Tipped for a meltdown after the departure of half their squad during the summer, Southampton are proving the doubters wrong in style in the Premier League so far.
Gameweek 5 Review
This season has proved nigh on impossible to predict so far and we doubt if anyone could possibly have predicted that Leicester’s Jamie Vardy would be the highest-scoring player in Fantasy Premier League last weekend or the extent of the damage he would do against the Manchester United defence.
Granted he was helped by one very kind refereeing decision and a United defence creakier than a 50-year old rocking chair but he still deserves huge kudos for one goal, FOUR assists and three bonus points for a 21-point haul. Vardy is joined in attack by strike partner Leonardo Ulloa after his brace against the Red Devils, while there was also room for a United player, Angel di Maria, who registered a goal and an assist for 11 points.
Di Maria is joined in midfield by the much-maligned Mesut Ozil (13) after his rejuvenation against Aston Villa and that expensive pair are joined in the middle by West Brom’s James Morrison (11) and Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling (10), with Peter Crouch (12) filling the final place in attack.
Sunderland duo Vito Mannone (10) and Wes Brown (9) make the cut at the back, where they’re joined by Leighton Baines of Everton and Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs, both of whom scored ten points.
J-League
A combination of Angel di Maria and Raheem Sterling helped Roughan O’Neill’s Sons of Pitches to 64 points and to first place in the J-League, a single point ahead of previous leader Terry O’Rourke and his Sporting Kilbeggan charges.
Gavin Gingles’ Meth Lovers Pizza are a further four points back in third place, while there’s nothing to separate Niall Colfer’s Baines on Toast and John Quirke’s Looneytoonarmy in fourth and fifth place.
J-League Top 5:
- Sons of Pitches – Roughan O’Neill: 335 points
- Sporting Kilbeggan – Terry O’Rourke: 334 points
- Meth Lovers Pizza – Gavin Gingles: 330 points
- Baines on Toast – Niall Colfer: 327 points
- Looneytoonarmy – John Quirke: 327 points
Saints on song thanks to Koeman’s Dutch of class
Admit it, you probably were amongst the many fans taking the p*ss out of Southampton’s apparent sell-at-all-costs transfer policy during the summer and anticipating a season of woe for the Saints after the departure of Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert and Calum Chambers amongst others.
Despite being the butt of all the jokes, Ronald Koeman’s side have started the season in style and with five games played, only Chelsea lie ahead of them in the table after an impressive run of three wins, a draw and just the one defeat to Liverpool on the opening weekend.
Southampton didn’t lose all of their good players in the summer and Koeman has invested the millions they did receive very wisely, snapping up players previously unknown in England like Dusan Tadic (£7.5 million) and Graziano Pelle, both of whom have settled in seamlessly so far.
In Fantasy Football terms, it is telling that Southampton have at least one player in the top four highest scorers in every single position so far. Only Burnley’s Tom Heaton, for example, has more points than Fraser Forster (£5.1 million) in goal. Nathaniel Clyne (£5.3 million) is the highest scoring defender in the league and Ryan Bertrand (£5.1 million) is currently fourth on the list.
In midfield, Morgan Schneiderlin (£5.8 million) is just three points off the highest scoring midfielders (Fabregas, Sterling and Sigurdsson), while up front, the aforementioned Pelle (£7.7 million) is the third highest scoring attacker behind Diego Costa and Leonardo Ulloa (£5.8 million).
Southampton’s run of games so far might not have been the toughest, but with nine goals scored and only three conceded, they’re tight at the back, more than decent going forward and their players should be very attractive to managers at the moment considering their next seven games are against QPR, Spurs, Sunderland, Stoke, Hull, Leicester and Aston Villa.
Come the end of that run, Koeman’s men could well be still flying high in the table and their players still riding high in the individual points charts. And who’ll be laughing then?
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Mesut Ozil (£9.0 million). Looked a lot more like his old self when played through the middle against Aston Villa last weekend and there’s no better way to get the Arsenal fans back on side than with a goal against Spurs at the Emirates tomorrow.
Mid-Range: Raheem Sterling (£8.7 million). Liverpool aren’t playing particularly well so far this season but Sterling is, with three goals and an assist in four starts to date. They could do with another strong showing from the England youngster in the derby tomorrow.
Bargain Basement: Leonardo Ulloa (£5.8 million). Leicester’s record signing has proved to be a very astute signing with five goals in five games so far, including a brace against Manchester United last weekend.
Irish Pick: Shane Long (£5.7 million). Yet to open his Southampton account but as long as Koeman keeps starting him then it’s surely only a matter of time. We fancy him to hit the net sooner rather than later.
Captain’s Pick: Angel di Maria (£9.8 million). Man United are all over the shop at the moment but their record signing is fast-approaching must-pick status thanks to a couple of stand-out performances as well as a goal and an assist in each of his last two games.
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