What lessons have we learnt from Fantasy EFL so far?

Fantasy

10 Sep

FFScout

The first five rounds of Fantasy EFL fixtures have come to a close and we are now preparing for gameweek 6. We are coming off blank gameweek 5, where all matches were played on Saturday afternoon and there were only 13 games in total This has meant that many statistics have remained the same, particularly since there were no matches in the Championship at all. There were many interesting and exciting matches across League One and League Two, with the bonus points leaders changing a lot in the other two divisions.

As was displayed this week, the significance of bonus points in Fantasy EFL cannot be overstated. Here, we highlight the EFL best performers so far with the highest numbers of Interceptions (+2 for mids), Blocks (+1 every two for defenders), Clearances (+1 every three for defenders) and Shots on Target (+1 every two for forwards and mids) from the previous four gameweeks.

Impressive interceptions

Although many defenders have been prolific interceptors this season, such as Cheltenham Town man Scot Bennett who has picked up 19, they do not earn Fantasy points for these contributions and are therefore not considered in these lists. Krystian Bielik (M) is therefore still the EFL interceptions leader amongst midfielders with a total of 12 through four matches. He is closely followed by Ethan Erhahon (M), who has 11 and has helped Lincoln City concede just five goals this season. Callum Camps (M) and George Saville (M) both sit on 10 interceptions to tie for third place, all of these players being regular names on the interceptions leaderboards amongst players all season.

Bristol Rovers and their 70 interceptions are far and away the leaders amongst all EFL teams, with Cheltenham Town taking second place with 60. The Pirates dominate many defensive Fantasy stats and have been under immense defensive pressure in the five matches that they have played, contributing to these metrics. Third place is Barnsley, who have 57 interceptions.

Brilliant blocks

Mickey Demetriou (D) has dominated the bonus points this season and has helped Crewe Alexandra to mid-table despite the Railwaymen scoring just three goals in five games. He has 11 blocks this season including two in his gameweek 5 fixture. Brendan Galloway (D) closely follows with 10, contributing to Plymouth Argyle’s league-leading 31. Francisco Sierralta (D) blocked three shots in his last match to bring his total to eight, averaging two per game over his four matches for Watford.

Plymouth Argyle are the EFL leaders in blocks by some way, and have consistently led the league in this metric. They are hugely struggling in the league, failing to win at all so far this season, but have still picked up 31 blocks to keep the dominant Championship attacks at bay to some extent. Newport County are second, registering 26 blocks in their five matches, although they’ve conceded nine goals so far. Another leaky defence, Portsmouth are third with 25 blocks.

Cracking clearances

Anthony O’Connor (D) is once again the first name on this list, picking up a massive 57 clearances across his five matches for Harrogate Town. He is joined by Fantasy star Mickey Demetriou (D), who is second in this metric with 45. The Crewe Alexandra captain is undoubtedly the master of bonus points and got 14 clearances (+4) in his last match in a 16-point haul. Emmanuel Fernandez (D) has 34 clearances, the third-most in the league.

Harrogate Town have 173 clearances in five matches, the most in the EFL. This averages to almost 35 a game which is a huge number. Crewe Alexandra follow with 163, led by Mickey Demetriou, and Bristol Rovers are third with 161, also a massive figure. All three of these teams have played five games and face huge defensive pressure, explaining their clearances numbers.

Shots on target

Bradford City striker Andy Cook (F) has 10 shots on target, the most in the EFL. He scored twice in his last match and now tops the charts for this offensive metric. Midfielder Finn Azaz (M) is in second with nine shots on target. Barnsley’s star man, midfielder Adam Phillips (M), has eight shots on target to finish the list, leading to goals in three consecutive matches.

Barnsley and Colchester United both have 28 shots on target this season to lead the EFL, both sides being productive offences. Stockport County and Notts County follow with 26 apiece, with the former being the only side of these four to only play four matches so far, averaging the most in the league with seven per game!