23 November
Another goal for Leon Bailey who is having a good time recently after a long period on the fringes.
A regular starter now and 4 goals in his last 3 Leverkusen games.
And the all around contribution is good although he is suffering from making a high number of risky passes – a common issue with the FI scoring system that can punish some of the best players.
If they update the scoring system (further change is a long way off don’t worry!) I’d hope this is something that gets addressed.
Still, he’s well in range of wins on his day and and the IPD alone would be justification enough. He looks like scoring most games here, and he can throw in assists too.
Also one of the long standing reasons to hold Bailey has been his EPL transfer rumours – and these will only improve if he keeps playing like he is recently.
Lots of reasons to be holding him and if you can get anything like this £1 bid it’s insane value. Even the £1.30 Blue Button I’d consider good.
Another assist for youngster Florian Wirtz. I’ve already covered him – one of the breakout youngsters of the campaign so far. Showing notable consistency and I am sure he will be in demand when he is IPO’d. And should be FI relevant too.
Big numbers from Jonathan Tah. One of the very select group of CB’s that can actually make consistent challenges on FI due to their massive baseline play. Didn’t quite appear here because of a lack of clean sheet, but it’s there. Leverkusen’s inability to keep clean sheets is an issue fir him though.
He does have EPL transfer prospects and is only 24. Germany fringes. A stunning 44p to 61p – bargain. Would be surprised if he didn’t pop up with at least 2-3 big scores and could easily win on a Bronze/Silver day on baseline alone.
Possibly the most tempting target at Leverkusen is Diaby. Wasn’t brilliant in this game and in fact threat recently has been a bit soft. Assist potential very strong though.
And his ceiling is so high. In an U21 France game this month he registered over 100 total actions which is just insane for a forward, elite level. He is often well out ahead of most forwards for his all round contribution, so it feels like he really doesn’t have to improve a lot to become a really strong FI player.
I’d be picking at this lack of recent threat more at a higher price but he may be available on an under £1 bid. And that’s just exceptional value for a 21 year old who could become a real FI force. And he can win now on a good day he isn’t just one for the future
Started the season strong but domestically they are struggling now – covid ripped through the squad which didn’t help.
They are however doing very well in the Europa and have more soft fixtures up in the next couple of weeks.
Kramaric is back so he could have a good time – a shame he missed some of these easy games because he could have exploded.
Wasn’t far away here on his return. A late goal conceded took his match winner away but he would have been competitive, if ultimately beaten out by a big 300+ from Ronaldo.
Such a strong player. Over the last 10 for club and country he has 13 goals. We don’t see this level of threat outside of Europe’s elite strikers.
£1.34 to £1.40? Great value for IPD alone. He is a very capable winner particularly on these Europa nights to come.
And at 29 he still has a chance for another big transfer it does get rumoured. Bayern were sniffing around in the window just gone. Maybe that doesn’t happen but when he is value at his existing club this can just be a nice bonus. His Croatia involvement is good too.
First goal for Sessegnon too, really nice run and finish. A forgotten English wonderkid at the moment. Hoffenheim numbers aren’t great .
He may be a bit too long range in this market – I think traders will have an easier time focusing on the more low hanging fruit right now.
But he’s worth keeping an eye on – he is still just 20 and if he made a name for himself in the Bundesliga he could be a value pick. If we can pick him up just before he returns to the spotlight.
Skov, hero of the last round of Europa ties, was one of those out with covid this time. May miss the next game vs Liberec, probably back for Mainz on the 29th assuming he gets through quarantine normally.
A rare stumble for Bayern, drawing 1-1 with Werder Bremen.
Teamsheet was a little unfamiliar which may explain it. Tolisso sidelined with a muscle injury, not severe. Kimmich long term injured. Gnabry and Goretzka rested.
They still dominated though and were capable of generating some big scores here.
Coman bagged the only goal. Had other chances too. Good numbers for 65 minutes – he is one of those players who tends to rarely finish a game which can hurt his chances.
And his injury record is very questionable. Still, this is one of his most consistent runs without injury and the more this goes on the more viable he looks. Especially at just £1.26 on a bid. Very tempting, if you can get over his injury record. I’m not sure I’m there yet.
Muller strong as ever. Little goal shy of late but he’s got everything needed for big scores. When he hits another patch of form he’s going to be challenging. Just over £1 on a bid is crazy value. Still a long season to go and I’m not stressed about holding elite veterans at these sorts of prices when they have long contracts.
First Bundesliga start for youngster Jamal Musiala, who we expected to get some pitch time this season. Not on FI yet but one to look out for when he is added.
Had a good game on a day where lots of the big names were off colour so he has done his chances of a recall no harm.
Very tidy baseline numbers with a bit of threat. I like him – his youth stats show FI suitability. He may just go under the radar at IPO if released on the same day as some other distractions. So if he could be picked up for anything close to £1 or under £1.50 I’d be interested.
Not the best game for Bayern here but in just two days they have Salzburg at home in the CL and it could be an opportunity for the big hitters to shine. Gnabry. Muller. Lewandowski. Goretzka. These are the most likely in attack.
Coman and Sané too depending on team selection. Tolisso could be back and he’s been looking strong – I rate him as a high potential player.
And Pavard and Hernandez the best at the back – though Hernandez went off here and is likely to miss this next game, maybe even the one after that.
That probably brings Alaba into it as a punt as he moves to full back.
9 November
Sessegnon has been farmed out to Hoffenheim, following the trend of English youngsters heading to the Bundesliga for minutes.
He is getting them, starting the last 3 now. Some quietly encouraging numbers.
He’s a defender now on FI but is essentially playing as a wing back. He’s in and around the box plenty. He’s only really had one decent attempt in the last 3 but he is in the areas where things can very easily fall to him.
And he’s got enough baseline involvement to make a goal count in defence.
An intriguing punt, 97p on a bid now and he’s still just 20. Hoffenheim have some tasty Europa fixtures too.
Leverkusen are turning out some attractive FI performances in the last 3.
28 year old Alario is hogging a lot of the goals though and he’s a bit of a spoiler as he isn’t the one traders really want. However, 46p to 68p for a player who has scored 8 goals in 7 games? The only 2 he blanked on in that run were games he only played 45 minutes.
These goals are no fluke he’s got the threat. Another great IPD rotation option.
Leon Bailey is doing really well of late. Getting regular minutes. Scored yesterday making 3 in the last 2 games. No assists but he is creating chances. Good stuff – he’s a contender – always has been but he has lacked the minutes to show it. Generally considered Leverkusen’s star player yesterday.
And good form can kick up those transfer rumours once more. I like him.
Diaby is a bargain too at £1.16. 2 assists here. Decent involvement. Lacking threat in the last 3 but he’s in the right areas. And historically he’s been able to put them away. Optimistic.
17 year old Wirtz is doing very well for such a young player – basically a regular now and he added another assist here. Lovely stuff for a young player – definitely one to watch at IPO.
I’ve also noted an improvement for Amiri too recently. He too added another assist here and he’s in range of goals too. With the baselines to make it count. Good for the patient trader he’s a bright prospect now making Germany squads.
And damn. Tapsoba. Dominating play yet again with an elite level 135 touches. Was a little sloppy in passing yesterday but it was a tough game.
Also heavily punished for fouls and even an offside as well as those 3 goals conceded. But all these issues I’d expect to evaporate on a flatter track. One of the rare CB’s who can be a contender. Glad I picked him out early this season he’s looking good.
25 year old Gladbach defender Bensebaini ain’t no one hit wonder.
He was nearly on the scoresheet again yesterday from open play after his midweek goal.
Must surely be the best budget defender available for under 50p on a bid right now. Or if he isn’t he can’t be far off.
Can be a consistent challenger and they have 3 juicy ties up next including home to Shakhtar in the CL.
8 November
Before we get to the on pitch performances… Kimmich is the headline. 3 months out potentially with a meniscus tear. Awfully bad luck for holders and with him on a hotstreak this is going to hit a lot of people at a time when confidence is low anyway.
Can you do much about that? Not really, not after the fact anyway. Any player can get an injury at any time.
What you can do is structure your portfolio in such a way so that one player isn’t making up an outrageous percent of it. So when one does fall over, it’s not such a big deal. I tend not to have any player more than 7.5% total portfolio value for this reason.
And, this is one of the reasons why I tend to sell players who are overperforming or hitting hot streaks. High prices and attention are nice but they do come with pressure too. If something goes wrong many will want out at the same time.
This could be good for others like Tolisso who may see more minutes, and players like Goretzka who may be tasked with carrying more of the ball.
On the pitch, starting at the back, Neuer was a beast and almost certainly was decisive in the win. Ever since GK’s got their own category I said he was the best on the platform, I think that’s proving true.
No win here but consistency is bringing rewards, making regular challenges for dividends and figuring in Team of the Month too.
Also reassuring recently that he discussed retirement – he doesn’t want to go on forever but should see out his contract taking him to 2023. That’s a long time on FI and I don’t really see fear of age as a real reason not to hold him certainly not for this season.
More minutes for full back Hernandez. Was not as attacking this time – but you expect that away vs Dortmund really. Still managed an assist – looking very good and better than Alphonso Davies for FI purposes. Whether he ousts him from the LB spot remains to be seen.
Sarr was poor so his chances of taking over full time from the injured Pavard take a dent.
I mused above that Goretkza may improve with Kimmich gone and we can see that in the numbers now we get to it.
Touches and possession is basically the same but he’s busier than usual here – interceptions, recoveries etc. He’s going to have more to do and he’s capable of doing it.
Also had 2 decent chances to score in this game. I really like him for this season. He’s simmering – no explosion yet – but it should come. Great value anyway and he should get better from here.
Bayern have been leaning on Tolisso more and more anyway – they will have to do so more now most likely. Solid numbers from him – and he played well in this tough game so there is no reason he shouldn’t be trusted more.
A capable winner who could in theory reach Thiago sort of levels. But for 79p to £1.01 even anywhere close would be great value.
Muller was fantastic here too. No threat but that isn’t usually a problem. I expect consistent big scores from him. A bargain.
Gnabry solid too. Consistent – and whilst he can go quiet the chances of him exploding and dragging attention back to him are high. Can’t really think of a better time to pick him up than now when the market is nervy.
Coman and Sané are probably my least favoured Bayern options though both are capable. They are seeing rotation. And I don’t quite trust Coman to stay fit yet his record is awful. Sané… really not bad but I just think the price is a touch high for what you get. If I was paying this money I’d go for the proven Gnabry.
Lewandowski managed a goal and assist, incredible form. Goal is worth watching – haven’t seen many better headers. Poor score with just 126 which is a little unusual. He got -30 in faults for yellow cards, offsides, goals conceded etc. And lacked the matchwinner.
For his big days he wants 2+ goals including the matchwinner which is for mere mortals is a high bar. But he reaches that often.
Wonderful player and if you can get this cheap bid over the international break I would be surprised if he did not see buying when people try to line up this 9 game Bayern IPD window starting on the 21st.
That is a great idea however my strong advice here is not to actually wait to try and line up a perfect 30 day window.
We want to buying more like now as people are selling for the international break, not being too obvious by waiting until the 21st to maximise your 30 day window. This is for the mugs.
Instead, buy on the dip, possibly benefiting from a red button price rise in the next two weeks due to those late IPD buyers.
Then, somewhere in the middle of your 30 day window you are likely to be able to find a time to sell and refresh that window – probably in the build up to a big European game when Lewandowski should be in demand.
With these IPD rotation buys – follow the price movements more than the fixtures is my advice.
Guerreiro was one of Dortmund’s best performers in reality.
When you are a defender conceding 3 and losing yet still coming out of the game with a score of 194 you know you are doing something right.
2 assists for him here. I won’t bang on because I’ve covered him a lot recently but he’s on my explosion imminent list for a reason. Probably the best defender on FI right now and if that’s wrong it’s not very wrong. A bargain at £1.52.
Sancho appeared to have a poor game and indeed he had no chances and his involvement was poor – though you would expect that vs Bayern to an extent.
Not as bad for FI purposes as standard match reports may suggest. And the recent form has been strong across the last 5-6 as reported here.
Not hitting the highs of last season – holders need to be careful because there are many examples of youngsters flying high then fading. Best example I can think of would be Deli Alli – in his day he would probably have been the King of the Index. Not so much now.
That said his overall numbers are much better than they were at the season start. And he could easily fly again if he gets the right transfer rumour.
I guess my message is just to be wary if holding and don’t assume it will definitely pan out exactly like last year from here – it’s not a sure thing.
Full game for Reus – I’ve been highlighting his return as a player to watch. He scored, decent performance. Did find it tough vs Bayern as most did. Big threat though – 5 efforts on goal. I’m confident on him especially at under £1. He’s on my explosion imminent list.
Haaland as dangerous as ever. Another goal making 6 in 5 games. He could, on a better day, be looking at a hatrick here or at least a brace. Had the chances, aim was a bit off.
And then the usual abysmal background numbers that will likely never get better.
Really all about the transfer – expectation is for him to stay at Dortmund until 2022. After that he has a good chance of joining Man Utd or Liverpool maybe.
Would I trust traders to stay patient until then? Absolutely not. I’d go for that but only when the move was at the end of the current season, so maybe next year.
Cunha challenged strongly yesterday.
He’s a player I’ve always liked but I haven’t covered him for a while in fact not since May if I use the search bar.
Part of the reason I haven’t covered him a great deal recently is whilst he is a strong goalscorer he has to do a lot to make it count at Hertha who are rarely winning games.
He’s good in himself – but this club will always draw him back.
It’s a timely reminder though because he is the sort of player I would tend to target ahead of the transfer windows.
He does tend to get links. He’s just 21 and starting to make Brazil squads.
Not much to dislike and he likely has a bright future. I think the issue is timing – do we go now and punt on a link in January? It’s more likely for Summer. But then £1.52 on a bid is value and he can deliver decent IPD in the mean time.
Maybe early December may be a better bet – dodging tough fixtures vs Dortmund and Leverkusen first and getting a bit closer to that transfer window.
Routine win for Leipzig.
Angelino was close again – I noted midweek and last weekend that he was still looking a threat and kept him on my explosion imminent list. He’s Leipzig’s top scorer with 5 this term.
Scored a thunderbolt of a freekick to seal the win. Had it been the matchwinner he sweeps top defender yesterday. So it goes – you can only keep getting our players up there and the rest is luck of the draw.
Remains one of my preferred defenders because he has a real edge over the competition.
Good day for Sabitzer too – tucked a penalty away. A competitive player that has been off the radar due to injury. A great time to pick him up in my view. He has chances at big scores – looking at recent games maybe that is not generous enough and I may shift that in the next update to 
.
26, plays for Austria and has good transfer links in the recent past including to Spurs/Arsenal. I like the pick these days now the price has settled from his £3+ days.
André Silva at Frankfurt keeps plugging away, another goal here which makes 3 in 4 games. The Bundesliga’s 4th highest scorer so far this campaign.
Another IPD rotation option that are one of the few consistent sources of joy in this nervy market. 65p to 90p is a steal just for IPD and you can also consider the Portugal minutes and a possible big transfer a bonus.
Scoring a goal a game regularly but really he has the threat to be putting away braces and hatricks and that could mean an occasional performance win too.
1 November
Dominant display for Dortmund – the only real issue is the goals fell to a player few will have backed – Hummels.
Brandt, Sancho, Reus, Thorgan, and even Bellingham had a raft of chances on a day where a goal could have generated big scores but nothing found the net for them.
Good day out for Brandt and another start, playing the full game. Had really good chances, decent involvement, created plenty that wasn’t finished.
Remains a contender on the pitch and I think this £1.14 bid is going to look absurdly low at some stage.
Whether that’s because he establishes at Dortmund again fully or transfers somewhere else – his career would have to take a disastrous turn for him to be priced this low for long.
Similar story too for Thorgan who made his first start back. He’s a touch lightweight in midfield but he can hit some really nice patches of form for goals and assists, and can win occasionally.
Of course he’s having a tough time and has to get back into the side regularly but he’s just 97p now. A cut price for a capable Dortmund player.
Another good game for Sancho too. Definitely improving as per recent scouting and that continues here.
Getting himself into contention – so if anyone wanted to back him for a comeback now would be the time. Especially with soft CL fixtures coming up against Brugge.
And the price has dropped back to £8.78 on a bid potentially. It’s getting more tempting and nowhere near the car crash it was at £15. But you are very beholden to how any transfer rumour pans out.
Plus as discussed midweek the market seems reluctant to chase hype at the moment. But if he pulls of a second win after winning recently? Maybe. It’s a good moment to go for him if you are going to in my view.
I personally see better value with less risk elsewhere but this is no longer madness given the improving form and declining price. Plus the transfer window is some way off and it’s unlikely any concrete decision gets made until closer to Summer.
Bit of rotation for Guerreeiro. Guerriro. Guerreiro. Got it. (it’s been nearly 3 years and I still can’t spell it without looking it up) only coming on for the final 20 – but he could have scored twice. Looking very dangerous.
Huge threat for Silva at Eintracht. A whopping 8 attempts. Just the 1 goal but this is brace or hatrick form.
He pretty much looks like scoring every game in the last 10 and most of the time he has.
Still just 76p and I might go so far as to say if we aren’t just abusing this and recycling him for IPD dividends we are doing FI wrong.
I’m half joking because there are no essential picks – and many different IPD options available who are just as good. But I’m only half joking.
It’s just too easy and I wonder how long IPD striker prices can really stay this low.
If a more confident market returns value like this should just be hoovered up.
Kimmich narrowly misses out for what would have been yet another win. It’s probably about time the luck went the other way.
And it will. But in many ways I don’t really believe in luck so much as a player being good enough to get himself in the mix consistently.
Kimmich is doing that and his numbers are extremely consistent. He makes his own luck.
I still think it’s getting a little overheated and that hot streak has generated a little bit too much optiimism. But there are kind fixtures to come so hanging in longer is not a bad call.
As per recent reviews it’s likely other Bayern assets get their days in the sun. Muller and Gnabry both on the scoresheet here.
This is becoming an odd day of Scouting though where lots of big names are performing but not really generating big scores we might expect. Gnabry. Werner. Ziyech. Often it’s niggling fouls, goals conceded dragging scores back.
To be fair Gnabry does tend to need more than 1 goal to put up a serious challenge. Fortunately he can deliver that reliably and frequently.
Muller was close too but gave the ball away a lot which really punished his score. Cheap – and his big days are very likely.
23 November
Bitter blow to throw a 2-0 lead to Monaco. Bad moment for a confidence hit because they have RB Leipzig up next in the CL this week – and losing there all but sends them to the Europa League.
In many ways that could mean they get to tonk some weak opponents so traders might like it. But sentiment wise that could dent the big hitters Neymar and Mbappé. Suspect that could be short lived when people see them lining up against weak opponents mind.
Neymar back, playing 30 minutes here so his chances of starting midweek are good. £5.48 on a bid now potentially – my word.
If you are going to get the big hitters get them when they are down. If the FI market recovers (and it seems to be at least yesterday – will discuss this more tomorrow) then it is near inevitable Neymar and other premiums get a natural rise. So could be a great time to target them. I am more comfortable with the premiums who bring actual returns like Neymar.
Mbappé did plenty with 2 goals but still not quite enough. Story hasn’t really changed – he’s good, but not as good as many hope for FI purposes. I have a worry that whilst he can improve in himself – if he tranfers he is only going to a harder league and a tougher performance platform than he has now. That could cancel each other out.
Very, very dependant on dropping the EPL move and that makes it a gamble. Gambles can go very well or very badly as we know.
None of that is new. What is new is the price. He was £10+ not long ago and that made me extremely wary. If now you can get him at a £5.53 bid… now we’re in much more sensible territory.
If he went to Real you could probably justify this money although it may need another dividend increase later. But it’s not a huge gap between price and potential in that scenario anymore.
And if you do drop that EPL move… it could be huge. These price crashes are turning potential disaster zones into viable trades. I think there are better picks out there but if you really like the idea of having Mbappé and think he will be the big name of football for the next decade – there haven’t been many moments like now where you can pay something like a sensible price.
So if anyone thinks they will FOMO into any rise… I’d say just get it over with now and buy. But if it ever returns to anything like £9-10 whilst a non-EPL move is still on the table I would strongly advise against holding that too long.
Monaco have been improving this season under new coach Kovac, both in reality and for FI purposes too.
They had a very rough looking fixture calendar which I think many found offputting particularly for IPD players like Yedder. But that schedule is starting to ease up.
Stunning victory over PSG here coming back from 2-0 down. Kovac getting credit for decisive tactical changes.
As reported last time Volland is improving and by this point you might now say transformed.
2 big goals here and his threat in the last 3 since Monaco switched to a 4-4-1-1 is vastly better. He arrived in Monaco with high expectations but was awful in his openers. Much better now.
He remains fairly awful as an FI performance prospect, mind. But when you can pay 41p for a player who currently looks like scoring almost every game on current form… that’s a rock solid IPD option right there. And he could sneak a win on a soft day with limited fixtures.
Those looking for long range youth picks may be interested in France U20 midfielder Tchouameni.
Very strong central midfield baseline play, and he’s having more and more long range cracks. If one of these fly in he could put up a very competitive score. Currently doing enough to score maybe 1 every 6-7 games. And he’s cheap at a blue button 75p with no bid price at all. A potential bargain.
Most will want to target value big hitters at the moment but I think Tchouameni looks promising for a patient trader willing to wait for that big goal or a possible transfer.
Ben Yedder remains the main man, out with covid in this weekends game. In good form though and he has no real respect for tough fixtures. 4 goals and an assist in his last 4 games for Monaco. Close to scoring for France in the international break too.
Fixtures improving for Monaco particularly from mid December into January – could be a very fruitful period there especially for Yedder/Volland IPD.
Golovin probably their best performance scoring hope but he continues to be sidelined and Monaco are cagey about his fitness. He is rock bottom price wise because of that and if he looks like coming back he could be a great pick up at under £1 now. Shocking price.
9 November
Yedder misses a beat – failing to score this game but it’s still 4 goals and an assist in the last 4 games.
A 10p dividend which is 2p better than winning Forward on a Silver Day. Yet very few are noticing this.
And he had no shortage of chances here. Consistently looks like scoring and assisting every game. Remains an IPD rotation bargain and this style of trading can be one of the few sources of current joy in this miserable market.
Volland improving – looked nowhere in his early games at Monaco but he scored last time and he had some good chances here as well. Better – he could be another good IPD rotation pick if he keeps this up. And the awful previous form has murdered his price to extreme value levels.
A win for Lyon but far from a convincing performance and some poor numbers for some big hitters.
We expected them to struggle without European football this season but not to this extent.
They haven’t really dominated a game since late Sept/very Early October. These were games they could have put up huge scores – but they didn’t win them.
Lately results are better but they are giving up possession even to mid ranking teams like St Etienne – making big FI scores hard to come by.
Aouar in particular looks a shadow of his former self. Doesn’t look close to wins at all.
Depay is a little better, you can see how he could return to his old form if Lyon have better games.
Dembelé still seeing heavy rotation. Hasn’t looked like scoring in the last two. However, this 11 game goalless streak now looks unfortunate – he’s had no shortage of chances at all. At this rock bottom price I really like this pick.
Fortunately for holders the primary reason for holding all 3 of the above remains the transfer.
Depay may be the exception as traders don’t seem to like that Barca move although he could actually do really well there.
Not sure how credible that is – Barcelona are broke and I expect more selling than buying. A different move, even to the EPL, would be much more beneficial but there is nothing live on that.
Elsewhere Ekambi is leaned on more and more and he’s in great form. No goals in two but the threat is huge. 4 goals in 4 games overall. 43p! Another great IPD rotation option.
Lyon have 3 soft fixtures up next – they may improve in these games so I think holders are best seeing how that goes. But if they struggle through those it really will be grim times at Lyon.
8 November
Di Maria is really knocking on the door of a win here – just as he did in midweek.
2 goals. An assist. And hit the post with another effort – could easily have been our Star Man winner yesterday. He has to go on explosion imminent (although it is now the International break which redefines imminent somewhat).
A great punt possibly but it’s a tightrope given he is an older player with an expiring contract at the season end. There is live gossip and he wants to renew it – but PSG have dragged their heels a long time now.
If he signs I’d snap him up in this form.
Kean always dangerous. Another goal here. Awful for FI again – that will likely never change. May find it harder to get starts with Icardi on his way back from injury.
But he’s probably done enough in this spell to get at least regular substitute minutes and for an IPD player that can be enough. Now that he’s dropping off after that spell of hype – £1.32 on the bid now – it’s reasonable to go back to him again.
Suspect you may be able to get a bit cheaper than that though over the break.
Marquinhos was close to scoring here with a decent header – was a difficult chance but it shows he is getting in there. If you look just at shots or expected goals recently you draw a blank but a heatmap shows he is often in the area and something may fall to him.
He can easily sweep the defender category. Just a really solid player that has gone a bit quiet – rarely seen a better time to pick him up especially if you can get anything under £1.50 which may be possible.
Big injury list at PSG at the moment so the break comes at a good time for them.
Yedder misses a beat – failing to score this game but it’s still 4 goals and an assist in the last 4 games.
A 10p dividend which is 2p better than winning Forward on a Silver Day. Yet very few are noticing this.
And he had no shortage of chances here. Consistently looks like scoring and assisting every game. Remains an IPD rotation bargain and this style of trading can be one of the few sources of current joy in this miserable market.
Volland improving – looked nowhere in his early games at Monaco but he scored last time and he had some good chances here as well. Better – he could be another good IPD rotation pick if he keeps this up. And the awful previous form has murdered his price to extreme value levels.
2 November
Another good display from Gouiri. No goal here but could have had 2 – great chances. Incredibly consistent for a young player – could hardly be going better for him at Nice.
Clearly the correct call for him to leave Lyon for experience. He can win now and it’s the form that can also get him big club rumours for later.
Win for Lees-Melou. He’s one of those occasional winner punt picks that can nick wins, I’ve featured him a couple of times this season. On penalties which is his key weapon.
Not many are going for picks like this as the focus, rightly, is on the big hitters but for those who do like good punts like this – it really only takes 1 win for them to earn a massive chunk of their purchase price.
Good from Rony Lopes too, he’s a new signing that has some potential. Used to be a Monaco “future wonderkid” type who fell on hard times. But he is at Nice to make his come back.
Very well taken goal. Couple of key passes. Took a corner. Contributed defensively. Could be a contender and 60p is a decent punt.
4-0 victory for Monaco. As reported last time under new coach Kovac this team are showing some very performance friendly stuff this season.
This wasn’t even a particularly dominant game for them – they are capable of better.
Ben Yedder was close to taking the dividend here with the matchwinner and an assist. As covered many a time he’s a player I love to recycle for consistent IPD’s – and he can nick you an occasional win too.
A criminally undervalued player. Monaco have tough fixtures and IPD hunters tend to target easier runs. But Yedder has little respect for big teams and his scoring run continued including here and away against Lyon.
In the last 3 games he’s returned 4 goals and 1 assist. And still available for 70p. This is free money. Or as close to it as you’ll ever see.
Something of a fight back from Volland with two goals – breaking his 7 game goal drought since he moved to Monaco. Must be a relief because expectations for Volland were high – he was considered a big signing.
Overall these performance numbers are atrocious and it’s hard to see how he wins with numbers like 17 touches in 68 minutes.
However – he’s rock bottom at a 45p bid and if he reaches anything like his Leverkusen form he can return strong IPD.
I’d probably wait another game or so to check consistency though – until yesterday he has never even looked like scoring at Monaco.
Gelson Martins always worth keeping an eye on too. Goal and assist here and he’s just 46p now.
As a midfielder numbers are a little soft but on Monaco’s big possession days which happen frequently he could compete. This is his first goal of the season but he’s had good chances and could easily add more.
A good game vs Lyon somewhat ruined by a sending off.
1-1 in the end which masks some good FI performances. Which is perhaps a shame on a day when most traders were probably crying out for a big winner.
Renato Sanches was a monster in the middle of the park, racking up 115 passes which is elite level.
Limited to a long range crack by way of threat which is common. But he’ll get occasional goals and on those days he is capable of some huge scores, possibly grazing 300.
I’ve liked the pick all season and the more I see the more consistent he looks.
Bamba scored again. Really in form player transformed from last season as discussed here a few times.
Wonderful strike that is worth finding on the highlights. And a great all round display with tons of involvement. He’s getting better if anything. Already on my explosion imminent list – and he’ll stay there another week at least.
Until the sending off Lyon were playing well despite going behind early. They did well to hang on for 45 minutes with 10 men.
They’ve had good results lately but there has been a notable shift in style.
Earlier in the season Lyon were dominating – producing nice performance numbers – but losing games.
In the last 3 they have won 2 and got a good draw yesterday – but they have done it by giving up a ton of possession.
This is producing some dismal performance numbers from players we usually expect more from – Depay, Aouar.
That’s tough as traders have minimal patience right now – and Lyon not being in Europe already put them under pressure.
The best hope for Lyon assets may be decent transfers. Both Depay, Aouar and Moussa Dembelé could be good candidates there. Without major investment though that would leave Lyon looking very thin for next season.
They do have 4 decent league fixtures up next – they’ll need to return to high possession play whilst maintaining positive results to figure on FI though.
Difficult side to have confidence in due to this inconsistency. But that can be ok with players like Dembelé and Aouar as if they win it’s a bonus and you have the transfer as the primary reason to hold.
Dembelé looks particular value for that reason. This price dropping to under £1 on a bid is absolutely crackers. If the right link drops he could be a £2-3 player with ease. And even if he went to a middle ranking club he’d still likely pull in more than his price in IPD.
Depay trickier because the narrative that “He’ll be bad at Barcelona” seems to have taken hold. I don’t think that is necessarily true but it will be a while before he can prove it.
23 November
Continued their fine form with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Newcastle.
Some lovely FI numbers here – but the goals fell to the wrong players for FI purposes.
One own goal and another to Abraham who is never really in contention without at least a brace and the matchwinner.
More frustration for Werner holders yet continued encouraging signs. Two great chances, one denied by a great save, the other he wasted. Did manage an assist.
What’s really important here is that he’s generating the kind of numbers that make wins possible with a matchwinner and that’s really important.
He’s really hard to pin down this season with numbers flitting between excellent and awful – but the last 4 for Chelsea have been consistently good.
Especially at this new £2.54-£2.78 price I’d be confident on this. He’s in range of big scores and has media potential too.
Ziyech has started really well. Highly creative force. And puts in a shift as well with interceptions/recoveries etc that do add up. Threat just good enough and he’s in a place where goals can count.
He’s hitting that sort of range at Chelsea – (I have him on a high potential rating of 
which is a rare thing for me.
So performing a bit less well than I’d hoped – but still strong for an EPL player. And as discussed I think there is a good reason to favour EPL players heading into December as the EPL is going to be the only show in town at the back end of that month.
If still holding at his £3.50+ I might be sweating on that but if you can pick him up anywhere near this £2 bid? A steal.
Mount. I noted a vast improvement recently and that continues here vs Newcastle. And he did well for England too actually. (Full scouting of the second set of internationals will come this week.)
I used to like him in Scouting as a cheaper prospect back at Derby. Then the hypers got involved and the price rose to insane levels setting up an inevitable crash because his performance numbers at Chelsea were not cutting it.
Now we’ve flipped. The hype buyers got bored of the miserable scores and he’s now dirt cheap at a time when his performance numbers have vastly improved. Things like this are what show us so many people just have no idea what they are doing at all.
Well in range of big scores and I’m actually going to bump him up in my ratings to for showing further consistency.
£1.16 bid or anything under £1.30 or so can be considered a slam dunk bargain at this point. He hasn’t scored enough for most people to notice the improvement yet but he’s getting chances.
In defence James and Chilwell continue as the best options and both are looking good – especially with Chelsea’s clean sheet record of late.
I’ve slightly favoured Chilwell for ability and definitely price but it has to be said in the last 3 -4 James has been improving and has nosed ahead.
Chilwell still significantly the cheaper so I think the better trade if you have to pick, especially with more England game time security.
However James has dropped sharply and is no longer £3.50. A £2.47 bid is very fair for him especially given this improvement in recent games.
Havertz out with covid although got a sharp weekend price rise anyway. Possibly a confident trader entering the market or more likely a big holder offering very high to pump that price. Hard to say! Which is why I think FI allowing these unrealistically high offers is a longer term error.
Still. He looks good for that kind of money at £2.18 to £2.52.
The stereotypical Mourinho victory – 2 goals with their only 2 shots on target then defending in numbers to frustrate City. City had 66% possession.
For holders of Spurs players this is bittersweet. A win is a win but you aren’t racking up big FI scores playing this way.
It’s not all gloom though – they do open up vs softer opponents and if we look at the last 6 they’ve had 4 games with 55-60% possession and then two 30% and 40% possession bus parks vs Brighton and City.
So it would be wrong to write them off as an overly defensive side – it’s more that Mourinho picks and chooses depending on the opponent.
They have tough league fixtures vs Chelsea and Arsenal but 3 very tasty Europa league ties before mid December.
The likely lads are obvious by now: Kane and Son. Kane at £4.69 has to be considered great value as an (almost) premium and should get a fairly natural bounce back if the market recovers.
Son at under £2 is great too and probably the more likely performance winner. But with less media appeal than Kane. Finely balanced and both good choices.
Reguilon has improved at a time when his price has tanked, and a sub £1 Reguilon is a steal. £1.25 would be great value too.
Doherty definitely an undervalued contender at an astonishing 36p to 57p for those who like the smug feeling of nicking wins with players very few other people have.
Lo Celso probably the best of Spurs as an all round FI performer but we aren’t seeing it if he isn’t going to start. Scored again here, lovely finish.
We could see him in a Europa game and he could win if he starts. Some might like that punt – could probably wait to see if he was in the line up.
This campaign has seen lots of bad results that disguise good performance numbers. Definitely true here for City.
Incredibly they are 13th in the table. There is no totally dominant EPL side this season possibly as rotation and injuries take their toll.
But it does show how crucial it is for teams to be winning 60%+ of their games to regularly compete on FI.
For all the brilliance it will not register without wins that’s just how the scoring system is built.
De Bruyne in particular looks on the edge of consistent big scores if City can pull it together. They definitely have the schedule to do it – Olympiacos, Burnley, Porto, Fulham, and the out of form Marseille up next.
£4 is cheap for him and he can so easily rebound – all it takes is City to win and for one of his many excellent recent chances to find the net and he’s up there.
Not playing much differently to those runs where we see him over 250+ regularly it’s just fine margins. He’s going on my explosion imminent list with decent numbers combining with soft fixtures.
Mahrez is in a similar boat in that he’s doing a lot right but just not finding the net and City need to be winning. Remains a very high potential player.
A return to usual levels for him and City could easily leave us marvelling at how he managed to get under £1 on a bid.
Rodri is a surprise package. Exceptional baselines and more threat than expected, enough for one every 8-10 games perhaps. And they should result in scores that are very tough to beat even in midfield. At 74p to 91p it’s attractive as just one Gold win returns a massive chunk of that value.
Ruben Dias is similar with some very strong CB baselines. But he’s also getting chances. One of the few CB’s worth considering (and he’s doing very well for Portugal too). 68p if you can really get that bid or anything close to it is such a steal it is almost sad to see.
Cancelo is the best City have at the back. Lovely numbers here vs Spurs. Speaks volumes as a defender when you score 136 without a win, clean sheet, goal or assist. Gives him a very high score ceiling and he’s capable of blowing other defenders away.
A good day for Bruno holders with another midfield win, and possibly a good sign for all traders.
We got something we haven’t seen for a while: An FI player getting a rational price rise based on a good performance! What is this sorcery?
This was a common event for the majority of our FI careers but has been sorely lacking of late.
It’s far too early to claim victory but after a bleak Thursday and Friday it was nice to see some prices going upwards.
I tend not to overreact to the drops and I won’t overreact to some rises either. But you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t like to see it. I’ll talk about this more tomorrow.
And it was a great display. No better than his average to watch generally. But in FI terms it’s as strong as we expect from him. It’s consistent – and even when match reports are saying he looks a bit off the boil – it doesn’t tend to change much for an FI holder.
The worry you can have is that a lot of his best days are as a result of penalties. If he were to one day lose them – it takes a significant edge off. But he is not totally penalty reliant – he does have some open play threat too.
And there is really no reason to take him off penalties with his record. Just something to keep in mind.
But in terms of price what’s notable is that he has held up relatively well in the crash – £10 to £7 is relatively mild in the premium category (which goes to show how rough it has been!). Sancho for example went from £15 to as low as £5.09 before bouncing to £6.87 again.
Traders do tend to be stickier on the players who are returning in the here and now, where as when a player is largely based on hype and potential is going south – the type of trader who goes for this is can also be more prone to panic – largely because they don’t have anything concrete to hold onto.
It’s one benefit of holding proven players over the more speculative stuff.
Not much new elsewhere and I’ve discussed the others a lot recently.
We did see Telles for his first full game and holders can be encouraged – it’s really solid stuff. Big involvement, very attacking position. Good threat, looks like the goals and assists should come.
Streets ahead of the dry stuff United fulllbacks usually show us.
Just one game so you can’t fall in love yet but I’d be quietly confident. Historically he has good career numbers for an FI suitable full back. The opener suggests he will continue in that vein.
And at £1.24 or close enough this feels like a good pick to me.
9 November
Good day for Kane holders who snatched the forward dividend and the media dividend.
I’ve been favouring the 3 key England players – Rashford, Kane, Sterling in my reviews in the last couple of months. They are solid and reliable – and have been unburdened by overhyped price tags recently.
Rashford looked a particular steal after his dive in September. Rashford and Kane are proving the point – they were always likely to do something that dragged people back to them eventually for either performance or media reasons and both have.
Sterling could do too but his time hasn’t come. Yet.
It’s often impossible to pick up really well known players at value – but in this market you can and I am actively recommending targetting more core/popular players like this when they can be had at value.
Not only can they do something to get attention – they may not need to. They are the sort who could naturally benefit from any general recovery in the market.
Kane himself – he’s improved this season not just for goals but obviously assists and his all round contribution is better too. I think we’ll see more wins from him.
If you can call this a benefit – the thing about this nervous market is that players who win are not running away in value they might just get a tighter spread. For that reason – even now – Kane is great value if you can get that £4.52 bid.
Bale watch. I want to like him because he could be really exciting but with cold hard analysis – he’s been very poor. If he wasn’t who he is I wouldn’t be looking twice at these numbers.
There were some nice moments. Good free kick. It may be that he is just lacking fitness and we may see him explode when he gets up to speed. But as per recent reviews – this is not a patient market and I would not be holding waiting for that to happen.
Son generally considered to have a poor game. For FI that’s not quite so – got his chances and had a good level of involvement. If it was off in reality – it’s consistent for our purposes and I like the pick.
Little dry spell of goals causing frustration but he does tend to do this if you look at his history – quiet spell then an explosion.
I don’t actually believe in hot and cold streaks, it’s more just probability shaking out or else some more concrete tactical reason.
But lots of people do and it is worth factoring in when it comes to trading as it has a big impact on sentiment.
If lots sell Son for their fantasy football team for example – that’s going to filter through to the FI pricing. But I don’t think much has really changed longer term for Son in terms of his ability.
Reguilon had a good day. Decent numbers in the last two which happily coincides with me getting warmer on him after the price drop.
I felt £1.80 to £2 gave him too much to do but at anything close to a £1.20 bid I think he’s a great pick once more.
And Doherty – I said goals/assists were incoming recently. Here is his first one for Spurs. Decent budget pick who can win on his day.
Another high profile injury – Alexander-Arnold. And we had Kimmich at the weekend. Rough for holders.
As per the Kimmich review yesterday there is often little you can do after the event – we have to prepare our portfolios so that these bad luck events aren’t wiping us out.
This is important particularly this season – this heavy schedule is going to lead to far more injuries than we are used to.
Rotation in general is something we are just going to have to deal with. It’s not stopping quality coming through – clearly we have zero problems picking winners. It’s just who exactly is winning on each given day is often getting flipped around by people coming off early etc.
Currently no recovery time for TAA given but he’s got a scan today. Shame because he had been improving lately.
No goal for Jota but remained a consistent threat even vs City. Could be a contender in soft games and a £1.60 bid is decent. Really just depends on minutes – in this form – and with Klopp well aware of the need to rotate he’s probably going to get plenty of pitch time.
He was even accommodated here with all the big 3 attacking trio on the pitch which is another positive sign.
Tough game so never really expected City to deliver the big scores.
Notably Torres returned to the wing with Jesus back, as he did towards the end of the last game too.
That’s good for holders – although – there was no notable improvement in the numbers really.
But generally he does better on the wing and I’d be confident in him if he keeps playing games at £1.28. I suspect this was just a tough game and versus easy opponents he can let loose.
Penalty misery for De Bruyne who could have won the game. Overall though taking his last 4 games into account he is looking solid and really not far away from a win. I don’t think he is dropping off – but this quiet spell – 10 games without a goal now is dragging on.
He is however getting the chances and surely it is a matter of time before something finds the net.
A good time to pick him up in my view as he can be every bit as consistent as Kimmich or similar when hitting form.
Villa are competitive on FI this season.
Away at Arsenal will never be their best day – but on flatter tracks they could do some damage – they have a decent set of fixtures running to Christmas too.
And the festive season is a good time to have a few EPL players in your portfolio. As I think I mentioned yesterday the EPL will have a 10 day run as the only show in town over Christmas.
Barkley and Grealish are the likely lads. Grealish may be good to have over this international break. Barkley isn’t in this squad but may play his way in later.
Both capable winners – really not much between them in performance terms at the moment – I’d peg them around 
to on recent performances. Which in my system means perhaps 5-6 competitive scores per season.
Barkley obviously cheaper. But Grealish has side benefits in England and a greater chance of a better transfer.
Both good choices but if I had to pick one right now I’d go Grealish because that £2.34 bid is low, England games are incoming, and you have the extra comfort blanket of that potential big transfer rumour.
I’d also be quite happy to have both for this run into Christmas though.
Watkins a regular threat – even when he hasn’t scored he’s been close this season. Could be another good IPD rotation punt if you can get him around £1 now. Performance numbers really aren’t bad either 
to tops which is good for the money.
Bad result. Worse performances.
But the FI numbers weren’t all tragic.
Interestingly we saw Partey getting forward with 2 shots. One of those a really good chance in the area.
We have seen him getting into the box in the last 3 games. If he could add 4-6 goals a season he’d be able to generate some monstrous scores. Worth keeping an eye on that.
Willian was garbage to watch. Again – really difficult to fathom how he can drop off so fast. However, at least he got chances to miss horribly this time which is actually an improvement on no threat at all.
Always worth monitoring because in theory he should be Arsenal’s best performance player. But not in this form.
8 November
Is OGS safe now? Well he hasn’t been sacked but I don’t think that saga is done. One bad result and people will be on his back.
Bruno was just a few points away from Star Man with a better performance than we have seen of late. As I’ve said in recent reviews his numbers have never really dipped despite him visibly having poorer games.
A consistent challenger. Did at least bag media dividends for holders. And whilst it’s unfortunate he was pipped to the win big scores do provide reassurance and count for Team of the Month so they are never wasted.
Could have had a hatrick if he hadn’t unselfishly set up Cavani. Not sure holders will thank him for that but there we are.
Rashford was decent too, no goal but he did bag an assist and had chances. Better than his last few where he looked off the boil. But overall form in the last 10 is strong. Should improve if Manchester United do.
First goal for Cavani – actually surprised we haven’t seen more of him yet I had expected him to become a regular. Perhaps he is just being eased in.
Based on minutes so far – it’s as expected. Expect weak baselines but if he hits his usual level of threat he could be great for IPD, some media, and possibly a big score if he explodes with 2-3 goals as is possible.
At just a 65p bid he is a potential bargain, or in fact anything under £1. If you back him for more regular starts I think he could be a shrewd pickup.
Hard to call overall what will happen with OGS – he’s been back from the brink of the sack many times before. In this nervy market I expect traders not to like this added uncertainty. Hopefully it is resolved one way or the other.
James was back and it’s worth noting that he is still in contention.
We’ll want runs of soft domestic fixtures for him – as lacking European competition is a negative. He does have good fixtures in the next 3.
We do have the festive season coming up though and this can be a good time to be a little bias towards EPL assets.
Christmas football is a religion here so we are continuing uninterrupted in late December where as other leagues take 7-10 days off.
So, EPL teams and players will have less competition and a lot of people will be off work and watching football. It can really drag the focus onto EPL players so probably towards the end of November/early December it would be good to think about this.
Unexpected win for Eze.
Hasn’t scored since July and has been rotated heavily. No notable chances to score in the last 8 games until yesterday. So, a hard one to call.
He is however quite a busy player and he’s built this win not just on the goal and assist but a strong overall contribution including interceptions, recoveries and some crosses.
Those are very handy traits to have.
It would be a surprise if he managed to be consistent though – his goal threat would need to soar from where it has been. And then he needs Palace to win and probably to drop the matchwinner – it’s going to be a rare event most likely. I’d go tops.
Worth watching him though – if he hit the kind of form where he could pick up big club links he’s actually looking quite solid as an FI player. And he’d be easy to sell as an England U21 international.
2 November
United’s results always have a big impact on the market – their assets often attract big price tags and can get rewarded when it goes well – and punished when things start going badly.
The home league form is so poor. Yet they have recently beaten PSG away and demolished RB Leipzig 5-0 midweek.
It’s by now a fairly popular opinion that OGS is too inexperienced to turn this side into title winners. It’s possible he could be sacked next EPL game. But we’ve heard that before. Pochettino waiting in the wings makes it credible.
Hard to call. And that uncertainty causes doubt. Will Fernandes retain penalties? Will a new tactical system be good for some and bad for others? All valid questions that we will not know the answer to until we see whether he is really sacked, who takes over, and at least a game or two under any new coach.
If it was Pochettino then I think most would be optimistic. He’s well regarded. Plays a 4-2-3-1 which usually gives us good performance options. Has natural roles for players like Fernandes. But whilst we’re on the “Will OGS get sacked?” narrative I’d expect things to stay on a downer.
We should get a routine victory vs Istanbul midweek but we can also expect rotation here. Could be big scores but it really depends who starts.
The tests may be Everton away and then West Brom at home. Poor results there could be the end for OGS.
On the pitch little has changed. Fernandes had a poor game yesterday and was wasteful. But overall his numbers in the last 5-6 remain very strong.
With this uncertainty and a bad performance, with the market this gloomy, I’d expect his price slide to continue but he’d have to really fall off a cliff to be not worth £7.45 which is what people seem to be selling for. Rational value would be closer to £12+ if playing something close to his usual.
Rashford is in good form and whilst he’ll usually needs more than 1 goal we can see him make some challenges, and hoover up media too. Holding his price pretty well and anywhere £5-6 is value.
Greenwood I have thought would suffer for a long time – absolutely no way I could see him holding £10+ that was crackers.
£5.19 to £6.07 now… it’s a lot better and no longer outrageous. But unlike Bruno the chances of him putting up a big score to yank people back to him are not high. It’s just a case of people getting too excited too soon. He does have future potential including for FI.
Pogba is diving under £3 now… he’s been a disaster waiting to happen for a long time so this is not unexpected. I can’t really see a reason why it would recover soon. He’d have to get a decent out of EPL move and the price would have to drop a bit more. Then maybe if he looked good at a different club.
Or if he really hit such a low that he became value for the Euros that might be another scenario where he could do well.
Outside of this there really isn’t a great deal of FI relevant talent at United for all the obsessing over them.
Martial, De Beek and Telles the only other contenders.
Martial isn’t far away and looking in better form. £1.53 on a bid now is a decent pick up – particularly if people get more glum on United and he dips even lower.
De Beek we haven’t seen enough of yet but he’s got potential. And likewise Telles who in theory could be a contender based on his historic record.
A win but not a convincing one. Spurs gave up far too much possession here for a home tie – a poor sign for performance prospects.
Reguilon did quite well. I’ve been worried for his price in recent scouting – the hype gave him too much to do at £2. But if you can get this £1.26 bid now he remains a decent player and that’s a much more sensible price tag he should be able to justify.
Good all round display. Laid on an assist. Had an effort of his own. Advanced position – not much to dislike.
I’ve liked Doherty and overall his numbers are good – arguably better than Reguilon’s. Except for yesterday when he saw little of the ball – almost as if there was a tactical instruction to target Reguilon’s flank. But he’s cheap at a 52p bid and if his overall numbers continue I’d stay optimistic.
Bale’s introduction and matchwinner the talking point though. Lovely but worrying – he did so little on the ball apart from that. Just 10 touches. It’s very difficult to produce winning scores with those kind of numbers.
He did make those touches count with a key pass added as well. Playing like we have seen so far he’d need to be prolific to figure in the scoring.
He’d need to start smashing it to the point where he is hoovering up regular media to succeed I think. But that initial hype has faded too so… £2.15 on a bid now isn’t a bad punt.
I’d like to see at least a full game before judging though.
Son and Kane remain by and far and away the best Spurs assets and should be reliable.
A big showing from Ward-Prowse – building on his goal last time.
Last week I called him only a very occasional winner and he almost proved me wrong with 2 goals and an assist here. Holders are unlucky he had an otherwise off colour game where Villa dominated possession.
On a more normal day for Saints I’d expect Ward-Prowse to be comfortably clearing 250+ with this particularly in a soft fixture at home.
On his overall record I’d probably put this down to being a bit of a hot streak. However we also saw Ings go down with a nasty looking injury and in that case Ward-Prowse probably takes over on penalties.
And they have favourable fixtures coming up.
If you can get this 94p bid which you probably can as on the goal buyers will be desperate to sell – that’s not a bad punt.
And it is a shame to lose Ings – as covered last time he’s a great IPD rotation option – one of the many cheap strikers right now whose IPD returns are extremely reliable. But there are no shortage of those targets as covered here.
Loss for Villa but they had decent possession – generally showing some good performance numbers at times this season and may provide some occasional winners.
These smaller performance suitable clubs in the EPL may do better than usual since it is the only league with 3 subs and they have less cause for rotation because they are not in Europe.
I still favour big hitting teams this year heavily but where you can find a bargain punt it can be worth it.
Grealish had a very good day. Just the 1 goal but he could have had more with 6 efforts. Added an assist. With the hype firmly off him I’m now considering it a good time to go back to him.
Last review on 5th October I said the same on a bid of £2.23 potentially, that’s crept up to £2.60 now but I still think that’s decent value when you consider how easy it would be for the transfer rumours to kick up again. And we have the internationals coming up again where he could shine.
Barkley is a capable winner too. In a big 6 team playing regularly in his natural position he’d be one of the EPL’s best performance players without doubt.
We’ve mostly seen him in a tough period for Villa but he’s still played pretty well. Can play himself back into contention for a bigger move or return to Chelsea, and may figure for England.
At an incredible 66p there is plenty of upside there and little downside – it’s unlikely he goes anywhere worse than Villa.
And when you only have to generate 66p in 3 years in dividends – that’s when the normally absurd “career dividends” argument for long term holds is acceptable.
1 November
Good display and comfortable victory – the sort of game where City assets could have cleaned up with a little more luck.
Walker was close – pipped by Rennes defender Aguerd. I tend not to talk about Walker too much as he’s not a regular competitor. Particularly recently the goal threat isn’t great. And neither is the assist potential.
I would not expect this again soon. The most interesting thing is that when he was leading the price jumped, but it has fallen back again very swiftly on the bid.
You have to be really careful if jumping on these rare goalscorers for IPD or similar – anyone good at this will be immediately selling whilst they can and ignoring the dividend.
Cancelo is better and has high assist potential. Was a good display in general that helps him establish, particularly as he gets criticised defensively sometimes. Solid here though.
Not far away with 193 without goal or assist and he is capable of adding either. Goal threat in recent games has dropped but assist potential remains high – something to watch but I think he’s a solid pick.
I would not count out Laporte either. Had a great chance to score and if that goes in he’d be tough to beat. Huge baseline player and scores more than most CB’s have a right to. And just 89p to £1.09 – injury has kept him off the FI radar but I see him as quite similar to Van Dijk in terms of output. Can be particularly good during runs of CL games.
De Bruyne was close, as he almost always is. Had good chances and had one of those gone in he could have been challenging especially on a soft-ish day in midfield.
Looks incredibly consistent and big scores should surely come. He’s not getting the lucky bounces right now – and that makes it a good opportunity to pick him up as impatient people dip out.
Mahrez – likewise. 5 games without a goal now but that’s a wonder. He’s had great chances throughout that period and especially as a forward his numbers are very competitive. £1.45 or anything close to that is a steal.
Ferran Torres had another good performance, a real threat again and amazing he did not score (which is a story for many City players). Looks superb in reality – however as I noted in the CL – this central striker role is abysmal for his FI prospects.
A shadow of what he can produce on the wing. He’d need at least 2 goals to be competitive from here. Troubling as he was really promising in his more natural wing role.
Good all round performance from Sterling. Little toothless but goal threat has not been an issue overall recently. I see him as a little like Kane or Rashford – they can seem unexciting and go on dry spells but then these big ticket England players generally find a way to get back into fashion.
If interested – better to get them when they are quiet like Sterling is now.
Dominant display from Chelsea – the sort of game we’d be looking for their better players to show what they can do.
Ziyech could barely have done much better, a goal and assist. Really showing why he was so great at Ajax. Nice to see.
The score was more disappointing for all that – 189. Subbed off early on 74. Only the 1 shot and he’s capable of more. 3 fouls which cost him -15.
All up he looks well within range of wins if more things go for him but I’d say it’s sort of level rather than the 
I’d hoped for. That puts him under a bit of pressure as a £2.77-£3.33 player – you want a lot for that. Especially given how low people’s patience is right now.
And yet. It’s only his second full game and he could improve easily. Plus Chelsea have really soft fixtures up next.
More than enough to stay interested in him but we’ll need to see an improvement in the numbers and a big score in the next few games for him to hold this price.
Werner is becoming a headache as per the midweek review of the Europa game. He’s not doing badly at all and the goals are flowing. But the switching between winger and central striker roles are making him unpredictable.
Definitely better for us on the wing although he was central vs Southampton where he netted 2 goals and assisted once. So he could win by being explosive the same way a Lukaku might.
It’s all pretty good but what makes me nervous is that he has a big price tag, no immediate big score, and patient is thin. Which in this market is a recipe for a continued price drop.
Under pressure for a win. Which he might get particularly with these kind fixtures ahead.
The current rating in my table feels about right – but it’s not quite the I was hoping for.
A much better game to watch for Havertz – he seems to be settling particularly when played more centrally. Solid numbers overall but lacking threat – consistent with the midweek game.
Another difficult Chelsea player whose high price is bringing pressure. Well capable of appearing with a big score soon – but he’s going to need one.
The standout performance was actually Mount. This was streets ahead of anything we usually see from him. Huge involvement which is unusual, provided an assist and had chances of his own.
If we saw more of this it could be a gamechanger. It’s been a long time since I was keen on Mount – not since he was really cheap and playing for Derby. He never looked close to wins and his £4+ price tag looked utter madness as I reported here at the time.
But he’s £1.55 now and if we saw numbers anything like this in the next game it might be worth changing our mind. Unlike some of the players above he’s not under a great deal of pressure because his price collapse already happened.
Still – 1 good game doesn’t change a long history of being bang average so I wouldn’t jump to it just yet.
Reece James is nosing ahead in the last two in the battle of the full backs, more efforts on goal than Chilwell. On paper, at least. If you watch he is actually getting into the box a lot so the chances of something falling to him are high.
Given the massive price difference I still think Chilwell is much better value and a strong pick up at a £2.24 bid if you can get it.
Alexander-Arnold’s improved numbers continue for a third game.
An impressive points total of 178 with no goal or assist – possibly his best overall FI display of the season so far.
Lovely and if he keeps this up big scores should be inbound. Though there are tough fixtures to come, mind.
Not helping him much on the market perhaps because people haven’t noticed the improvement, or perhaps because they have realised that he’s still a big price.
He really is – despite the savage drop he had a long way to fall before it became sensible. At £6 now you are out of “This is absolutely bonkers why would you pay that” territory and into “This is not brilliant value” territory.
Which is definitely an improvement. He looks on the edge of a win that might rekindle some interest but I’d still go for many other defenders first who look just as strong if not better and can be in that £2 range.
Speaking of which, Robertson strong too and is also well in range of wins.
A start for Curtis Jones – nice to see. He’s showing why I gave him rave reviews ever since his academy days. These numbers are monstrous especially since he was subbed.
Elite level FI potential in a “young and English” hype package. Looks one of the most genuine wonderkids around still and £1.67 is just a bargain for a long term holder.
Always the danger that he doesn’t make the grade or is loaned out etc but given he’s a home grown Scouser – you’d think they will give him every chance as this sort of player can be the clubs icon.
9 November
Yikes. 4-1 loss to Valencia. Another shocker and it’s not the first under Zidane recently.
They were on an upturn after beating Barcelona and Inter but this raises the doubts again.
Real dominated really – they just gave away THREE penalties which is crazy. Outside of that Valencia didn’t create much at all – Varane scored an own goal to compound the misery.
Wretched result. Villarreal and Inter away next are not the easiest ways to bounce back.
He isn’t helped by injuries but it really feels like he does not know his best team. It’s hard for traders to target Real assets with any kind of confidence right now.
Benzema scored but is now injured, could miss a few games.
Hazard has covid, stalling his comeback which was looking pretty good. How typical.
Kroos benched – their best FI player on the sidelines.
Rare start for Isco who can be a great player in reality and on FI. Fans will slate his performance quite rightly but from an FI perspective it really isn’t bad. He is a very capable player given a chance and it really wasn’t long ago he was a big name player. May end up at Everton with a similar story to James Rodriguez – no bad thing.
Asensio probably Real’s best player to watch. For FI… it’s pretty good but nothing like the highs he is capable of. Got punished for a big chance missed and I’m not sure that’s fair it wasn’t easy. Regular minutes are good but he, and Real in general, have to improve.
8 November
5-2 which is an important result given Barcelona’s awful La Liga form – ending a run of 4 La Liga games without a win.
They were poor in the first half but Messi came on at half time and carried it for them, helped by a 60th minute sending off for Betis.
The only misfortune for Messi holders is that he was rested from the start – otherwise he is likely smashing above 300 and winning Star Man yesterday. Again.
Ousmané Dembelé continued his fightback from his long lay off, netting Barca’s first goal. Lovely strike, too.
Good display, will have earned more minutes. Clearly not being used too heavily given the long lay off but per minute his numbers are looking excellent. A real FI contender maybe level right now, potentially if we see more full matches.
Also has a possible transfer and is being linked as a January Sancho alternative for Man United. Could happen Barcelona are seriously broke and have to sell some big names.
The price is so low after his lay off it almost doesn’t matter what happens – all options are decent whether he stays or goes. I like the pick.
Griezmann. Wince. Really having a torrid time and this was a really poor game that frustrated fans. The missed penalty a lowlight.
Did eventually score when Messi put it on a plate for him.
Actually, whilst traditional match reports will say this is an awful game – in FI terms it’s really solid stuff. He wasted so many good chances but at least he got them – 4 from open play. Didn’t actually strike the ball badly. On another day he could be on a hatrick.
Still, obviously not quite right and I wonder how long he has left at Camp Nou. Still, given the price which could possibly just be £1 by now on a bid… all outcomes seem good. Settle at Barca, good. Move to another club, also good.
Pedri is killing it this season. Just 17 years old but Koeman is giving him lots of pitch time and he is rewarding his faith. A goal here. Consistent threat here and in the last game vs Dynamo.
Baselines to make it count. Had he been on FI this would have been a competitive score. And he’s 17. Lovely – just good luck getting a sensible price at IPO it may be becoming a little too obvious.
Trincao holders have reason to be optimistic. He’s being introduced from the bench mainly but per minute these numbers are solid. Definitely capable of wins given a full game and with Barcelona well ahead in the CL – soft group games would be a good chance for him.
A Felix late show – storming to a big win and claiming Star Player, very interesting.
Season before last Felix was my star buy but I never loved his chances at Atletico. In recent scouting I’ve noted a definite improvement but I’ve never really trusted it to continue.
2 goals and an assist here – and some lovely background numbers too. Great performance to watch in general.
What we’ve seen in the last 2-3 games is unusually high possession from Atletico and this is really helping him.
Given Atletico are a famously poor club for FI scoring this would be a big shift. I am not entirely convinced – they have dominated in the last two but these are soft games versus Lokomotiv and Cadiz.
Sterner tests vs Barcelona, Valencia and Bayern are to come in the next 4, but they do have Lokomotiv again at the end of the month which could be another chance to shine.
If we see Atletico and Felix come out of those games with good numbers I might start to change my mind.
Fortunately this is not a market where we need to rush to buy we can afford a little patience. And in any case – even if the improvement is real – there are clearly better value targets available if money is burning a hole in our pocket.
Still, he’s a player I’ve followed for a long time since relative obscurity and I always like to keep an eye on him.
2 November
Relative unknown Tello won Star Player – something of a spoiler on a day when FI mainly needed a morale boosting popular winner.
I say spoiler win because… well there are few real reasons you could go for this player.
Heavily rotated at a mid-tier side. Decent threat but there are better IPD options.
Sometimes the underdog just has a good day and it’s good for FI who will have to pay out very little! Bad for most traders. It happens from time to time. Most of the time the stronger players tend to come through though.
With a more long term view you might look at Fekir. He’s been quiet and is a forgotten man at a rock bottom 75p now. What might have been, had Liverpool not pulled the plug on the deal, or if he had not chosen to go to a smaller club?
Numbers lately are actually good. Has not scored in 6 games but he could have had 3-4 with these chances. And he’s got the baselines to win when the goals go in.
You also have a reasonable chance a bigger club take a chance on him he is only 27. An interesting pick for the patient trader and this price makes it appealing.
Comfortable 4-1 win although not quite as one sided as that suggests, Sociedad are capable of dominating possession more.
David Silva looked good, netting his first goal. Possibly a bit unlucky that this goal wasn’t the matchwinner in the end and fell on one of his softer days for scoring overall.
He’s a capable winner, Sociedad have kind fixtures including in the Europa and he’s only 48p on a bid potentially.
Oyarzabal is in great form too. Another goal here in just one half. His numbers are a little soft but he’s scoring plenty and is likely to get a big transfer rumour again before long. Could also feature again for Spain in the upcoming internationals.
For £2.15 to £2.38 I think he’s a solid pick.
A notable start for youngster Barrenetxea too. Hasn’t had a chance to speak of in the last 5 appearances really. But he’s a well regarded talent and it will be interesting to see if he can start more games.
He’s sparked to life before after having a quiet spell and if he did he’d be the sort of player that traders were interested in.
1 November
Hazard gets the plaudits – a really good first start back for him – magical goal to get break down a stubborn Huesca defence. And then the game was easy from there.
Was subbed off on 60 as he makes his way back. But he looked sharp.
Decent numbers overall but punished for offsides, fouls and a big chance missed. Something of a theme of the week for some big hitters.
Probably about the best a holder could hope for on a first start back after so long out.
Make or break time for Hazard – but there is a decent chance he could prove himself very undervalued if he stays fit and keeps playing like this.
Not a great game for Asensio but it’s another start at least. Just lacked the big threat we saw from him in midweek vs Gladbach. Progressing well recently and seeing plenty of minutes.
Isco makes it on from the bench – something of a forgotten man. But he’s a good FI player given the right role and still just 28.
With the transfer window rolling around he is worth a look – EPL rumours already surfacing including to Everton which these days is no bad move. Just 79p and until recently was a real star. Wouldn’t take a great deal to get him going on the market again.
Felix has been improving of late as noted here and in the midweek CL review.
What was surprising was that he got quite an obvious bounce on the market yesterday after the goals.
So fast in fact it looks like a trading group or whale decided they were keen.
Possibly sparked by him taking a penalty? Or maybe the second brace in two games.
They may have ended up disappointed because despite adding a second goal he’s only ended up with 214 including the matchwinner.
This is pretty much the best day you get for him so… it makes it hard to see him regularly beating other competitive scores. He did midweek but he also needed a bit of luck to overcome Thuram.
My view remains the same really – this spell of form is good for stabilising the price – but expecting consistent wins from here would be too optimistic.
One thing I mentioned recently though is that with these wonderkids – people are desperate to love them if they have half an excuse. So that can be taken advantage of if you get one when they are down.
Overall though I wouldn’t get optimistic on this unless there was a credible transfer rumour for next Summer.
Another stumble for Barcelona as the hot and cold form of the La Liga giants continues.
Honestly though – it’s a miracle they didn’t win this game. They could have scored 5-6 on another day. And there could have been some monstrous performance scores from it.
Griezmann, perhaps incredibly, got his first goal of the La Liga campaign. And what a great finish it was.
Should have more to his name with the chances he gets. Builds on a good midweek display against Juventus.
Having a dire time on the market but he’s doing enough to stay in contention on the pitch. On a good day for Barcelona where he scores he can win. And soft fixtures are ahead.
I quite like it for the money as something of a shot to nothing. For an incredible £1.13 now – you’d think he either improves at Barcelona or moves on at the season end.
It would suit neither him or the club for him to become an expensive squad player next season. And you have Euro 2020 to fall back on too where he will be one of the best performance prospects around for France.
Messi was a monster with 10 efforts on goal. As I’ve said holders will want regular reassurance he is staying consistent. There is very little doubt that more big scores are coming from him when he plays the way he has in the last 3-4 games. Those early worries of Koeman hurting his chances can be put to bed.
New signing Trincao did very well in just one half coming on as a sub. As a forward he has baselines that could compete even in midfield. This builds on a good appearance in the CL vs Ferencvaros.
Watch him if given a full game – we have a genuine contender. No bid price right now either, could be a steal.
Fati generally considered to have an off game. You are going to get inconsistency with youngsters. But his FI relevant numbers held up just fine.
Basically astounding that he is able to do this so young and he is a regular competitor alraedy, probably needs bumping to in my ratings since Koeman is so comfortable playing youth.
The only real issue is that you just pay too much for it in my opinion. But I’d be far more comfortable holding this than other highly priced youngsters who don’t show anything like the quality.
9 November
Juventus are still failing to convince under Pirlo. Conceded a last minute equaliser.
Particularly in these last 4 they’ve been disappointing – the worst sin for me isn’t losing to Barcelona or drawing here. It’s that vs Spezia or Ferencvaros they scored plenty but never really dominated the game.
They need to improve or they aren’t going to be a rich source of FI points.
Yet, there are attractive options who look close to wins.
Dybala the main one – benched again here. Seems like another false start for the Argentine – he had a fantastic game vs Hellas Verona in late October and has seen rotation since – a very Dybala story.
Blamed for losing possession which led to the goal here. And withdrawn from the Argentina squad with one of the most bizarre injury reports I’ve seen “genital problems”. Yes. That.
No doubt one of FI’s best players but it’s more frustration. I wonder at what point he just gets fed up in Italy really. Does get EPL links. I still like the pick because it has options – stay and settle? Good. Transfer rumours? Good. No doubt it’s frustrating though.
Rotated side so not a great deal elsewhere.
Kulusevski starts. Tepid numbers at best. I’ve thought he needed to do better to carry his price and that’s seeming true – although it’s hard to attribute any one price drop to poor performances at the moment.
Even good players doing little wrong can be finding it tough.
Ronaldo as ever the main threat. Scoring. Could have been more.
Morata breaks his streak and had no efforts on goal at all. This is unusual as at Juventus he’s looked fantastic. He’s even better than just an IPD punt these days – numbers have improved at Juventus overall and we can see competitive scores from him occasionally, maybe .
IPD the main draw though which is just fine at his price.
Alexis Sanchez starts – did not look fit but it’s not an awful display. Given how well he finished last season he is one to watch – should he regain match fitness and that form he could be a bargain.
I’d want to see a bit more first – this isn’t a market where we are having to move fast on potential emerging talent. And with Inter bottom of their CL group I’m a little sceptical on Inter assets right now.
Except for Barella – he earns a pass. Threat in the last 7 or 8 games has been good and he’s unlucky or terrible not to score. I think it’s unlucky – he’s not striking these badly.
Has managed 3 assists in 5 and has general solid baselines. A really good pick.
Martinez. I have really not been a fan of this trade as it was flying north of £3 and even to £3.75. Regular readers will back me up on that I am sure! I’ve said it often enough.
This was absolute madness and a disaster waiting to happen because there was no possible outcome on the table that would justify that price long term. It was a case of when, not if, that price collapsed.
That has been made worse not just by the collapsed transfer but the general fear on the market that is especially hitting the overhyped/highly priced type of player.
However. If there is one benefit to this market madness it could well be that this clears the decks – sweeping away many of these gaping holes in logic that have been present on FI for some time.
He scored again here, and actually had the threat for 1 or 2 more. He’s always been a strong goalscorer he was just too expensive for a mainly IPD focused player.
On that £1.67 bid now? Different story. He can probably justify that price tag on IPD and the chances are that big transfer rumour will swing around again.
It’s taken extreme circumstances to change my opinion on this but I actually think he is a good pick up now.
Mkhitaryan. The hero we didn’t need takes Star Man!
Not a player I tend to give strong reviews to. Obviously it’s great for holders and actually you could have picked him up for IPD alone.
It is hard to predict big performance wins from him though – he’s a bit lightweight in midfield and he does need these hatricks to do it – and that’s not something he’ll be doing often.
31 year old EPL flops are also hard players to sell so it’s not one I would have tended to go for.
Maybe I’m just bitter he isn’t in my last Roma preview! I am sure someone enjoyed this one.
But I think the market needs a few more popular winners to spread those dividends around and the last two weekends have been a bit of a letdown.
Decent result for Napoli although it was an even contest overall.
Insigne was back in the starting line up. Fortuately his injury was not as bad as feared. 5 efforts on goal although they are mainly long ranges smashes. Not particularly his best game either but it really only takes one goal to fly in for him to be competitive.
Been a while since his last win – should have had more with his numbers. In all probability they should come.
Osimhen wins it for them. As reported here he has had a little goal drought but the chances were coming. He’s doing pretty well at Napoli and as the price climbs down he looks attractive. IPD but you could maybe see him challenging for a dividend or tops .
He’d need a big day – 2 goals or more – but he does have the threat for that.
Veteran Mertens another likely winner at Napoli. Just 46p to 83p. No goals in 7 but that is something of a wonder – he’s getting regular chances and has no shortage of scoring pedigree.
Given that he very recently stitched up a 3 year deal I’d have no problem punting on him at that rock bottom bid – he could return over half his value in a day if he snags a Gold Win and that’s possible. I’d peg him possibly .
This is a wonderful FI display from Milan vs Verona.
Dominant with tons of chances. If only they had won it. It took Zlatan to rescue a draw in injury time making it 2-2.
Speaking of Zlatan – this is insane. 14 efforts on goal. I am not sure I ever remember seeing that many chances. Maybe Ronaldo. Missed a penalty but did make up for it late on. On another day this should be at least a brace, probably a hatrick.
Calhanoglu started. decent display, plenty of involvement. Threat was poor for the second time in two games. Not too worried – he’s a consistent player and the numbers are really not too far away from where he needs to be.
Still in the gossip as a free agent come the season end – could renew – or may get some EPL transfer rumours.
Leao seeing more pitch time. Not a great performance but any minutes are good minutes for him. Probably operating around , if he was playing regularly.
For the money I quite like him although maybe there are better targets in a market with so many rich pickings.
I’d tend to be using spare cash on players that are either really strong or will generally have widespread confidence from traders behind them right now – that’s the best chance of benefiting from any natural bounce back.
Kessie. Proving to be more than just a deep midfielder he gets his chances. Also, after Zlatan missed the penalty he said in post game comments he might give the next one to Kessie. That puts him in range of some very big scores potentially. And he’s rock bottom cheap at 60p to 87p.
2 November
#justice4barrow
Football Index just confirmed that Barrow should have been the winner on Saturday. Here is the link.
Nice – as per the review yesterday he’s a player I rate. I doubt it will be the last win we see from him.
Napoli have been in decent form but Sassuolo outplayed them here.
Some good performances though from an FI perspective.
Fabian Ruiz is a frustrating player – always just a matchwinner away from a huge score. And he gets chances. But they have not been going in.
Still a good pick given the potential transfer to a bigger club and the fact he is capable of a 250-300 score on his day. But no doubt he is a frustrating hold.
If they don’t look close to winning they are easy to drop but players like this who threaten a win without delivering are difficult. That’s why having that transfer reason as the backup is important here.
Politano impressive again as per recent reviews. In great form and seeing more minutes. A contender at a bargain price.
Osimhen looked deadly yesterday. 8 efforts on goal – a real wonder he did not score. Atrocious performance numbers as usual but with the price dipping to £1.37 now potentially on a bid that’s becoming value.
Could easily explode in one of these soft European games up next. And he looks consistent for IPD in general.
You could also punt on Mertens who looks good too.
Lozano‘s burst of goals in early season is increasingly looking like a flash in the pan, though. Getting some chances but not many and I doubt it would result in a big score even if he did get a goal.
Talisman Insigne was sidelined but fortunately it looks like that injury is not too bad – he’s being assessed day to day and could be back either midweek or next weekend for Bologna.
Locatelli came closest to a win, netting the penalty and finishing on 211 with a matchwinner.
I’ve liked him for a long time as a budget pick. Nice to see him close but I’m a little disappointed he didn’t get closer to 250.
He was only 6 points short of winning in midfield and 2 fouls and a yellow card cost him dear.
Still, it shows why I like him as a 22 year old player at the £1 to £1.27 mark. Can win on his day and could get a decent transfer.
Good to see Boga back starting. Bang average numbers actually – well below his best. But it was a tough game vs Napoli and he is working his way back to full fitness.
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now – I rate him as per previous reviews and I’ll be watching him closely as he returns to action.
Eventful game and despite the 4-1 scoreline Juventus did not dominate minnows Spezia.
Dybala had a poor game after his brilliant showing last weekend. Per minute his numbers are fine but his problem, as always, is staying on the pitch.
Subbed off on 56 minutes here and to be fair – this time he can’t really complain – he was wasteful.
At what point does he just get fed up and leave? Possibly next summer. Whether he settles at Juventus or goes I’d stay optimistic for him. He can blow up and get a big score anytime and at any big club like Real Madrid which is the latest rumour there would be optimism. Also gets EPL links.
But really I’d just like to see him play more at Juventus because he can win in the here and now. I’m still optimistic on him but this is a bad game. Numbers last weekend were phenomenal though.
22 year old USA international Weston McKennie impressed – setting up Morata though he really could have just finished himself. Will have impressed fans and was arguably the best player for Juventus in the first half.
FI numbers actually not great here but over the season to date, per minute, his numbers are extremely promising. And he gets chances to add to those big baselines.
Impressive stuff and a potential bargain at 52p to 80p.
Chiesa continues to impress fans too. Really good start to his Juventus career. Added an assist. Had a couple of decent efforts of his own. Good stuff and he’s cheap for what you get. Capable of more too based on his Fiorentina numbers. As team mates trust him more we see him grow.
Never any doubt who would be the star of the show though as Ronaldo makes his return from covid. Instant impact with two goals to dig Juventus out of what could have been an embarassing draw.
A bit like Zlatan in the Milan review below – he could pay off handsomely but at his age if he hits that big injury or some kind of bad luck you might be in trouble. Could pay off though.
Another player winning over fans is Morata. Sensational performance, really. As with midweek where he had 3 goals ruled out, he had another ruled out here.
But then he quickly made up for it, tucking away McKennie’s pass across goal. He didn’t even celebrate because his last 4 had been disallowed, I’m not sure he believed he had finally scored! But it did count.
Also set up Ronaldo with an assist. Great all round contribution. Superb.
It’s one of those IPD striker picks where I can’t think of a real reason you wouldn’t just go for this. He looks like scoring so consistently and he costs just 71p to 80p.
The IPD alone is worth it and at Juventus he has improved as a performance prospect – he may sneak a win or two.
And in this form he solves Spain’s striking problem most likely. What’s not to like for this money?
Spinazzola nets the defender dividend. He is very attacking and whilst this is his first goal of the campaign he could have had a couple more.
Gets a lot of touches in the box so it is possible to see this goal coming. He’s dropped on the matchwinner which is fortunate because without that he’d struggle – his overall numbers are not that great.
That’s why I have tended not to go for him – he needs more than just a goal – it likely has to be the matchwinner. Plus at 27 it’s unlikely to excite many the market is currently favouring more well known options – provided they see them win.
Still… a decent punt pick and Roma do have that kind group in Europe as per the Europa articles. No real reason he couldn’t make the most of that.
For those kind fixtures Veretout looked dangerous here, as did Mkhitaryan, Pedro and Dzeko which could all be valid punts although won’t excite the market a great deal.
Dzeko looks in lethal form though if he plays – he’s only come on as a sub in the Europa so far. But if you saw him starting he’d be worth a punt.
Pedro too is capable of some really big scores and is in good form, scoring again here.
With these though we really are just talking short term punts.
Carles Perez is more interesting longer term as a younger player formerly of Barcelona and I consider him the best youth option at Roma.
Yet another win for Milan – a great season so far – they may even challenge for the title.
I started optimistic for Milan this season – especially given they would have European involvement this year. But they are exceeding even those expectations.
Their key man is still Calhanoglu. He’s been quiet lately but his numbers are holding up here. Not his best game to watch but probably his best FI numbers in a while.
For a holder it seems an easy decision to keep faith with him the big scores are likely even if he’s been frustrating a bit lately.
Theo Hernandez is consistent too. No real chances this game but he’s getting in the box consistently. No sign of any decline and I think he’s well worth anything close to that £2.38 bid.
Rafeal Leao has definitely improved of late and is seeing more pitch time. This was not his best game. He did really well midweek vs Sparta Prague though and had he played the full game he could have won.
I’d be happy just to see him playing more really – £1.21 on a bid now is a good pick up for a patient trader.
Zlatan remains a beast, on the scoresheet again here. What an incredible human.
Looks like scoring 1-2 every game and the appeal is clearly there for a 69p price tag.
The only real barrier is the fear of that lengthy injury which could leave you lumbered with a player you are never selling. One for the brave.
Worth flagging another exceptional score from De Paul – 186 when losing the game.
He’s a bit of a marvel. The usual rule is that if you ain’t winning games you ain’t scoring big. But De Paul defies that.
He’s still not likely to win if they lose of course. But when Udinese do win he is well capable of some monstrous 250-300 scores.
And… it makes you wonder what he could be capable of at a bigger side. He does get frequent links.
Remains a great pick up at £2.09 in my view. Just exceptionally well suited to the FI scoring matrix.
1 November
Similar theme to midweek in the CL – a poor result for Inter but they dominated and it showcases some lovely performance numbers.
Eriksen started again, not a bad display but not great I doubt he has done much to change Conte’s mind. Still, for FI purposes the numbers are decent per minute.
Story hasn’t really changed – he’s a contender when he plays but he’d need more consistent minutes.
Kolarov was a monster here. Over 100 passes, an assist, and 3 long range efforts. 34 years old so not going to be to everyone’s taste. But a very valid punt. His best performance yet for Inter. 241 score without a goal.
Hakimi is much more attractive in terms of profile but struggling for FI numbers. Had some good chances to score here.. but I wonder whether eevn a matchwinner would have really made him competitive.
As per reviews recently – whilst Hakimi is in range of a win he’s not looking anywhere like as dominant as he did at Dortmund. And when you have a £3+ price tag that is bad news. Has to improve because there are so many better defenders for far cheaper right now.
Musa Barrow nearly nicked the win with a couple of goals. He’s something of a scouting favourite, last covered on 19th October.
Where I highlighted his threat – despite the goal drought and apparent poor form.
He was £1.80 on a bid then and is now £1.58 – even cheaper. And he’s had a good performance and near miss for a win.
These bid prices can be wild and patience is really low in this glum market.
Incredible value now if you can really can get this £1.58 bid… I’d be happy to pay up to the blue button £1.78 for sure.
Orsolini also had a good game and is hitting decent form. He can win occasionally, in my ratings and could be higher at a better club. He gets links.
It’s actually incredible he is available for just 88p on a bid right now. He was £2+ at times when he was a midfielder. He’s now a forward in an easier category.
Another great pick up.
Explosion Imminent
Players by position showing exceptional performance strength in recent games
- None
- Angelino - RB Leipzig
- Raphael Guerreiro - Dortmund
- Ben Chilwell - Chelsea
- Philippe Coutinho - Barcelona
- Luis Alberto - Lazio
- Thiago Alcantara - Liverpool
- Toni Kroos - Real Madrid
- Angel Di Maria - PSG
- Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City
- Serge Gnabry - Bayern Munich
- Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich
- Domenic Berardi - Sassuolo
- Marcus Reus - Dortmund
- Jonathan Bamba - Lille
- Paul Dybala - Juventus
- Lorenzo Insigne - Napoli