As we’re now entering game week (GW) 4; it’s a good time to re-evaluate your team in order to help you win more with Sportito. A significant number of Sportito Fantasy players are making assessments of their team’s chances, so we thought we would assist 8 Mistakes You Must Avoid when playing Fantasy Sports

Failure to replace an injured/suspended player

At this stage of the season, you can’t afford to have injured players within your team. It’s best to stay up to date with the latest injury and suspension updates in a bid to avoid having players in your squad, who can’t perform on the pitch because they have suffered an injury or are suspended.

Anthony Martial – Manchester United: has recently suffered a thigh injury during United’s loss against Crystal Palace and is expected to be out for a couple of weeks.

Tanguy Ndombele – Spurs: has also suffered a thigh injury after an impressive start to the season. Ndombele scored a goal against Aston Villa and contributed an assist in the Manchester City game.

N’Golo Kantè – Chelsea: is out of action with an ankle injury, but reports coming out of Chelsea are suggesting it might not be too serious. With Chelsea fielding such a young team at the moment, will Frank Lampard risk one of his key players?

Once you have identified an injured player, make sure you select a suitable replacement for him. For example, if a player like Sergio Agüero gets injured, you could easily acquire Harry Kane. Bear in mind that Kane is cheaper and when on form, he can produce similar important results in GWs.

Jumping to conclusions

The best advice is – don’t! Hold fire and wait on news updates about injured players to confirm the extent of their injury and whether they’ll be playing for their respective sides.

We know how annoying it is to substitute an injured player, only to find that they are selected to play and bag a load of points in the subsequent GW.

Missing the boat

Selecting the right players for the right GW, is more important than ever. 

Did anyone miss out on the points haul from Raheem Sterling in GW1? Then Lucas Digne in GW2? And Teemu Pukki, in GW3?

You need to be alert to changes in form, changes in personnel, fixture lists and opposition players.

For example; Roberto Firmino, a Brazilian international, has had a slow start to the season. You would expect his performance to improve very soon, but he is facing a tough Burnley defence in GW4.

How about a less obvious pick? We are suggesting Sébastien Haller might be worth considering. After a big money move to West Ham in the summer, he scored 2 goals in GW3. He is facing newly promoted Norwich City at home in GW4.

Picking players for the wrong reasons

Don’t include a player in your squad solely based on word of mouth or an unsubstantiated article you have read.

Optimism is a good thing, but it should be based on research about individual performance not just because the player is in your favourite team. Do your own investigations and pick the right players for the right reasons.

When in doubt, always revert to the data. Pose these questions. Who is in good form? Who has a nice run of games, going forward? Who has proved to be a threat in the last GW and is now hungry to turn near misses into goals?

Retaining players with a poor points per game record

This is one of the most common Fantasy Premier League Mistakes; keeping players who almost never score or assist for their respective sides. Such inaction is outright detrimental to your Fantasy Premier League campaign.

Why have a player like Hamza Choudhury who hardly scores or assists, when you can get midfielders like Daniel Ceballos or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for similar money. These two players are far more attack minded.

Having a goalkeeper just for saves

The likes of Rui Pedro dos Santos Patrício and Nick Pope have become popular goalies amongst the Fantasy Premier League sphere for their impressive record of saves since GW1.

Our advice is to avoid selecting your goalie by how many saves he can make. This is quite dangerous as he could easily concede a handful of goals in a single game. We would suggest a quick review of the clean sheets, a rarity amongst goalkeepers who are regularly tested on the pitch.

Jordan Pickford currently has the best record of clean sheets (2) in the Premier League as we enter GW4.

Keeping players who don’t actually play

There is an array of talent on most team’s benches, but if all they do is keep the bench nice and warm, why waste a pick? This is another common mistake in Fantasy Premier League and can sink your chances of winning.

Signing players with a tendency to get sent off

A red card reflects poorly on your Fantasy Football campaign; it also causes you to lose points, so it’s best to avoid players who are regularly sent off by the referee. Don’t pay the price for their poor judgement or bad luck.

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