SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
It proved to be a frustrating week for fantasy managers, with a smattering of injuries ensuring a vast majority of scores failed to live up to the lofty expectations of recent weeks.
With Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero already out injured many turned to Harry Kane to captain and earn double points, but disappointment followed as the England striker limped out of his sides 4-1 win at Bournemouth in the first half.
One man bucking the trend of a relatively low scoring round was Dafabet’s John Cruces, who continued his climb up the table with a League of Legends high of 75 for the round. Despite captain Mohamed Salah disappointing with a doubled score of four, David Silva fired both goals in his sides 2-0 victory at Stoke as he secured 16 points, the joint highest round score with on loan Newcastle midfielder Kenedy.
Elsewhere in-form Heung-Min Son scored a brace on his way to 15 points, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (nine points) notched a goal and an assist as Arsenal strolled past Watford 3-0 and Nicolas Otamendi’s clean sheet earned him eight.
Gameweek 30 also saw a new, or returning, leader take his place at the top, with 45 points proving to be enough for OPAP’s Constantinos Digonis to take his place at the summit once again. Despite Kane (two) being installed as captain, Son (15) again top scored and was duly helped out by Christopher Schindler (seven), Raheem Sterling (six) and Federico Fernandez (six).
Hot on the leaders heels, just a point behind following an impressive 63 point haul, is Ladbrokes Coral’s Lewis Palmer. An Arsenal focused strategy certainly paid dividends, with captain Aubameyang (16), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (13) and Shkodran Mustafi (12) making up the main bulk of the points.
Gameweek 31 could prove to be the most pivotal for fantasy managers all season, with just four fixtures set to take place due to FA Cup commitments. Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Stoke welcome West Brom, Crystal Palace and Everton in the 3 o’clock kick offs, while Liverpool host Watford in the early evening fixture.
