Bruno's historic haul, the young gun only in 1.2% of teams: Liberty Fantasy Review

Catch up with the latest Official A-Leagues Fantasy talking points from a riveting Round 2 in the Isuzu UTE A-League, brought to you by Liberty.

Two rounds of Isuzu UTE and Liberty A-League action has passed, meaning we are now heading into ‘bubble week’ in Official A-Leagues Fantasy, where players across both competitions are set to rise and drop in value after playing their third game of the season.

It ensures it’s a huge week to come for Fantasy coaches, who have a series of big decisions to make.

These are the key takeaways from the second round of fantasy football in the Isuzu UTE A-League.

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Fornaroli’s historic Fantasy haul

Bruno Fornaroli had some weekend.

Fornaroli fired home four goals in the first-half of their 5-3 win over Newcastle Jets on Sunday evening, becoming only the second player in competition history to do so after Melbourne City marksman Jamie Maclaren (vs Victory in April 2021).

32 of those 40 points came from the four first-half goals alone and had it not been for hitting the woodwork a couple of times, the two-time Socceroo could have easily taken the tally beyond the 50 mark (eight points per goal).

His bag of four goals yielded a whopping 40 points in Official A-Leagues Fantasy, which is the equal-highest points haul in a round of A-League Men Fantasy after Central Coast Mariners’ Marco Tulio reached the same mark in late December 2022.

However, the caveat is, that Tulio’s 40 points were accumulated over two matches against Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC, while Fornaroli’s – on the other hand – was tallied in one match, making it the highest single game points haul in Official A-League Men Fantasy since the game returned on KEEPUP platforms at the start of the 2022-23 season.

By the same token, the Uruguyan born forward leads the A-League Men Fantasy Team of the Week, joining Western Sydney Wanderers’ Nicolas Milanovic and Adelaide United’s Bernardo Oliveira – who each scored 26 points after scoring a brace apiece – in attack.

Brisbane Roar’s Henry Hore (31 points) and Newcastle Jets’ Clayton Taylor (27 points) rounded out the top three scorers this week after blistering performances of their own, and are accompanied by Wellington Phoenix’s Bozhidar Kraev (16 points) in midfield.

Further back, Western Sydney Wanderers duo Marcelo (24 points) and Jack Clisby (19 points) lead the defence, joining Central Coast Mariners’ Brian Kaltak (18 points) and Victory full-back Adama Traore (16 points).

Adelaide’s Joe Gauci led all goalkeepers with 20 points after keeping a second successive clean sheet, which included saving Jamie Maclaren’s second-half penalty in their 6-0 win over Melbourne City.

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Jets young gun’s brilliant performance makes him prime bargain pick-up

Clayton Taylor, remember the name.

The Newcastle Jets young gun was a bright spark in their 5-3 defeat to Melbourne Victory on Sunday afternoon, scoring a second-half brace – which could have easily been a hat-trick had it not been for the offside flag – in an impressive showing at AAMI Park.

Taylor’s performance yielded a whopping 27 A-Leagues Fantasy points, making him the third highest points scorer behind Fornaroli (40 points) and Hore (31 points).

Incredibly, Taylor – who is priced at $155.1k – was in only 1.2% of teams at the end of Round 2.

Since arriving at the Jets this off-season from Sydney FC’s academy, Taylor has earned a spot in Robbie Stanton’s starting XI for their opening two games, occupying one of the wings alongside fellow youngster Lachlan Bayliss.

After two impressive showings (five points against Perth Glory in Round 1), the 19-year-old should be a lock in the Jets best XI for the time being, making him a prime pickup for coaches given his job security, low price and the low percentage of teams he’s currently in.

And coaches need to act quick, since Taylor will go up in price should he take the field this weekend against Western Sydney Wanderers.

According to the A-Leagues Fantasy Assistant Coach setting, Taylor has a breakeven of -20 and is projected to score eight points this week, which alone will yield a projected price increase of $103.4k.

Bubble week in A-League Men and Women Fantasy: Risers and Fallers

Round 3 of the A-Leagues season is here, meaning this is the week players across both competitions are set to rise and drop in price in Official A-Leagues Fantasy.

Players who have played two games are now on the ‘bubble’, meaning their value will either increase or decrease depending on their form.

A player’s price is impacted by projection – or their projected score, which is determined by trends spotted in their performances aligned with the points scoring system. Whether a player exceeds or falls short of their projection will impact their value.

Isuzu UTE A-League action caught up with the Liberty A-League after the latter was on pause due to the international break, meaning both competitions are currently aligned.

According to the Assistant Coach feature, here’s the top five players in both A-League Men’s and Women’s Fantasy who are set to rise and drop in value.

A-LEAGUE MEN FANTASY (HIGHEST EXPECTED PRICE RISE BASED ON PROJECTED SCORE)

Bruno Fornaroli (FWD – $302.8K) Breakeven: -26, $156.9K rise, (Projected score: 16)
Bernardo Oliveira (FWD – $165.3K) Breakeven: -24, $119.2k rise, (Projected score: 8)
Nick Ansell (DEF – $196.5K) Breakeven: -21, $113.6K rise, (Projected score: 10)
Clayton Taylor (MID – $155.1K) Breakeven: -20, $103.4K rise, (Projected score: 8)
Nicolas Milanovic (FWD – $191.7K) Breakeven: -17, $90.4K rise, (Projected score: 8)

A-LEAGUE MEN FANTASY (HIGHEST EXPECTED PRICE DROP BASED ON PROJECTED SCORE)

Jamie Maclaren (FWD – $579K) Breakeven: 39, -$99.3K drop, (Projected score: 12)
Jake Brimmer (MID – $410.4K) Breakeven: 28, -$90.8K drop, (Projected score: 4)
Marco Tulio (MID – $429K) Breakeven: 27, -$85K drop, (Projected score: 4)
Jamie Young (GK – $273.8k) Breakeven: 26, -$80.4K drop, (Projected score: 4)
Aziz Behich (DEF – $348k) Breakeven: 26, -$79.9K drop, (Projected score: 5)

A-LEAGUE WOMEN FANTASY (HIGHEST EXPECTED PRICE RISE BASED ON PROJECTED SCORE)

Jenna McCormick (DEF – $165.3K) Breakeven: -18, $99.4K rise, (Projected score: 13)
Susan Phonsongkham (MID – $165.3K) Breakeven: -21, $96.2K rise, (Projected score: 9)
Chelsea Blissett (DEF – $165.3K) Breakeven: -17, $83.4K rise, (Projected score: 9)
Alana Jancevski (FWD – $174,1K) Breakeven: -13, $71.5K rise, (Projected score: 9)
Vesna Milivojevic (MID – $483K) Breakeven: -2, $59.2K rise, (Projected score: 17)

A-LEAGUE WOMEN FANTASY (HIGHEST EXPECTED PRICE DROP BASED ON PROJECTED SCORE)

Hannah Keane (FWD – $496.1K) Breakeven: 32, -$75.1K drop, (Projected score: 8)
Isabella Foletta (DEF – $402.3K) Breakeven: 29, -$69.1K drop, (Projected score: 7)
Kayla Morrison (DEF – $361.2K) Breakeven: 27, -$67.7K drop, (Projected score: 6)
Lauren Allen (FWD – $350.3K) Breakeven: 24, -61.6K drop, (Projected score: 5)
Maria Jose Rojas (FWD – $332.9K) Breakeven: 23, -60.2K drop, (Projected score: 4)

How did the A-Leagues Fantasy Podcast team fare this weekend?

The second episode of the A-Leagues Fantasy Show went live in the lead-up to the weekend’s action, where the crew revealed on the podcast how they would tinker their two fantasy squads after Round 2 in the Liberty A-League and the opening round of the Isuzu UTE A-League.

Only the Men’s side was in action this weekend due to A-League Women’s going on pause due to the international break. Here’s how it fared:

A-League Men

Oh, it was not a good round for the AFC Podcast squad.

The team scored only 13 (!) points for the entire round, with three players scoring negative points and three registering zero points.

This included Melbourne City’s Callum Talbot (-14) and Jamie Maclaren (-4), who scored -8 as a result of the crew making him captain for their 6-0 defeat to Adelaide United. Western United’s Ben Garuccio also tallied -3 after their 5-0 defeat to Western Sydney Wanderers.

Garuccio’s teammate, goalkeeper Thomas Heward-Belle also tallied 0 points, while Ulises Davila didn’t come off the bench in Macarthur FC’s 2-1 win over Central Coast Mariners and City star Tolgay Arslan was rested.

It only gets worse as Mariners defender Mikael Doka was subbed from the field with an injury in the second-half, after scoring two points.

Brisbane Roar’s Jay O’Shea (12 points) and Mariners attacker Angel Torres (nine points) were the bright sparks, while Western midfielder Lachlan Wales – who was traded in for Perth Glory’s Salim Khelifi – tallied four points of his own and Sydney FC’s Fabio Gomes added five.

As a result, the team has dropped 78 places to 101st in the public fantasy league free for you to join and play along this season, testing your fantasy squad against the team selected and managed week-to-week on the A-Leagues Fantasy Podcast.

It sure will be a fascinating listen when the new episode drops later this week.

Join our public group today to play against the team from the A-Leagues Fantasy Show!

AFC Podcast scoring: A-League Men, Round 2

13 points