Welcome to Genie's Corner. Here Draft Genie will give you all his tips and tricks to help you navigate the Fantrax season. Be on the look out for bold takes, and outside the box tips that could give you the advantage in your title race.
Festive Period Advice
Flexibility is Key
Flexibility in your roster is something that has been talked about time and time again. As we head into the festive period it is more key than ever. Five more EPL games will be taking place in the month of December for each team, so you can expect rotation, especially for those teams facing another European fixture that takes place after this weekend's fixtures. Obviously with still nearly half a season left, now is not the time to drop your big hitters because of a simple benching, or even those assets that have good fixtures. Throughout this period you should avoid benching players in the earlier fixtures unless they are not actually in the XI. Clogging up your bench from the early fixtures could spell disaster, and you don't want to be stuck starting someone from the bench in a close matchup. In terms of "hold" I'd recommend trying to reduce your holds to just 2 players, and 3 at the absolute max this will include your injured stars, benched players, and future holds. Having at least 2 spots open every week, will allow much needed flexibility and allow you to field a full XI. At this stage in the season, it really isn't worth sacrificing a potential win for the option to bench a player against City/Arsenal, or to hold a mid-tier asset who might be back sometime in mid-January. With 5 gameweeks left in December getting as many wins during that period can completely change the landscape of the table as we head into a few weeks off in January.
Nickel and Diming
A strategy discussed by our very own Ryan Barnes earlier in the season, getting a few extra FAB during this period could be huge. This strategy involves trading out waiver wire level players who get a surprise start, or had a surprisingly good gameweek followed by a nice fixture or two for some FAB. While sometimes it is better to hold the player if you believe they probably won't be better than someone else you can pick up, getting a few extra FAB can go a long way to grabbing a replacement for an injured asset, or a player with a good matchup. Injuries seem to be coming thick and fast, so being able to pick up the high upside backups could give you the edge in your matchups. For more on this strategy take a look at Ryan's article.
Streamers to Target
According to our Fixture Difficulty Ranker - Chelsea, Aston Villa, Brighton and Wolves have the best fixtures over the festive period for defenders. Chelsea defenders are probably mostly taken, but you will have the ability to stream a spot starts from the likes of Badiashile, or maybe even Maatsen. Sanchez could be a set and forget keeper for those struggling to find one over this break. Villa and Brighton defenders on free agency aren't really ones who can score big points, so despite the good rankings I would stay clear there. Wolves on the other hand have a fair share of defenders that can score well. The likes of Semedo and Ait-Nouri/Bueno should offer solid upside with a decent floor and the obvious clean sheet potential, and even the likes of Dawson, Kilman, and Toti can be good DEF3 streamers throughout this period. Chelsea also have the best schedule for midfielders and attackers. If we happen to see any shock starts in that Chelsea team they should be the first players you look to grab from the waiver wire or free agency. The likes of Madueke, Broja, and potentially Mudryk may be available on your waiver wire and could be worth an add ahead of lineups. If they don't start it is easy drops.
"Droppable" Injured Assets
As I mentioned about flexibility here I will list some of the injured assets I believe should be dropped for added flexibility - all the players below are rostered in AT LEAST 40% of leagues:
Pervis Estupian (BRI, DEF)
Ben Chilwell (CHE, DEF)
Julio Enciso (BRI, FWD)
Mason Mount (MUN, MID)
Alexis MacAllister (LIV, MID)
Sven Botman (NEW, DEF)
Takehiro Tomiyasu (ARS, DEF)
Dan Burn (NEW, DEF)
Solly March (BRI, MID)
Casemiro (MUN, MID)
Trade Advice
Trade Ins
Reece James - James is entering a very friendly schedule as mentioned above, but has had a very shaky season with injuries and his recent suspension. He is one to try and buy a bit lower from a manager looking for a more secure asset over the festive period. His recent benching for the United game despite him being fresh is more cause for a low-ball offer. Offering out the likes of: Ben White, Romero, or Maguire could be good starting points with throwing in 5-10 FAB or an upside MID4/5.
Rasmus Hojlund - Hojlund is still yet to break his EPL duck, but looked much better against Chelsea. Hojlund should see almost every game over the festive period unless he is injured, and is worth a trade in, especially if a manager was expecting a much faster start. He has been incredible in the Champions League, and it seems he just needs 1 goal to really get going.
Conor Gallagher - Gallagher has had a great season both in reality and fantasy. After a suspension and a loss vs. United he surely gets back into the XI for the majority, if not all of the festive period. Given his presence on set-pieces and attacking plays he should be considered a MID2-3 for the rest of the season. Look to offer a player currently on a high to get back Gallagher. A deal involving someone like Andreas P. or Iwobi is a good place to start.
Trade Outs
Alex Iwobi - Iwobi has 3 goals (from 1.7 xG) in his last 3 games. A feat that is not sustainable despite Fulham's significant improvement in attack. Iwobi has proven he can still offer MID4 value with MID3 upside against lower opposition, so he is worth using in a deal to get a better midfielder. If you can package Iwobi with the likes of Doughty, Doucoure, or Bernardo to get back the likes of Ward-Prowse that is an upgrade worth doing.
Ryan Christie - Christie has been nothing short of Messi in the last 2 games, but history has shown that this is most likely a flash in the pan. It remains to be seen how many people if any will be interested in trading in Christie, but similar to Iwobi, he is worth adding as a sweetener in a larger deal. If you can use him to get back a Chelsea midfielder such as Gallagher or Palmer I would look to do that. You will probably need to package him with FAB and a decent MID3 such as Rodri or Doucoure.
Alejandro Garnacho - Garnacho has started the last few games for United and has seen his performances improve significantly since the start of the campaign. Garnacho has a good chance to make the LW his own with Antony and Rashford fighting for the RW spot. Despite some better fantasy performances, I find myself still not able to trust Garnacho as anything more than a streamer. Turn to the United fan in your league and see if you can cash in on a few good outings and get back a MID4 or even a DEF3 such as Colwill.
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