will be without Harry Kane for a run of fixtures, and by the law of averages, they have to play someone up front. He could also call on Wayne Rooney in a pinch if the England captain is fit to return against Middlesbrough on Sunday. Rooney has five goals against Middlesbrough in his career to date.

Will Janssen start on the pitch or on the bench? Will we notice??

@FantasyYIRMA probably has one of the best Midfield trios in IEFSA at the moment, and they all have favourable fixtures this weekend. Juan Mata scored midweek in the Europa League. Dele Alli is YIRMA’s top scorer with 13 goals. Mesut Ozil of Arsenal will face a West Brom team that appears to have already booked their summer holidays, and are simply packing the bucket and spade for the beach at the moment. At the back all his defenders have home ties. Ashley Williams faces Hull City. Winston Reid gets to tackle Vardy and Leicester City. While Jonny Evans will have the headache of Ozil and Arsenal.

What I Need To Happen

Thankfully a number of @FantasyYIRMA’s players will face each other at the weekend and will hopefully take points off each other. His Goalkeeper will more than likely be Simon Mignolet for Liverpool, who play Man City away on Sunday. Mignolet has only four clean sheets this season and will be doing well to keep out City. Although City were held scoreless by Stoke City in their last home Premier League game. Trying to outscore YIRMA’s Midfield this week will be difficult. Joe Allen has a tough game against Chelsea. Jack Wilshere has found himself on the bench at Bournemouth of late. Ibrahim Afellay has still to break into the Stoke side. While Kevin Mirallas is always a 50-50 chance to start for Everton. The one bright spot could be the return from injury of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who may need to be the main play-maker for Man Utd this week.

A few players have injury red flags to worry about too. Leighton Baines went off at halftime in Everton’s last game. Marko Arnautovic missed Stoke City’s game against Man City, but is due to return against Chelsea. Speaking of Chelsea, Pedro could be a doubt to start again (isn’t he always), the Spaniard hasn’t completed the full ninety minutes in the league since January fourth. If Pedro does miss out, he could be replaced by Cesc Fabregas, who is currently sitting on @FantasyYIRMA’s bench, waiting to pounce.

Predictions

Seven from nine last time out, with leader@RotoZdroik scoring the highest total of the week. First plays third in the clash of the round this time out, as @FuzzyWarbles will be trying to cut into @RotoZdroik’s lead. To keep tabs on the action, please follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter. Here are this week’s predictions.

Good Luck Everyone.

@wrigavin over @cjradune

@TAMc10 over @SmokeyLoogy

@SportsByGotti ovr @RotoWireAndrew

@jforquer11 over @DFS_Hambazaza

@RotoZdroik over @FuzzyWarbles

@nealjthurman over @BenDinnery

@nikarg over @jwl_15

@TomSunderland_ over @jasonuk17

@EPL_MOstradamus over @TRKingston

Week 28: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

Okay, okay. I’ll hold my hand up! I got the bench players wrong last gameweek. You see, it’s not only Arsene Wenger who struggles to put his best starting eleven out onto the pitch. I took a chance that Jack Wilshere would get more points off the bench against Manchester United, than both Ibrahim Afellay and Kevin Mirallas. I was convinced our Jack would get a decent twenty minutes chasing a huffing and puffing Man U. Instead, Bournemouth went down to ten men and dug in, while Wilshere never left the bench. I was sure Mirallas would only scrape together a few points away at Spurs. He got an assist. Because of these miscalculations, I lost to @TAMc10 by three and a half points.

I'm sure Bournemouth's terrible run ending when Wilshere was absent was just coincidence

No time to dwell on that loss though, as Gameweek 28 starts midweek with the fixture of Manchester City at home to Stoke City. Also, because of the FA Cup next weekend, there will be only a further four fixtures in which to score points. This means it will be difficult for IEFSA managers to get out a full squad of starters. This week the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer throws up a match-up with @cjradune, and of course he can call on three of his top four average scoring players, while my side on the other hand, will only have Joe Allen from my top three average scorers.

@cjradune’s Team

Raheem Sterling averages nearly 17 points per game and is C.J.’s top scorer with six goals. Sterling has also added five assists. His highest scoring fantasy player is Everton’s Ross Barkley. He averages over 18 points a game and has chipped in with four goals and six assists so far this season. His third high scoring player for this week is in Defence. Nathaniel Clyne of Liverpool averages over 15 points per game. And to help confirm the ‘hidden’ bias against my team, all of these players have very winnable home games this week.

Raheem Sterling should probably be rested with the Champions League next week, right?

If the six players @cjradune has this week, start and hit their averages, I will need my side to score 85 points in order to win. But will I have enough players to be able to achieve this?

What I Need To Happen

Top scorer Pedro doesn’t have a fixture this weekend. Arsenal are another team on FA Cup duty, meaning Bellerin will also be absent. New signing Luka Milivojevic has had a pretty respectable start to life at Crystal Palace, but no game for them this week, means he’ll sit on the bench here. Fabio Borini is another with no game to play, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

Of those who can start, the three players who gave me such a headache in Gameweek 27 will all probably still occupy their sides respective subs list. Wilshere, Mirallas and Afellay could benefit from rotation, but when combined they only got 29 minutes last weekend, so I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. Two fairly consistent performers from Stoke will get the gameweek underway on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, that game is away to Man City, and Arnautovic will be subject to a late fitness test, leaving Joe Allen to carry my side’s workload. Not for the first time!

Predictions

There are going to be lots of interesting match-ups this week because teams will be so shorthanded, so make sure you are following @THE_IEFSA on Twitter. @RotoZdroik has extended his lead at the top to nine points, and will be tough to catch this week because he has a full playing squad to choose from.

Last week saw six correct and three incorrect predictions. Will less teams playing mean the match-ups are easier to call this time around?

Good Luck Everyone

@FantasyYIRMA over @TAMc10

@SportsByGotti over @wrigavin

@SmokeyLoogy over @DFS_Hambazaza

@RotoZdroik over @RotoWireAndrew

@BenDinnery over @jforquer11

@FuzzyWarbles over @jwl_15

@nealjthurman over @jasonuk17

@nikarg over @TRKingston

@EPL_MOstradamus over @TomSunderland_

Week 27: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

A Pedro goal and assist against Swansea for Chelsea, coupled with a Michael Keane goal for Burnley away at Hull, was enough to help get me the win against @SportsByGotti last week. That win keeps me two games back from leader @RotoZdroik. A lot of teams would have been hampered by players not having a fixture in Gameweek 26, but no-one will have that excuse this week.

The IEFSA Fantrax fixture computer throws up a rare sight this week, as both goalkeepers will be on opposing sides in the same Premier League fixture. But with the compiler forever against my team, my opponent will have the home advantage in this one. In fact, all bar my Stoke City players will be playing away from home this week. And who is the manager given the leg up this week? Why @TAMc10 of course. A team that has won six out of his last seven games. The only loss being by less than five points.

@TAMc10’s Team

That goalkeeper who has a tidy home fixture this week is Lukasz Fabianski of Swansea. The Swans host a Burnley side who are the lowest away scorers in the league. His backline includes several high scoring Defenders. Azpilicueta of Chelsea averages over 15 points a game. While Koscielny of Arsenal also averages over 15. He can also call upon the talents of Vincent Kompany, who appears to finally be returning from his leg injury.

Despite how bad Liverpool have been playing, it's hard to see Sanchez being rested again.

Supplying the goals for Tate will be his main man Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean already has 17 to his name this season, as well as eight assists. Second on his goalscoring chart is Liverpool player Adam Lallana. The Midfielder has provided seven goals and seven assists in his 24 appearances. These two players will face each other at Anfield in the late Saturday kick-off. @TAMc10 will be hoping for lots of goals (and probably an Arsenal win!)

What I Need To Happen

Jesse Lingard was discarded last week in favour of Crystal Palace new boy Luka Milivojevic. The 25-year-old Serbian would not be as big a goal threat as Lingard, but I do feel that he will get more game time between now and the end of the season. Mkhitaryan is also out injured, so I needed a player who was more sure of a start coming into this gameweek. Ibrahim Afellay is still an option, but for how long? The two games Stoke play in the next five days will go a long way to showing if he fits into Mark Hughes plans going forward.

Lingard's goal in the League Cup Final could be his last for awhile. (or i'll look like an idiot)

With the vast majority of my players playing away, clean sheets might be hard to come by. And if I am looking for goals I will have to fall back on my two big players to deliver the goods once again. Pedro travels to West Ham, never an easy fixture, and Conte could shuffle his attacking options for this game too. While Joe Allen (yes, he’s my big goal threat) faces Middlesbrough. ‘Boro have the fourth best away defensive record in the league though, and rarely go three games without a clean sheet. My other goal threat is Jack Wilshere, but he travels to Old Trafford to face Manchester United this week in the early kick-off. That ground doesn’t get to see too many goals, never mind goals form the visiting team.

Predictions

Lots of moving and shaking going on this week as @cjradune sends Jamie Vardy to @FantasyYIRMA in exchange for Wilfried Zaha. It will take a few games to see who has got the upper hand in that exchange. The big clash in @THE_IEFSA this week will see leader @RotoZdroik face third placed @wrigavin.

Last week’s predictions went eight to one, with only @TomSunderland_ upsetting my clean sweep. Here are this week’s predictions. Good Luck Everyone.

@SportsByGotti over @cjradune

@FantasyYIRMA over @DFS_Hambazaza

@RotoZdroik over @wrigavin

@BenDinnery over @SmokeyLoogy

@RotoWireAndrew over @jwl_15

@jforquer11 over @jasonuk17

@FuzzyWarbles over @TRKingston

@EPL_MOstradamus over @nealjthurman

@nikarg over @TomSunderland_

Week 26: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

Both my top scorers scored in the last gameweek to help my side to victory over @DFS_Hambazaza. Pedro and Joe Allen have six goals each this season, and thankfully both have fixtures this weekend. With the League Cup final on Sunday, four sides don’t have a match this gameweek. Man Utd, Southampton, Man City and Arsenal. That means four IEFSA managers will be without goalkeepers this week, while a number must start looking deep into their squads in order to find eight outfield players. Some managers have been hit harder than others. @RotoWireAndrew only has five fit outfield players, with only two likely to start for their clubs. But I’m not facing Andrew this week. No, the IEFSA Fantrax fixture computer made sure I was facing a side that could get a full team out, and one that scored the highest points total in the previous gameweek. That side is the in-form @SportsByGotti.

Joe Allen would be a late call up to Welsh Six Nations squad if needed

@SportsByGotti’s Team

Mike may be missing his highest scorer in Kevin De Bruyne, but he has many capable replacements. In fact, @SportsByGotti has the only team in league where every one of his outfield players has found the net. He has a very dangerous squad indeed. Outside of De Bryne, the goals have come for Mike in the shape of Matt Phillips of West Brom (facing Bournemouth at home this weekend), Willian of Chelsea (Swansea at home), and West Ham’s Michail Antonio (Watford away). Swansea and Bournemouth have the worst two defences in the league, so @SportsByGotti should be confident of returns in front of goals again this weekend.

Mike appears to have luck at both ends of the pitch. As his goalkeeper, Everton’s Joel Robles, gets to face one of the lowest scorers away from home this season, Sunderland. Everton are also the most inform team over the last eight games, and @SportsByGotti recently snapped up their exciting young Forward Ademola Lookman. The nineteen-year-old averages a shade over one goal every five games in his fledgling career, and guess what? He hasn’t scored in his last four appearances for the Toffees. I keep telling you the IEFSA Fantrax fixture computer has it in for me, but no one believes me!

Lookman could deal my team a big blow by keeping Mirallas out of the side

What I Need To Happen

After all I’ve mentioned it seems like wishful thinking that @SportsByGotti will be kept scoreless. My side will just have to go toe to toe and knock in an extra goal or two. One of my top scorers, Joe Allen, has to try and get past the Spurs defence though. Tottenham have only conceded five goals at home all season, and only one goal at home in over three months. Which probably means I shouldn’t rely on Marko Arnautovic or Ibrahim Afellay to be scoring too many goals either.

Four of my squad have red flags by their names at the moment, while a further four could be considered to be questionable as to whether they will get the start for their teams. I could pull the plug on the Ibrahim Afellay experiment and draft in a player from Free Agency. Mark Hughes seems to have pulled the plug on the Ibrahim Afellay experiment too. Deploying Ramadan Sobhi in his place of late. Do I dare drop Jack Wilshere, when he is just about to find that first goal of the season? Perhaps it would be best to just get rid of Jesse Lingard? Manchester United don’t have a fixture this week, and Lingard doesn’t seem to have a fixture most weeks.

Lingard does most of his dabbing on the bench these days

Predictions

More correct than incorrect was the positive to take form the predictions in the last gameweek, five to four. My tie with @SportsByGotti is clearly the glamour fixture this weekend, second facing third. Another match-up to keep an eye on is leader @RotoZdroik, trying to prevent a third loss in a row, against @cjradune. C.J. will be out for revenge in this one, having lost their last encounter by less than two points. Remember to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to see how all these match-ups pan out.

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

@TAMc10 over @DFS_Hambazaza

@RotoZdroik over @cjradune

@FantasyYIRMA over @BenDinnery

@wrigavin over @jwl_15

@SmokeyLoogy over @jasonuk17

@TRKingston over @RotoWireAndrew

@EPL_MOstradamus over @jforquer11

@FuzzyWarbles over @TomSunderland_

@nikarg over @nealjthurman

Week 25: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

A squad that outscored your opponent 7 goals to 1. A goalkeeper clean sheet to two goals conceded. A defence that gave up one goal, verses a team whose three defenders gave up a total of 11 goals. Four players who outperformed their averages. A score that would have beaten 14 other sides in the league. All of this league leader @RotoZdroik achieved in Gameweek 24. Yet he still game away with the Loss, as my side put in an all-round performance that pulled in the week’s highest total, 162 pts. This keeps my team in second place, but now only nine points behind. This week the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer tries to throw me a potential banana skin against the side propping up the table, @DFS_hambazaza.

Lukaku nearly equaled my season top scorer in one afternoon, but ended up on the losing side

@DFS_hambazaza has scored the lowest number of points in each of the last three gameweeks. The last time we faced each other, the winning margin was over a hundred points in my favour. On paper this should be an easy three points. But as we all know, fantasy football can throw up some surprises when you least expect it.

@DFS_hambazaza’s Team

The January transfer window has not been kind to @DFS_hambazaza this year. Nathan Ake was averaging over 14 points a game before he was recalled to sit on the bench at Chelsea. Everton have had an upturn in their performance levels of late, but Gerard Deulofeu found himself surplus to requirements and is seeing out the rest of the season at AC Milan. Seemingly better news was the transfer of Robert Snodgrass from Hull to West Ham. But the Scot has yet to settle into the side, having only started one game, but did register an assist in that one start.

Robert Snodgrass is now @DFS_hambazaza's biggest weapon

@DFS_hambazaza still has a number of players who could cause my side trouble though. If they can get on the pitch. Charlie Daniels is his highest scoring defender, but he faces a late fitness test to be ready for the fixture against Man City on Monday night. Xherdan Shaquiri of Stoke City and George Friend of Middlesbrough are both nursing calf injuries and are doubts for their teams’ games at three o’clock on Saturday. The defence should not be a problem to fill, it’s the Midfield and Forward positions that will give @DFS_hambazaza the most headaches. He spent big on getting Nolito of Man City, but the Forward has not featured since Christmas.

What I Need To Happen

Hector Bellerin is still a doubt after the head injured suffered last week. He may have a tempting fixture at home to Hull City, but surely Arsene Wenger won’t risk the Spaniard before the big Champions League clash midweek. This will leave me with an unchanged backline of Leighton Baines, Steve Cook and Michael Keane. These three conceded a combined eleven goals last weekend, so any improvement on that would be a plus.

Henrik Mkhitaryan scored against the champions, so will hold no fear of Watford

On the attacking front, Mkhitaryan got on the scoresheet against Leicester City and will be expected to carve out as many chances at home to Watford. Kevin Mirallas missed out when Everton scored six goals against Bournemouth, so I don’t expect him to get back into their starting line-up any time soon. Sunderland also scored a lot of goals last weekend without the talents of Fabio Borini. But with the Black Cats missing a few midfielders through injury and suspension, perhaps he could make his way back into the side. Elsewhere in Midfield, Jack Wilshere will get a chance to help his Arsenal buddies by scoring a goal or two for Bournemouth against Man City on Monday. Also in Midfield, The Ibrahim Afellay Experiment has shifted up a gear with the Dutchman forcing his way into the Stoke starting eleven of late. I expect him to have his best points haul yet when the Potters host a free-falling Crystal Palace side.

 Predictions

After a slight dip in predictions midweek, an improvement to seven correct and two incorrect for Gameweek 24. @RotoZdroik has seen his lead cut to nine points, with two teams on 45 points to his 54. There is a cluster of five teams a further three points back. One of those teams is @SportsByGotti, who @RotoZdroik will face this week. To follow all the action make sure you check out @THE_IEFSA on Twitter.

Here are this week’s predictions.

Good Luck Everyone

@RotoZdroik over @SportsByGotti

@TAMc10 over @BenDinnery

@jwl_15 over @cjradune

@FantasyYIRMA over @jasonuk17

@wrigavin over @TRKingston

@EPL_MOstradamus over @SmokeyLoogy

@RotoWireAndrew over @TomSunderland_

@nikarg over @jforquer11

@FuzzyWarbles over @nealjthurman

Week 24: IEFSA Fantasy League Preview

My team responded to defeat in Gameweek 22 with a big victory midweek against @BenDinnery.  Along with scoring the highest total of the week with 133.7 points, the victory also saw my side move up into second place in the league. A Tom Heaton clean sheet for Burnley, as well as his teammate Michael Keane adding an assist. Marko Arnautovic chipped in with an assist too. Ben only had a Darren Fletcher assist and a one save Willy Caballero shutout in response. My rise was because of a number of upsets, as four of the top eight lost. One person who didn’t taste defeat was leader @RotoZdroik. His side has a league best six wins on the trot (the next best has two!). Adam also had the second highest score in midweek with 132.5. This after he had been nearly sixty points adrift going into Wednesday night.

All Tom Heaton's six clean sheets have come at Turf Moor

@RotoZdroik is now 12 points clear of a group of four teams. He is in danger of being out of sight before we enter the final third of the season. Our clash will also be a revenge game for him, as I managed to beat him in Gameweek 5 by a measly 2.6 points. It was one of only five defeats for him this season. He has only lost three in eighteen games since. While most of the league will be cheering me on in this clash of the top two sides, I have a feeling the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture computer has thrown up this fixture now in an attempt to undermine my side’s rise up the table. Only three of my players have home games this week. While Adam’s two top scorers, Defoe and Lukaku, have a combined goals total (24), just two shy of the combined goals total of my whole team (26).

@RotoZdroik’s Team

Oh did I mention he has eight goal Fernando Llorente and seven goal Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea in his squad too? Or that his Hull Goalkeeper gained more than twenty points in a game away to Manchester United last time out. If his players simply hit their average for the season, I will need 131.7 points to beat him. A score I have only managed six times this season. Adam can only play two of Lukaku, Llorente and Defoe though, so he will have a few choices to make this weekend. Lukaku and Defoe are the obvious picks, but Llorente did score two goals away at Liverpool recently and the Man City backline does tend to have the odd car crash game, even at home.

Sigurdsson spearheads a resurgent Swansea side

The three Defenders he is likely to go with all have home fixtures. Cahill, Maguire and Sagna. While two out of his three Midfielders will be playing at home, Gueye and Sane, the other being Sigurdsson. The Icelandic international has already scored against Man City this season in the League Cup though, and averages over twenty points a game. Unlike the Forward and Defender positions, Adam has no alternative options in Midfield with his Arsenal pair Granit Zhaka and Aaron Ramsey, suspended and injured respectively.

What I Need To Happen

Goals win games. I will need all of his top four scorers to have an off day this gameweek. The last time none of these players scored in a gameweek was back in mid-December in Gameweek 17. But even in that week, Leroy Sane scored for @RotoZdroik. With goals almost guaranteed, maybe I should just worry about my side scoring goals.

With most of my players playing away from home, and my only Forward playing at home is up against Arsenal. Pedro may have five goals this year, but he can’t seem to nail down a place in Conte’s Chelsea side. This London derby is the first game of the weekend, so as least I will know early if Pedro is in or out of my team. If he is out, Arnautovic or Borini will occupy the Forward position. Elsewhere in my team, Joe Allen and Henrik Mkhitaryan have had dips in form recently, and Jack Wilshere is still making me wait for his first Bournemouth goal. It may come this weekend, and if it does it would take cleansheet points away from my Defender Leighton Baines.

Afellay will take his gloves off soon and storm the fantasy scene

In better news, the Ibrahim Afellay Experiment is seemingly improving. He started Stoke’s last game and managed ninety minutes, but only 7.75 points. A trip to West Brom is not the easiest game to gain points in, so perhaps I will hold off on unleashing him to the fantasy football world just yet.

Predictions

With a few upsets last week, the predictions finally saw a dip from a run of six correct in a row over the previous three gameweeks. Five correct and four incorrect. Remember to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to not only keep track of this weekend’s scores, but also to see if any side has dipped into the transfer market. A number of teams are looking to get players in order to improve their fortunes. No one has made a bid for Ibrahim Afellay or Jack Wilshere yet. But when that happens, follow @GarryIrwin and you’ll be the first to know.

Here are this week’s predictions. Good Luck Everyone

@BenDinnery over @DFS_hambazaza

@SportsByGotti over @jwl_15

@TAMc10 over @jasonuk17

@TRKingston over @cjradune

@EPL_MOstradamus over @FantasyYIRMA

@wrigavin over @TomSunderland_

@nikarg over @SmokeyLoogy

@RotoWireAndrew over @nealjthurman

@FuzzyWarbles over @jforquer11