Manchester United – Manchester City has come and gone, and once again, the Manchester derby had a predictable winner. This is bad news for fans of the Red Devils. But what does it all mean for fantasy football enthusiasts?
Are Erik Ten Haag’s players really that bad? And is there anyone in United’s team that you should’ve picked over Pep Guardiola’s players if you were looking to assemble a top fantasy football team?
The ideal Manchester United – Manchester City combined 11
Manchester United – Manchester City had a clear winner. It’s no secret that Pep Guardiola’s players bossed the game. But this is a Manchester United side worth just shy of 900 million Euro. Surely some of their players did well.
If we were to choose a 4-4-2 and come up with an ideal 11 for this weekend’s Manchester derby, it would look a little bit like this:
Ederson – Kyle Walker, Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Harry Maguire – Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Bruno Fernandes – Phil Fodden, Erling Haaland
Harry Maguire‘s addition may be a bit startling to some. However, it should be noted that his performance score in FootballCoin was just barely above that of John Stones. City’s defender made more passes than Maguire (44 to 41), but the United defender made an additional three dribbles.
Bruno Fernandes also makes the starting line-up. But he does so only because the game rates only three city starting players as midfielders. Rodri, Silva and Grealish all cruise in terms of performance stats over Manchester United’s frequently aggressive skipper.
It should come as little surprise that neither Marcus Rashford nor Rasmus Hojlund did enough to warrant being picked ahead of Fodden, Haaland or Julian Alvarez.
Antony Santos, the Red Devils’ big-money singing, even managed a score of -0.4!
Which United players have had a better season than City players?
But this is a one-time thing, right? According to Erik Ten Haag’s frequent public messages, United is on the right track. Let’s look closer.
Despite that, Ten Haag has brought in players worth more than 400 million euros on the transfer market; it’s hard to notice the improvement. At least, it’s difficult by looking at the stats.
If you’ve assembled a fantasy football team this year, you must likely avoided United’s players.
Are there any exceptions?
Marcus Rashford’s 308 points put him just below Fodden, Haaland, or Alvarez. It means that his season has been marginally better than that of Jeremy Doku, a player who has just arrived in the Premier League.
Bruno Fernandes’ overall performances bring a glimmer of hope. The Portuguese footballer has managed more points than any of Manchester City’s midfielders. However, this may also be due to Rodri’s recent match ban and Guardiola’s policy of squad rotation.
Casemiro would also be part of an ideal 11 covering the entire season. In fact, he has scored third-best of any midfielder playing for either one of the Manchester teams.
Walker, Gvardiol and Dias comfortably earn a place in this fictional starting eleven. Of United’s players, only Diego Dalot would figure in our dreamteam.
Finally, there’s also a surprise when it comes to goalkeepers. Andre Onana has consistently outscored Ederson in fantasy football.
Still, this last part is largely due to Onana’s need to intervene when his defence has been unable to stop attacks. Meanwhile, Ederson has not frequently faced a similar issue.
Where does this leave your fantasy football team for the rest of the season?
Fantasy football teams are not only assembled based on past performances. The likelihood of good showings in future matches is also important.
Manchester United next face Fulham, FC Copenhagen in the Champions League, and Luton Town. Even a hurting United side should still win these fairly comfortably, and their top players should still score a decent amount of points.
On the other hand, Manchester City will face Young Boys, Chelsea and Liverpool. Yes, these are tougher fixtures. However, City has a proven track record of doing well in these matches.
The bottom line is that at the moment, whether in real football or in fantasy football, it is difficult to pick any random Manchester United player ahead of a Manchester United one. And this speaks of the growing distance between the two Mancunian clubs.
