Failing favourites
By Tim Clement - Twitter: @SkyTimClement. Last Updated: August 22, 2012 11:47am
Mladen Petric (left): Early top scorer in Sky Sports Fantasy Football
The first round of Premier League fixtures proved an unhappy hunting ground for plenty of Sky Sports Fantasy Football managers, with the popular picks failing to deliver the goods.
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None of the game's most valuable five defenders, midfielders or strikers managed to pick up more than two points, as Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham all struggled to impress.
Carlos Tevez and Demba Ba were the two big name frontmen who did produce the goods with a goal apiece, but neither managed to make the team-of-the-week as bargain hunters were rewarded.
Fulham's new striker Mladen Petric was the joint top scorer with 20 points thanks to two goals, an assist and the Sky Sports man-of-the-match award against Norwich, proving superb value at £6.8m.
The Croatian is joined by an even cheaper pick, £6.5m priced Adam Le Fondre, who racked up 12 points for his goal and man-of-the-match award in Reading's 1-1 draw with Stoke.
The other highest-scoring player at the weekend was another Premier League new boy in Michu, who netted a brace and grabbed an assist as Swansea hammered QPR 5-0.
Eye for goals
The Spaniard costs a mere £5.5m and has the form to imply the goals may well keep coming after scoring 15 times for Rayo Vallecano in La Liga last season.
Samir Nasri was the third-highest scorer with a goal and a man-of-the-match award against Southampton, while Eden Hazard contributed a couple of assists to Chelsea's 2-0 win over Wigan.
The Belgium international was the most popular player to make the team-of-the-week with a place in 18 per cent of teams, catching the eye with 20 goals and 18 assists for Lille last term.
Marouane Fellaini (£6.1m) also features in the best XI after his man-of-the-match display against Manchester United, scoring the solitary goal in a game which saw Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie disappoint their Fantasy bosses.
United's strike duo are two of the three most popular frontmen in the game, with Sergio Aguero, whose opening-day injury appears to be not as bad as first feared, the other popular pick.
At the back, Chelsea's Branslav Ivanovic enjoyed a good week with a goal and clean sheet seeing him pick up 12 points, while West Ham's James Collins, Fulham's John Arne Riise and West Brom's Liam Ridgewell also managed double figures for their respective displays.
Gameweeks run from Friday to Friday so captaincy changes must be made before the first kick-off on Saturday to come into effect for the following week.
