Week 4 Picks

Bonus Transfer Code: Schneiderlin17

Before I get to the gist of today's post, I hope my last article was of decent help. A few of you PMed me on Facebook asking to clarify, among other things, the transfer deadline. Well, let's take a look at the published rules, specifically, the following:

"Transfer Deadlines:
All transfers must be made before the published kick-off time of any match for the player(s) to be able to score points in that match. Players will only score points from the time/date that they are transferred into your team.."

So that's any match, not the first match of the weekend, not the first match of Sunday. ANY MATCH. Please note it also says "published kick-off time". So just because on TV a match hasn't started yet doesn't mean that you can still make changes. Check the clock, check the schedule.

Alright, let's move on, shall we?

Maximising points while following rules

First, a shout out to all those still in contention for the August prize (A Fuji X 30 Camera!) One more week left! Good luck, and make those transfers count!

Weekly scores and maximising points

If you’re like me and have been trying to figure out how to see the points you’ve scored each round, well, here’s what you do. Through the Stadium Astro Fantasy - BPL Edition Facebook page, our friend in the community Rodriguez Kim has given instructions on how to see the points scored for each round, both for you AND for other teams.

Click on your team (or anyone else’s for that matter). On the top right corner of the graphic, click on View Player Stats.

5 Talking Points from Week 3

So what happened during the weekend...

1. Manchester City rolls on, but how do you cash in?

City took a while to overcome a very resilient and ultimately unfortunate Everton, but Aguero and Silva were not involved in the 2-0 win on Merseyside this time, as Nasri and Kolarov took the honours. It does raise the typical problem of when a team is performing all around the park, who do you depend on to get the goals? So far the goal-scorers have been Aguero, Kompany, Fernandinho, Silva, Toure, Kolarov and now Nasri.

Most people will have Aguero in regardless, it becomes a question of should he get the captaincy? This week it was a no, but the Chelsea match caused many to jump in.

Tip: Sterling to score in the next match. You heard it here first.

  

2. Chelsea’s ups and downs

Week 3 Player Picks!

Welcome to Week 3! First up, the ideal fixtures:

Manchester United vs Newcastle, Sunderland vs Swansea, Watford vs Southampton

Strikers:

Aguero (15) – It will be a bit more tougher for him away to a seemingly improved Everton side, but anyone who watched even just the highlights of the match against Chelsea would easily be seduced into bringing him in. 

Gomis (9.5), Ayew (9.0) – The anyone against Sunderland option, it’s really just a question of which of the Swansea attack will be in the goals.

Rooney (14.5) – A chance for Rooney to get out of his funk. I don’t see why you shouldn’t hang on to him for this week if you already have him, unless it was to get Aguero in. Newcastle’s defense from last year hasn’t changed, if you didn’t notice. If he fails again...

Depay (11.5) – okay, everyone was ooh-aahing him midweek, but can that translate into the Premier League? Against Newcastle, that should happen, as long as LVG quits his experiments and let’s Depay play in his preferred position tomorrow. It's annoying that he's listed as a striker though.

Kane (12.5) – The last time Spurs played Leicester, Kane ended up with a hat-trick in a 4-2 thriller. This will be a great chance of Kane to open his account.

Sakho (9.3) - With no other senior strikers available, he will need to step up, and with Payet behind him, he'll be gunning for it.

Midfielders:

Silva (12.8) - I can't argue if people want to double up with Aguero. 

Sigurdsson (10), Shelvey (8.8), Montero (8.8): Take your pick. Dirk Advocaat may have talked about working on the defense, and bringing back O'Shea for organisation, but the personnel involved just does not inspire any confidence. 

Mane (9.6) – Ooh ooh, Manchester United suddenly interested, will Mane’s performance crank up a notch? He played midweek though, so be wary, and Southampton have not been at their best, with their defense all over the place.

Mahrez (7.5) – no secret really. He is in form and enjoying himself to boot. His price is a steal!

Dark horse: Matt Ritchie (8.6) to open his account against the Hammers, who are missing Adrian.

Defenders

Darmian (5.9), Shaw (5.9), Smalling (5.9) - all worthy of consideration for their attacking value and potential CS against Newcastle at home.

Kolarov (5.7) - I can't see how Clichy can displace him. He's been defensively solid and works very well with Sterling and Silva.

N. Taylor (4.9) or Ashley Williams (5.1) - covering the likely Swansea CS.

Goalkeepers

Fabianski (5.3) - With Sunderland deciding to emphasise on defense, a clean sheet is on the cards for Swansea.

Romero (6.1) - Look out for last minute news on De Gea, but Romero should start.

McCarthy (3.8) - Aston Villa have only scored 1 goal so far, and I can't see their shots ratio improving anytime soon. Apologies I wrote Speroni earlier but he's not back yet. McCarthy is pretty cheap though!

Hart (6.5) - Expensive, but Manchester City are in top form so he merits consideration.

Note: Adrian would be in the list against Bournemouth, one of two teams that have yet to score, but since he's been banned, I can't see West Ham keeping a CS.

The Euro options

If you haven’t used it up already, then choose between Messi (16), Ronaldo (16) and Lewandowski (14.9). Barcelona are coming off a disappointing period after getting knocked out of the Spanish Super Cup, so it's doubly important for them to kick off on a positive note. Having said that, they are playing with Atletic Bilbao, who are responsible for knocking them out in the first place. Meanwhile, Benitez will be experimenting in the absence of Benzema, so Ronaldo will most likely be up front, which is a plus point. And they're playing Sporting Gijon, a promoted side. Lewandowski has a tougher match, but he's started the season already last week, with a goal and assist.

Of the three you should probably pick Ronaldo.

Wrapping up

Here's my squad (Currently 1624/9554 in the rankings):

Dropped Courtois for Fabianski, and dropped Benteke for Aguero.

If I get the bonus transfer, I will most likely change Koeman to Monk or Pellegrini.

Where the Captaincy is concerned, if you have Ronaldo, then put it on him. Otherwise, Depay, Aguero or one of the Swansea midfielders are pretty good options too.

Good luck!

The Euro Scout feature

What is the Euro Scout?

The Euro Scout is a feature in the MyEG Stadium Astro game where once a month, you can bring in a player from a limited list from different Europe leagues. There are only 5 options available for each position, totalling 20. These players are from the Bundesliga (Germany), Serie A (Italy) and La Liga (Spain)

Here's the full list of players available for your easy reference (subject to price changes):

5 Talking Points from the weekend

So... what happened during the weekend?

1. Manchester City powerhouses dominate

Aguero (6)was in fine form, as Chelsea's were simply outclassed, to the point that Mourinho supposedly brought Terry off for 'tactical reasons'. Aguero could have scored more, but the goals came from his colleagues instead. Silva netted two assists for 9 points, bringing the question of whether it's worth doubling up for future fantasy line ups. If you already have them, congratulations!

The rest of the powerhouses failed to gain any points of note. Sanchez oozed class but his assist for Crystal Palace's own goal was not given for the Stadium Astro game. Rooney (2), Hazard (0) and Costa (2) were all off their game, although you could argue their respective teams weren't helping either.

Week 2 - Part 2: Diving in!

Hello again. In this final post for the week we look at Defenders and Keepers, and my own team for the week!

Defenders

As mentioned in my first post for the season, CSes are only worth 2 points. One YC and you're back to zero again. So you need to look for attack minded players to help improve your score.

Darmian of Man U should be right up there. Very comfortable against Spurs and looked like he had been playing competitively in England for a while.

Cedric Soares is someone else who you can depend on for attacking points. A nice assist last week in a team that is bound to attack, especially at home.  He got a yellow card though so the jury is still out.

MyEG Stadium Astro Fantasy Football: Overall Picture and Week 2 - Part 1

Overall Picture

Welcome back, let's get on with it shall we? We're still looking at the game overall first, then the second part goes into specific picks for the week.

The all-season powerhouses 

These are what I call those expensive attacking players who are generally expected do well regardless of match-up. Let’s look at them:

Costa (15m): Costa’s a beast, but be prepared to get regular -2pts to go along with his weekly score, which in this fantasy game feels more damaging.

Aguero (15m): Aguero’s a City have kicked off the season on a canter, and with Aguero back, you’d fancy him to score regularly, although the more cautious of you would wait until Week 3, like Costa. He’s my favourite for premium striker, and a lot less card prone then the other two.

Rooney (14.5m): Restored to his rightful position as , can he find that magic back? I’m gonna say…. No. LVG will continue to tinker and while he will be successful, Rooney will not be as prolific as he was previously. He’s also prone to the occasional card.

Playing the MyEG Stadium Astro BPL Fantasy Football Game?

This blog will now be dedicated to the MyEG Stadium Astro BPL Fantasy Football Game 2015/2016.

Hi and welcome! Obviously we’ve missed the first gameweek, but let's face it, it wasn't exactly a blockbuster weekend for fantasy points, so you won't be at much of a disadvantage by starting one week late.

There are quite a lot of fantasy football  resources out there, but none dedicated to our local game. I'm sure there are plenty of players always looking for additional pointers/advice/info. Especially when there’s prizes involved :) So I thought I would do a series with a focus on the Stadium Astro game for anyone interested. Feel free to discuss or disagree in the comments.

SCORING STRATEGY

For this week, let’s take a look at the scoring strategy in general  (Next article will be on specific player picks). First, here's a reproduction of the point-scoring.