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. This series will focus on FanTeam’s Premier League Classic Event, a daily fantasy league based on the EPL games using classic fantasy football rules. Our article will focus on an Early Entry for this weekly tournament 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 €7,500. FanTeam also offer a €2 entry Weekly Monster with a lower prize pool for those who prefer to play with lower stakes.
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.
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.
Our team for the Weekly Monster in gameweek 6
Formation: 4-4-2
General approach
Once again, we felt we needed to stretch the available 100m budget to its maximum in order to field a representable team of eleven players for gameweek 6. Of all “Available” players, 11% were priced between 11m and 15m, while of all players in the game (meaning including players of any status), just 45% were priced at 7.5m or less. As a result, we have opted for a 442 formation in which we focus largely on Wolves for their home game against Newcastle, on Brighton for their home game versus West Brom and, of course, on Liverpool’s ultra-premium assets as they host Sheffield United at Anfield.
In order to facilitate this core of favourites, we had to make some concessions and fill out our team with a few budget picks. We have gone with fantasy assets who we feel might be able to produce individual returns, even if their teams are classified as heavy underdogs by FanTeam. Before we move on to our picks, don’t forget that the deadline for the FanTeam Weekly Monster this weekend is set at 12h30 (UK time) on Saturday, October 24th.
WOLVES
The Wolverhampton Wanders are our main supplier of fantasy assets for gameweek 6 as we’ve gone with three Wolves players. In defence, we have doubled up on central defender Willy Boly and fit-again Brazilian newcomer Marçal. Both set us back about 8.5m, but they have a promising fixture coming up with Newcastle rolling up to Molineux on Sunday. The Magpies have scored 7 goals in five games so far, but 5 of those goals came in just two games. At the same time, Wolves have already recorded three clean sheets this season, more than any other team in the league. If Marcal does not start then Kilman should be our automated sub.
Neither Boly nor Marçal have produced any attacking returns yet, but we haven’t picked them for goals or assists, though in the few games that fitness allowed the Brazilian to start did show some assist potential. For gameweek 6 though, they represent for us a combination of budget-friendly price tags and a decent chance on a clean sheet. Should that scenario pan out, then we’ve got 14 points in the bag already, minus the Stacking Penalty, which would be a decent return.
Our third Wolf is winger Pedro Neto, who FanTeam has classified as a midfielder for this one. The Portuguese youngster seems to be the main beneficiary of Diogo Jota leaving for Liverpool, as he has started all five of this season’s games so far. Over that period, he scored a goal and provided an assist for a total of 23 FT points. At 10.7m he is far from cheap, but his out-of-position status, added point for a clean sheet and kind fixture this weekend convinced us to pick him for our squad. Neto is also our vice-captain for gameweek 6.
BRIGHTON
When looking at the current Premier League ranking, Brighton sit in 16th, but that really doesn’t do them justice. They have played well so far this season, but the Seagulls too often forgot to reward themselves. The defeat against Manchester United back in gameweek 3 is probably the most illustrative example of that, as Graham Potter’s men hit the woodwork no less than five times.
Three of those attempts came off the nimble feet of winger Leandro Trossard. Despite his high positioning on the pitch, often even higher up than striker Maupay, he has been classified as a midfielder by FanTeam. The Belgian dribbler already has 1 goal and 2 assists to his name, and we feel he is one of the ones to watch in the upcoming game against West Brom at home. His price tag is heavy, but Brighton are favourites here and Trossard is primed for a sixth consecutive start in a row.
Joining him in our gameweek 6 team for FanTeam’s €50K Weekly Monster is Tariq Lamptey, the defender with most assists to his name (3) at the time of writing this piece. The former Chelsea talent has had a great start to the season and looks set for another decent haul this weekend. The Baggies boast the lowest number of shots on target of all teams in the league, while they have also created the least chances. In other words, Lamptey could be in for a star fantasy performance on Monday with potential for returns at both ends of the pitch.
LIVERPOOL
One of the reasons that budget was again a bit of a problem for us this week is our wish to include Mo Salah in our team. He looks like one of the players most likely to perform in a big way in gameweek 6 and FanTeam knows it well, hence his 15m price tag. Liverpool are playing at home against a Sheffield United side that are struggling to find some of last season’s great form. The Blades have scored just 2 goals so far and they have uncharacteristically conceded 7 already. In Salah, they are facing an attacker in form as the Egyptian has already scored 6 goals and provided 1 assist in the first five games of the season. He is the main man in our team for gameweek 6 and our captain as well.
Considering Sheffield United’s sub-par scoring record so far, we figured investment in a Liverpool defender was warranted as well. All of Liverpool’s defensive assets were priced at a premium, which makes sense, so we ended up going with the second-least expensive of the bunch, Joe Gomez. Only Matip cost less than him, but the Cameroonian has some fitness issues and might be a doubt for Saturday’s game as well. Seeing as Fabinho is his most likely replacement in case of absence, picking Matip for our team would mean risking a lost fantasy spot. Gomez, on the other hand, looks certain of a starting spot and we’re hoping for at least a clean sheet and an impact point from him this weekend.
THE INDIVIDUAL (BUDGET) PICKS
As far as our goalkeeper selection is concerned, we can be brief. Aaron Ramsdale is an excellent shot stopper, but what convinced us to include him for gameweek 6 is the fact that he was the cheapest starting goalkeeper available. He is visiting Anfield with Sheffield United on Saturday, where the Blades are not expected to take any points. Liverpool will dominate the game and our hope is that Ramsdale will get the opportunity to accumulate some save points for our FanTeam squad.
To complete our four-men midfield, we needed to find a budget-friendly pick who is a nailed-on starter and who has potential of a surprise attacking return. As a result, we ended up with West Ham’s Tomas Soucek, who is playing at home against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon. The Czech midfielder has so far completed the 90 minutes in each of West Ham’s five Premier League games and he currently sits on a total of 19 FT points, courtesy of a goal, 2 clean sheets and 2 impact points. The Hammers have had a good start to the season, especially compared to last season, and they are currently in 9th, two places above opponents Man City. That, of course, won’t be the case at the end of the season, but it does reflect on each team’s fortunes so far this campaign. West Ham are the underdogs in this one, but a surprise result with a key role for Soucek is not impossible.
Our forward line this week is led by none less than Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, who looks to have recovered from an injury that kept him out of the squad last weekend. Should he not be fit after all to face Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday, then the FanTeam Safety Net will automatically select his most likely replacement Kelechi Ihaenacho for us. Both teams have won 9 points from five games so far and this encounter could go both ways. One thing that’s sure though, is that Vardy will be on the prowl against an Arsenal side that has not recorded a clean sheet since the season opener versus Fulham away. This week, last season’s Premier League topscorer is our joker.
Our final fantasy pick for gameweek 6 is Aleksandar Mitrovic, the main danger man up front for strugglers Fulham. The Cottagers have a home game against Crystal Palace up next and they will be hoping to get something from that game after having won just one point from their first five games. With a brace back in gameweek 2 against Leeds, the Serbian forward has been responsible for half of Fulham’s goals in those games. Only Burnley and Sheffield United have scored less, but the hope is that the Londoners will improve on their tally this weekend against a Palace side that has already shipped 8 goals this campaign. Penalty duties add to Mitrogol’s appeal, though he did miss one last weekend against Sheffield United.
Do check out FanTeam’s Predicted Line-Ups for the Premier League clubs before finalising your team. You will only be able to see the starting line-ups for the 1st fixture of the GW – Chelsea v Southampton.