Away-day gains putting Uwais on top

After catching up with Fantasy Premier League’s new No.1 manager Uwais Ahmed, he talked about his methods that have paved the way for his success, paying particular attention to his decisions as to which player to captain each week.

It is fair to say Uwais's captaincy tactics have been vital to his success. More than a quarter, or 511, of his world-leading 1,878 points have arrived via his captains alone.

A member of the Arsenal fan league, Uwais has relied heavily on Alexis Sanchez (£11.6m) in particular, handing the top points-scoring player in FPL the armband on nine occasions.

But it is logic rather than club loyalties that has driven Uwais's decision-making, with Sanchez’s ability to deliver points away from home fitting perfectly with one of his key principles.

“It makes sense to select captains from bigger teams in certain away matches," he explains. "They are much more suited for explosive returns in those away matches than when faced with well-organised defensive set-ups at home."

Looking at the data, Uwais’s faith in Sanchez is borne out by the statistics. Owned by 26.2% of FPL managers, Sanchez has scored 12 of his 18 goals on the road, while providing five of his eight double-digit hauls away from Emirates Stadium.

All five of those big tallies arrived against teams currently lying in the bottom nine. The indication is those sides are less likely to try to frustrate their opponents on home turf, when the onus is on them to play more expansively in front of their fans, leaving them more exposed.

Indeed, Sanchez’s two highest tallies of 2016/17 – 16 points against Watford in Gameweek 3 and 23 points against West Ham United in Gameweek 14 – both arrived away from home.

Uwais had been lying in wait for that haul at the London Stadium.

“I had earmarked that fixture for weeks," he admits. “West Ham were having great difficulty at home getting positive results against the so-called bigger teams.

"The size of the pitch, in addition to West Ham’s defensive struggles, was a perfect scenario for Sanchez.”

Uwais's theory can be applied to two of the three most popular midfielders and forwards in FPL.

Along with Sanchez, Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli (£8.9m, 27.8% ownership) - the third top-scoring FPL midfielder - has netted 14 times over the first 29 Gameweeks, with seven goals coming at home and just as many away. Three of his five double-digit returns were recorded on the road.

Up front, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.4m), with nine goals out of 15, and Chelsea's Diego Costa (£10.7m), with nine goals from 17, have scored more on their travels.

The Manchester United striker has produced three of his five double-figure hauls outside of Old Trafford, while all three of Costa’s 10+ points returns have come on the road.

The same also applies to Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (£12.7m) – nine of his 13 goals and all four of his double-figure hauls have arrived for the away team.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that players with home fixtures are perhaps the more enticing and offer the most secure source of points for FPL managers.

But going against that approach, particularly with his captaincy selection, has helped to bring Uwais success so far. 

“FPL managers often want to comfort themselves with the knowledge of a plum home fixture," he explains.

"If you can find the right scenario, you find big players in 'big' teams are just as explosive away from home.”