In the first column of the new season, we’re back with more top Fantasy Football tips and to keep you all updated on the movers and shakers in our very own J-League.
J–League
To say that the opening weekend of Fantasy Football was a mixed bag would be a dramatic understatement, but as usual, the J-League still managed to produce the goods.
Our leaders after Gameweek One, Vanja Pobor’s Wengerball, managed a very respectable 75 points first time out, thanks in no small part to the performances of Yaya Toure, Yohan Cabaye and Ross Barkley in midfield.
Hot on Vanja’s heels was Cian Breathnach’s A Fallen Angel with 74 points in second place, as he also benefitted from the inclusion of Toure and Barkley as well as Man City skipper Vincent Kompany.
B White was laughing at the fact that his side, HA HA HA, managed 70 points to claim third place, while Paul Campbell’s TheMeanStreetPosse and Owen O’Brien’s Fianna FAIL can be very happy with their week’s work after finishing in fourth and fifth place respectively.
J-League Top 5
Gameweek 2
It’s a tricky one again this week as it’s too early in the season to make a reliable judgement on a player’s form and the fixture list isn’t throwing up too many so-called ‘bankers’ either.
Manchester City looked the most impressive of the big guns last weekend, but they host Champions Chelsea on Sunday, while managers will be wary of away games for both Arsenal and Manchester United after mediocre displays on their home turf last week.
After a hard-fought win over Stoke, Liverpool could offer the best bet for managers when they take on newly-promoted Bournemouth in their first home game of the new campaign on Monday evening.
NB: With Manchester United and Aston Villa fulfilling a rare Friday night fixture this weekend, the deadline for picking your team this week has changed to this evening (Friday, August 14) at 6.45pm.
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
This week’s picks
Safe bet: Wayne Rooney (£10.5 million): The United skipper was as ‘meh’ as any of his teammates in the win over Spurs last weekend, but he loves playing against Aston Villa, having scored more goals against them (13) than any other Premier League side.
Dark horse: André Ayew (£7.0 million): Swansea were mightily impressive against the Champions last Saturday and the class and composure shown by their new arrival to drag the ball back before slamming in an equaliser from close range will live long in the memory.
The Swans are at home to Newcastle on Saturday and we think that the Ghanaian could be the aperfect achoice for ayew to pick up some points.
Captain’s choice: Philippe Coutinho (£8.1 million): He was Liverpool’s talisman last season and he’s already shown signs that he’s about to pick up where he left off this time around.
At home to Bournemouth, and with the confidence gleaned from last week’s cracking winning goal, he looks a wise choice this weekend.
Potential to use chips
We reckon it’s still way too early to consider using any one of the one-off bonus chips (all-out attack, triple captain, bench boost) that have come into effect this season.
Sill confused?
Have a gawk at the rules over here and you’ll begin to understand.
But yeah, it’s still too early as far as we can see, there will be plenty of double gameweeks ahead.
