GUEST POST by @GarryIrwin

Another IEFSA Fantasy League week rolls by with some tasty teams going head to head in an effort to climb up the table. Six points separate the top six teams, and that’s not to say that the rest of the league is totally out of it yet. There is a lot of football to be played before any silverware is handed out; so let’s have a quick peruse over this weekend’s fixtures.

The sides are managed by Fantasy Sports writers from all over the globe. This has led to it being a very tight league, with most teams only a win or two away from the sides directly above or below them. IEFSA conducts its cup games during midweek fixtures, preferring to keep the bread and butter of the league games for proper football time, the weekend.

Please permit me to give you a quick preview of this weekend’s fixtures,

@BenDinnery V @nikarg

Seventh and eighth meet in a game that may not have too many goals. Both these sides are the lowest scorers in the top 10. In fact, I’m not sure how @nikarg is still hanging on in the top half of the table when he has only managed 16 goals all season (the worst in the league). I expect him to be found out this week as Diego Costa helps @BenDinnery to an important win. @BenDinnery even has Saido Berahino up his sleeve if Tony Pulis somehow mistakenly puts him on the teamsheet.

@DanRiccio590 V @cjradune

@cjradune is looking to arrest a bit of a slide which has seen him drop to third. It will be tough to do this week against @DanRiccio590. On form you would have to pick @cjradune’s starting players in this one. Jamie Vardy might be up against Arsenal on Sunday but Leicester City don’t have respect for who they are playing, and he could well come away with a goal.

@FantasyYIRMA V @TomSunderland_

A few absentees for both sides this week, as Zouma has been side-lined with a knee injury for @FantasyYIRMA, while Adam Johnson has been sacked by Sunderland after his recent guilty plea in his trial. @TomSunderland_ will have to do without his tricky winger when he brings his two Manchester United youngsters (Lingaard, Martial) up to the Stadium of Light for the early game on Saturday. That’s probably a good thing though, for @FantasyYIRMA, so expect him to get an eighth victory in a row.

@FuzzyWarbles V @wrigavin

@wrigavin leads the way thanks to the recent form of Kane and Firmino. @FuzzyWarbles could push him close this week though when he has all his defenders playing at home. He may struggle for goals or assists; Bojan and Mata might have easy looking away trips, but with no form to speak of, you really must back first placed @wrigavin in this matchup.

@RotoWireAndrew V @nealjthurman

Not much to cheer for these two sides in recent weeks. @RotoWireAndrew has dropped to 15^th and will be hoping Eric Lamela can find the back of the net again, as that’s the only player you can see scoring for him. @nealjthurman’s team is also one that struggles to score most weeks, which means this game is pretty much a coin flip. But we don’t like to sit on the fence on this site, so let’s fall on the side of @nealjthurman with Olivier Giroud up front.

@RotoZdroik V @GalinDragiev

@GalinDragiev hasn’t tasted victory in eight gameweeks as he has been mimicking the form of his goalkeeper Declan Rudd and the porous Norwich City defence. They host West Ham this weekend, and even if Rudd can find an improbable clean sheet, I’m assuming @RotoZdroik will have too much firepower going forward to be outscored this weekend. Lukaku and Sigurdsson should be relied upon to do the damage and keep @RotoZdroik in the title hunt.

@SportsByGotti V @GarryIrwin

Another week where the fixtures throw a curveball at @GarryIrwin. @SportsByGotti is the highest team in the all-important ‘Assists on Shots’ stats in the league. Plus, over the last six gameweeks, @SportsByGotti would have come out on top in this matchup. With all this in mind, I fully expect Emmanuel Emenike to have scored a hat trick for @SportsByGotti come Saturday at five o’clock.

(ED… CRY ME A BLOODY RIVER GARRY!! HA!!)

@Smokey_Loogy V @DFS_hambazaza

@DFS_hambazaza might be bottom of the league, but he is definitely a side looking up! His big hitters are on a great run of form, Southampton keeper Fraser Forster (five clean sheets in a row) and Sergio Aguero (six goals in four games) will both hope to improve on their impressive numbers this gameweek. @Smokey_Loogy is second in the league, which makes this a really intriguing game. His side is a bit Watford and Norwich heavy for me, and if you couple this with the lightness of Mignolet at the back, I have to go with @DFS_Hambazaza for the win.

Written by @GaryIrwin

Fantasy Football (Manager), Writer (Historian), Politics (Contrarian), Gamer (Retro), Internet (Common Sensablist), Bass Player (Hawkwind), Twitter (Fibber)

The International Expert Fantasy Soccer Association (IEFSA) is a professional fantasy soccer organization. IEFSA strives to provide league members with all the experiences and emotions of a professional club owner or manager to create a fun and challenging atmosphere. Unlike the standard FPL game, each player can only be owned by one team. Experts bid on the players pre-season and in-season with the highest bid winning the player. With a set amount of funds, fantasy managers have to be smart with how they spend their money as they apply their own value to a player rather than it being determined for them. In addition, teams are able to sell/trade during the in-season transfer windows to either improve their squad or increase their bankroll for this season and beyond.

The Expert League consists of 16 of the best and most popular fantasy experts in the industry competing head-to-head for a specific charity or youth organization. Follow along as they test their skills against the world’s best in order to support 16 worthy causes.