{"id":5899,"date":"2013-08-03T11:37:13","date_gmt":"2013-08-03T10:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.byfarthegreatestteam.com\/?p=5899"},"modified":"2017-07-13T17:06:35","modified_gmt":"2017-07-13T16:06:35","slug":"fantasy-football-2013-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.byfarthegreatestteam.com\/posts\/fantasy-football-2013-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Football 2013-2014"},"content":{"rendered":"
Well, we are 15 days away from the start of the 2013\/14 Premier League football season, and that means we are 15 days away from the start of the end of your life for 9 months. The scourge of wives and children everywhere returns to dominate your life and pub talk until the end of May.<\/p>\n
The first prize will be \u00a3100, with monthly prizes which will be detailed on this site over the coming months. Its free to join, so please pass on to anyone who might be interested.<\/p>\n
So, I’ve done my usual this season of analysing the first six fixtures and tried to come up with a plan which might give an early season flyer to anyone who takes any notice.<\/p>\n
The first thing I did was to rank the teams in terms of difficulty. I did this using a points system. Initially I took last seasons league table and applied a score based on the finishing position of each team. For example, Manchester United have 20 points, and Sunderland 4. The three promoted teams were given 3, 2 and 1 based on where they came last season.<\/p>\n
This score is then applied to each weeks opponents and an overall score for the six week is obtained. For instance, if Arsenal are at home to Manchester United, they would be given 20 points. I also decided to weight the away fixtures, to all away game points are doubled. So if Arsenal are away to Man United, they are given 40 points.<\/p>\n
As a result of this, the highest score over the first 6 weeks indicates the team with the hardest fixtures and vice versa.<\/p>\n
After initially running the numbers, I tweaked around with the scores a little based on what I think might happen this season. I gave Man United, Man City and Chelsea 21 points each, as I feel any of them could win the league. I bumped Arsenal and Spurs up to 18 and 17 as I feel they are clear of the 6th best team. I also lowered WBA, WHU and Swansea’s scores to 10, as I am not convinced they will perform like they did last season, although I could perhaps be wrong in Swansea’s case.<\/p>\n
The final table gave interesting results. West Ham have the easiest games in the first few weeks, with games vs Cardiff, Hull and Southampton to name three. Manchester City, Liverpool, Norwich, Arsenal and Spurs also have a fairly nice start to the season.<\/p>\n
At the other end of the spectrum, Chelsea have a tough start, with trips to Man United, Everton and Spurs. Aston Villa have the hardest start, opening with away games at Arsenal and Chelsea, with home games vs Liverpool and Man City.<\/p>\n
There is a slightly unusual anomaly with this seasons games. Both Chelsea and Villa have a double game week in week 1. I don’t remember this happening before, and certainly makes for an interesting decision with the initial team selection.<\/p>\n
I have attached the spreadsheet I used as my comparison tool. Feel free to bastardise it as much as you like. I have protected the sheet, let me know if you need the password.<\/p>\n
Fixtures 1-6 2013<\/p>\n
Here is the table sorted in ease of fixtures. West Ham, have the easiest, Villa the hardest.<\/p>\n