Hello Ballerz. Today, since the Premier League is resuming imminently, we have taken it upon ourselves to help you choose your Fantasy League team for the restart. There are be five posts available talking about the FPL, with one containing some tips for the remaining games and the other four containing recommended FPL buys. This list will contain players classified as forwards on FPL. The players in each list would be given a rating of 10 based on factors like ownership, fixture list, and expected performance. With that in mind, let’s look at the forwards.
All fantasy data such as ownership percentages, fixture difficulty rating, and other player-related data in this article were so as at 13th June 2020
Forwards
1. Marcus Rashford – 9/10
Marcus Rashford probably thought his Golden Boot challenge would be over when he suffered an injury in January. Thanks to the break, though, he is now fit and his fixtures would indicate that he still has a chance to end this season as the league’s top goalscorer. He only has to face 3 teams in the top half of the table, with Sheffield’s game being at home, which contributes to his Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) being 2.7 out of 5, the tied-lowest in the league. He may also now play with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba behind him, both players with immense creativity. And the cherry on top is that he is only owned by about 11% of Fantasy players, which may make him a real hidden gem.
2. Raul Jimenez – 9/10
Jimenez was on a run of impressive form before the break, with an average of 6.8 points per game, but there isn’t anything to say he can’t recreate that with his remaining 8 games. Wolves are facing 4 clubs in the top half in their final 8 games. However, their FDR still stands at 2.7, the tied-lowest of Premier League teams. He is also in the top 3 for the influence, creativity and threat scores of all forwards, giving him the highest ICT index of a forward. Finally, he only costs 8.1 million in the game, which isn’t necessarily breaking the bank.
3. Sergio Aguero – 8/10
Probably one of the greatest Premier League strikers ever, Aguero is always present in the list of top Premier League goalscorers. This season is no different, as he sits just behind Aubameyang in third place, and 2 goals behind Vardy in first. Where he has the advantage over Vardy, however, is in the fact that he has a game in hand against 9th placed Arsenal before also hosting Burnley. His FDR is also just 2.7, a rating which sees him play 6 of the bottom 8 teams. This is without taking into account his incredible record against the top 6 teams, so he may still put in a performance against teams like Liverpool and Chelsea. The only reason his rating is less than Rashford’s and Jimenez’s is because of his hefty price tag, which stands at 11.8 million, but he is a player that can always repay his price.
Other alternatives include:
Jamie Vardy – 7/10
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7/10
If you want to see the other lists, the links will be down here:
Hello Ballerz. Today, since the Premier League is resuming imminently, we have taken it upon ourselves to help you choose your Fantasy League team for the restart. There are be five posts available talking about the FPL, with one containing some tips for the remaining games and the other four containing recommended FPL buys. This list will contain players classified as midfielders on FPL. The players in each list would be given a rating of 10 based on factors like ownership, fixture list, and expected performance. With that in mind, let’s look at the midfielders.
All fantasy data such as ownership percentages, fixture difficulty rating, and other player-related data in this article were so as at 13th June 2020.
Midfielders
1. Kevin de Bruyne – 10/10
Kevin de Bruyne is currently the second best FPL player this season and shows little signs of stopping, with his 8 goals and 18 assists putting him in with a shout to be the PFA Player of the Season. His fixture list is very appealing, with a City’s FDR being 2.7, and after gameweek 32 it drops even further to 2.1. He tops the Influence and Creativity chart for midfielders, and also has the best ICT index overall. He has the tied-most bonus points this season with 23. And to top it off, de Bruyne will be participating in a double gameweek hosting Arsenal and Burnley. City won both fixtures away, and the Etihad has the 3rd best home record in the league. To put it simply, de Bruyne should be a must.
2. Mohamed Salah – 10/10
He needs no introduction. The Egyptian King is looking for a historic consecutive hat trick of Golden Boots and if he misses out, it probably won’t be for lack of trying. Even if that doesn’t work out, he is also on course to finish as the FPL Player of the Season for the 3rd time straight, which I guess is more important to us right now. Now, why do I say Salah? Firstly, Salah tops the Threat chart for midfielders and is 2nd to de Bruyne on influence. This gives him the 2nd best ICT index to de Bruyne. Liverpool have played and beaten every fixture they have left, be it home or away. Liverpool also have the best home and away records in the league, displaying their utter dominance this season. Salah has won the tied-most bonus points this season with 23. Finally, Salah has contributed to exactly a third of Liverpool’s 66 goals this season – amazing stuff from the Golden Boot holder.
3. Sadio Mane – 10/10
Let’s not forget Salah’s fellow African and shared Golden Boot holder. Sadio Mane has been just as influential as Salah this season and deserves his own praise. The man stands toe-to-toes with Salah on so many metrics despite playing 166 less minutes, showing how talented the Senegalese international is. But let’s get into said metrics. Mane is 3rd on the Influence chart and 4th on the Threat chart. He is 3rd on the overall ICT index, just behind Salah. He has the 3rd most bonus points this season with 22, just behind Salah. Mane actually has more goal contributions than Salah, with 23. And a random fact about Mane – last season, he scored 10 goals in his final 10 games en route to the Golden Boot. In comparison, Salah scored 5.
4. Anthony Martial – 8/10
United were blazing hot before the break, gathering 11 points in 5 games (2nd best form in the league). Martial wasn’t missing out on the party, with a form of 5.8 nothing to be laughed about. Couple it with United’s FDR of 2.7 and (relatively) cheap price of 8 million, and the availability of Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes and there’s no reason why Martial can’t be the one to make the difference for your FPL team. Of course, you can go for his slightly more owned and more expensive partner Bruno Fernandes, but Martial takes the cake for me.
Other alternatives I found include:
Heung-Min Son – 8/10
Dele Alli – 8/10
Bruno Fernandes – 8/10
Jack Grealish – 7/10
If you want to see the other lists, the links will be down here:
Hello Ballerz. Today, since the Premier League is resuming imminently, we have taken it upon ourselves to help you choose your Fantasy League team for the restart. There are be five posts available talking about the FPL, with one containing some tips for the remaining games and the other four containing recommended FPL buys. This list will contain players classified as defenders on FPL. The players in each list would be given a rating of 10 based on factors like ownership, fixture list, and expected performance. With that in mind, let’s look at the defenders.
All fantasy data such as ownership percentages, fixture difficulty rating, and other player-related data in this article were so as at 13th June 2020.
Defenders
1. Trent Alexander-Arnold – 9/10
It’s not everyday that you hear of a defender gathering more points than the majority of midfielders and forwards. At least, it wasn’t. Then Trent came along. The English fullback has been absolutely phenomenal this season, demonstrated by the statistics I’m about to show you now. And keep in mind as I go through these stats that he is just a defender, as unbelievable as it may sound. Alex-Arnold has the 3rd highest Creativity rating in the game, sitting just behind Maddison and well ahead of Grealish. He has the 3rd highest Influence rating, sitting ahead of Mane in that regard. His 14 assists on FPL are 2nd in the league, just behind de Bruyne. His 18 bonus points are the best of any defender or goalkeeper, and 4th best if you include midfielders. And finally, his total points are the 5th overall, sitting just behind Vardy by 1 point. The only reason I gave him a 9 out of 10 is because his price tag is the heftiest I have ever seen on a defender, with the 7.8 million really nothing to joke about. But look at it this way: he is cheaper than Maddison, Aubameyang, Mahrez and Richarlison; yet he has more points than all of them.
2. Virgil van Dijk – 8/10
To be honest, Trent Alex-Arnold is probably going to take the shine of off every other defender, but there are still other defenders worth buying, and one even shares the Liverpool badge with Trent. The 18/19 Player of the Season still proves he is one of the best defenders in the world and it’s easy to see why there’s an argument. van Dijk has gotten the most points from clean sheets, with 72. He also has the tied-most goals as a defender with 4. His influence is the 2nd best for a defender, with only Alex-Arnold beating him on that metric. He also has not missed a single minute for Liverpool this season, proving almost immune to rotation. His most significant advantage over Trent though (probably), is his significant 1.3 million drop in price, meaning he earns more points per million than even Trent.
3. Matt Doherty – 8/10
This may be a surprise, but hear me out. Doherty is probably the best differential available right now, and I’ll tell you why. His FDR of 2.7 is the tied-lowest in the league, and he is playing games against teams like Aston Villa and West Ham, 2 of only 4 teams to have conceded more than 50 goals this season. Doherty’s Threat rating is the highest of a defender, which is reflected by is tied-most goals for a defender with 4. He also has the tied 4th most assists for a defender, with 5. Finally, he is owned by a meagre 8% of the game, putting him in serious differential territory.
If you want to see other posts, the link will be down here:
Hello Ballerz. Today, since the Premier League is resuming imminently, we have taken it upon ourselves to help you choose your Fantasy League team for the restart. There are be five posts available talking about the FPL, with one containing some tips for the remaining games and the other four containing recommended FPL buys. This list will contain players classified as goalkeepers on FPL. The players in each list would be given a rating of 10 based on factors like ownership, fixture list, and expected performance. With that in mind, let’s look at the goalkeepers.
All fantasy data such as ownership percentages, fixture difficulty rating, and other player-related data in this article were so as at 13th June 2020.
1. Martin Dubravka – 8/10
Wow. I cannot believe this guy is so under the radar. I didn’t even know him before I started doing my research on this topic. Yet he is probably the best goalkeeper to get during this period and here is why. The Newcastle goalkeeper has the most saves in the league so far, 12 more than Leno’s 104. He also has the tied 5th most clean sheets in the league for a goalkeeper, with 9. He has the highest influence rating of a goalkeeper, and his FDR of 2.8 is excellent. This all contributes to him being the 4th best keeper overall, with 116 points. So imagine my surprise when I realized he was only present in … only 1.8% of teams. That is truly maddening. It’s rare where the best player in a position is a differential, but that seems to be how it is.
2. Rui Patricio – 8/10
Patricio has actually been a good goalkeeper this season. His run of games will give him a chance to garner more points before the seson finally. His FDR of 2.7 is the tied best in the league, and his 8 clean sheets is only 3 less than the highest for a goalkeeper. Very good potential to deliver from him.
3. David de Gea – 8/10
I can’t believe it either. But if statistics mean anything there is reason to believe de Gea might be one of the best keepers to acquire for the remainder of this season. His FDR of 2.7 is the tied-best in the league, and his 8 clean sheets is just 3 less than the highest for a goalkeeper. At this point I’ve practically copied and pasted Patricio’s description, but he gets the nod over de Gea due to the slightly higher saves and bonus points Patricio has.
Other goalies to consider include:
Alisson – 8/10
Kasper Schmeichel – 8/10
Nick Pope – 8/10
If you want to see other posts, the link will be down here:
Are you anticipating the return of the Premier League? Do not forget to set up your Fantasy before the restart of the Premier League. In this post, I will provide tips for your fantasy restart.
Catch a sneak peak of the Ballerz FC team at the bottom–which by the way is going to get at least 70 points.
Hello!
It is now less than four days until the premier league returns. The anticipated return of the Premier League also means the return of Fantasy Football. Here are tips that will help you set up your team for the final nine game-weeks of the season.
If you do not have a wildcard, it is nothing to be concerned about. Fantasy Premier League is giving all managers unlimited transfers till the start of game-week 30. So you can perform a complete squad overhaul.
Let’s get on then.
The Double Gameweek
The following teams have double gameweeks, and here are the top picks from each of them.
Manchester City – Kevinde Bruyne
Sheffield United – John Lundstram
Aston Villa – Jack Grealish
Arsenal – Pierre-EmerickAubameyang
Manchester City
These teams have a double gameweek, So it is advisable to get a few of their players in. I would recommend going with at least two heavy hitters from Manchester City, especially as they are particularly ruthless against Arsenal. My most profound apology goes to the Arsenal fans. Important to note though that City faces Chelsea and Liverpool immediately after their double game-week. But I fancy that there would still be some points to get from those matches. You should be looking at Agüero and de Bruyne. Sterling is also a differential for this gameweek – he is yet to find the back of the net this year though, and that matters though.
Aston Villa
Jack Grealish is a no-brainer for any manager. Valued at just 6.4 million, he is undoubtedly the most productive ‘midfield filler’ in fantasy football. Aston Villa’s last few games are extremely tough, but you can always count on Grealish be involved in most goals scored by Villa–he has already been involved in about 40 percent of Villa’s premier league goals this season.
Sheffield United
Sheffield United has had a breakthrough return to the premier league, most of which has been possible because of their solid defensive record and overlapping CB’s. They have conceded the second least goals this season–second to only Liverpool. I recommend that you consider John Lundstram and Dean Henderson when selecting your team. However, I have to warn that they have a considerably difficult fixture list after their double game-week, as they face three of the current top 6, Wolves, Burnley and Tottenham in their next six games. Wow!
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Arsenal
If you are a die-hard Arsenal fan or insist on getting at least one of their players for the restart, Aubameyang is worth the buy. A goal from him against City and a brace against Brighton are not far-fetched. If you want some negative points you can pick David Luiz as well. Arsenal fans don’t be mad.
This is the team(not starting line) I am going with for this week. Feel free to comment and ask questions.
If you want to see other posts for specific positions, the link will be down here:
Hello Ballerz. Today we will start a series where I go in-depth on the things a casual player might not realize are essential but are. I’ll start with something I believe many people overlook, which is the importance of personalities and hidden attributes.
What are Hidden Attributes and Personalities?
Hidden attributes are the ratings given to players that are not visible from the manager’s standard view (thus, hidden). There are 11 hidden attributes in the game that will affect everything about your player from his training to his match performance, and they are:
Ambition – How much a player wants to succeed.
Controversy – How often the player will make headlines in the press.
Dirtiness – How willing a player is to break the rules in a game.
Important Matches – How effective a player is in high-pressure matches.
Injury Proneness – How likely a player might suffer an injury during training or in a game.
Loyalty – How much a player wants his current club to succeed.
Pressure – How great a player is mentally at handling stressful circumstances, such as a run of poor form.
Professionalism – How well a player approaches training and matches.
Sportsmanship – How moral a player will be on the pitch.
Temperament – How readily a player will flare up during games. The higher it is, the less likely he will.
Versatility – How well a player will perform in a new position, and how fast he will get accustomed to a fresh one.
Now, out of these 11 hidden attributes, only 7 affect one’s personality. Versatility, important matches, dirtiness, and injury proneness, while valuable in their own right, do not affect a player’s personality. I will talk about them more in this section before moving on to personalities. Let’s call the extra four attributes hidden, while we call the other seven personality attributes to create a distinction. To an extent, you can discover a player’s hidden attributes from the scouting or coach reports.
I will use the fine specimen in James Maddison on my Watford save to demonstrate my point. From the coach report I’ve been given, in the Pros section, Maddison is fairly consistent, versatile, and enjoys the big games. In the Cons, though, I see he is fairly susceptible to injuries. Though this doesn’t give the exact value of the consistency rating, it tells me enough to know who I am signing. Of course, you may not see this information or even be misinformed if the person sending the report has a low Judging Current Ability rating, but Bryan Klug has a 16 there, so I assume I’m safe.
Those are the hidden attributes. Pretty self-explanatory. Now, for the other 7.
Personality Attributes in Depth
Nine attributes affect personalities: the seven personality attributes, determination, and leadership. You can access the Determination and Leadership attributes easily as they are, well, not hidden. But for the other 7, finding out ALL of them is usually impossible in most cases.
Why? Firstly, it is not realistic that one would know everything about a player’s intrinsic traits, no matter how long you’ve spent with him. Secondly, and more importantly, these traits are, in a way, a lot more valuable than player attributes, and as such, exposing them would allow the game to be exploited pretty easily.
So, even though it is difficult discovering all seven of the nine personality attributes, you can easily pick out 2 or 3 that stand out:
Their personality (not surprising), and
Their media handling style
These tell you the standout personality attributes of the player. To further explain, I will break down the distinct personalities, and the personality attributes they highlight. I will do that by separating the personalities in Football Manager into three: the positive, neutral, and negative.
The Personalities
To find out a player’s personality, simply click on the player:
My answer to Arsenal buying Deulofeu at the beginning of the season, Wilson has hit the ground running
On the right side, a widget will hold your player’s personality. With the personality, you can use the list below to find out what it tells you.
Key
Perfect: 20
Excellent: 17-19
Good: 13-16
Average: 8-12
Below average: 5-7
Bad: 2-4
Horrid: 1
Positive Personalities
Model Citizen – At least excellent determination, ambition, loyalty, pressure, professionalism, temperament, and sportsmanship
Perfectionist – At least excellent ambition, professionalism, and determination
Resolute – Good to excellent determination and professionalism
Spirited – At least good pressure, good to excellent professionalism and at most average temperament
Model Professional – Perfect professionalism and at most average temperament
Professional – Excellent professionalism and at most average temperament
Fairly Professional – From good to excellent professionalism OR excellent to perfect professionalism and at most average temperament
Driven – Perfect determination and at most average ambition
Determined – Excellent determination and at most average ambition
Fairly Determined – From good to excellent determination OR excellent to perfect determination and at most average ambition
Very Ambitious – Perfect ambition and at most average loyalty
Ambitious – Good to excellent ambition and at most average loyalty
Fairly Ambitious – Good ambition OR good to perfect ambition and at most average loyalty
Born Leader – Perfect influence (a rating denoting how high in social standing one is at a club at a particular time) and determination
Leader – Excellent influence OR perfect influence and at most excellent determination
Iron-Willed – Perfect pressure and at most good determination
Neutral Personalities
Devoted or Very Loyal – Perfect loyalty and below-average ambition
Loyal – Excellent loyalty and at most below average ambition
Fairly Loyal – Good to excellent loyalty OR excellent to perfect loyalty and average to good ambition
Honest – Perfect sportsmanship
Sporting – Excellent sportsmanship
Fairly Sporting – Good to excellent sportsmanship
Realist – Bad sportsmanship
Unsporting – Horrid sportsmanship
Jovial – At least good pressure and at least average temperament
Light-Hearted – At least good sportsmanship and pressure, and at least average determination and temperament
Balanced – Does not fit in any category
Negative Personalities
Temperamental – Horrid to bad temperament
Casual – Bad professionalism and at most average determination
Slack – Horrid professionalism and at most average determination
Low Self-Belief – Bad pressure at most average determination
Low Determination – Bad to below-average determination
Spineless – Horrid pressure and below-average determination
Easily Discouraged – Horrid determination
Wow. That was a pervasive list. But before I move on to the next section, I’ll just point out that some players may meet the requirements for more than one personality. In this situation, they still only get one. So, unless you want to extrapolate all player’s personality attributes, just use this list as a reference point. Now, unto the last section: media handling styles.
Media Handling Styles
To find media handling styles, go to the Overview tab, and from there, click information. His media handling style will be under Personal Information.
Harry Wilson’s overview page
There are a lot less media handling styles than personalities, and they don’t provide as much information. However, they are still useful for determining personality traits because, unlike personalities, a player can have more media handling styles based if they fit the bill. With that in mind, here is what the handling styles tell you:
Unflappable – At least good temperament and pressure
Outspoken – At least good controversy
Evasive – At least good professionalism and pressure
Volatile – Bad to below-average temperament
Level Headed – At least good professionalism and at least average loyalty
Reserved – At most bad controversy and at least good professionalism
Short-tempered – At most bad temperament
Confrontational – At most below average temperament and sportsmanship.So, these are the ways you can determine a player’s hidden attributes. These attributes provide a wealth of information outside of their playing attributes and demand serious attention, especially in youth. You should be able to, at least, tell their high and low attributes by looking at their coach report, personality, and media handling style.
It has been three months since the coronavirus disease rendered the Premier League, along with most other leagues, ineffective. But after the long wait, the Premier League is set to return. And I know we all missed it. I did too. The return of our favourite teams may finally allay all our quarantine boredoms and fears. And there is so much to look forward to.
Liverpool can expect their trophy at the end of the season. United can finally unleash their midfield duo of Fernandes and Pogba; Rashford will be back on the matchday squad. City would play to avoid more embarrassment in what has been a disappointing league campaign. Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Bournemouth will hope that they can leave behind their season’s struggles and battle out of the relegation zone.
Many clubs will monitor the relegation zone as transfer bargains would be up for grabs once the relegation battle is over. The likes of Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish, as well as Norwich’s full back pairing in Max Aaron and Jamal Lewis are just a few of the players whose signatures will be battled for if relegation comes calling. With only four points separating 15th place and 19th place, and expected lower match fitness levels, the relegation battle is going to be intense and even more interesting to watch.
In this post, I will be discussing two things to expect from the premier league restart.
A Different Tactical Approach
In normal circumstances, teams have about a month of pre-season with intense training and friendlies to get all the players up to speed: fitness-wise and tactically. Although teams have around four weeks to train, half of that time would be spent during drills with less contact, and little match experience.
As such, one should expect numerous knocks and teams to play slower games and sit back to protect their lead. The Bundesliga has already shown us that these would happen. As such, teams are likely to lay more emphasis on the tactical aspects of the game: set-pieces, counters, and other dead-ball scenarios for that all-important first goal.
In summary, one should not look forward to their team exhibiting total dominance and maintaining intense pressing throughout the game. Instead, I expect that most teams would sharpen their counter attacks.
Quiet Transfers
No official statement has been released about the structure of the upcoming transfer window, but that hasn’t stopped teams from going about their transfers dealing–I have to admit though that they are doing an outstanding job hiding their business. Apart from a few financially stable teams looking for marquee signings, practically no transfer news exists about the remaining teams. However, let’s not be deceived; teams will surely visit the transfer market by the start of next season.
How would the struggling teams sign players? Free transfers and bargain transfers. Players who are deemed expendable and take up a considerable chunk of the team’s wage budget will probably make moves. So you can expect to see many cut-price deals and seemingly absurd transfers during the transfer window.
None of this applies to Liverpool, though, who are, in my opinion, being rather discreet with transfers. However, I have the feeling that there is a long-term transfer strategy behind all of this. I’ll be keeping an eye out for them.
BallerzBantz 