Fantasy Football As a Way of Analysis Vol.3

Posted by Kevin Breathnach on December 21, 2009 | 1 Comment

Christmas is upon us. With the cancellation of the Wigan versus Bolton game this evening, the next Premier League games will take place after Christmas Day. And so, I thought it a good time to revisit the Fantasy Football stats to see what light they can shed upon the most unpredictable league for many years.

To your left, you will see a league table based on each team’s First XI according to their Fantasy League points. Though broadly resembling the current Premier League table, it boasts several noticable idiosyncracies of its own.

Manchester United languish in seventh, for instance, one place below rivals Manchester City. Teams that rotate regularly, or those which have been plagued by injury, tend to suffer in the league presented, while teams who have been able to play a consistent XI week in week out are seen to overachieve. Hence Portsmouth, who have very few points to boast of outside of their first XI, are three places above the relegation zone, when in the actual league table, they’re stuck to the sea bed with rocks in their pockets.

Liverpool have managed to creep into the top four, despite the injuries incurred to their star players like Torres and Gerrard. How, I’m not too sure. But I guess it’s down to the fact that, even with their injuries, Torres and Gerrard have over earned 150 points between them.

Though they sit close to mid-table in an admittedly very-tight league, in our league Wolves only just manage to enjoy Christmas outside the drop-zone. That they tend to grind results out without many star performances worthy of bonus-points is one reason for this. The other, as my brother pointed out to me, is that when they keep a clean sheet, not all their defenders get clean-sheet bonuses. Why? Because their left-back, Stephen Ward, is registered as a striker.

Finally, congratulations must be offered to Chelsea’s players, who amass a total of over 800 points. That’s an average of 72 points earned by each player, which amounts to over 4 points per game by every player. Fairly astonishing, I think.

I’m sure there’s a lot more I could say on this, but for now, I’ll shut up. Anybody got any thoughts?

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