Thursday, August 5, 2010

Who's hot in the Fantasy Premier League season 2011?

8 days and counting until the new season of Fantasy Premier League is upon us. So it's good time look at the trends people have set while choosing their teams. It is a well known fact that  usually you do need to have players in your team that have a high "Teams selected by %", because they usually do pretty good. Of course you also need some "black horses" to get you ahead of the pack.

But let's start reviewing which players have been extra hot in the Fantasy Premier League transfer market. Ok, starting with goalkeepers we see that the number 1 goalie is Tottenhams Gomes, who's been chosen in over 20% of all barclay's fantasy football teams. With a pricetag of £5.5M he isn't nor the most expensive nor the cheapest goalkeeper but a good buy anyway. Gomes had a nice season 2009/2010 collecting 148 points and hopes are high that he can top that this year. My first pick for a goalkeeper is Birmingham-transfer Foster, who is finally in a team where he get's to open games regulary. This English national team keeper is a true bargain with a £4.5M price which is about rise pretty fast.

Free State Stadium Bloemfontein World Cup 2010 Germany v England (4-1) Match 51 27/06/10 Wayne Rooney (ENG) Photo Roger Parker Fotosports International Photo via NewscomThere's a tough battle going on for the spot of the number one defender as three players stand at 24%. Dawson, again from Tottenham, Stoke Citys Shawcross and Chelsea's John Terry have been extremely popular with Fantasy Premier League contenders. Cheapest of the bunch is Shawcross, whose £5M price is extremely affordable for a defenceman of this caliber. My underdog tip in the defence category goes to Christopher Samba from Blackburn. Samba scored 4 goals last season and collected 12 bonus points, very good score for a defender. Price £5M, this Blackburn player will surely feature my team.

In the midfield-section, Fantasy Premier League players are not afraid of Frank Lampard's £13M pricetag as he is the player selected by most teams with 31%. Frankie's start in the last premier league season wasn't too flattering, but end of the season he proved he's very cabable of gathering points and ended up with a record breaking 284 points. If he can keep up with that form, no team can succeed without this Chelsea midfielder. A mighty surprise in the top of midfielder list is Birminghams Barry Ferguson, selected by 26% of all fantasy premier league teams. That of course is because of his very decent £4.5M price and impressive 31 bonus points gathered last season.

The most selected forwards list was suppose be the battle of two players. ManU's Rooney and Chelsea's Drogba dominated last season, but Drogba's "will he play or won't he play the first match"-dilemma has left him in "only" 17% of the teams. Wayne Rooney is the most selected player in all fantasy premier league with an astonishing 37 procent. If you are on the other hand looking for a little cheaper option, I would recommed Wolverhamptons Kevin Doyle. Doyle costs mearly £5.5M and with 9 goals scored last season that is truly a bargain price. At the moment of writing Doyle features in only 9% of all fantasy premier league teams.

So who do you think is the biggest surprise in the most selected list?

5 comments:

Footy Monkey said...

I'm most surprised that Fabregas isn't getting a mention here. After now seemingly committing himself to Arsenal for another year he's going to be in my team for sure.

By the way I've compiled some general tips for picking a team on at: Fantasy Football tips 2011

Janne Tuikka said...

My problem with Fabregas is that he doesn't really want to play for Arsenal anymore, had he the chance he'd be off to Barcelona in a flash. He's also quite expensive considering his prone to injuries. But he's a great player surely and if you don't want Chelsea's Lampard in your team who else are you going to buy... Gerrard? :)

Footy Monkey said...

The injuries are a bit worrying, but I'm not sure the Barcelona problem is an issue. I think for the past two seasons it's been clear he'd rather be at Barca, but it hasn't stopped him giving his all for Arsenal when he's on the pitch.

I wouldn't get Gerrard, and at the moment provisionally have both lampard and fabs in my team :)

Janne Tuikka said...

Maybe you're right, the start of the season will tell us plenty. If Fabregas can open the season such a way he did last year, and Lampard struggles, I just might have to give up Frankie and buy Cesc instead. :) Can't afford both I'm afraid...

Footy Monkey said...

Well, I joine dyour league so we can see how it works out for me, I'm Bicycle dynamo.