Catch up with the latest Official A-Leagues Fantasy talking points from the weekend, brought to you by Liberty.
Another weekend of Official A-Leagues Fantasy action is in the books, and several high-scorers caught the eye, creating the big talking points at the end of Round 10 in both the Liberty A-League and Isuzu UTE A-League.
NOTE – Official A-Leagues Women’s Fantasy scoring continues on Wednesday night with the points from Sydney FC v Canberra United counting to Round 10 scores.
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J-Mac roars back into form
One of the most prolific players in Official A-Leagues Fantasy over the last few seasons returned to form this weekend.
Jamie Maclaren’s hat-trick in Melbourne City’s 8-1 win over Brisbane Roar yielded a whopping 29 points, his highest Fantasy score of the 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League season to date as he became the first player to score 150 league goals.
By comparison, he had only scored 18 points in the five rounds leading up to Round 10, only reaching double digits once (11 points against Newcastle Jets) during this stretch.
It was a welcome return to form not only for Maclaren, but the 33.6% of coaches who backed in the City star throughout his early season struggles as he’s been hampered by a niggling ankle injury during a hectic start to City’s campaign.
It saw the most popular player in Fantasy’s price drop from $579k to a season low $258.8k heading into Round 10, but the City striker’s big performance meant he experienced a price hike this week to $320.3k – which is still an absolute bargain given his high ceiling when it comes to scoring.
Only Johnny Warren Medallist Craig Goodwin scored more Fantasy points than Maclaren last season, after averaging 12.2 points per game.
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And this may be the last week the all-time leading A-Leagues goalscorer has a price this low in Fantasy.
Maclaren goes into their clash with bottom-placed Western United with a breakeven of -8, and according to the Assistant Coach function, he’s set to increase in price to $394.3k at the end of Round 11 and then to $473.4k at the end of their Round 12 match against Western Sydney Wanderers – should he score his projected 12 and 10 points respectively.
It’s also worth noting Maclaren has 14 goals in 13 matches against Western throughout his career, and 18 goals in 19 matches vs the Wanderers.
An added wrinkle to this is that coaches who have Marco Tulio (in 9.5% of teams) and Bruno Fornaroli (in 19.9% of teams) will be looking for replacements in the coming weeks, making Maclaren an ideal pick-up for those who don’t already have the City star.
Matilda’s purple patch after slow start
Jamie Maclaren wasn’t the only Australian national team star to have their best performance of the season in Official A-Leagues Fantasy last Thursday.
Matildas star Tameka Yallop scored 17 points in Brisbane Roar’s 5-3 loss to Melbourne City in the Liberty A-League, getting an assist for Mia Corbin’s second goal of the game after causing a threat all evening playing as a second striker.
Yallop had struggled for form in her first five games of the season, scoring a total of only 16 points, but has since put together a solid string of performances in the last four weeks. She had scores of seven against Canberra United, 11 vs Western Sydney Wanderers and seven in their 1-1 draw with Sydney FC leading into the clash with City.
In total, she’s scored 42 points during this four-week stretch.
The Roar midfielder is set to experience a price hike this week from her current $238.5k value and should continue to soar in value with a low breakeven in weeks to come, making her a fascinating option for coaches looking to bolster their midfield.
Yallop wasn’t the only player to impress enormously in the match at AAMI Park last week, with City’s Emina Ekic tallying a whopping 40 points as a result of her hat-trick and Corbin who also scored 22 points after scoring a brace.
City stars dominate Team of the Week
To the surprise of nobody, Melbourne City players dominated this week’s A-League Men’s Fantasy Team of the Week after their 8-1 win over Brisbane Roar.
Tolgay Arslan led all scorers with 34 points, continuing a rich vein of form that’s seen him average 19 points in the last three rounds and 18.8 points in the last five.
Jamie Maclaren (29 points) and Leo Natel (26 points) lead the attackers after combining for five goals, while defender Curtis Good scored 17 points – helped in part by opening the scoring with a towering header.
Among the other top scorers were Central Coast Mariners’ Marco Tulio (24 points) after a memorable final home game in their 4-2 win over Perth Glory, where he scored a brace. He is joined by Jacob Farrell (19 points) after he scored Mariners’ first of the game.
Newcastle Jets’ Dane Ingham (21 points) and Ryan Scott (14 points) also made the XI, with the former helping himself to an assist for the first of Trent Buhagiar’s goals in a 2-0 victory against Western United.
This week’s A-League Women’s Fantasy Team of the Week will be determined after Sydney FC vs Canberra United on Wednesday night.
