People like lists. Buzzfeed and everything televised during the Christmas period proves this unquestionably. The number 8 also has magical powers – little known fact. So here, for your brain's delectation and fantasy knowledge enrichment, are my top 8 general tips for fantasy survival:
1. Fixtures, Fixtures, Fixtures
Always look ahead at least three games to scout the teams your transfer target will be lining up against. Football is played on grass, not paper. It’s also played against another team. Rooney never scored a hat-trick against no-one and even Berbatov might bag one if he’s playing a defence leaky enough. Be on the lookout for teams that are often talked about “with all due respect”.
2. Price Watch
Keep a keen eye on the prices of in-form players if you’re on a shoestring budget – they WILL go up. Some fantasy managers like to bring those players in early but this is a risk, especially in a Championsh Leek/Wafer Cup week.
3. Utilise tekkers
Supreme tekkers isn’t just what Tom Huddlestone does on the regs – the advanced technology at our fingertips can help you set the perfect lineup ahead of time. Take screenshots of what your team might look like with potential transfers in then, come Saturday morning, you can visualise the options at your disposal (but watch out for those sneaky price rises!)
4. Two subs are better than one
Saving a sub so you have two the next gameweek grants budget and positional flexibility. Now you can shoehorn in Aguero and still get rid of that injured midfielder (Silva maybe?) This avoids incurring point penalties or having dead wood in your squad.
5. Avoid too much of a good thing
Your team sheet will look pretty with Ozil, Ramsey and Giroud in it but do you really want that much Arsenal coverage for the one week the Gunners come unstuck against Stoke? Diversity is key to fantasy success. A well-rounded squad allows fixture-based rotation, mitigates damages if a top team hits a smelly run of form and always leaves you a good option for captain.
6. Pick n’ Mix Cheap Defenders
At the risk of repeating myself, variety is the spice of life, and imperative in a decent fantasy back line. A defender can have a shocker for a relegation-fodder team and still come away with 6 points if his team pull off a clean sheet.
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For example, Vertonghen (priced sky-high at 7.2) currently has an admirable 5.1 points per game but is yet to reproduce his goal-scoring feats of last season. Fonte (5.4) with 4.8 points per game and Demel (4.9) with 4.3 are both outperforming Zabaleta (6.0) who gets you 4.2 a game. While Zabaleta and Vertonghen is ostensibly a much safer pairing, Demel and Fonte would bring in almost as many points and allow you to splash the cash higher up the field. Utilise all 5 defensive spots – go for value and don’t be afraid to pick less glamorous teams capable of stringing together clean sheets – and if you can be bothered, configure it so the fixtures line up nicely.
7. Double Down on Double Gameweeks
While there haven’t been any yet (with the exception of Chelsea and Villa in week 1), double gameweeks provide a huge opportunity to score a shedload of points and MUST be capitalised on. Watch out for re-arranged fixtures and throw caution (not to mention rule 5) to the wind by plugging in as many double gameweek players as you can, especially if it’s a top six team. Making the right double gameweek player skipper can bank as many as 50 points (that’s higher than average total point scores some gameweeks) so don’t miss out.
8. Gambling is your Friend
Whilst I would never advise someone to gamble on sports, and if I did it certainly wouldn’t be to do so on first goalscorer (the odds are well mental, yeah), the lads behind the screens setting the lines have a much better idea than the rest of us of what’s likely to happen. If you’re agonising over who’s a better captain, take a butch at what price he is to score during the match and compare with your other players. Let those lovely geeks take a weight off your mind – who wants to make such an important decision hung-over at 11:25 on a Saturday morning anyway?