Fantasy Football: Leicester and Manchester City lead table with high-earners in every department
Four successive clean sheets before Saturday had propelled Leicester to the top
Tuesday 17 December 2019 12:21, UK
Sky Games take a look at the top three in the Fantasy Football Premier League table, with just over a third of the season gone. Are there any surprises?
Leicester have gone under the radar with Brendan Rodgers at the helm, with Liverpool and Manchester City taking most of the headlines. Just like the 2015/16 season, many are tipping the Foxes to drop out of the title running at some point, but they are exceeding expectations so far.
The Fantasy Football table reflects this, which is measured by the accumulative points from each player in the 20 Premier League sides. Leicester are sitting in second, but this can change so quickly, and here are the reasons why...
Fantasy Football Table
Manchester City - 1142 points
Leicester - 1132 points
Liverpool - 1079 points
All of the Leicester players are there or thereabouts in the respective rankings in their departments. From clean sheets to goals and assists, Leicester are good value for their position near the top of the Fantasy table.
That being said, they are sandwiched in between Manchester City and Liverpool, with a larger breakdown of this below, as each of these title rivals excel in a particular department...
The Defensive Wall of Leicester
Kasper Schmeichel - 97 points (2nd of GK's in Fantasy Football)
Ricardo Pereira - 119 points (1st of DEF's in Fantasy Football)
Caglar Soyuncu - 116 points (2nd of DEF's in Fantasy Football)
Jonny Evans - 100 points (4th of DEF's in Fantasy Football)
Ben Chilwell - 86 points (6th of DEF's in Fantasy Football)
It is little surprise to see these five players doing so well within Sky Sports Fantasy Football, especially when you take into account the fact they kept four successive clean sheets at one stage, while hitting nine against Southampton at the very start of that run.
Brendan Rodgers' side has kept seven clean sheets, with five of those coming in their last seven matches, which is where the real source of points have come from in terms of the defensive structure. Leicester have only conceded 11 goals this season, while the back four alone have five goals and seven assists between them, adding another 56 points to their accumulative tally. Check out the defensive table to see how their title rivals compare.
- Leicester - 541 points
- Liverpool - 451 points
- Manchester City - 369 points
With the Sky Sports Fantasy Football game comes the added value of passing and tackle bonus points, of which Caglar Soyuncu and Ricardo Pereira have in abundance.
Soyuncu has recorded tier one passing bonus points on three occasions, while doing so six times for tier two, which is 60+ and 70+ respectively - adding 24 points to his seasonal tally.
Pereira has reached the tier one tackle bonus threshold six times, doing so five for tier two, adding 27 to his. Both of these players have been stalwarts in a healthy Leicester defence and are good value for their points hauls.
The Slick and Silky Midfield of Manchester City
Kevin de Bruyne - 125 points (1st of MF's in Fantasy Football)
David Silva - 82 points (5th of MF's in Fantasy Football)
Riyad Mahrez - 76 points (10th of MF's in Fantasy Football)
Rodri - 70 points (16th of MF's in Fantasy Football)
Bernardo Silva - 68 points (18th of MF's in Fantasy Football)
The midfield table comprehensively plays into Manchester City's hands and gives them the ultimate edge over Leicester in this Fantasy Football table. There are two main reasons as to why Manchester City excel in midfield, in comparison to their main title-rivals. Below is the standings from this position:
- Manchester City- 531 points
- Leicester - 357 points
- Liverpool - 260 points
Kevin de Bruyne is the most expensive midfielder in Fantasy Football at £11.2m - he is also the highest-scoring player from midfield with 125 points, actually placing him third in the points chart for this season. With six goals and 10 assists, it is staggering to see Fantasy Football managers who have not recruited his services, claiming a 23-point haul against Arsenal on Sunday. Of the top 1,000 performing teams in Fantasy Football, de Bruyne is in 85.9 per cent of them - that says it all.
Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva have accrued 144 points between them, and are classed as midfielders in Fantasy Football, despite sometimes playing as wingers in City's 4-3-3 formation. this adds massively to Manchester City's points tally in midfield and offers the explanation as to why the gap to Leicester is 174 points. Between the two, they have notched nine goals and created 10, an extra 84 points alone. Altogether, the City midfield have chipped in with the small matter of 21 goals and 28 assists, proving worthy winners from this part of the pitch.
The Liverpool Trio
Sadio Mane - 128 points (2nd of ST's in Fantasy Football)
Mohamed Salah - 116 points (5th of ST's in Fantasy Football)
Roberto Firmino - 82 points (14th of ST's in Fantasy Football)
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have both tallied more points combined than the strike-forces of their title-rivals, while Mane has continued where he left off at the end of last campaign. With nine goals, seven assists and five man-of-the-match awards, it would be hard to argue if he was the highest-scorer in the whole of Fantasy Football.
The front three, along with Divock Origi, have contributed to 25 of Liverpool's 42 Premier League goals, a total of 125 points to boost their Fantasy Football total, which gives them the real push and outlet to challenge Manchester City and Leiecster for the top spot overall.
The Jamie Vardy Party
Jamie Vardy - 145 points (1st of ST's in Fantasy Football)
- Liverpool - 368 points
- Manchester City - 242 points
- Leicester - 234 points
Unsurprisingly, Leicester's attack comes in over 100 points less than Liverpool's, and eight less than Manchester City's. It has been Jamie Vardy that has carried the strike-force of course, notching 16 goals in 17 games, while scoring in eight consecutive matches for Leicester and unluckily failing to do so for the ninth time against Norwich
Despite Jamie Vardy coming in at £10.7m in Fantasy Football, he has more than justified his price tag, racking up 152 points already - the most in the game by some distance. This also works out at 14.21 points per £M, which places the Englishman fifth in the value-for-money charts, coincidentally led by Caglar Soyuncu (£6.2m) at 18.71 points per £M.
Leicester players have been highly selected among Fantasy Football players, but the question is - who will come out on top as the three highest-scoring teams jockey for position.
