Alfaz Fantasy Football League
As the Premier League and Alfaz Fantasy Football League take a rest due to the third international break of the season it gives us a chance to review what has happened so far in this season in the A.F.F.L. and also take a look at the results of the first round of our K.O. Cup Competition.
With just over a third of the season gone, all of the main leagues in the Fantasy have been very competitive with no particular team running away them. In our Main League, six different teams have made their way to the top in the first 12 weeks. The present leaders John's Wee Aggies have spent more time in the number one spot, having been there for the last 5 weeks. Liverpool 94, Jin Dream Team, Pauline's Vodka Army(3 weeks) Peaky Blinders and Tarazara have all enjoyed a brief spell at the summit.
The Junior League has been dominated by three teams, William & Henry, Ginger Ninjar and Bolettellitubbies who have recently plummeted down to 6th position. Harley's team Ginger Ninjar have been the most consistent team in this section having topped the division for five weeks but they have now had to give way to the present leaders William & Henry who have a slight 10 point advantage.
Pauline's Vodka Army is always one of the front-runners in our Mark Carter Ladies Section and this season is no different. At the moment they are the current leaders with a 13 point gap over Linda's Team Tapas who have also tasted life at the top for a couple of weeks. Jeanette's Jin Dream Team and Nikki's Liverpool 94 also scaled the summit in the early weeks of the campaign. A few teams have been knocking on the door such as Barbra's XI, Rover & Out, M.A.K. Forever and Le Hombre Rioja so it will be interesting to see how it all pans out has the girls start jostling for a top 4 position.
Across the Costa's Golden Boot League the competition has been fierce with no fewer than seven teams contesting for the number one spot. Bill's team East Fifers started the season of near the bottom and they have been steadily climbing and they have finally reached the top by taking over from Big Sam's Army and Two for the Road. Kenny's Albir Boro Army & Nick's Blackcats have forced their way into the top 3 and left the early leaders Wigan Champs and Ortolans in their wake.
The four teams who look likely to be awarded a wooden spoon at the end of the season at the moment are Ginger United, Cookie's Crew, The Hatters and definitely Fleetwood Gian in the Junior League.
The highest score so far this season is 84 points which were amassed by Winnie's Le Hombre Rioja while the lowest score goes to two teams White Tornadoes and Northern Monkeys who both could only manage a minus 2 score.
The Premier League up to now has provided the A.F.F.L. with 335 goals, 68 clean sheets, a massive 398 yellow cards( over 3 per game) and 17 red ones. There as also been 11 own goals, 2 from Southampton's Hoedt and 37 penalties awarded, 6 of them to Bournemouth.
The Premier League has got off to a flyer this season with the top 3 teams still unbeaten which has never happened before. The Top Fantasy League Players are as follows. Top keeper Manchester City's Ederson with 50 points which is three more than his Brazilian mate Liverpool's Alisson. The nearest goalie to them is Everton's John Pickford who is well behind them with 29 points. Manchester United's David de Gea is nowhere in sight with only 6 points to his name which will be a big disappointment to the 37 Fantasy Managers who chose him.
The highest scoring Defender is Chelsea's Alonso with a formidable tally of 61 points. Liverpool's Scottish flying full-back Robertson is in 2nd place with 55 points. Not many managers picked the top mid-fielder Chelsea's Edin Hazard mainly because a lot of them expected him to go to Real Madrid (me included). He has 1 point more than Liverpool's Mo Salah who has 62 points. Manchester City's controversial winger Raheem Sterling is in 3rd place 4 points behind the Belgium superstar. Top Fantasy League player so far this season is Manchester City's record breaking striker Sergio Agüero with a total of 66 points which is one more than this season's hidden Gem Bournemouth's new England striker Callum Wilson. He only cost 5 million in this season's Fantasy League and only five managers had the foresight to choose this top Cherry!
Top player in our Across the Costa's Golden Boot League is Chelsea's Edin Hazard with 49 points, courtesy of his 7 goals scored (don't forget mid-field players score 7 points for a goal in this section compared to strikers who get 5 points for a goal) four players are in joint 2nd place Liverpool's Duo Sane & Salah with Sterling and Everton's Richarlison all on 42 points.
Out of the 64 ties in our 1st Round K.O.Cup Competition two of them finished up a draw so that means Quantrill's Raiders (33) Northern Monkey s(33) and Kemp United (27) Baines on Toast (27) will have to play again this weekend. Only four junior managers made it to the next round with one involved with a replay. The ladies faired much better with no fewer than 13 going into the Hat. The best performance came from Jamie's Kyle's All Stars who knocked out the favourites John's Wee Aggies by 46-40. The biggest win of the round went to Dave's Jukebox Mackems who thrashed Mike 's Super Saints 43-8. The lowest ranked team Moff's Magicians (192nd) had a good win against young Ant & Brads team by 32-19 and will be hoping for a kind draw in the next round which will take place after the replays.
Well, that's the last international break over till next March so let's hope all our players come back fit and well and ready to go again as we approach the heavy fixture programme.