Rare feat for surprise pace-setter, Glory star best value for money

Both the Isuzu UTE A-League Men and Liberty A-League Women Fantasy competitions are now in full swing in 2023-24, making for a hectic weekend of score checking and squad tinkering for fantasy managers.

The A-Leagues’ weekend action was highlighted by the sparkling debut performances of Melbourne City’s Tolgay Arslan and Melbourne Victory’s Zinedine Machach, who both made the A-League Men Fantasy Team of the Week in goalscoring debuts, as well as the purple patch of form both Susan Phonsongkham and Vesna Milivojevic are relishing as the A-League Women’s two top fantasy performers.

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

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Surprise early pace-setters in A-League Men’s Fantasy

After one round of A-League Men’s Fantasy, Adelaide United defender Nick Ansell leads all players after tallying 24 points in the Reds’ 3-0 win over Central Coast Mariners.

Ansell scored Adelaide’s third goal with a lovely header from a free-kick and kept a clean sheet, which contributed to 18 (12 from the goal, six from the clean sheet) of his 24 points on the day.

The centre-back – who comes in at a price of $196,500 – was only in 2.2% of teams in Round 1.

Ansell’s goal was only the third in his A-Leagues career and first with Adelaide, with the other coming while playing for Melbourne Victory.

Although it’s been a very promising start to the season from the 29-year-old, it would be smart to tread carefully and wait for a larger sample size. His cheap price won’t change until at least after Round 3, meaning you still have another week to see how he and the Reds defence fare, with their next test being Melbourne City at home.

Ansell was followed by Newcastle Jets midfielder Kosta Grozos, who scored 23 points in their 2-2 draw with Perth Glory.

Grozos scored an absolute belter in the first half and then tallied an assist for Apostolos Stamatelopoulos’ late equaliser, which contributed to 16 points.

The midfielder was also in just over two percent of teams (2.1%), but is a bit more pricey than Ansell at $243,500. He’s certainly another to add to the watch list if he can continue to produce in the coming weeks.

Midfielders and defenders in vogue, dominate Team of the Week

Defenders and midfielders dominated Official A-Leagues Fantasy this week, with a combined 17 between the two Teams of the Week.

Ansell and Grozos lead the A-League Men’s Team of the Week with their high scores of 24 and 23 apiece, and are joined by a host of high scoring players in the same position.

Ansell is joined by Reds teammate Alexandar Popovic (15 points), Melbourne Victory full-back Jason Geria (16 points) and Wellington Phoenix’s Scott Wootton (15 points).

Brisbane Roar’s Jay O’Shea backed up his high price tag of $545,800 by scoring 22 points in their 1-1 draw with Macarthur FC, while league debutants Melbourne City’s Tolgay Arslan and Melbourne Victory’s Zinedine Machach scored 19 and 18 points apiece.

They’re joined by Adelaide United attacking midfielder Zach Clough, who also scored 18. Western United’s Lachie Wales added 18 points of his own, but missed out on TOTW honours as a result of having a lower price than the Englishman and Machach.

Glory striker Adam Taggart is the sole number nine thanks to a return of 17 points, while Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Paul Izzo (17), edges Adelaide’s Joe Gauci, thanks to the aforementioned tiebreaker.

Wootton similarly edged Macarthur’s Raphael Borges Rodrigues – who scored the same amount of points – ensuring the formation was a 4-5-1, instead of 3-5-2.

Honourable mentions go to Wellington keeper Alex Paulsen (16 points) and Perth Glory’s Giordano Colli (15 points).

Meanwhile, Melbourne City attacker Rhianna Pollicina top scored in A-League Women’s Fantasy with 27 points, but was closely followed by former teammate Chelsea Blissett.

The Brisbane Roar defender scored 25 points as a result of her brilliant strike in their 1-0 win over Sydney FC, and was joined in the back four by Central Coast Mariners’ Taren King (19 points), Victory’s Emma Checker (17 points) and Adelaide’s Ella Tonkin (15 points).

Wellington Phoenix duo Manaia Elliott (20 points) and Macey Fraser (18 points) were named in the midfield, along with Perth Glory’s Susan Phonsongkham (18) and Canberra United gun Vesna Milivojevic (15).

Her teammate Michelle Heyman rounded out the attack with 14 points after firing home her 96th A-Leagues goal and Brisbane keeper Jordan Silkowitz tallied 16 points of her own after a string of big saves against the reigning champions.

Bang for your buck: Which players are proving the most cost effective?

In the Liberty A-League, 15% of fantasy managers are relishing having Perth Glory midfielder Susan Phonsongkham in their squads after Round 2. Priced at just $165k, Phonsongkham has bagged 35 points, including an 18-point haul in Round 2 thanks to her second goal in as many games.

Phonsongkham is the second-highest scorer in the game, and leads the way in the dollars-per-point category after Round 2. A player’s dollars-per-point total is calculated by their total price divided by their average fantasy score; Phonsongkham’s average of 17 and low price of $165k gives her a dollars-per-point total of $9,445.

On the other end of the spectrum are the likes of Kayla Morrison ($361k), the Victory defender whose 1.5-point average after two rounds gives her a dollars-per-point total of $240k.

Top five $-per-point: Liberty A-League

Susan Phonsongkham (MID – $165k): $9,445-per-point
Jenna McCormick (DEF – $165k): $10,331-per-point
Chelsea Blissett (DEF – $165k): $10,664-per-point
Alana Jancevski (FWD – $174k) $12,435-per-point
Manaia Elliott (MID – $150k): $13,104-per-pont

In the men’s it’s Nick Ansell leading the way in the dollars-per-point rankings with an impressive $8,187, while Phoenix keeper Alex Paulsen comes in closely behind with $9,693. Victory’s Jake Brimmer ($410k) ranks as the least cost-effective player after Round 1 with just one point on the board.

Top five $-per-point: Isuzu UTE A-League

Nick Ansell (DEF – $196k): $8,187-per-point
Alex Paulsen (GKP – $155k): $9,693.8-per-point
Raphael (FWD – $155k): $10,340-per-point
Kosta Grozos (MID – $243k): $10,587-per-point
Scott Wootton (DEF – $165k) $11,020-per-point

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

The first episode of the A-Leagues Fantasy Show went live in the lead-up to the weekend’s action, where the podcast crew revealed their two fantasy squads for A-League Men’s and Women’s set to be managed throughout the season by a rolling selection of podcast guests.

Here’s how they fared over the weekend:

A-League Men

A score of 102 points in Round 1 was bolstered by the stellar performances of Tolgay Arslan and Jay O’Shea in midfield. Star Sydney FC recruit Fabio Gomes was kept relatively quiet against Melbourne Victory managing just five points, while the lively Angel Torres notched eight points for the Mariners despite neither scoring or assisting in a 3-0 loss to Adelaide; he earned his points for shots on target, successful dribbles and key passes.

Captain Jamie Maclaren earned an assist for Arslan in City’s 2-1 loss to Western United, collecting 11 points which were doubled by wearing the armband for Round 1.

The Podcast team currently sits 20th 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.

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

AFC Podcast scoring: A-League Men, Round 1

102 points

GKP: Thomas Heward-Belle: 9 points
DEF: Callum Talbot: -2 points
DEF: Ben Garuccio: 7 points
DEF: Mikael Doka: 2 points
MID: Jonny Yull: 6 points
MID: Jay O’Shea: 22 points
MID: Ulises Davila: 4 points
MID: Tolgay Arslan: 19 points
FWD: Fabio Gomes: 5 points
FWD: Angel Torres: 8 points
FWD: Jamie Maclaren (captain): 22 points

A-League Women

There was less success for AFC Podcast in the Liberty A-League in Round 2, with an 84-point haul boosted by Melbourne City forward Rhianna Pollicina’s 27 points for a brace against Canberra United.

The Podcast crew scored 116 in Round 1 but saw a decrease in Round 2, with Cortnee Vine mustering just six points as captain, with six players in the XI scoring less than five.

Pollicina’s 27 and Vesna Milivojevic’s 15 did the heavy lifting for AFC Podcast in Round 2.

The Podcast team currently sits 9th 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.

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

AFC PODCAST SCORING: A-LEAGUE WOMEN, ROUND 2

87 points