The football season is now officially underway, with France’s Ligue 1 kicking off over the weekend and the annual tradition of the Community Shield kicked off the English season, though that competition does not count points towards managers’ fantasy teams. That said though, it does give something of an indication of where things could be headed at least in the early doors of the season, so let’s get down to it and see just who the big hitters were.
No fewer than five players in the French top flight are presently tied for top spot on our points’ scorers tables, with Christopher Maboulou (SC Bastia), Mevlüt Erdinç (AS Saint-Étienne), Dario Cvitanich (OGC Nice), Mathieu Duhamel (Caen) and Marseille’s Andre-Pierre Gignac all bagging themselves 40 early points – a cracking start for the guys, who all play as strikers. Interestingly, at the time of writing, only Gignac actually features in any fantasy teams – only 2%, however, foresaw his value up front. Of these guys, Erdinç proved the best value inclusion as his asking price is only €3.50m – a full mill lower than nearest counterparts Cvitanich and Gignac. All of these stars bagged two goals each for their respective sides on opening day.
Talismanic star Zlatan Ibrahimovic got off to a predictably splendid start, bagging two goals of his own for PSG, but unfortunately he also missed a penalty which cost him 10 points, dropping him down to 6th, 10 points behind the aforementioned strikers. Not only did that penalty miss mean he was deducted 10, but he also missed out on 10 as well as that would have meant a hat-trick, which includes 10 bonus points – meaning the miss was actually worth 20 to the negative for the Swede. Had that spot kick found its target, he would be top with a beautiful 50 points from the off.
Several defensive players find themselves with a mountain to climb already having finished their first games in negative totals, with goalkeepers Alphonse Areola (SC Bastia), Zacharie Boucher (Toulouse), Jesper Hansen (Évian Thonon Gaillard F.C) and Steve Mandanda (Marseille) all kicking off on -20. They are joined in that group by former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho (Monaco), who also finds himself there owing to having been dismissed.
Moving north of the pond towards England now, Londoners Arsenal saw off their northern rivals – and Premier League champions – Man City by an impressively comfortable 3-0 margin to claim the FA Community Shield. Having gone nine years without a trophy, this represents Arsenal’s second piece of silverware in as many competitive games. While the game does not directly impact on the league season, it does mean the Gunners arguably have something of a psychological edge over the Citizens ahead of next weekend’s kickoff, and goals from Santi Cazorla, midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Frenchman Olivier Giroud show that this trio in particular has an eye for finding the net already, and manager Arsene Wenger will surely be hoping that trend continues once the formalities get underway on Saturday.
With Man City, the direct implications of the result could well be that Chilean boss Manuel Pellegrini looks to tweak his squad, though many cite the fact that the Blues’ starting lineup looked considerably weaker than the expected league teamsheet means that this scenario is unlikely. With Stevan Jovetic sniffing around goal there certainly seems to be some success in front of the net lying in wait for him this season, but regardless of one’s opinion of the strength of City’s team in this fixture, it could certainly be interpreted that the champions can scarcely afford any slipups this term, and can surely not become too complacent when it comes to selection. The quality is certainly there to oust them should they miss a beat, and Arsenal have proven themselves capable of being one of those sides breathing down City’s necks in the event of that happening.
