Our Fantasy EPL 21/22 Draft Kit promises to be the most comprehensive set of pre-season Draft Premier League articles ever produced! This article dives into a strategy that has been proven to win titles and is a favourite of our very own @draftgenie. Here we will dive into the highs and lows of stacking, and when done right how it can win you league titles.
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The Stacking Strategy Tested
Read below for all the details on my personal experiencing of using the Stacking Strategy during the 20/21 season!
The Positives
In two leagues this year I managed to accumulate a very strong United stack involving: Bruno, Pogba, Shaw, Maguire, and Wan-Bissaka, with Rashford being rostered in one of the leagues. As well in some weeks I was able to stream the United goalie and one of Fred/Mctominay. I will say these two leagues I managed to win. Now obviously United were one of the best teams to get fantasy assets from this season, and yes this may have helped my title run. Although sometimes it was a risky strategy playing up to four United defenders, the upside was much better than streaming a different goalie with potentially a slightly better chance at a clean sheet. With clean sheets near impossible to predict in the EPL, having a defensive stack from a team that will not likely concede more than 1-2 goals a game can have huge benefits and win you many gameweeks.
The Negatives
With stacking the negatives can come in all shapes and forms. If the core of your fantasy team consists of players from the likes of Manchester City or Chelsea your main issue will come from rotation. In one of my leagues I managed to acquire approximately 8-10 Chelsea players at one point, with adding and dropping some based on playing time changes. The players included: Mendy, Zouma, Chilwell, James, Alonso, Mount, Havertz, Kovacic, Tammy, Werner, and Giroud. There were some games where I struggled to play more than 8 starters which significantly effected my scores. I was left trying to predict who would come off the bench and score the most points.
In this league I managed to acquire only two other “strong” assets in Pogba and Shaw, with the rest of my team streamers. With potentially 5-6 Chelsea star players rested some weeks I was left fielding 8 players with the majority being streamers. These weeks I struggled to crack 70 points. Closer to the end of the season I decided to trade out a few Chelsea players and shorten my stack to just 6 players of: Mount, Havertz, Werner, James, Chilwell, Alonso, and sometimes Kovacic. Once I did this I started shooting up the standings.
The Verdict
Stacking is definitely the way to go, but I would recommend stacking at max 7-8 players from one team. Any more you risk matchup blowouts and rotation nightmares. I firmly believe in order to be successful in stacking you must roster the team’s best fantasy asset to start. There can be exceptions if for example you are going for a 1 week defensive stack to bet on a clean sheet. For the longer term though you will ideally draft or trade in the team’s best fantasy asset as well as a few of there other top players.
Using the United example if you managed to roster Bruno, but the rest of your stack consisted of: Lindelof, Fred and Mctominay I don’t think you would have a positive outcome.
The stacking strategy will require a high level of activeness and lots of trades and attention to your team’s lineup and injury changes, but when done right is a proven title winning strategy.
21/22 Team and Player Stacking Advice:
There will be gameweek's where a Crystal Palace defensive stack could win you the week, but my goal is to give you ideal scenarios where you can draft a stack from three different teams I would recommend targeting this year. Now in this section I will highlight only one team from the "top 6" and two teams from mid-table that I believe can provide strong stacking results this season.
Liverpool:
I do believe Liverpool will contend for the title this season, and with them in other elite competitions. I wouldn't be surprised to see some depth signings this summer especially with AFCON this season during January/February.
Round 1 - Mane/Salah
Round 2 - Trent (if possible)
Round 3 - Firmino/Jota
Round 4/5 - Van Dijk/Thiago
Round 9/10 - Joe Gomez/Konaté
Round 13-14 - Jordan Henderson (for backup)
Aston Villa:
If Grealish stays at Aston Villa they will definitely push for a European place which will mean big points for their star assets.
Round 1 - Grealish/Watkins (depending on draft position) ***I would highly recommend trading in the one you aren't able to draft***
Round 2/3 - Buendia
Round 5/6 - Targett
Round 7/8 - McGinn
Round 13 - Martinez/Cash/Mings
Wolves:
Wolves had a mixed season, but under a new manager, and the return of star striker Jimenez, they can easily push for top 7 this season.
Round 2 - Adama
Round 6 - Semedo
Round 6/7 - Jimenez
Round 8/9 - Neves/Podence
Round 10 - Boly
Missed Part 1 of the Stacking Strategy? Make sure you check it out to fully understand the thought process behind this strategy!
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