Last week we tried out a new type of article. A podcast for your eyes, if you like. Now we’re back with episode two. Like Aston Villa’s approach to signing players, we’re going to keep going with our Fantasy EPL Weekly Ramblings until someone tells us to stop.
This week we cover the Community Shield, Harry Maguire, and a whole host of questions from the wonderful Fantasy EPL community. As always, let us know what you think.
Fantasy EPL Weekly Ramblings
Inner Geek
FOOTBALL IS BACK FELLAS!!
It may have just been the Community Shield – it’s meaningfulness on par with Tottenham’s Audi Cup win – but it’s still football. Liverpool and City played out a 1-1 draw (I’m refusing to acknowledge a penalty victory because of said irrelevance)….what were our takeaways from the game?
Chap 2
My biggest takeaway was Joe Gomez starting.
I was weighing up whether to draft Gomez or Matip the night before (in the FF Chaps Draft League) but a mate got Matip first and I didn’t have the nerve to go with Gomez.
But then Gomez made an error, which lead to the goal. So I feel a bit like how Klopp must be feeling. I want Gomez to partner VVD; he’s the most natural fit. But he’s been out for so long. He had a torrid night versus Barcelona in last year’s Champions League (albeit at right back) and he made a costly error yesterday.
Inner Geek
Yeah that centre-back spot next to VVD really is up for grabs. Anyone owning Gomez or Matip surely can’t be confident right now. Or TAA for that matter. That was probably my biggest takeaway from the game. Not so much that TAA had a bad game, but that the option of bringing him off seems to still be the number one way of “fixing” the defence in Klopp’s mind.
Chap 2
TAA went in round 3 on Saturday night in our draft. Whilst everyone playing draft knows the value of TAA, round 3 for the highest priced defender (our league has player values) is a risky move.
TAA will play. For sure. But his place is not as nailed on as Robertson. That’s where I’d have gone.
Chap 1
TAA is such a beast though. Especially in Togga scoring on Fantrax!!
Very disappointing to see him taken off just after the hour.
Chap 2
Are City just resting up Aguero for the league?
Inner Geek
Yeah for sure.
Sterling and Salah looked good.
Also, water is wet.
Chap 1
Haha.
Do you guys see Zinchenko as the first choice left back at the moment?
Chap 2
I do.
What do we make of João Cancelo transfer rumours? He can play at left back, is that more cover for Mendy or just a straight Danilo swap?
Inner Geek
Yeah I guess Zinch must be considered first choice for now…that position could be on a week by week basis all season long though.
The Cancelo swap is actually being reported by reputable sources…so probably?? That could also be one where there’s no consistent starter or understudy.
Chap 2
I just can’t be doing with riding the rotational wave this season.
Inner Geek
Agreed.
Chap 1
Cancelo is mainly a right back isn’t he? City already have three left backs in Zinchenko, Mendy, and Angelino…
Chap 2
Yeah he is. But can cover left back (a bit like Danilo).
Chap 1
Sounds like a good signing to me – if only to annoy the manager in our league who drafted both Walker and Mendy…
Inner Geek
Nightmare scenario for him lol.
Walker deserves to stay first choice purely for that goal line clearance though – that was pretty special.
Chap 2
Predictions on Rodri guys? I was impressed.
Considering how well CDMs can do in Fantrax given the scoring matrix, what are we thinking?
Inner Geek
Yeah he looked fine. I’d imagine he’ll end up with very similar numbers to Fernandinho last season (not surprisingly). Which would be a nice return. One of those guys you can just leave in and not worry about because he’s going to get you 8-10 points every game. 11 of those players won’t win you the league, but having two or three is important.
Chap 1
Oh yeah for sure. You need a few linchpins in your side… Ndidi, Doucoure, Kante, Ndombele, players like that!
Questions From The Fantasy EPL Community
Inner Geek
Okay, so we’ve got a bunch of questions and thoughts from the community, so maybe we should crack on with those. First up, @draft_fpl says: “Would love to see an article on FAAB strategy!”
I’ve never played in a league before with this, though I’d like to – it seems to add a very interesting and strategic twist to free agents. Have you guys?
Chap 1
We haven’t… but the FPL Draft Community League that we are a part of does include this option for waiver requests!
Currently considering how much to bid on Pepe!
We’ll have some Free Agent Acquisition Budget tips for the Community in a few month’s time, once we’ve figured out the best tactics for this waiver rule though.
We have $100 to bid on players for the whole season… it’s a toss-up between bidding a lot of the budget on Pepe, or spreading it out across the season to get lots of consistent pick-ups from the free agent pool.
It does make sense to try and spread it over the season, but if a player of the caliber of Pepe is there, it’s so tempting to bid big on him.
Inner Geek
This is probably an obvious thing to say, but I guess it depends on your squad, right? Like if you have a bunch of linchpins in your side – as we were just discussing – then spending high on a game-changer might be the way to go….but if you have a lot of rotation risk in your side (see the manager in your league with Walker and Mendy!) then spreading it across the season would make more sense. But that’s just the thoughts of someone who has never played with FAAB rules, so what do I know!?!
Chap 1
Haha yeah that does sound like a solid strategy… if you’ve drafted well then blowing most of the budget on a big name should work.
If you’ve drafted badly then you know you’ll probably need to spread the budget across the season!
Inner Geek
Okay, so next one is from good old @tottiandor, who asks: “Is Brighton moving away from Gross to a 433? And as a result, is Trossard a viable top 5 round midfielder?”
I think he means moving to a 343 based on reports from Brighton’s final pre-season game where they used that, with Gross left on the bench.
Chap 1
Very disappointed by the last couple of friendly lineups for Brighton. Gross on the bench for both!
Was really hoping he would be the main man under Potter, and we’d get the Gross from a couple of years ago back. He showed glimpses last year.
Not sure about Trossard being a viable first 5 round midfielder though. He does look good, but I think Totti is just getting excited because he drafted Trossard in the FPL Draft Community League!
Inner Geek
Brighton are one of the tougher teams to call this year. I like Potter but we’ve seen before how tough it can be to try and change a clubs playing philosophy (e.g. Stoke and West Brom).
I’d be very worried if I owned Gross. He was a legitimate 3rd/4th rounder two weeks ago. Now he’s barely draft-able. Like Totti I may be a bias because I nabbed Trossard in my league, but I’d make the case he’s a 5th-6th rounder based on preseason reports.
Chap 1
I drafted Gross myself. But in the 11th round so I’m happy to ditch him right away!
Chap 2
I’m avoiding the Brighton boi’s this season.
But if I were in a 10 or 12 manager league I’d probably be looking at Gross/Trossard as a 5th choice mid.
But I’d be punting on the likes of Buendia, Grealish, Barkley, and McNeil before a Brighton boi.
Inner Geek
They might be a good team to re-evaluate during the first international break.
Totti also asked: “How would u rank the Liverpool midfielders re: draft positions?”
So we’re talking Milner, Wij, Henderson, Fab, Ox, Keita, Lallana.
Chap 2
- Wij, 2. Milner, 3. Hendo, 4. Ox, 5. Fab, 6. Keita, 7. Lallana
Wouldn’t go near anyone other than the first 2, maybe Hendo.
Inner Geek
Interesting…
I don’t think I’d take any tbh….the Ox would be most tempting. Wij I guess would be second on my list.
Chap 1?
Chap 1
That’s a tough one on the Liverpool midfield. Personally, I wouldn’t take any… But Ox would be my punt if I had to pick one of them!
Inner Geek
Next up, @SkyPlayerInFPL: “You’ve drafted a solid team but suffer a few injuries to some of your early-round picks in pre-season. What’s the best way to deal with it?”
Chap 2
Great question! At the start of last season, we wrote a piece on what to do if your first round big gun gets injured. It largely depends on three things:
- Who is injured
- How long the player is going to be out
- Who is available
If it’s Salah and he’s out for 6 – 8 games I’d stick.
But if it were Maddison for 6-8 games, and I’ve not got great midfielder options in my squad I’d look elsewhere if a viable option was going.
It’s very situation-specific. Judge each case on its merits. And of course, contact us if you want to chat through it!
Inner Geek
Yeah, those three are very important. I’d also add: 4. How many subs you’re allowed. We only have three in our league (because it’s 14 teams) so wasting one on an injured player is tough call to make!
Also….If you do decide to get rid, definitely throw out some trades first. Don’t just drop them to free agency. There’s a good chance at least one manager will be willing to take the long term injury-hit…
Chap 2
Oh yes!! Trade bait. Lovely stuff.
There’s definitely one guy that wants Salah despite the 4 month lay off. Classic.
(That is not sarcastic – there’s one guy in our league that would take the trade!)
Inner Geek
Haha, I do not doubt it! Liverpool fan by any chance?
Chap 2
Chelsea.
Loves the big names.
Big names and pace.
Chap 1
Pace based on FIFA stats.
Inner Geek
Haha, love it.
Couple more.
@FantraxPr: “How many goals will Joe Linton and Wes Lee score between them this season? Asking for a friend.”
Chap 1
Not too convinced by either of them to be fair. Not that prolific and playing for relegation-threatened sides. Around the eight goals mark for me. Lucky if they hit double figures.
Inner Geek
I think you’re bang on the money there. 16.5 would be the over/under; 20 combined is a good season.
Can’t see either getting into the Rich Arlison range.
Chap 2
Agreed.
Chap 1
Haha very good! Rich Arlison
Inner Geek
I try.
And finally, @craigos87…
“My friend @NeilRCartwright isn’t very confident. Hasn’t made the playoffs in either season we’ve played. His draft choices are erratic and he lets his heart rule his head. Any advice for him before our Thursday draft?”
Chap 2
Be bold and be brash. This is your year Neil.
Gut feel and stats for picks, transfers, trades, and selections.
Finally hit us up if you want to chat things over, or ask the Draft community – best way to do that is putting a question forward to @draftanswers.
Chap 1
And use our Draft Rankings as a guide during Thursday’s draft!
Inner Geek
Nice. So I think that’s all the community questions this week. To finish proceedings….higher or lower (draft value) for Maguire now that he’s at United?
Chap 1
Slightly higher for me… he’s wasn’t a great scorer last season, but hopefully he can up his stats now he’ll be playing for a Top Six side.
Inner Geek
Yeah, last season he was the 24th highest scoring DEF, with the 38th best PPM. Yet his ADP this season is 54 (overall)…so that suggests the community thinks his value is higher with the transfer.
I think his numbers would’ve improved with Leicester this season anyway, so I’m going to sit on the fence and say it’s neither higher nor lower
Chap 1
Yeah we’re liking the look of Leicester this season too… we had predicted an increase in his points scoring abilities even if he stayed at Leicester. He was ranked 18th for our Defenders prior to the move… he’s now moved up to 16th.
So yeah very slight increase now he’s gone to United.
Inner Geek
I’ll end things on a related – and awesome – statistic.
Last season United conceded 54 league goals…the most they’ve conceded since the 1978/79 season!
Surely we’ll see some regression back to a “normal” United defence.
Chap 1
Haha great statistic! Hopefully they will get somewhere back to normal with Maguire and AWB on board!
Inner Geek
I will not definitely be hoping for that this weekend. I start off against a guy with a double united defence….
Anyway, next week’s ramble will cover the first week of PROPER FOOTBALL!!! How exciting is that?!?!!
Chap 1
CAN’T WAIT!!!
Chap 2
PROPER FOOTBALL
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