Fantasy EFL Gameweek 5 drew to a close on Saturday evening with clashes across League One and League Two. With that, our first unique Gameweek is fully wrapped up and managers can now see how they scored in the overall rankings page. Here, we’re going through the best of bonus points.
As was displayed this week, the significance of bonus points in Fantasy EFL cannot be overstated. We highlight the EFL best performers so far with the highest numbers of Interceptions (+2 for mids), Blocks (+1 every two for defenders), Clearances (+1 every three for defenders) and Shots on Target (+1 every two for forwards and mids) from the previous four Gameweeks.
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IMPRESSIVE INTERCEPTIONS
After no Championship games in Gameweek 5, Millwall still lead with 44 interceptions, just one more than runners up Derby County. These high interception figures suggest that they have faced much defensive pressure, and they have been able to sustain a middle-of-the-pack defensive record despite this.
As with Gameweek 4, George Saville (M) remains the only midfielder with 10 interceptions. He is joined by three defenders at the top of the chart who have equalled his total, though they do not gain Fantasy points for these high interception figures. One of them is teammate Joe Bryan, as the pair combine for almost half of Millwall’s division-leading 44 interceptions.
Bristol Rovers continue to lead League One, as their 73 interceptions put them high above the rest. Second-placed Barnsley have only 58. The Gas have conceded just four goals in five games and are coming off a match where they had a massive 19 interceptions against Barnsley.
Gas defenders James Wilson and Clinton Mola top the players interceptions chart but they do not earn Fantasy points for this metric. This means that Birmingham City midfielder Krystian Bielik is still effectively the interceptions leader as he has 12 in four games.
Cheltenham Town are once again on top of the table for interceptions in the third division of the EFL, acquiring 57 through their five matches. They are not showing signs of slowing down, registering 10 in their gameweek 5 fixture as they hosted and kept a clean sheet against Harrogate Town.
Seamus Conneely (M) still has nine interceptions, the most among League Two midfielders. He is beaten by five defenders in this metric but their figures do not count towards Fantasy. He has registered at least one interception in every game apart from his 20-minute cameo in Gameweek 5.
BRILLIANT BLOCKS
Plymouth Argyle, of course, continue to be the leaders for blocks given Blank Gameweek 5. They have registered a huge 31 blocks so far, showing heart despite still being one of five winless teams in the division. They are led by defender Brendan Galloway who has blocked 10 shot attempts in just three games on his way to 5.7 Fantasy points per game.
Bristol Rovers also lead League One in blocks, registering 21 so far to overtake Wycombe Wanderers, who have 20. They are now averaging over four per game and now lead the division in both blocks and interceptions on their way to a very solid defensive record.
Aden Flint (D) has the most blocks in the division amongst all players, registering seven so far through Mansfield Town’s four games. He continues to top the leaderboard, largely thanks to his Gameweek 2 performance where he blocked four shots.
Newport County are now the blocks leaders in League Two, sitting at 26 after an intense gameweek 5 fixture where they had to defend with just nine men on the pitch. They blocked six shots in this match as they were pummelled 4-1.The second-highest scoring player this season in Fantasy EFL, Crewe Alexandra defender Mickey Demetriou leads the EFL and League Two in blocks with a massive 11 blocks. He led the chart last week and registered two more blocks in gameweek 5 to retain his position at the top.
CRACKING CLEARANCES
Blackburn Rovers still lead the Championship with a phenomenal 132 clearances in four matches. This average of 33 clearances a game is extremely impressive but the side will need to rely on more than just clearances to improve their struggling defensive record.
Middlesbrough’s Matt Clarke (D) leads the way amongst players with 29 clearances as he has racked up a massive 44 Fantasy points in just four games. His clearance numbers are consistently high and he is definitely a viable Fantasy option.
Bristol Rovers are once again the leaders in clearances, now topping League One charts for all three defensive metrics recorded for bonus points. They have a massive 163 in five games, 42 more than second-ranked Barnsley.
Emmanuel Fernandez (D) and James Wilson (D) lead the division with 34 clearances apiece. Fernandez has achieved this figure in just four games while Wilson has taken five, but both defenders have still heavily impressed and picked up many bonus points, despite both having less than 0.5% ownership.
Harrogate Town lead the EFL and League Two with 168 clearances in five games, registering 36 in their Gameweek 5 fixture to put them above any other team in the league. They narrowly lead Crewe Alexandra by five. Anthony O’Connor (D) is once again the king of clearances, registering 58 in five games. He has dominated the league and helped Harrogate Town avoid an even worse defensive record. He has still not had a game with less than nine clearances this season, and his bonus point acquisition therefore looks consistent.
SHOTS ON TARGET
Queens Park Rangers are the Championship leaders in SoT, taking 23 through four games, an impressive figure. This has led to six goals and they will look to improve this conversion rate while maintaining their high shot figures.
Finn Azaz (M) stays at the top of the chart for players, with the Middlesbrough man having nine SoT so far this season. With two assists (+6) and no goals so far, Azaz will be looking to open his account in GW6.
Barnsley have the most shots on target in League One, as they have 28 through five games on their way to 10 goals, the second-most in the division. They take the lead over a Stockport County side who have 26 but did not play in Gameweek 5.
Midfielder Adam Phillips is a key offensive contributor for Barnsley, taking eight SoT so far. He has scored in his last three matches and registered at least two shots on target in each of them on his way to 41 total Fantasy points.
In League Two, Colchester United are still the shots on target leaders with 28. Despite this, their attack has failed to be consistently productive as they have failed to score more than once in their last three league games respectively. An example is their gameweek 5 fixture where they scored once from five shots on target as they hosted Bromley.
Andy Cook (F) is once again the leader amongst players, registering 10 shots on target so far. He had three in Gameweek 5 as he scored a brace and helped Bradford City beat Carlisle United. He will look to continue this form and be Bradford’s star man moving forward as he makes up almost half of the team’s shots on target.