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 18 in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
CLICK HERE TO PLAY A-LEAGUES FANTASY!
R18 TALKING POINTS: Trend ‘you see right through world football’ impacting Reds on slide down the table
Yet another overseas recruit is finally hitting his straps for Mariners
It may have taken Mikael Doka nearly seven months to get started – but Central Coast Mariners fans are starting to see the Brazilian wide-man’s potential.
The 24-year-old joined the champions in pre-season but has taken some time to get going in his new colours. Doka started for the Mariners in the first two rounds of the season before being used as a bit-part player, but that all changed of late
Doka can either be deployed as a winger or a full-back and in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory, he was asked to do a bit of both as a wing-back for Mark Jackson’s side.
With star left-back Jacob Farrell sidelined through suspension, Doka slotted in seamlessly on the left and starred for the Mariners, testing Paul Izzo with a free-kick and teeing up Alou Kuol for what should have been a goal after an eye-catching run into the box.
Doka contributed to the Mariners’ clean sheet in a 1-0 win and as a result, earned 15 fantasy points – the third-most of any defender in Round 18.
Through the first 13 rounds of the Isuzu UTE A-League season Doka failed to score more than five fantasy points in a single round – a frustrating trend for a defender with elite set-piece delivery and the ability to play higher up the park.
But that’s all changed of late; Doka has scored 77 points across the last five rounds (an average of 15.4 points-per-round) and is suddenly one of the must-own defenders heading into the back end of the season.
Keep a close watch on the red-hot Brazilian who has just enjoyed the best week of his Mariners career, including the match-winning goal against Western Sydney Wanderers in Round 17, a long-range screamer in the Mariners’ midweek AFC Cup win over Macarthur FC, and a performance against Victory that earned three votes in the Alex Tobin Medal count as well as Central Coast Fan’s Player of the Match award.
VICTORY 0-1 MARINERS: Hoodoo broken! Mariners make history in chaotic Victory clash which saw three players sent off
Youngster’s brace headlines Round 18 Team of the Week
Try as they might, defences around the league continue to struggle to contain the threat of Western Sydney Wanderers forward Nicolas Milanovic.
With two goals in a 2-1 win over Adelaide United, Milanovic cruised past his best-ever goals tally in an Isuzu UTE A-League season of five; he now has six goals to his name and eight games to continue adding to that figure.
His two goals against Adelaide United netted his side all three points on the road – and took Milanovic’s Round 18 fantasy points tally to 27 – the most of any player in the league.
Milanovic’s header which opened the scoring at Coopers Stadium also features in this week’s selection of Goal of the Week nominees.
REDS 1-2 WANDERERS: Wanderers survive late push from 10-man Reds to notch slender win on the road
Milanovic leads a three-man strike force in the Round 18 Fantasy Team of the Week, next to Macarthur’s Valère Germain and Brisbane Roar youngster Thomas Waddingham.
Defenders dominated the Round 17 Team of the Week and do so again this time around, with Jordan Courtney-Perkins leading the charge with 18 points. The aforementioned Doka takes his place in the back five with 15 points, along with Mariners teammate Daniel Hall, Perth Glory’s Darryl Lachman and Wanderers full-back Aidan Simmons.
Macarthur’s Ulises Dávila and Sydney FC creator Anthony Caceres make up the two-man midfield while Jamie Young, who notched an assist for Marco Tilio in Melbourne City’s 1-1 draw with the Sky Blues, takes his place in the XI as the highest-scoring goalkeeper of the weekend with 17 points.
The Liberty A-League is back this week
After a one-week hiatus, the Liberty A-League returns this weekend!
The competition paused for the international window and after Michelle Heyman scored on her long-awaited return to the Matildas fold, the Canberra United star makes her way back to the Liberty A-League as the competition’s highest scorer in fantasy.
Heyman has scored 208 points this season – leading fellow Matilda Chloe Logarzo (189 points) on the league-wide leaderboard.
The two Matildas go head-to-head to kick-off the Round 18 Liberty A-League action as Logarzo’s Western United host Canberra at City Vista Recreation Reserve on Friday afternoon.
Get up to speed with all the fixtures on the Liberty A-League agenda below, and click here to revisit your Liberty A-League Fantasy squads to prepare yourself for this weekend’s action.
