Which fantasy football expert knew Gameweek 24 best?
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Last week we went around the table to get expert analysis on the topical fantasy football issues of the week, but how did the expert’s advice fair?
READ MORE: Here’s Gameweek 24’s round table picks in full
Here’s a quick reminder of who was on the panel for Gameweek 24.
FPL Nymfria is a graphic designer and the glamorous half of the FPL popinpod. Follow her blog and videos @FPLjournalblog
Migtavius is the other half of the FPL popinpod and contributor to @fpljournalblog aswell as being a die hard Crystal Palace fan and Roy Hodgson admirer.
Varun Bansal is an FPL veteran. He loves interacting with the fantasy football community and offering his insight and guidance. You can find his articles at 90MAAT and fantasyfootballhub.com
The Topics
Marko Arnautovic has been in dazzling form for the hammers including two assists and a goal in his last outing, will he register further attacking returns when West Ham welcome Bournemouth to the London stadium?
Yes, come on Arnie.
I’m going to go with a no on this one. After his great form in recent weeks, I think he’ll have a blank this time out.
He is on fire for the Hammers and I expect him to continue his amazing form. He played up front in the last game which is a great news for fantasy managers. We had Josh King playing up front last year for Bournemouth and Arnie could do similar for David Moyes’ men. He looks like an absolute must-have.
Verdict: Win for Nymfria and Varun. Marko Arnautovic’s blocked shot was latched onto by Chicarito, giving him a fantasy assist. The Austrian also fired another shot at the Cherries’ goal but was largely kept quiet. That’s 10 returns in his last eight games now. He is currently a doubt for the Hammers’ next game but he does have a whole week to recover before welcoming Crystal Palace to the London stadium.
READ MORE: How to win money playing fantasy football with Yahoo Daily Fantasy
It has been 17 game weeks since Romelu Lukaku scored more than one goal in an EPL game, can he achieve it this week as in form Manchester United travel to take on Burnley?
Yes. Man United are full of confidence and he was close last Gameweek, so lets give him the benefit of doubt for this one.
In a word. No. Although he looked productive against Stoke, everyone looks productive against Stoke at the moment. Burnley, although having dropped off recently, have a much tougher and frugal defence.
Romelu Lukaku got a goal each in his last two games in all competitions and all in all looks as sharp as he did at the start of the season. I can see him scoring against Burnley but more than one is a bit of a stretch I think. Burnley are strong at the back and any result either way will be at most by a goal or two. So, I’d say it’s highly unlikely.
Verdict: Points for Mig and Varun. Romelu Lukaku was involved in the only goal of the game at Burnley, but it was Anthony Martial who scored the winner. The big Belgian failed to register a shot in the game but did receive the ball often. He made 23 passes, more than both Phil Jones and Chris Smalling- a promising sign that he was involved in a lot of buildup play against the Clarets.
With just two goals in his last nine games can Jamie Vardy return to scoring ways as the Foxes take on Watford in a fixture that looks sure to deliver goals?
Yes. As someone who has suffered through bad returns from a run of easy fixtures with a Watford defender, I think Vardy could do well in this fixture.
Yes. Vardy’s quite a streaky scorer. I can see him using a Watford side, who have not kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 13, as a launch pad to another scoring run.
Jamie Vardy is a goalscorer. He hasn’t been in the greatest of form but I see that changing. Leicester will definitely have loads of chances against Watford and I can see him scoring more than one.
Verdict: Vardy scored, points all round! Jamie Vardy returned to scoring ways against the Hornets with one of his two shots on target. He was the highest scoring Yahoo player of the game on 16 points at just £18. This is his third goal in five games with Everton, Swansea and Manchester City in the next three.
Which defender(s) this week offer the best chance of both a clean sheet and an attacking return?
I’ll try go with a little differential here from your usual Marcos Alonso etc and say Virgil van Dijk. Time for us to see what the big man can do at Liverpool.
There are some of the usual choices like Nicolas Otamendi and Alonso, but I like to be different so I’m picking Zanka for Huddersfield. Up against a Stoke side that just don’t know what to do at the moment, I can see him climbing high and grabbing something from a set piece.
My pick this week would be Kyle Walker of Man City. After last week’s disappointment, City would like to put things right at home to Newcastle and I don’t see them losing the clean sheet. With Walker’s involvement in their attacking output, an assist or two could be on the cards.
Verdict: Virgil van Dijk scored 8.65 points, Zanka 3.65 and Kyle Walker 6.1. Nymfria wins! None of the defenders picked score any attacking returns nor kept a clean sheet. Van Dijk racked up a respectable total through his three shots on goal and a staggering 113 passes! The highest scoring defender of the week was Nacho Monreal, with 21.95 points from a goal and two assists.
Arsenal have won one of their last six games in all competitions and tasted defeat against Bournemouth last week. With the club in disarray would you select any of their players in your Yahoo Daily Fantasy team as Arsenal clash with Crystal Palace at the Emirates?
No. Palace have looked a much better side – though if I really wanted a punt on Arsenal, the only players I’d look at are Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.
Yeah. As I said, I like to be a bit different. So, hoping that he wouldn’t be dropped, you could look at young Maitland-Niles. Starting most of the league games over the Christmas and New Year period, he has looked calm on the ball and dangerous going forward in a back line that regularly appears panicky. But why have an Arsenal player when you can have goal-king Bakary Sako?!
Arsenal do seem in chaos right now but a game at home to Palace could be a good opportunity for their forward line to fire. I can see the transfer business regarding Sanchez to be finalised by then so Alexandre Lacazette could be a good shout and with Henrikh Mkhitaryan said to be on the way they could score a few. I won’t consider anyone in defence though.
Verdict: Alexandre Lacazette was the highest scoring player from those mentioned with 18 points. A point for Varun! Arsenal’s opening 30 minutes produced four goals, enough to win them the game and the players knew it as they backed off and did nothing for the remaining hour of lackadaisical football. Maitland-Niles and Aaron Ramsey failed to start for the Gunners and Wilshere couldn’t get firing, returning just 2.75 points.
READ MORE: The Chief’s Gameweek 24 must-have, comeback and differential pick.
In Yahoo Daily Fantasy, goalkeepers are awarded four points if their team wins and two for a draw – six additional points are awarded for a clean sheet and they earn 1.5 extra points per save: which keeper will rack up the most points this week?
Kasper Schmeichel or Jordan Pickford. I’ll plump for Schmeichel, he could have his hands full if Richarlison decides to show up.
I’ll go with Burnley’s Nick Pope. I’m really backing a Burnley win here aren’t I? United players love a good pop shot from outside the box, which could provide Pope with those save points. He hasn’t kept a clean sheet against a top-six club so far this season, but there’s a first time for everything right?
In my opinion Ederson is the goalkeeper with the most potential this week. A clean sheet is virtually guaranteed against a struggling Newcastle and I also back them to win, any saves are a bonus.
Verdict: Kasper Schmeichel was the highest scoring keeper from those above. Nice pick Nymfria. Swansea’s hard-fought shutout of Liverpool on Monday night gave Lukasz Fabianksi 16 point from a win (4), clean sheet (6) and four saves(6) and the title of the highest scoring goalkeeper of Gameweek 24. Pope actually scored negative fantasy points (-0.5) this week, you’d have been better off with no-one between the sticks.
Which premium fantasy asset will deliver a flop performance in Gameweek 24?
It depends what’s classed as a flop this season. For instance, is Harry Kane not scoring a hat-trick these days classed as a flop? In that case, Harry! But if not, then I somehow have a feeling City won’t keep a clean sheet against Newcastle, so maybe Ederson or Otamendi.
Well I could go with Lukaku as I said earlier that he would score again this week, but I’ll say someone different and say Dele Alli against Southampton.
I can see a flop performance from Eden Hazard again. Brighton have been known to be difficult to break down and that has been Chelsea’s undoing over the last few games with three consecutive 0-0 games. I do expect them to win but Hazard could disappoint again.
Verdict: Dele Alli was the lowest scoring player of the above with just 3.4 points. Good call Migtavius! Eden Hazard ended up being the second-highest scoring player of the week on 26.55 points, Varun should lose a point for that! City did fail to keep a clean sheet but Otamendi and Ederson both managed to score over five points. The pair were caught out by Ciaran Clark’s long ball which found Jacob Murphy who cooly dinked over Ederson with composure Aguero would have been proud of. On Yahoo fantasy, Alli is quite goal dependent as he is not as involved in the build-up play as much as the likes of Eriksen or as shot-heavy as Kane.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy awards points for tackles, shots on target and successful crosses, which player(s) from the Leicester V Watford fixture will deliver an all action performance right across the pitch?
Riyad Mahrez and Mark Albrighton from Leicester and Abdoulaye Doucoure & Richarlison for Watford (keep an eye on Andre Carrillo though!).
One name that stood out to me when looking at the criteria is Marc Albrighton. He loves whipping the ball into the box, he’s capable of hitting the target from distance, and always works hard for the team in defence. Oh and he’s on set pieces which doesn’t hurt.
Mahrez will always be involved in crossing and shots but another one I am looking at is Mark Albrighton. He is a very good crosser of the ball and also takes a few set pieces. For Watford, Richarlison takes a lot of shots so he will be involved and do consider Doucoure who will be putting in his tackles and has demonstrated he has an eye for goal.
Verdict: Mahrez outscored Albrighton and Richarlison with 13 points. That means one point for Nymfria and Migtavius. Leicester’s 2-0 win was the final nail in the coffin for Marco Silva who was sacked this week following the worst record in the league in the previous 11 games. Jamie Vardy dealt the opening blow to Silva with his first-half goal. Mahrez popped up in injury time to seal his fate. Vardy was the highest scoring player of the game with 16 points.
In Yahoo daily fantasy you can pick up to six players from the same club, Manchester City welcome toothless Newcastle to the Etihad this weekend, is a City defensive quadruple worth serious consideration?
No! As mentioned above, I reckon Newcastle might nick at least one goal.
I don’t think I can trust City that much, especially after their display against Liverpool last time out. Most of the goals were of a result of their mistakes. Newcastle may be ‘toothless’ but they are capable of dirtying any team’s clean sheet.
I would say so. After last week’s defeat Pep Guardiola would have been very much involved in the training ground and I expect a near perfect performance from the leaders. It’s unfortunate for Newcastle but they will be in the firing line in my opinion. So, it’s a great shout to have a City defensive quadruple.
Verdict: To make the quadruple up worth it, the defending team has to keep a clean sheet and Manchester City failed to do that. This makes Varun’s punt on City not worth the outlay so points Nymfria and Mig. Manchester City controlled the game at home unsurprisingly with 80% possession but Newcastle still managed to test Ederson four times with shots on goal. There always seems to be a mistake in the City backline. They now have 11 clean sheets, third behind Chelsea on 13 and United on 14.
If you can afford only one of these players this weekend, do you pick Harry Kane away to Southampton or Mohamed Salah away to Swansea?
Mo Salah. Mo’s the Man!
It’s got to be Salah*. The man had been in ridiculous form scoring whenever he wants. He may get a call from Buckingham Palace because he’s going to hurt some Swans.
*Note: I don’t actually own Salah in my FPL team……or Kane.
Both are in sensational form and are they are the two highest goalscorers in the league this season but this week I’d rather have Harry – the main factor being the opposition. Swansea have improved a lot under Carlos Carvahal and a solid defensive display could be on the cards. Southampton on the other hand, have been pretty poor especially in defence and given that Kane scored three in the reverse fixture he becomes the favourite.
Verdict: Good call on the solid Swans defence under Carvahal by Varun! Mohamed Salah blanked for the second time since Gameweek 8 against a heroic Swansea performance at Anfield. Meanwhile, Harry Kane added another goal to his golden-boot tally, with 21 goals in 23 games now.
Gameweek 24 winner
Varun started strongest with four points in the opening five questions but could not keep up his blazing form into the final five questions. Migtavius peaked towards the end with a trio of points in the final four points but it was Nymfria’s consistency that won out. She failed to blank in consecutive questions and edged the win by a single point.
