By Oliver Walker-Peel (@olliewalkerpeel)
Price changes are afoot in A-League Men Fantasy.
As three rounds have now been and gone, players who have featured in all weekends of the season so far have seen their value fluctuate, and it throws up some interesting conundrums.
Western United are finally on the board this season after a 1-1 draw with Australia Cup champions Macarthur, whilst there were wins for Newcastle, Melbourne City and Perth Glory over the weekend.
Western Sydney and Brisbane played out a 1-1 draw, while controversy was rife at Allianz Stadium, where a Hiroshi Ibusuki red card could not prevent Adelaide United from taking a point against Sydney FC.
To help you navigate the changing landscape of A-League Men Fantasy, Oliver Walker-Peel from the FPL Addicts Podcast recommends three players to take a look at and two to ignore.
WATCHLIST
Aaron McEneff (PER, MID)
Price: $273,400 (+$64,400); Points: 33, Next three: ADE (a), MCY (h), BRI (h)
While Kye Rowles, Cam Devlin, and Nathaniel Atkinson are former A-Leagues talents plying their trade for Hearts, we now have a former Hearts player lighting up the A-Leagues.
After leaving Tynecastle for HBF Park in July, McEneff has wasted no time at his new club, netting in his last two games for the Glory.
This has led to the Northern Irish youth international becoming the highest-scoring midfielder so far this term, clear of Adelaide’s Ryan Kitto and Craig Goodwin.
While the price rise may be slightly off-putting, the breakeven of -8 may mean this is your last chance to truly capitalise on McEneff’s great start to the season.
Joe Lolley (SYD, FWD)
Price: $304,500 (+$95,500); Points: 42, Next three: MAC (a), BRI (a), WSW (h)
Included in a dazzling Sky Blues attack containing the likes of Adam Le Fondre and Róbert Mak, Lolley has perhaps shone brightest.
Crossing from newly-promoted Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest before the start of the A-Leagues season, Lolley’s 42 points scored up to this point has him trailing only Jamie Maclaren.
His wonderful performance against Western United in Round Two shows how damaging Lolley can be, and which a price rise just south of $100,000 this week, the former Huddersfield and Scunthorpe attacker is now entering the upper echelon of attackers in terms of price.
With only 11% ownership, bringing in Lolley now could still be of huge benefit to your side, as he looks to keep his great run going.
Beka Dartsmelia (NEW, MID)
Price: $209,000; Points: 25, Next three: WSW (a), MVC (a), MCY (h)
The highest-scoring player of Round Two, getting ahead of the curve here may well prove crucial.
As the Mariners and Jets had their F3 Derby clash slated for earlier in the campaign postponed, players from both clubs are yet to rise.
Dartsmelia’s goal and assist over Wellington last weekend means his breakeven sits at -11, meaning a massive price rise next weekend looks to be in the offing.
At worst, this looks to be an easy way of gaining team value; at best, it could be a brilliant piece of business.
ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
Ben Garuccio (WUN, DEF)
Price: $368,000 (-$78,000); Points: 8, Next three: CCM (a), ADE (h), WEL (a)
Western United’s defensive frailties have been well-documented, and Ben Garuccio has been an unfortunate casualty in Fantasy teams.
His ownership has plummeted to around 6% after being a mainstay in backlines before the start of the season, detailing how faith in the fullback has dropped considerably since then.
His breakeven of 18 is more than double his entire points total for the season so far, and he is given only a 1% chance to reach that this week by the game.
While Garuccio is undoubtedly a potential star of A-League Men Fantasy, cutting your losses now and bringing him back later in the season may well be the best course of action.
Jake Brimmer (MVC, MID)
Price: $433,500 (-$57,300); Points: 17, Next three: BRI (a), NEW (h), ADE (a)
Priced at just under $500,000 to start the campaign, Brimmer has not perhaps been the best value for money from a Fantasy sense.
Without a goal contribution so far in this campaign after 14 in the league last year, his price has fallen just short of $60,000 coming into this weekend’s action.
While there is more to Brimmer’s game than purely goals and assists, the lack of either so far this season is detrimental to his Fantasy chances, and as such there looks to be better value elsewhere.
With around one in six managers owning the reigning Johnny Warren Medallist, it may be time to move on from the Victory star.
Image credit: Matt King/Getty Images
