Here’s our fantasy football tips article where Stephen Troop reviews GW4 for his FPL, TFF and Sun teams as well as his plans for GW5 in these formats
fantasy football tips – Stephen Troop reviews GW4 and previews GW5 for his FPL, TFF and Sun teams
All in all a poor week I have to say, but my teams don’t appear to be at a stage I need to panic yet.
Telegraph fantasy football
Stephen finished last season at around 1k overall rank
GW4 weekly points 44 , overall rank 25,430
Another poor, but not disastrous week. Think it was generally a low scoring week for most.
A slight improvement in rank but not a great week again. Mane made way for Kane as planned getting me a goal as a final gift. I did think about Hazard instead but figured I’d want Kane longer term.
Defence did ok. De Gea finally earned a shutout, Coady got a clean sheet and Robertson/Mendy got a KC each to make up somewhat for no clean sheet.
That’s where the good story ends though. There were no clues from Roy Hodgson that Zaha was injured and there was no information regarding the seriousness of the injury which made it hard to make a decision in the hour between team sheets being released and kick off. Alonso was very tempting, but I decided to save transfers before the international break and make a decision in the next gameweek. I can do the same swap if needed as they play at the same time next gameweek too. The stats show that Palace without Zaha tend to perform poorly which makes Van Aanholt less attractive. The injury to Tomkins doesn’t help matters there either.
Mkhitarian made an 89th minute cameo only which brings into question his gametime after 3 consecutive 90 minute appearances. This will need monitoring.
Salah had his first blank. A slightly underwhelming start but his expected assists/goals are at a better level than last year at the same point. Jota blanked again, and was subbed at 60 minutes. He will stay a couple more weeks but there are a number of options here. Maddison, Seri and Pereyra the main ones.
Aguero surprisingly only made a KC and Kane blanked. Whilst the blank isn’t worrying his underlying stats and average positioning definitely were. He doesn’t really look the same player since his injury last season but as the world cup shows, he can score even when well below par. I think he was rushed back after the world cup without a proper rest, which probably isn’t helping.
Plans will be to wait and see if Zaha starts the next game and if we get any news on seriousness if not. If he doesn’t start Alonso will likely come in. Mkhitaryan will be monitored for gametime.
Fantasy premier league
Stephen finished last season with a rank of 52k OR
weekly points 45, overall rank 387,957
Another poor week with 1 point above average. My transfer of Richarlison to Walcott didn’t really give any benefits and Walcott could be a risk for the next game. Mkhitarian 1 point last minute cameo meant Doherty’s 6 points stayed on the bench. Fabianski was only a couple of minutes from a 9 pointer too. Pedro somewhat saved my gameweek despite not starting.
Wildcard is tempting however the only player I really want currently is Alonso so makes sense to just take a -4 to do Van Aanholt>Alonso and downgrade either King/Walcott/Mkhitarian. Then Wan Bissaka would play in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. I can’t see Alonso keeping his form up and it means a lot of funds in defence but he’s too dangerous not to own currently. His stats are very good too and has Cardiff at home next.
Sun Dream Team
weekly points 37, overall rank 142,358
A poor week here too with a small ranking drop. Hart got 5 points despite Burnley losing to UTD 2-0 with the help from a penalty save. Aubameyang also repaid the faith. Not sure on my plans for September transfers yet. Mkhitarian will likely go and Aubameyang will likely go for Kane. With the Champions League starting, it makes sense to load of up players in this competition as Europa tend to have more rotation. I have £1.5m in the bank so should be easy to get him in.
See also our 10 top FPL managers article, the underlying stats GW4 article, the early thoughts on the FFGeek team article and thefixture ease article
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