EPL Seasonlong Fantasy Blog

Freitag, 10. August 2018

Team Preview: Southampton

Penalties: Austin, Gabbiadini, Bertrand, Ward-Prwose, Davis

Free Kicks: War-Prowse, Elyounoussi, Redmond, Yoshida

Direct Free Kicks: Ward-Prowse, Boufal, Elyounoussi, Davis, Bertrand, Redmond

Credit to: https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

Southampton was already a bad choice for fantasy managers last season and since they now also gave Tadic away, I will stay away from them until I can see how Hughes system and their new players evolve. That being said, I kinda doubt that they will end up struggling again. On paper, this is a good team and should end up in the top 10.

Goalkeeper:

McCarthy, 4.5 Mil
Could be a good value pick, will monitor and maybe enter him into my home/away GK rotation.

Defenders:

This is - without a doubt - the best part of their team. You can basically pick them all if the team shows signs of life. All of them have a decent goal threat and Betrand and Soares also assists value.

Midfielders:

It has yet to be seen how this Midfield performs after Tadic has left.

Ward-Prowse, 6 Mil.

Set Pieces upside, now without Tadic even more so. I hope he can fill the void Tadic left.

Ellyounoussi, 6.5 Mil.
If Ward-Prowse, Redmond and him can get some chemistry going, this looks like a juicy fantasy Midfield. This guy is good, or he was, in the Swiss league tho. Let's see how this translates into the EPL. I am not a "THE EPL IS THE BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD" believer, so I think he has a fair chance to leave a mark.

Redmond, 5,5 Mil and Armstrong, 5.5 Mil

Redmond was on of their best last season and I do not expect that this will change, I actually expect him to make 3 digits in fantasy this season. Armstrong comes from the Scottish league and like Ellyounoussi, he needs to prove that he perform in a stronger league.

Forwards:

You know your Forwards suck when Austin is your best goalscorer despite missing most of the season.

Austin, 6 Mil.
Yeah, not a big fan of the Southampton offense, but someone will and has to score and he is still their best bet.

Gabbiadini, 6 Mil.
Send back to Italy please

Ings, 5 Mil
Bad Boy Ings, yeah...no thanks. Someone will probably quote that to me when he scores this weekend.

Team Previews Quick Links:

Arsenal, Bournemouth, Brighton, Burnley, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Huddersfield, Leicester, Liverpool, ManCity, Manu, Newcastle, Southampton, Spurs, Watford, West Ham, The 3 Newbies

Team Preview: Newcastle United

Penalties: Ritchie, Gayle, Atsu

Free Kicks: Ritchie, Shelvey, Kenedy, Gayle, Atsu

Direct Free Kicks: Ritchie, Shelvey, Kenedy, Ki, Murphy, Saivet, Atsu

Credit to: https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

Newcastle has to fight to stay in this league this year. I am not saying they will be relegated, but it won't be easy for them. At least they decided to get a new Forward. Rondon joined from West Bromwich and should help them to score more goals than last season.

Goalkeeper:

Dubravka, 5 Mil.

Looks like he gets the start. He started end of last season and did a good job.

Defenders:

Fabian Schär, 5 Mil.

Given his goal threat, this is a nice price.

I have to monitor who is starting here. They also bought Fernandez from Swansea. Will revisit after a few weeks into the season.

Midfielders:

Richtie, 6 Mil.
Surely their best asset. He is on all Set Pieces and leads the offensive charge.

Kenedy, 5 Mil.
I think this price is a steal! I love Kenedy and I think he will help them a lot. He was more dangerous than their forwards last season, so keep an eye on him.

Sung-Yong Ki, 5.5 Mil.
The Korean international played for Swansea before, be careful. While he was on some Set Pieces at Swansea, he might not take any here.

Forwards:

Perez, 6.5 Mil.
Had a good end of last season, let's see if he can pick up where he stopped. Goal scoring is Newcastle's biggest issue.

Rondon, 6 Mil.
He is back in the Premier League and I am glad about that. Solid Centre Forward, hard worker, no bullshit. Hope he can score some for the Magpies.

Donnerstag, 9. August 2018

Team Previews: Manchester United

Penalties: Sanchez, Pogba, Mata, Herrera, Lukaku

Free Kicks: Pogba, Sanchez, Mata, Rashford, Lukaku, Young

Direct Free Kicks: Mata, Young, Sanchez, Shaw, Lingard, Herrera, Martial, Rashford

Credit to: https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

Quo vadis Manu? A team full of "stars" and an eccentric coach who is too stubborn for success at times. This seasons success also depends a lot on if Sanchez can go back to pre Manu form, last season was very mediocre for a player with his skill set. One of the key factors for last years result was De Gea, he was the reason for their many Clean Sheets, not the defense. Unfortunately, he had a bad off season, he made a bunch of easy mistakes in both, friendly and World Cup matches. I am curious about any possible last minute transfers and Pogba's future under Mourinho.

Goalkeeper:

De Gea, 6 Mil.

Best GK last season, for now I am not paying up for him but he has a decent match-up so I can see players going for him.

Defenders:

Only guy I consider for now is:

Eric Bailly. 5.5 Mil

Waiting for how the Defense will line up and if Young can return to a good form after, in my eyes, a horrible world Cup performance.

Midfielders:

Sanchez, 10.5 Mil.
Yes, he didn't have the best season last year but I expect him to show up this time and lead this team. He has enough talent around him to make it into the top 3 but it will not be easy.

Mata, 6.5 Mil.
If he gets enough playing time, he is a very good pick. His price is way to cheap in my eyes.

Pogba, 8 Mil.

Why do I mention Mata before him? Well, I am not sure about his future at Old Trafford. Yes, the bought Fred and he looks like he is going to play more offense now and yes, he was their best fantasy player last season but Pogba doesn't perform well when he is not happy with his environment. I will monitor the situation before playing him. That being said, I can clearly see people picking 3 Manu guys early on.

Forwards:

Lukaku, 11 Mil.
Yeah, no secret here. He is a star. Not expecting him to start in the first game but after that he will be a regular in my lines. Strong, physical attacker would should see more help by Sanchez this year and therefor more shots.

Rashford, 7 Mil.

Reminds me of Sane at City, can be genius or complete salary waste. His talent is undisputed but he needs more experience and guidance. Possible first game week start if Lukaku does not suit up.

Mittwoch, 8. August 2018

Team Previews: Manchester City

Penalties: Aguero, Gundogan, Mahrez, Jesus, De Bruyne, Sterling

Free Kicks: De Bruyne, Mahrez, D. Silva

Direct Free Kicks: De Bruyne, Mahrez, D. Silva, Sane, Sterling, B. Silva

Credit to: https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

Hail the champions! Back to back Champions? Very likely but I guess we will find out. The strongest city ever got even stronger by adding Mahrez for 50. Mil. from Leicester. I am pretty sure he will find his way into the team and make an impact. If not, no problem! There are tons of options to choose from, from GK to Forward, every single player is viable. City had crazy fantasy value last season. 13 players over 100 points on FPL, 2 of them over 200.

The Fanteam scoring is slightly different but in general this is a good indicator of how good this team was last season. Sterling for example had 251 points on Fanteam and De Bruyne 243. De Bruyne will be referred to as KDB in my blog, I am too laze to write his name all the time. :)

Goalkeeper:

Ederson, 5.5
Second best GK last season and I am sure he will repeat or even top his last year result of 212 points. He had 16 Clean Sheets. He does not collect many saves due to City not allowing many goal attempts.

Defenders:

Since I am not a huge fan of elite Defenders in a Seasonlong, I am staying away from City players at the moment. I can see why people would play them, I just think that you can also get CS and Goals from cheaper options and rather use the saved salary for Midfielders/Forwards. I consider those positions more valuable than the defenders in a Seasonlong. You basically would need to nail the goal scoring + CS defenders each week to justify paying up for them.

Midfielders:

Welcome to Fantasy player heaven!

KDB, 10 Mil
Yes, he is my first pick, always. I am sure this season will be better than last for him and his potential is just insane. He should be up there with the likes of Salah, Kane, Aguero. He seems like pure value to me for 10 Mil. IF you play draft league,s that is your first pick if you can manage to snatch him.

Sterling, 10.5 Mil.

I hope that he will "recover" from his stumble World Cup...how annoying it was to watch him. He was the best City fantasy player last season but I think that both, KDB and Aguero, will do better than him this year.

D. Silva, 8.5 Mil.

He might go overlooked but I will for sure look at him whenever he starts.

Mahrez, Sane, Gündogan, B. Silva, Fernandinho. Foden.
They might all end up in one of my lines at some point, but for now they are part of a rotation scheme which I have no clue of, so neither of them will make it in my initial lines.

Forwards:

Aguero, 11 Mil
"Bounce back" candidate. I mean he was never really gone, it was just not his best season ever and I think this year he will will shine. I will lock him in alongside KDB whenever possible.

Jesus, 10.5 Mil

Another player who did not convince me during the World Cup. He could have scored so many goals.
If he plays he is defo a punt play, just a very expensive one. anything less than 2 goals is a bust for that price.

Team Previews: Liverpool

Penalties: Mane, Salah Fabinho, Milner, Firmino

Free Kicks: Henderson, Milner, Alexander-Arnold, Shaqiri

Direct Free Kicks: Oxlade Chamberlain, Milner, Henderson, Salah, Shaqiri, Firmino

Credit to: https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

We are half way through and this is only our second top 6 team, or should I say top 3? ;) I love Liverpool, I love Salah, I love Klopp (I am a huge Dortmund fan) and I love the way he dictates his philosophy onto a team. It is amazing how similar Liverpool and Dortmund played after just 2 seasons under his reign. I also love their new players, every single transfer makes complete sense and will help them attacking City and that is also where I see them in the end, they are contenders for that top spot. They might end up losing that battle but I am sure about the top 3 finish.

Goalkeeper:

Right, I said all the transfers made sense? Well, kind of! I think the transfer amounts for GKs is becoming ridiculous. €73 Million? Srsly? Anyway...

Alisson, 5.5 Mil

It is a fair price but I will not play him since I prefer to have 2-3 Liverpool Midfielders/Forwards on the field most of the times.

Defenders:

Some interesting options here but same issue as with Alisson, I prefer to have Liverpools offensive department in my line. BUT, in some match-ups I will throw in some Dijk, TAA or Robertson/Gomez

Midfielders:

What can I say? Watch the rotation and choose your poison.

Salah, 13 Mil.

Is he expensive? Yes! Is he worth it! Definitely! You will read a lot about second season trouble, man to man coverage, doubling...yeah, that happened all the time last season. And tell me, how many goals did he score? Right...!

Mane, 9.5 Mil
Another great option from this amazing Midfield. Should a team really manage to shut down Salah, then he will be the next threat they will have to deal with. He gains some extra upside due to him being on penalties.

Keita, 7.5 Mil
How happy I am with this addition, he is such a great player and I think he is the perfect match for this team and system. I am not sure about his fantasy production yet so I will choose 6-7 Mil options from other teams over him for now, but if you feel like a Liverpool stack, go for it.

And the rest... There will be lots of rotation and we yet have to see who is taking which Set Pieces so mosf the other players will be week by week decisions. Milner at 5.5 Mil. is always worth a shot when playing.

Forwards:

Firmino, 9.5 Mil.

An Eite Forward in this team with a great price tag! In my opinion a must play in week 1, more than Salah.

Sturridge, 6.0 Mil.
An alternative to King, Woods and other 6/6.5 Mil. Forwards? His pre-season looks impressive so far, he is Liverpools scoring leader there, with 6 Goals and 2 Assists against Manu, Napoli, Torino, Blackburn and Chester. If he plays I am intrigued!

Solanke, 5 Mil
Yeah...no! I mean, whenever he played he looked misplaced to me but on the other hand, when you start upfront, in this team, you will get many balls which will lead to many chances, at some point he might net one.

And I am not gonna mention Ings..

Dienstag, 7. August 2018

Team Previews: Leicester City

Penalties: Vardy, Maddison

Free Kicks: Maddison, Fuchs, Albrighton, Gray

Direct Free Kicks: Albrighton, Maddison, Fuchs, Gray, James

Credit to: https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

Mahrez is gone! Yep, that is a big deal for this team and until I have seen what Maddison can do, I am staying away from Leicester. Sure, they have Vardy but I yet have to see if Maddison can feed him or if Albrighton steps up. I am also not a big Schmeichel fan, I think he is very overrated and just another mediocre GK. Their defense has obv. Maguire, which should be highly owned due to his good World Cup performance, but Leicester does not have a Trippier and no Southgate Set Pieces, so I am not sold.

Goalkeeper:

Schmeichel, 5.0 Mil.
I gladly pass and choose a 4.5 Mil. Keeper instead.

Defenders:

Maguire, 5.5 Mil.
Will here and there end up in my lines. Reason to fade him is his "high" ownership.

Midfielders:

Maddison, 6 Mil.
Looks promising but could be a trap, I will wait. Premier League ist not = Championship.

Albrighton, 5.5 Mil

I like him, I also liked him last season but only viable when the match-up is good. Again, I will wait how the Leicester Midfield is going to develop.

Forwards:

Vardy, 9.0 Mil.

Yes, he is a great forward but for 9.0 Mil. he will also be on my waiting list until I have a better idea of where the Leicester Team is going.

Team Previews: Huddersfield Town

Penalties: Mooy, Van La Parra, Löwe

Free Kicks: Mooy, Löwe

Direct Free Kicks: Mooy, Löwe, Palmer, Hefele

Credit to: https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

And here is my 3rd candidate for possible relegation. They won only 3 of their last 20 matches last season. They added some players but none of them excites me. They only kept the class because they did some decent defending and had the 8st most Clean Sheets. This will be a short preview.

Goalkeeper:

Lössl, 4.5

His Clean Sheets came from good defending, his save statistics are not convincing, still he managed to be the highest scoring player in terms of fantasy in his team.I will gladly fade.

Defenders:

Cheap value material, not gonna break them down. At home, vs non top 6 Teams, they can give you salary relief.

Midfielders:

Aaron Mooy, 6.0 Mil
He carried them last season and most likely he will continue to do so. He has some upside due to him being the guy for all the Set Pieces. Will occasionally end up in my lines when the match-up allows it.

Forwards:

Since they were the least dangerous team last season I am gladly skipping their forwards but one should be mentioned.

Mounie, 6 Mil.
He scored 8 Goals and 1 Assist. And that's it.