Aventum Fantasy Football - Manager of the Month January

As the season hurtles into February, there promises to be some big opportunities for high-scoring gameweeks for fantasy managers best able to play the fixture lists. The chaos created by the Omicron variant in the last couple of months caused swathes of games to be postponed, and a Premier League table in which some teams had played up to four games less than others. Some of this balancing already took place in January, but expect more in February. Gameweek 26 already has 14 games scheduled, and as we have seen, new fixtures can be added last minute. So keep an eye on the gameweek fixtures right up until the final day if you want to make best use of your transfers and have players playing multiple matches in a gameweek. Spurs players potentially offer the most value when studying the teams with many games in hand. Son has been a reliable point scorer when fit, and managers further back may also feel it’s worth taking a punt on Kane, given his relatively low number of selections.

February also sees the return of high point scorers Salah and Mane following the Africa Cup of Nations. Fitting these players (especially the incredibly reliable Salah) back into your team will come at a heavy price, and may limit your options when it comes to the likes of Kane and Son. Fortunately, a number of inexpensive players, like Bowen, Dennis and Gallagher, have all shown excellent form this season, freeing up funds that could be vital going into potentially high scoring gameweeks.

The return of the FA Cup meant only three gameweeks took place in January, presenting an inviting opportunity for any manager in the league to take advantage and win themselves Manager of the Month. And our winner in January did exactly this, using both his Free Hit and Wildcard to excellent effect in the month to score an enormous 213 points. Congratulations Daniel Abbott of Watkin Davies Insurance Consultants, a bottle of champagne is on its way to you.

The battle for top spot is really hotting up in the overall standings. Long-time leader Mark Horgan is slowly having his lead reeled in by Steven Hale, but as of the end of gameweek 23 he continues to head the way, albeit now by a slender 14 points. With just under half the season still to go though, there’s still time for managers further down the standings to become contenders for first place and the Apple Watch top prize. It might take some nous, and selecting strong picks missed by our top two, but there is still plenty of ways to work your way up the league before gameweek 38.