As part of FISO’s special series of weekly articles on FanTeam, Europe’s biggest daily fantasy football provider, we will actually be entering the team we write about each week into the game. Our article will focus on an Early Entry for their Fantasy Premier League tournament held each week in order to help you identify game rules, tactics and the most promising players per gameweek, so you can win some of that large prize money.
Our FISO team below will be entered into this week’s €20 entry (€50k prize pool) Main Event. The winner takes home a cool €5,000. FanTeam also offer a €2 entry Weekly Monster with a lower prize pool for those who prefer to play with lower stakes. Join the discussion on FISO’s FanTeam forum.
Before moving onto our team selection, we want to highlight a couple of FanTeam rules that they apply to their Weekly Monster competition and that represent some of the major differences when comparing the game to the FPL. Do though check out the Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs as well as the latest injury news (click on ‘Team’ to sort per club rather than the default ‘date’) before finalising your picks.
Number one is that FanTeam have a rule called the ‘safety net’. The safety net comes into play when a selected player does not start in the Weekly Monster, because the game will then automatically replace this player with the next lowest-priced player from the same position (GK, DEF, MID, FOR) in the same team. This is regardless of whether or not your selected player does take to the field later in the game. This rule helps people who have entered a team into the Weekly Monster not to worry too much about whether their selected players will start or not, particularly if they know there are cheaper players for that same club in that same position who should start instead.
Number two is that FanTeam also have a ‘stacking penalty’ for the Weekly Monster, which penalises teams that have selected more than one defenders/goalkeeper from the same club. The stacking penalty comes into play when you pick more than one defensive player (defenders or goalkeepers) from a particular club and this club records a clean sheet. The points awarded for this clean sheet will decrease by 1 point for each additional defensive player from the same club that you have selected. The stacking penalty has a maximum of minus 3 points. This rule helps stop multi-entrants from gaining an advantage by submitting block defence teams. A reasonable tactic can be to select two players from two different clubs for your Goalie and Defenders, which would see you incur just 2 single-point deductions if you nail both clean sheets correctly.
Fixtures for the GW14 Monster:
Our team suggestion for the Weekly Monster in gameweek 14
Formation: 433
General approach
Less than 48 hours after the final whistle of gameweek 13, gameweek 14 is kicking off at Selhurst Park between the Eagles and the Reds. Though the fixtures seem to have been planned in such a way that most teams have at least 60 hours of rest between games, rotation can be expected all over the Premier League spectrum. Fortunately, FanTeam provides us with the Safety Net once again for the €50K Weekly Monster tournament, but our focus has nonetheless been on sure starters.
For this gameweek, we are focussing on just 3 teams plus Salah and Kane. As a result, if those 3 matches go our way (and Salah and Kane get amongst the goals) we have a decent chance of finishing in the top 10%. As you’ll see we’ve spent heavy on our two main men in midfield.
GOALKEEPER
We’re starting with Nick Pope, the Burnley shot stopper who is our goalkeeper for gameweek 14. Since their 5-0 defeat at the hands of Man City in gameweek 10, the Clarets have conceded just 1 goal, which should put their defensive fantasy assets back on our watchlists again. Up next are Wolves without their star man and main source of goals Raul Jimenez. They have scored just 2 goals in their last three games, which is why an improving Burnley side at Turf Moor in December might just end up being a very tough nut to crack for them.
DEFENCE
Our defence consists of four players, the most expensive of whom is Man Utd defender Alex Telles. The full-back was our final 11th selection to complement our two other choices from Man Utd further upfield. As the most expensive Man Utd defender, if he doesn’t play the safety net will come into operation for us.
Newcastle defender Ciaran Clark will be approaching gameweek 14 with confidence, albeit for slightly different reasons. The Magpies were overwhelmed by Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United and lost 5-2, but Clark did manage to score a goal and bring home 5 FT points in the process. This weekend, he is facing Fulham and Saint James’ Park and another drubbing doesn’t look likely here. Though the Cottagers have shown better form in the last few games, the away game against Newcastle will definitely not be a walk in the park. With Clark, we’re betting on a second Magpie clean sheet here and who knows, maybe even a chance or two from an attacking set-piece and we’ve doubled up with his compatriate Jamal Lewis who ought to be motivated to make up for recent defensive lapses. We’re betting that Newcastle make up for letting 5 goals in against Leeds by keeping a clean sheet against Fulham.
We have completed our defensive set-up for the gameweek 14 €50K Weekly Monster with Burnley defender Charlie Taylor to complement our goalkeeper. Since their 5-0 defeat at the hands of Man City in gameweek 10, the Clarets have conceded just 1 goal, with the English left-back as a nailed-on part of manager Sean Dyche’s starting lineup. Over the past six games, Taylor has recorded 27 FT points, courtesy of 4 clean sheets and 2 impact points. Up next are Wolves at Turf Moor, who have scored just 2 goals in their last three games. In other words, potential for a third consecutive clean sheet for Burnley.
MIDFIELD
As mentioned earlier, our midfield has been the major recipient of the available 105M budget this weekend and the biggest chunk of it was spent on Liverpool talisman Mo Salah. At 14.5M, he is actually the most expensive player for the gameweek 14 €50K Weekly Monster as he combines goal-scoring form with a reasonably appealing fixture. The Reds are rolling up to Selhurst Park on Saturday with their Egyptian star looking to continue his current three-game scoring streak. Liverpool have scored 11 goals in their last five games, though it should be noted that their last two away games, against Brighton and Fulham, both ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw. That’s why Momo is our vice-captain this weekend.
Our captain plays in red as well, but about 30 miles east of Liverpool. Like last season, Bruno Fernandes is once again Manchester United’s top performer with 7 goals and 5 assists, and he will be a popular captaincy pick for the coming home game against Leeds. Under Marcelo Bielsa, the Whites play a very attractive kind of attacking football that does not budge for any opponent, which might just be the kind of game approach United like. They can sit back and cause danger on the counter, with Bruno the danger man as he connects the defence and attack. A high-scoring affair looks to be on the cards at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Besides Salah and Fernandes, our midfield boasts a third player, namely Ashley Westwood. The young Englishman is an excellent set-piece taker and is the 3rd of our Burnley assets looking to upset the Wolves and take a clean sheet and win bonus along with the defender and goalkeeper we’ve selected.
ATTACK
Our main man up front this weekend is none other than Tottenham’s very own, Harry Kane. The England striker failed to record any attacking returns at Anfield during the midweek round of fixtures, but we’re not worried. He currently sits on an incredible 9 goals and 10 assists from just 13 games, which has made him the second-best performer on FanTeam so far, just 3 FT points off teammate Heung-Min Son (108 vs 111). On Sunday, Spurs are hosting Leicester, who have conceded 8 goals in the last five games, just the kind of top clash that Kane loves to decide.
He is joined is attack by Callum Wilson, who already has 7 goals and 4 assists to his name this season. Newcastle, though far from a goal machine, have shown some decent football at times and when they threaten the opposition’s goal, you just know that Wilson will be involved. That’s a very valuable trait for a fantasy asset to have. This weekend, the Magpies are playing an improving Fulham side who definitely won’t be relishing in the thought of facing Wilson next. We’re not exactly sure about the outcome of this game, but we’re counting on the former Bournemouth star to have an impact.
Finally for us is a player we should have picked in GW13, Marcus Rashford, to complement Bruno Fernandes and Alex Telles from Man Utd. After his two (slightly lucky) goals mid-week we think he will get some more chances against the open playing Leeds Utd and be able to convert a few of them (hopefully assisted by Bruno or Telles) into FT points.