With four Fantasy Premier League gameweeks already down, managers are starting to get an idea of whose scoring points – and whose not. With the forwards scoring points, the summer transfer window closing soon, and a two week international break upon us, there are a number of factors to take into consideration over the next fortnight.
Read here to find out how you can join the EPL Talk Fantasy League.
Scoring Strikers
Early evidence is showing the more expensive strikers are delivering the most points. The top five forwards currently total a price tag of 52.2, which shows if you don’t have at least one “big” striker your team is missing out. Didier Drogba has been on top form so far, as have Chelsea who sit unbeaten on top of the league table. The Ivorian has netted three goals in the opening four games, as well as making three assists. Drogba’s price tag has risen to 10.8, which shows there are a lot of managers keen to bring him in. If you want to add a top striker to your squad, the Chelsea man should be your number one target.
Alternatives to Drogba may include Manchester City’s £25million man Emmanuel Adebayor. Not a lot of managers expected the former Arsenal forward to do as well as he has done for City so early on, but the Togo international has a new air of enthusiasm and hunger about him. So far he’s scored three goals in his three Premier League games, and could be a snip at 10.0. If you want to go slightly cheaper than that, look no further than Jermain Defoe who has scored four goals this season. His price tag has gone up 0.4 to 8.9, so is certainly a good option if you can’t stretch for the more expensive front men.
The two most expensive strikers are Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres, who as you would expect are scoring goals. Rooney has been immense for Manchester Utd so far in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, and has taken on the scoring duties with four goals to his name. Fernando Torres is also delivering goals with three so far, but at 11.0 and 11.5 respectively, these two might be beyond your reach if you’re squad is without a big forward at the moment.
Transfer Rush
With the closing of this summer’s transfer window rapidly approaching, there’s going to be a raft of comings and goings in the League over the next few days. During the week Everton signed Sylvain Distin from Portsmouth. The defender’s price has dropped to 4.9, so if Everton can steady the ship he’ll be a great scorer and much cheaper than any other of Everton’s defensive options. Stoke City have brought in Robert Huth and Tuncay Sanli from Middlesbrough. Stoke’s defense have been big scorers this season – averaging 21.5 between the four who have played after just five games, so at 4.5 Huth should be able to get quite a few points on the board. Tuncay scored seven goals last season, and has netted twice for Boro in the Championship this season – his 6.0 price tag will appeal to many managers for their midfield.
Aston Villa’s defense hasn’t scored well thus far, but the additions of Richard Dunne (5.0) and Stephen Warnock (4.9) to their back line may keep out the goals. Portsmouth have already added to their team since the takeover with the arrivals of Michael Brown and Tommy Smith, so expect more signings at Fratton Park over the next few days. West Ham have spent big on a new striker from Italy, Alessandro Diamanti. They’re desperately short of fit strikers, so he should get some action up front and might be a surprise signing if you want to take the risk.
International Break
Premier League football is disrupted next week due to World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies. As the argument against international games go, there is always the chance of injury for some players. But it’s also a great opportunity to scout your options, as most will be on duty for their nations. A number of England players will be in action next Saturday against Slovenia, followed by Croatia on Wednesday. If one or two can impress in these games their form might continue into gameweek five and get you points. The Republic of Ireland will play Cyprus, followed by South Africa on Tuesday. Shay Given, Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle and Damien Duff will all in action, so be sure to watch out to see if they impress.
Arsenal play Manchester City in a fortnight. Cesc Fabregas may be back by then, so see how he performs as Spain take on Belgium and Estonia in their qualifying campaign. Andrei Arshavin has scored twice in his last two games, he might take that form into Eastlands after playing Liechtenstein and Wales with Russia. Manchester Utd play Tottenham at White Hart Lane, and both teams will have a number of players on duty over the week. Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney and Ben Foster will all be representing England, while Dimitar Berbatov will be keen to impress against his old side after playing Montenegro and Italy.
And of course, there is the chance of one of your players getting injured so watch out for the 
and 
icons on your team page.
You can read more from Kevin and others at his new football website, Back Page Football, to contribute get in contact with him there, or add him on Twitter.
Nice write-up mate. Good points highlighting ‘value’ players since many EPL Talk readers are playing in the fantasy league. I mentioned in another post that Bent and Jones at Sunderland might possibly represent value since they’ve shown they can combine well.
NH
For the second week in a row, EPL Talk is number one in the Fantasy Premier League: http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/stats.mc?stat=bestleagues
That’s based on the average score for members of our private league compared to the thousands of private leagues from around the world.
Keep up the great work everyone! Hopefully Kevin’s recommendations will help us all out. I know I need a lot of help in fantasy football, that’s for certain.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
One of the things I always try and do is spot value by signing players who have been injured for a while at their cheapest price or new signings like Distin who is a bargin at 4.9 million. I’m a firm believer in building from the back and a good defence with players from the big four clubs will bring in consistent points, one or two goals scoring defenders like Vidic and Lescott can rapidly increase your teams performance.
Nice post. I think Adebayor is potentially as good as Drogba and is 0.8m cheaper. I just posted an analysis of the big 5 strikers having come to the conclusion, like yourself, that you need at least one of these guys. I have Torres but I am moving to get Adebayor in too.
Enjoyed the tips! Watch out for emirates 11
Not trying to be a douche but shouldn’t the first paragraph say “who’s” instead of “whose”?
Whose a douche?
Er, no, it’s “whose”.
Just re-checked in a Spelling & Grammar programme, “whose” comes up as correct while “who’s” doesn’t.
Nope. It’s “who’s”. This is lame but I’m going to explain why I think this.
Who’s = Who is
Whose = to show possession
Can you tell me whose shot that was?
Can you tell me who’s on the team?
“With four Fantasy Premier League gameweeks already down, managers are starting to get an idea of whose scoring points – and whose not.”
The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself: Can I replace “whose” or “who’s” with “who is”. If so, it should be “who’s”. Or ask yourself if it has anything to do with possession.
This sentence could be: “…are starting to get an idea of who is scoring points – and who is not.” and has nothing to do with possession. It’s “who’s”.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2155633_use-whose-whos-correctly.html